Kids vs. Golden Retriever

10 reasons I think my kids should be more like my dog:

1. My dog always is excited to see me when I get home, bringing me gifts at the door (usually a smelly shoe, but she thinks it's valuable). My kids, grunt and raise an eyebrow, barely glancing up from their TV show, Nintendo or book depending on the day.
2. When my dog wants my attention she looks at me, dances around and tries to show me how much fun it would be to play. When my kids want my attention, they pick a fight with each other.
3. When I want to go for a run, my dog is always a willing participant, dropping whatever she is doing and running for the door. This is also always the moment my kids suddenly notice I am home and need a snack, a permission slip signed, help with their homework, clean socks etc.
4. My dog devours healthy, homemade food like it is chocolate. My kids prefer KD.
5. My dog thinks a good tummy rub is a gift from the gods and looks at me like I descended from the heavens when she gets one. My kids are holding out for a PS3.
6. When I trim her nails, my dog sits still. My kids think it's a form of torture.
7. My dog doesn't need braces.
8. When I want to go on vacation, I can kennel my dog. As far as I know, it is illegal to kennel kids but I haven't tested my theory, yet.
9. My dog doesn't have a hockey game at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning.
10. When my dog pees outside, the neighbours don't complain.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

This is Amber. She loves to run, chase balls, steal shoes, eat and sleep in the sun. Isn't she pretty? She's not really dead, she just looks that way. I saw her eat an ant today. Really I did. Ick. I am considering getting her a friend. Try as she might, she just can't convince the cat to play.

And this is my Patchwork Baby Blanket Work-In-Progress. Every stage of this blanket is taking forever. First the knitting of the squares (err...rectangles actually because I don't know how to measure). That took MONTHS because to be perfectly honest knitting stocking stitch rectangles completely bored me and I just couldn't get into it. I could knit a rectangle in 20-30 minutes and I needed 25 so 12.5 hours of knitting, right? Wrong! I would knit 3 rows, sigh, get a cup of tea, knit 2 rows, walk the dog, put on a load of laundry...you get the idea. Then, finally, I finished all 25 and I spent another week laying them on the bed and arranging and re-arranging them. I couldn't come up with a pattern I liked. Finally, voila, I came up with checkerboard with alternate border. Then it took FOREVER (2 weeks) to seam all the rectangles into strips, then seam the strips into one big rectangle. Of course the next stage, felting, was easy. Throw it in the wash. Done. Now, I have 2 stages left. I have to whipstitch along all the seams then blanket stitch around the outside edge. And finally, last but not least I will crochet chains and needlefelt designs in a few of the squares. I am planning a heart, a swirl and a moon. I might, might, might add the baby's name and birthdate if he hasn't finished college by the time I get to that stage. As it stands he is now 3 months old. I started it 6 months before his due date. Hope he likes warm, wooley blankets! He is a very sweet baby.

What did I do this weekend?

Well, on Friday we painted shirts:

Then on Saturday we went to the Kwantlen College School of Horticulture Plant Sale. They gave us a tour of their hydroponics tomatoe/eggplant/pepper/cucumber growing places. Very fun. We ate cucumbers and tomatoes right off the vine. Yummy. I bought geraniums, lobelia, some herbs, allysum and a few basket stuffers.

Then I went and watched the ball hockey game where my son's undefeated team faced the only other undefeated team and ended, disappointingly, in a tie. Both still undefeated. (no pictures)

Then we went to Fort Langley to pick up my niece from the Albion Ferry. And we bumbered around Fort Langley for a while, had a coffee (well, I had a coffee and she had a whipped fruity, creamy, blendy thingy). I found a little DIY kit to make my own bathroom. It took us hours of finicky glueing and a lot of laughing at ourselves but we finally finished it! Now I can't say I want my own bathroom. I have one. Awwwww. Isn't it cute. Look closely, there are tiny weeny little japanese wooden slippers sitting on the mat in front of the sink. And we wove the mat ourselves. It was just a piece of straw ribbon before. And see the towel and the viney plant. I made those leaves myself. Isn't it just so great? The shampoo bottles on the shelf are made of shiny, little beads. I love this bathroom! Except it doesn't have a toilet. Strange.

Then I went to bed so I could get up at the crack of dawn on Sunday and ride the skytrain:

(That's the "peace-out sign", not the bird. Look closely.)

Then we walked:

So we could join with 59,172 other people for North America's largest 10km run! This was my 12th (I think) time running the SUN RUN since 1994. I missed a couple of years but I do this almost every year. Even when I was pregnant, I ran (or waddled). And this year for the first time my boys joined me. And my niece and my student came too! The big boy, the student and I did the 10k while my niece and the little one ran the 2.5k mini run.

