Thursday, December 23, 2010

No Update:

Thankfully, I have no further mice to report. I finished MIL's hat, but failed to take a picture of it to show you. Moodles threw her first temper-tantrum and was rewarded with an early bed time. Much to her chagrin, she is still not allowed to play with Mommy's Laptop. When she woke up two hours later, Daddy showed her how to play a dumbek. This was fun until the drum tipped over and bonked her on the head. Then it was Bed Time: Part II.

So in this absence of funny things to share with you, I shall instead redirect you to someone else who does have a warm-fuzzy for you... Go read about pre-schoolers at Miss Chelsea's Blog. Then say it with me: Awwwwwww.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

More of Everything: (hats, mice, whatever)

My latest knitting project was a hat for Ethel, who will be retiring at the end of this year. I love Ethel because she bribes me into good behavior with cookies. How can you not love that? Also, she adores the things I knit her, which means that I knit her more things. It's a self-perpetuating sort of relationship. This hat is based on the Meret pattern by Wooly Wormhead. I made it with the "slouchy" variation, and it seems to fit Ethel really well. I will miss Ethel's naughty rebelious streak and kindness after she's gone. She has handed off her torch to me, and I now posses the Cookie Tin of Good Behavior. I shall do my very best to keep it stocked, but we'll see how that pans out. I probably won't bribe people into good behavior... I'll likely end up giving them out as "consolation prizes."

"Pandora.com isn't working on your computer? Say it's not so! I have two other computers here that don't work at all, and guess what? Pandora Radio isn't a mission critical application and I have no sympathy for your plight. Go listen to music on your ipod. Have a cookie."

I know. I'm mean.

Then there's the update I know you're all really here for... The mice. You wanted to know if I'm sure yet... Obviously, based on the picture, I'm not. There was nothing in the trap when I got home from work yesterday, but there were mouse droppings next to it. I think it got set off and literally scared the crap out of another mouse. I set it up again, and then went out for Thai food with Eithni and Moodles*. We really weren't gone long, but by the time I got back, I had a second gray mouse. I named her Helena. And then we sexed the mice. Paris and Helena (both grey) are girls, Hector is a boy. Fan-freakin'-tastic.

Of course, I set up the trap a fourth time, because I still want to be sure that I've got the full set. Then I cast on another hat, this time for my MIL. Moodles slept restlessly because the teething continues, so I didn't get much done. Can I tell you, my kid has developed her first annoying habit? She grinds her teeth when she's awake. Which is impressive, really, because she's only got 4 of them... The top two aren't even all the way in yet. GAH. The tooth-grinding sound is like nails on a chalkboard to me. This habit will be strongly discouraged, though I'm not really sure how. Hopefully, she'll stop doing it once she's gotten used to her new oral appendages.

Anyway, I checked the trap before bed, and there was no activity. I almost started to relax. Then, at 4:00 in the morning, Husband came into the bedroom, his mirth barely contained. His giggling sounded a little nervous, like he was afraid I might snap and go on a massive rodent killing spree or something.

"What do you want to name the new mouse?"

"Glaaaarghh. Murble."

"There was fourth mouse in the trap when I got home."

"Ajax. Duh."

"What if it's a girl?"

"It's a mouse. I don't think it cares. Harumph."

... So I'm still not sure. The trap is reset. Please, God, don't make me come up with another epic mouse-name...


*Eithni and I are systematically working on building up the kid's tolerance to spicy food. We both ordered our food hot, and then gave bits to the kiddo to try. We did wipe all the sauce off before laying out the potatoes and baby corn for her to nibble, but there was definitely some remnant heat. She ate them all with little complaint. Honestly, the biggest complaint was about the hand-washing afterward. I didn't want her to get pepper juice in her eyes after dinner, so Eithni took her to wash while I tried to scarf the rest of my dinner. THAT was where the fit ensued. Spicy food is no problem, but do not get the bebe wet. Apparently, she will melt if you do.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My Pet Vermine:

Kness Tip-Trap 109-0-001 Live-Capture Mouse TrapIf you were wondering about the secret of my Mouse Catching Success, it's partly experience with rodents from my youth (Mom conceded on her "no pet rule," and allowed a few gerbils over the years.) and partly the awesome tip-traps that I borrowed (permanently) from Eithni. These traps are quiet, safe for the dogs and the bebe, and super-easy to use... The only drawbacks are that you need to be vigilant after you set them, and check them several times a day, or they won't be humane, live traps anymore*, AND... Once you've caught a live mouse in the middle of winter... What do you do with it???

