Knitting Two Socks at the Same Time

The husband got me a book for Christmas called, 2-at-a-Time Socks: The Secret of Knitting Two at Once on a Circular Needle, by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. It looked kind of complicated, but I loved the idea of finishing them both at the same time. In the past I have made wrist warmers, and I know that each time after I was finished the first one, the last thing in the world that I felt like doing was knitting up the second one. Being a sort of novice knitter with a low attention span, I have never attempted socks before, but after looking through the book, I figured I might as well give it a shot, and why not learn a new technique while I do it? How hard could it be?

Well I won't pretend it isn't tricky, especially at the beginning, but I do think that it is a super cool idea. My first attempt had to be unravelled after a couple of rows, due to a number of errors that were compounded by the fact that my 2-year old got a hold of the thing and pulled a bunch of stitches off the needles, but the second time around appears to be running smoother. I have finished the ribbed part at the cuff and I am onto the main body of the sock now, which I love because it means I can just stick to knit stitches as opposed to knit 1/pearl 1 ribbing. I am also getting better at keeping the wool from being a tangled mess of criss-crossed yarn, which can certainly tend to be a problem with this technique (it was for me, at any rate). I feel like I am starting to get the hang of the whole thing, and the next big step forward will of course be when I have to start on the heel flap and stuff, which is a little intimidating, but I hope to push through it all. So anyhow, wish me luck, I will post more pics as things progress.

Still Not a Millionaire

Well, I didn't hit the big jackpot this past weekend, so I guess that means I can't quit the old day job just yet. I don't normally even bother with lotto tickets, considering the infinitesimal chances of winning and all, but I do admit to being tempted once the winnings start to surpass the $20 million mark. With a windfall like that, I would definitely be kissing the working world bu-bye, but it begs the question, how much would be enough to say, "that's it, I'm set for life"? Not sure what the answer is, though $1 million is probably enough, but what about $500K (maybe) or say $250k (nothing to scoff at, but probably not retirement time)? So where do you draw the line? As I said, I don't really know, but I like to think that I would probably be happy enough with any kind of winnings I was lucky enough to acquire, be they large or small. So, if anyone out there wants to donate to my personal Early Retirement Fund, please feel free to set up a donation (yeah, I know, it is not going to happen).

Lovely January West Coast Weather

Sometimes you just have to love the west coast. It has been sunny and beautiful here for the past several days. We've been for walks by the ocean, romps at the park, and just generally enjoying the lovely weather. The warm sunshine made me think about plans for my garden and such and then I realized that it was still January, which actually doesn't signify that much in a city where the trees start blossoming in February. As always, I have great hopes for a lovely little garden this year. I think that I will start with planting a few bulbs this weekend with the monkey. I seem to have the best luck with planting most stuff directly into the soil (rather than starting from seed inside), so I will still have to wait a bit before things will be warm enough for that to happen. I'm thinking a mixture of flowers, herbs and maybe a few veggies or lettuces. If things turn out well I will post some pictures later in the season. Wish me luck.

The Best Job in the World

I heard about this one on the news last night and I couldn't help but dream just a little bit. The idea is that some lucky duck gets to spend 6 months exploring the Great Barrier Reef and getting paid $100K to do it. They have to keep a blog or something, but really it has to be pretty much the sweetest deal around. It is actually a genius move by the Australian Tourism Agency, because it has gotten them a huge amount of international attention at a pretty bargain price when you think about it. Apparently the web site keeps on crashing because they are being so flooded with applicants. To apply one must create a 1-minute video explaining why you are the best for the job. Unfortunately for me, I am probably too lazy to bother with doing that, but I would have to admit that I am tempted. Anyhow, some lucky so-and-so will actually end up getting this job and I would have to say that I will be pretty darn jealous of them, let me tell you.

Out of the Mouths of Children

No doubt you've heard it before, but kids really do say the darnedest things. It occurred to me the other day that I should probably write down some of the funnier/cuter things that the monkey says before I forget them. Maybe they will seem silly out of context, but for us they were all pretty funny at the time.

One of the monkey's recent obsessions includes Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid. I won't even get started on the political incorrectness of the classic Peter Pan movie (perhaps another post), but they have both cemented the fascination with Fairies and Mermaids, only, the monkey calls them Tinkerbells and Marmalades. Ariel is the little marmalade, and all fairies are referred to as Tinkerbells, or Tinkerbell's cousins. Another favourite character is Baby Beluga, but the monkey insists on calling it him baby dabluga. The husband and I always find it hilarious.

