Oh, What a Week. Hell, What a Month.

I am glad to see the end of this month, I tell you what. Two major car repairs, a few minor car repairs on the horizon. R is currently almost to the point of pneumonia (I have to have a little meander here- he actually blacked out at the doctor's today, when the doc asked him to "breathe deeply". He argued, when I said that blacking out and falling over was the same as passing out. Um, ok, weirdo, you "blacked out" then), I just got over my horrific cold, and we are waiting to see what October can throw at us. It will be a little better, right?

Right?

Ack. In any case, here are a couple of pics of my darling little one to make it seem like I am on top of this whole blog thing:



This is the face she makes when you ask her to "smile":



Some kids like parades, my kid loves the buffet:



Contemplating her next move?



Her room is mostly pink, according to this picture of her playing in the laundry basket:



Peanut is hiding. She can say "boo!" just in time for her second Halloween.



Happy Fall. Yay, October!

Just Beachy..

We went to the beach again today. Peanut was quite funny- she LOVES shoveling sand. So on the way back to the car, she kept stopping to shovel a little bit more. She's such a little beach bunny now.

Before we went to the beach, I made her a new little dress:



It's sort of a sixties-style dress, with a little trio of snap closures on each shoulder.



I put her in for tonight for my dad's birthday dinner, along with a pair of grey leggings. Very cute.

This next picture is me, trying to slow down enough to enjoy the walk to the restaurant, the excellent La Parolaccia Osteria.



This is a tile detail from the side of the restaurant:



I am thinking of actually creating my own title bar for this site, using that picture. Any thoughts?

Also, My Kid is Cute.

Oh, Tumbling Tumbleweed...

I can just hear the song, which is bound forever to "The Big Lebowski" in my mind. (Damn, I do love that movie). Today at work I had to park at the very boundary of our parking lot, which is edged by an "empty" lot. There is a colony of squirrels that live like prairie dogs between the tumbleweeds. I really love this time of year, to see the green tumbleweeds before the Santa Ana winds come. The tumbleweeds will dry out and die and my car will be buffeted by wayward tumbleweeds.

I think it just makes me happy that a tiny bit of natural Calfornia survives in Tustin, albeit between the warehouses and the parking lots and the "development."



I also noticed the remnants of one of the old pines that my employer cut down a couple weeks ago. It was beautiful in a sad sort of way.



I am still knitting away on my Ribbi Cardi.







I was actually knitting on a break at work today and one of my coworkers noticed and came over. I had known that she crocheted, but I didn't know that she also knit. She took a look at my Ribbi Cardi and told me that it was good. She also told me that I have been knitting and purling from the "back of the loop", which isn't the normal way to complete the stitches. Huh. I guess you are supposed to knit from the front of the loop, not the back. The way I have been doing it causes a little twist in the yarn, which she said is actually specified in some patterns. Learn something new, right?

It totally made my day, anyhow. She told me I had "good tension" and that if I took my knitting to a yarn store, they would be impressed that I have only been knitting for a couple weeks.

I'm blushing, really.

Also, my neighbor who is a rebel sort of knitter (self taught artist-knitter), mentioned a local project to knit a "green" cozy for an SUV, with an associated "stitch and bitch" session. Hmm... Interesting, no? I mean, when was the last time you knit a political statement?

Is It Saturday Yet?

I am just so tired today. I can hardly believe I actually have one more day of work to get through. Blargh.

Yesterday, Peanut stayed at my mom's house and picked these flowers with my stepdad (for me, how sweet):



Our Sego Palm is unfurling, I guess. It looks more pointy now:



I can make it one more day. It's just one more day. I need to get some sleep. Blargh.

I Don't Know What I'm Doing...

And um, yeah, that pretty much covers it, I think.

Wait, there's more. So, I've been working on both "Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon and on my Ribbi Cardi project, based on the pattern by Chic Knits. "Wonder Boys" is much easier.

It turns out (repeatedly) that I don't know what I am doing when it comes to knitting. Here is a picture of my current work in progress:



I mean, it looks like a knitted thing, which is good.

But... I think I have the wrong gauge for the knit. (I know this means nothing to pretty much anyone reading this- it barely means anything to me!) What this means is that in order to make this sweater adhere to the pattern specs, I need the right gauge. This is a count of stitches and rows in a 4 inch by 4 inch area. I should really have done a swatch first.

Of course, I didn't. The yarn was calling out to me- "Make something pretty with me..."



So I tried. But I am wrong on my gauge I think, so now I have to decide whether I rip it all out and try again with smaller needles or I try to ride it out.

I am worried about it, because the phrase "riding it out" kind of has a strong hurricane association for me right now, after reading that Erik Larson book and then hearing the warnings for Ike.

Maybe I should just try again and suck up three lost inches of work, chalk it up to learning the hard way.

Why is it that seems to be the only way I can learn?

After all, I have all these pretties to knit!



What's a girl to do?

Fevers and Fall

Today Peanut had another fever (and a bloody nose, and other sundry ailments), so I stayed home with her. She's been grumpy. That is an understatement, by the way.

There have been tears today. Mostly hers.

After all the drama and sadness of sick kid, she seems to feel better this evening, so we took a walk. Fall is sneaking up on us, I think.




