Hats Off

I whipped up a hat for Darcie yesterday from a skein of Noro Silk Garden. I love the way it turned out. A little shorter than what I would wear but it's exactly what she wanted. I had my doubts as to whether one ball of Silk Garden was going to be enough or not but it was and I even had a fairly decent amount left over. Darcie was so thrilled with her new hat that when I went up to tuck her in last night she was wearing it. She had already fallen to sleep and was laying there nice and snug in bed, drool pooling up on her arm, with her new hat on. I really knew she liked it when she wore it to school this morning. It's one thing to wear something in the house but wearing it in public is a totally different beast all together.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Ok, so I didn't think this contest thing through as well as I should have. Adrienne pointed out that it would be more fun to do it a little differently. I agree. What I will do is draw 1 name on December 1st, 2 on December 2nd, 3 on December 3rd and so on until we get to December 12th when I will draw 12 names. I will then draw one final winner from all 78 for the grand prize on December 13th. Sounds like a lot more fun, no? This way I can still keep everyone on the edges of their seats. ;-)

And about the scarf exchange...

A lot of people have asked what type of yarn is ok to use. I say whatever you have is great. If you plan to use wool you should check with your partner when they are assigned to be sure they aren't allergic. I think the most important aspect of making something for someone else is the time, effort and love that goes into making it, not the material used. I would be just as thrilled with a scarf made with Red Heart as I would be with a scarf made from cashmere. Honest.

I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! I told you all how I planned a big dinner for just the 3 of us here at home right? Like usual, if something can go wrong here it will...and it did. I cooked the damn turkey for 4.5 hours. 1 hour longer than the package said to. Bran took it out of the oven to carve it while I mashed the potatoes. "I don't think the turkey is cooked yet," he says. What's my response? "You've got to be shitting me!!!" So the potatoes, stuffing, beans and rolls were all done but the turkey was still rare. We were starving. So we ate. I put the turkey back in the oven and cranked the heat to 400 degrees. An hour later the meat-o-meter said it was well done. We then ate turkey. After dinner I sent the carcass over to my mom. She has the patience to pick it clean. I don't. She called a little while later to tell me that the dark meat was still raw. What??? I hereby officially proclaim Thanksgiving 2005 "The Day the Turkey Refused to Die."

Happy Anniversary

Today is my wedding anniversary. 5 years ago today Bran and I vowed to love and cherish each other forever. He's certainly done a phenomenal job holding up his end of the deal. We've had our ups and downs just like any married couple but there have definitely been far more ups than downs. Bran is my best friend. He is caring, patient, kind and loving. He is smart. He is funny. He makes me laugh. He is loyal, honest and trustworthy. He is the most amazing dad in the whole entire wide world. (If you don't believe me just ask our 3 children.) He's an incredible provider. He is supportive and encouraging. He lets me sleep in on the weekends. He never bitches about the amount of yarn I bring into the house. And best of all, he's my husband.

I love you Bran!!! Happy anniversary!!!

Happy Turkey Day

I wish you all a wonderful day with family, friends, good food and lots to be thankful for. I have to say that the things I am most thankful for stay fairly constant throughout the years. My beautiful children, Brandon, my parents, my family and friends, God, a comfortable home and food in the fridge. I am truly blessed. Even though Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday I do like that it reminds me of this fact.

Even though I said we weren't doing the turkey thing today, I caved at the grocery store last night and bought a bird. Partly because they didn't have the roasting chicken I wanted and partly because I realized that Bran and I haven't had a Thanksgiving of our own. Ever. We've always gone to my parents, his mothers or out. Since we weren't having turkey anywhere else this year and since Dan and Darcie had no desire to have it here at home I decided to cook one for just the 3 of us. I thought we'd have some turkey and mashed potatoes...maybe some green beans. Then I got up this morning feeling in the mood to cook. So my turkey is ready for the oven, my potatoes are peeled, I've got homemade dough rising for rolls, I took out a box of Stove Top and I just sent Bran to the store for some cranberry sauce. I should have known better to think that I'd be satisfied with only part of a Thanksgiving feast. It's either all or nothing. No middle of the road for me.

