Not that I've been sacrificing time in the crafts department (far from it!) but I've been finding some time to read this year, and it's been fab. I haven't had time to read like this since...uh, kids.
And how, you ask. How, with kids, and crafts, and minor annoyances like laundry, cooking, and cleaning, do I have time to read?
Audiobooks.
Ok, ok, I know that these are far from a new fangled thing. I remember when our library first started getting them, and they were cassettes. But for years (um, probably decades) I've thought that I wouldn't enjoy audiobooks...I love putting my own voice, my own thoughts into each word, I love the smell of the paper, the anticipation that comes with each page turn. But then life happened, and I just haven't had time to read, much less get out and actually get my hands on books.
Last year I finally broke down and tried an audiobook...at the time I was starting up running and music, while nice, bored me. I needed something I could think about a bit more. About that time, I discovered our local library had audiobooks for download on the website.
No leaving the house. No leaving my CHAIR.
While I still appreciate the beauty of reading on my own, audiobooks have opened up a whole new world to me, one I haven't been this enamoured with since I was 11.
So far this year I've listened to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society." I LOVED it. I made any excuse to hook up my ipod, and since I got several sets of ipod speakers for Christmas, I can listen in any room of the house. The best is in my craft room, where I can spin or weave on my new loom and listen at the same time. Pure awesomeness.
Now I'm onto "Ape House" by Sara Gruen. I loved "Water for Elephants" and the author is coming to my alma mater to speak in April, so I wanted to read some of her other work before I go. I'm really enjoying "Ape House", and best of all, have no idea how it will end, the mark of a great story, in my humble opinion.
I am still reading a little in ink and paper...right now I'm working on "Girl with a Pearl Earring," a book I bought a year ago and never made it though. I'm reading a little in the evenings when I have time.
In short, my audiobooks, my ipod, and I are a happy trio right now.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Snow Day!
They sort of waited til the last minute, but Toby's home for the day due to the snow! I'm terribly glad - the roads look terrible and I didn't want to go out at all. And bonus, Base closed early so Curtis is home too! Which makes me VERY happy since I don't have to shovel now! Woohoo!
In case you didn't know, while I think snow is very pretty to look at, I don't care to be out in it at all.
And the airport is reporting 3.9 inches of snow in the last 24 hours...and it's only 2pm and still snowing!
In case you didn't know, while I think snow is very pretty to look at, I don't care to be out in it at all.
And the airport is reporting 3.9 inches of snow in the last 24 hours...and it's only 2pm and still snowing!
Pinkalicious
Working on a pair of socks for myself - the Cookie pattern from Knitty. Hope I have enough yarn to finish this sock!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Mittens
I spent the better part of December hard at work on mittens. The original plan was 2 pair, but my kids loved them so much they needed matching pairs themselves, so it morphed into 4 pair. Thankfully they are done now, so I thought I'd share!
One of THOSE days...
Yup, it's been one of THOSE days...where certain individuals (under 4 foot high) have been wont to scream, yell, hit, push, etc to get their way.
And mama is FED up.
Before dinner I told Toby he was to keep a 5 foot distance between him and his sister (and I kinda figured he didn't know what I meant, but it made me feel better to say it - apparently he does know because he listened very well).
After dinner Toby wanted to play with their new computer keyboard (it allows them to play a game on the computer without messing with the keyboard or mouse) and I said all the toys needed to be cleaned first...and so the two kids who before dinner could not even be in the same room together are now working together to clean their rooms...and getting along quite nicely.
I'm sure it won't last, but it's nice for the moment. It's these moments of peaceful existence that get me through the Other Moments.
And by the way, I am quite aware that I haven't been posting pictures...mostly because I don't sit down at the computer for more than a minute or so at a time, but in an effort to rectify that, here's one of Lucy at her birthday party - she's 3 now! 3! How can I possibly have a 3 year old and 4 year old? Or more disturbing, how can I be 30?
(Actually I came to pretty good terms with 30, so no need to convince me that it's not the end of the world - I ran a 5k on my birthday, made it through the whole thing and finished respectably)
And yes, I'm planning on trying harder to keep up on the blog this year...we won't go so far as calling it a Resolution, but more of an...Effort. My New Years Effort.
And mama is FED up.
Before dinner I told Toby he was to keep a 5 foot distance between him and his sister (and I kinda figured he didn't know what I meant, but it made me feel better to say it - apparently he does know because he listened very well).
After dinner Toby wanted to play with their new computer keyboard (it allows them to play a game on the computer without messing with the keyboard or mouse) and I said all the toys needed to be cleaned first...and so the two kids who before dinner could not even be in the same room together are now working together to clean their rooms...and getting along quite nicely.
I'm sure it won't last, but it's nice for the moment. It's these moments of peaceful existence that get me through the Other Moments.
And by the way, I am quite aware that I haven't been posting pictures...mostly because I don't sit down at the computer for more than a minute or so at a time, but in an effort to rectify that, here's one of Lucy at her birthday party - she's 3 now! 3! How can I possibly have a 3 year old and 4 year old? Or more disturbing, how can I be 30?
(Actually I came to pretty good terms with 30, so no need to convince me that it's not the end of the world - I ran a 5k on my birthday, made it through the whole thing and finished respectably) And yes, I'm planning on trying harder to keep up on the blog this year...we won't go so far as calling it a Resolution, but more of an...Effort. My New Years Effort.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
11 RAOK for 2011
Happy New Year! I'm not generally one for New Years Resolutions - as a general rule, if I feel like I ought to change something, I do it then and there, not wait for the new year. But I saw a couple threads on Rav that got me to thinking this week, and I think I will make a resolution this year -
11 RAOK (Random Acts of Knit) in 2011.
It's pretty simple. Over the course of the year, I will make 11 items and randomly gift them. But I will add a disclaimer - I've just acquired two looms, so they may not all be knit, some may be woven :)
I'm not sure what Random Act number 1 will be, but I'm turning over the possibilities in my head.