Almost there buddy! You can do it!

The burrard street bridge was a climb.

It was his first 10 k. He thought it would never end. There was a quiet determination lurking somewhere behind all the complaining. But he did it. The last 100 meters were a blurr as he sprinted to the finish line! Phewf. I was so proud.

What a great weekend. And somehow, in all of that, I found the time to finish seaming my patchwork baby blanket. And I felted it, blocked it and started the whipstitch and blanketstitch edging. I just may finish it. Pictures to come.

One down...

The little one, after much wiggling, some fake-outs and a persistent mom who just can't resist...lost his first tooth. As with the big one, there was much fanfare, excitement and celebration. A photoshoot, a show-and-tell at school and a placement of the tooth into the special pillow where only the tooth fairy knows where to look. However, this smarty pants just took one look at the pillow, and stated, "I know it's you guys who get the tooth". Sigh...when did he stop being little? But I persisted, thinking maybe he just needs a little convincing. Then he says, "If I only get a dollar, I would rather just keep my tooth." (!) Didn't it used to be a dime?

So after he fell asleep I thought I would bulk up the payoff without making it more money (he is only 5 after all). So I put lots of dimes, nickels and quarters in the little pocket and removed the tooth. It was only a dollar, but it looked like more, right? In the morning he was very excited to find the money. Then he came running into my bedroom saying, "Where's my tooth, where's my tooth?" I said, "What do you mean? The tooth fairy took it." And he burst into tears. Threw the money on my bed and started to sob. "I want my tooth. I don't want the money." These were real tears. He was so upset that I picked up the money, put it in his hand and reached to the hiding spot on my dresser and handed him his tooth. "Aha, I knew it was you," he said. Outsmarted by a 5 year old. Boy am I in big trouble.

Central Park Hoodie Swatches

I did a guage swatch! I did two actually. First I did one with a 5mm needles which is what the pattern called for but it gave me 16.5 x 24 instead of 17 x24. So I did it again with 4.5mm needles and I got 17 x 26. So neither one gives me guage but I think stitch guage is more important than row guage. Opinions? My reasoning is that it's easier to add an extra row to get the right length than it is to add extra stitches to the pattern. Right? Or maybe 16.5 is close enough to 17? I find that my 4.5 mm swatch is stiffer than my 5mm swatch. I would prefer a nicely draped sweater so perhaps I should go with the 5 mm needles and just make the smaller pattern. Silk tends to stretch when you wear it though doesn't it. This is the debate going on in my head. This has turned into a blog rather than a note so I think I will post it on my blog instead. I have to confess that I have never actually done a swatch before so I find myself in new territory.

Are you bilingual?

Just had to share this one. I was helping out in the kindergarten class today, corralling kids and other such 5 year old management stuff. And I was switching back and forth between french and english, depending on what the kids were responding to (whatever it took to make them listen). And the substitute teacher (who doesn't speak french) looked at me funny and asked, "Are you bilingual?" and my son piped up, "No, she's a vegetarian." 'Nuf said.

BNL

Yes, BNL. BarenakedLadies were in the little village I live in. And they had a FREE live performance for families. So I got up early. Really early. And got in line and waited and waited and waited.

And after 5 hours I saw this:

And this:

And it was really fun! Apparently the Barenaked Ladies are releasing a children's album in May and this little mini concert was a promotional event for this album. My kids loved them. I can't stop singing If I had a Million Dollars. They were genuinely funny and we had a lot of fun! The little one, of course, was surprised that the band was not barenaked and they were not ladies. How confusing.

Apparently I'm Alice

which alice in wonderland person are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as alice you are like alice, she's really curious and has a wild imagination! white rabbit 55% alice 55% cheshire cat 50% mad hatter 35% queen of hearts 35%

EZ Bind Off

Have you ever tried Elizabeth Zimmerman's EZ sewn bind off? It is really cool. Essentially you thread your tail onto a blunt darning needle then use the needle (as if) to purl two stitches, go back and (as if to) knit one, drop knitted stitch. Repeat purl, purl, knit, drop. It is the best bind off I have ever used on a sock. I love it. On this sock I did 7 rows knit then EZ sewn bind off so the result is that the top curls down which is the intended effect. I read the method in Cat Bordhi's book but I happen to have Knitting Without Tears out from the library so I went and checked the original instructions. IMO, Cat Bordhi's are easier to read and follow and I like her finishing technique of casting off the first stitch twice. Very cool. Note: this sewn cast off uses more thread than you think. Leave a long tail.

Cat Bordhi is a genius

Really. This is amazing. I started making socks for...well, for me...because my foot was handy and I wouldn't ask questions when I started measuring length, circumference, arch etc. Others would.
Also because I went to Madrona (grin) Marketplace and I bought Blue Moon Fiber Arts mediumweight sock yarn in colourway Watermelon Tourmaline and it is really yummy. Mmmm. And I couldn't resist so I started to make socks...for me.
As I went on my merry way, trying out the Master sock pattern, working out the numbers (which is, let's face it, algebra) I started to doubt. I thought, there is no way this is going to work. I thought, seriously, my feet are not THIS big! She is clearly crazy. Then something completely bizarre happened. I tried them on (because I am knitting toe up and you can do that kind of thing). And guess what! They fit. Perfectly. Like they were custom made, just for me. Like someone had used algebra to make sure the arch sat at just the right spot and the heel curved at just the right moment. Cat Bordhi is a genius.
So, I went to Madrona. Not as a participant, but as a lurker. I went to the market place and started chatting with a lovely lady. We gave our opinion on knitting blankets. We talked about structure and knitting in one piece compared to knitting in blocks and joining with seams. I opposed her opinion in polite discussion. Then I looked at her name tag. It was BEV GALESKAS. You know, the genius behind the felted clog. I felt myself turn ten shades of red. The impertinence! How dare I try to tell Bev Galeskas that a blanket needs seams to give it structure.? What do I know? Crazy.
The reason I have had all these fun things happen to me is because my husband took me to Seattle for 2 nights away from the rat race. It was so fun and relaxing and excellent. And I actually looked at him for the first time in a long time. I mean really looked at him without someone yelling "mom" and without thinking about what I was making for dinner and how many loads of laundry I have to do and what is that mess on the wall anyway? It was really nice. I liked who I saw. I am glad I married him. I just have to take a minute to look at him once in a while and remember who he is. He's pretty great.

There are girls in my house.

Last week a friend of mine came to stay. Him and his wife (my friend too) are having some trouble and we are trying to be supportive. So he came to stay with us so he could be closer to his family while they work through their stuff. Last night 2 of his kids slept over. Two girls. There were girls in my house. Here are a few things that I noticed about girls.

1. They are quiet in the morning.

2. They smell nice.

3. They brush their teeth without being asked.

4. They comb their hair (a lot) without being asked.

5. They (these two) like to read quietly on the couch.

6. When they leave for school they look nice (and...see #2 above) even though their mom wasn't here to do that final check.

7. They smile and say thank you when you get them breakfast. Imagine that.

I like girls. I like these girls. I should get me some.

This photo was taken last summer when we spent our vacation with them in Nelson, BC. Good times.

Have you ever had a friend

1. Who calls to say she's coming over and you don't clean up? Not one bit?
2. Who makes you feel good just being around her?
3. Who is smart and funny and beautiful?
4. Who you admire not because of what she does but of who she is?
5. Who would wear your old sweats that you normally sleep in or paint in or garden in, and doesn't complain because it means she can sleep over even if she didn't bring a toothbrush?
6. Whose husband you love? Just like that? Even if he's done bad things? But because she loves him, you do too?
7. Whose kids you adore?
8. Who you pray will have something good happen to her very soon because she really deserves it? And nothing good has happened to her for a while?
9. Who you want to give everything to just so she'll be ok?
10. Who looks really together on the outside but who you know is falling apart on the inside and that's ok because she can fall apart at your house?

Have you ever had a friend like that? I have.

Ten years ago today...

...I became a mother for the first time. I still can make myself cry just conjuring up the memory of looking into those eyes for the first time. He just looked and looked at me, blinking frequently, just not sure what to think of all this. Or maybe he knew exactly what to think. Maybe he was thinking, "Oh, there you are. It's about time you looked at me. I've been wondering when this day would come." At any rate, the last ten years have been pretty crazy. And he's just so big now! Really, he's tall. Really tall. Taller than all the other kids his age. And smart. Really smart. And athletic. He got a basket in a game on Friday that blew me away. Where did he learn to do that? And he played in goal on Saturday for his soccer team and made a save that was amazing. And he's reading "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", and "Spiderwick" and I've read those books and we're having real conversations about the characters and the plot and foreshadowing. He's an amazing kid. And I'm his mom. And I have been for ten years. Ten. Years. Today.

New Year's Eve

This is a post in response to the wonderful rant on Yarn Harlot today. I have to tell the story and although no one ever reads my underground blog, I will write it here.

On New Year's Eve we had some lovely friends over to ring in the new year in the style we have grown accustomed. Read: say Happy New Year at midnight and head straight to bed. We do, afterall, have children who wake up at 7am no matter what time we put them to bed.

