I Should Probably Live in a Bubble

There are days when I just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and you just should not mess with me.  Today was one of those days.  Darling Hubby just wanted to irritate me and he succeeded.  I just wanted to be left alone and on days when I’m in a bad mood Darling Hubby must enjoy goading me and pushing my buttons cause that’s all he does…all day long.  It’s days like these when I think I should probably live in a bubble so no one will pester me.

Despite my bad mood, I did manage to finish Bug’s mittens that I started yesterday.  I used the Yin and Yang Mitten pattern on Ravelry.  (You have to be logged in to see it.)  The patterns says to make one mitten one way (i.e. red mitten with white thumb and cuff) and then make a second the reverse (white mitten with red thumb and cuff)  Bug decided he wanted 2 mittens the same, so there you have it.  I made a string so they can go in his coat and not get lost when we are out and about.  He’ll be warm this winter.  Here’s a picture of them.

I’ve also gotten everything on my Christmas Create list done!

• Red Knit scarf (Finished 11/19/08)
• Cream Knit scarf (started 11/19, finished 11/28)
• Crocheted hat – red (Started 11/19/08 – ran out of yarn – finished 11/20)
• Crocheted hat  – cream (Started 11/29, finished 11/30)
• Grandpa’s Blanket (finished 12/1 – omitted the fringe)
• Convertible Flap Mittens blue (started 12/1 – finished 12/4)
• Convertible Flap Mittens brown
• Peruvian Earflap Hat – blue
• Peruvian Earflap Hat – brown
• Blue Scarf – I crocheted this rather than knitting.  It took less time.
• Brown scarf – I finished this a while ago, but added it to the list so I knew what I have.
  
• Red Crocheted Mittens
• Cream Crocheted Mittens
• Darling Hubby’s sweater (I don’t necessarily have to finish this, but it would be nice)

The only thing I have left right now is Darling Hubby’s Gatsby sweater.  I’m just not in the mood to work on it since it seems to be taking FOREVER for me to get anywhere on it.  I just want a straight forward simple sweater pattern to work on first.  I think I might work on something else first before I pick up my hook and work on the sweater again.  Maybe a nice warm pair of slippers for me or maybe I’ll attempt to knit a hat or something a little more complex than a straight knit, knit, knit scarf…I’ll look around and see what I can find.  I do have some yarn stash that I should use up.

Oh, since I’m on the subject of handmade, I  posted a while ago that I won a prize for posting all 30 days in November.  Well, the prize I won was a set of 6 handmade Christmas cards.  They arrived last week from Tracy at Miller Manor Designs.  The cards, shown here, a beautiful, even more so when you hold them in your hands.  They are almost to beautiful to use, but I will.  I already had photo cards made up, printed and mailed, so I plan to attach the cards to the presents of 6 special people in my life.  If you are interested in checking out the other beautiful designs Tracy has, check out her Etsy shop, Miller Manor Designs.

Off to sate my desire to craft something else.

Cool Beans

Getting up at 7:30 actually has it’s benefits.  Darling Hubby has been harping on me that I have a lot to get done before Christmas (meaning all the crochet/knit projects I’m undertaking) and it would be better if I got up in the morning and did something rather than lazing in bed with Bug until we feel like getting up.

Well, I took today as a new challenge and I got up when Bug called me to go potty.  I then showered, got him breakfast, got a load of laundry in, got myself some breakfast and finished Grandpa’s blanket. I’ll share pics later when I get them uploaded to flickr.  There are new pics in my ravelry projects section if you want to check them out.  I also started the brine for the turkey I’m cooking tomorrow and cooled it and inserted the turkey.  I’ve also cooked the chicken for our Caesar wraps for tonight’s craft night dinner and bagged everything to take with me.  I’m on a roll.  Although I still need to figure out how to take an artsy photo like Darling Hubby wants, fold and put away the laundry from this morning and get my crochet stuff together for tonight…but that won’t take long…or else it can wait.