If you were one, leaves all over the place might make you this excited, too:



Peanut actually loves this plastic pig most of all:



There is a house around the corner that has a plastic pig on a metal stake stuck into varying locations on their lawn. She LOVES this pig. She talks to it and pets it and waves goodbye when we leave... I bet they have no idea how popular that little plastic pig really is. Check her out- she really is petting him:



And for once, as promised- Peanut actually wearing her new jacket that I made:





I am hoping that the weather cools down more. Also, if you haven't already seen it, you should check out Tina Fey's spot on impression of VP candidate Palin. (Also, props to Amy Poehler, who does a GREAT Clinton). These are two of the funniest women on television- and this is the funniest thing I have seen for a while:

Casseroles!

I am such a mom now. We had a potluck at work today and I was excited to share a casserole I made, based on the Southern Living Homestyle Cooking book. It's a pretty fun book, and there are a lot of easy to make things in there. If you get this one from the library you simply must make the deep fried okra (OMG it is SO GOOD) and the quick and easy hoppin' john. YUM. It's the southern food I didn't grow up with and it is sooo tasty.

The casserole I brought today was based on their taco casserole. Here's my interpretation:

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped into smallish pieces
1 packet taco seasonings
1 15 oz can, chili beans in sauce
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
crushed corn tortilla chips
shredded mexican style cheese (I'm lazy, I just buy the Kraft bag)

Brown the meat with the onion until it crumbles and is cooked through. Drain the fat. Add the taco seasonings, stir well. Add the chili beans (the sauce, too!), and the tomato sauce. . Mix well and heat though (this doesn't actually take very long). Layer the bean/beef mix, a layer of cheese, and a layer of chips in a 9x9 (or similar size- a smallish pyrex will work fine) and repeat. Cook for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

*Note- you can add toppings like sour cream, chopped avocado, green onions, salsa, whatever- this is a really good basic recipe. You can also double the beans if you like beans. You could probably even bulk it out a little by adding some uncooked oatmeal to the meat mixture. (My grandma's depression-era trick to making your meat dollar stretch even further- great for meatloaf and meatballs, too).

This is a good second day casserole, too. It's good microwaved, so leftovers can go with you to work. (or home or whatever). I really feel old when I realize that I do enjoy a well crafted casserole now. All those years of church potlucks have led to this.

Oh, you're welcome.

Also, I need to stop whining about contractions. Even though today was enough to make me call the OB's office, I'm starting to bore myself with it. I do love calling their office about this stuff (you know you are supposed to, but damn it, Babycenter.com- you have made me somehow less worried and more knowledgeable) I know I need to be having more than 4 an hour, and the nurse at the OB's office even said 6 in an hour- six painful ones. Mine today were more in the neighborhood of 4 per hour, and although there were about 5 that were strong enough to shut me up for a minute, they tapered off and I drank a crapload of water to try and slow things down. It's only um, way early to be worried at all about going into labor. It's funny, but since I had some issues with my last pregnancy, I didn't really think I would this time.

I hear Nelson from "The Simpson's" in the distance...

"Ha-ha."

Ack.

A Good Book and a New Jacket

So I am reading Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys" right now, and I had almost forgotten how much I really like him. He's just so good, you know? This one feels like he wrote it after reading a John Irving book (there are overtones of "The World According to Garp" in my opinion...) In any case, I keep having to make myself slow down and enjoy the pace. It's quite lovely.

Peanut is getting so big. She was playing around with my old sunglasses the other day. She is getting way too cute for her own good, I think.



Also, I made Peanut a jacket one Saturday, from a pattern by Favorite Little Things that I read about on the Sew Mama Sew blog. There's always something neat over there, and they carry a lot of pretties in their store, too.

Zipped:


Unzipped:


And the back:


I'll take a picture of Peanut wearing this, just as soon as it drops below 75 degrees. Oh, California. I am so ready for fall- can't you just behave? If I am going to have to have contractions all the time, I should at least get to wear a sweater, don't you think?

Finished...

I finished my scarf. It's not very pretty, but it's done and I learned a lot. I feel a lot more comfortable with knitting and purling and counting stitches and stuff. I bought some double pointed needles to try my hand at socks this weekend, and I got a couple of new yarns. So pretty- I'll post pics soon of the yarn and the ugly scarf.

I'm so glad it's almost the weekend. Have I mentioned I am SO over having contractions? Because I am. (This) Girl's Gone Child made me feel a little better though. At least I don't have swollen feet.

There's that, at least.

I Made Them Myself...

I have been writing a little bit about how I am trying to make a homemade Christmas this year, so I thought I would show off what I have gotten accomplished so far.

Before I begin the Christmas gift show, here's a picture of the kitty bed that became my kid's new pillow:

Is it a kitty bed? Not if Peanut has anything to say about it!

Peanut hasn't really started using a pillow yet, but when she saw me trying to convince our cats to sleep on this kitty bed, she decided it belonged to her. So I am sorry, kitties. I tried.

I made a couple of the Artsy Clutch purse from Bend the Rules Sewing:





A couple of zipper pouches from the same book:







A Charming Handbag in Amy Butler's Lotus fabric:



With a Moda interior:



A bunch of crayon rolls to go with the super cool watercolor crayons I got here.





A bunch of reusable grocery totes (based on the pattern from the Sew Mama Sew blog, just with little bags added to store them in:









Burp clothes: