Where's Nancy?

Having a great time, wish you were here!

We've played with ducks. Avery and I walked a historical path, while Ian and Dad went to play and learn. We ate at an familiar place, but no one seem to know our names.

Don't worry I always find a way to feed my habit when I'm away.

Miss you!

Love, Nancy

A series of "Firsts"

I have stuff to blog I suppose but no time to do it justice. Today's the husband's birthday and we start vacation Saturday so today and tomorrow are a little crazed at work and home. So I subject you to the following:

The First Meme Stolen from my dear friend the Spinning Goth

1. Who was your first prom date?

I didn't go to my prom.

2. Do you still talk to your first love?

Nope, he's a psycho. I would cross the street if I saw him coming.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink?

A Screwdriver at one of my parent's parties.

4. What was your first job?

Cashier at Barnes and Noble at 48th and Fifth Ave.

5. What was your first car?

Technically I didn't drive it but the family's first car was a very old Aries K car.

6. Who was the first person to text you today?

No one yet, but it's usually Tisha, Maribel or Amanda.

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning?

My youngest since I woke up before him which is unusual.

8. Who was your first grade teacher?

Penelope Pulis, she a was fantastic!

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?

Cancun, Mexico. I was 20.

10. Who was your first best friend, and are you still friends with him/her?

Susan she lived downstairs. We have recently reconnected.

11. What was your first sport played?

Sport, whats that? ;)

12. Where was your first sleepover?

Maribel's house.

13. Who was the first person you talked to today?

My youngest to remind him to wish his dad a happy birthday.

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?

My dad's.

15. What was the first thing you did this morning?

Picked up the copy of The Stand that I dropped last night but was too lazy to pick up.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?

Oh must we? Ok it was Menudo. I think I've admitted that on the blog before.

17. What was your first tattoo or piercing?

My ears when I was 13.

18. What was the first foreign country you went to?

Canada.

19. What was your first run-in with the law?

Hopping the train.

20. When was your first detention?

I never went to detention.

21. What was the first state you lived in?

New York

22. Who was the first person to break your heart?

Ernie the store detective at my first job. I dumped the psycho boyfriend for him but he wasn't as into me as I was him.

23. Who was your first roommate?

The psycho ex-boyfriend.

24. Where did you go on your first limo ride?

My dad's wedding.

Weekend fun

Much fun was had this weekend. We visited with that Crazy Fiber Lady and those adorable Fiber Twins. My eldest spent most of the day like this:
Since Risa's favorite pastimes echo those of a 14 year old boy my nearly 13 year old had a blast playing with her Guitar Hero on Tour. Thankfully Grandpa got him his own, which arrived yesterday and we were nice enough to let him have early.

He did pull away from the screen long enough to get in some water play with everyone else:
Those are Risa's twins and Avery's head. He had to perform many "rescue" missions to retrieve them from the diving board area.

Even my non-water-loving baby enjoyed himself:
After awhile just having the water ring and a rope was enough. He joined the twins in their game of making Avery rescue them or tortured his father by having him pull him across the deep end of the pool.

I brought knitting but in such good company I never even thought to pull it out. There were amazing burgers and franks from the grill and my new favorite drink Mike's Hard Lemonade or Lime, I can't decide which I loved more. Risa and I sat by the pool shooting the breeze and enjoying each others company. I cannot think of a better way to spend a Summer Sunday.

I had a package waiting for me at home yesterday. I'm enjoying my Buffy yarn so much I decided to see what else was available. I found the Doctor Who colorway:

I decided Avery would love it. Orange and blue are his favorite colors and as Rinaldo put it everyone should have one bright pair of socks. Any suggestions for a nice boy pattern for it?

Re-visiting the Birthday Goals

I've avoided this as long as I could. Why? Well the results were mixed and on some level a tad embarassing. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to share my failures with the world.

Here they are again to remind you. The goals I set for myself to achieve by my birthday. With the result listed below:

1- Apply, yet again, for my learner's permit.

Here's the one I didn't want to admit to. I walked in and took the written test again for my learner's permit. It had been 5 years since I got my last one so I had to take it again. I hadn't picked up the book or gone online to refresh my memory. I've taken it many times and passed with no problem so I wasn't concerned. Guess what?