To make today even better, I got an email from Eden at NaBloPoMo and it turns out that all my hard work of posting for 30 days wasn’t for naught.  I ended up winning prize number 10 on the prize list.  A set of 6 handmade Christmas Cards from Tracy.  I’m super excited and hope I get them before the holidays.  I’m glad I haven’t tackled my Christmas Card list yet.  I’d better get on that…I don’t have much time.

I know I didn’t have to post today, but I was so excited about being productive and winning the prize that I had to.  I’m actually proud of myself.  😀

Oh, and just so I have it here…this is what I have left to do for projects.

• Red Knit scarf (Finished 11/19/08)
• Cream Knit scarf (started 11/19, finished 11/28)
• Crocheted hat – red (Started 11/19/08 – ran out of yarn – finished 11/20)
• Crocheted hat  – cream (Started 11/29, finished 11/30)
• Grandpa’s Blanket (finished 12/1 – omitted the fringe)
• Convertible Flap Mittens (not started, but these won’t take long – starting these 12/1)
• Deer Stalker Hat for my Dad (this is mostly done, but I hit a snag point and I’m having trouble moving on.  I may find an alternate hat pattern to work up quickly.
• Darling Hubby’s sweater (I don’t necessarily have to finish this, but it would be nice)

Oh, and I’m thinking of adding in 2 more pairs of gloves (with fingers)…but we’ll see how things come together.

Off to gather my yarn and hooks and fold some laundry!

I Made It!

I made it a whole month!  I’m actually very proud of myself.  This was my very first time doing NaBloPoMo and I’m actually glad I did.   I didn’t always have much worth reading, just memories of my day to day life, but if felt good to sit down at the end of the day and write.

Other than blogging, I was pretty productive recently.  Today Darling Hubby and I made a ton of pumpkin puree to freeze.  Over all, from 3 pumpkins, we got 21 cups of pumpkin.  I’ve used 8 cups to make 2 pies and 2 batches of muffins and froze 12 cups.  I set aside one cup to try to make some chocolate chip pumpkin bread at some point.  On top of all that, I made another batch of kaiser rolls using pizza dough and another batch of dough for dinner and Darling Hubby and I made a test batch of truffles.  That was an experiment since Darling Hubby bought unsweetened chocolate rather than semi-sweet.  We added some sugar and vanilla and some semi sweet chocolate chips and things turned out pretty good.  I’ll eat them!  lol

I also got the cream colored hat finished.  I’m very happy with it.  One more thing down…not too much more to go…whew!

• Red Knit scarf (Finished 11/19/08)
• Cream Knit scarf (started 11/19, finished 11/28)
• Crocheted hat – red (Started 11/19/08 – ran out of yarn – finished 11/20)
• Crocheted hat  – cream (Started 11/29, finished 11/30)
• Grandpa’s Blanket (mostly done – few more rows and fringe)
• Convertible Flap Mittens (not started, but these won’t take long)
• Deer Stalker Hat for my Dad (this is mostly done, but I hit a snag point and I’m having trouble moving on.  I may find an alternate hat pattern to work up quickly.
• Darling Hubby’s sweater (I don’t necessarily have to finish this, but it would be nice)

Just Senseless

Ok, so I normally don’t write about news stories, but this one just has my blood boiling.  I’m sure many have already heard about the death of an employee at a Long Island Walmart on Black Friday.  This just has me appalled.  Are people really that selfish and materialistic, with the NEED to get that cheap tv or cheap toy, that they totally disregard the life of another human being?  Christmas isn’t about who gets the most presents and the most expensive items.  Now, I’m not a religious person but Christmas to me is about family, love, happiness and pretty decorations.  Yes, the presents are a nice bonus, but it’s not the whole reason for Christmas.  The thing is that you don’t need to give or even receive those expensive presents to be happy and show you love someone.