Happy, happy Turkey Day!!! (((Gobble Gobble)))

12 Days of Christmas

Everyone ready for a new contest? I know I am! Here's the scoop:

Next Wednesday, December 1st will begin the new contest. The first comment left for that day will be entered to win. The second comment left on December 2nd will be entered to win. The third comment left on December 3rd will be entered to win. Get the idea? The last day will be December 12th when the 12th comment left will be entered to win. I will then draw one winner from the 12 entries.

Sound like fun???

In the meantime, I've had a few people respond to the idea of a scarf exchange so let's get that rolling. If you want to participate please send me your name and snail mail address so I can pair you up with a partner. I'll need to hear from you before December 1st as I'll assign partners that day. You'll have until January 16th to get your scarf in the mail to your partner. I know it's a long time for a scarf but I also know how precious a knitter's time is during the holidays. This will give everyone plenty of it to get finished.

Champagne Wishes & Opal Dream(catcher)s

I can't believe it's Monday again already. The past few days have been a blur. We've been super busy with the kids. This being and "odd" year (meaning 2005) poor Dan and Darcie have to spend Thanksgiving with their asshole father. So we had our Thanksgiving last night at my parents. No turkey. Dan and Darcie are going to be burnt out on Turkey come Thursday so we decided to have ham. Then my father decided to have roast beef because he doesn't care much for ham. But Dan was all puckered up for ham. So we had both. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, gravy, rolls and fruit salad. Yummy, yummy. (Oops...sorry to go Wiggles on you there.) It was so good. We came home from dinner last night and I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the couch and go to sleep. Instead of doing that though, I had to help Dan with a social studies report. Then Diane came over to show me her scarf. She's working on the Twisty Scarf and it's coming along nicely. She's also working on a pair of clogs and 2 other scarves. I think she's addicted.

I taught some magic loop sock classes over the weekend at Adirondack Yarns. Over all they went really well. Much better than the last clog class. One poor girl hadn't knit in quite some time and couldn't remember how to purl. She was going to come back on Sunday for help but she didn't. I hope she isn't so discouraged that she gives up. I'll have to check with Sue to see if she has her name and number.

If any of you are as addicted as I am to socks wait until you hear this news. My friend Nicole lives in Germany and has given me permission to give you all her email address as a source of Opal yarn. The new Dreamcatcher line is out over there and it's gorgeous. They're only $11 per ball and shipping isn't bad either. I've been patiently waiting for this new line for what feels like forever. I'm having Nicole send me all 8 balls and the shipping is only $10 for the whole package. If you're interested just let her know and be sure you tell her you heard about her here so you get lower pricing. The more she orders, the more she saves and then the more we save. I love the trickle down effect in this case!

Friends Forever

For the past 2 days I've been on a scarf kick. I found this pattern while browsing a couple weeks ago and decided I had to have it. It arrived in the mail a few days later and then sat for days. I finally decided to get my arse in gear and make one to see how it would turn out. This is the first one I made night before last out of Baby Alpaca Grande. This (Like my model? It's very sophisticated, no? It's my white shirt draped over the handle of the vacuum. Dan's says it's a great prop.) is the second I made last night out of Suri Dream. This pattern is awesome! It's very easy to memorize and works up so quickly. I love it. Now I won't feel guilty about starting one of the lovelies in the new book my secret pal sent me.

Not only was I lucky enough to receive another incredible box from my secret pal, but look what arrived in the mail from Toni. A new hat and mittens for Dailaesse. She loves them and they fit great! Toni also sent 2 of her wonderful room freshners and a little candle that she makes herself. They are so great! I love that you can actually smell the scents without them being overpowering. Most times things like this aren't nearly strong enough or if they are they give you a headache. These are just right! Thanks so much Toni for being so kind!!!

I consider myself fortunate to have made such wonderful friends here. Thank you all for being you!!!

Oh Goody...Goodies!!!

