Monday, February 20, 2006

To bring some focus to my hectic multi-project knitathon, I have joined up with the The 2006 Knitting Olympics. The mohair poncho is what I began during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but have cast on the ivory socks for Mom, stripey socks for Granny and began a gauge swatch for my cousin's Jaywalkers. It's looking a little dicey - much like the snow in Turin slowed things down a bit, so does the mountain of sock yarn in my stash. Check out the pictures!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

I love Sunday. We skipped church (again) this morning and I just cleared the breakfast dishes after making a yummy oven pancake that Judah helped me mix up. Lemon juice, confectioners sugar, butter and nutmeg mixed in to the batter -- delicious. This along with applewood smoked bacon and blood oranges made a perfect lazy Sunday meal.

It is COLD outside. 28F which is the reason for blowing off church. No way is it worth all the bundling up and subjecting myself to freezing weather. So, I'll just renew my spirit by the fire today, needles and yarn in hand.

I'm in manic knitting mode this week. My trip to Cape Town, South Africa is coming up in a few weeks, so to relieve some of the stress of such a complex trip, I'm all over the place in my projects. I'm making a pink mohair poncho (a lovely deep rose shade) with little bobbles that is found in the new Vogue Knitting On the Go book (the yarn and book gifts from my friend Morgan). Ivory wool/mohair socks for my Mom. Blue/ivory/grey/red socks for my Granny and just picked up some Trekking XXL sock yarn #104 (blues) for my cousin who is freezing way worse than us at college in Wisconsin. The pattern I am making for my cousin is the Jaywalker. Size 1 needles which are essentially the width of a toothpick.

We have been really good about eating at home for the past month - no dining out at all. We dined out last night with friends at a Brazilian restaurant where Judah will actually eat without pulling a "picky toddler" on me. He loves home-cooked Brazilian food, so I suppose I should learn to cook it. The restaurant was having a Carnaval party later that night, so was decorated with green, gold and purple throughout, making it quite festive.

I am happy that tomorrow is a holiday - my office celebrates Presidents' Day, so I'm hoping to read and knit and watch the paint peel. I'm reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova, an intriguing vampire story.

Friday, February 03, 2006

My kid is getting big for his britches these days.

I have been coming down with some bug for the past three days. Two nights ago, he wanted me to play with Lincoln Logs on the floor, which I absolutely did not feel like doing. I just wanted to lie on the sofa and not move a muscle. Here was our conversation:

Judah: Mommy, play with you?

Me: Judah, mommy is really sick. I need to rest. Can you play by yourself?

Judah: {{wraps me up in a bear hug and starts trying to lift me off the sofa}}. Mommy, come on! Play with me! Build castle now! Let’s go!

Me: Really, son, I am sick. I need to rest. You have to play by yourself right now. I’m sick!

Judah: {{pulls my legs and grunts like he’s lifting something heavy}} It’s too hard. Come on, Mommy! Play with you?

Me: {{throws head back in exasperation}}

Judah: {{grabs my face in both hands and pulls my head down to eye level}} Mommy, look at me. You NOT SICK. YOU NO REST. Play me on floor? You build, mommy? You build with me?

He has figured out how to ask the same question over and over and over and over and over until I cave.

Then, last night, at 11:45pm, he woke me up to ask if he could go downstairs to play. He refused to go back to sleep and so I ended up making a palette on his bedroom floor and said, "You can play in your room, but Mommy is going to sleep." He played until around 6am! He pulled every block, puzzle and tractor out of his toy box and thoroughly enjoyed waking me up once by handing me a book to read to him ("Mommy, read book?") and another time by moving the beads back and forth on an abacus that he had placed by my head ("Mommy, play with me?") and another time by putting a chair on my palette and constructing towers out of wooden blocks.

I woke this morning feeling like a mack truck had rolled over me a dozen times.

We have to get him back on schedule because he has a group evaluation tomorrow morning at the #1 school of our choice. If he blows it after all the stuff we've done (paid big application deposit, gotten letters of referral, toured the school, crashed a parents' night spaghetti supper, etc) I will be really bummed.