The man who was killed was only 34 years old.  He had a family and friends.  He had a job and a life and it was snuffed out because people were greedy and didn’t have patience.  Darling Hubby always says that when you get a bunch of people together in a crowd you start seeing the herd mentality.  It really is true.  When you get a bunch of greedy people together all looking for the big score they turn into a herd of mooing cattle who, at the drop of a hat, will break into a stampede and run down anything and everything in their path, be it plants or people.  This particular herd of cattle people knocked down the glass and metal entrance doors…who could do that and then not feel bad about it?  Has the world really come to this?

And, to make things worse, no one stopped to help this man (other employees attempted to save him, though) and when the store announced it was closing PEOPLE KEPT SHOPPING and got angry!!  They were only thinking of themselves and not what just happened.  A man just died and you still want to get that big ticket item?  Are you really that selfish?  Does having the latest new techno gadget or toy really make you better then everyone else?  Does it make your life worth more than another persons?

Personally, I feel that someone should have shut the store down, not letting people leave, and pressed charges against Every. Single. Person. Inside.  I know that may sound harsh, but I know if it was my body being trampled on I would want someone to pay for the crime…why not the whole 2000 people who thought their purchasing cheap crap was worth more than a human being’s life?  What  that was their father, grandfather, uncle, brother, boyfriend, or husband?   I bet things would be different then.  The whole lot of them had not one single ounce of concern for another human life.  How could people walk over and step on another person and not know it and not care?  Seriously?  Are people that obsessed on Black Friday that they experience extreme tunnel vision and see nothing but that big score?  It’s like being on drugs.

I doubt that this will serve as a wake up call for people.  I know that it’s good to think of yourself first in many aspects of living, but when you are in a public place, especially around the holidays, put others first.  Do nice things for others.  Help them out, don’t push them out of the way or walk on them.  Be kind.  Don’t snag things out of other people’s hands or yell at them if they have something that you want.

You won’t see me setting foot out of the house the day after Thanksgiving.  To me Black Friday isnt’ a day when stores are profitable.   A dark day filled with crazy mooing herds of human fleshed cattle filled with a materialistic desire to have what they want without a concern of others who should be ashamed of thier behavior.  Sometimes I’m ashamed to be associated with these so called “human beings.”

Oh, and I hope those who commited this terrible atrocity will come forward and own up to it.  You owe it to that persons family.  It’s your fault a man is dead…all because you wanted a super bargain. You should be ashamed…

Rearranging

Today was going to be a lazy day for us, but ended up being a pretty productive day.  After getting laundry started and Bug some breakfast, I went on a mad search for one of the knitting needles I’ve been using for the cream colored scarf…It was no where to be found in my house and I haven’t taken them anywhere (I opted not to deal with them in the car yesterday).  We ended up moving the couch to look behind it without any luck.  Turns out my couch has an appetite for knitting needles.  (Don’t worry Leana, your knitting needle is fine!)  Looking for the needle I found several potato chips (ick!) and a big need to vacuum under the couch cushions.

Since we’d pulled the couch out from in front of the radiator we decided to rearrange the furniture and clean the radiator…it was covered in dust and Bug has lost several little bits to some of his toys back there.  We had decided a couple weeks ago where to set up the Christmas tree, but we weren’t going to set it up today.  Since we moved everything and made space, we ended up setting it up anyway.  We decorated it after dinner (pizza!) and Bug had a grand time.

We also went through a couple trunks that I had stuff stored in and combined some of the stuff into one, tossed some stuff in the trash or decided to put it into the pile for the garage sale we plan to have in May next year.  The bigger one we filled with the various blankets that we had been storing on the radiator behind the couch.  Since the couch isn’t there anymore it was sorta a bad place to keep them.

I do have a bunch of pictures from yesterday, but haven’t had time to edit them between rearranging furniture, decorating for Christmas and various other things I’ve had to do today.  Bug did have a grand time playing with his cousins and he really enjoyed playing in the snow at Grandma and Grandpa’s.  He didn’t want to come in, even though he was obviously cold.