It rained all day yesterday. I had a ton of errands to run. My hair frizzes up like the Bride of Frankenstein's when it gets wet. See how my day was going? I heard the mail truck coming up the road and thought, "Oh great. Another trip out into the rain." I thought of leaving it for Bran to get when he got home but then remembered that he was going to be late because he had to pick the dog up from the groomer. I sucked it up and ran down the drive to the box. Boy am I glad I did! Imagine my surprise when I saw a big box sitting on the mail post. I grabbed it to see who it was from...my secret pal! I grabbed the rest of the mail and ran back to the house. I couldn't get the box opened fast enough. Look what I got!!! 2 incredible skeins of yarn, Colinette's Tagliatelli and Shaggy from Wool in the Woods. Tagliatelli is a yummy merino tape and the Shaggy is the almost like chenille but 1000 times better because it's soft and smooth and silky and...oh my! I think I'll use the yarns for some scarves from the Scarves: A Knitter's Dozen book that was in my box. There are some amazing patterns in that book, let me tell ya! I also got a copy of The Knitter's Gift, a healing garden starter kit, bathing gloves, a Jing Garden in a can, a grocery pad and magnet with sheep on them and a Mom's Apple Pie scented Yankee votive candle. I feel so spoiled and lucky! Thank you, thank you, thank you Secret Pal!!! You've really outdone yourself!

Today has been really strange. It was 78 degrees this morning but VERY windy. Gorgeous. Especially for mid November. Then the rain came. The temperature dropped to 42 degrees. Then the power went out. At 11 this morning. It's now 2 in the afternoon. The power just came back on. Have you any idea how many times it takes you to explain to a toddler that the television, CD player, DVD player, lights and everything else in the house don't work when the power is out??? Me either.

No Use Crying Over Spilled Soda

I wasn't very productive this weekend. I really wanted to play with some socks for the magic loop class this weekend but only made one quick pair with worsted yarn. This was a freebie pattern from the internet that one of the girls at Adirondack Yarns found. I decided to make the socks big enough for Dailaesse. She loves them and so do I! This yarn was so nice to work with. It's Karaoke by South West Trading Company and is 50% soy silk and 50% wool. Drop Sue an email (adirondackyarns at adelphia dot net) to see what she has available if you're interested. It's so soft and silky and I absolutely love the way the colors change. I'm hoping to have enough left from the ball to make another pair. I plan to give the participants of the class the choice between making these with size 7 needles or making a pair with fingering and size 1 needles. Just need to whip up the pair with fingering weight to see how the pattern works for them. I think it should be fine.

I had a ton of stuff to do this weekend and didn't get half of it done. I spent the morning Saturday driving to the vet that was on call for our normal vet (why do they have to refer you to someone out of town???) who was away for the weekend. Mickey had worms. Poor little man. We noticed Friday night just after dinner that he had them. I can't stand it when the animals are sick and I especially hate worms. When we brought Dixie home she was loaded with them. There is nothing worse than the thought of parasites feeding on your pets and crawling in your home. Yuck!!! Anyways, thankfully the vet didn't even want to see him so I was able to leave him home. I picked up the medication for him and gave it to him when I got home shortly after noon and by late afternoon the worms were gone. I was amazed at how fast the medication worked. We kept him quarantined for 24 hours after we had given him the medication to be safe. With the baby in the house I'm a little anal about things like that. So all the things I wanted to do turned into sterilizing the house. I bleached everything. Probably overkill I know but again, I'm anal.

Bran started decorating for Christmas yesterday while the weather was nice. I finished cleaning around 3pm, took a shower and then we decided to go to Plattsburgh for dinner. We stopped at Verizon for Bran's phone. Yup, yet another phone to exchange. This was his 4th phone since every time they replace it they send the same crap model. He came out of the store with his same phone in hand, got in the van and said they wouldn't replace it because they couldn't duplicate the problem in the few minutes that he had spent at the service counter. I went through the roof. I took the phone in and a little screaming and a few minutes later I returned to the van to let Bran know we needed to return in 20 minutes to get his new phone. That gave us time to go to the mall for him to exchange a couple tools that had broken. Too bad all stores aren't like Sears. They give you a new tool, no questions asked and send you on your merry little way. Verizon could learn something from them.

