Back on Track

Today was the best day we have had in a long while. Everyone was up to doing their own thing. Yeah!!!

Eric and I went to the mall today. His idea of fun was to go to every store in the mall that had stuffed animals and check out each and everyone. He had us convinced this morning that he was going shopping for himself. Forget about my list. So first we looked at Hallmark. Do you really know how many stuffed animals that they have? Then it was off to the Build A Bear Workshop Store. Yes we went through every stuffed animal in there also. I was surprised that they had less stuffed animals than Hallmark store. But in their defense they had a half of a store full of bear clothes. Then it was off to the Disney store. After going through all the animals and toy friends we almost settled on Fozzie Bear. When I asked the all important question "Will you introduce Fozzie to your other friends?" Eric signed no. I asked if this was a ploy to stay out of the house longer and he signed yes.

After a few more stops it was off to Trader Joe's. Everyone was very nice, but I don't think the middle of the day on a Saturday is the time to do the Eric train in a small speciality store. In case you have not seen an Eric train before it goes like this. I push Eric in his chair ahead of me and drag the shopping cart behind me. I do spend a lot of time apologizing and saying excuse me. I find it surprising no one ever gets angry at the inconvenience that I am putting them through. How lucky is that?

I even managed to find time to spin on the wheel and 2 different spindles, then work on 2 different knitting projects. I am finding the purple shawls rows to very long. I can only do 2 rows now per hour show. I started out with 4 stitches and am increasing on both sides of the row. I hope I don't have to get longer knitting needles to finish the project.

Well if we have a good night tonight tomorrow might be even more fun.

Pay Back Time

We all knew it would happen. It was just a matter of time. My body has gone in to rest mode for a few days. Eric has made ot to school 4 days this week and all my body wants to do is nap and relax. I am so tired that The creative forces are not flowing. So in between resting I am working on UFO's. Which is ok. I am working on projects started several years ago. Everything has to get finished or tinked sometime. Well it's time to call it a night.

A Much Needed Day Off

Today I got a real mommy day off. After the guys left for work and school I went back to sleep until noon. After a salad for lunch it was off to CVS for a little retail therapy, well not really but with coupons in hand I did manage to save about $50.00. It was the trip to buy the expensive stuff so the coupons really did help. After a short break more laundry was done and beds were made. Bills were paid and plane tickets bought. I have help lined up for Eric so John and I can go to Teri's law school graduation. I can't believe 3 years have gone by so quickly. I am still amazed that my darling daughter will have her doctorate in a few short months. I really don't know how John and I got so lucky to be blessed with a daughter like Teri. Well Eric needs my attention now. So I guess its time to put the pod away.

The Weekend

Needless to say my weekend did not go as planned. Friday Eric was home sick. I thought he was feeling better Saturday sowe went fo a much needed haircut for Eric and picked up a drive new drive belt for my wheel. We you guessed right, Eric woke up with a fever and a runny nose. I did not make it to the 4th avenue street fair as planned. Instead I did most of tommrows laundry and cleaning. I managed to get a little spinning and knitting done too. I don't think that luck is running on my side so I will tackle paperwork and chores while I am home with Eric tommrow. Well it's not quite 10 and I am hoping for a quiet night because I am exhausted. Good night all.

Still out of Sync

I am feeling better but I am so out of sync its not funny. I am slowly recouping the house. On the knitting front I have finished the never ending socks well ahead of Teri's graduation in May. Yes I know it is the end of March, but at least they were finished before the plane flight. I have also finished the 3 rd shawl of the year. It is a keeper because it fits me to a T. I have been so distracted lately that I have UFO's all over the house. I have gotten in the very bad habit of just picking up something to knit as I walk by it. On the bright side a lot of projects are further along, but I really need to get more projects finished. The only new project that I have started this week is a pair of socks from Belinda Too's first sock book. I have found something harder than a sock gussett, it is a picot edging knit in the round. I also have 4 1/2 inches written on a new blanket pattern. Well it's getting late. So have a great night and enjoy your families.

Eric is Back in School

Eric started back to school yesterday. Insert the happy dance here. So I napped, ate lunch out, worked on the never ending socks ( yes there is an end in sight ), ran errands and made a chicken pot pi for Pi Day. The recipe I used is in a previous blog post. I also tried to make an Irish Soda bread to try something different too. For those of you that have made Irish Soda bread before can you tell me if it is a light biscuit type bread or a very dense bread as mine turned out to be.

Today was guild and lunch out with friends and more knitting. I picked out a light colored shawl as my UFO to work on a guild, yes I know I am working on 2 shawls right now so my goal is to have a total of 2 shawls and 1 pair of socks done by the end of the month. I will keep you posted.

Since I was wearing dressy clothes today, most of my cleaning involved going through piles that were created when Eric was in the hospital. So my cleaning involved 2 hours of putting things away and throwing things out. It was actually more of the later.

Right now I am waiting for the washer to finish so I can put 1 load in the dryer and start 1 more load before I go to sleep tonight. We had a major spill of formula tonight. Formula spills must be washed before they dry or they smell up the house and stain what ever it happened to land on. Just in case you were wondering a complete change out of Eric's bed involves 2 loads of laundry.

I am still out of sync on the whole calendar thing. Yes Eric was home sick for 2 months, so I feel like I should be at the end of January instead of the middle of March. Today I showed up at an event 1 week early. I really must read my email more carefully and AVO ( avoid verbal orders) in regards to events.

I have also enjoyed the freedom of having Eric in school for 2 days in a row. I hope that this trend continues. Well the hour is late. So have a great night.

Less is More

Since Eric's 2 trips to the hospital in February, I have not had any extra house keeping help. I have found the cleaning is therapeutic. On top of all the extra of  what I hope is exercise the surprising thing to me is the house is getting cleaner. The counters are starting to shine. The floors are cleaner. Things are getting less cluttered. I find that about 2 hours of cleaning a day makes me feel better too.

Today while I was cleaning I found almost empty shampoo containers shoved in cabinets. A basket of products with expiration dates back to '08 under empty  or half empty cleaning supplies. I guess the advantage of doing it myself is that I can make the executive decisions to combine containers or throw out empty containers.  For the life of me I can not figure out why someone would just toss empty containers in cabinets and close the door. After all isn't that what the recycling containers are for?

On the laundry front I  started doing laundry at 7 am  and took the last load of the day out of the dryer at 6:30 pm. The good news is that I am almost caught up on laundry. I did save 1 basket of folding for tomorrow in favor of sitting down to knit and watch a little TV. I am now about 1/4 of the way through a wool crape shawl, the skein was 1450 yards long and knit on size US - 4 knitting needles. In my defense I can say it will look simply fabulous when it is done.

I even managed to make dinner tonight. OK I cheated with Bertolli Chicken Minestrone Soup and Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. At times I can open packages with the best of them. Well it is getting late and the house now sounds quiet so I think its time to call it a night.