Happy New Year!

I stole this from Allison. If you fill it out leave me a link so I can read yours. I hope you're all off to the start of a great 2008!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? Became the parent of a 16 year old.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't remember making any last year and if I did I obviously didn't keep them. My resolution this year is to blog more often.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nobody close to me but one of the moms at Pre-K had a baby around Halloween and she's absolutely beautiful.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I'm thinking no because no names are jumping out at me. My dad's brother died a couple months back but we weren't close so it doesn't really count. Right?
5. What countries did you visit? I didn't step foot out of the states. In fact, I barely stepped out of NY. I think we only made the trip to VT a couple times last year.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? More time with the kids. They're growing way too fast. (See question 1)
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? July 18th - Dan won the right to choose when/if he visits his father. August 13th - Dan took his road test and passed.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Parenting the 3 most amazing kids in the world.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not being able to do anything about Darcie's visitation. It kills me that she's still being forced to go when the professionals who should be helping her admit she's being abused but won't do anything to stop it from happening.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? The blood clot.
11. What was the best thing you bought? The materials for Darcie's room remodel and Dan's table saw. :-)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All 3 of the kids. They're all doing amazing well so far in school. They're kind and considerate and I couldn't be more proud of them if I tried.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Brittany Spears and I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone why.
14. Where did most of your money go? The kids.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Lots of things. The kids birthdays. Dan getting his license. Football. Track. Christmas Eve mass. (Dailaesse was an angel in the procession) Darcie's egg drop project. Darcie's bear project. I could do this all day because there were so many things to get really excited about.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Come All Ye Faithful
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer? Sadder as there's lots of stupid crap going on with the ex. Thinner. Financially the same.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Cooking.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Arguing with Bran. ;-)
20. How did you spend Christmas? With the kids and it was perfect. We went to Christmas Eve mass and came home to find Santa had come while we were gone. The kids opened their presents and then spent the rest of the night playing. Christmas Day we had breakfast and dinner with my parents and played some more. Doesn't get any better than that.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007? Every day I fall more and more in love with the kids and Bran. They are amazing.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Grey's Anatomy.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope. I have a very short list and thankfully wasn't forced to add to it this year.
24. What was the best book you read? Public Secrets by Nora Roberts. Besides knitting books this was the only one I read last year. Must make time to do more reading this year.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Feist
26. What did you want and get? A new bed.
27. What did you want and not get? A new baby.
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Shrek the Third. Yeah, I need to get out more.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I have no idea what I did on my birthday but I do remember that I turned 35. LOL
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to make Darcie feel safe and secure and happy.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Fashion concept huh? I don't know that you can call jeans, shorts, and tees with the occasional pair of sweats thrown in a fashion concept.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Hillary Clinton.
34. What political issue stirred you the most? The war. It's really time for it to end.
35. Who did you miss? My Grandma Finlayson. She passed away several years ago and I still miss her so much that it hurts. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Bev Galeskas. Amazing woman!
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. Don't trust that the people put in place by our government to help you will actually do the job their paid to do.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "It's a great day to be alive I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes. There's some hard times in the neigborhood but why can't every day be just this good?"

Mr. Bear

My middle monkey came home from school on Wednesday afternoon with a cute little stuffed bear. She said they were given the task of decorating the bear and bringing it back to school on Friday so they could be collected and distributed to children overseas who are/living with someone who is affected by HIV/AIDS. She was very excited. She talked a mile a minute about all the things she was going to craft for the bear that would make the little boy or girl who receives it smile. I of course offered to knit for the bear. So around 6pm last night I finally decided to take a look around online for a bear sweater pattern.

I totally fell in love with this pattern. See that smile on old Mr. Bear? He loves it too. Even better, my little monkey's eyes lit up when she saw Mr. Bear in his little sweater. We know now without a doubt it will put a smile on the little face that gets to call Mr. Bear his/her own.

Oh, there's a little hat pattern too that's so cute which I knit up as well. I didn't decide to do it until after midnight though and was too tired to get up this morning to take a picture. Cute, cute, cute. I might have to go out and buy a little bear just to have an excuse to knit some more of these.

