Jo Knits!

Halloween "03

~*~Happy Halloween!!!~*~

The kids LOVE to dress up and they were very eager for this day since November 1st last year! LOL! We had told them that when the leaves started to turn color it would be fall and that Halloween would be close by. They were ecstatic when the 1st leaves on trees starting changing to yellows and reds. Halloween, Halloween is soooooooooon! So today they get to dress up and see their little friends at the daycare and then tonight. We'll go trick or treating and us parents shall eat candy when the kids go to sleep. Don't worry, tomorrow I'll go buy a few bags of candy on reduction and they'll still have plenty. Those little chocolate bars, yum, yum! I can't wait! LOL!

STILL on my mission to buy some yarn, I am going to another yarn store today. Will I be treated like simply a deserving person? No need to offer me coffee when I come in a yarn store. Just a pleasant hello and NOT following me throughout the store would be nice!

Carl has the day off. Yippeeeeeee! So off to start the day with pancakes, I love them. :)

Skater mom

Once again a local yarn store visit confirms my deepest fears. Montreal has the worst customer service in yarn stores ever. Sure maybe I'm not your typical yarn shop customer, who cares!? I shall not steal your precious acrylic yarns, nor shall I smile to you when you follow me from one row to the next in your ridiculously small store. Why did you feel the need to leave customers at the paying counter just to see what I was up too? Do you really think my 4 year old would leave with a pattern book under her winter coat? Can't I please touch a few ball of yarn, compare prices and just enjoy my yarn shopping with you looking down on me? Hey, I'm 26yo YES I can knit, not that you would care. I had my Denise interchangeable needles that would make yu go nuts if you say them, I had some play money, that I was VERY eager to spend in your shop but NO! I do not need to feel like I don't deserve to buy yarn from your store. I shall go to a competitor's that might sell a tad more but at least, they smile, let me roam through the store, offer to help me find a particular color. I will not go back to the store with not-so-friendly ladies. I do not need the aggravation, sigh.... why can't I just find a decent yarn shop. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! ROFL! ;)

So no new yarn like wanted, for 2 days now I was eager to go buy some yarn, today is too hectic for us, so it shall wait until tomorrow. ACK! All I want is yarn. I really want to go on a weekend and scope Toronto's yarn stores. I want to see all the yarns I've heard about, I want to touch and feel it all, want to spend like crazy and knit yarns from TO for months to come. Hey, I can dream, maybe it will even happen. Oh yeah, did I say that dh might need to go to TO for work? Teehee! He better bring me along.

Did anyone hear that Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz have split up? They are figure skaters (2003 Ice Dance Champions), not a couple! LOL! Anyway, I'm pretty sad as they were great to see skate. I just saw this on TV last night as Shae-Lynn was talking about how she tried to convince Victor to keep on skating but he's done. Miss Bourne is helping out skaters now though, she hopes she can share her knowledge to make others be their best. :) As a mom of a little skater, I'm sad that Zoe won't get to follow Bourne & Kraatz skating. Of course that does mean we shall see younger skaters rise to the top. In fact in november there is a local skating competition, I'll bring Zoe to see it and she'll oooh and aaah over the kids spinning, jumping and the cute costumes on ice. I'm so happy Zoe likes her skating lessons, she's so cute, fall down ansd gracefully smiles as she gets up! LOL! She loves to stay at the rink after her lesson to see the older teens skate. I think it's good that she realizes that even the greatest skaters fall from time to time. This will sound pretentious but my little daughter seems to have done the most progression in her skating level. She is pretty lucky because almost every lesson she's had was one on one with her teacher. Even at the end when the younger skaters play a game. Zoe and her teacher keep on doing her program, I know Zoe enjoys it and doesn't even miss the games. I think it's simply because she loves getting undividied attention by someone! ;) Oh and Lucas LOVES seeing his sister skate and can't wait for his own lessons! LOL! He's too cute, I am eager to get him to start skating to see if he enjoys it before paying for lessons for him. Hey maybe both kids could become the next ice dance champions? Ok, maybe not but we are a skating family and proud of it! LOL! ;)

p/s: The coaches loved seeing Zoe's costume at the lesson last night. She dressed up as a skating champion wearing not one but TWO gold medals. What can I say, we are greedy!

hugs,

My 1st custom knitting order!

What a beautiful morning and I can bet it'll be a fun day too! :) I got woken up with breakfast in bed by the two kids. I need to go out today and buy some yarn! Told ya it would be a nice day. ;) I want to start on Zoe and Lucas's felted mittens and I don't have enough wool.

Yesterday, I got my very 1st knitting order! LOL! I constantly, ok not really but often say no to knitting for others, as I find I never have time to knit all the projects I want. Also I feel insecure about my knitting, my finishing touches aren't very professional and I would be afraid to let someone down if they found a loose end on a finished project. There's the cost factor too, how much are handknit socks or hats really worth. When I tell people how much Regia yarn cost I'm afraid they'll choke! LOL! It is expensive and I know most aren't ready to shell that kind of money for such little (in there eyes) items. Anyway I am not even charging them so no need to go copyright crazy on me. It is flattering though to know that I have two hats to knit for people that I have never met. LOL!