Off to watch Real Genius with Darling Hubby and maybe get some more knitting done.  I’m almost done with it…then to make a hat…Only 20 something days left until Christmas.  Better get a move on.

Happy Turkey Day!

Darling Hubby, Bug and I are visiting with family for the day.  May the Tylenol be bountiful!

First off we’ll be at Darling Hubby’s Grandpa’s for lunch at noon followed by a 2nd dinner at my parents house.  Fun times.  I’m sure I’ll have much to report tomorrow.

I do want to write out a few things I’m very thankful for before we depart.

I’m thankful for:

• A loving husband who treats me so well, wants to spend time with me and our son, and can cook.
• An adorable son who, despite driving me insane regularly, also makes me laugh at every turn.  I’m thankful for those sweet kisses, squeezing hugs and every smile that crosses his lips.
• A roof over my head with plumbing that works.
• Food on my table.
• Family, that while they are far away in miles, are never that far from my heart.  Thank goodness for free calling.
• Friends I can count on when I need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on.  (I’m also thankful they can do the same with me.)
• The fact that I can stay at home with my son, teach him things, cook and clean for my family (despite the complaints) and be here when needed.

For all that, I am thankful.

I hope everyone has safe voyages, enjoys lots of food and has fun with family and friends.

Reading, Muffins and Snow

I didn’t sleep well last night.  I just couldn’t turn off my mind and I had indigestion from the meatball subs we had for dinner.  I ended up getting out of bed, going downstairs and reading until 1:30 in the morning so I didn’t keep tossing and turning and keeping Darling Hubby up like I normally do.  I think part of it was that I was really into my book (Nora Roberts Blood Brothers, the first book in the Sign of Seven Trilogy) and I’m so close to finishing it that I didn’t want to stop once I started.  I’m closer to finishing it now, but I think it will have to wait a couple days.  I wish I could read in the car on the trip tomorrow, but I get bad headaches from that and I’d be a total mess from it.  It’s best that I don’t.  I’m thinking I’ll take my knitting and work on that a little in the car.  I’ve crocheted before and I don’t think that has bothered me.

When I finally roused myself out of bed at 10 (Darling Hubby got up with Bug around 8) I started a load of laundry and started the filling for my pumpkin cream cheese muffins.  While I was killing time for that to get ready I folded up the laundry from the other day, put that away and made the bed and hung up the fresh laundry.  I got the muffins in the oven and curled up on the couch just in time to watch my soaps.

I called my mom tonight to find out if they had snow and she said they’ve a good amount.  Probably more than a foot.  That will make Bug very happy.  Today he’s been asking to make snow angels and unfortunately we don’t have a single snowflake, yet.  I packed extra pants, socks and boots so he can go play at some point before it gets dark.  He wants to also build a snowman (my mom said it’s good packing snow) and he’s told me we can’t forget the carrot for it’s nose.

I’d better go either finish that book or work on my knitting a bit.  Christmas will be here fast than I know it…

Bug’s First Trip to the Dentist

So today Darling Hubby had a scheduled visit to the dentist for some fillings and I thought it was about time that we got Bug in for his first check up.  Our pediatrician told us we could get him in at any time after he turned 3 and I decided to wait until he was closer to 4 so he might be more able to understand what was going on so it wasn’t so scary.  I’m terrified of the dentist and I don’t want him to be scared.

While Darling Hubby was off in the chair getting a mouth full of novacaine, Bug and I played in the waiting room for his turn to try the big chair.  He enjoyed playing with the blocks, stacking them up and pretending his was making ice cream.  Unfortunately, the dentist office’s fish tank had sprung a leak overnight and the play area’s carpet was soaked with water so he didn’t get to play in the actual play area, but he still had fun.