Renewed Faith

Is it just me or does it seem as though customer service has really hit the shitter these days? I mean, where are the smiles that used to be on the faces of store owners and their clerks? The ones that sincerely said, "Thank you so much for shopping here and supporting me and mine." Hell, what happened to them actually saying that? My first job in customer service was some 20+ years ago when I worked behind the register at our local Burger King. The owner demanded we treat the customers as they were...the signers of our paychecks. Later on I worked the customer service desk at Ames. We were told the same thing. The customer is always right (No, I don't necessarily agree with that given the fact that I once had to take back a pair of tighty white-ies that had skid marks in them because the customer complained that the waistband had stretched out of shape. I will give him that the waistband was indeed stretched but it was clearly due to the fact that they had been worn much longer (years most likely) than the one time he claimed they had been. Yutz.) and you don't ever engage in argument with them. At the end of the week, they sign your check. This has been pounded into my brain since I was a teenager. I always greeted customers with a genuine smile and an overwhelming desire to help when needed. I wish that same level of concern and willingness to help was extended to myself on the odd occassion I've needed it. Instead, I'm normally met with a rude attitude that spoils my entire day. Sad.

Imagine my surprise when this little lovely turned up in my mail last week.

You see, I recently placed an order with BMFA for 3 hanks of STR. I waited as patiently as I could for it to arrive. For the first 2 weeks I skipped down to the mailbox everyday. After that, I ran down and excitedly threw open the door of the mailbox just knowing that it would be there waiting for me. It wasn't. I checked the status online which showed it had indeed been shipped. I called BMFA and left a message asking if they could possibly tell me when it had been shipped.

I immediately got an email back showing that my package had been delivered to Saranac Lake on November 3rd. I checked the USPS website. Sure as shit, there it was in black and white in front of me. Delivered to Saranac Lake on November 3rd. The next question was where in Saranac Lake because it hadn't been delivered to my mailbox. I called the post office. I left the tracking number and asked that they pretty please check to see where my poor yarn was. They said the postmaster would call the next day. A week passed and the postmaster still hadn't called. I called again. The postmaster told me my mailman remembered that package with that tracking number because it was in a huge cardboard box and he went out of his way to bring it up and leave it on our porch where he then scanned it. I paused. It was only 3 hanks of yarn. Why would it have been shipped in a huge cardboard box? I explained this to Ms. Postmaster and told her that I had indeed received not just 1 but 2 huge cardboard boxes (I finally got my act together and started shopping for Christmas. This is a big deal for me since I normally put it off until a few days before.) within a few days on either side of November 3rd but that neither of them contained my yarn. That was when all hell broke loose. Ms. Postmaster became quite irate and told me that my mailman gave her his word that it was that exact tracking number and that exact huge cardboard box. When I tried again to nicely explain that it couldn't possibly have been and beg for help in tracking down my yarn she really flipped out. I asked what I was to do and who else I could speak to for help. She told me she was it. I asked for the name and number of her supervisor. She told me she didn't have one. I told her I didn't appreciate her unwillingness to help me and she told me I was being ridiculous and I needed to give it up. I told her she was being rude and obnoxious. I think I might even have used the word bitch. She agreed and said that was her and I was stuck with it and then hung up.

I called BMFA again to see if they could offer any suggestions on where to go to get help. They suggested I try the post office once more. (I hadn't told them yet what had happened at the post office already.) I smiled to myself, took a deep breath, and resigned to the fact that I would have to suck it up and go in to the post office the following morning when they reopened. In the meantime, I started calling phone numbers in Albany trying to find out who supervised Ms. Postmaster. Guess what, she really does have one that she has to answer to. I left my complaint and was satisfied to know that someone was actually willing to listen to my concern. (Notice I didn't say that they cared.)

The following day Ms. Postmaster called. I thought she was going to tell me they had found my yarn. Nope. But she did apologize and told me she would go look for my package herself. She called later and said she hadn't turned up anything and if I would bring her BMFA's mailing address as well as an invoice for my purchase that she would get my money refunded. OMG!!! I couldn't believe it. I thanked her very muchly and wrote BMFA to let them know. I told JoAnn all about the incident the day before with Ms. Postmaster and how I was really dreading having to go down there. I was so excited to know that I would be getting my money back so I could reorder the yarn because Hard Rock had been chosen by Duder for socks for her. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw it and she jumped up and down screaming she had to have it for socks. This is why it was included in my order.

A few days later that gorgeousness above appeared like magic in my mailbox with a card from JoAnn. Yes, she gifted me a hank of Hard Rock to make Duder's socks with. Can you believe that? Anytime I've asked a question of BMFA I've always been met with extreme friendliness but this my friends really takes the cake. They totally went above and beyond and I will forever be grateful for it.

JoAnn, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity and for being so thoughtful, caring, and unselfish. You have truly renewed my faith in customer service.