Anyways, after picking up his new phone we went to Applebee's for dinner. A few minutes after our appetizers came out Darcie knocked her soda over. Bran was able to catch the stream with napkins so she didn't get any on her or anyone else. Phew! We had a great dinner. The kids were really well behaved. We laughed and visited. Then the kids and Bran decided they wanted dessert. They all ordered. The waitress brought them out just after refilling all our drinks. As she passed Darcie's dessert across the table to her she knocked her filled-to-the-top-couldn't-get-anymore-in-glass-if-you-tried soda over. This time we weren't so lucky. Darcie was soaked. Her leg, her coat that had been sitting on the bench next to her, her shirt. Wanna know the best part??? The waitress never even apologized. After the ordeal at Verizon Wireless I didn't dare open my mouth. We paid our check and left. Darcie walked out with her coat wrapped around her waist so people wouldn't think she had peed her pants. Poor little angel. I tried making up for it by buying her some lottery tickets but she didn't win anything. She's usually pretty lucky. Guess last night just wasn't her night.

Kerry Needs

Yup, I did it. I succumbed to the need to be like everyone else. I've been seeing this on other blogs left and right lately so I thought it would be fun to do. You go to Google and type in "(Your name) needs" and then right down the 10 best ones. I had no intention of posting my findings until I actually saw them. It was too much fun...

1. Kerry needs to get much tougher with Bush.

Don't we all??? Oh, and that reminds me about the sign I saw outside a Baptist church. It read, "Would someone just give him a blow job so we can impeach him?" I found that quite amusing.

2. Kerry needs some of his wife's sauce.

Trust me, I'm saucy enough. And yes, I know it says "he." Seems John Kerry is much more popular than people thought as there are some people out there who can't stop talking about him.

3. Kerry needs to go away.

I do???

4. Kerry needs a push.

Might just help get some of these damn projects finished.

5. Kerry needs to capture Clinton's magic.

I thought that was Monica's job.

6. Kerry needs to answer.

What's the question???

7. Kerry needs to get jazzed about presidential campaign.

Get jazzed? About presidential campaign? Maybe if there was someone running to get jazzed about.

8. Kerry needs to win.

So true. Remember the Yahtzee story?

9. Kerry needs to keep up.

Boy do I ever.

10. Kerry needs a Korean history lesson.

It's true. (((sigh))) I don't know much about Korean history.

Now, as promised here is the hat and mittens I made for Dailaesse. She looks so cute in this set. I made them all a little big so she'll be able to wear them again next year. Maybe even the year after but I think that'll be pushing it. I didn't want them so big that they would be useless to her now either. They're just right for her now and later. I made the set holding one strand of Plymouth Galway 08 and one strand of Opal Magic 1043 together. I love how the set turned out.

And here's the new toys my hubby picked out for us. The keyboard was a little awkward at first because of the wrist rest but it is so comfortable. And I love all the quick buttons. Very handy. And the built in mouse is cool too. I just love this new set!

Hey, what would you all think about doing an exchange of some sort? Maybe a scarf or hat. Something quick and easy but fun at the same time? Let me know what ya think!

I'm So Excited

I finally finished the mittens for Dailaesse. Finally. I think the end of some projects really seem to drag on forever. I mean, they were only 1 1/2" thumbs but it felt like I had to knit for 1 1/2'. You know what I mean? Of course you do. As soon as I have my camera back I'll post a picture of the set. Bran took it with him to work today to take pictures of a vehicle and it hasn't found it's way home yet. I hope it doesn't come back all dirty like last time. Now I'm messing around with a simple pattern for a little sock for the class I'll be doing next week. I can't wait for the classes. Yup. One class has turned into 2. How cool is that??? The first one filled and Sue called the other day to ask if I'd be interested in doing a second the following day. Of course I couldn't resist!

Hmmm...that makes 2 things I'm really excited about.

