~The Thanksgiving Aftermath~

This is a post of various subjects - bear with me ok? lol We survived Thanksgiving! Sent TONS of leftovers home with the relatives and have TONS left! That would be the Italian in me I assume! I am totally incapable of making a reasonable amount of food, there is always enough for another large family to pop in and join us. It is TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, RIDICULOUSLY COLD outside! New England weather is NUTS, it's in the 50's one day and teens/twenties the next! I HATE being cold - and I'm cold! lol That is my whining quota for the day. I took Em to the dr's Tuesday night to have a throat culture - she kept telling me she felt like she had a lump in her throat, and since she exhibits NO symptoms when she gets Strep, I thought that testing her would be a good idea. The rapid test came back negative and the doctor on duty said he was almost 100% sure she just had a virus, sooooooooo, everyone came for Thanksgiving, including my mother who is dying of lung disease, and I got a call LATE Friday afternoon telling me that she does indeed have strep! UGH! I really, really should know better. We are all getting colds or whatever (hopefully not strep ;)), so we hung out and watched a movie yesterday and didn't do too much of anything! It was WONDERFUL! Today, I'm off to check out those Sleep Number beds. I have such a horrible back and we are in desperate need of a new bed, so we are going to check them out. We have a few friends that have them and they swear by them for comfort. They are WAY more than I'd like to spend, but come with a 20 year warranty so we'll see. Then tonight my cousin, who is visiting from Ohio, is taking us all out to dinner - YAY! I love not having to cook. I did promise him lasagna before he leaves Tuesday, so I'll be putting that together today or tomorrow. I'll be driving Matt back to college tomorrow - I can NOT believe he has been home for more than a week already. Time just flies by - it's amazing. Did any of you go shopping the day after Thanksgiving? I did it once a long time ago when Matt was very young - but no more. I have a lot of friends that love it. They had some horrible stories on the news about people being trampled, fights breaking out and a woman who had purchased an XBox was followed home and robbed at gunpoint when she got out of her car! The world has gone completely INSANE! Update: It is now Sunday, and I never posted this yesterday (bad, bad blogger!) . We purchased a bed - I can't wait for it to arrive. My poor Em was up most of the night last night with a stomach ache (I'm assuming from the medicine) and I am now off to make lasagna and then head up to Vermont. I'll be back VERY late tonight and then off to work tomorrow! Have a wonderful Sunday! Cath

~Happy Thanksgiving~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING I would like to wish all of you, and your families a very happy, safe, peaceful day. It is snowing here - weather people are STILL predicting a "dusting to an inch", we have at least two inches out there and it is still coming down! lol Beau saw his FIRST snow this morning, it was fun to watch, my kids are growing, but I can still watch the puppy's "firsts" :) Well, I'm off to put the turkey in the oven and make myself presentable! Have a wonderful day! Cath