11 RAOK (Random Acts of Knit) in 2011.
It's pretty simple. Over the course of the year, I will make 11 items and randomly gift them. But I will add a disclaimer - I've just acquired two looms, so they may not all be knit, some may be woven :)
I'm not sure what Random Act number 1 will be, but I'm turning over the possibilities in my head.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Girl Time
Toby's been in school for 4 months now, and usually while he's in school Lucy and do grocery shopping or come home and have nap time. I had these visions of us doing fun girly things while Toby was in school, but that has just not happened.
Until today.
We had a few Christmas returns to make, and as luck would have it, we'd have to go to the mall. And Toby hates the mall. The thought of going to the mall with that boy...well, I'd rather pluck my eyebrows. Not the most horrible thing in the world, but not pleasant at the same time. So I thought I might just have enough time to make it to the mall and back while he was in school today.
We dropped him off at 12:30 and left straight for the mall. Lucy had duplicates on one toy, so we returned that and she had a ball picking out a replacement. She wanted everything :) until she saw the talking Dora Backpack, and the decision was made.
As luck would have it, I also had a $5 coupon for Build a Bear from Lucy's birthday, good on any purchase. It was so quiet in there - all the kids are back in school - and we had the place to ourselves. I've been in there on the weekends and this was far from the same experience! I showed her the clothes and said she could pick an outfit for her monkey, or she could adopt a new toy - she picked an adorable brown teddy bear and loved stuffing him.
The mall was almost empty and while we didn't have time to wander, it was fun to walk through with her. She's very chatty these days and we had a good time. I had doubles on a book, so we had just enough time to run to the bookstore across the street and she was happy to talk to me while I shopped for books - her brother isn't nearly so patient. The same boy who can happily play with legos for hours canNOT stand quietly for 10 minutes while I shop. Lucy, on the other hand, was as happy as could be.
I found a book (full of patterns for handweaving, which by the way, I have come by 2 looms lately), we checked out, and ran into Starbucks for a capp for me and a cookie for her. We didn't have time to sit there and eat, but it was such a fun girl date.
We made it back to school with 5 minutes to spare and the kids were able to play on the indoor playground for a half hour before we headed home. Both kids are incredibly happy right now...Lucy that she got to have some one on one time with Mom, and Toby that he didn't have to go to the dreaded store :)
By the way, we had a lovely holiday. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things, especially since I let the whole house slide the whole week Curtis was home (he took the week off work). I'm making up for it now, but it is nice to have routine again. And I KNOW the dog is happy to see us back on our regular schedule (he hates it when he doesn't know what is going on).
I think the best thing right now is that we have nothing on the calendar this month or next. I'm sure that will change, but for the time being, it's nice to have a break. Besides, with the shelves done being built downstairs, it's time for us to organize the basement, and I'd like Curtis to have time to build my laundry room before Spring.
Until today.
We had a few Christmas returns to make, and as luck would have it, we'd have to go to the mall. And Toby hates the mall. The thought of going to the mall with that boy...well, I'd rather pluck my eyebrows. Not the most horrible thing in the world, but not pleasant at the same time. So I thought I might just have enough time to make it to the mall and back while he was in school today.
We dropped him off at 12:30 and left straight for the mall. Lucy had duplicates on one toy, so we returned that and she had a ball picking out a replacement. She wanted everything :) until she saw the talking Dora Backpack, and the decision was made.
As luck would have it, I also had a $5 coupon for Build a Bear from Lucy's birthday, good on any purchase. It was so quiet in there - all the kids are back in school - and we had the place to ourselves. I've been in there on the weekends and this was far from the same experience! I showed her the clothes and said she could pick an outfit for her monkey, or she could adopt a new toy - she picked an adorable brown teddy bear and loved stuffing him.
The mall was almost empty and while we didn't have time to wander, it was fun to walk through with her. She's very chatty these days and we had a good time. I had doubles on a book, so we had just enough time to run to the bookstore across the street and she was happy to talk to me while I shopped for books - her brother isn't nearly so patient. The same boy who can happily play with legos for hours canNOT stand quietly for 10 minutes while I shop. Lucy, on the other hand, was as happy as could be.
I found a book (full of patterns for handweaving, which by the way, I have come by 2 looms lately), we checked out, and ran into Starbucks for a capp for me and a cookie for her. We didn't have time to sit there and eat, but it was such a fun girl date.
We made it back to school with 5 minutes to spare and the kids were able to play on the indoor playground for a half hour before we headed home. Both kids are incredibly happy right now...Lucy that she got to have some one on one time with Mom, and Toby that he didn't have to go to the dreaded store :)
By the way, we had a lovely holiday. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things, especially since I let the whole house slide the whole week Curtis was home (he took the week off work). I'm making up for it now, but it is nice to have routine again. And I KNOW the dog is happy to see us back on our regular schedule (he hates it when he doesn't know what is going on).
I think the best thing right now is that we have nothing on the calendar this month or next. I'm sure that will change, but for the time being, it's nice to have a break. Besides, with the shelves done being built downstairs, it's time for us to organize the basement, and I'd like Curtis to have time to build my laundry room before Spring.
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