Long Weekend

I just love 3-day weekends! Of course, there is never enough time to do everything I want to do, but I usually pick one big project that I have been saying I will do, and put my mind to it. I have started a list of projects to do when I have a few days off, and this time I chose a fun one one, instead of something icky like steamcleaning the carpets. I spent the weekend dyeing!

I recruited help by telling them that if they prepped some thread, they could dye some thread, free reign, anything goes. That seemed to work (this time)! Both my son and daughter dyed a colorway, and true to my word, I didn't stand over them. I laid it out, made sure they had plenty of color choices, and left the room. Both had great ideas, and it freed me up to do others stages of the process.

Last night, I was happily labeling all of our hard work and had most of it listed on the venues I use. I still have a few I need to put finishing touches on and to take pictures of, but I can do that during the week.

Other than that, we had a cookout yesterday with spare ribs, potato salad, and corn on the cob. I just love using the grill during the summer. It helps keep the temp down in the house, and nothing beats a grilled piece of meat. Naps for everyone afterwards, with full stomaches and traces of bbq sauce smudges on noses or cheeks and smiles of contentment. All in all it was a great weekend, with great weather and some really nice family time.

Now it is back to the grindstone, and looking at the calendar to take some time off from work. A few days off does so much to energize me, I need to plan more instead of just taking the usual holiday days off. Hope everyone else had a great weekend, and hey...short work-week! Bonus!

Dishcloth mania

Since learning to knit back in February, I have accumulated a LOT of dishcloths. I had joined 2 dishcloth KAL's, one is weekly, one is bi-monthly. I have learned a ton about knitting over the past few months by knitting these little beauties. Some I was not so thrilled about, some I made a few of. I have given a few away, but as you can see by the pictures, I still have plenty for myself.

I like the quick satisfaction from knitting dishcloths. One or two nights watching TV and knitting and I have a finished project.

I also knitted one mitt, and need to do the other one. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. So that is what I have been up to the past few months. (Please excuse the wayward shoe and the box in the background)

I haven't crocheted at all since taking up knitting, but I am going to start spreading it out and working on both types of projects now that I am comfortable enough with knitting.

Bon Jovi II

The concert was awesome! I had never been to one of their shows before, and they really put on a good one. A couple of observances...I didn't realize Jon was so short. And...I wouldn't dance with him at a club. The man is awkward. Just stand there Jon, smile your killer smile, and shake your booty occassionally, but PLEASE don't dance. My friend Michelle and I just looked at each other the first time he did some moves with a look of "REALLY???" All in all the show was so good, we forgave his dancing abilities.

It has been a long time since I have been to a concert, and if it wouldn't have been free...holy moly...I woulda had to take out a 2nd mortgage. The cost of everything is outrageous, or I am amazingly cheap. Probably a combo of both.

I have the rest of the week off from work, so today I pretty much did nothing. Tomorrow I have a list of things I want to get done around the house before I can reward myself with catching up on TiVo offerings and knitting. Does anyone else have to reward themselves this way in order to get housework done? Just curious. Because if I don't do it this way, I would never get any housework done.

Bon Jovi

I am going to the Bon Jovi/Daughtry concert tomorrow night! A couple of weeks ago a radio station was at the bowling center on league night for an hour doing a drawing for the concert. My daughter and I both entered hoping we would win. I had to twist my daughter's boyrfriend's arm to enter...

b/f: I don't like Bon Jovi. I never win anything.
me: Enter! if you win, Alyssa and I will go and you can stay home and babysit!

and my friend Michelle's arm to enter...

Michelle: I would like to enter, but I never win anything, plus, I don't want them giving my name away to everyone and have a bunch of sales calls. I just don't know...
me: Enter! You'll at least get a free pen out of it (she loves pens), and if you win, we can go and have a girls night out. It will be fine!

So they both reluctantly enter the drawing. Notice how I made sure that if either of them won, I got to go. :-D

The next day...I get a call from my daughter, about the same time I get a text from Michelle. You guessed it! Both Jerry (b/f) and Michelle won tickets! So we are all going to the concert tomorrow night! I know there were a few others who won tickets as well, so it must have been a small turnout for the radio station. These are pretty good seats, on the floor, one section back from the stage. Yay!

Now...to find something to wear...!

Spring Fever

I have a pretty bad case of it! I was going to take last week off from work, as it was Spring Break for my son, I was going to spend some time with my daughter and new grandson as well. My son ended up going to see his Uncle in Brunswick to try out the charter fishing business, to see if it is something he wants to do over the summer. I was cool with that, and since my daughter and grandson live with me, it wasn't like I never see them. I decided to save the time off for another time. Last week it was absolutely beautiful here. If you don't take into account the pine pollen that was dusting everything it was very nice.

