I’m still here

It’s been way too long, I’ve missed you but I haven’t had a lot of positive things to say.  So I decided to take the advice given by all mothers.  If you don’t have anything nice to say, the don’t say anything at all.  So I’ve been silent, at least silent on the blog.  My poor friends and parents have heard plenty…a girl has to vent after all.  I’m trying to figure out ways to generate some extra income.  The lighting business is still going but seems to have slowed down a bit.  I seem to recall hearing something about a recession.  I wonder what that’s all about?  So what does a girl who works 6 days a week most weeks do for extra money?  When you figure it out let me know, I seem to have a brain blockage. 

Let’s see what else is going on…I’m still knitting nothing exciting but I have managed to finish one pair of socks.  Of course by the time I finished the wool socks it was spring.  No matter, I’m really proud of those socks.  I’m working on another pair but these are going slowly because life keeps getting in the way and lately I’ve been way too tired to do much.

Work has been stressful to say the least.  It worries me but I’m sure that everybody else is in the same boat.  I feel like I can’t do enough to stay relevant.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed and being that I don’t know the word “no” it leads to mistakes and in this environment mistakes are considered unacceptable, particularly by management.  Too much to do and not enough time.  That’s the mantra of most people I know right now.

Kiddo is doing well, we still haven’t achieved being potty trained yet but we are working on it.  He seems to be really starting to get it.  Please get it, I’m tired of buying diapers.  We took him fishing for the first time last week.  He had the best time.  He even threw the fish back a few times.  I left the diapers in the truck and we had a bit of an accident.  My kid hates having wet clothes and had to take off his shorts and diaper in the boat.  Good thing we were in the shade and had lots of sunscreen.  I have no idea how I would have explained a sunburned “dingus”.

Well, that’s enough for now.  I promise I’ll try to start writing more often and if I can swing it I’ll get some way to start uploading pictures of life and knitting projects.

Talk to you soon.

Time to March on…(or so long February)

February has now come to a close.  I for one am grateful and have high hopes that March will be huge improvement.

It’s been a rough month at work and home.  It’s been one of our most expensive months as well.  Being the shortest month it has created quite a bit of turmoil at the Unknown homestead. 

So with high hopes I look toward March, it’s time to start thinking about my fantasy garden and hopefully I will be able to bring some of it into reality.  I have plans to use part of the front yard for herbs and I want to use a lot of containers. 

We will have to build a new fence this month and I guess I will have to face doing the taxes and keep my fingers crossed that we won’t have to pay much or at all.  So there are some obstacles to contend with.  But with Spring on the horizon our grotesquely huge electricity bill should decrease and I have plans to decrease some of the other monthly bills. 

So I have hope.  I think that’s important, it would be so easy to just give up but I can’t.  Too much is riding on me keeping it together.

Well wish me luck that March doesn’t turn out like its predecessor February. 

So long February I’m not sorry to see you go.

Talk to you later.

It’s another Monday

Let me think…where to begin…Well it’s often good to start at the beginning.  I woke up and managed to get the kiddo up and out the the house with minimal issues.  As the car started I realized that I needed gas, so after dropping the boy off at daycare, it was straight to the gas station.  While there an epiphany occurred it was cold and they have hot chocolate.  So I got a large hot chocolate.  Not a terrible way to start the day.  Once I arrived at the lighting Mecca of Dallas I wandered around to the passenger side and “oh Crap” I had a flat tire.  Great.  I should tell you that my inspection sticker is a bit out of date and I’ve been putting off getting it because I needed two front tires.  Of course the flat tire wasn’t one of the tires that was scheduled for replacement.  That meant I needed 4 tires instead of 2.  A bunch of poop.  So this evening I spent a good bit of time at NTB waiting on them to replace my tires.  I did get to work on my knitting a bit.  But as I was leaving I noticed two lights that were on that weren’t there before.  Oh and the car was jerking forward and the breaks didn’t want to work.  Dooky times 4.  So immediately I turned around and went back to the tire shop and they fixed what was screwed up.  Somehow a piece of plastic got in somewhere and started making the car go amuck.  That happens when you open the hood and all I asked you to do was change the tires.  So finally I was on my way home and as soon as I get home I noticed that our friendly neighborhood code inspector had visited us again.  Apparently when he was here two months ago (twice in 4 days) he missed our fence leaning.  Apparently it leans in a way that offends him.  I’m starting to think this person has something against us.  He’s been hanging out in our alley which backs up against a metal fence.  Nobody behind us for us to offend but we seem to tick this guy off for some reason.  So tomorrow I’m going to call this annoying pest of a person and question his motives in attacking our home.  He’s ticking me off and I want to know why I feel like we are being targeted.  The guy next door had a broken old cabinet in his drive way for two months and nothing.  We had bushes (that’s being generous, more like shrubs) that had been there for years before we moved in and they weren’t far enough away from the alley for his liking.  I’m less likely to offend this person tomorrow than the hubby so I’ve volunteered to call.  Problem is I’m extremely annoyed and might not keep my temper in check, hopefully I’ll keep it civil.  So all in all and extremely expensive day.  I’m going to binge on chocolate chip cookies and try to stop thinking of the running commentary I’ve got running through my head of what I want to say to “the man”.

