Erica's Blog

 Have I fallen off the wagon?  Nope.  Even though you see before you a box of kid-friendly cotton yarn in Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's colors, I am NOT in violation.  According to the rule about buying yarn for specifically-requested gifts, this is OK.  Now, you may ask who has actually requested this gift.  Well, you see, baby cousins have their birthday coming up at the end of March, so this is for them.  How did a couple of 22-month-old boys request handknit sweaters for their birthdays?  Well, see, I'm their auntie, so they requested them pretty much by just existing.  Since, even with shipping, the cost of all this came out the same as what I would normally spend on them for their birthday, it's OK. 

Yupp, today Hubby hits the big 4-0.  Happy Birthday, Hubby!  In the immortal words of Tower of Power, You're still a young man, Ba-by.  Ooooooh...

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of Hubby as a kid.  I just love that crazed look in his eyes.

Today, after opening his token presents.  He's having a big party (60 people) at the restaurant at his fave golf course on Saturday, which is his real present (Since I don't work, anything I'd buy him, he'd be paying for, and he just wasn't into that), but hey, ya gotta open SOMETHING on your birthday, so the Things & I each spent $2 at the dollar store for him.  I'll only put birthday highlights here on the blog.  The full complement of pictures will all go here.

Hubby had a coupon for a free birthday burger at Red Robin, so we all went there for lunch today (he's got today and tomorrow off, and today is one of those no-students-but-the-teachers-go-to-workshops days).  Yummy!

THE BAD NEWS:  B/c the new hard drive on my laptop has a newer version of iTunes on it, a bunch of my songs are now unplayable b/c they're in the wrong format.  What a drag!  No more Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds, U2, etc., etc.

THE GOOD NEWS:  Podcasts.  Knitting Podcasts.  Thanks to Lu's mention of Lime & Violet, I've now discovered knitting podcasts.  Wheeeee!  I'm not actually sold on Lime & Violet yet -- they spent so much of the cast just laughing -- but I'm going to listen to another one and give them another chance.  I didn't care for Beneath the Fiber Moon -- a bit too, um, Haight Ashbury for me, but that's just me.  Something to listen to while I do dishes/clean, etc.

Uh, can I take a mulligan on this morning?  Apart from the cool part about losing a pound, here's how my day started:

I went to WW today b/c I want to sleep in tomorrow.  Thing One will be at a slumber party, so with no one for Thing Two to argue with, it will be quiet.   I'm really pleased that I lost another pound this week, considering I only "Walked With Leslie" once this week (sick kids, yadda, yadda, yadda).  Hubby & I were talking last night, and when he realized that my goal is actually less than my "wedding weight", he was pretty psyched.  I expected his reaction to be more along the lines of You'll be so hot then, but it was actually more encouraging:  That would be really cool.  I think that would change your personality a lot because you're always so insecure about your weight.  You'd be a lot more confident.  Wow. That's a much better reaction than I ever could have hoped for.

I'm on my way....[Hey, Adri, I'll bet that little bit of nothing you gave me for Hubby's and my 10th anniversary will fit by our 12th!   ]

  Pathetic to have JUST TONIGHT finished Nana's birthday gift?  Well, considering it's a Christmas wreath, and her birthday was November 29th...YES.  [NOTE TO GRANDPA GIL:  See, you got your birthday present closer to on time.  I'm not going to discuss Father's Day.]  I apologize for the fuzzy picture but, as you know if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, I am The Reigning Queen of the Shaky Camera Hands. This was the good picture!  [Someday, we'll get a camera with lens stabilization.  Someday.]

Hmmmm...what could it be?  A sea anemone?  A Tit Bit?  Hmmm....

 Yupp, that's the chenille scarf started over Thanksgiving weekend.  Woot!

  One more for the Boston Children's Hospital.  I can't deal with any more of the Fun Fur, so I'm passing on the rest of my Fun Fur to Melanie....once I can go long enough w/o a sick kid to be able to get to the Post Office.

 Morpheus Scarf blocking while Thing Two was home from school with her barking cough.  [Note that she's waiting for me to paint her nails.]  I used blocking wires for the top & bottom edges but couldn't for the sides b/c it was so stinkin' long.  Look at how it goes from the very top down over the edge.  Yikes!