I'll show you what I did with the one I caught... I went out and bought it a Critter Keeper, a water bottle, some bedding, and proper rodent feed. That's what I did. Because I'm a big, fat softie. Well that, and having caught three four mice in the last two winters, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need a place to keep all the critters I catch in the future. Honestly, I'm sick of rigging biscuit tins to stay closed, without hermetically sealing and suffocating the mouse within. Last winter, my attempt to contain but not kill a mouse, resulted in an escapee that I then had to trap a second time. Took me a week to lull that wiser, more cautious mouse into a false sense of security...

Anyway, after I set up Paris in his/her new digs, I reset the mouse trap in the same spot, just to be sure. Last year we had a pair of mice, so I wanted to be certain that I'd caught all our guests... This morning, I heard chewing coming from the kitchen and went to check my trap. Son of a biscuit. The brown mouse is Hector - now installed with Paris in the mouse environment that is suddenly too small. I haven't yet had a chance to sex those little suckers because I was trying to leave the house to catch my bus to work when Hector made his appearance. It's a good thing the stupid bus was late, because I then had to bait and set the trap a third time because now I'm really not sure.

I hope to god that I don't catch a third mouse**, because I'm fresh out of places to put them until the ground thaws a bit and I can drive them to a park somewhere and let them loose. Alinore has offered me a habitrail that she is no longer using... Apparently it'll be just the thing I deserve for 12th Night. I guess it'll solve the problem of where to put the little guys when I'm trying to clean their cage - I just haven't worked out what I'm going to do for cage-cleaning time until then. I'm pretty sure I'll need to clean out the mouse-house several times before the middle of January.

*Dude. Someone remind me to put the trap away before I leave for Pittsburgh for the holiday...
**If you're wondering, a third mouse would be either Ajax or Helena, depending on gender. What else do you name the victims of an epic mouse-catching spree?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hunting and Dyeing...

This last weekend was very exciting, as far as Moodles was concerned. First of all, we spent the bulk of the weekend teething, and have FINALLY managed to produce two front teeth. The first day was done without any numbing agents for Moodles, because every time I get her a new tube of Orajel, the dogs seize it and eat it. No matter where I hide the stuff, they FIND it and they devour it... I have no idea why they crave Orajel and chapstik like steak, but they do. I have this mental picture of Maggie and Jasmine sitting on the couch, drooling everywhere, with their lips all slack and their tongues lolling out, pointing at each other and laughing like a couple of stoned idiots, each telling the other how ridiculous she looks. Do dogs do that? I can think of no other reason why they'd need a constant supply of Orajel.

Since Moodles is an only child, and bound to be somewhat spoiled, all she gets for Christmas will not be two front teeth. Though, those will certainly aid with the chewing. She still won't let me see the teeth, but I can feel them up there now when she bites my chin. (The chin biting is her version of a kiss... Adorable, yet painful.)

Through all the excitement of teething, I almost missed seeing the mouse that had taken up residence in my stove. However, I caught a glimpse of it on Sunday night, and borrowed a trap from my Mother-in-law. Because I am down with the rodent hunting, I managed to trap the little sucker with sunflower seeds inside of 45 minutes. The only problem now is... what the hell do I do with it? Wild mice don't make good pets, and if I let it go outside my house, it'll just come right back in. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to get Husband to drive it across town and release it in a park somewhere. It might get eaten by predators, or freeze to death, but at least then it won't be by my hand... And it also won't be in my cupboards, contaminating my foodstuffs. Moodles thinks that the mouse is awesome, because it's tiny and spastic, and fun to watch. She really wants to pick up the biscuit container that it's in and carry it around... Or maybe give it a good shake. Her fascination is duly noted, but I don't think she'll be permitted to have a rodent until she has mastered the concept of gentle.

