My cup runneth over...all over the floor

I did something quite spontaneous last night. I had no time for this, or money, but I sure had fun! Meghan and I went to the Seahawks game. A friend at church works for the Seahawks and called Meghan yesterday asking if she wanted four tickets. I was at Meghan's house when Ronda called and I was joking that Mike and I would take them. There was no way Mike and I could go together and I knew that Ronda really wanted to give the tickets to a pastor's family (Meghan's husband is our youth pastor). Bummer for me--none of the pastors were able to go. So the tickets ended up with Meghan. Both Mike and Adam sent us off to the game with their blessings, and we took my sister Caroline and her husband Jeremy with us.

This was the Monday Night Football game of the week, so the crowd was insane. And I always forget how different the NFL crowd is from a MLB crowd until I get there. NFL crowd--all men. This is evident from the way they "wait in line" getting off the freeway (we were cut off countless times. It's as if our car was invisible), to the way they "wait in line" to get in. And it is very clear that Qwest Field was designed by men. The few signs that are posted inside the stadium are completely useless. Signs pointing to elevators that were non-existent (we decided it must be like Platform 9 3/4, and clearly we didn't know the magic words) and the complete lack of directional signs. We had passes to the Club Level and could not find our way to the Club. We had to ask 3 different people. Honestly, I don't know how all the people who were in the club found their way in. And then we couldn't find our way back out to get to our seats. No signs. Zero.

Near the end of the game (in which we were witness to the couple in front of us making out in between bouts of the girl applying chapstick to her boyfriend's lips) we decided to leave to get a jump on vacating our $40 parking spot (Caroline and Jeremy found a free spot, but it was a mile away and they had a pay a homeless person to move). We could not find our way out. We just kept walking in circles looking for an exit sign or a stairwell. We finally found a closed door with a little sign that said "stairs". We went down the stairs onto the street, only to be told, by a man, that we weren't allowed to exit there. Seriously?! We are actually out of the stadium and you're telling us we did it wrong? So he sent us through a door and told us to take a couple of lefts, then we would be near our parking garage.

He sent us into the employee locker room. We were completely lost, wandering around the employee locker room, complaining out loud that we were totally lost, and not one person stopped to question us. We finally found our way out of there and ended up in the bowels of Qwest Field. We walked right past the entrance the players use to run onto the field. Again, we're wandering aimlessly, looking and sounding completely lost, and not one person questioned us. We walked right past a security office, full of security guards who did not notice us at all. No one questioned us when we walked past the player's parking lot, or when we ended up in the loading dock with the ESPN trucks. We knew that wasn't right, and finally found an open doorway to the street.

Again, we were immediately stopped and told we could not exit there. We just looked at her incredulously and said "We just want to leave! How do we get out?!". Her response: "Well you can't go this way". "No, really, we're wandering aimlessly around here and there are NO SIGNS. Can't you tell us how to get out?". "You'll have to go through the loading dock".

So that's what we did. Walked through the loading dock until we found our way to the street. Zero security, zero signs. Meghan and I are contemplating writing a letter to Qwest Field suggesting that they use a portion of the $16.50 we were each charged for a hotdog and beer to purchase a couple of exit signs.

As fun as that adventure was, it did put me further behind in my knitting. Last Friday I brought 8 hats to Anna, who sold 6 of them on Saturday. On Sunday she emailed me, tripling her order. You think I'm kidding. She just placed an order for 20 more hats. And Venue has also emailed me asking for more Candy Cane stocking caps and Viking hats. And I am honestly trying to see how many hats I can knit by Friday. This is gift buying season and Saturdays are big shopping days. Let's see....today is Tuesday....

I have to stop writing about this now before you all start to figure out how truly insane I am.

And I have just 7 months to figure out the absolutely perfect thing to knit for Mike's sister Tiffany's new baby!

A moment of silence...

Out of respect for those who mourn the great loss in our home today, I will postpone writing of my knitting foibles until tomorrow.

