~The sadder part of life~

Well, it was school vacation week and although my kids had a great week, mine was not quite so great. I hate sad/depressed/crappy posts, but sometimes life just smacks us in the head, slaps us back to reality and makes us so incredibly grateful for what we have that it's necessary. The saddness stems from the two wakes/funerals that this week consisted of; A former co-worker of mine who left to have her baby last fall lost her 53 year old mother. She had had the flu for a week or so and just never woke up - we don't know yet if there were other underlying causes, but that won't change the loss for this family who were incredibly tight-knit and close to their Mom. The second was, for me, even more horrifying. Friends of my daughter and neighbors of ours lost their 23 year old son in a snow-mobiling accident. A charming, kind, well liked young man (3 years older than my son) full of so much life and fun. One of his sister's, a nurse, was first to attempt to help him, to no avail. I can think of no greater pain than having to bury one's own child. I had the irrational need to talk to Matt more than usual, hear his voice and tell him even more how much I love him - it is much easier for me to do that with the girls as they are here. They were even more patient with me, when I gave them the speech regarding the fragility of life, always telling the people you love that you love them and to try and be cautious in whatever they do to preserve their own lives as well as those around them. Thanks for listening and now on to the 2nd portion of our post where I just plain bitch! lol Nic, Em and I had much needed appointments at the hair dressers this week, mine was for a hair cut and I decided to treat myself to some foils in an attempt to push aside the winter blahs. To state that I am NOT happy with my hairdresser of a few years is an understatement (I will talk to her and attempt to make her understand my point of view). When the appointments were made I was told that in addition to my hair she would be able to cut the girls' hair, but would have to have another girl dry their hair. That was fine with me. At the beginning of the week Em was told she had softball practice so her appointment was rescheduled. Nic and I went to our appointment and I was told that the girl that was supposed to dry Nic's hair was going to cut it (this infuriated me, but since I had no desire to hurt this nice girls feelings I said nothing - first mistake) also. While doing my foils a girl walked in a WEEK EARLY for her foils and my hairdresser told her she'd do them anyway (not enough time to do Nic's hair, but time for a no appointment foil?????!!!!!!!!!!). Halfway through my cut a phone call (usually no big deal), then had to check on the other foil - halfway through my blow dry, had to rinse out other foil, passes the drying duties over to the other girl. I was seeeeeeeeething, but I do HATE a scene and decided that I would call and talk to her when the salon was not quite so crowded. When I got halfway to another appointment (after leaving the salon) I realized (thanks to Nicole) that I had haircolor all over my face - I had to come home, scrub my face and redry my hair as, in Nic's words, I looked like Bozo! To make matters even worse, when I washed it the next day and dried it, I realized that it is burnt and damaged where the foils were - prompting Lyss to call me Alfalfa and the cut was never completed - so it is very choppy. I understand that things happen and I am pretty good at "going with the flow", I can handle having to have the cut fixed and although I am very upset with the damage to my hair, I also understand that accidents happen. The treatment I received has me totally infuriated. This hairdresser is normally phenomenal and I get compliments on my hair all the time, so I am hoping that the damage can be repaired, both to my hair and with the treatment I received. Wish me luck, thanks for listening and I won't divulge the name of the salon as this is a first and hopefully one time disaster. Lyss and I visited the last college on her list and I believe a decision has been made! I don't even want to THINK about sending two off to college next year! Knitting? I have another pair of peekaboo mittens finished except for one thumb - hopefully I can post a picture soon. We had an absolutely beautiful snowfall this past week - the light fluffy snow that sticks to the branches and the trees and makes everything look gorgeous, unfortunately my pictures are less than gorgeous. We are expecting more snow tonight, we'll see what happens with that. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend - back soon with a better dispostition ;)

~A Miscarriage of Justice~

The plight of Julie Amero has recently been brought to my attention by Scout's site. "Julie Amero is the seventh grade substitute teacher in Connecticut who is facing 40 years in prison after pornographic popup ads came up on her computer screen during a class in 2004". This woman's plight is incomprehensible to me. I can't believe something like this is happening to this woman! For 8 years I worked in a computer room in a Pre-k through 8 school and know full well that firewalls/adware/malware and most importantly popup ad programs fail on a daily basis. This has NOTHING to do with the dedication of the teachers or their supreme attempts at keeping children safe from this filth! They are most definitely prosecuting the wrong person for this, and the sad reality is that they know they would have too much on their hands if they tried to bring the large corporations that supply the faulty “safety nets” for these computer rooms to trial or try to put a stop to the people responsible for the filth in the first place! This truly is a HUGE miscarriage of justice and makes my blood boil as it could happen to any of us! If you care to donate anything to her defense fund (go here), this mess has wiped the family out and I can only imagine the pain they are going through right now. "The State’s Attorney responsible for supervision of David Smith, the prosecutor in the Amero case, is Michael L. Regan. You might want to write him and strongly urge he help Smith file a motion to vacate the conviction. An e-mail to the Chief State’s Attorneys of Connecticut Kevin T. Kane and Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell can’t hurt, either. (There are more e-mail links on the Julie Amero site.) "

