A day with my daughter

Once a week Carley and I spend the day together doing errands, shopping, and of course we get lunch out. As of this morning I still wasn't sure what we were going to do today. After the diet coke woke me up a little bit I decided we would go to a larger city to shop and do lunch. So I woke her up and then went to shower. She was kind of out of it and thought I wanted to leave right away so she slapped a little make-up on and threw some clothes on. Basically she sported the fresh rolled out of bed look. When you're young and cute you can get away with that stuff. When you're my age you better not try it or you'll scare the pants off of people.

Off we went to the mall where we ate and shopped for a couple of hours. On our way home I saw the sign pointing the way to the local college where she was accepted to. She hadn't yet toured the campus; she chose it because its closest and small. On a whim I decided to take the exit and see if we could get a tour, or if not, get an appointment to do so.

In the 25 years since I last set foot on the campus the school has really grown. So much so that it looked nothing like it used to. We also had trouble finding the admissions office. Eventually we happened upon a nice student who led us to where we needed to go. We walked in and asked if we could get or schedule an appointment for a tour. Eric, a student employee, jumped up from his desk and volunteered to do it.

The tour was good but like any tour I take with Carley I always have to giggle. She's oblivious to the boys who stop and stare or practically walk into things while checking her out. It amuses me. While on the tour Eric talked a LOT, and always to me which I thought was odd. Shouldn't he be talking to Carley if she's the student? After the tour Eric told us to speak with the vets office because I had questions about military benefits. Then he told us to stop back into the office so he could look up Carley's student ID number so she could get her ID printed while we were there.

When we stopped back to see Eric he gave her the card with her student ID information on it so we could get it printed at the security office. When Eric gave her the card he also slipped her a little note with his number on it (see picture below). Isn't that weird? He barely acknowledged her during the tour, speaking mostly to me. There's never a dull moment when I go out with Carley. Poor Eric, he isn't going to get a call or text, Carley already has a boyfriend.

Growing my own

I got lonesome for summer so I decided to grow some things indoors while I wait for better weather. In November I planted tomatoes and late last weekend I planted all these little lettuce plants. I'm hoping to sit down to a salad by spring.

Do you start seeds indoors for your spring planting?

Goodbye Steve Jr.

Steve's children are all tucked into bed and I'm sure both he and his wife are crying right now. Steve is set to leave for Afghanistan in a couple of hours. The photo below was taken on Sunday when I spoke with him last.

Update: just got off the phone with him again. He's got a really nice cold and can barely talk. He said he has plenty of NyQuil and will be passed out on the plane.

Tuesday snooze day

Today is probably going to be one of those rough days. Steve and I got very little sleep last night. We were on the phone with Casey from midnight until about 3am. Since this is a public blog I can't really go into detail at the moment. However I will say that we are teetering on the verge of our prayers being answered. If you pray, will you lift her up in prayer and ask that God will give her strength and direction? Also a lot of tips at her work to help her out. Thank you.

Domesticated bliss yesterday looks like a gigantic domesticated hangover today. My kitchen is a disaster despite the fact that I ran the dishwasher twice yesterday. I'll probably have to fill it twice again today and run the floor scrubber just to make the kitchen look semi normal. How can three people make that much mess?

This past weekend Steve jr sent a photo of our grandson, Jack (below). They enrolled him in hockey and soccer to wear him out a little bit. He's high energy and, with his dad leaving for Afghanistan soon, he needs an outlet other than rough housing with his dad. My husband and son are THRILLED that Jack is the third generation to play hockey. It's always been Steve sr's dream to one day play hockey with all his grand kids. When jack was on the phone I asked him if he enjoyed hockey and he said yes, but he likes soccer more. Both Steve's winced at that answer. Lol

This cold weather is making me really glad I knitted myself some fingerless mittens this past summer. Brr! It's cold in the house.

Last Saturday Steve and I went to our towns chamber of commerce banquet. He joined the chamber of commerce soon after taking his job in late March but hadn't been to one meeting yet. So the banquet seemed like a good idea to dive in and start getting involved in our community. I'm glad we went, he made some business contacts, and I met some people that I might be able to get involved with in charities. Yea! That's what I wanted, to find charities and actually meet people. Mid way through the business meeting portion, they had a drawing for about 40 different gifts from area businesses. Stuff like oil changes, gift certificates, quilts, pies, etc. wouldn't you know it, I won a pizza gift certificate and a t-shirt for the business. Figures huh? I can't eat that stuff, Steve doesn't care for pizza, and Carley can't eat it either. So I asked Steve to take the certificate to work and give it to someone deserving. It will be a nice night off from cooking for someone.

Now I'm off to go clean the kitchen hangover and pack my bags. I'm standing by just in case I need to run to Ohio for an extended stay. Have a wonderful, productive day everyone.

Domesticated

This week is starting off a lot more productive than last week when it comes to finishing projects. So far today I finished three scarves. One is in the previous post and the other two are in this post. The black and white one is just scrap yarn that I made for myself. The black and silver one is for Michelle, my childhood friend. It's made with Starbella Flash yarn, Starry.

I like the silver thread running through The Starbella yarn. As I was making it I couldn't help but think how cute that yarn would look as a skirt on Evy. Only not quite that ruffled. I have some yarn left over that I might play with another day. Too many projects to finish before I start something else.

In between the projects I finished today I also made chicken chili, banana bread, and a loaf of white bread. (Im not eating the breads) This cold weather has turned me even more domestic than usual. Tomorrow it's supposed to be even colder so I'll probably be doing more of the same.

Stay warm everyone.

What do you think?

I made this scarf for a friend of mine. I hate the colors, a lot. But she picked them because the yarn is sparkly and she wanted bright sparkly color to perk up her wardrobe. When I finished the scarf I thought it lacked something so I made a removable flower that she could use to change the look of the scarf. Do you think the flower is weird? Should I make something else for the scarf or just give her the scarf plain without anything?

Potato chip scarf

My quest to get unfinished projects done this week didn't exactly go like I planned. It's fricken cold here and I wanted a new scarf, so I made me a priority. I couldn't find the original link for the potato chip scarf but I did find this one : http://www.myjourneywithyarnandbeyond.com/2010/05/potatochip-scarf.html?m=1
It's the exact same pattern that I made. This is a great beginner project.

Baby it's cold outside

Brr its cold outside today. I almost never turn in the fireplace but i just couldn't warm up. The moment Zipper saw the flames he sauntered over and parked himself in front of the fire. Guess he was as cold as I was. Hope it warns up soon.

K1, P1, Dog 3

Every time I get the yarn out Zipper is right there (sometimes less than patiently) waiting for what I'm making to get long enough to cover him.

Chit chat

Have you seen the new reality show, Buckwild yet? It's way better than the idiots on Jersey Shore. These people don't gym tan or do laundry. Well okay they probably do laundry but most likely they throw on their clothes and jump into a river to get them clean. The show is stupid but its entertaining.

This week I'm trying to finish up knit and crochet projects that I started and closeted. The pink baby blanket is one of those projects. I think I started it in November but had to set it aside for other projects to get done in time for Christmas. The ugly pink blanket is done and I still have 11 balls of ugly pink yarn left. This was supposed to be the project that got rid of that stuff.

I'm not sure what projects I'll work on tomorrow. I still have 2 unfinished afghans (1 for me & 1 for charity), 3 dresses for Evy, a rug, and 1 scarf for a friend that are all on hooks. I might rip one of evys dresses out and ball it back up because I'm not liking how it looks. I also have yarn in the closet for projects that I wanted to start but didn't find the time.

My son is back to his limited contact again. It was his birthday yesterday. I wrote on his Facebook wall at exactly midnight and he ignored it. Sent him a text when I knew he'd be awake and got a one word reply. No thank you for the gift card we sent him last week. No thanks for sending him his childhood scrapbook today either. Guess he didn't appreciate it? If I didn't put tracking numbers on things I'd never know he got them.

Scarf for Carley

This weekend I took Carley with me to the yarn store. I wasn't planning on making her anything but she fell in love with this yarn. It's by Bernet called, Really BIG. I made the pattern on the back of the label, just a simple knit 1, purl 1. I'm not especially fond of the finished product but she's happy with it. I guess that's all that counts.

Celebration Cupcakes

Carley's boyfriend, John graduated from high school today.  He should have graduated last spring but he missed a lot of days in his high school career due to Crohn's disease.  Better late than never. His family is taking everyone in their family, including Carley, out to dinner tonight to celebrate.  Carley decided the celebration was worthy of cupcakes.

Carley is not a natural in the kitchen.  She's impatient and usually burns things.  She also doesn't follow recipes very well.  For that matter, she doesn't listen to me very well either.  As a result she has never baked anything without burning it or having it turn into a total flop.  Even stuff as easy as cupcakes.

John's school colors are green and white so she wanted to make ombre cupcakes.  Where'd she get the idea?  My mom.  One time a couple of years ago my mom made her grand-girls rainbow colored cupcakes and she just thought that was the coolest thing ever.  Never mind my mom is one of the worlds best desert makers of all time (besides my daughter Casey), she decided she could do this.  I cringed knowing her baking capabilities.