Another one, which only happened once, but was hyterical, happened when we were driving along the road and the monkey got really excited because she noticed that the car in front of us had a tail. I tried to explain about it being the exhaust pipe. She processed that for a couple of moments and then stated very seriously, "that's for the car to go pee pee mommy". I was laughing so hard, I'm lucky there wasn't an accident.

On the subject of priceless moments, grandma was over for the holidays, and of course one morning the monkey starts having a total meltdown, can't remember why, but then suddenly she stomps back up to me and states in a loud and unmistakably clear voice, "Holy Cr**, Mom!, Holy Cr**"! Now, the husband and I do NOT use profanity, around her or otherwise, and neither does grandma. I was shocked, and of course because she got such a reaction, she starts shouting it over and over again, just in case we didn't get it the first time. I can only assume that she picked it up at daycare or on the playground or something. After the initial shock of it, I played it as nonchalant as possible, calmly explaining that we don't use that sort of language in our family, and she seems to have more or less forgotten about the expression, since there hasn't been a repeat. Her new expression of choice in similar circumstances is, "Oh, bother!", which I know that she picked up from a Winnie the Pooh story and is, I think, far preferable to the other one.

My other favourites in the cuteness category, are when she says things along the lines of, "You're my favourite Mommy in the whole wide world!", or things like, "Ariel loves her daddy, just like I do!". I know, mushy, but it still melts my heart every time I hear them.

Wet and Soggy Newspaper - Yuck

I know, it's been raining and all, but isn't there something that can be done to avoid the second day in a row of opening the door to find a wet and soggy clump of grossness waiting for us? It didn't get wet after it was left because it was in a sheltered location. The thing was virtually unreadable, even worse than the day before. Guess I'll see what happens tomorrow and decide if I need to complain about it. I understand that stuff happens and all, but after the 2nd day in a row I would hope that people start to take some kind of precautionary action in order to avoid another repeat. End of rant.

New Year's Resolutions

So, ha ha, it is that time of year again and I am really not a big one for making resolutions that are inevitably broken in short order, but since one my plans this year is to improve the abysmally small number of entries in this blog, I figured this would be a good way to start posting again. Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence, and it probably won't be the last one, so there.

So anyhow, here are some of my plans for 2009. Hopefully my next entry won't be made a full year from now lamenting my dismal lack of accomplishment with respect to the following list. I guess we'll see.

1. Make more frequent entries to this blog. Hopefully at least 2-3 per week, or more. Try not to laugh if you think this is a pipe dream.

2. Knit presents for my parents and in-laws for the coming Christmas. If I really get my stuff together, I could maybe even knit presents for the sister and sister-in-law, but I am trying not to set myself up for too much failure. Also, the husband will be making stuff as presents too (not kniting). He seems to find it amusing that I am making that one into my resolution, but too bad for him.

3. Eat healthier and prepare more foods from scratch. We've been doing a pretty good job of baking bread and I want to keep this up and expand more into other things.

4. Engage in more exercise, nothing major, just start running a bit again, or hiking or what not. The husband wants to do push-ups and sit-ups at night and I said that I would do it with him.

5. Get things organized and establish tidier habits for everyone in the household. Living in a 2-bedroom condo with a 2-year old sort of forces you to keep on top of things, and we actually haven't been doing too bad with this, but it is the sort of thing that requires constant vigilance, because if you let things slip, the next thing you know it looks like a chaos explosion ripped through the place.

6. Read more books. I love reading and I have been re-discovering the library recently, so I want to keep up with that, and balance between the classics and newer stuff. Along the same lines, I want to work on completing all the unfinished books on the shelves in the office. I was going to say I'll read Ullyses, but I am just not sure that I am up for that one.

7. Learn to play the penny whistle. The husband brought one back from Ireland and it is similar enough to the flute and piccolo of my youth, so it shouldn't be too hard and I know that the little monkey will enjoy hearing it.

8. Watch more zombie movies. Really, how can you go wrong with that one? The husband also wants to see all the new super-hero movies, and of course there will be the new Star Trek and Battlestar Gallactica season. Oh yeah, and also Terminator. I am hoping that a new Resident Evil movie is coming too.

9. Keep the garden alive and thriving. We started off pretty well with that one this year, but then we went away on vacation. Enough said.

10. Get the monkey out of diapers. We're getting pretty close on that one, but it just seems like it is going on forever and ever. Seriously though, I will totally cry if that one isn't done like dinner by this time next year.

Well I guess that is ambitious enough for now. Wish me luck and don't worry, future posts will mostly be shorter.