What happened over the weekend? Well, Friday...it was beautiful, until around the time I got off work. Then severe thunderstorms hit around 9pm. Saturday was rainy, and Sunday was sunny, but very windy and not as warm as it looked. So, now I am kicking myself for not taking last week off, since the weekends don't seem to want to cooperate! I am going to ask my boss today if there is a week in the next month or so that would be more convenient for me to take off than another. (Of course in his mind, no week is convenient...but oh well.) I think I just need to get out in the yard, plant some flowers, go to the park, crochet/knit outside on my deck, and do some of the not-so-fun stuff like clean out the garage and the car, but still be outside enjoying the weather.

I have done some dyeing, and again, I thought I would be able to take advantage of nice weather to hang it outside to dry, but that wasn't meant to be. I have become completely obsessed with knitting, so haven't done any crocheting since early February. I feel guilty about that...like all my crochet hooks and thread are peeking over the top of my work basket saying "what about us?" I know they aren't, but still...

I am going to start dividing up my knitting and crocheting time a little more now that I have the hang of knitting. I was afraid to put it down for any length of time, since I was still learning, I didn't want to forget. I seem to have a short memory span until I am really comfortable with something. I have a Between Meals doily that is about 50% done that I want to finish crocheting, and a Prairie Star quiltghan that I want to give to my Grandma. She was so impressed with the one I made for my Mom, that I decided the one I was making for myself, I would finish up and give to her instead, for her birthday. Guess I better hurry, her birthday is in a couple of weeks!

I am off to find out when I can take some time off...then I am going to write a note to Mother Nature to let her know when my week off is, so she can work on nice weather for that week. Maybe if I give her plenty of warning, she will be able to accomodate me? LOL!

Shameless Plug

I am having an auction blitz in my eBay store this weekend. I am having 1-day auctions, that will begin listing @ noon eastern standard time. So far I have 8 listings planned, but once I actually start bundling the auction items up, I may have a few more. Auctions will be spaced out, so they won't all end on the same time on Sunday. I am still deciding on 15 or 30 minute increments between auctions.

Stop in and check it out if you get a chance! Bre-Aly Threads

I had quite a bit of success on the one I ran in February, to make room for new inventory, so hoping that it goes well again.

I can't figure out how I used to work part-time on the weekends. I don't have time to get everything done now that I am not working...how did I get it done before? I do have to admit though, I get more sleep and don't feel as tired, so I guess I was giving up sleep to get everything done before.

Yes...even with a new baby in the house, I am getting plenty of sleep. Now my daughter on the other hand...she may not be. This is the reward for me not trading (or killing) her when she was growing up and tested my limits, or is it revenge?...I get to roll over and cover my head when Aiden wakes up at night while she has to get up. *evil laugh* He and I have lots of bonding time in the evening and on weekends though, he is so much fun!

Aiden Bryce is here!

My grandson Aiden Bryce arrived at 11:31 on March 22nd weighing in at 6lbs 2oz. He is doing very well, and we are VERY excited he is here.

He decided he would arrive 3 1/2 weeks early, so he caught us off guard. My daughter's baby shower was scheduled for 3/24, so we had to put that on hold, and I didn't have a thing crocheted or knit for him yet! Of course, I am the biggest procrastinator in the world anyway, so this wasn't a great shock. I am sure he will have plenty of blankets and socks over the next several years. We had been busy getting the house ready for him though, by dusting and shampooing carpets and such, so at least that was done.

Having said all that, I haven't been checking blogs much in the past month or so. In addition to getting the house "baby" ready, I have also been busy trying to paint my bedroom, and move the furniture around to be more craft friendly. I knit or crochet while I wind down and catch up on whatever TiVo records for me each evening, but even that has been minimal.

No thread dyeing either. Hoping to get back on the dyeing wagon soon, and even give 4-ply dishcloth cotton a try. Still want to dye some smaller thread sizes as well. I found an awesome kitchen hutch on craigslist that is perfect for all of my thread inventory and dyeing supplies. So instead of having it strewn all over the house and bags of dyed thread waiting to be shipped sitting on my bedroom floor, I have plastic bins and shelves to put it all on and actually be *gasp* organized!

So now that things are settling down into a routine, I am hoping to get back to my hobbies. Nice thing about being a grandma, is that I get to cuddle and love on him, but I don't have to get up in the middle of the night, I can roll over and put the pillow over my head. Side note: I am going by GeeBee (G.B. - Grandma Brenda), because I am just not ready to be called "Grandma"...it was bad enough I turned 40 in November...I don't need to be called Grandma too!!! LOL

I haven't forgotten about my Pay It Forward gals either...good thing I have a year! But I should have some things ready to go out in the very near future.