Big Changes

Well, belated Merry Christmas everyone. Despite being snowed in for 3+ days, or maybe because of it, we had a pretty great Christmas around here. We were all pretty spoiled this year, Junior got a mountain of toys, Jaime got a sweet set of computer speakers and an Oreck. Yeah, I bought him a vacuum for Christmas, and he loved it, here's the proof:



And I got an iMac!! I'm so completely in love. It is taking a little getting used to, but I'll get there. Yaay!

So besides the new computer, there are a few other new things in our lives. Starting Monday I officially have a new job. In the past three years I have worked my way up from a part-time student to the head of my section. I have been acting in this position for a couple months so it isn't a huge change, but now it is real. I am in charge, eek!

There's even something new in the bathroom these days. (OK, that could go so many bad directions) Junior has his own potty now! We finally decided to try this potty training thing. I'm a little scared and we have no idea what we're doing, but Junior has gone potty before bed the last two nights, so I guess we're on the right path.

As they say, the more things change the more they stay the same. With all the new going on life is still pretty boring aorund here which is just how we like it. There's been some knitting, some spinning, a bit of reading, and lots of just hanging out with my two boys and enjoying life.

I know I probably say it every time, but now that I have a computer to myself and it is in a convenient place I'm really planning on updating more often. Here's a random bit of cuteness to get you through till the next time :)

Life Goes On

I really meant to post again before now, if for no other reason than to move down that depressing post.

So what have we been up to? Well, we moved into my mom's house at least for now. I'm afraid it will always be "my mom's house" and never "our house." But it is a house none-the-less and beats the stuff out of paying rent for an apartment we can't stand and barely fit into. Junior has a yard that he loves, Jaime has a grill that he loves. I have room for my yarn and new spinning wheel (post on that to come...soonish).

And for our inaugural event, Junior's birthday.



It was a pretty small party; Jaime's parents, my dad, Junior's babysitter and her two kids. Just the right size. The kids had fun playing with all of Junior's toys and we all enjoyed the food from the grill. We're already planning a few more cookouts with friends.



I can't believe my boy is two. He is getting so big, talking more and more everyday. He must know over 30 words by now (and of course Spongebob or "pa-bob" is one of them). He loves playing with his cars, running down the hill in the backyard and watching a cartoon whenever we can get him to sit still long enough. He is so full of energy and life it is sometimes exhausting to watch, but sometimes it can rub off on the rest of us. He's still such a joy.

New Year, Same Old Me

(4/143)
Happy New Years everyone!! I hope you have all enjoyed looking back at the past year and looking ahead to the next.

When I think about 2008 all I can see is how damn lucky I am. I have never been happier in my entire life. The depression has lifted. (Don't get me wrong, I get down sometimes just like everyone else, but I can move through it and past it now.) I have the most amazing family. I have a job that I love and that is pretty darn secure (knock on wood). While all around me, all around the world, there are people losing their jobs and their homes here we are having one of our most stable and prosperous years ever. (NOT that we're rich, just that for once the money I bring in is pretty close to covering the bills. It hasn't been like that since....ever.) Enough reflecting. Point is, '08 wasn't bad.

The wonderful thing about starting the 101 in 1001 in December is that I don't have to make any New Year's resolutions. I feel like I pretty much covered all the changes I want to make and the goals that I have already. I just need to act (my downfall).

Here are some belated Christmas pictures. Meant to get a post up, but I suck. Christmas was pretty fab. Jaime even enjoyed it and he is a Scrooge. Junior really helps put some magic back into the holidays.






me, Junior, and my mom or "Granny Jenny"

Let The Holidays Begin

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. I am ready to give in to the holiday season. This year will of course be different. Junior is one year older and I think he's going to enjoy getting some gifts from Santa Clause. And hopefully he won't mind meeting Santa either...

So of course there is the holiday knitting. I try not to get too crazy with the holiday knitting plans. I'm not good with deadlines and don't want to make myself insane. Buuut, there are a few things I have planned. I've even finished a few projects.


Vicki's Stocking

I'm going to knit Jaime, Junior and I stockings this year. I had talked about it last year but never got motivated. And yes, I knit mine first. I knew that the first one (being the first stranded knitting I've done in over 2 years) might be a little wonky and I want Jaime's and Junior's to be (closer to) perfect. I've started Jaime's stocking and so far I was right. It is going so much more smoothly (and quickly, that goodness).

I also finished a simple hat for Jaime. I knit him one a few years ago, but it has always been a bit big and he wanted some variety.


Hat For Hubby

He really likes is and even requested one in a bright orange. Now I just need to find a good yarn...


taken 11/27/08

Had to add in a picture of Junior. This is us after our Thanksgiving dinner. Junior ate with us this year. Well, he ate sweet potatoes at least.