~ I Am Weak ~ but happy ;) ~

First I'd like to apologize for forgetting to post the recipe (previous post) for the Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares! I meant to do that last week - I hope you enjoy them - let me know what you think - I love feedback. Did anyone try the cookies? I went to my conference on Friday - had a lovely lunch and on my way home I found myself detoured to my LYS. I am weak, I know, but I "needed" some more Cascade 220 - I know you can't see the color on the right very well, but it is a gorgeous plum color. While walking around, looking, touching and enjoying the peace of a cozy yarn store I came across the Queensland Collection Llama Seta/Alpaca and Silk - what wonderful yarn! It is so incredibly soft that I had to have it. I think it will be some fingerless mitts for me :) It looks very glittery in the picture but I don't see that AT ALL when I hold it up in front of me.. hmmmmmmmmmmmm. It will be wonderful to see how it works up. The tweedy yarn in the front is Roller - from Italy. I've never worked with it before, I'm not sure what I'll do with it, I just loved it and it was on clearance - clearance works for me! lol I still haven't had much knitting time. My day yesterday was consummed with cleaning, making shopping lists and I ended up washing all the curtains in my house! That was something that needed done, but I had no intention of doing it yesterday! I feel better knowing they are clean anyway. I'd love to get the girl's comforters washed also, but I will refrain from tackling that right now. I have a HUGE BJ's list and grocery store list - my dh told me that he would go to BJ's for me while I went to the grocery store. THAT will be an enormous help to me as my back is still not right at all :( I'll be back at the chiropractor tomorrow or Wednesday. My Dad's birthday is Tuesday, but I have so many appointments Tuesday that I think I will attempt to have his birthday dinner and cake today! The best thing that has happened to me in the last few days is that my son came home from college! I just LOVE having all my kids here! My daughters are absolutely thrilled to have him here, they now have their video game playmate back, they have someone to horse around with and they even SOMEHOW talked him into taking them to buy sneakers!!!!!!!!!! lol What a softie! He saved me from walking around with a ladder yesterday - he cleaned all the ceiling fans and helped me rehang all the curtains! YAY We had a visit from my cousin Chris and my 90 year old Aunt (she's my favorite... shhhhhhhhhh) - they have come to my house for holiday dinners since I got married 19 years ago and hadn't planned on coming this year. I DO believe they have changed their minds and will be coming Thursday along with Chris' brother, wife and two kids! The more the merrier - and since I have no concept of how to cook for a small group of people, (must be the Italian in me?) it will work to my advantage! Well, the girls are at CCD, Matt is sleeping, the hubby took Beau to play with his cousin Mack (a Brittany) and I have a head full of hair color - timer is buzzing - I need to get a move on! Have a wonderful Sunday! Cath I debated whether or not to post about this, but I am a firm believer in the power of prayer... that being said, I would like to ask all of you that are so inclined to PLEASE pray for a very good friend of mine. She is 30 years old and has had more tragedy in her young life than anyone should EVER have to deal with. To add to all of her past and recent tragedies, she has been diagnosed with cancer - my heart is breaking for her. She is a lovely person with a big heart, her name is Jenn.

~Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares~

1 cup crushed graham crackers 3 tbs sugar 1 tbs flour ¼ cup margarine, melted 1 cup canned pumpkin 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened ½ cup sugar 1/3 cup skim milk 1 egg 1 tbsp flour 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice OR ( ¾ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ tsp ginger and ¼ tsp nutmeg) 1 tsp vanilla Spray an 8x8x2 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray – set pan aside. In a mixing bowl combine the crushed graham crackers, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbs flour, and melted margarine. Press mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. In a mixing bowl combine the pumpkin and the cream cheese. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add ½ cup sugar, milk, egg, 1 tbsp flour, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Pour over baked crust. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until filling is set. Cool thoroughly in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. Store any leftovers in refrigerator. Makes 16 servings. 118 Calories per serving