Yes, I brought my camera – this was a momentous occasion!
And I’m not sure why this picture has such terrible quality…

Or hygienist, Lorraine was great.  She was very calm with Bug, who, at first, was a little on the leery side.  He climbed up in the big chair, but didn’t want to sit there for long.  When Lorraine went to see the dentist, who was actually working on Darling Hubby, I got Bug to sit in the chair and I told him about the light she would shine in his mouth so he could say “ah” and about Mr. Tickles. When Lorraine came back she showed him the mask she wears, her goggles (which Bug got a kick out of calling them Wobble Goggles like Mover Scott on Imagination Movers) and her gloves.

She asked him how many teeth he thought he had and he counted to ten on his fingers.

He actually has 20 teeth.

Next she brought out Mr. Thirsty and she showed him how he sucked up water out of a cup.  Bug thought it was funny.  She let him be in control of Mr. Thirsty and he held on tightly to him.  She also gave him a mirror so he could see what she was doing inside his mouth.

She then showed him Mr. Tickles and the bubble gum toothpaste. He laughed when she tickled his fingers with it and I was really surprised when he allowed her to actually brush his teeth with it.

He was still holding on the the mirror and it was funny trying to watch him look into the mirror while he had his head back with the tooth brush in his mouth.

Here he is showing off his nice sparkling chompers.

We waited for a little while until the dentist came in to take a peek in his mouth.  He was working on Darling Hubby at the time and took a quick break to come check out Bug.  I think Bug was a little intimidated by the dentist because he didn’t really say much to him and kinda snuck up on him.  I’m not sure he knows how to deal with kids or he just didn’t know it was his first time there.  At any rate, Bug got a clean bill of dental health.  He also got a goody bag.  A brand new orange toothbrush (he wanted one to match his shirt), a little play watch (which he wore all day – like daddy), some little plastic farm animals and his own little bunny face mask.

He said he had a fun time, which is good.  I don’t want him to be scared.  Plus, I’m sure he’ll tell Grandma and Grandpa all about his experience at the dentist on Thanksgiving.  He’s been looking forward to his visit, both with the dentist and Grandma and Grandpa, for days now.

I’m proud of him that he did so well.  Hopefully he’ll do as well in May when he goes back for his 6 month check up.

Monday Monday

Darling Hubby has this week off so we’ve schedule a bunch of stuff to get done this week.  Today was the car inspection and oil change.  Darling Hubby also went and bought my Christmas present.  It’s hidden somewhere in the basement, but I promise not to go looking for it.  I actually look forward to the surprise of opening a present on Christmas morning…although the thought of knowing that it’s here in the house just kills me some days!

It was decided last week that we would move our game night to tonight, but since one player had his days mixed up, we had to cancel.  I had already canceled going to my craft night and I could have easily said, “hey, count me in again,” but since I had already made plans to spend the night with Darling Hubby I decided that I would do that still.  Yes, I’ll miss the girls and the pizza Leana is bringing, but I also have to dye my hair.  My roots are showing badly and I so don’t want to look bad for the family on Thanksgiving.  I’m vain, I know!  It’s also bad genes!

Right now I’m waiting for dinner to finish cooking.  Since I was staying home, and Darling Hubby decided he wanted bbq pulled pork sandwiches for dinner,

This is the recipe I followed for Easy Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches.

2.5 lb pork roast (frozen or semi frozen is fine)
3/4 – 1 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1/2 cup kechup
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp worchesrshire sauce
1 clove garlic (1/8 tsp powder)
1 tsp mustard (dry or prepared yellow)
1 tsp paprika
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Place roast (with fat side up) in crockpot (I used a 2-3 qt) and mix all ingredients, except cornstarch, together, pour over roast.  Cover and set on low for 7-8 hours.  Remove pork to a separate plate, add 2 Tbsp cornstarch to remaining bbq sauce.  Shred pork with 2 forks and return to sauce to warm.  Serve on kaiser rolls with french fries.