Other things accomplished over the weekend, were the completion of the sweater I was knitting for Mom. I modified the original pattern to incorporate some picot edging for the cuffs and hem, and I opted to skip the sewn design and used a seemless shoulder pattern from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitting Without Tears. The sweater looks really odd on me. Either Ms. Zimmermann was on crack when she worked out the ideal shoulder proportions for a sweater, or my shoulders are not right. I'm hoping that it'll still fit Mom OK, being as her shoulders are considerably smaller than mine, and she's probably not as pregnant in her proportions... (Gotta do something about this cursed baby-weight.) There's a Raglan Hybrid pattern in the book that I haven't tried yet, and I guess that'll be next. With any luck, it'll look slightly less stupid on me.

Last, but not least, I worked on an experimental dye technique that I used to decorate some t-shirts and onesies for Moodles and her cousin. I mixed black RIT dye with enough flour to make it into a pancake batter like consistency, and then I squeezed it onto cotton shirts with a fine nozzle cake decorating tool. (For the dragon, I used a stencil. The wording is hand done. My hand writing sucks...) After 24 hours, I flaked off the dried paste, and underneath was a nice permanent design, dyed through the fabric, with "acceptable" amounts of bleed. On the left, you can see one of the onesies that I made for Moodles, after it's been de-floured (Haha. Sorry.) and run through the washer and dryer once. The dye fades a little, but remains legible and friendly looking. One of these days, in my copious spare time, I want to do her up a couple of outfits that are covered in Mhendi art. This first run was limited, because I wasn't sure if my plan would work. Now that I know that it does, I have a ton of ideas... Also, I was trying to make outfits for Li'l G, and I'll admit... I was kind of at a loss for "manly" designs that I was capable of drawing. Most of my doodling is pretty feminine looking. I'll have to work at some tribal doodling for the little guy. Mhendi art would probably not appeal to his Papa's sense of appropriately masculine clothing.

And now I'm off to congratulate myself for actually mailing Middle Sister's Mint Chocolate Chip sweater, and Li'l G's dragon shirt - before Christmas. Next task? Write Grandma a letter with color pictures of Moodles. Not being internet savvy (The legal blindness kinda makes that tricky.) she prefers to get really-real pictures that she can put on her refrigerator. I'm on it!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Moodles and Grandpa K

As promised, here are the pictures of Moodles and Grandpa K from the good camera. As you can see, Moodles comes by those blue eyes honestly. (I'll have to get a picture of her with Grandpa P in two weeks when we're in Pittsburgh, so you can see the blue-eyed donor from my side of the family tree.) I'm also tickled to point out that the hat on Grandpa K's head is the one I knit him for Christmas.

Moodles is slowly learning about "sharing," but that still doesn't stop her from stealing the bone right out of Maggie's mouth, while the poor dog is actively trying to chew it. I'm thankful that Maggie is so patient with Moodles, but I'm very concerned that Moodles will think that Jasmine will also let her get away with this sort of theft, when I'm not entirely sure that is the case. At any rate, Moodles is starting to tentatively offer people things that she thinks they will enjoy - in this case, the cap to her bottle, which she is fond of using as some form of trumpet or kazoo. She will also share the TV remote with me, in between bouts of chewing on the edges and drooling into all the buttons. She is now experimenting with imitating me, wherein she will point the remote at the TV with a look of deep concentration and wait for something to happen. Sometimes, if she hasn't already selected AUX on the universal remote, she manages to buttonmash enough to change the channel, or switch the input to COMPOSITE, which is very exciting.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

SEKRET HANDSHAKE

Moodles' Cthulhu Face is rapidly becoming a sekret handshake of sorts around our house. Moodles is tickled with it, because it's something she can do that she knows Momma and Daddy will do back. These last two days, she has gone out of her way to look at me and then give me the Cthulhu-finger-waggle. She then looks inordinately pleased with herself when I respond in kind.