After a fun meal (in which I attempted a Rachael Ray dish of Roasted Beet Risotto), and during a rousing game of Cranium Family Version (in which we were going head to head against the other family, although we swapped a few kids to make it more friendly), my younger son calmly, and with a sheepish smile on his face, enters the living room and says quietly to me, "Mom, it's an emergency." With his calm demeanor and sheepishness, I reply, equally calmly, while at the same time trying to listen to the trivia question in the game, "What's an emergency, son?" He says, calmly, "You need to come to the kitchen." "Why?", I reply. "Because the napkin is on fire and I can't blow it out!" "What's on fire!!!???!!!!" I leap into action, dodging children and tables of food as I dash into the kitchen to see one of the lovely, paper Christmas napkins being consumed by flames as it attempts to convince some of its nearby friends to join it. I swiftly grab it by the unconsumed edge and drop it into a sink full of dirty dishes and (luckily) dirty water. The fire is out in a split second and by this time, the living room has emptied as everyone followed me out of the room to see what I was running to. I think I yelled something about "FIRE" as I darted from the room but things are a bit fuzzy as it all happened so fast. I am sure the wine didn't help. (it was a lovely Australian Peter Lehman Shiraz if anyone is wondering).

What happened? While we were all busy in the living room I had left a candle unattended burning in the kitchen. Baby boy thought it would be a great idea to see what the napkin would do if he lit it on fire and blew it out. Only it wouldn't blow out.

The irony of this story is two-fold:
1. My son was so calm and although he started the fire, he did exactly as he was taught in all the fire safety lessons. He stayed calm. He asked an adult for help. The only thing he didn't do was stop, drop and roll. The little monster. Other guests at the party tell me he had quite a grin on his face as this all played out!

2. And this is the doozie. My dad, much to the chagrin of my brothers who thought it a most disgusting gift, had given all of us FIRE EXTINGUISHERS (one for the kitchen and one for the car) for Christmas. I was the only one who thought it was great because I didn't have one already and always felt a little guilty about that. When I told my dad about our little fire, he said, "I hope you didn't waste your fire extinguisher on that!"

So now today, after reading the Yarn Harlot's post about acrylic and it's flammable qualities, I have decided that That Boy will only get wool sweaters. Sigh. Good thing I am knitting a WOOL blanket for the new baby joining our family any day. Of course it won't be done in time but what can I say. It is inspired by the felted patchwork blanket in the Toving magazine TEMA 11. Right now it is just a bunch of boring stocking stitch squares but I am really looking forward to the needle felting part later. And since I took that finishing class, I am actually looking forward to sewing the blocks together so I can practice some of my new techniques. Pictures:
I hope everyone reading this never has need to test the anti-flammable qualities of wool. BTW, A Cranium trivia questions we had during our game: What is the difference between Flammable and Inflammable? Answer: There is no difference. They both mean the same thing. Boy, do they.

I've been published

I got published in the Vancouver Sun today. Since I wrote it, I think it's ok for me to copy and paste it here. I was a little embarassed when I saw they actually published it and blushed a little to think of everyone reading it and thinking whatever they think about me or my ideas. It's a funny thing to have something you wrote published, even if it is just a little letter. So here it is:

Inspirational New Year's resolutions
We asked readers to tell us about their resolutions, and you offered a few surprises. Here are our top three letters:
Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, January 03, 2008
Do my part to help the environment
Last December I decided I didn't want to make another New Year's resolution that I wouldn't keep. I was trying to come up with a resolution that mattered and that I was motivated to keep for more than just esthetic reasons.
I don't smoke, rarely drink and couldn't identify any other really bad habits I needed to break (although I'm sure my husband could come up with a long list, if pressed).

Just after Christmas last year I was having coffee with a friend at Starbucks and I saw one of the baristas taking out the garbage. Judging from the size-to-weight ratio of the bag of trash, it appeared to be a huge sack full of empty, used paper cups. I looked at the paper cup in my hand and saw that I did have a terrible habit!
In spite of the half dozen commuter coffee cups sitting in my cupboard at home, I continuously bought coffee in a paper cup. There and then I made it my New Year's resolution to stop using paper cups. I always carry a big purse around so why not throw a reusable coffee cup in it for just such occasions? I also took a china mug to keep at work for my morning trips to the local coffee shop in my building.
I think 2008 will be the "litterless lunch" resolution. My goal will be to take a washable napkin and reusable containers with me rather than the endless paper napkins, plastic wrap and single-serving-size snacks. Even though they are quick and easy for packing my family's lunches with little clean up at the end of the day, I am going to try to make a difference by resolving to use a bit more effort. I think it is convenience that is filling the landfills and a little extra effort will reduce my contribution to the heap.