If you are feeling adventurous, like I was today, make your own kaiser rolls.  I whipped up a batch of french bread dough in my bread machine.  I cut it into 8 equal sections, rolled into ropes, tied in a knot, folded one end up and pressed into the middle then folded the other end down and tucked it into the bottom.  Space evenly on a greased sheet pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm place 40 minutes or until double in size. Rub with a salt water glaze (2Tbsp water and 1/2 tsp salt) and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

The verdict  (I finished this post after dinner)- I’ve used this BBQ sauce recipe in the past and for some reason it didn’t have the same zing. Normally I brown pork ribs before I toss them in rather than immersing a whole pork roast.  Possibly the fat from the meat cooked out and diluted the taste.  I also wonder if I didn’t put in enough ketchup (I squirted it in and didn’t measure) or vinegar (I used the lower amount).  I also used the lower amount of salt and thought it could have used a bit more salt.  The meat was very tender and was falling apart before I could get it out of the crockpot.

As for the rolls, I liked the taste of the bread with the meat.  The bread was denser than a normal kaiser roll, almost like a ciabata bread.  I think if I make these rolls again for such a purpose, I won’t knot them, but will rather roll them into roll sized balls and bake them.

It was an experiment, what can I say.

Off to dye my hair and shower.  Tomorrow I’ll post all about Bug’s first ever dentist appt.  Hopefully he’ll open his mouth and be a good boy.  I think he will, but you never know with almost 4 year olds.

Plumbing is Fixed!

Yeah!

Darling Hubby fixed the sewer pipe last night.  It only cost us about $100 dollars and 3 trips to 2 different Home Depots, Walmart, Kmart, Target and finally Lowes so we could get a replacement saw blade for his Black & Decker Navigator.  Those things are darn hard to track down.  No one had them but Lowes.  We finally got the whole thing finished and cleaned up by 6pm.  We started after lunch and spent much of the afternoon driving around looking for blades so we could cut the cast iron pipe off.  Replacing it took all of 15 minutes.

After Bug went to bed Darling Hubby and I had a date night were we curled up together on the couch and watched Tropic Thunder.  It was an OK movie.  Darling Hubby raved about how funny it was and while I did find it funny in parts I wouldn’t say it was my all time favorite movie.  Would I watch it again?  Yes, I think I would.  I’m sure there are things I missed the first watch through.  I think the best part had to be Robert Downy Jr. “playing a dude, disguised as another dude” and the “trailers” at the beginning.  I think, overall, it was a good story, but some of the language and topics might be offensive to some.

Today I baked 2 pumpkin pies.  I don’t think I should have been allowed to cook today, though.  I kept forgetting to add the salt to everything…first the pie crust and then one of the pie fillings. *slaps self in forehead*  I think I managed to fix it well enough.  I hope they are edible.  I’ll be pretty disappointed if they aren’t.  I hate wasting good food.  They smell and look good though.

I still have to make another batch of the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins for Thanksgiving.  I thought they were so good that I want to share them with Darling Hubby’s family and my parents.  I told my mom about them and she even wants the recipe.  I’ll probably do that Wednesday.  I think tomorrow I have to figure out how to make kaiser rolls.  Anyone have a good recipe they want to share?  Darling Hubby wants to make BBQ pork sandwiches for dinner tomorrow and we don’t have any good rolls.  I think I’ll whip up some pizza dough in the bread machine (a thing on the internet said lean dough, like pizza) and try that…At least Darling Hubby is on vacation this whole week so he’ll be around to help me.  We ended up canceling our game night tomorrow since one player couldn’t make it like he thought.  I’m debating on skipping craft night too and just staying home with Darling Hubby since he is on vacation.  I’ll still get to work on my crafts…I just won’t spend the time with the girls.  I guess it all depends on how nuts Darling Hubby drives me tomorrow!  lol

Off to take something for this headache that is developing and work some more on the cream colored scarf.  I got a little over 2 feet done.  Only a few more to go!