First Communion redux

Today was the Mass to celebrate all the second-graders’ First Communions. Of course we rushed in almost dressed, searching for someone who could tie a necktie. JC tried to do it himself at home when I told him he didn’t have to, and he was in tears trying to follow the necktie-tying directions in his Wolf Scout book.

But we got there just in time. I did have to relocate the Wonder Twins and Big Tom to the crying room just as the priest was giving a homily on Unity, because everyone was misbehaving. And at the last second I opted out of the lemonade-and-cookie reception after realizing we were about to shuffle through a series of long lines. We went to the parking lot, where Colleen had a complete meltdown at missing the reception, and I had a meltdown at the fact that two parents had parked in a no parking area and completely blocked my ability to exit the parking lot. One of them even reached into her car to retrieve her son’s backpack and walked past my van into the school while I sat glaring at her.

I was in tears for various reasons today, but JC did look very handsome and I was so proud of all the kids.

At some point I was telling Colleen that we were having this Mass to celebrate all the second graders who had made their First Communion. JC injected, “Actually, I’ve had communion at school Mass a few times now.” Mister Casual. It sounded very Joey Tribbiani. “Oh yeah, *I’ve* had communion *several* times now. No big deal. I’ve got the Jesus in me, how YOU doin’?”

I had a Great Mom Moment tonight when I cracked the Easter Egg on the DVD of the 1986 Transformers movie. I rule, at least on disc 1.

You should probably not even ask how the rest of the day went. But I think I am going out for more wine.

Beaders, take notice tomorrow if you want to score free admission to the Bead & Button Show in June. I have two free passes and I ain’t goin’. Looks like giveaway or swap time. Hmmmm.

The meme stops here

Okay, random facts time. Let’s get this over with.

Note: I am not tagging anyone as a result of being tagged by two people to do this meme. From the comments I received, it sounds as if that would put us all in therapy. And we don’t want that again, do we?

So here it is: 15 random facts about me, by popular demand. I must say these are pretty pedestrian questions. If you only knew what you could have asked! (And what I would have declined to answer.)

1. If chocolate was suddenly wiped off the face of the earth and you had no way of ever, ever savoring it again, what would you do?

I think I would have a little cry (trust me, that would be tough) and then switch to white wine. Cheap German stuff is fine.

2. Would it be legal?

I’ve been the legal drinking age for quite some time. In fact I was grandfathered in when Ohio changed the legal drinking age to 21, and it drove my lush of a college roommate crazy that I didn’t drink alcohol at all.

3. Aside from chocolate, is there any other foody, beveragey type that you go crazy for?

I’ve already mentioned the wine. So for this one, let’s say big honking tiger shrimp, preferably beached in some fettucine alfredo.

4. Where is the furthest you’ve traveled to?

North: a half hour north of Escanaba, Michigan.
East: Brussels, Belgium. (To fly home from Paris.)
South: Freeport, the Bahamas.
West: Phoenix, Arizona.

5. Share a picture of yourself that you love! (anytime, anyplace)

This predates the digital camera, so you’ll have to wait for it while I take a picture of a print. It will be from a photo shoot my husband did when I was in labor with Jack, in 2004. This would be a digital picture of a black and white print, though, so maybe you’ll just have to use your imagination.

6. Then share one that you don’t love!

I don’t know which one this will be yet. But don’t hold your breath.

7. What was the first item you knit?

I knit this wonderful garter stitch scarf for myself in the summer of 2005. Four skeins of German superwash something or other, plus fringe. I wanted it to be as long as the Doctor Who (Tom Baker) scarf. With the little leftover yarn I learned to purl, and made a tiny scarf for my daughter.

8. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A professional baseball player. And God bless them, no one ever rained on that parade, they let me figure it out for myself. I am truly gender blind when it comes to some things. It took me many years before I noticed there weren’t any girls out there.

9. As an adult, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to raise animals, and spin, dye, and sell their yarn. Sheep, llamas, alpacas, Samoyeds, Newfoundlands, Collies, whatever.

10. What was the first movie you saw in the theatre?

Bambi? Wait, I have to go ask my mother. I’ll be right back. But I remember watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the drive-in with my parents. There was also the time we went to see Charlotte’s Web at the same drive-in and I turned around to see Moonraker. (Note: Mom doesn’t remember the movie either. She did remember Charlotte’s Web, though.)

11. What’s your pron star name? (first pet’s name + street you grew up on = pron name)

Boots Southampton. Veddy English don’t you think? Makes me think of this.