Anyway, so back to dh.... he said that this past weekend he was complimented on the hat he was wearing. I guess he buffed with pride and told them I knitted it 'cause I need to start on making two. One for his boss and one for his boss's wife! OYE! Can you feel the pressure! LOL! Man, I am SO nervous!!! I believe dh's hat was made in 100% acrylic too, poor guy. I didn't know better back then. ;) So now I need to find a good quality machine washable wool yarn that would be suited for hats. This is the pattern I had made the hat from: Basic Cabled Cap. Notice where it says revised on March 6th, I knitted the hat only days before this review! LOL! The hat doesn't look too funny, so it must not be a major revision. This is the hat I learn to make cable on too! I was so excited to learn how to make them that I did a hat completely covered with cables! LOL! ;)

Oh, another high five goes to dh who bought me a surprise before coming home tonight, just 'cause! :) I am now the VERY proud owner of the Grease DVD! I LOVE this movie and we can now read dvd's on our computer so this is the 1st one in our collection. I couldn't be happier as I have loved this movie for more than 15 years. When I was young my babysitter would put this movie on and I would be glued to the tv until my mom was back from where ever! LOL! I was such a difficult child to babysit! ;) Anyway, I think it was very thoughtful of dh to buy a little surprise like this out of the blue. It ain't perfect but I know he cares and that's the best part! Maybe I should start hinting about Evita! LOL! I have a thing for musicals though I have never seen West Side Story nor did I see Chicago. Oh anyone remember the movie Annie!? With Carol Burnette in it as a mean orphanage provider or something!? I just saw it at the movie rental place, I haven't seen this movie in soooooooo long. Not sure it would be age appropriate for my 4yo though.

Anger management

Last night was eery, we saw a man fighting with a woman on a very busy street, no one seemed to notice this happening. Dh crossed the street and went to talk to the couple, he asked the lady if she was ok and the man sure wasn't happy to see him intrude like that. They did leave together, I felt so helpless, the lady said she was ok and we checked up on them for a few blocks. I didn't feel appropriate calling the police as by the time they would even make it the couple would be gone and then they'd come to my house for a statement or something. UGH! I felt so bad though, at least Carl did what he could, instead of just standing there and watch, like the other man that didn't move when he saw the fighting going on. I have been lucky to have never experienced any domestic violence in the past or present.

Then to relax..... we watched the movie Anger Management. LOL! ;) It was a wacky movie with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. We did end up being quite amused by the movie and then boom went to sleep and slept all night! Did make a weird dream about how my french comprehension wasn't very good. Hun? We speak mostly/only french at home. How could I not understand it more than a child!? LOL! Oh I had even got myself some Sangria to make sure I'd fall asleep, alast it shall be saved for another evening. LOL!

Knitting, frogging, more knitting and yet, more frogging aka nothing to show off! ;)

Lovely sunday

Got up, didn't remember if we were changing clocks to an hour forward or backward, luckily my computer does it automatically, so I knew to 'rewind' the clocks an hour back. I am SO fed up of this insomnia, it's driving me crazy. Also last night both kids jumped into bed to sleep with me, I just want a break from my whole life right now. My mom's mad at me, my boyfriend is still away for the weekend and I can't even sleep and get rested. I have a headache that feels like someone drilled a whole on the side of my head, my eyes hurt so much I can't stand keeping them open. Going to sleep just isn't an option right now. Zoe is asking permissions to my mom as she knows I would say no for things, of course my mom says yes to her. Lucas keeps on screaming at the top of his lungs 'cause he thinks it's funny. It's raining outside and I don't feel like walking at a turtle's pace just to take a walk with the kids.

Truthfully today, I feel like running away, going somewhere I can peacefully sleep in a big comfy bed with a fluffy comforter and hot cocoa to drink and just stay in silk pyjama's all day! ROFLOL! Of course I own nothing from this list, not sure I would even like silk jammies but hey, I can dream for a day.

Now off to learn how to do the two strand tubular cast on. Which of course I don't get at all, tried all evening last night and I just don't get it. ARGH! I hate when knitting aggravates me! LOL! ;)

Maybe the rest of the day will get better...

Silly things.

So here finally a pic about knitting. Just to prove that yes I have indeed knitted something! :-P All I need to do now is to do the seam on the sweater and booties. Still have yarn though, might add a hat to the set. ;)

I've noticed more an more comments on blogs I visit with the name Jo, hey! I realise that I am not the only Jo who knits but don't want people to confuse me with others. Is my signature ~Jo~ enough for people to remember that's me or should I start signing JoKnits or ~JoK~ so that there are no confusion!?

Super hero dh woke me up at 5:30am this morning... why? He found ELMO!!!!! I am so happy! LOL! Especially since he is going away for work this weekend. UGH! Not something I was hoping for but he might, just might get 4 days off next week. Which of course, once again, I am not holding my breath for. Sigh... At least I got Elmo to keep me company.