Talk to you later the cookies are calling me.

 

 

Bad to the Milk Bone

I took Zsa Zsa our 14 year Shih Zhou to the vet today.  She has been having trouble getting up and has also been having potty issues.  She’ll get up to head to the door and go to the bathroom before she gets to the door.  Once she’s finished she keeps going to the door like she is going to go outside to potty.  So we’ve let this go for a while but finally decided to make the trip to the vet.  We had a hard year with pets as we lost our buddy Luther last year and then Jimi had his issues (which seemed to have straighten themselves out) as well.  So anyway we have been putting this trip off because we were afraid of the bill and the outcome.  After all she’s 14 years old and I fear her time might be coming.  It will be a particularly hard friend to lose.  My hubby has had her since she was a puppy and it will be devastating to lose her. 

Anyway off to the vet I went.  When we got there one of the first things that happened was they had me muzzle her.  Did I mention she’s 14 and I’m not sure she has all her teeth.  They took her temp and then the Dr. came in.  We have a great vet, he will go to great lengths to save an animal.  Of course it’s often at great expense as well.  He sees sucker written on our foreheads and we do pay these extravagant fees.  After looking at her he let me know that her back knees won’t stay in their sockets, she’s obese (I figured that one out already) and that’s she’s most likely senile.  He ran some expensive blood work and informed us that the rest of here was fantastic, which was good news.  I have anti inflammatory meds and senility meds to give to her.  And I’m a bit lighter in the wallet, but not as bad as it could have been.

When they took the Zsa Zsa away to do the blood work I knitted.  I heard a dog in the back making a large fuss, it sounded as if it was crying and putting up a fuss.  For a minute I thought it was baby girl, but discarded that idea as crazy.  So I knitted for a bit and they brought her back, and I knitted some more.  One of the girls came in to see if I wanted some water while I waited and we talked for few minutes.  She’s been working there for a long time and remembers our hoodlums vividly.  She remarked that Zsa Zsa looked tired after her ordeal.  Apparently that was Baby Girl making that racket.  At that I was informed that Zsa Zsa has a note in her chart to muzzle because she tries to kill them every time she goes to the Dr.  What’s more our cat Snoopy has the same note.  Apparently our animals are a menaces to society.  It cracks me up that our animals are considered dangerous.  With Snoopy there’s good reason, we’ve always had to pay the “bastard fee”  I’ve never noticed it with the dog though.  Well I have to go let her outside.  Here’s to hoping that the drugs work fast.

Talk to you later.

Eventually we start to turn into our mothers.

When I was in the third grade my mother taught me how to cross stitch to earn a girl scout badge.  She was very adamant about the back of the design to look as good as the front. It was a pain in the butt but I did it and my little owl cross stitch was a masterpiece.  So much so the scout leader felt my mother did the work.  I wasn’t well thought of with most of the troop leaders, being a tomboy who didn’t care to wear the ugly green uniform.  But that’s another story.  The point is my mother taught me to take pride in my work and to do it right, even if you have to undo that that which has been accomplished. 

I started my zig zag poncho late Saturday night and worked on it quite a bit all day yesterday.  Last night I took a look at it and noticed several mistakes.  I pondered over them most of the night and thought I resolved myself to live with it.  I figured that it was a first attempt and there will be mistakes and I will eventually get better.  But today at lunch I was looking at it and was thinking about all the issues that I’ve been dealing with and made the decision…I don’t have a lot of control at work or home but I do have control with my knitting.  So my mother's lessons took over and I frogged the entire thing and will start again maybe tonight or tomorrow but I will be proud of the finished object whenever it happens.