12. What TV or movie character do you feel is closest to you?

Marge Simpson.

13. Or do you strive to be most like?

Laura Holt, please!

14. Will this get you started?

Yes, thank you.

15. I wanna know…if you had to pick ONE type/brand of chocolate, what would it be?

My favorite is Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Marzipan. But I am such a sucker for anything with Special Dark on the label. Cocoa, baking chips, kisses filled with cherry cordial, the new Kissables (even though I don’t like Kissables) … you name it. Someday I am going to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and making a total pig of myself.

OK, I get it, I’m it!!

I have been tagged by Ann for 8 random facts, and by Michele for 7 random facts. Does this mean I have to tell everyone 15 things, or should the 8 just include the 7?

And if I’m choosing the facts to present, are they truly random? Sounds like observer effect to me, which is why I’m not going to tag Lisa. She won’t be able to stop with the random facts (she knows too damn much), and she’s on deadline right now about three different ways, so far as I can tell.

How about I answer 7 or 8 questions from commenters? I reserve the right to limit details, but here’s your chance to pry a little and get away with it. Ask away, and I’ll get random on the next post.

Which was going to be Food for Thursday, but NOOOOOOOO.

Iron on Wednesday

Does anyone remember the little verse that told you what day of the week was for washing, for ironing, for mending? I don’t know if Wednesday is really supposed to be ironing day, but it seems like all my ironing must be done today or else.

I got two more vertical sashings sewn on to the T-shirt panels last night, then realized that I had better iron everything I had already done before I did any more, or I was in danger of creating a huge mess. Hand stitching isn’t hard to pick out, but ripping out machine stitching really bites. So I’ll have to iron those.

While I had the sewing machine out, I grabbed two fat quarters and started putting together a reversible drawstring bag for the Hopeful Pages Project. I was so sure I could put together something nice with just two fat quarters and no cutting. If it works out, I’ll post the pattern. I am not really Little Miss Sewing Machine, so it took me at least a month to come up with something so simple that I thought I could do it. (Of course, I haven’t done it yet.) So I have to press the drawstring and the bag fabric before I can go on to the next step.

Tomorrow is the school Mass celebrating all the second graders who have made their First Communion at all the different parishes. I actually remembered to buy lemonade for the reception. But the kids will arrive at this Mass dressed as they were on their First Communion day, and change into regular clothes afterwards. So I have to press his dress shirt and slacks. (And tomorrow I will have to make it through Mass with the Wonder Twins and Big Tom, but that’s a whole other headache, and it doesn’t happen until tomorrow.)

I woke up really early today and got to work on my Harlot-recipe salt and pepper socks while it was still quiet. I am still on the ribbing for the first sock. I am supposed to knit 2 inches and so far I have 1.5 inches according to a red plastic Star Wars ruler, which is the first ruler I could find without leaving the living room.

Tom has been eating like a pig since we got the orders to stuff him. Over the last few days he has had toddler formula, applesauce, instant mashed potatoes, off-brand cheerios, strawberry yogurt, bread, fried eggs, and baked macaroni and cheese. Right now he is making a glorious mess of some honey-flavored Teddy Grahams.

Thanks to everyone for granting me a Stash Emergency Exemption I didn’t even ask for. I do feel much better now. If I don’t make it to September or October or whatever, I won’t beat myself up too much.

Spam Quote of the Day

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Yeah, that’s great design at work. It was tough to click on “Quentin.” Thanks for your recognition of my hours of labor.

Knit from your, yeah, whatever

OK, so I was fine with this Knit From Your Stash program (except for the being on probation since January 1 part, but that was an honest mistake and we sha’n't discuss that) until yesterday. We had a little security scare at the campus yesterday, which ended up being nothing but good practice for the real thing, but still. When it happens right across the corner from the elementary school, at the very minute you are there to pick up your child, and in fact you had to pull over for the passage of an unmarked police car on your way to the school, you tend to freak out a little bit.

I am usually very cool and even funny in an emergency (ask me about my appendectomy sometime, it was a laugh riot!!!), but this time it hit home to me that while I was going into school to retrieve my son, I was leaving the other three in the parking lot even closer to the mystery danger. Karma is one thing, but random disaster is something else.

So I went shopping. First I went grocery shopping because we really did need some things, like milk and cheese pizzas. But I kept throwing comfort foods into the cart, too. If I can’t protect my kids from shooters, at least they will have Pop-Tarts to eat. Don’t argue with a Cancerian Mama when her baby crabs are threatened. That’s what the claws are for, and throw those Ghirardelli extra dark baking chips in there, too, please, homemade fudge will make Mama feel better. I will exercise someday, but right now I just need to feel better.