The second is my lovely new wireless keyboard and mouse. That's right baby..WIRELESS. I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it. I wasn't all that stoked about it until it came today and I opened it. It's so cool. I can curl up in the rocker and put the keyboard on my lap and type 'til my little heart's content. The mouse has leather on the top of it. My husband picked the set out when our old mouse started crapping out. LOL Get it...mouse...crapping. Ok, maybe it's only funny to me. Anyways, my husband is a technology freak. And when he said he wanted a wireless mouse AND keyboard and I said fine he got busy trying to find the perfect one. I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven when he found "The Executive" Microsoft set. He called from the living room..."Honey, it's got a leather wrapped mouse just like the steering wheel in the van." If it has something that he can relate to a vehicle it's even better. So we ordered it up on Monday and were told it was to arrive next Monday. Imagine my surprise when I went out to the post office this afternoon and the box fell on my feet when I opened the front door. As soon as I opened the box I was hooked. I couldn't wait for Bran to hook it up when he got home from work this afternoon. I'm having a hard time getting use to the built-in wrist thing but it so kicks ass. Again, pictures will follow when I get my camera back.

My little doll is sleeping already. I plan to go do a little more laundry and then hit the feathers. My parents are going shopping tomorrow. That usually means presents for us. I'm hoping for a new coffee maker. Keep your fingers crossed for me. ;-)

Nice Guys Finish Last

I'm still trying to find time to get Dailaesse's mittens finished. So far it hasn't worked out. The cold weather at night makes me want to snuggle up under the comforter and go to sleep. I haven't even been able to keep my eyes open for Letterman the last couple of nights. Soon though...I promise. I have so many projects I want to start but I need to be disciplined and finish some of the ones I have waiting for me already.

Remember I told you a while back about the man who lives up the street? He blacked out at the drive-thru at the bank and drove his car into the cement basement of a house across the road. He was in really bad shape the day of the accident. So bad that the priest read him his last rites. Miraculously, he snapped out of it and was released from the hospital a few days later. The doctors found a tumor about the size of a gum ball in his brain. It was in a spot that commonly causes seizures. He was sent to Boston to see a specialist and starts chemo soon. The tumor has attached itself in a way that makes operating impossible. We were just sick over all this. This man had been so good to Bran. He helped him out with advice on several occasions and on many more just provided some good friendly conversation. Mike and his wife are from California and have no family here just like Bran. Bran and I both offered to help in any way we could. Bran has made countless trips up the street to check on him, visit and help with things around their house. He's called on the days that he doesn't get up there to check in and make sure they don't need anything.

The van he was driving was totaled. A local garage towed his van to their lot and left it there for the weekend. They charged him over $400 for this. A man he knows has a vacant spot of land on a quiet street in the village. They had the van towed there and left. In our village though you can only leave a junk vehicle for a certain amount of time. Since the vehicle has been there more than the allotted time it had to be moved quickly. So last week Mike calls Bran and tells him he has to get the van out of there and asks if Bran wants the van for parts. He tells him if he wants it to go get it and that he doesn't want anything for it. So Bran has this great van that he bought for $300 sitting out at work that needs an engine. It's a 2002 and it's loaded. We're talking everything but the kitchen sink. No rust, no dents, no nothing. It's perfect, except for the engine thing. The low book on the van is $8500. The engine in Mike's van is a perfect fit for the one that he already has. So Bran accepts the van with much thanks and appreciation and tells Mike about the van he has that needs to be fixed. Mike is interested in buying the van. Bran figures seems how he gave him his wrecked van with the good engine that he'll cut him a great deal on the van. Mike's quite happy and tells Bran when he gets the other van running to let him know and he'll take a look at it.

