This week sucketh

So, last week I was going to post a picture of Leah's birthday sock and I had started writing a posting about it, but it was looking a lot like George W. wrote it himself--that is how bland and incoherent it was. And then I still had nothing interesting to say, and still yet nothing interesting to say and, well, if you wanted to hear George you could have turned on NBC this morning, thinking you were going to see Day 2 of Where In The World Is Matt Lauer, and instead you get to see George having it out with a reporter who tried to cheat and ask a 2nd follow up question in the surprise press conference when apparently that was against the rules....sigh....

And I thought about just rewriting that posting using the same picture, but the date on this post would have been wrong, and that is unacceptable in my eyes, and it would mean reimporting the picture and, even though in the time it has taken to type all of this I could have done that, I just didn't. So you get a post with no pictures today.

This week. This week I have A TON of hats to knit. Miya from Willow and Bloom called last Thursday and said all of her hats were gone. All of them. She needs more--stat! Fine. I can handle that. This week is also the week I need to get ready for the garage sale Shirley and I are having on Saturday. At first it was going to be just me and Shirley. And then it was me and Shirley and her mom. And then it was me and Shirley and her mom and her friend, Julie. And now it is me and Shirley and her mom and Julie and half of our street. Which is great because a 6 or 8 family garage sale is much more appealing to the general public, but it also means I really do have to do this garage sale. So on my calendar I designated today as Garage Sale Set Up Day to force myself to do it. Which is why you are finally getting a new post. The first of many attempts to avoid the garage.

I also need to garden. It's spring, it has been raining, and things are finally growing like weeds. Including the weeds. I have spent the last few years putting some serious time into my garden and I refuse to let it go by the wayside. Which means I need to get out there. Also, after having our septic tank pumped last fall, there is some damage I need to repair and it is just taunting me everytime I look out the kitchen window. The birdbath is crooked and there are some serious holes that need to be filled and smoothed over. I also have some pavers that need attention. Could I do this next week? Or the week after? Will my garden disintegrate if I don't get out there this week? Well, technically, no, but....

And I'm out of coffee. So I'm drinking tea purely for the caffeine. I hate tea. And I could drive to Starbucks to get a latte, but that would mean getting in the car and driving to Starbucks. So I'm drinking tea. I hate tea. Did I mention that already?

Where am I on the knitting front? I'm almost done with Leah's 2nd sock. I presented her one completed sock on her birthday, which I think she is excited about, and have been working hard on sock #2. I just love working with the Pagewood Farm sock yarn. It's yummy. I was also able to present Leah with her completed convertible mittens and am now working on a matching hat for her. My sweater is still in a big scary heap and I have another class tomorrow. I'm knitting like crazy for Willow and Bloom and I have a couple of new ideas for Venue that I'd like to get started on. In my spare time.

I ripped out the Tilli Tomas scarf. I didn't like it. If I am going to knit and wear a scarf from the beautiful coveted Tilli Tomas Flurries, I am going to love it. And I was not loving this. I did a little research on Ravelry and found another pattern, that I just happen to have in my brand new Louisa Harding Knitting Little Luxuries book, and it was adorable. Using my exact yarn. So I ripped it out and have it "resting" for a bit.

I need a haircut, I have nothing to wear, Eric keeps taking toys out of the garage sale pile, and Ryan has already earned himself Wii restriction for being a total and complete snot.

Let's see--the bright side? Hmmmm....if it does not rain in a torrential downpour this Saturday, I hope to have my garage cleared of much crap after the garage sale, my customer loved her strawberry hat, so I guess it was not as evil as I had imagined, and season 2 of Robin Hood started this week.

Must go now. Laundry, pricing, and weeding awaiteth.

Weekend Update

Well, first and foremost, the Langley Antique Show! I actually made it to my parent's house by 6:45, which was amazing for a holiday weekend, considering that I left my house at 5:00. My parents were still at the Langley fairgrounds setting up, so I met them there, and realized very quickly that this event was on a much bigger scale than I had anticipated. They had about 30 vendors and it was located in a rather large hall. And although my parents were actually in pretty good moods about this event, considering the fact that they were coordinating the whole thing, I discovered very quickly the object of my mother's "issue du jour". A very heated arguement had broken out between a couple of vendors over the placement of their booths. I heard many variations of this story that evening--all from my mother.

I set my things up around my mom's booth, we went to dinner, them home to bed to get ready for the big day.

The next morning, after getting coffee from the Useless Bay Coffee Co, we arrived at the show. Now, I was raised by two people who get the biggest charge out of a garage sale. When I was growing up we had a garage sale every year. But not one of those little set-up-a-card-table-in-the-driveway-with-a-few-chipped-dishes kind of sale. They invited friends and neighbors and put on the biggest sales you've ever seen. Every year. And now that they're on a farm, they have a barn sale every year and invite all of their "antiquey" friends to set up "booths" on their property. So while your average garage sale make bring in $75 to $100, my folks will rake in $3000.

Needless to say, the Langley Antique Show at the Island County Fair Grounds is big doin's for them. And the sad thing--after doing the barn sales with them for the last six years, I actually knew a lot of people at the Antique Show. And they knew me. And the people who didn't know me instantly warmed to me when they realized that I was Ray and Jackie's daughter. My parents have formed this whole new small town life for themselves and it is so interesting to watch it unfold!