This is made more amusing to me because, for all our many repeated attempts to show her how, we still can't get her to wave goodbye or hi-five reliably... But she will now make the Cthulhu face very nearly on command.

The most recent variant on this theme is the "Kiss of Cthulhu," which has become highly popular at diaper changing time. When she tries to roll over on the changing table before her diaper is firmly affixed, I have only to palm her face and make kissing noises on the back of my hand while tickling her cheeks and ears with my finger tips, and she dissolves into gales of giggles. The giggling usually gives me enough time to get her dressed again without struggling or tears - if I'm quick!

In my 20's, I used to tell people that I wasn't going to have kids until I could get my pets right. To this day, most people will tell you that my dogs just ain't right... They are affectionate, and they mean well, but they ain't right.

... At least my results continue to be consistent...

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Christmas Knitting is Knit...

Mint Chocolate Chip Hoody
Last night I finished up the sweater I was knitting for my sister... Just in time for her first Christmas in TEXAS. You'd think that someone who knits as fast as I do would be able to get this stuff knocked out in a timely manner, but no. I still finish a disappointingly large percentage of projects just in time for them to be mostly useless. Then again, with the current cold snap, and some of the overzealous air-conditioning I've experienced in the south, it's possible that the sweater might still come in handy. I'll text her and ask, but it'll ruin the surprise.

Look! Cables!
I'd give the sweater to my youngest sister who lives in Pittsburgh, but I picked out the colors for the sweater with my middle sister in mind, and the color choice would be a dead give-away as to what I did. (Youngest Sister is GAWTH, so things I pick out for her are primarily black-based, whereas Middle Sister is a vegetarian and dang-near a hippy, so I tend to pick out more earth-tony things for her.) I hate getting busted on re-purposing hand-made-procrastinated gifts, so I may as well just own up to it now. (Middle Sister has just sent back a txt stating rather emphatically that she can still use a sweater... So, Yay. Now I just have to finish up a gift for Moodles' cousin, Li'l G.)

All that aside, I'm still fairly pleased with how well this sweater knit up. It is (as usual) of my own design, and it seems to fit pretty well. The thing that I am the most pleased with is that I knit that thing top down (starting at the top of the hood) and managed to make it entirely seamless. I know how to do blanket stitching and kitchenering, but I hate it enough to spend hours designing my own patterns so that I never ever have to do it. The other thing I really hate is casting on, so I also do a fair amount of work making sure that I cast on the smallest number of stitches I possibly can for a given project. (Thus, the top down construction on all of my sweaters... you cast on far fewer stitches for a neck hole than you do a waist-line...)

Mint Sekanjabin
For all my student-minions, here at the office, I have whipped up and bottled a batch of mint sekanjabin syrup. Not being something that one typically encounters in modern America, I figured it might be something interesting for them to try. I mixed up a pitcher yesterday and left it in the office to see how it would be received, and they sucked it down like it had booze in it, so I imagine that the gift will be well received and a little different from the typical cakes, fudge, cookies, and candy one seems to accumulate in bulk during the holiday season. Plus, being mint flavored, it still seems to fit into the holiday theme without reminding me at all of drinking mouth-wash.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Call of Cthulhu

Well.

It was a long weekend of not enough sleep and OMG SNOW. Since Grandpa K and Uncle M were coming down to visit (Cousin N bailed on us due to a sinus thing that made flying upsetting for him.) I made up three hats. I finished up Grandpa K's hat just in time on Saturday morning and presented it to him at breakfast. Moodles hadn't yet met him, and though she is just now starting to get a bit wary of strangers, she seemed quite pleased to accept another hat-wearer into her circle of acceptable bebe-Sherpas. (Pictures of Moodles with her Grandpa K will be forthcoming as soon as I have time to retrieve them off the Good Camera.)