So, that's all for now. I have a new project that I'm starting up on December 1st. More on that in a couple days.

We Made It

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Junior's first Christmas went pretty well. He got some fun toys that he can almost play with as well as the biggie, his jumper.


taken 12/25/07

He seems to like it, except when he becomes fixated with getting the frog into his mouth and he can't quite get it. Then he gets pissy.

I got some nice gifts too. Jaime got me a beautiful Knitter's Satchel from Jordana Paige, some super cute, sock-showing-off clogs and a couple other little things.

Ho Ho Ho

So, what craziness have I gotten myself into with the Christmas knitting? I've never gotten too swept up in it, but this year (you know, since I have so much free time on my hands) I am way in. Here goes, in order of importance:

1. Beret for my mom (she'd like it before Christmas actually, ha)
2. Sweater for Junior (only need to sew in the sleeve and seam up one side)
3. Fingerless mitts for Jaime (he's wanted a pair for a while)
4. Shrug for cousin Christina (she's 4 months older than Junior, shouldn't take too long)
5. Hat for Jaime (to match mitts)
6. Cell cozy for mom (she keeps hers in a plastic baggie right now)
7. Stockings for Junior, Jaime, and I (maybe in time for next year...)

The worst part is that I haven't started any of it yet. I have a pattern for the beret, but I'm using a different sized yarn so I'll have to adjust. Same for the shrug. I'll be making up the mitt, hat and cell cozy patterns as I go. Wish me luck!

Daily Baby Pic

taken 10/24

Day 2*

I've been home since 6 and this is the first time I've been able to do something without Junior. I had to eat my dinner with him laying on my lap. Someone is being a little difficult today.

So, Halloween is over and apparently the holiday season has begun. As in previous years, I've planned a few gift knits, but nothing too elaborate. Jaime and Junior need a few things. I'd like to make something for my mom and dad. I'm even thinking of keeping the family socks thing going with some holiday socks for us all.

Of course, I have a few other things to finish first...

Daily baby pic:

taken 10/4

*Let's face it, coming up with a post everyday is one thing. Coming up with a clever title is just beyond me.

Happy Halloween

Sky And Cake And Crafts, Oh My!

I'm a Kansas girl, what can I say? This looks to be a picture heavy post, so beware.

First off, my first ever on-time Saturday Sky.


And of course the end of the birthday celebration. For those of you with delicate sensibilities, I edited this picture of Jaime's cake.

I bet you just have no idea what's under that airbrush huh? I decorated it myself. Aren't I an artiste? Ha. We're goofy, what can I say...

Here's one of the birthday boy blowing out the candles. He wouldn't tell me what he wished for.

Sorry for the fuzziness. That's one of those tricky shots. So, all in all we had a great day yesterday.

So, when I haven't been partying with Jaime, or reading books like they're melting, I really have been knitting. Here's proof!

Getting closer.

There's even been some spinning. I picked my spindle back up three days ago and for once it seems I haven't forgotten everything I'd learned. I've spun a section a day since then. I might eventually have enough yarn to knit something with. Imagine that.

For those of you who've made it this far, a special treat. This is the second thing I knit. The first being a "scarf" that was probably 14x40 inches, with variegated acrylic yarn, in garter stitch. Was fun fur a step up? That's debatable. Well, this scarf has been well loved and is now looking a bit mangy so I'm giving it to Goodwill. But first I had to take a picture.


WW Update
apparently my intuition about those gummies for breakfast was right. I gained .8 pounds this week, but I know I deserved it. Just means I'll have to get my butt back in gear this week :)

Such A Big Boy

Yep, today Jaime turns the big 2-6. Which means he's really getting hassles for being "nearly 30." I just love that he'll always be older than me, hehe. Here's a few shots of our day so far.



Jaime waiting patiently for his gifts. Yes, I did make him sit there with his eyes closed while I took a picture.



And the gift of choice for the manly man? A mandoline slicer of course. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (And he really likes it too. Go me!)



And a cute picture of both of us, now that I've figured out how to put my camera on the tripod. That's all I've got for now. We ran a bunch of errands this afternoon and we're doing the whole cake thing tonight. I'll be sure to snap a few shots of that too.

And there'll definitely be a crafty update this weekend. Really!

WW Update
Had another underwhelming loss last week, down 1.2 pounds. I'm just hoping for any loss this week. I haven't been that good. I've followed plan and all, but I just feel like a day where gummy bears was my breakfast shouldn't really be considered a success.

Polski Day!

