I’m fairly certain I have a cold. It’s no surprise, really, considering I have next to no downtime and the craziness of holiday travel just added to my weariness. I’ve been going to bed so early the last few nights — like 8:30 early. Today I have a runny nose, scratchy throat… this is not good. I had a glass of Airborne and have been trying to drink a lot of water (as well as tea) today, hoping to ward off the germies. If only the wee ones could understand that mommy really doesn’t feel like crawling all over the floor today, nevermind being used as a jungle gym. Oh well. It’s just as well that I can’t take a couple minutes to rest because then I’d be done for the rest of the day and I need to run to the grocery store, plus continue cleaning up mess after mess after mess. I will be very happy when it is 7:15 and the boys are both in bed and I can just collapse. Of course, it’s not even noon which means I have a very long day ahead of me. Crap.
Month: November 2006
You Can Get Anything You Want at Alice’s Restaurant
Although I didn’t hear it at noon on Thanksgiving, I found “Alice’s Restaurant” on the radio and am currently listening to it. Thank goodness, because it just ain’t Thanksgiving without Arlo Guthrie. The version right now must be a more recent recording because of the stories he’s telling. I love it!
We had a nice turkey day up in Massachusetts. I didn’t stuff myself silly yet I enjoyed pretty much everything we had. The kids had fun playing, watching Over The Hedge, and being indulged 😉 I successfully dragged my brother out shopping yesterday, though it really wasn’t that early. We got to Circuit City around 8 I think. I was up at 4:30 (thanks to N.), so I was ready to go! In fact, I had already been to a couple other stores before he swung by to pick me up.
Originally the kids and I were going to stay until Saturday (D. left Thanksgiving night because he had to do some work on Friday), but I could tell that the boys were wearing my parents out, and after N. ripped up their wallpaper border when he was supposed to be napping I decided that it just might be best to head home last night. And thank goodness I did because our poor cat had mistakenly been closed up in our bedroom. The poor thing! She must have snuck in there before D. closed the door (to keep her out of the bedroom, ironically). She bounced back easily, though. Cats are like that.
Tomorrow I think we are going to attempt to get a photo of the boys with Santa. D. took them to the mall today (I’m working) and J. was nearly on the floor in tears because he couldn’t get his photo taken. I’m not sure how the little one is going to react, so this should be interesting…
Thanksgiving and Stuff
Man, this has been a crazy day. I’m working today, and as you can imagine it’s been rather crazy. Generally people have been in decent moods; not too snappy at least. From what I hear, though, Balducci’s (across the street) is an absolute madhouse. The day has gone by fast, at least.
So after work I’m heading up to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving weekend. And, just my luck, it’s crappy and raining out. Nothing like a 2+ hour drive in nasty weather. Luck is not on my side this year.
Yesterday I had a great time with Lisanne! Meredith is so tiny! And so sweet! J. absolutely adored her. It was cute to watch our boys all play together. What a difference a year makes! I remember having lunch at her house last December and Luke had started crawling and N. was starting to pull himself up. And yesterday they were running around the house, climbing on the table (OK, that was just my kid, ha! Luke has better manners). I made Loaded Baked Potato Egg Bake, a dish that my husband thinks I should rename because “bake” is in it twice. Whatever — he sure liked the leftovers, though! I just threw it together with things I had in my fridge. It was perfect because I prepped everything and put the dish together in the morning, put it in the fridge, and then baked it when it was lunchtime. Lisanne and I had a lovely visit, as always 🙂
I guess that’s about it. I feel like my blog is so boring these days! I really need to keep up with it a little more often. Man, I remember back in the day I’d write three or four posts a day; now if I write three or four posts a week I’m doing well.
Anyway, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving if you’re in the U.S.A. Don’t stuff yourselves, now 😉
Sandals!
Here it is, mid-November, and I am wearing sandals and a short sleeved shirt. I also have windows open in the house, how crazy is that? Truthfully, I could keep the windows shut, but I thought I’d take advantage of this warm weather and let some fresh air in. Usually, right about now I’m clammoring for light dustings of snow, but not this year for some reason. Actually, it could stay this way straight through March and I’d be fine with it. A mild winter could be nice for a change!
So it’s Friday and I’ve swept, mopped, done some laundry which I still need to fold and put away, and I’ve got some stuffed shells finishing up in the oven. I still have one more load of laundry to wash (it never ends!!!) and I’m debating how bad I need to run to the grocery store. Will N. freak out without his beloved apple juice tomorrow? I just really don’t feel like driving over there after I pick up J. from nursery school.
Thanksgiving is less than a week away, can you believe it? I am having a hard time getting into the spirit of things this year. I’m sure it’s mostly because I thought we’d be in a new house for Christmas and that’s obviously not going to happen. It’s so discouraging. I guess I’ll have to hope for Easter! I’m basically done with my Christmas shopping. OK, technically not everything is bought, but I know exactly what I need to buy, and I have a couple things I need to make. Sadly I guess I’ll miss out on Black Friday shopping this year because I have nothing I need to get. 🙁 I love going to the mall at 5 AM! (It’s the only time of year when hundreds of other people are up as early as me!). Oh well. I’m sure I’ll go shopping anyway just to be out. (Though I probably won’t be out at the crack of dawn).
Well, I have a little bit of time left while Noah finishes his nap, so I’m going to get a little knitting done (to hell with my laundry!).
