Happy Father's Day....

Somebody Smack Me.

How did it get to be halfway through June? Exactly where did the past three weeks go?

It must be the weather. We've been having cool, grey weather here in Southern California. I wore a thick wool sweater at work yesterday. I wore wool socks last week. It's just a bit strange.

Today was warm though, so maybe summer can get it's arse out of bed so I can teach my kid to swim. Every weekend I play this game where I get excited about going to the beach and then my little dreams get smashed. Every weekend someone in the house has been sick, it's been too cold, R gets stuck at work, and the best one- R had surgery so we couldn't go. (How inconvenient for me, don't you think?)*

Hopefully we can manage to get there at least for a little while this weekend. Everytime we drive near any body of water Peanut keeps telling me "Mommy? I need a swim like a Nemo! Mommy! Wook! Da Osan!" How can you say no when she needs to swim like a Nemo? In the "Osan", no less.

*He's doing fine, it was a relatively minor surgery and I only made him feel sort of bad for keeping me away from the water. :)

One More Picture From the Blimp (Or Two)

I was just thinking today, after feeling rather ground down by the return to work, that just a few days ago I was aloft, feeling giddy with excitement and the wonder of looking down at the world from up in the sky.

So whatever difficult moments I have, I can close my eyes and remember how the wind felt on my skin, how the world felt so much larger, and how R and I got to see the place he asked me to marry him, seven years ago.

So this week I will try to remember how the little stuff doesn't really matter, because it's the big stuff we remember, the stuff I want to remember. Like this:

Like Riding A Space Whale

Today R and I got to take a trip on the Goodyear Blimp. It was very fun. I didn't anticipate liking it so much, but it was really cool to get to fly in it.



Our pilot, Kristen, explained that we had to pay attention and be able to step up on the ladder to get into the blimp. It was strange, because I kind of assumed that the blimp was tethered down and remained stationary. It is actually tethered to a mast in the center of a circle of concrete and rotates constantly around the mast. There is a kind of wheel thing it sort of rests on. Someone is there, watching it, all the time to make sure nothing bad happens (like with inclement weather or loss of pressure, etc).

We flew over the Port of Los Angeles and got to see the coast. It was really strange to look down and see our shadow on the water.



It was beautiful to see the world from that perspective as well as fascinating to get to see the Port of Los Angeles from that angle.



It was amazing. The ascent was utterly weird- it was a really quick jump to the cruising altitude, and the whole blimp sort of rocks from the front to the back in the wind. It is hard to describe it, but it was something like riding a giant rocking horse, or a... um. Like a Something. A space whale. That's the best explanation. If there were whales that lived in space and you could ride them and the lack of air was something they could kind of swim in... Er, yeah. Space whales.



I was really excited to knit on the flight. I was dorkily excited to do this. I had these visions of Kinnearing the pilot, but I really thought she might think I was too weird, so I didn't go that far. I did make R take my picture. This is me, in the back row of the cabin, knitting a sock.



Who knows, I might be the first person to knit on the Goodyear Blimp!

A Little Bit of Shaking Going On

We went to the Long Beach Aquarium's Member Preview of their Shark Summer Something Or Other Thingy. Peanut danced with a guy in a shark costume, I watched the giant whale hanging from the ceiling swing in the earthquake, and we ate some dinner. Fun stuff.

Also, we went to the beach.



Peanut kept wanting to swim more. "I swim, like a Nemo."



I love these girls.

Brown Ghosts

Today we went to a used bookstore. Peanut saw a pair of nuns going into the bookstore.

She told R, "Daddy! Wook! Bruwn Dhosts!" {Translation= "Daddy! Look! Brown ghosts!"). R struggled to keep from cracking up.

It got better when one of the nuns asked Peanut her name. She answered, and then turned to R and said, "Daddy! Da bruwn dhosts asked a my name! I don't like a da bruwn dhosts! Pick me up!"

So, is it obvious that we're not catholic?

Hand-Knits=Love

I think I might love her. Just a little bit.

BLARGH!

This sweater is killing me. I have ripped back, tinked back (I just learned that phrase from the Knit Picks podcast) and I am basically in the same place I was on Friday. It will be a cute sweater, someday. For Punky probably, if she can stop growing like a mutant.