Long Overdue

Some time ago I received an amazing package from an amazing lady. I immediately tore into it not being able to image what in the world would be inside. This is what I found...

From left to right there is hand dyed superwash merino from All Things Heather in Midnight Frost, 100% BFL from Shelby B's Designs in Mediterranean Nights, and Supersock from CTH in Spanish Moss.

All for me.

From Shelby.

Just to say thank you for spoiling her during Secret Pal.

Thank you Shelby, for taking time out to be so incredibly sweet and generous. It was my extreme pleasure to spoil you. You certainly deserve it. :-)

Shorty Shorts

These are the Tofutsies socks I started months ago for Bran. I absolutely loved the yarn and plan to use it again in the very near future having bought the right needles to use it with. The yarn feels incredibly thin and I felt the need to use a size 1 (2.25) needle with it. Which meant using an old set of dpns. Those of you who know me know how much I hate dpns. Which is why it took several months to complete these socks. Even though I totally love the yarn. They're done now and he loves them. He wanted short socks to wear with his sneakers and these are perfect for him. I'm so glad he loves the things I knit him. Everyone should be so lucky.

On One Hand...

she wore a glove.

One down, one to go. The hand circumfrence is a bit loose and the pinky is a bit tight to get into but I love it anyway. I can't wait to get the other done and start wearing them as soon as it's cold enough.

Thanks for all the sweet comments about Dexter. He is absolutely adorable and we're having such a great time watching him grow. And grow. And grow. I swear this puppy grows at least an inch each night while we sleep. ;-)

Dexter Doggy

This is the latest addition to our family. Isn't he sweet? He's part of the reason I've been so busy and haven't been posting. This is him today at 8 weeks and 3 days old. He's growing so fast.

This is him when we brought him home at 5 weeks and 1 day old on Friday, September 8th. He slept a lot more back then than he does now. We're enjoying watching him grow. He's very playful and still very unsteady on his little legs which makes for some pretty comical viewing.


Dixie was not sure what to make of him for the first few days after we brought him home. She didn't sleep for 48 hours and was more of a handful than he was. She's finally settled in and seems to really love him. She watches him like a hawk and seems to be very protective. She acts as though she thinks he's her puppy.

Giving You The Finger

of my glove...
This is the Gansey Gloves pattern from yarndemon and I'm totally in love with it. Even though I hate working moss stitch it's not bad here since it's such a small number of stitches to work with. The hand circumference is a little big for my hand but everything else is perfect. I'm using Louet Gems worsted in the Willow colorway to match my winter coat. Gorgeous!

Red Silver Splash

This is the Silver Splash pattern from Miss Bea's Colours.

While I like the look of the pattern I don't like the recommended gauge. I've also found a few mistakes in the pattern that would most definitely trip up a new knitter. This is the first pattern I've knit from the Miss Bea series and while there are several others I'd like to knit I'm not so sure I will now. We'll see how sour the taste is in my mouth when I'm done with this one. LOL

This is the coin toss (which we lost) from Saturday's football game (which we won). You can't really see Dan (he's number 74 again this year) but he's right in front of the referee.

Here are some action shots. If you look closely in the center of the pictures you'll see Dan. We smacked the Plattsburgh Hornets 46-0. Looks like the boys are off to the start of another great year.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and that everyone here is enjoying the long Labor Day weekend. We had a blast at the game Saturday (which was also my mother's birthday) and then we just chilled yesterday. Today we're off to finish up a little school shopping so the kiddos will be all set come the end of the week when school starts.

Mellow Yellow

To my Yellow Yarn Junkies pal, anything you choose will be wonderful. But if that doesn't work for you and you insist I choose between worsted or sock, I choose sock. :-) Thanks so much for asking! I can't wait to see what you decide on.

I finished the second Bow Wow sweater and love it even more than the first.

I know it's hard to tell from the photos but the shoulder seams are invisible this time. That makes me so happy that I just want to dance.

Now I just need to finish up a bunch of other stuff. Like the little bunny booties. And the Baby Surprise Jacket. And the Jaywalkers. And the...let's face it...I could do this all day.

Bitty Bunny Bootees

Are these not the cutest damn things you've ever seen? They are the Bunny Animal Bootees from the 50 baby bootees to knit book my wonderful secret pal Melissa sent me last round. I've been itching for an excuse to knit something from this book since she sent it and now I have double the incentive. You see, one of the guys my hubby works with is going to be a brand new daddy in December. To twins! Isn't that exciting? I see lots of cute little bootees in my knitting future.

