Posts
12/24/06
12/15/06
Contemplation
My children at the California Science Center. This photo is scanned so forgive the poor image quality.
12/11/06
Stress
This is how I am feeling lately....
The poem that goes with this picture:
Stress
A definition, friends, of stress:
Your own reaction to a mess
Stresses may be large or small
Sometimes they're not perceived at all
Examples: Say a lack of cash;
A just-avoided freeway crash;
An allergen that's in the air;
The barber says you're losing hair;
Fifty on a spavined horse;
Attorney's letter re divorce;
Wetness, dryness, heat or cold;
Callow youth or getting old
Stress from pains to pleasures range
The common element is change
Adapt or die, and that's a fact
And so our bodies must react:
The heart speeds up, the gut slows down
Facial muscles snarl or frown
Bronchial tubes expand and then
The blood absorbs more oxygen
Widened pupils search the void
Adrenal glands secrete steroid
Serum glucose starts to climb
More insulin works overtime
Stressed physically or mentally
Muscles tense to fight or flee
The midbrain boils with rage and fear
While cortex plans to save your rear
The point is, stress is not unique
It doesn't mean you're dumb or weak
A part of mankind's constitution
Bequeathed to us by evolution
Common both to man and beast
It proves you're still alive, at least.
By William Goldsmith, MD
The poem that goes with this picture:
Stress
A definition, friends, of stress:
Your own reaction to a mess
Stresses may be large or small
Sometimes they're not perceived at all
Examples: Say a lack of cash;
A just-avoided freeway crash;
An allergen that's in the air;
The barber says you're losing hair;
Fifty on a spavined horse;
Attorney's letter re divorce;
Wetness, dryness, heat or cold;
Callow youth or getting old
Stress from pains to pleasures range
The common element is change
Adapt or die, and that's a fact
And so our bodies must react:
The heart speeds up, the gut slows down
Facial muscles snarl or frown
Bronchial tubes expand and then
The blood absorbs more oxygen
Widened pupils search the void
Adrenal glands secrete steroid
Serum glucose starts to climb
More insulin works overtime
Stressed physically or mentally
Muscles tense to fight or flee
The midbrain boils with rage and fear
While cortex plans to save your rear
The point is, stress is not unique
It doesn't mean you're dumb or weak
A part of mankind's constitution
Bequeathed to us by evolution
Common both to man and beast
It proves you're still alive, at least.
By William Goldsmith, MD
12/5/06
Positive thinking
There is great power in positive thinking. Obviously, my children must have out their little heads together because Mike found this in our front yard cyprus tree:
His name is Tiger (I know, very original). He was extremely dehydrated and hungry. He was also very dirty and had tree sap on him. We cleaned him up and now I guess he belongs to my oldest..
It is not kitten season.. How else do you explain him coming to us??
Finished this set for a charity "Santa" project
His name is Tiger (I know, very original). He was extremely dehydrated and hungry. He was also very dirty and had tree sap on him. We cleaned him up and now I guess he belongs to my oldest..
It is not kitten season.. How else do you explain him coming to us??
Finished this set for a charity "Santa" project
11/28/06
Mystery solved...
Ever since I started going back to school, we have been having lots of trouble with our dog, Dakota, escaping and running away. We have been blessed by many strangers (and friends and neighbors) who have brought her back to us. We've tried lots of things and now we simply put her in the house whenever I am in class. This is probably what she wanted all along but anyway...
I now know at least part of the mystery. My dog is part kangaroo.
I now know at least part of the mystery. My dog is part kangaroo.
11/3/06
I (heart) Autumn!
I always have. The colors, the weather, going back to school, sweaters (I am a fiber junkie, you know). My house is even decorated in Fall colors so I can have Autumn all year round. Here are some of our latest happenings:
The pumpkin patch: (Another way for someone to make lots of money off the trappings of parenthood, but as the commercial says "Priceless memories")
I think Paige's favorite part was seeing how many pumpkins she could put in our friend's wagon. We ended up buying three pumpkins but putting around 15 back. She's a strong toddler.