I failed.


I'm torn. I sort of take it as sign that all hope is lost but I did pick up the booklet and I suspect I will try again soon.

2- Take the Notary Public exam. My grandfather was a notary and for some silly reason I've always wanted to be.


I sent for the application and the study materials but I haven't had a Wednesday free so I can go take the test. I hope to do that when I get back from vacation.

3- Continue with the health kick. The eating habits haven't been great but I have been exercising a bit each day for almost a month. The scale doesn't show much difference but my clothes are fitting a little better.

I wasn't great heading into my birthday but I've been better of late. My morning routine is up to 6 exercises and I'm back on WW as of this week. I've lost the 5 pounds I gained heading into my birthday so at least I broke even on that one.

4- Learn a new skill. I'm trying to learn web development so by the end of the month I'd like to have picked up at least one of the codes/languages involved.

I learned about CSS. Now realistically this was cheating and I knew it. I've played with my blog template enough to know that I had played with CSS but I didn't really get what it was so now I do. It remains to be seen if I can learn something brand new in this online format but I have high hopes.

5- To knit 1 baby kimono, 2 washcloths and one beaded bracelet for gifts.

Done.

What are your summer goals?

I don't recognize myself

Damn I was productive this weekend. I went through the storage room in the basement and collected 5 garbage bags full of old clothes to donate. We even managed to get them out of the house to the donation drop site. I then rearranged the room a bit so I could put together my sewing table and set up my sewing machine. Are you impressed yet?

I got the house cleaned, that took some ordering around of the male folk as well. I moved some things in the game room so there is more room to move in there as well as there being a clear path to the laundry room which is always an issue. Laundry was done, floors were mopped, clothes were put away. We even had time to get to the movies. Avery and Rinaldo went to see Get Smart and Ian and I went to see Wall-E. I also got to spin, knit a bit and lay around on the couch. Again, are you impressed? I sure as hell am.

Here's where we are with my Summer of Socks project, nutkin:

Bast is not amused.
Lovely no? I really am enjoying the pattern and the way it shows off my yarn.

My spinning, not as successful:

My wheel was fighting me and I couldn't figure out why. My spinning ended up more than a little uneven and in some places severely overspun. I played with the settings a bit and pop went the rubber band. It had pretty much given up the ghost. I'm guessing that's why I was having such issues. A new rubber band solved it. Hopefully the second half of my Spunky Club batch will come out better.

Risa has me hooked on yet another time waster. I've been hanging out on Plurk far, far too much. It's fun but boy that will kill all the productive mojo I've been collecting.

Gina and I have been discussing setting mini-goals for ourselves each week. After such a successful weekend. I've decided to try it. My goal for this week is to finish getting my cds into albums. I have one album left to fill and M - Q to put away. I'll let you know on Monday how that goes.

Summer of Socks

I forgot one more gift that arrived on my birthday (do you see how spoiled I am?). My cousin decided to feed my Icelandic candy habit:



The yellow bag is this chocolate licorice concoction that I love. I have one left. There's a bit left of the chocolate bar too. The Opal is next in line to go.

Yum!

Since it is the Summer of Socks you may recall I decided to finish the RPMs. Well I did. In fact I got right up to sewing up the toe. I decided to compare it to the first one just to be safe and it was a good inch to an inch and half shorter. I got so pissed I ripped it back to the heel, since I'd screwed up there but decided to let it go at the time, put it on scrap yarn and tossed it in a corner. Maybe it will learn it's lesson and behave next time.

I decided to jump back on the horse. I took Shameka's suggestion and cast on for Nutkin. It has an interesting cuff. You knit for 5 rounds, purl a round, then knit for 6 more rounds. You turn it on the purl round and knit the live stitches with the cast on edge, see:

It makes a nice cuff, let's see how much I like it when I'm wearing them. The yarn is my Buffy the Vampire Slayer sock yarn from White Oak. Maribel got it for me last year for my birthday.

I'm loving the way it's turning out:


My plans for the weekend involve house cleaning, dyeing, and spinning. Of course I may just lay around like a vegetable. We'll see.

Happy Fourth of July!!!