Slimey--beloved tree frog, true friend, eater of live crickets, bought the farm this morning. May you be reunited in that great tank in the sky with those who have gone before you, Croaky and Hoppy. R. I. P.

Now I'm Delusional

Lately Mike and I have been joking that, when Eric grows up, he would like to be retired. He wants to skip the productive portion of his life and settle into a life of leisure (I do feel compelled to tell you that despite his best efforts, Eric is quite bright. He draws exceptionally well for a 4 year old, loves to write, and the other day he did Ryan's math homework. Seriously. Eric did a 2nd grade math worksheet and got all but one of the answers correct. I find his brain to be a little frightening. I can only imagine what he would be capable of should he choose to actually put forth some effort into something). He wears pajamas on his non-school days and has been into "reading" the paper. Eric loves the newspaper. We get the Renton Reporter delivered once a week and it always goes right to Eric. He thumbs through it, colors on all the pages--he gets more out of that paper than we ever do. Until now.

Yesterday the Reporter came and Eric left it lying on the couch unattended for a moment. I noticed a front page article on a new shop in downtown Renton called Happy Delusions. When he wasn't looking I tossed the paper in my purse on our way out the door to preschool, to read when I actually had a moment alone. Happy Delusions is a new artisan shop for crafters. In Renton. I live in Renton. I couldn't believe it. Here was the shop I had been looking for. I met Mike for coffee (Mike has "offices" at several Starbucks and Tulley's all over the greater Eastside) and we talked about it and ran the numbers--if I can sell more than 4 hats a month, I would be more profitable than I am at Venue. So I ditched him and raced down to Happy Delusions.

Happy Delusions is located in the old part of downtown Renton. There has been a revitalization of this part of town in recent years and this particular area is full of antique shops, little book stores, the boys' comic book shop, little breweries, etc...Happy Delusions is actually next to the tattoo parlor, but from what I understand, it's one of your nicer tattoo parlors. I went in, checked it out, met Mary the owner, and discovered that even though they have a few baby things, they really don't have much. When I explained what I do, Mary told me that is exactly what their shop needs! She only had a few open spaces left, but the one I want is right in front, just as you walk in the door.

So this morning a pajama-clad Eric and I are going down to Happy Delusions to sign my lease and drop off a bunch of inventory and business cards.

Am I taking on too much? Yep. I am delusional? Always. But this is such a great opportunity. How can I pass up this chance that is just a few miles from my house?

Happy Delusions opens in 2 hours. I am going to need that time to gather my things, tag them, write an inventory list, and convince Eric to put on clean underwear. Wish me luck!

Oops

My Desk

Ryan came to me yesterday morning, unable to get dressed for school because all he could find to wear was a pair of football pants and some old sweats. Do you think maybe I should reconsider my priorities if I've forgotten to do laundry this week?

This is my desk. It is NOT representative of the rest of my house, but I have allowed it to become the receptacle for all things that don't have a good home. Also, after spending the day picking up after all of these people, the last thing I want to do is clean my desk, which is tucked away in a back corner of the house, behind the playroom. However, I'm noticing that it is beginning to take on a life of it's own.

Currently residing on this desk is a birthday party blower, a cake recipe, a broken stapler (which is next to Ryan's stapler, which I swiped from his desk), mail-in election ballots which I forgot to complete (and yesterday was election day. Oops), knitting patterns, clothing catalogs, a swim lessons schedule for a pool where we do not take swimming lessons, a coloring book, various lists, the manual for my broken vacuum cleaner (I guess that should save me some time, since I can't vacuum right now), my camera case.....clearly all very important items that belong on a desk. The other day I was tearing this pile of crap apart looking for the notes Leah wrote me on using HTML code to add pictures to my blog. It took me several minutes to realize that I had tacked it up on the memo board behind my computer, for easy access. Again, I'm wondering if I need to rethink how I'm spending my time.

On the flip side, I have 7 hats ready for Anna, one pair of bumble bee booties, and a half a pair of duck flippers and minnie mouse booties. And I did make dinner last night.

I can just hear the conversation between my kids and their therapists, which I have no doubt they will need by the time I am through with them : "I never had clean underwear and my mom could never seem to find a working ball point pen, but boy could she knit a mean cupcake hat!"

I'm Back

Anakin and Spidey
Need I say more?

Yes, I know I know--I went to Audrey's Holiday Bazaar and then the 3 of you who actually read this blog never heard from me again. I have been meaning and trying to get to my computer since Friday, but, well, I've had a few things going on.

First of all--Halloween. Here are my boys--Anakin Skywalker and Spiderman. We did the trick-or-treating thing and now I'm eating all of their candy.

Friday: What did I do Friday? Oh yes. I brought the kids to school, went to the yarn store and did not buy anything fun or even anything for me, killed a bit of time at Barnes and Noble, picked Eric up from school, knit, picked Ryan up from school, and then babysat Emily and Daniel for the afternoon and evening as part of our date-night swap with Walter and Shirley. No time to blog.

Saturday: Mike and the boys dug a big hole in my garden so we could have a filter installed in our septic tank and have our pump tank serviced. My garden was ruined for septic maintenance. But really, can you put a price on septic tank maintenance? Do I need to go into further detail? While all of the boys were playing in the dirt, I was mulching leaves. About 1 billion leaves. Approximately. They all then left for a bit to run errands and I did more knitting for Anna. When they returned we completely cleaned out and rearranged the playroom. We sorted toys, organized papers, removed the giant train table in the middle of the room, created a drawing station for the boys, since all they do is draw when they are not battling the forces of evil with their light sabers, cleaned out costumes....this took hours. An entire Saturday came and went with no time to blog.

Sunday: After church I went with Ryan to a 6 hour birthday party. Literally, a 6 hour birthday party. I helped chauffeur 8 boys to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch, then to the movie theater for Bee Movie, then back to the birthday boy's house for cake and presents. We didn't return home until 5:30. I had a bowl of cereal for dinner. And a beer.

And now somehow it is 5:00 on a Monday evening and I refuse to let another day go by without reporting to you, my 3 faithful readers, about the bazaar. Mike is in the kitchen making dinner. I believe I will be served hotdogs. But since I am not in the kitchen making dinner, I will not complain.

My table at the bazaar

OK--here we go--THE BAZAAR!

The bazaar was pretty amazing. Audrey has a really large, beautiful home and she filled it with vendors. There were tables set up everywhere--the living room, family room, hallway, dining room, and in the big bonus room upstairs (where I was). She had people selling Southern Living, Silpata jewelry, framed art, hand painted pottery, hand made picture frames, candles, scrapbooks, hand bags...I don't even know what else. She had vendors everywhere.

And the food! Oh my word. About once an hour I went downstairs to fill my plate. Marinated pork, cheeses, yummy fried things with meat inside, crackers and spreads, and the wine....mmmmm.....oh and I can't forget the chocolate fountain with the cream puffs, angelfood cake, pretzels, cookies...All I can say is, Audrey knows how to throw a party. And I was just a little ill that night.

She must have had a good 150 people coming through the door . Seriously, this was no Tupperware party. This was an event. And how did I do? Well, I did ok. Yep, just ok. I made about $160 and did generate some interest, but I was hoping to sell about twice what I actually did. The entire event was really fun, but my area was a little on the slow side. I will do it next year if she asks me, but I really hope to sell more next time.

The good news? I was able to pull a few things for Anna, which did relieve my stress in that area a bit. I'm planning to drop some things off for her on Thursday. I have to say, as adorable as the booties are, not my favorite thing to make in bulk.

Tomorrow I'm taking two boys to the dentist. Which is about as much fun as taking myself to the dentist. And then I will knit...