No, her favorite part must have been this: (Don't forget she's only 3 1/2)
Halloween: We now have a child old enough to want to be something scary and evil. We had been able to avoid it up until this year
Fire station: Although very brave and outgoing about most everything else, Paige has a tremendous fear of sirens. We live near a busy street so any time a fire engine roars down the street, fear, panic and tears arupt from my youngest. So on the advice of my child development class, I packed her up, bought a dozen donuts as a gift and headed to my local station. I have to say the firefighters were extremely nice and warm to us. Lucky for me, there was a female firefighter (also a mom) on duty and she just scooped Paige up and let her check out the truck. The firefighters thanked Paige for the donuts and said "Next time you hear the siren, remember to wave at us!" Of course, there have been no sirens to try our theory on yet but it will come soon....
The pumpkin patch: (Another way for someone to make lots of money off the trappings of parenthood, but as the commercial says "Priceless memories")
I think Paige's favorite part was seeing how many pumpkins she could put in our friend's wagon. We ended up buying three pumpkins but putting around 15 back. She's a strong toddler.
No, her favorite part must have been this: (Don't forget she's only 3 1/2)
Halloween: We now have a child old enough to want to be something scary and evil. We had been able to avoid it up until this year
Fire station: Although very brave and outgoing about most everything else, Paige has a tremendous fear of sirens. We live near a busy street so any time a fire engine roars down the street, fear, panic and tears arupt from my youngest. So on the advice of my child development class, I packed her up, bought a dozen donuts as a gift and headed to my local station. I have to say the firefighters were extremely nice and warm to us. Lucky for me, there was a female firefighter (also a mom) on duty and she just scooped Paige up and let her check out the truck. The firefighters thanked Paige for the donuts and said "Next time you hear the siren, remember to wave at us!" Of course, there have been no sirens to try our theory on yet but it will come soon....
10/16/06
10/15/06
Ocotber Scarves
Recent finished objects that will be given to charity. Click on photo for more info regarding yarn used.
10/11/06
10/4/06
Before I forget..
I must announce that Sarah scored her first goal this past weekend. Not bad for a girl who has not played soccer in 3 years. Here she is right after she scored (with white ponytail "doo-dad")
Also, did anyone realize that yesterday was the equivalent of a National holiday at our house? The Little Mermaid came out on DVD. Yeah!!!! Now we can finally retire our 15 year old VHS tape of the same movie that has dots and lines running through it when we play it. Paige is on cloud 9.
<
Also, did anyone realize that yesterday was the equivalent of a National holiday at our house? The Little Mermaid came out on DVD. Yeah!!!! Now we can finally retire our 15 year old VHS tape of the same movie that has dots and lines running through it when we play it. Paige is on cloud 9.
<
9/14/06
lacey 001
I'm taking a break from studying to show you a sweater that took forever to finish. Actually it still doesn't have buttons. Do we really need buttons??
I really love knitting the top down sweaters but not so much the cardigans. The sweaters are a little more "brainless". This sweater took a little more effort. It is made from baby yarn so it has a nice light feel and is very soft. I have a sleeve detail photo on flickr.
I really love knitting the top down sweaters but not so much the cardigans. The sweaters are a little more "brainless". This sweater took a little more effort. It is made from baby yarn so it has a nice light feel and is very soft. I have a sleeve detail photo on flickr.
9/9/06
Back-to-school
My fingers are itching. School started for me back on August 22, and I barely have time to knit. I'm taking Women's Health, Medical Terminology and Intro to Organic Chemistry. Paige's preschool also counts as a class because even though I work in her class once a week, we also attend a parenting/child development lecture. I'm a little worried that because even after 3 children, I know there will still be parenting stuff I haven't learned. :) It will be like "Aha, I should have done THAT! Then maybe I would still have some brain cells..."
Obligatory first day of school pictures. Don't they look excited!