O Captain! My Captain!

That's right...

DAN MADE CAPTAIN OF THE JV FOOTBALL TEAM!!!

Damn right I'm saying it loud! He was first pick. I'm such a proud mama. :-)

Tofu for my Footsies

I'm totally loving the new color for the Tofutsies sock club. It's black mixed with gorgeous tropical colors like turquoise, yellow, pink, and orange. At least that's what I remember it being. You see, I keep forgetting to buy a ball of it every time I stop at the LYS. Why? Because my LYS has crazy amounts of awesome new sock yarn coming in every other day.

Like this new OnLine that Darcie chose the other day.

It screamed "Jaywalker" as soon as I saw it. I love how it's working up and she is too. She can't wait to get them on her feet. I hope to finish them up before school starts. The pattern is so addicting that I don't think it'll be a problem.

I only thought I might have a touch of ADD before but now I'm pretty certain I do. It's so hard to decide which to buy. Anywho, this new color makes me want to sit by the pool and sip a fancy drink with an umbrella in it. Instead I think I'll sit by the pool and start a new pair of socks. Tomorrow. Because again, I forgot to buy a skein of it. Grrr. If you want some for yourself go visit Sue at Adirondack Yarns. Oh, and just so you know, she's got two big baskets full of Cherry Tree Hill Sockitome. I can see why everyone is raving about this stuff. It's silky and soft and just gorgeous. I think a skein of that will be finding it's way home with me soon too. :-)

My So Called Scarf

I knit this with some beautiful hand dyed yarn that Laura sent me some time ago. It worked up perfect with the pattern and I'm so happy with the way it turned out. Thanks again for the great yarn Laura!

Insanity Insured

He parallel parked. He three point turned. Not a point was deducted. He passed. I was so excited and proud. We stopped and had lunch. We came home. I put in a request to add him to our insurance. I'm still proud but I'm a lot less excited. How is it that one little man can raise your insurance by almost $15oo a year in a matter of minutes??? Holy. Shit.

So this is a little hat I whipped up. It's the Fiber Trends Ear Cozies pattern and I really like it. It calls for size 5 needles so I foolishly used them knowing that I would never make gauge. Guess what? I was right. It's too small for anyone here. I'm sending it off to a great girl who's collecting hats for people in her area. I also knit a yellow one with a larger needle to see how it would work up and it's the size it should be. I'll be sending that one in too. I'll be knitting several more of these for this winter. A couple for Dailaesse and a couple for Bran.

Tomorrow? How about a picture of My So Called Scarf I just finished up? You're gonna love it.

Buckle Up

We're off today to take Dan for his road test. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm super excited for him and I hope that he passes (I think he will, he's an excellent driver) but at the same time, the idea of my baby driving out into the world alone scares the hell out of me. I know it's because I'm having such a hard time with the idea of letting go. I hope that it'll be easier when the girls are ready. I can't imagine going through this at this intensity again. I don't think I have enough brown hair left to handle it. So, keep your fingers crossed for my little man and I'll be back later with the results.

Oh, and for my surprise, I was going to tell you all that my Yarn Pirate Booty Club box had arrived. It was very exciting to me. Not as exciting as a new baby would have been of course. I wish I could report a new baby to be but it doesn't look as though it's in the cards for anytime in the near future. You can keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers for that too. I'd love to have another little monkey to add to the zoo.

I have tons of projects to show and can't wait to share them. Maybe I'll have time to show them when I get back this afternoon.

How about this for some exciting news to tide you over until I get back to post...

I GOT MY RAVELRY INVITE THIS MORNING!!!

My user name is kerryknits.

I promise not to neglect the blog. Although I have been dreadfully neglectful of it lately. This summer has really taken it's toll with Dan learning to drive and needing to be brought back and forth to his job. Things are starting to settle so I should have more time soon. :-)

Quick

Things went very well for my little man Tuesday morning. We were in and out in about 5 minutes. The choice to visit his father now belongs to him and for that he is very happy. Unfortunately, this now means that his sister must visit their father alone. This is quite bothersome for everyone concerned and we're praying that she will also be given the right to choose. So once again, thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated. :-)

I have other exciting news but it will have to wait for now it is time to get the littlest princess to bed...

wish me luck.

I'm Still Alive

So much has happened in the past few weeks (Yes, I said few weeks. I can't stand to admit it's been a month. There. I said it. Month. I'm such a slacker.) since I last posted.