Thanks mom.

Talk to you later.

Monday, here we go again.

Monday mornings are stressful.  Not an earth shattering statement by any means but there you go. After having 1 –2 days off depending on the week.  I have to go back to work and try to get motivated to push forward.  Of course one look at the rapidly dwindling check book and that usually helps, but brings along its own set of stress that likes jump on board.  I have 5 days to come up with enough money to get a commission check.  It doesn’t look good and I have been awake a good bit of the night going over all the situations and possible outcomes in my head.  Most are not pretty.  January is always a tough month but it seems as this one is particularly painful.  I am figuring out what to pay on time and what I can push back several days.  I’m scared. 

Well I need to head to work.  Keep your fingers crossed and send me all the positive thoughts you can spare, I appreciate it all.

Talk to you later.

 

Family Sunday

I’m so happy it’s Sunday.  I will get to see my parents who have been in town for several days and there has been no chance to visit.  More importantly Jacob will get to spend some time with them.  I wish he could seem them more often but they live all the way in Nacogdoches and its 3.5 hours away and since I work so many Saturdays we never seem to have the opportunity to go see them. 

So today Jacob will get to play with Gram and Papa and we will have a nice day with family.  Plus there is football so the men folk will be happy even though the Cowboys didn’t make it this year.  Go Colts!  They seem to be the most objectionable team.  Food will be yummy, we’ll have chili, ham, potato salad, baked beans and chocolate chip cookies once Jacob and I make them.  Not too shabby don’t you think. 

So for today I wish every one a happy Sunday with the people you love and a tiny break from the stresses of life.

Talk to you later.

Tomorrow is a whole new day.

It was a very long, very busy, mostly crappy day.  And I am very happy that it’s over.  I will avoid the negativity that I could so easily spew and instead focus on the positive…tomorrow is FRIDAY.  If I can make it through tomorrow with very little drama then it will all be okay.  I hope.  Of course I work on Saturday but it’s a different stress.

So I’m going to work very hard to put today behind and go in to work with the attitude that I will be able to take care of everything and perhaps it will all work out. 

Wish me luck.

Talk to you later.

And the winner is…

So a decision was made and last night I pulled the trigger on the pressing issue of yarn…I went with the marlin color  it seemed more me that lilac and also added a couple of balls (okay 8) of wool so that I can make a bag for my cute little netbook.  I’m going to try my hand at felting.  This should be fun, I have no idea what I’m doing but that doesn’t seem to matter.  At the moment any way I’m very excited.  When I’m deep in the throes of the project, that might change.  At least I have few projects to look forward to.  Yay!  So far the projects to be are, a poncho, my first pair of socks and a netbook bag to be determined.  Now what do I do until the yarn comes in?  I guess I can practice some knitting patterns and keep working toward the socks. 

Talk to you soon.

New week and new things to worry about and decide.

Well, we’ve started another week.  Hopefully things pick up at work.  I hate to think of the consequences if it doesn’t.  But it’s important to stay positive and not get mired down in the quagmire that is negativity. 
So on the plus side, my mother has started her own blog.  How cool is that?  I have a feeling that its going to be great.  After all she has lots of material living with my father.  He’s usually up to something and often there are twists and turns to his adventures that unusual.  I look forward to reading it. 
I’m trying to decide on a new knitting project.  I’m having a small block on trying socks.  It’s hard to find a socks for idiots pattern.  I’m nervous that it won’t work plus I really need to find new needles in the correct size.  It seems like you can never have enough needles.  I am also trying to decide on a color for a cool poncho that looks like it’s in my inexperience level.  Hard to choose between lilac and something called marlin, kind of a turquoise.  I’m leaning toward the marlin.  Just seems difficult pulling the trigger on this one. 
Well I’m going to mull it over a bit more.
Talk to you later.

Barney Free Zone…sort of

Our house is a BFZ (Barney Free Zone).  The purple monster has been declared an enemy of the state in our home.  This is mostly the hubby’s doing but I don’t disagree too much with it.  That being said the kiddo is aware of who Barney is, he learned from daycare.  I’m okay with it, but there are times when we have Barney sightings on television and I usually try to get past it as fast as possible without comment.  So far it seems to work.