I just had to stop writing so I could kill a giant spider. I think that I kept seeing it move out of the corner of my eye and then finally I actually saw it. Yowza, that's a big one. Was a big one.

In any case, I think in the next couple of days I will have a little photo update time with the newest knits and I'll add some pics to Ravelry and here. Have I mentioned how much I love Ravelry? 'Cause I really do.

I need some sleeo. Have a super-fantastic day.

I'm Not Tired!

Everyone else is asleep. I'm not tired, so here I am, writing a useless little post here.

Aren't you excited?

I thought you would be.

I just started hearing some of this:


You can watch it by clicking here.

I am, I am sure, quite behind the times and I am sure all of the cool kids already knew about this a long time ago... But I just heard about it on NPR (OK I GET IT I'M A NERD) and I searched it out. Did you know that fancyjane and I were extras on Buffy the Vampire Slayer a hundred years ago? We were vampires. Take that and stuff it, Kevin Bacon. Six degrees? One degree. Oh, yeah.

I Am Clearly Deluded.*

I was hopeful, you see. About the sneezing being related to the pollen count.

Peanut threw up on me twice on Tuesday and sneezed on Punky about a bazillion times. Punky is coughing from the other room and keeping sneeze-crying in a sad little way.

Colds : 1
Me: 0

However, I did finish knitting Punky an adorable pink cashmere hat (note that it is going to be 80 degrees here, I know, I know), so there is that. And I finished knitting a scarf that had been sitting around unfinished forever, too. Woo! Knitting on long phone calls at work! I am also still enjoying all the reading I get to do on breaks/lunches. So cool. I miss the girls with every fiber of my being, but there is something to say about a lunch break. Moms everywhere should get one- imagine, an hour to yourself. I know, I know.

Happy mother's day, if applicable.

*Please note that I am so tired right now that the original name of this post was going to be "I'm Am Clearly Deluded." Yes, I know.

Ok, I think it's getting quiet....

The kids may or may not be getting sick. We might have allergies. I don't know. Lots of crying, lots of "MOMMY" emanating from their room. Yeah.

In any case, I have been meaning to post here since I got back to work, but I officially have NO TIME TO MYSELF ANYMORE. Yes, that needs to be in caps. Hence, the 11:01 PM post. The SHORT 11:01 PM post.

I actually have things to write about, too. My co-worker finished reading "Moby Dick" this week. The guy who hadn't read a novel since college. I am very proud of him, and am endeavoring to get him to read "Bartleby the Scrivner" next in his Melville adventure. Yay reading!

One of the perks of working again is my hour lunch. I can read for about thirty minutes. It is so cool. I started a novel on Sunday and I am over halfway done. Yay reading!

Also, I am kicking around a story that sprouted from my head on Friday. I was driving home through Santa Ana and it just sort of assaulted me and made me take notes. I wasn't even sure what prompted it. It seems that it is time to write again. My mind has made itself up and I am but its willing hostage. (That phrase makes me think of "Bel Canto").

Here's my tentative title: "The Story of Us, Before You and All of That" or maybe with a semi-colon. I have a lot of passionate feelings about semi-colons. I wrote a couple pages at stop lights. Weird, n'est pas?

The Countdown Begins...

I have to go back to work on Monday. I have this adorable baby:



and this adorable kid (please note that said kid is wearing a new, mummy-hand-knit sweater-pattern available on Ravelry as a free download):



...and I have to go back to work. Blech.

I can't believe I haven't won the lottery (we don't actually play the lottery), or inherited a packet from a mysterious, unknown relative, or simply figured out how to get a paycheck while blowing bubbles in the front yard. Blech.

I am trying to remember to just enjoy the minutes I have with them, and not to let my own dissatisfaction ruin my attitude about everything. I was so very unhappy when I went back to work after I had Peanut. I don't want to feel that way again. I want to be as happy as I can, as often as I can. I am trying to stay focused on this. Remember to enjoy those sweet little girls while I can.



Wish me luck.

Going Green (ish)

Well, Philosopher Mom, you've won the hippy war. I give in. My baby is sleeping in her gDiaper* with a cloth diaper keeping her little bum dry. Yep, I am on my way to being a damn dirty hippy.