I made her follow the recipe to the letter.  She did good.  Next she mixed up the batter with food coloring.  Surprisingly she did fine other than she ended up coloring her hands green in the process.  Baking was a little tricky because she forgot to set the timer.  See why she burns things?  A few of the cupcakes were a tad overdone but would pass.  As you can see she did okay with the decorating.

Each cupcake has a letter, plus two spacers... Congrats John 2013.  She didn't have enough cupcakes to make the word Congratulations.

Big help

Some people have a monster under their bed, I have a monster in mine. Zipper thinks he's such a big help with the sheet changing chore.

Need a couple of recipe ideas

Next month we have been invited to a family event to celebrate an anniversary. It's a potluck with the main course being lasagna. Sigh. I've come to terms that neither Carley or I will be able to eat that, or most likely any of the other dishes that will be brought to the meal. Both of my sisters in law always put cheese and pasta into things. This is how the Christmas meal went too, the only thing Carley could eat there was the turkey and bagged salad. I had some cheesy potatoes on top of those two choices because I can have dairy.

Back to the subject at hand... I'm looking for a dairy free, gluten free Italian dish that I can take. Being that we live an hour away it will be hard to keep warm unless it travels well or it's in a crockpot. Any ideas?

Oh and just so you know I can't find dairy free alternatives here like cheese.

Hello, hello!

Evy's talking into the remote today but yesterday she was talking on the phone with me. She's old enough now that she's recognizing my voice. She must miss me as much as I miss her because her mom said she gave me three kisses through the phone yesterday. Gosh I miss her sloppy little open mouth kisses on my cheek. <3

Cantina bowl review

Carley had the day off today so we decided to get some errands done. Lunch is of course part of the errand routine. Because of both of our allergy issues and our New Years resolution to stop eating what we are allergic to, our out to eat choices have shrunk dramatically. We finally settled on Taco Bell despite the fact that I think most of their food is kind of crappy (she loves it though). Carley ordered food without cheese on it and I ordered the new-ish cantina bowl. It's been out for a while but I almost never eat there. I chose the cantina bowl because its supposed to taste similar to Chipotle, who's food I LOVE. Let it be known that the cantina bowl is no where near as good as Chipotle. In fact it's typical Taco Bell food...it sucks. Eating the slop made me long for Chipotle all the more. Sigh.

An observation

For years now I've been looking, I mean really looking, at people's features. Most notably, the eyes. Normally you notice the beauty in people's eyes, or the sadness. Of course I see those things, but I also see how very uneven people's eyes are. My own eyes are of a different height from each other. If you're not overy observe you'd probably never notice. But I notice. I also notice every single person on tv who has uneven eyes, especially a local news person. Her eyes are so uneven that she looks like one of Picasso's paintings. That led me to think about Picasso himself. His paintings are famous for uneven features. Back in my high school days I remember my art teacher joking that he was probably high when he painted the uneven features. Looking back at the art teacher, whom I never respected because I thought she was an idiot, I know know she truly is an idiot. Picasso was really just painting an exaggeration of what he saw on people's faces, uneven features.

Next time you turn on the news or watch a reality show look carefully at the alignment of the eyes. They truly are fascinating.

Bonnet

I was getting restless last night and needed something to do so I dug out some yarn and made a bonnet for Evy. It's hard to tell the color in the photo but its a dusty colored pink. It's Caron Simply Soft, in Victorian rose. I love the simply soft yarn because it feels so good, has a nice sheen, and comes in lovely colors.

The pattern I chose is free and can be found here:

http://crochetlatte.com/2012/07/06/apricot-baby-bonnet-free-pattern/

Finally!

We have soy yogurt. It's a little thinner than what I like(I prefer Greek), but it's yogurt. Unfortunately the person whom the yogurt is for has deemed this, "yucky!" Sigh. She's used to stuff you get in the store that has fruit in and it's sweetened. I told her to put some fruit and honey in it and she refused saying it tasted like sour old milk. I got a spoon out and tried it for myself, it tastes like any other unsweetened yogurt you buy in the store. I put a little honey in it and it tasted fine. I kind of think the cold she has is affecting her tastebuds.

So what made this batch different from the others? Surprisingly not a whole lot. The first time I heated the almond milk and I think I may have heated it a little too much. The second try I left the almond milk out on the cupboard until it was room temperature. This time I used soy milk and put it on the cupboard to get to room temperature. However I'm impatient and didn't want to wait so I put the milk next to my crockpot that was cooking something on high so the milk would get to room temperature faster.

Call me crazy

But... I'm going to give milk alternative yogurt another try. Since almond milk was a big flop I decided to try organic soy milk. Keep your fingers crossed. The yogurt should be done late tonight.