Drat
I had to unravel my Irish Hiking Scarf. Maybe it’s for the best. I was looking through One Skein yesterday and I kind of like the Two Cable Scarf in there a little better. It’s very similar to the Irish Hiking Scarf except the cables aren’t continuous. I’ll look at it again later and decide. Argh.
Gorgeous Saturday
It’s hard to believe that it’s November! This gorgeous weather is fantastic. I hope it’s the harbinger of a mild winter; I’m just not ready for freezing cold weather this year. Anyway… I just realized that I never mentioned the show we saw on Sunday. How to Save the World…Â was really funny! For it being the second night of previews they had it together pretty well. There were a couple blips, and one of the actors was a little flat, overall it was great. Liberal, literary humor — what D. called “a real ‘New York’ show.” The theatre it’s in is pretty neat because it was formerly a movie theatre (that’s what it was when D. worked in Worldwide Plaza not all that long ago, actually!), so each theatre is now a stage and there are five shows going on at once. I love that idea! “Evil Dead: The Musical” is playing there as well, and call us crazy but we might go and see that too. I just have to see how they do it!
Prior to the show we had brunch at Joshua Tree over on Restaurant Row. D. had the breakfast burrito (he’s on a chorizo kick lately) and I had the Joshua Fritatta (eggs, artichokes, scallions, and potatoes topped with blue cheese). We ate and watched the winner of the New York Marathon cross the finish line (on TV), amazed that someone can run so far so fast! I always love going into the city and whenever we do we inevitably lament the fact that we never lived there when we could have. But you never know… Life’s a long time. Maybe someday we’ll sell everything and buy a small co-op. But still. It would have been cool to have done it in my 20s. Ah well.
I don’t even know what else went on this week. Just the same old stuff, I guess. Boys are good. J. I think has been overtired since the timechange. He’s waking up early and being a little mouthy. He slept in this morning, so hopefully that helped. N. is just… everywhere. Isn’t there this unwritten rule that if your first child is wild, you get a break with the next one? Yeah. No. Doesn’t happen. I think he might even be crazier than J. was at that age. Good thing he’s cute! He’s also starting to say words: Mama, Dadda, tea, hot, butter, water (“wawa”), and I know there’s one more but I can’t think of it right now. He certainly knows what he wants and he makes sure you know it, too. Oh, and I can’t sit on my rocker/recliner when he’s around. He pulls me off it and yells at me! I think we have a future director on our hands. Oh, and J. told me the other day that he wants to be a painter when he grows up. He wants to paint beautiful pictures for everyone, he said. Aww…. I knew I’d be raising some sensitive artistic types! 😉
What else… Knitting. I said screw it to the Feather & Fan Shawl. I picked it back up earlier this week and after a couple rows of fighting with the Lion Brand Homespun, I just wasn’t having it. I hate the yarn and I’m not going to knit something that I despise. So now, instead, I have a lovely seat cover. I have started the Irish Hiking Scarf and I’ve knit about seven inches. Who knew that cables were so easy? Seriously, they are just magical!
That’s about it, I guess. I am really loving the Regina Spektor CD I bought, by the way. It’s been ages since I found a new (or new-to-me) artist that really wow’ed me, but she is amazing! And cute! And the new G. Love is great, too. I’ve been playing it non-stop today. And in case you didn’t know, G. Love is also really cute. So let’s hear it for cute, talented musicians! Yay! (No surprise I married one, huh?) 😀
Have a fab weekend, peeps.
Garterlac Dishcloth
My SP9 hostess challenged us to knit a dishcloth and post it on our blogs, so here is mine, the Garterlac Dishcloth. I used Sugar & Cream cotton in the “Early American” ombre. Much easier than it looks!
Friday Misc.
Yay, I can finally update with a couple FOs! (If you’re a Flickr contact, you already saw these). My good friend Lisanne had her baby girl on Halloween (on her due date!) and I knitted the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting for her. Hopefully the baby will be able to wear it; it’s pretty small. (But you so quickly forget how tiny newborns are, so it probably will). I’m so thrilled for Lisanne and her family and I can’t wait to meet the new addition!
My parents are coming to visit tomorrow and spend the day with the boys. They’re kicking me out of the house, and who am I to complain? I am taking full advantage of their visit and I have an appointment for a haircut, plus I plan to do a little shopping, treat myself to a coffee or something, and basically have a nice day out. I’m going to send them home with my belated gift for my brother’s girlfriend.
Animal Kingdom, New York Style
Apparently it’s Nature Day in the lovely Hudson Valley. This morning there was a rafter of turkeys pecking around our front yard. (Clearly they don’t know that Thanksgiving is coming up; either that or they’re teasing me, which is entirely possible). I was able to take this photo through the window near our front door. If I had opened the door, I’m sure these guys would have run off in a flash!
Then, as I walked back to the kitchen I saw that one of our friendly deer had returned. (Those baby antlers are so cute!). I decided to put our carved pumpkin outside for the deer to eat. I mean, it’s only going to get gross inside, and since Halloween is over, they might as well enjoy it!
After that I realized that the gate window of the Jeep (the back window) was open and it had been raining all night, so I ran outside and put out the pumpkin for the deer and went down to the driveway to shut the window. What’s inside? (No, thank God it wasn’t a possum!) The neighbor’s cat! Argh! I chased it out, bemoaned the fact that now the stroller is wet, and closed it up. Oh well. At least I don’t need the stroller today anyway. But what is up with all the wildlife intruding on us? We live in a very rural area, but wow… somehow we’re attracting all things great and small lately. I wonder what will be next?