By the time I got to the checkout lane I knew I would be getting yarn, too. Any kind I wanted. Because I wanted it. So I got cash back from the groceries to pay for the yarn.

I was going to get the Trekking XXL but (thank you Mom for a lifelong training session in value) hit the clearance bins first. Lo and behold, a skein of Sirdar Country Style, cranberry heather I think. Not the same as the wonderful purple I got for Mother’s Day, but coordinating enough for stripes (and only 99 cents). Two skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Merino Superwash (with mismatched dye lots, which is probably why they were there). A skein of Patons Decor in a colorway called Tapestry with all kinds of winey fall jewelly colors. Mine mine mine. And, oh yeah, more pieces parts for stitch markers. If I’m not careful I’m going to look like a beader pretty soon.

Yeah, I feel much safer now. The “crisis” turned out to be that a student brought his lab project to class in something that looked like a gun case. But at least I have my yarn. My children will be protected. And they have three flavors of Pop-Tarts.

So, I might as well kiss Knit From Your Stash goodbye. If I am this unstable, I clearly need more yarn anyway.

And if you need 50 grams of Mission Falls in color 02 to match a dyelot you already have, I’m willing to swap. Let me know.

Oh…I got to pick my prize today from the Charmed Knits KAL drawing. I picked Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning. The road to you-know-where is paved with free craft books.

Spam Quote of the Day

COOOOOOL!!!!!!!! Let’s be friends!!! Go to my site and post your info

Mid-May catch-up

Where to start? Mr. Beth was working from home last Thursday and Friday after returning from his trip to Maine…and somehow, when he’s home the routine always changes and I don’t manage to blog. I am going to have to do something about that.

I will just give updates on everything I can think of, Dad style, but with a little more detail.

Mr. Beth got home from the Maine trip (via Boston and Milwaukee) on Wednesday afternoon. He brought me the current edition of the Quilter’s Travel Companion, and a huge cake of hand-dyed sock yarn from End of the World Farms. In fact, we shopped for it together last Monday. Via cell phone I gave him turn by turn directions to Quiltessentials, a knitting and quilting store in Auburn, Maine, and he kept talking to me as he went into the store and sifted through the sale bins. Later he used the cell to e-mail me a picture of the yarn. (This was pretty fun. Yes, I know I’m a geek.)

After that conversation I re-dyed the Merino. I mixed up some Grape Kool-Aid concentrate in a squirt bottle, laid the washed and rinsed skeins on a plastic bag one at a time, then applied color, squished it in, and set the color in the microwave. The colors look a little dull again, but I guess it’s better than fakey-bright. I put the skeins in a Longaberger basket and keep carrying them around with me and petting them.

Did I ever mention Lauren handspun this Merino? She did a really good job and it is so soft. I am entertaining several notions of what to knit it up into, but for now it makes a very nice pet. I wish my photos didn’t distort the color and wash it out so much!

We didn’t end up doing anything special for Tom on his birthday, except the kids sang Happy Birthday to him practically every time they saw him. He had his one-year checkup on Thursday, and he had gained less than a pound in six months. The doc recommended we put him on a formula designed for toddlers, and feed him everything we can think of. They also tapped an arm vein to do some blood work to make sure it’s just lack of calories that is keeping him so small and not a thyroid thing. With all that in mind, I skipped the immunizations. We’ll do those next month when he has some more heft to him. (He weighed 14 pounds, 15 ounces.) You can tell this was taken the day after his birthday because Jack hasn’t ripped the band-aid off his arm yet.

The new kitchen floor was installed on Thursday. I know it is an inexpensive vinyl but it looks so much better than what we had. (And yes, we will be putting up some new baseboard.)

While the floor was being installed, the dogs had to be outside in their doggie area. Sometime during the day, they barked, and the neighbors once again sicced the Humane Society on us. They did this twice in a week when we first moved here. Fortunately I think the Humane Society has a note in the file by now that our neighbors have “issues.” Sigh. I’d better not say anything else. I just hope whoever moves into this house does not have dogs.

I snuck out at some point (Saturday night?) and went to the Blue Bead to get some items for stitch markers. I do not wear jewelry but I can see how this bead thing could be totally addictive. I have my rosary done, so I don’t need to get into this further than stitch markers. But still. Neat stuff there, and it’s a very small shop. So I have most of what I need for the stitch markers I have promised I would make, and a little extra.