~Baking, Shopping, Cleaning! Oh My!~

Not much knitting news to report. I have worked up one of the little bear's arms, but haven't managed much more than that. We have had to "be somewhere" every night this week and it is catching up to me and the house. Also, reality has finally caught up with me and I now realize that pretending that a holiday is not looming just around the corner DOESN'T CHANGE the fact that IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no baking, shopping, cleaning done - my son is coming home from college tomorrow, my cousin is coming from Ohio Monday night to stay for a week, (which I will be very happy about once I get some stuff done), Thanksgiving is at my house (as are all the holidays) and I have to go to a conference tomorrow that I just found out about two days ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On top of all of this, I have a puppy that is in COMPLETE AND TOTAL denial about WHO IS IN CHARGE! I love this little guy with all of my heart, but after sadly losing two dogs in 3 years, I would have preferred a "cuddler" instead of a challenge. Don't mind me - - - - I just yanked his head out of the KITTY LITTER BOX - I am still grossed out! You'd think that working in a Pre-k through 8 school would have minimized my gross out factor, but NO IT HAS NOT! The wonderful trainer came Tuesday night and Beau was on his VERY BEST behavior while he was here. When he left, the dog went nuts.......... remember when you were in middle school and the teacher left the room and the SUBSTITUTE came in????????? Do ya? you know - spit balls flying, tacks on the chair, paper airplanes with paper clip noses soaring through the air and getting stuck in someone's hair, chunks of eraser being slingshot by rubber bands across the room???????? Phew..... that was some kind of flash back! Anyhow, that is what this dog was like Tuesday. The teacher went home and Beau was left with the substitutes and he was a slingshot! I bet one of those Funny Video Shows would have paid big bucks to have seen this! For those of you who have very kindly followed the Emily story - she is doing well in her new classes, seems to be upbeat, albeit a bit overwhelmed at times in math - 44 Algebra problems for homework last night. Her big sister sat with her for the last hour of the homework, checking it and making sure she understood what she was doing, and Em stayed after school with the math teacher today. He seems to be pleased and confident that she will be ok in the class. I'll keep praying anyway ;) Off to bed to prepare for another fun Friday :) Cath

~Fickle~

In my very first post for this blog, I mentioned that I sometimes have a short attention span when it comes to projects - - - that I can be fickle - and that my projects are often random. Well, I haven't changed much since then! lol If you remember, I had planned on finishing the circular throw (among other things). Well a certain someone told me what a WONDERFUL pillow this would make and how MUCH they would LOVE to have such a WONDERFUL pillow - what a WONDERFUL surprise it would be ..... you getting the idea? Soooooo.... MY circular throw is a PILLOW! I now need to start ANOTHER one for me. I have also recently mentioned that I was casting on my fingerless gloves, yup I did, and wanna know how far I've come along on those? they are CAST ON! So in light of all of this, I left my cast on fingerless gloves, my not yet cast on Fuzzy Feet, my now non-existent circular throw and my bottomless babe and made THIS, actually TWO of them (bodies that is, they are not finished..... naturally ;))! I made the one on the left first - it was some kind of fuzzy yarn that got really fuzzy where the dpn's changed - not sure I like the striped look. So I had some of this loopy yarn (I think they were both Reynolds - I got them at the warehouse last year for mittens), but I don't know what the name is. I am enjoying making this little guy as it moves along quickly - I made both bodies in less than an hour and I'm not a superfast knitter by any stretch of the imagination. So there you have it, I am fickle! Now for a quick note..... I just thought I'd let whoever happens upon this blog know that Lisa has started a Knit-a-long called "Naked Stix by 2006" to finish up all the WIP's we all have going - - which means it's time for me to take stock and start counting! ugh!. Check it out if you have time! Also, after two days of tears and talking with us, her wonderful Guidance Councelor and a few kids from the Honors group, Em made the decision to move. I'm very proud of her for weighing the pro's and con's and for taking such a huge step in conquering her fears. I think a lot of growing up was done in the last few days. I certainly wouldn't want to be her age again! I'm off to take a nice hot shower as the dog trainer came tonight and I'm tired and sore. Our Beau is a very "confident" dog - which in my language would be a completely different word ;) Have a great night! Cath

~My Favorite Things~

When I finished writing this post, I noticed that it "topic jumped" a couple of times - sorry :( I guess I'm a bit disjointed today! lol note: most of the images in this post are thumbnails - feel free to click on them for a better look I finished the babe and her sweater (shhhhhhhhhhh don't let on that she's bottomless!) I haven't decided what I want to make - maybe some little jeans? a skirt? I'll have to do some thinking on this one. I very much enjoyed making this doll, although all the patterns in the book are for flat knitting. I received a LOT of good tips when I asked about converting flat knitting to circular, so I will be making my next doll in the round on dpn's. I'm not a huge fan of a LOT of purling and I'd rather not seam if I don't have to, so this ought to make things move along better. I made this doll as a test. My daughters LOVE her, so I guess I know what will be in their stockings for Christmas - I best get knitting. The sweater was very easy to make, I did do this in the round until I got to the arm holes. I wasn't sure how to approach that part as it was my VERY FIRST sweater! I will make the next sweater with chunkier yarn and bigger needles for the quick knit factor. Fun project. Any ideas for names????????????? ********************************************** Yesterday, Lolly shared her collection of Pomegranates and asked what others collect. Well, I thought I'd share (just in case anyone was interested ;)). I've put a couple of pictures of a VERY SMALL portion of my collection - too embarrased to show more ;) When I was a little girl, I loved to watch the PBS Animal shows - ALL of them. I remember seeing a show on Panda Bears and immediately fell in love with them. When I was young, I loved them for the "cuddly" factor, as I grew I realized that these beautiful creatures were in some serious danger of being wiped off the face of the earth. That touched my heart and peaked my interest even more. I've learned over the years that the Panda was considered to be a gentle animal and became a symbol of peace. The Panda continues to be a symbol of peace which is why China has given so many countries the Giant Panda as a gesture of peace. In the second century the Panda was believed to have mystical powers capable of warding off natural disasters and evil spirits. By the 19th century, the Panda pelt was believed to repel plague and tumors among other things. These beautiful animals are loosing ground, as they are competing with farmers who farm river valleys and mountains where they live and feed. Chinese experts estimate that there are no more than 1000 panda's in the wild. The healthy adult panda only has one real enemy.... man. On the black market, a poacher could ask $100,000 - $250,000 for an adult pelt. The punishment for this crime is life in prison or the death penalty if the poacher is caught by the Chinese Government. The old, young and weak pandas may be attacked by leopards or wild dogs. The bamboo rat poses a threat due to the fact that they eat the roots of the bamboo plants, which the panda consumes about 40 pounds of a day, therefore killing the plant and the panda's food supply. There are ten preserves set aside in China to protect this docile, rather unaggressive animal. The panda is also the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund. Ok, now that I've given you some facts on the Panda - I collect them because they make me SMILE! :) I had quite a lot of beautiful china panda's, signed collectibles - my dh knocked this shelf down two years in a row while decorating the Christmas Tree, smashing my lovelies on the cast-iron baseboards :( . Sad, but true. *********************************************** I'd like to ask all of you that read my previous post regarding my Em and her class. She has been in tears all evening about this big change in her life, and although I told her that it is ultimately her decision I am PRAYING that she chooses the move. It is so very tough to be 13 and worried about coming into an already established group of kids, wondering if you will be well received/fit in that I wouldn't dream of MAKING her do this. I know that she KNOWS it would be in her best interest to switch, but the social aspect is frightening. Please keep her in your thoughts tomorrow and pray for the best. I wish you all a pleasant Monday. Cath

~Never a dull moment~

It's been one of those CRAZY weeks :) You probably know how that works, there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that needs getting done, and yet it was a week that wouldn't end?! Monday, at the last minute, my two youngest daughters were asked by their softball coach, to fill in at a game for two missing kids. They don't officially play this indoor session because most of the games are on Sunday morning when they have CCD, so they were thrilled to go. At the same time they were called for this, my oldest daughter called to tell me she had a flat tire. Thankfully I had used the crockpot and we at least had food to eat when everyone finally landed! Tuesday we had the dog trainer come for the first time to help us get our little Beau into shape before he weighs 100 pounds! lol. This man was wonderful! He trains service dogs full time and does some private training on the side. We shall see how it goes. Wednesday my little Beau had to go to the vet for two ear infections - poor little guy - which brings us to yesterday! Yesterday was teacher conference day - I switched my day off from Wednesday to Thursday so that I could take care of visiting my three daughter's teachers during the day. (My son is in college - one down!) I didn't anticipate any curve balls as all three of them had A's with maybe 2 B's between the three of them. My oldest daughter is one of those all honors class kids, with a double science who gets all A's and 1 B - I'm very proud of her and somewhat in awe of how much she can manage to do and keep those grades. She's a sports nut, JV Basketball until this year, Varsity Field Hockey and Softball, she coaches two Jr. Division teams and plays on a travel team, along with all of her community service for Honor Society - now she has a job. She makes me incredibly tired! My other two are in Middle school. The youngest had A's and the teacher visits were uneventful. Bring on Em, my 8th grader....... she is in a group (our middle school system has "Team Teaching" and groups) of talkers - excessive talkers from what I've been told, you know the kind of class that talks over the teacher and doesn't seem to care what kind of punishment they bring down on the whole class? There is also a new teacher in the mix who hasn't figured out quite how to control those kids, so the first couple of months have been a challenge for all involved. The first teacher I visited, told me that *"Em is a great kid, quiet and a hard worker", then came the words that set the ball, I had yet to see, in motion...... "I may be hated by the administration for this, but get her out of this group, she's drowning! she does NOT belong in this group"*. HUH? Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay, well I thanked her very much for her much appreciated, if not DELAYED input,....... off to the next teacher.... repeat between ** I won't bore you with all of the conversations, but it was more of the same and my head was spinning. After I saw the last teacher, I was sent to the guidance office. It turns out that Em's name had been brought up a couple of times by this team of teachers regarding moving her - - - - and no one called me????? (I found that to be more than a little disturbing). To make this already incredibly long (and hopefully not too boring) story short, I came home (at the urging of Mrs. C (the guidance woman) and discussed all of this with Em. I brought her in to speak with Mrs. C and it looks like she will be moving into the honors class on Monday. The teachers all went to great lengths to explain to her that this move will be tough on her, and that she most likely won't have all of the A's on her report card next term, but they felt it to be for the best. I anticipate this being a good move for her, but I am concerned for her math. She will be moving from a pre-Algebra class to an Algebra class (note - I HATE algebra - when they threw letters in with my numbers and told me to "find y" - I FREAKED OUT! - we had a teacher shortage when I was younger and we were split up a lot, maybe that has something to do with it, but that is a story for another day........ or not ;)) - the teachers are all willing to help her catch up and her older sister has offered to help her also. This ought to be an incredibly tough few weeks for all involved, but hopefully better in the long run for my "quiet child". There is NEVER a dull moment. On the knitting front...... knitting? what knitting? I WANT TO KNIT! I had a few minutes here and there to work on my "Babe's" sweater, but that isn't finished, the fuzzy feet aren't even cast on yet (by the way, does anyone know if Lopi is any good for those? does it soften up after it is felted?), and the fingerless gloves are only a cast on. Today is most likely a bust in the knitting department, but I will bring it with me to the dentist office with the girls - just in case. There is something to be excited about..... The heat will be going into my bedroom today - seeing as though it has been getting down into the 20's and 30's at night - I find this to be cause for celebration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Warmth! at night!! WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO! My dh put a new floor in our bedroom last spring, plastered the walls, put in new windows, etc. etc. and pulled out the last radiator in our house. The rest of the house has cast iron baseboards (which are not only very heavy, but very expensive), so he has procrastinated in putting in the heat. Well, today is the day and I couldn't be happier! For those of you that were interested, I'll post the Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares recipe tonight or tomorrow. Since there is no new knitting to show you, I'll leave you with another quizzilla...... You are bamboo. Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world! What kind of knitting needles are you? brought to you by Quizilla Our friend, the heating guy, is here - YAY gotta run! Cath

~What a Babe~ ;)