Finally ImageShack decided to work with me and I got a slideshow up of all my Polski Day photos. I had a great time this year, this being my first "of legal age" Polski Day. Why yes, my dad did get me tipsy. The whole parade is made up of floats from various bars down this stretch of road. Although there are firepersons and policepersons in the parade also, no one seems to mind that everyone on the floats is participating in some public drunkenness. That's Kansas City, KS for you. I got plenty of beads (no, I didn't do anything in particular for them) and some candy and just had a great time. It really is the perfect fun little parade, no big crowds here.

Click HERE for the slideshow.

In other news, I have a big day planned. I'm finally getting back to the pool as soon as I'm done here. Then tonight I'm driving out to my aunt's house for some BBQ fun. They're cooking up some ribs and other assorted grill goodies and I'll get some family time in too. Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend :)

New Year, New You

Or something like that. Now that the holidays and 2005 are over I'm looking forward to this fresh new start. I won't say that I'm making resolutions, but I'm making some plans that I hope I'll be able to work into my everyday life. So here's the list in no specific order.

~Make a schedule for each day so that I make sure to get done everything I need to.
~Include exercise in my schedule at least 5 days a week.
~Get a job.
~Make time for reading everyday.
~Finish my old WIP's before starting anything new this year.
~Keep WIP's to a minimum.
~Blog more regularly. (Stop laughing, I can do it!)
~Spin more often.
~Finish the cross stitch.
~Take more photos.
~Make time to go out with Jaime more often.
~More, uh, private time with Jaime as well. (For the record we got off to a good start with that yesterday....twice hehe)
~Be more tolerant and an all-around better person.

I can do that, right? I think the schedule thing is really the one that will help the most. I did it for a couple weeks last year (soo weird thinking of October as last year) and it really helped me to get stuff done instead of sitting in front of the tv/computer all day.

I'll have a big holiday post in the next couple days. I'm currently doing a big new year computer clean up. There's just so much junk I'm saved over the past year and I'm feeling the need for some order. But after that I can upload some pictures to share. And just to let everyone know, I did manage to finish up my holiday knitting in time. And with nearly 20 minutes to spare. Sorry to keep you all on the edge of your seats on that one.

Happy New Year!

**ETA** Just finished my first workout of the year and it felt SO GOOD. This will definitely become a habit.

*Sigh*

Had a great day back in JoCo yesterday. I got my brakes replaced, but of course now I need a new tire. Stupid car is never completely happy, but it still works. How's that for positive thinking? :) I got my new pretty cell phone. I LOVE my new pretty cell phone. It doesn't fully work yet (have to call and get the service turned on Monday) but I've already had fun playing around with it. I snuck a picture of Jaime pigging out hehe. He informed me that it's illegal to take pictures of someone without their knowing it. What a silly-head! So I got to spend some time with my daddy in his usual bar and we had some of their pizza (sausage with "lots of onion"). They have the absolute best pizza in the entire universe! Yummm. And when I left he gave me some really tasty peanut brittle. Jaime doesn't like it and neither does my daddy (which is only the tip of the iceberg of ways that they are completely alike, but we won't go there), which just means more for me :)

Then I went to my mom's house. I finally got to have my felting party. Well ok, it wasn't exactly a party; I felted my Sophie. I didn't get to felt my super pretty black hat with fun fur trim (that matches my fun fur scarf) that my mom thinks I made for her. Ooops! I told her how to felt it though and I'm getting over the loss of my hat. At least she really likes it... I dug out the Christmas stuff from my mom's basement too, but I forgot to take it with me. Our apartment is so tiny that we're using this miniature tree with miniature ornaments my mom and I got at Hallmark like 6 years ago. It's cute, but not as Christmassy as I'd like. I'm big on real trees.

It's probably a good thing that I didn't get the tree and stuff because then I'd have another distraction from studying for finals (and I have PLENTY as it is). I should be studying now haha. I'm sure it'll all be ok, and no matter what happens I'm not going to get any grades too terrible, but I'm still stressing. I don't really care about my grades so much, but I'm actually more worried about letting down my family. Ok, I know it's terrible, but I can't help it! I'm seriously obsessed with making other people happy and now that involves getting good grades. I swear, my grandma has my grades from the past year framed!!! Talk about pressure. Jaime is amazing about helping me get over this, but it's so hard. I guess they're bound to realize that I'm not perfect eventually, and now's as good a time as any :)

Update

R rated update to "What I'm Thankful For"

Well, tv got boring. And I now have an addition to my list. I don't know how I forgot it...

12. I'm thankful for sex.

I won't elaborate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have fully stuffed myself, napped some of it off, and stuffed myself some more. While Jaime watches the extra special Thanksgiving edition of Smackdown I thought I'd present the 2004 edition of "What I'm Thankful For".