No bead pictures here, I have to be able to surprise people once in a while!

At some point I cast one for the pair to the baby sock. As of right now I think I’m ready to do the heel flap, but I want to check the pattern directions again. Colleen says she wants to have a sock collection, all of socks that look just like this one. Urg!

Let’s see…the dumpster came on Friday morning and left this morning. Colleen and Jack helped by throwing the couch cushions in. Then Mr. Beth and I threw in the couch. It was great to see it go. Ann K., I’ll bet you’re happy to see it go, too, though you were nice enough not to say anything about how awful it looked.

Oh yes, the Mother’s Day update. I scored big on my favorite chocolates, including Dark Chocolate with Marzipan filling, which I recommended to another blogger (I don’t remember who). And I was totally shocked when Mr. Beth had the kids bring in a huge shopping bag containing…the four skeins of Sirdar Country Style purple yarn I whined about not getting from the Herrschners clearance rack! I blogged about it on a Thursday, and he went there on Friday after work and snagged them. Three. Weeks. Ago. Now, you have to understand that when Mr. Beth buys me something he knows is wonderful, it just kills him that he can’t tell me right away. He is usually begging me to let him give it to me immediately. I don’t know how he kept this secret, but the beautiful yarn was sitting in the back of his car for three weeks.

I have not found the perfect pattern for using the yarn (the sweater I wanted to make with it turns out to call for something super bulky), so I am designing my own seamless sweater a la Elizabeth Zimmermann. I just have to get her EPS explanation in hand so I can figure out the numbers. For the body size I want to have by the time I finish the sweater. I would like to be a Medium.

What else? No quilting progress to report. I still haven’t grafted the Moebius. But I did finish a Hufflepuff beret for the Charmed Knits KAL, and won myself a free craft book for the other HP hats I sent in last week. I get to pick from anything in the Wiley craft catalog, does anyone have any suggestions?

Whew! I am sure I am forgetting something. But it’s good to be back. I missed this!

Don’t mess with Mother Nature

Well, here’s the update on Mama Robin. After I moved her nest from

to

we had some rain last night. While I was talking to Mr. Beth this morning I looked out the window and saw

I went outside to check. No Mama Robin hanging around. One smooshed egg. One empty nest. Three eggs unaccounted for. There are several possible scenarios, but since the eggs weren’t that far along I am hoping Mama is somewhere else making a new nest and laying new eggs. I bagged the nest and sent it along to the elementary school for a science exhibit. Last year I found a cocoon and his class got to watch a moth emerge, so it’s kind of a trend.

No knitting last night, not that I remember. But I did stop at the new quilt shop after a couple of hours worth of futile escapades with an appliance dolly. The short version is the fridge is still in the kitchen, but Mr. Beth will be able to muscle it to the garage this afternoon. (He is bringing me hand-dyed sock yarn from a small sheep farm in Maine, so I will have to be extra nice!)

Oh, yes, this is much better. Now I just have to find places for two filled filing cabinets, three plastic crates, and everything that’s sitting on all of the above, and pull the rest of the baseboard and quarter round. And contact someone to be here to disconnect the gas stove and reconnect it on Friday. And the antiques guy, so he can pick up the desk and chair I’m selling. And add some more color to the Merino. You thought that I thought that you forgot about that, didn’t you? I am taking pictures at each step but won’t do a reveal until the fun is done.

I don’t want to forget Big Tom. He is one year old today! I will be baking mini chocolate cupcakes, but since the kids say he doesn’t have enough teeth to eat them, I thought maybe we would all dine on applesauce, pudding, and Jell-O. First birthdays are a little ridiculous anyway, why not make them extra silly? I will have pictures and stats tomorrow after his checkup tomorrow.

Perfectly good Merino

Since the floor men are coming the day after tomorrow, it’s probably time to start my yarn dyeing experiment while the old yucky floor is still here.

Here is the old yucky floor. Foot square self-stick tiles inappropriately laid onto subfloor. They are cheap and brittle, and have been coming up ever since we moved in. In some places I have taped them down with masking tape, which is ever so attractive.

The whole process is a lot of work, and it will look much worse before it looks better, but it’s part of getting the house on the market so we can actually make offers on the nice stuff we find, like the rectory. Now, for a much nicer picture. Here is some perfectly good Merino wool, sent to me by one of my best virtual friends, Lauren:

And here are the other parties in this big event:

As always, I’ll keep you posted. Oh, and for those of you who are keeping track: Last night I watched “Steele in the News,” original air date March 4, 1983, and a featurette on the use of screwball comedy and old movies in the series.