Last night we drove over to the other side of the lake to get the wrecked van. It took Bran about half an hour to get it ready to drive. The windshield is all smashed and it's not legal to drive so we had to call the police to let them know what we were doing. We got the van to the house and Bran called Mike to let him know that the engine and tranny still sound great and that it was out of the lot. Mike tells him his son called earlier and is bringing him a vehicle and is taking the wrecked van back with him. Oh, but if you still want it I want $700 for it. Bran said he could hear Mike's wife hollering $1000 in the background. WTF??? First it's free, no strings, not even a mention of using it to fix the other van and now it's $700. I'm livid. I told Bran we're bringing it back to the lot where it was after dinner tonight. We barely have room in the driveway for it to begin with but I figured seems how it would only be there for a week or 2 while he stripped it that I could deal with it. Bran is much more relaxed about things than I am. He can get an engine for the other van for about $300 so he said he would offer Mike that much for it. Nope. He will take no less than $700. Bran told him he was bringing it back to where it was and Mike asked why he couldn't just leave it here until his son comes this weekend. He also knows that I'm friends with the chief of police and most of the town cops so he knows leaving it here for an extended period of time wouldn't be a problem. And, he'd be damn lucky to get $50 for it in the shape that it's in. The passenger side is pretty much gone and the frame is broke so it can't ever be registered in NY again. Bran hurried up to go get it out so he wouldn't have to pay to have it towed or stored elsewhere and this is what he gets. I just can't believe it. Now mind you, we won't stop doing nice things for people because of this, but we certainly won't go out of our way for him anymore.

Thanks for listening to me vent! I promise more knitting soon! :-)

Dinner and a Show

Friday night we went to Plattsburgh to do some grocery shopping. Before we left the house I asked Dailaesse where she wanted to go for dinner. Blutcher Block. They have lummy steak and lummy french fries and coloring books and crayons. She said it quite matter-of-factly. When we got to Plattsburgh not quite an hour later I asked her if she still wanted to go to Butcher Block. Yup. So off to Butcher Block we went. Butcher Block is one of the best steak houses in Plattsburgh. It's not ultra fancy but it's not McDonald's either. You see where I'm going with this don't you? We went in and were seated. The waitress came to take our drink orders. Dailaesse ordered her own root beer and struck up a nice conversation with the waitress all about how root beer is her flavorite. No, the L's aren't typos...that's how Dailaesse pronounces some of her words. The waitress said how cute she is and told us that she's expecting her first baby and hopes that hers is as sweet and well behaved as Dailaesse. Then she tells us we can go to the salad bar and leaves to go get our sodas. That's when it happened. Dailaesse started bouncing in her seat chanting, "I don't want Blutcher Block." She was quiet and we distracted her by going to the salad bar. She ate a bunch of "baby" tomatoes and started chanting again. This time a little louder. The waitress came with our drinks and took our dinner orders. Steaks for Bran and Dailaesse and a yummy stuffed chicken breast for me. As soon as the waitress left the chanting started back up. We fed her more tomatoes. We asked for a coloring book. These worked for a bit then she had to go potty. I got up to take her to the bathroom and as soon as we got to the hallway that leads to the restroom she started screaming. I managed to get her into the bathroom so she could pee. There was an older woman in the bathroom smoking. I wanted to gag. It was so strong. She wasn't amused with Dailaesse's screaming. Serves her right for smoking in a public restroom. So after that I had to pretty much drag her back to the table. She didn't want to stay so I put her coat on and thought if I took her out and walked around the parking lot a bit she might settle down. Yeah right. She was fine while we walked. She visited and sang and was quite happy. As soon as we headed toward the doors she dug her heels into the ground and started screaming again. I tried to explain to her that her daddy was sitting in there waiting for us and that we at least had to go get him so we could leave. Nope. So I picked her up kicking and screaming and went into collect my husband and pay for our dinners which had thankfully just been brought out. Bran took the screaming meemie out to the van while I paid for dinner and waited for our wonderful waitress to box them up. I went back to the van, annoyed to think we had just paid for a dinner that we weren't going to get to enjoy, and told Dailaesse I was very disappointed with her. Her little face dropped and she looked at me with those beautiful big blue eyes and told me she was sorry but she didn't want Blutcher Block. I asked why and she offered no reason other than that she didn't want it. I couldn't be upset with that sweet little face. I asked Bran to go back in and ask if we could borrow some silverware so we could eat in the van. He returned a few minutes later with silverware, napkins and salt and pepper. I sat in back with Dailaesse so I could help her eat. We put in a movie. The little stinker ate almost all of her dinner. And we had a blast.