Unfortunately, the weekend that we picked for Grandpa K to do a gig at the Knuckle Down Saloon was also the weekend of the first big blizzard of winter, and fiascoes ensued. Starting with Uncle M's rental car. For the drive from Minneapolis to Madison, Uncle M and Grandpa K rented a car, so that they would be sure to arrive safely, in a nice, reliable vehicle. Unfortunately, the rental company was not down with this plan, and they provided a car from Arizona that didn't even have all-weather-tires... Actually, it didn't even have tires with tread. So once Saturday's rain gave way to snow and ice, the rental got stuck at the bar, and it being the weekend, the rental company didn't have any locations that were readily available to come fetch the stuck car and exchange it for one that can move further than 4 inches in snow. While it wasn't terribly upsetting to have Grandpa K and Uncle M around for an extra two days, to make kissy face at Moodles, it did make getting around decidedly awkward... We routinely had one more person traveling than we had seats in the car, and Husband's Durango was in the shop over the weekend, which left us with the option of cramming everyone into my Spectra like a clown car, or begging Angus for a ride. Thankfully, Angus was quite accommodating and even came to pick up Moodles and Me for Grandpa K's show. (You can listen to the WORT radio interview of Grandpa K here. The interview and some songs from his more popular albums start at 0:59 minutes into the podcast and run to 1:23.)

Due to the blizzard, the show was sparsely, but enthusiastically attended. The other fellow that was scheduled to play sets in between Grandpa K's sets was unable to make it due to the weather, but no one seemed to mind. Grandpa K has promised to come back in the spring and do another show for Moodles when there's likely to be less inclement weather.


Speaking of Moodles, I swear to you, I haven't yet worked up to reading her H.P. Lovecraft at bedtime; however, she has still taught herself to make "Cthulhu face." I spent all day on Sunday trying to catch her at it with the video camera, but every time she sees me with it, she gets self conscious and stops. Eventually I had to prompt her to get her to do it for me on film, and then I was holding the camera sideways. So... The video is sideways, but I still think it's hilarious.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Going to Unreasonable Lengths:

Every person has three ranges of hair length:
  1. The range at which they consider it "too short to be functional."
  2. The range at which it is "just about right." ( Though no woman appears to be entirely satisfied with her hair, even at the "right" range.)
  3. The range at which it is "entirely too much to handle."
Moodles chews a package of #7 round needles.
These ranges vary from person to person, and some people, much to their chagrin, don't seem to be genetically capable of producing enough hair to hit the "enough" range much less the "too much" category. Being half-Japanese, and therefore having received the "OMG, HAIR!!!" gene, this is not my problem. I have extra-ordinarily healthy hair growing in places I really wish it wouldn't, but lets not go into that.

For me, the "too short" range is anything above my shoulder blades - mostly because I am routinely too lazy to do anything with my hair, and if it is above my shoulder blades, my hair will not stay behind me when I lean forward. PLUS, my hair is naturally curly, and if I get too much above my shoulder blades, there isn't enough weight in my hair to keep it from turning into ringlets. Let me assure you, I am entirely too sarcastic and deadpan to run around looking like Shirley Temple.

The "just about right" range is anything between the bottom of my shoulder blades and the top of my belt. I have kept my hair about there for most of my life. As I mentioned, I am not entirely satisfied with my hair at that length, but I can do 80% of the things I want with my hair when it is that long. (I still can't do that neat "crown of braids" thing, though, because I have a big, fat head. I know. It's a terrible fate... However I have determined that having hair long enough for a braid crown puts me well into the "too much to handle" range...)

Because I haven't managed to get to the stylist since before Moodles was born, my hair is now in the "too much to handle" stage of growth, and it's making me a little insane. I am ok with "hair past my waist," as they say in the romance novels. I am NOT OK with "hair past my butt." This was underscored for me twice yesterday when a colleague mentioned my hair in a very complimentary way, and I brushed her off with a litany of complaints. (Sorry, D. What I meant to say was, "Thank you.") And again, when I got home from work and had a chance to shower and deep condition, because Mom kept the baby for an extra half hour, so I wouldn't have to worry about running out of the bathroom naked and covered in soap because Moodles found a way to destroy herself in an empty crib.