On New Years day one of the tv channels had a Barney Miller marathon.  The hubby and I both were sucked in for pretty much the whole day.  Every time we mentioned Barney, the kiddo popped up with interest and then we had the discussion that it wasn’t the Barney he thought it was but it was Barney Miller.  The upside now is any time we mention Barney he automatically asks if it’s Barney Miller.  Tonight he heard the theme music while he was in the tub and recognized it as “Barney Miller, Mom?”

I think the purple dinosaur has been beat.  How cool is that?

Talk to you later.

  

I have internet access at the house...finally.

I have finally have a new computer...a netbook actually.  Kind of a baby laptop.  So far it's pretty cool, not terribly fast but nifty none the less.  There will be some challanges that I will have to overcome.  I'm going to need an external drive so that I'll be able to upload pictures and perhaps a wireless mouse, because the little pad thingy can become cumbersome.  But I'm just tickled to be online.  I was feeling very out of touch with the world without internet access at the house. 
Now I can be portable and be able to join the family instead of being relegated to the guest room.  Then again I like the guest room, its the one room that has stuff I brought to the family, my decor and my color choice for the room.  I find it a calm room.  I'm able to relax in this room and be myself for a few minutes.  Plus it has the added benefit of being able to lock out the animals.  If I hang out where they can find me Jimi (my stalker) will waller all over me.  He's doing it right now, so forgive me for typos, they are most likely cat induced.  
It's amazing how much we rely on the internet.  Most of my news comes from there.  I'm able to cherry pick what I will and will not listen too.  Since having a child I find that I have a very low tolerance for stories that involve harm to children.  Mostly I skip politics, the hubby and the rest of my family listen to enough of that for me.  I get to hear both sides very passionately whether I want to or not. 
Work is over an hour away from the house so I don't have a big social life outside of the hubby and kiddo.  I get up, go to work, go home.  So most of my contact with friends is though the internet.  Without that I would probably go nuts, sometimes a mommy needs other women around.  Well I'm going to go play with my new toy for a while. 
Talk to you later.

A few ideas for the coming year.

Well, the holidays are now since past and we had a fantastic time.  We hosted our first ever Christmas with our guests being my FIL and a family friend.  Not a big event but lovely none the less.  This was the kiddo's first real Christmas, he's finally starting to grasp the idea of Santa.  He had a great time and has played with everything that the Big Man provided.  His favorite toys being the Spiderman figure and his easel and the "blue one" Bass boat and Hummer that he specifically asked for from Santa.  He has requested a bath every night since Christmas because of that boat.  Sometimes more than one a day.  

New Year's wasn't a big deal.  We had a lovely dinner with flank steak, bruschetta, black eyed peas, pico de gallo and fudge.  A little eclectic but tasty.  I was asleep before midnight and I think the hubby wasn't too far behind me.  

But now it's time to look backwards and forwards and figure out what I can reasonably improve or change.  So here are my "ideas" for 2010.

1.  Try to be healthier.  Walking more and eating better are good ways to accomplish this we'll see if I actually do it.  Odds are that this is the first idea that will go out the window.


2.  Learn how to knit socks.  As soon as I finish my scarf/wrap, I'll start this project.  I'm very excited about it and a little nervous.  It seems very difficult and I'm pretty sure I don't have enough experience to even attempt it.



3.  Post more often.  This has been hampered by my home computer crashing on me.  I'm now waiting for Dell to build my cheap netbook and ship it.  Should be here by early Feb.  Can't happen fast enough.  I just hope it works.


4.  Get out of the house more often.  I'm hoping to join a local knitting group.  I don't make friends easily and it scares the dookey out of me to put myself out there.  What if they don't like me.


5.  Figure a way to decrease our debt.  I know...spend less.  I'm trying but unfortunately life keeps throwing obstacles in my way.  (the aforementioned computer crash).


6.  Figure out alternative sources of income...any ideas?


7.  Be a better mother and wife...spend more time in the moment with both husband and child.



I think these are somewhat do able.  I don't want to call them resolutions because that is a definite road to failure.  But they are some ideas that have been germinating in my little brain of fluff.  

Until I get the computer posting is going to be hard to do.  I will shoot for minimum once a week but don't give up on me if it doesn't happen.  

Talk to you later (soon I hope)