Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

I have several updates to share:

1. The Mighty Tite. Mike made two different trips to the hardware store, spent another good hour on that evil device from the devil, and this is how it finally ended up:

A brand new Mighty Tite has been ordered and is enroute to Cori. So now I'm out $22 and the seatbelt, while it is now available for use, became twisted in this whole horrible ordeal. The van is due for a tune up, so Dodge can deal with it.


2. The neopolitan socks. I finished the first one and tried it on. Too small. Not just too short--too small all around. Sigh........let's try the size 3 needles now, shall we? I have to do it again. I spent $46 on these socks and I'm going to keep working at it, even if it means I end up being buried in them. Now, for any of you knitters reading this, I know what you're thinking--gauge?! Hello? No, I didn't check my gauge. I've knit a couple dozen pairs of socks and this has never been a problem. Of course I've always used sock weight yarn in the past, but I did not take the time to check my gauge. For several reasons. A: I'm lazy. B: I hate to waste yarn on a swatch. C: It involves math. I don't do math. The part of the brain that does math is missing in me. I know I know--I could actually do the math. But I don't want to. And I could have Mike do the math, but that involves him helping me with something with which I am already very frustrated. And nobody wants to get involved in that.

3. The housework. I've spend several days doing it, and now I've spent a few days not doing it. I'm really not seeing the difference. Although there are a few areas that do need my attention: I need to vacuum the boys' bathroom since Ryan pulled the towel rack off the wall and there is drywall dust on the floor. I won't even go into what a low priority it is for us to put the towel rack back up, after patching the hole and painting... I need to mop the kitchen floor because someone spilled juice all over it. Mike thinks it's fine because we wiped it up, but I'm tired of my socks sticking to the floor. And there is clean laundry all over the couch that must be put away because I have a full evening of sitting on the couch and watching tv until I fall asleep planned for tonight. The basket of bathroom cleaners is still in bathroom #2, from when I cleaned it on Monday, and I never got around to cleaning #3 and #4. We have a dinner party in a week. How bad would it be if I just waited until then?

4. The garden: I went to one of my favorite nurseries this week and bought some plants. I bought annuals for my pot near the front door, and spent the bulk of my plant budget on more perennials for my ever evolving garden beds. And today I went to a neighborhood plant sale (it was kind of like a garage sale, for plants) and got 5 plans for $7, so I'm feeling very smug about that.

5. The Playstation. It is unfortunately working now. We have introduced a device into our home that is a new source of consternation and angst. And it has also been added to our list of consequences for inappropriate behavior. For example-- Me: "you will lose your Playstation for tomorrow if you speak to me disrespectfully one more time". Ryan: "[screaming disrespectful things]". Me: "I'm sorry but you have now lost your Playstation for tomorrow". Ryan: "[more screaming]". See how well this is working out?

6. Cinderella. Still waiting for her arms.