And how did I do? I sold 5 hats, 2 stuffed cupcakes, and 6 felted pears! I made $120, received a ton of compliments, and passed out cards to several interested potential customers. So, while I made a small fraction of what my folks took in, I'm actually quite pleased with how I did and plan to make more cupcakes and felted pears for my mom to sell in her shop.

In other news: Alice. I want to wring her 15 year old furry little passive-aggressive neurotic neck. She is on a peeing frenzy these days. Including Saturday night when I woke up at 1:30 a.m. to realize she had peed on the bed while we were in it. Nothing like changing your sheets at 2:00 in the morning. She went for a few weeks without any problems, and now it's almost a daily occurance. But seriously, we don't know what to do. It's all behavioral. Should we take away her tv? Set up a little kitty sticker chart?

Robin Hood. Season 1 has come to a close and I'm actually quite sad about it. Ryan and I have had a great time watching it together and I'm in a little bit of mourning over the fact that it's done (but delighted to know that there will be a season 2!). Ryan and I were watching it a couple of weeks ago and Marian had become injured. One of Robin's "merry men" needed to find clean instruments to treat her. After several minutes Ryan looked at me and asked "how will the instruments help her?" and I realized that he had been wondering how a trumpet was going to heal her stab wound. It was all we could do not to even smile as we explained what surgical instruments are.

And up next? I have a list, a list!, of knitting projects! Gordon's hat, a snowman baby hat for Ryan's pregnant teacher, Cinderella #2, a java sleeve for Leah, more cupcakes and pears, and I'm in negotiations with a shop owner in Lancaster, PA for some babyhats. There will be little Amish babies wearing cupcakes on their heads!

Secrets and Lies

Ryan is nearly 7 and I am still learning things about him every day. He is in the 1st grade and I am amazed at the way he has grown up this year. And then there are some ways that he has not...

As March 17th approached, Ryan became very excited. Not only was it St. Patrick's Day, but it was also our 17th wedding anniversary. And it was the day of his cousin Jack's 6th birthday party. So Ryan had a lot to look forward to that day (I don't know why our anniversary was such a big deal to him--we were planning to celebrate without him). He had learned a lot about leprechauns in class (???) and came home on the 16th and wrote a letter to a leprechaun, asking for 3 pieces of gold. He sealed it in an envelope and put it in the mailbox, with the flag up.

Mike and I had been at our bookgroup that night and around 10:30 realized that Ryan was going to wake up expecting to find gold. We talked about it--do we play along? Will he be crushed if he wakes up to the truth? Is this wrong? What do we do?? We ended up running to Safeway on the way home and bought the only "gold" candy we could find at 11:00pm--Rolos. Ryan and Eric each got 3 gold Rolos in the mailbox the next morning.

This is the point when I start to question all of my decision making and parenting skills. All along the way I could have told him that leprechauns are make-believe. I could have allowed him to find the letter in the mailbox the next morning and put the pieces together himself. We do the Santa thing, Ryan believes in the tooth fairy, but leprechauns have never been "celebrated" in our house before. And yet I went along with it, allowing him to have his fun.

During dinner on Sunday Ryan suddenly asked me if I put the gold candy in the mailbox, or if it really came from a leprechaun. I faultered. Do I perpetuate a lie? He is almost 7 years old--can he handle the disappointing truth? Maybe this is a good litmus test should the Santa question come up...I realized that I can't look my kids in the face and lie to them. I can play along with their games, but when asked a direct question I have to be honest with them. I looked at Mike for strength. He ran away like a little girl. So I gathered up all of my courage and told Ryan that yes, I did put the candy in the mailbox. He asked again, just to make sure he heard me correctly. When I answered truthfully again, he burst into tears. And ran off with Mike to be comforted.

I sat with Ryan for a long time, apologizing for hurting his feelings. I explained that he had been having fun and that I wanted to have fun with him, but I don't ever want to lie to him. He had asked me a question and I felt that I needed to be truthful. He accused me of tricking him, which I suppose in a way I did. Although I don't think he was able to put it into words, I can imagine he felt foolish for ever believing in leprechauns. And I felt terrible that I did something that made him feel that way. It was a tough love moment. If I had to do it again, I'm not sure what I would change. All I could do was apologize for making a mistake and for hurting his feelings. Now I live in fear--what if he actually asks about Santa?! I may have to take a valium for that moment.

We did eventually make up. He was unwilling to forgive me for awhile, but then I bribed him with our new favorite show--BBC's Robin Hood. I have been Tivo-ing it and decided after episode 1 that Ryan would be fine watching it. He and I are both hooked on this show. An hour of swashbuckling and all was forgiven.

What did I knit this weekend? Nothing. A very disappoining weekend in terms of knitting. I gardened, I celebrated my anniversary, I got a haircut, I did 545781 loads of laundry (which is still all over my living room. I think it's growing. Honestly, I keep putting it away and everytime I turn around there is more), but no real knitting was accomplished. However, my Cinderella pattern came yesterday. I keep reading it and re-reading it. I am absolutely itching to get started. But I have to do it right. I need to figure out how many colors of yarn I need (and there are a lot), I need to come up with the money (again, a lot...), and I need to make sure I buy the right yarn, not just whatever is in stock. This cannot be a make-shift project--it will be done to perfection. Mike saw me reading the pattern and looked over my shoulder at it. He sounded very wary when he said "that looks really complicated". I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I answered "I know!"