In my sideline profession of animal rescuer, this little dove made an appearance on my doorstep yesterday. The bird seemed okay for the most part but let us get incredibly close to it and it wouldn't fly away. We scooped it up and took it the the local vet that takes "wildlife". Just another day in our crazy household. Now I just need the Dog Whisperer to come to my house and explain why our dog keeps jumping over a 5 foot fence and running away any time we leave the house. (Remember, she is 5 years old and was a perfectly sane dog up until this point.) I guess our human craziness is contagious to canines.
Obligatory first day of school pictures. Don't they look excited!
In my sideline profession of animal rescuer, this little dove made an appearance on my doorstep yesterday. The bird seemed okay for the most part but let us get incredibly close to it and it wouldn't fly away. We scooped it up and took it the the local vet that takes "wildlife". Just another day in our crazy household. Now I just need the Dog Whisperer to come to my house and explain why our dog keeps jumping over a 5 foot fence and running away any time we leave the house. (Remember, she is 5 years old and was a perfectly sane dog up until this point.) I guess our human craziness is contagious to canines.
8/21/06
freeform 81606
A close-up of the free form p[iece I made for a crochet group with my mom. The color on this picture is not quite right. Imagine all the reds are a bit more "purpleish". Also, I must be the laziest fiber person around. I took my scrumbles and machine stitched them to a piece of denim to make this design. Then I machine stitched that piece of denim to a tote bag (like an applique). I left the frayed edges of the denim showing because I thought it looked interesting.
World Famous San Diego Zoo
This was our big family event for the summer. One of my favorite places yet it always seems to wreck our calves. :) Lots of hills. Of course I took about a million pictures so here a few of my favorites:
After the zoo, we stopped in Old Town and ate at Rancho La Lena. So yummy!
8/14/06
Summer adventures
We have been trying to catch up on some fun summer activities before the Fall session of school starts.
Disney lunch with princesses (pictured here Paige with Cinderella)
Stitch N Pitch LA This was a last minute fun thing to do! 700+ knitters, crocheters, and needleworkers all gathered to do their thing while we watched a Dodger game. Here is the hat I made "on the fly". We also got a goodie bag which included a tote bag. size 17 bamboo needles, two skeins of Crystal Palace "Splash" yarn and patterns and coupons.
Museum of Latin American Art This place was wonderful! Of course, we only got to stay for about 5 minutes (what was I thinking taking a fiesty three year old?) but I will have to go back. They had these cool finger puppets in the gift shop. Not the best picture but can you find Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants?
These beautiful tiles were outside the Ladies room at the Museum Cafe
More adventures to come!
Disney lunch with princesses (pictured here Paige with Cinderella)
Stitch N Pitch LA This was a last minute fun thing to do! 700+ knitters, crocheters, and needleworkers all gathered to do their thing while we watched a Dodger game. Here is the hat I made "on the fly". We also got a goodie bag which included a tote bag. size 17 bamboo needles, two skeins of Crystal Palace "Splash" yarn and patterns and coupons.
Museum of Latin American Art This place was wonderful! Of course, we only got to stay for about 5 minutes (what was I thinking taking a fiesty three year old?) but I will have to go back. They had these cool finger puppets in the gift shop. Not the best picture but can you find Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants?
These beautiful tiles were outside the Ladies room at the Museum Cafe
More adventures to come!
8/1/06
Finished objects July 2006
Here's some more things I have finished...
5 hour baby sweater
Made with Red Heart Kids in Periwinkle. Info and pattern can be found here.
Baby socks
Made with Jamie baby yarn. Pattern in Rainbow Knits for Kids by Cheryl Potter.
Made with Red Heart Kids in Periwinkle. Info and pattern can be found here.
Made with Jamie baby yarn. Pattern in Rainbow Knits for Kids by Cheryl Potter.
7/31/06
Purple Hat
This month's color for Project Spectrum is purple (my favorite color). I made this hat knitted in the round using two different variegated yarns by Red Heart. The colorways are Monet and Artist Print. By switching the yarn every other stitch, I like how the end result looks like hand painted yarn.