1. I'm thankful for my family. My parents are so supportive of me, even if they can overdo it at times. They would do anything that they thought was in my best interests. The rest of my family is great too. They are all so proud of me and everything I do.

2. I'm thankful for my sweetie, Jaime. We don't always get along and we make each other completely nuts sometimes, but he's the best. He cares about me and worries about me. He cheers me up and keeps me sane. He tells me when I'm over-thinking something. He's a good man. And while he may not always show it, he would do anything in the world to make me happy or protect me.

3. I'm thankful for stuffing and pecan pie. God they're good!

4. I'm thankful for my scholarship. There's no way that my parents could afford even a state school like KU. I would hate to get out of school and have even more debt than I already will (thanks credit card companies). I'm so lucky that I happen to be good at taking tests and that KU gives full rides for that. God bless the living stipend!!

5. I'm thankful for my knitting, books, cross-stitches, etc. They keep me sane and allow me to turn off the f*ing tv every one in a while.

6. I'm thankful for my music. There's nothing like singing at the top of my lungs to one of my favorite songs. Music can fit my mood or snap me out of it.

7. I'm thankful for my car. Thanks Poppa! I love my car and being able to go where I want to. I love that I got a Neon like I'd always wanted. I love that it was at one point brand new and that I can still remember that point. It isn't quite as new anymore, but it's more than a lot of people have and I'm glad for it.

8. I'm thankful for my computer and the internet. Thanks again Poppa! I love having a laptop that doesn't take up much space as we don't have much space. It's great being able to sit on the couch and watch tv while blogging. Without the internet I wouldn't have met some of my best friends ever including Jaime.

9. I'm thankful for our apartment. It's tiny and not nearly big enough for two big people like us, but it's home. I love having a place of my (our) own to come home to every night. A place I can walk around naked if I want, can make a mess if I want, can do anything that I please. I love sharing my space with Jaime. I also love that he cleans so I don't really have to :)

10. I'm thankful for All My Children. I know it's stupid, and I shouldn't watch such crap, but I love it! It makes my problems seem like nothing. For for the love of God give Bianca back her baby!!!

11. I'm thankful it's basketball season. Rock Chalk Jayhawk Go KU!!!

Of course these are in no specific order and I know that I have about a million other things to be thankful for, but I won't bore you. Basically, I'm completely fortunate to have the life that I have. Everyone that I love is healthy and for the most part happy. We all have enough money to get by on, even if we are always wishing for more. I wish that everyone out there could say the same. Happy Thanksgiving!

Weather Alert

Just a quick update...IT SNOWED!!! I'm currently looking out the sliding glass doors in my living room enjoying the wintery white goodness that is Lawrence covered in snow. Not sure anyone ever hopes for a white Thanksgiving, but it sounds perfect to me. Won't be going to see the Plaza Lighting Ceremony this year, but I'm sure it'll be beautiful even on tv.

Shame On Me

Alright, alright. I know its been a week. But now I'm officially on Thanksgiving Break so I should get back on track with the important things in life. You know, knitting, blogging, reading, catching up on AMC with some tasty cherry vodka :)

I finished Jaime's hat in like two days. I was so excited for him to have something to wear that I made. It came out pretty good, a little big but with an extra cuff it fits fine. His head is really wide but not very tall so going by a regular pattern is a challenge lol. He keeps saying he looks like a thug in it. He opens at the Sonic he works at and this morning he said he was afraid a cop would drive by and think he was breaking in hehe. Hope my knitting doesn't get him in trouble... Now I'm on to making my first Sophie (I say first cause I feel there will be many more to come). I'm in love! It's out of this super cool, totally soft (and pretty cheap) hot pink wool from Elann. I need to order more so I can have one to match all my favorite outfits. I feel an obsession coming on. I'm about 1/5 of the way through it. I'm hoping to finish it by Friday when I'm going to my mom's to felt a hat I made forever ago. I can have a felting party!! My mitten is slowly sprouting fingers, only two more and the flap to go. My poor Squiggle scarf is being ignored, and we won't discuss the ribbon tank. So there's a looong knitting update.

I'm so happy to have a few days to do NOTHING. Can't wait for Turkey Day either. Me and Jaime (well mostly Jaime, I'm making the stuffing and he's taking care of everything else) are making our own dinner in our teensy appartment and eating alone. It should be fun; I'm really only in it for the pecan pie and the stuffing. I've already nearly finished my first half gallon of egg-nog. The stuff is heaven!!! Well, nothing else exciting to report so I'll sign off for now :)