Wednesday, February 15, 2012

What time is the charm?

So, this Baby Surprise Jacket.  The saga so far: started on little needles with sock yarn, and had to admit that it was Just Too Small. I love the yarn, so I'll make socks or something out of it.  No waste but time, right?  I started it again with Cotton Tots and wasn't loving it and it looked HUGE.  So now I've got some sort of acrylic Bernat that looks good, in lavendar, which is the color for this eagerly-awaited baby girl, so that's good.  For each attempt, I've had to cast on 3x, which is 9x at 160 stitches each...I don't know why I find long-tail cast on challenging, but I obviously do.  Anyway, I'm moving ahead on this.

We've been derailed but the stomach flu at my house.  Both my son and I have an autoimmune thing that basically leaves us really vulnerable to stomach bugs.  There was a bad one going around my town a month ago and I was hopeful that we had avoided it, but no.  It hasn't hit me yet, I'm just waiting and praying it doesn't come on during work tomorrow because that would be awful.  My poor son threw up right in the middle of piano practice (to which my older son said, "that was so...SO...SUDDEN!")  and then threw up every 15 minutes for 7 hours.  That sucked.  There's something about parenting under those conditions, though, that just sort of drops me into this very calm and patient place.  Normally I'm not that good in a crisis, but this, I don't know.  I'm not typically patient either, but just being present with  my poor kiddo through that yuckiness, it's a very powerful experience.  NOT to say it was enjoyable, at all, but just like marriage, we parent "for better and for worse" right?  It's part of the commitment.  And it is a real practice in simply being present and in the moment. My daughter also has a high fever and horrible cold, so she's been home for two days now.  I feel pretty gross, myself, especially considering I spent the night on a pallet of yoga mats next to my vomiting child.  Which is as restful as it sounds.  So we're all germy here - when this passes, I'm going to bleach the house.

In other exciting news, though, my husband and I are going on vacation!!!!  I AM SO EXCITED, allcaps doesn't even begin to convey it. We've got childcare lined up, tickets are purchased, I've started planning clothes, and I'm using it as inspiration to get in better shape. I've been working out every day, and doing yoga as well, so that's cool.

Okay, now I'm going to KNIT and get off the internet!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Day 3


So, I'm setting myself a 30 day challenge - to exercise a bit every day (I'm starting my day with 25 minutes of yoga and then later during the day, I'm doing a 20-30 minute fitness DVD), and to clean something every day.  I'm tired of feeling like my house isn't clean, so it's time to do something about it.  I have so much more time at home than my husband, so it's not that I think it's "my job" to do it because I'm the wife and mom, but rather, there is an infinite amount of work to do, and I want (and need) to be doing more. It'll help all of us!  So, I'm on Day 3.  Day 2 was not as successful as I wanted it to be, but today is a new day!  I'm not going to let me thoughts of "ARGH YOU FLAKED ON DAY *TWO*!!" get me off track.  So, today I'm going to clean my bathrooms.   I am being very, very careful with the exercise stuff too.  Given my history, I cannot jeopardize my eating disorder recovery for this.

I have been working on the Baby Surprise Jacket and am close to done.  I finally figured out how it should all be folded and came to the unescapable conclusion (which I knew all along, damnit), that it is way, way too small.  I'm following the pattern recs for a newborn size, and it might fit my daughter's 15" bitty baby.  MAYBE.  I love the yarn, so I'm going to rip it out and use it for socks.  The baby (NOT MINE!!) is due April 3, so I have some time.  I think I'll run to Michael's this morning and get some of my go-to yarn for baby sweaters.  (Huh, they don't seem to have lavendar anymore.)  I have these super-cute owl buttons that my 3 year old picked out, and I really want to do a sweater and hat set for her.  

In other projects...well, my husband and I are splurging this summer and taking a VACATION!  JUST THE TWO OF US!! We're going back to where we honeymoon'd (hence my eagerness to drop the baby weight...err, which, given that the baby is ALMOST FOUR, I can't really blame it on her anymore), and I am so, so excited.  

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Whoa, derailed by the day there.  I am happy to report that two bathrooms are clean!  I also survived the last ski lesson, and the fact (so far) that my DH is coming home late tonight.  I did make it Michael's and got some yarn, but I'm going to look and see if I have enough left-over lavendar for the sweater.  Probably not, but I'll look.   I didn't get the 2nd exercise session in, but that's okay, I did yoga and lots of moving around. It's a start.  Day by day, right?