My sweet little man turned 16 on July 11th! It was a very emotional day. I took him to DMV to take his permit test (which he passed on the first try) and we went driving for over 2 hours in the afternoon. It rained in the afternoon just as it had the day he was born. It seemed as though just yesterday the nurse put him in my arms for the first time. So tiny and sweet. And cuddly. So cuddly. I miss those days. He's still just as sweet though and I'm so proud of the young man he's grown to be. Caring. Thoughtful. Considerate. Polite. Amazing sense of humor. I'm very much looking forward to the years ahead. Even though I wish they would slow down. ;-)

Signups have opened for Secret Pal 11. Click the link to be taken to the signup page. It'll be lots of fun.

I have been knitting. Honest. I finished a little hat last night that almost fits the littlest princess. Since I knit tight I wasn't quite knitting to gauge and I wasn't worried about it because I was really just doing it to see how the pattern knit up. My friend was trying to knit it and was having a little trouble so I tried it to see what the deal was. I really love the pattern (Fiber Trends Ear Cozies) and plan to knit another with larger needles so it'll actually fit an adult head.

I signed up for the Mystery Stole 3 project. I started my stole the day I joined and made it to row 41 before screwing up so badly that I couldn't fix my own mistake and had to rip the entire thing. I will start it over really soon though because I absolutely love it. I've got ebony Zephyr sitting here on my desk calling my name.

I've almost completed the last cabled sweater I was working on. All it needs is some seaming and the collar. I just might do that this afternoon.

I finished a sock for Bran and started it's mate.

I ripped my Aunt Noreen's sock out and am back to the heel again. I totally didn't need to rip the entire sock but I was having a bad day. It's STR so it gave me a good excuse to knit with it a little longer. Yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I started a My So Called Scarf in some great hand dyed yarn that Laura (thanks again so very much!!!) shared with me some time ago. It's perfect for the pattern and is working up so nicely.

There's more but I can't seem to think of them right now. I'll be sharing pictures really soon. Like maybe tomorrow or Wednesday. Most likely Wednesday. Tomorrow is court for Dan (hopefully for Darcie too) and I'm a wreck like usual. If you could all please say a prayer or keep us in your thoughts it will be greatly appreciated. I'll check in quickly tomorrow to let you know how they make out.

Thanks for the kick in the pants Leslie! ;-)

It's No Secret

Not anymore. My pal for SP10 was Melissa and she was wonderful. I've really enjoyed the emails we've shared and am now looking forward to getting to know her a little better through her blog. Just look at the great reveal package that arrived from her today:

How awesome is this? She covered lots of ground with some great Rowan all seasons cotton for 4th of July summer knitting, Gudona Soap & Spa (I've just recently discovered this company myself and they are fantastic!) Tangerine Dreams Whipped Clean and Cupcake Soap for helping me relax the first day of school, Rowan yorkshire tweed chunky for a hat or scarf for Christmas, a cute wooden pumpkin for Halloween because it's my favorite holiday, 50 baby bootees to knit book that I've been craving just because, and some bubbles and chalk for the kiddos!

Thank you so very much Melissa for being such a super pal!!! I've really enjoyed chatting with you and hope to continue doing so. :-)

Tea Swap Sweep

My amazing partner Kelli (who just got in to Ravelry, BTW) sent me the most awesome goodies. In addition to the teas she sent, she also sent this gorgeous handpainted-just-for-me cup.




Have you ever seen a more beautiful piece of art? Gorgeous.


Then a huge, heavy boxed arrived in the mail today.

Can you believe this??? That's a cool checker game that we'll all use, Amish popcorn that I can't wait to try (we have popcorn almost every night so Kelli was right on the money with this), Mint Julep lotion and Sunset Mango soap/shampoo/bubble bath that both smell incredible, Panda sock yarn, Apple Laine Apple Pie sock yarn in Royal Blue that I have so been dying to try, chocolates that are so sinfully delicious they had to be put way in the back of the cupboard so as to limit my contact with them, elegant pearl stitch markers, hard candie and FRUIT STRIPE GUM!!! The kids were all over that. In fact, you can see the knee of the littlest monkey in the far right of the picture. I left the goodies on the counter while I went in to get the camera and when I came back there she was. Sitting on the counter.

Does that face scream "I'm up to no good" or what??? LOL She's trying to be cute and innocent to make up for the fact that she climbed up on the counter to get the "candy canes" and gum she saw sitting there calling her name.

Thank you ever so much Kelli for all the wonderful goodies you sent and for going out of your way to send the special gum the kids love so much. You truly are special!!!