7/27/06
News flash: Boy returns from adventure
Mike was been gone too long I think... It was just wierd not having him in the house. I know he had a great time at his grandfather's house and being home will be much less exciting (i.e no ponds to fish, no mountains to climb, no bb guns to shoot, no camp fire pits to ignite) but he belongs with us. It's now official, he is not allowed to grow up... at least in the mind of his mother.
7/20/06
An inconvenient truth
Okay, I am not normally known by my friends and family as a "tree hugger". My professor offered extra credit if we went and saw "An Inconvenient Truth" and wrote and essay on it. I was putting it off because I thought the movie would be boring. I have to say after seeing this movie, I have a lot of respect for Al Gore and what he is trying to do. Even if you think Global Warming is not an issue worth taking seriously, you should see this film. Please take the pledge by clicking the box on the sidebar of this site. Even if you wait for it to come out on rental, make a point to see this movie. By the way, it was not boring....
7/5/06
Life's a beach...
Remember when that saying was everywhere? Sometime back in the '80's. Ugh.. dating mayself.. Anyway, instead of studying my enthralling Sociology homework, we went to the local beach. It's such a perfect way to kill 3 to 4 hours. And nobody drowned or got stung by jellyfish. Yeah! Maybe those thoughts are part of my deviant side... (just a little sociology joke..)
6/29/06
6/28/06
Mitered
I got this pattern from my knitting guild. Instead of using different colors for the blocks, I used the same variegated baby yarn. Each square or rectangle is unique so it was fun seeing how they would each turn out. I also got a lot of practice picking up stitches. I added a simple white border and crocheted a crab stitch (reverse sc) around the edge. Of course, I still have to weave in all the ends....
6/26/06
Trouble?
It is SOOOOO hot and humid that I can not even think clearly. Obviously, neither can my children because they have resorted to humiliating the dog:
6/24/06
Doll Quilt
My first quilt! Made on the machine using scraps from the clothes I recently made for P and S. There are lots of boo-boos but I don't think the dolly will mind.
6/19/06
Busy in the heat
It has warmed up considerably. Definitely no "June Gloom" this year. Last week was incredibly busy.
Sarah's Dance recital. She had 2 and 1/2 costume changes this year. Quite an accomplishment!
Mike's 5th Grade "Graduation/Promotion" ceremony. "Hurray!, you finished elementary school. Hope you liked it because now everything else is going to be really hard." I am so optimistic. Please ignore the fact that I seem to wear the same shirt in every picture of me lately. It's been so hot, I don't really care.
Here's some of my crochet buddies. My mom needed some pics for her charity director so now you can see where we meet.
Sarah's Dance recital. She had 2 and 1/2 costume changes this year. Quite an accomplishment!
Mike's 5th Grade "Graduation/Promotion" ceremony. "Hurray!, you finished elementary school. Hope you liked it because now everything else is going to be really hard." I am so optimistic. Please ignore the fact that I seem to wear the same shirt in every picture of me lately. It's been so hot, I don't really care.Here's some of my crochet buddies. My mom needed some pics for her charity director so now you can see where we meet.
6/7/06
Kaleidoscope beginnings
I bought this book for this pattern. The finished afghan is pictured on the cover. The game I am playing is to pick the colors with my eyes closed out of a black bag. Whatever color I pick, is the one I have to use. Should be interesting.
6/6/06
The fastest way to take off fifteen years
At least that is how I feel. I am now officially a college student again. For those of you who don't know my history, I dropped out of college right before my senior year because my college cancelled my major. With some soul searching, school burn-out and the thrill of getting married, I decided to "take some time off". Famous last words, someone told me then.
Life happened and I became married, working full-time, having babies, moving up in a moderate career in Property Management, having more babies, quit job, became stay-at-home mom. Of course, the last decision was the best one I ever made and I think being a mom is the hardest job I've ever done. (and will continue to do).
The co-op preschool that Paige and I will be going to in the Fall is linked to our local community college. You have to become a student there to enroll in the preschool. Future teachers and child-care providers do observation and projects with the Center and the children there. There is a ton of security and clearances ans such so nobody has to get all panicky about that. I think Paige will be a great example for future teachers to see what they are getting into. :) in more ways than one.