I know that at least half of you reading now hate me because I'm complaining about hair growth that you've been trying to achieve all your life, but let me tell you why hair past your butt sucks the big one:
  1. You sit on it. Your dog sits on it. The stinky guy next to you on the bus sits on it. In all three situations you end up trapped. The dog will take advantage and lick your face until you asphyxiate. You PRAY that the stinky guy on the bus will only take advantage and talk your ear off, but you sometimes worry that he might also lick your face.
  2. You have to un-tuck your hair from your pants every time you go to the bathroom. This wouldn't be as annoying if it wasn't winter and you weren't wearing a wool sweater. But because it is winter, and you are wearing a sweater, un-tucking your hair will generate enough static charge to shock the shit out of you when you reach for the stall door, and your hair will stand out around you like a three foot halo in all directions. If "hair by Vandegraph" is not a good look on you, you will be irritated for the next 20 minutes until the charge wears off... By then you will have to pee again... Rinse, repeat.
  3. You have to be careful when you potty. I will leave those details to your imagination. Let me just sum up by saying that if you were formerly a braid chewer, the potential for utter grossness here might cure you of the habit forever.
  4. This one is my favorite: Showering becomes disconcerting. Picture yourself in a nice, hot shower, deep conditioning your hair, because that's what Lady Godiva would want... When the time comes to rinse, you let down your luxurious locks from where they were piled on top of your head, sucking up all the lovely moisturizers... In the last two minutes on top of your head, those locks have become cold and clammy. Where do they go when you shake them out? They go right into the crack of your ass, that's where. Not cool. 
Hat for Matt. Needs to be blocked.
Problem #4 can repeat itself as you dry your hair with interesting and, at times, utterly humiliating variations. You lean forward and flip your hair upside down to towel it off, but then how do you get back into the upright position for take off? Especially if you happen to be preening in front of your newly minted boyfriend? You don't just wad it up and stand - no! You fling it up over your shoulder and arch your back majestically like a surfacing mermaid! And then... Oh... The horrors...

Arching your back makes your hair effectively a foot longer, which means that when it lands, it will go BETWEEN your legs (COLD! CLAMMY! AUGH!) and then up over your thigh. Because it is squeaky clean, it will STICK THERE AND NEVER COME OUT. I don't know if you've ever tried to balance in a position wherein your boobs are pointed at the sky, but it's quite difficult... Especially if it's not a position you intended to be in, in the first place. If you are a klutz like me, and start thrashing around like an idiot, this will cause you to fall over in an entirely ungraceful tangle of limbs and hair and land on your head. LOUDLY. At this point, you can only hope that your newly minted boyfriend is sensitive enough not to laugh at you when he comes to rescue you from your poorly planned attempt to be irresistible.

Not that that has ever happened to me... Ever.

Anyway, I need a haircut soon before I manage to injure myself.  Also, I made this hat last night for the imminent in-laws. Moodles helped.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Checking things off the list:

Or not.

I was hoping to cross off a few things from my "Things In Process" list... Instead, last night, I started an entirely new thing. A hat for one of my 3 male in-laws that are coming to visit this weekend. I will make two more with slightly different patterning and call it done.
I took this opportunity to use up some of the zillion yards of handspun wool I have lying around the house from the last time I went on a spinning bender. I used my dark natural grey and my white wool, and I'm fairly pleased with the results. I knit the largest size hat on the pattern, since I don't have anyone's measurements. I figure, if the hat is too big, they can wear it into the shower until it fits.... Yay, wool! And yes, those ear flaps do actually come out of the hat all together. Those are functional buttons you're looking at, yo! One gift down, eleventy more to go!