Oh, and does anyone else remember that was about a week before the world was supposed to end because of planetary alignment? I believe the actual date was March 10, 1983. I wrote it in my school planner: World Ends. Close one, wasn’t it? Maybe that was all the preparation we needed for January 1, 2000.

Kudos to my spam catcher

I just noticed that WordPress’s spam-catching software, Akismet, has caught 3,000 pieces of spam for me. Considering I have had just over 200 legitimate comments, having a great spam interceptor in place is saving me tons of time.

But if you ever want access to Italian pr0n or cheap prescription drugs, let me know and I’ll turn that puppy off.

Amazingly, almost all of this junk is coming from a single IP address. This person has discovered ways to latch onto college URLs, possibly professor web pages, and spam from there. It’s like a little subplot to the whole blogging thing. Who is this guy, really? Where will he spam from next? Who’s interested in Italian nudity? And wow, there must be a massive market for these drugs, most of which I have never heard of. Last week there was a run of about three days where no new spam was reported. I thought, “All right, they shut him down!” But no. Eventually he was back, offering links to drugs that I dare not name for fear of getting twice as much spam. I kind of missed him.

So…here’s the house.

OK, this has to be a quick post so I can get in front of TV as soon as Charlie and Lola is over so I can tape the Tigger Movie. (Yes, this is my life. Shut up.)

Here is the back of the house. We didn’t take any pictures of the front.

Here is the “house next door.” The now-vacant St. Katharine Drexel. (It really screams “church,” doesn’t it?)

Here is the dining room. (There is another china cabinet in the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room.)

Here is one picture of the freakin’ ATTIC. You could almost have a ballroom up here.

And here is the window at the landing of the grand stairway. It must have been 6-8 feet high. I didn’t even try to calculate it. Does anyone know Polish? Catholic Polish?

There is also a 2-car garage with attic, plenty of parking, a grassy yard, a sunny kitchen, and lots of extra rooms and closets and doors that go everywhere. What it has for the money is amazing. You just don’t know what will happen when the church and school and convent next door are sold. Who will buy them? What would they want to turn them into?

Knitwise, here’s the FO I mentioned. I realized I had never finished anything for Mr. Beth so decided to make him a hat. This is the Charmed Knits beanie in the large size, in Marquette colors. (Note: Marquette, NOT Michigan. I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and I do NOT make Michigan apparel.) He has a grown-up head and this was still so big he can turn the bottom up. (Note: if you are doing the Charmed Knits KAL, do not make this size thinking it will fit a child. Make the small.)

And now … just in time to log out and tape the movie … the Number One reason why I cannot exercise right now:

Yes, on top of the bottom bracket of my beloved 1984 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe is a robin’s nest. I took four flash pictures and Mama Robin didn’t go anywhere. But we are getting the Dumpster this weekend and unloading almost everything in this part of the garage, so I will have to call someone to professionally relocate the nest. Poor Mama.

OK, the lines are open! Comments? Don’t be shy!

Just a shortie

I didn’t mean to get so deep with that last post. I started writing about what I saw out the window and it just kept building. I guess I needed to get all that out!

Well, we looked at the blue house again today, and one down the street as well. We didn’t know it until we got there, but it’s the former rectory for St. Katharine Drexel, which is the victim of parish consolidation in Beaver Dam. The church building and the school are also on the market. These buildings and the current rectory make a kind of mini-campus on their corner lot.

The house was amazing. Two bathrooms and FIVE bedrooms upstairs. Doors leading to everywhere. And every bedroom had a closet, which is amazing for the era. Woodwork galore. The whole house has an insane amount of character. I will post some key images tomorrow. The only problems are (a) it’s at the very top of our price range, (b) who knows who will buy the church next door and what they might turn it into [the realtor is doing more research on that property this week], and (c) it’s still an hour’s drive away from The Job. But it’s being rented out now and looks to be in very good shape.

I took my knitting with me because I was promised an hour of in-car knitting time. However, the plans changed on me and I never got to so much as touch the yarn. The Yarn House in Elm Grove is closed on Sundays and I didn’t have time to find Susan’s Fiber Shop in Columbus, so I was SOL again. I’m trying to tell myself that once we move I will be closer to these new places and there’s no need for the urgency to treat myself. I’m just stressed and I. Want. Stuff.

Time to go to bed. Pictures of house and the previously mentioned FO tomorrow, along with the best reason I have for not exercising.