But seriously? These gDiapers ROCK. They aren't hard to use, you can use them with a throw away/flush away/compost away liner, or you can use them with cloth. ROCK. I think I have taken away a quarter of our trash output by putting Punky in them. If I wasn't working my ass off trying to potty train Peanut, I'd buy a set for her, too. (We're down to just a couple pull ups a day, anyhow, with the aggressive pee pee persuasion going on). I do love knowing that whenever I am diapering with cloth, it isn't costing me anything. At least, not nearly as much as Pampers was.

We shall see what our babysitter thinks about all this, to see what she would like to do with this. I suspect she may want to stick with the disposable liners, but we'll see if I can convince her of the benefits of cloth. I really don't want to make her life more complicated, but I think that the disposables are still a better bet than a traditional diaper.

I am so turning into a hippy. I blame you, Boo. I recall thinking "Who cares that much about diapers?"

Um, I guess me, too.

*I don't really do advertising here (I just got around to removing the google ads)) but if you are going to purchase gDiapers, check out diapers.com and use the code gogreen! to get $10 off your purchase of $49 or more, plus free shipping for orders over $50. This is pretty good deal- you can get two starter kits for about $44, including shipping. Not too shabby!

Happy Bunny Day!

These bunnies were made using the pattern from Rebecca Danger's website, also available for purchase from Ravelry. These are my first knitted toys, and Peanut announced that she "wubs" them. If you need an introduction to knitting a toy, this is a good choice- the pattern is very well written.

I will write a little more this week, as I just tried out g Diapers and now I have to write about them. I used cloth diapers in them and I have no idea how to... Well, I will write about it tomorrow. My environmentally responsible ass needs to get to bed.

Too Sleepy to Write

Look, my cute little Punky.



Night Night. Must sleep.

Have You Met...

....my friend jane? She's lovely and funny and clever with a camera...and well, you can see for yourself.



A Valentine from Janie Lynch on Vimeo.

This makes me smile.

A Mere Two Years Ago...

...Peanut was born.



I can't believe I had a life without her. She is constantly amazing and wonderful and life changing in every way. I love her more than I can explain. She is so utterly precious to me.


Happy Birthday, Peanut.

Life Piles Up Again

So, this past month has zipped by in a ridiculous way. I blinked, and now I have a couple weeks (!) until I have to go back to work. It made me cry a bit already. I am missing my beautiful girls already. I have been so lucky to have this time with the both of them, despite the months of illness and challenges we have been facing.

So, we have to buy a car. I hate everything about this, but my tiny little sedan came to the magical point last year of needing an expensive repair and finding out that the two car seats couldn't fit in the car with my giant husband driving (6'5", in case you were wondering). So we donated the car to the Jane Goodall Foundation through Cars for Causes and now we actually need to buy a car that fits a family of four (ideally with room for another person at least). My husband is tall enough that he can't always fit behind the wheel of cars, so we have to have him go and sit in some cars so we can find one that fits him and the rest of us. It has to be used, and pretty cheap. Woo! Car shopping!

Er, yeah. I wish I could skip the whole thing. I just can't imagine not finding it horrific- car shopping with a three month old baby and a two year old. Yuck. Oh yeah, and we have to get the damn thing before I go back to work. Awesome!

Oh and taxes and stuff. More yuck.

But Peanut is turning two! So I am excited about that... I made her a birthday crown, based loosely on the idea from "The Creative Family" by Amanda Soule. She LOVES it. I keep getting asked "I wear da birfday cwown?" That's the best I can do to simulate her toddler-eese.



Also, I bought her a tutu. Adorableness abounds.

It's a Beautiful Life

It's been a little bit busy this month and I just haven't found the time to post here. I promise a more wordy post soon. For now, I just have to say that I am thankful for the early spring sunshine and to feel sand between my toes. Peanut likes it, too.



Sometimes I love California.

Get Thyself Outside

That should be a commandment for days like today. We had a picnic in the park.





Everyone is sleeping. There's a nice breeze, and I have some knitting to keep me busy. I am thinking about a bit about a new story. It has been a while, so we'll see how it comes along.