I've been a knitting fool the last couple of days, probably because that's all I've been up for :( I'm sick AGAIN! Stomach is fine, throat, ears and body are not happy now! I'm hoping that this will take care of it for the winter ;) We shall see! For now, I have my liquids and my needles - Yesterday I watched The Thorn Birds (I get sucked in every time it's on and sit there for the WHOLE 5 or 6 hours that it's on), after that was over at 11, I channel surfed and came across Shakespeare in Love and watched that until 1. I was in the process of knitting the Knitted Babes doll (see above) a sweater (the sweater has grown since I took that picture) - which I frogged THREE TIMES! it wasn't coming out the right size - - swatch you say? I was going to swatch, but the sweater is the size of a swatch so I figured I'd just get on with it. I ended up changing yarns and knitting the sweater in the round (thanks to all of the wonderful people who have given me all of their tips and tricks regarding converting flat to round). The doll's sweater is being knit in Austermann's Elaine in that lovely mauve color- it is wonderful yarn - so incredibly soft and easy to knit, although frogging would be pretty much out of the question. I'm enjoying this yarn so much that I think I might have to make a pair of fingerless gloves with it. I have some more in a lovely rich blue and also lavendar.I'm enjoying making the dolls very much, they are quick and easy, great mindless knitting that will make wonderful gifts. I'm very much looking forward to casting on for my fingerless gloves - maybe tomorrow night. Although, the "Babe" could use some features and hair don't ya think? lol Now on to a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Do any of you notice anything different about the 6 balls of yarn in the picture below? hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? (feel free to click on the thumbnail for a closer look) I used the ball winder yesterday to wind up some of the Caron's Simply Soft ( a gift) that I figure I can use to make a few more dolls and possibly accessories. I had to rewind the white and black twice because the balls are HUGE and kept getting caught on the tension arm of the winder. I'm grateful for any extra yarn, but totally perplexed that the same size skeins are so different in yardage. Some are very large and some are medium and none of them are the same! Oh well, my rant for the day - I think I've been in the house too long ;) I'm off to watch Under the Tuscan Sun with my oldest daughter - enjoy the rest of your evening and have a good Monday! Cath

~MeMe and more Me? lol~

Since I haven't accomplished too much knitting since my stomach decided to revolt, I thought I'd share my cross stitch beaded turkey! I LOVE this little guy - I made him a few years ago and he makes me smile! On the knitting front, I was just about done with my doll legs, when I realized that I made them the same width as the arms - being out of my mind - I FROGGED them - so the doll isn't finished yet :( I do feel better than I did yesterday, although I ended up at the chiropractor today. I did something awful to my back - probably yesterday hanging out of my car door on my way home from the dentist. Wednesday is my "work from home" day and, needless to say, it wasn't very productive, but I will hopefully be heading off to work tomorrow -- I feel terribly guilty when I'm home sick. Here is the pattern I was looking for yesterday that, thankfully, emerged from the black hole - now I can get going on these lovely things and maybe convince myself that I'm worthy of keeping something for myself! lol I almost always give away what I make, but my hands have been so cold lately that I might just manage to hang on to these. I was gifted with this skein of Patons Divine, I'm thinking I might give it a try on the gloves. Do any of you have any thoughts on this yarn? It is very soft, but has Mohair in it, I'm assuming I should attempt not to make mistakes as frogging may be a bit difficult. I also always rewind my yarn with the ball winder - does anyone know if doing that will cause problems with this yarn? Yesterday, Karen tagged me with my first meme! Thanks Karen! (l0l) all that thinking took my mind off of my stomach woes! I apologize if the answers aren't as detailed as they should be, but here we go........ What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with? Knitting with cashmere is my favorite – I love the feel and the way it just glides over the needles. I also like picking out sock yarns - Swizzle and Trekking have been favorites. I have just ordered some Knit Picks to try out. Your favorite needles? I absolutely love using bamboo, they are so comfortable to hold – for circulars, I use my Denise needles whenever possible. My only wish is that they came in sizes under 5. If I can use dpn’s (usually bamboo) for under size 5’s, I do. The worst thing you've ever knit? I made some mittens when I first started and they were a horror! Two different sizes, uneven stitches and the thumb was way too tight! Your most favorite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it . . .but it was the most fun to knit) The lace or ribbed Artist’s Gloves (fingerless) are my favorite – especially when knit with cashmere! I was in a panic the other day because I couldn't find the pattern - I found it this morning :) Most valuable knitting technique? I don’t know that I can pick a “most” valuable – it varies depending upon what I’m making. I LOVED learning dpn’s (I taught myself), turning heels, short rows, ssk’s and m1’s. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, that’s WAY more than 1 - sorry :) Best knit book or magazine? The book that helped me the most when I first started venturing past plain dishcloths was Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti. On the pattern front, the knitter’s handy book of Patterns by Ann Budd is great, it is very helpful in adjusting patterns for different sizes. Your favorite Knit-A-Long? Socktoberfest has been fun and I’ve joined the Knitted Babes Knit-A-Long which will run indefinately – I love those dolls. Your favorite knitblogs? I have so so many favorites, but I never miss the Yarn Harlot, she can make me cry and laugh in just a couple of paragraphs. She is just as wonderful in person! Lolly Knitting Around, Continue in Kind, Poor Miss Finch and bits of knits are others I very much enjoy. Goodness! there are just too many! lol Your favorite knitwear designer? I really like Melanie Falick’s books – my daughter’s have enjoyed looking through the Kids Knitting and one of my girls actually knits! I also like a lot of the patterns in her new handknit Holidays book! The knit item you wear the most? My superwarm, double thick socks! I love to knit them and I LOVE wearing them! I usually use Karen Baumer’s pattern. It was the pattern I learned to knit socks with and I still like knitting it. That's about it for today. Do I need to tag someone now with this meme? Have a great night! Cath