I started thinking about how many classes would I have to take to get an "official" degree. I hate that after all the schooling I had, I technically have nothing higher than a HS diploma.
Well, my oldest child will probably graduate before me but I am now an offical student who took her first offical class this evening on her way to becoming a Nurse (R.N.) It is something I have always wanted to do.
I will not have as much time for crafting as I would like but there are only so many hours in the day. Marriage and mommyhood come first.
Any advice, well-wishes, prayers are welcome just no questioning my sanity because it is probably slightly off.
Life happened and I became married, working full-time, having babies, moving up in a moderate career in Property Management, having more babies, quit job, became stay-at-home mom. Of course, the last decision was the best one I ever made and I think being a mom is the hardest job I've ever done. (and will continue to do).
The co-op preschool that Paige and I will be going to in the Fall is linked to our local community college. You have to become a student there to enroll in the preschool. Future teachers and child-care providers do observation and projects with the Center and the children there. There is a ton of security and clearances ans such so nobody has to get all panicky about that. I think Paige will be a great example for future teachers to see what they are getting into. :) in more ways than one.
I started thinking about how many classes would I have to take to get an "official" degree. I hate that after all the schooling I had, I technically have nothing higher than a HS diploma.
Well, my oldest child will probably graduate before me but I am now an offical student who took her first offical class this evening on her way to becoming a Nurse (R.N.) It is something I have always wanted to do.
I will not have as much time for crafting as I would like but there are only so many hours in the day. Marriage and mommyhood come first.
Any advice, well-wishes, prayers are welcome just no questioning my sanity because it is probably slightly off.
6/1/06
Blending yarns
I am having a lot of fun combining yarns to make new color combinations. I am making "tweed" looking granny squares using only my scraps. It's my twist on a "scrap afghan". I think this is a great way to venture into some color theory. Here are some greenish versions for Project Spectrum.
5/31/06
Gifts that are not appropriate
With a title like that, I should be writing about something more racy than knitting. Paige will be going to a co-op type preschool next Fall so I wanted to celebrate her last day at her current school. I really wanted to make something for her preschool teacher who is also a friend. I had the softest prettiest pink yarn. So I made her a scarf. Even though it's 90 degrees. And it will probably be 90 degrees until next October. I'm sure she's thinks I'm abolutely crazy. Maybe I am. I hope next year when it gets cold for a week, she will wear it and think of us.
More sewing fun.... Note: The inclusion of a certain little girl's favorite Disney mermaid :)
More sewing fun.... Note: The inclusion of a certain little girl's favorite Disney mermaid :)
5/19/06
Adventures in sewing
Okay that's not sewing, but I had to take picture. Camera update: All fixed and FREE! Yes, that's right free. Somehow the damage was covered by a warranty. I think I'm still in shock over that one....
Life is hectic. Sometimes I don't know how I will get everything sone because there are just not enough hours in the day. I mean, there are enough hours if the only thing I wanted to do was clean. I wish I was better at cleaning. I don't like to do it. I would much rather be sewing, KNITTING, crocheting, gardening, playing and heaven forbid trying to bake something before I would want to clean anything.
I decided my economic contribution to the household would be to utilize my "talents" into helping save money for our family. Why buy clothes when I could make them? No sweater is ever purchased in the this household (or at least so I tell everyone) Shoes will still have to be opurchased becasue I am not a cobbler, but flip-flops will do for summer.
My mom even jumped in to help me with my madness. We did "assembly line" sewing. One pattern for each of the girls would equal many summery outfits. (i.e. tank tops and shorts)
Here's some stuff I made:
Now I know why we purchase our clothes.
Our first strawberry from the kid garden. Going to Project Spectrum.
Stray dog that I found wandering my neighborhood and is now at the local shelter. Long story but basically, she did not like Dakota so she could not stay with us more than a day. Very nice dog and I put flyers up around our neighborhood. I hope her owner went and got her...... Otherwise, someone please go and adopt this sweet dog.
5/2/06
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