Honestly, I'm glad that that part of the evening went according to "plan," because it was that only part that did. When I left the office, my plan was to go home, pick up Em, do some work at the Bar, eat dinner with Eithni and Teffan, and then maybe make a set or two of hand warmers for the student-gifts. You know what they say about a plan only lasting until you first engage your opponent? Right. Last night, my opponent was Angus, who - though I love him with the nuggies normally reserved for brothers- has displayed an amazing ability to obliterate any semblance of "plan" through his very presence.

So my evening actually consisted of fixing the printer (Which the bebe had messed up by using it as a standing assist, thereby pressing all the buttons and re-setting the IP address to something useless...), ordering Thai food for Myself, Husband, and Angus, failing to get HD, due to stupid trees blocking the satellites, making the aforementioned hat, and watching the A-Team movie with the guys. It wasn't an unpleasant evening, but I still need to go down to the bar at some point to set the security feeds for unreasonable levels of networked convenience, rather than just CCTV... And I need to talk someone into cutting down a &*%# tree so that I can get some HD* TV.

*What truly irritates me is that I cannot solve this problem by switching satellite providers. Both Dish Network and DirecTV use the same satellites. In some ways, I feel that this defeats my freedom of choice. And don't tell me about Charter Cable. The rant I posted about their idiotic customer service is still in the top 10 things that come back if you Google "MightyJesse."

Monday, December 6, 2010

Things in Process:

Welcome to the holiday season! That time of year when I discover (while frantically cleaning my house before guests arrive) that I have 10,000 more things in-process than I thought. I had thought that maybe I should photograph them and post them for you so that the shame of unfinished projects would drive me to completion... Thus, I give you, the bullet points of half-assery: (If you check back later, I may update with more pictures after I get home tonight... You never know...)
  • Mint chocolate chip hoody (knitting)
  • Black embroidered jumper (hand embroidered, for Moodles, of course!)
  • "I Poop Alot" onesie (hand embellished commercial onesie)
  • New wool tunic (hand sewn with seam embellishments, for me)
  • New wool tunic (hand sewn with seam embellishments, for Husband)
  • New wool tunic (hand sewn with seam embellishments, for Moodles) 
  • Flower diaper cover (Despite my ability to draft a diaper pattern for an adult, NO ONE needs to play that much Warcraft. This will be for Moodles. Duh.)
And then, the really, real reason I'm not posting all the pictures... Moodles was teething and clingy all weekend, so I didn't have much "spare time" for photography after attending the AWESOME variety show at the Knuckle Down Saloon on Friday night, and doing the usual 28,498,348,049 loads of laundry (OK, really it was 6, but it felt like more.)... Every sheet in the house was dirty, owing in part to Moodles' new passion for "finger-painting*."  (I was also supposed to attend Boar's Head, but due to being down a vehicle, and the sudden snow, I just wasn't feeling organized enough to obtain a ride, or talk Husband into a "ninja run" in my crappy car on un-plowed roads with 2 hours of sleep.... So we skipped it, because we'll be attending 12th Night, FOR SURE, due to our respective obligations at that event.)

* SUPER GROSS. Moodles used to just throw up and leave it at that. NOW, she throws up and smears it all over everything, in what she assures me is "art". As you can see by my use of quotation marks, I remain unconvinced...

Thursday, December 2, 2010

In which we are somewhat blurry:

I wanted to show you a picture of Moodles' fantastic morning bed-head, the only problem being that the bebe is blurry in the morning. Initially, I thought it was just that there isn't sufficient time for my coffee to start working by 7:00 AM, or perhaps the lack of glasses - that item often being misplaced the evening before by one of my "helpers." Usually under the couch. However, it has been confirmed, and my camera agrees. Moodles is, in fact, blurry until close to 9:00 AM. (At which point the need for a nap finally slows her down...)




Finally, I had to pick her up in order to keep her still enough to capture her fantastic 'do. (In future years, I'm sure she'll spend HOURS in front of a mirror trying to accomplish just this look using all manner of hair product and a curling iron...)