~Peekaboo & Calorimetry~

I am alive and well and living in an icy winter wonderland! We had a snow day today which gave me a good excuse to put dinner in the crockpot, do a few loads of wash and hunker down with the girls to watch movies and knit! I couldn't have asked for a better day! My new favorite knit are the Peekaboo Mittens mentioned in my previous post. This is my 4th pair and I have decided to keep them as my own - I can't say enough about these mittens. They are an extremely quick knit and I plan on making some more to put away as Christmas gifts for next year! Megan from the Pensive Frog has created a knit-a-long that I have made a button for on my left sidebar. Please feel free to pop on over to take a look, join in and get the pattern! Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted Color: Medieval Red (which is more a deep burgandy than the picture shows) Size 6 dpn's for the ribbing on the wrist band Size 7 dpn's for the remainder of the glove Along with my new Peekaboo mittens I decided to jump on the Calorimetry bandwagon, which is what my "snowday" knitting consisted of. This was also a quick knit and would also make a great head start knit for Christmas - although this one is mine made to match the mittens ;) Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted in Medieval Red The middle is knit with Symphonie in Bain 169 I cast on 110 sts and otherwise follwed the pattern, and the fit is perfect The button is from my Grandmother's "button box" Well, I'm off to visit my dh who has just arrived home at 10:00 PM. The poor man left before light this morning for work, and after work took care of the snow at my parents, here, his cousin's house and then went to fix the heat at my sister-in-laws! The man looks dead on his feet! The girls are hoping for another snow day tomorrow or at the very least a delay! :) Greedy little things that they are - I guess that just proves that we all had a great day together! Stay warm and drive safely if you are on the slippery East Coast!

~Snow AND Knitting~ Woo Hoo!

IT SNOWED! I know, I know.... I'll probably be complaining about it soon, but we have had the most bizzare winter - warm, then freezing cold, then warm and rainy, cold and windy and everything so gray and dead looking - if you know what I mean. Last night it started to snow, big HUGE fluffy flakes that were absolutely gorgeous, sticking to the trees and lighting up the night - unfortunately the pictures I took last night didn't come out :( Beau was having a blast jumping up and twirling in the air to catch the flakes in his mouth - so cute! I've never posted any "Saturday Sky" pictures, but I guess today would be a good day to do so! Here are a few pictures taken this morning... (all pictures are clickable) I'm sure my DH isn't enjoying it as the poor man was outside shoveling and using the snow blower here and then went over to my Mom's to do their yard - what a sweetheart of a man! I know I promised you knitting content before so here are a few of the things I have managed to take pictures of... These mini-mitten ornaments are taken from a pattern found in the back of this book and are quite possibly the easiest little mittens I've ever made! These are a lot of fun to make and so quick to put together - I think they will make great little ornaments for the tree next year, or cute little package toppers with little goodies in them for Christmas gifts! On this mitten, I tried Debi's recipe for beading and it is absolutely fantastic! I'm addicted to beading now! THANK YOU DEBI! This is the Northern Lights Wrap from Lion Brand. It is a truly easy knit but since I couldn't bring myself to pay the price for the Moonlight Mohair and the Trellis, I substituted Patons Divine which I picked up at A.C.Moore on sale for $2.00 a skein! I have some beautiful Mohair in my stash, but figured I'd do a test with this, and it is coming out very nice! I know the picture isn't all that good, but I have put silver and opaque beads around the edges of this scarf and it is so pretty! Another fun and mindless knit! I have started another Log Cabin Blanket using the TON of Homespun I had in my stash. I enjoy knitting this while watching TV. It keeps my interest with the color changes and the excitement of my girls who are trying to figure out which one of them will get it ;) I have a lot of knits on my "want to knit" list, but for the moment, these little tidbits are just what the doctor ordered. As always I have socks on my needles and take them along with me when I'm out. I also have decided to cast on and finish a pair of the peekaboo mittens in the new MagKnits. This pattern will be perfect for my scorekeeping duties during winter indoor and early spring Softball - I tend to get VERY cold fingers while keeping score and sometimes the fingerless mitts are just not enough! Well, there you have it, a bit of a catch-up on my knitting :) I must now get myself together and pick the girls up from their coaching duties at the softball clinic and maybe put on a nice batch of chili or chili soup on (recipe on my sidebar) - perfect for a snowy winter day! Enjoy your weekend, stay warm and happy knitting!