Dinner - $65
Eating in your van in the parking lot - priceless

So my friend Laura has to be one of the most talented designers I know. She just sent me a sneak preview for one of her latest designs which will be the November sock of the month over at Judy's. If you love knitting socks you've got to check this out. You get a new pattern every month (or every other month if you prefer) as well as the yarn to make the socks for only $16.95 a month(or every other month). :-) It's a great deal and there are some amazing patterns. Laura also has some of her patterns available for sale directly from her. You won't be disappointed with her patterns! They're not only beautiful and unique but they're useful as well. I can't wait to be able to get the new ones! She's also doing the December sock. I'm so excited!!!

Hope everyone's off to the start of a great week! It's very windy here today. We had some thunder and lightning last night with a little rain but otherwise it's been really nice for the past few days.

Busy Bee

It seems like we've been on the run all week long. Dan had his final football game Wednesday. He did an amazing job. I'm so proud of him and most importantly, he's very proud of himself. The high school coaches were there to watch and asked if he was planning to play next year because they want him. His coach told him he's a very strong player and suggested that he think about football camp this summer to work on his technique. Dan's very interested in camp but doesn't want to go unless one or more of the other players from his team will be going. I'm not sure how camp works. I don't know if they have to be referred for it or if anyone can go. I plan to talk to the coach next week to get all the particulars.

After the game we went to Malone (a 45 minute drive) to the KFC/Taco Bell for dinner. The kids love to go there. Dailaesse took a nap on the way so Dan and Darcie were able to watch one of their movies. That always makes them happy. We had a great dinner, considering it was fast food, and were home by 9:30.

Yesterday I went to see Sue. She had ordered some Addi Turbos for me again and they had arrived. When I got there I saw bags and boxes all over the store. I was so excited. New yarn! And lots of it. I got 2 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in solid shades of green and black. The green is such a beautiful shade. I also got a skein of Super Glitz in a beautiful blue colorway. The name is escaping me at the moment. I also got a hank of Fleece Artist Merino in a black and dark brown colorway. Very manly. I'm going to throw it in the air and let Dan and Bran fight over it. Dailaesse and I went to McDonald's for lunch and made it home just in time to pick Dan and Matt up from school.

I've been so tired with the change in weather. It doesn't help any that it's dark earlier at night either. I've had several nights in the past week that I've fallen to sleep putting the baby down. All this sleeping isn't getting much knitting done. I have managed to do a hat for Dailaesse and have started a set of matching mittens. I'm working with 1 strand of Opal Magic 1043 and 1 strand of Plymouth Galway 08 in case you're wondering. :-) I have one mitten finished with the exception of the thumb and am a little over halfway through the cuff for the second. She's very excited. She can't wait to wear them. I'm just glad that it has warmed up again so I have time to get them done. 5 or 10 minutes of knitting time here and there just isn't enough! I need to hire someone to clean my house. That would give me a lot more time to knit.

Tonight we're off to Plattsburgh for dinner and some grocery shopping. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Drum Roll Please...

And we have a winner...



SANDRA KNAPP!!! Congrats Sandra!

Thanks to all who played along once again. I've had so much fun with this. It's so nice to hear what and how everyone else is doing. Stay tuned 'cause you never know when I'll decide to do another one of these buggers. Maybe something for Christmas or New Years...that would be a blast!

I'm Late, I'm Late!!!

Sandra Knapp was the lucky name for yesterday folks. I still haven't drawn our lucky grand prize winner yet though. I know I promised a winner today but it's been a killer. I had to call in reinforcement about a half hour ago. How pathetic is it that my 2 year old is kicking my arse??? She spilled her milk all over the floor and while I was trying to clean that mess she decided it would be great fun to tear my plants apart (from the back of the couch that she was sitting on) and feed them to the dog (who's too stupid to realize she shouldn't be eating the plants) who promptly chewed them up and puked on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs.

Keep checking back because come hell or high water I will have a winner before midnight!

Wanna recap of the names in the running while you wait???

Michelle
Knitcrazy
Lisa D (2)
Mar
Nyxxie
Sandra Knapp (2)
Adrienne (2)
Teresa
Donna
Leslie
Donna in NY
Anita

Now dear readers, please excuse me while I go quietly have the nervous breakdown I so desperately deserve this evening.