~Who needs a stomach anyway?~

Goodbye October and Halloween (that's little Beau with a Halloween Bandana and a Glow Necklace for his First Halloween! along with my two youngest in their matching sweaters!) and Welcome and Turkey day ;) I can't believe November is here already! Wow! I better start thinking about Christmas gifts. This is going to be a short post as my ENTIRE digestive tract is staging a revolt against me, and my body hurts so badly that I feel like I have been run over, repeatedly, by a HUGE truck. Working in a Pre-K through 8 school, this is to be expected I suppose, but it still surprises me every time it happens! Also, being the "optimistic" person that I usually am, I got up this morning sick - convinced myself that it would pass after a nice hot shower etc.... I took the shower - "it" hadn't passed - I called to postpone my dentist appointment, was given a HUGE guilt trip about it, so I decided to go - I went and...... guess what???..... "IT" got worse! Needless to say, after pulling over on the highway twice on my way home because of "it" - I am here in my house, in my sweats, talking to you lovely people and hoping that "it" will leave SOON before all of my kids get "it". oiy! If I can manage to keep myself upright, I will work on my doll some more - I'd like to cast on my fingerless gloves, IF I can locate the pattern (that I'm SURE I put in a "safe" place so I wouldn't "lose" it!!!!!!!! I really hate my logic sometimes - you would think I would KNOW that when I put things away "safely" they go into the black hole in my house, NEVER to emerge again! --------- how come we can't lose the things we could care less about? hmmmmmmmmmm? I'm sure things will look better when I don't feel quite so AWFUL, and hey it could be worse.... my husband could be sick!! ;) ;) I wonder what the "good wife" would do in that situation? (have some fun reading that ;)). Lisa had some thoughts on being a "good wife" too! I saw this on Penina's site and thought it was cute. What kind of Blogger are you? Your Blogging Type Is Thoughtful and Considerate You're a well liked, though underrated, blogger. You have a heart of gold, and are likely to blog for a cause. You're a peaceful blogger - no drama for you! A good listener and friend, you tend to leave thoughtful comments for others. What's Your Blogging Personality? Enjoy the rest of your day! Cathy