I was reading the Fall '03 issue of Interweave Knits and I think I might try to knit a hard project.... p.108 Colorwork hat and mittens by Rebecca Harris. The set seems so comfy! LOL! Yes, I can say that from the pic! ;)

hugs,

Elmo and me! :)

For the past two nights I can not sleep, tossing and turning in my bed and I get up exhausted and have no energy to go on with my day. Why is that? I lost my Elmo!!! YES, I, as a grown up sleep with a red monster every night! He is my best friend in the whole wide world, I don't remember when I fell in love with Elmo but it has been at least 10 years ago, maybe even 15. I know he really is only a puppet but since the 1st time I saw him, he was my friend. I do know this is really silly but I will never stop loving Elmo nor will ever fight with him! LOL! ;) In the 1st months I was with Carl he drew me an Elmo with a pencil and it hung near my computer for years. When I was pregnant he built a little shelf and painted Elmo on it. I even teased him that if our 1st child was a boy he would be called Elmo. HA! She turned out to be a girl and we called her Zoe, in honor of Elmo's bestest of friends! LOL! Hey, Elmo's birthday is February 4th (NO we don't celebrate it, silly reader!), Lucas was born Feb. 17 but if he was born 13 days earlier he would he Elmo as a second name, instead we named our son Lucas James! LOL!

So now I miss my special friend, the one that sleeps between me and dh when we fight or the one I cuddle up too when dh is out of town overnight. Where oh where did my Elmo go? I will buy another one if he is not found by this weekend! My sleep depends on it! LOL! I kiss him goodnight every single night. It's a way to talk my problems away before going to sleep. It is silly but it's like having a friend by my side. So now I guess I will soon get the 3rd version of Elmo sleeping by my side. This might all sound really silly but I love Elmo and he loves ME!

There now you know my little secret. ;)

Had crafting class today, wasn't very productive as I was dead beat by 1pm. It seems that I did entertain the class by laughing at every silly thing and crying because I laughed so much. So then the teacher and other moms were saying silly stuff on purpose just to see me laugh/cry. I had a blast! LOL! After went to the Gap to get Zoe's 1st school backpack (yes we are a tad early but gotta love sales, this from a mom who bought Christmas girls back in july). They had those backpack that you can clip the lunch bag too but didn't have them in the colors we wanted. Dh to the rescue, he found another store that had the set in red AND the bag was at a lower price too! LOL! Go dh! ;)

Ok I should talk about knitting but now really, I am too beat. LOL! Maybe tomorrow! :-P

Baby Chloe, finally! ;)

Well the weekend I had planned didn't go at all like I exepcted! LOL! Carl did have to work on saturday but surprised me by not needing to go on monday. It was nice to have him home but then the computer died (blew up seems to graphic). ;) We changed ISP at the same time as finding a new working pc, our tv has not worked in two days but should be ok for tomorrow. I tell ya customer service people are afraid of dh! LOL! When he calls people move into action and he does get what he wants! ;)

Baby Chloe Sage is now born into this world. She made her big arrival on monday, october 20th around 4am. She looks perfect at 19,5 iches long and around 7lb. Miss Chloe sure took her time to meet her big online family impatiently awaiting for her arrival. ;) So a big welcome to the world Miss Chloe Sage, you sure took your time to come greet all the loving people around you. ;) It did give me a chance to knit up a sweater for you, which will be mailed real soon. You still have time to grow before actually fitting in it though! LOL!

Just talked on the phone with my friend Veronik, it is so nice to get such a friendly call in the middle of the day. :) Of course we talked about knitting and even "created" a few designs while talking. LOL!

Well off to knit up some booties for Chloe, it's from a new pattern I'm trying out. :)
hugs,

EZ baby, easy baby!

EZ baby surprise progress: half of it is done, this pattern is lovely towork on. Now I have to make a few more pregnant friends, so I can knit this again. ;)

Honesty and communication can do wonderful things. Thrust (LOL! Yes, I have been a breastfeeding mom!), so I was saying trust might be a hard thing to regain, I think we are on a good road to it. Last night dh and I went for supper only him and I, I honestly talked about many issues I wouldn't normally, he now knows where I stand and he reassured me that the road ahead will be including the both of us as a couple. Surprise, he has the weekend OFF, no working for a BIG two days. The kids will love it and so will I. It'll be fun to do the groceries with him (I don't cook but I LOVE go out grocery shopping) then we'll make a big batch of spagetti sauce, sure you're all invited to come and see my cook for once. LOL! Please do call first, so we can set the table. ;) I even have a little project of dh and I building a lamp together. I did one in high school and thought it was a lot of fun learning about electricity. Since he's been learning more about it on the construction job sites, I thought it would give him a chance to show off a bit. teehee! Hopefully we'll have a bit of sun in the weekend, so we can go rake and play in the fallen leaves.

Things are looking up, I may take the weekend off of the computer completed (ACK!) so we can reconnect as a family. Also we are changing our internet access over the weekend or early next week, don't worry if I don't post for a few days. Eventually, I will be back. ;)

hugs, here's a special message for my blog readers ROFL!!!!

life.. :(

Another day and another drama is playing in our life. I realize this is a seasonal thing for us but right now it is extremely hard to live in the same house as dh.

The EZ Baby Sweater is coming along great already around 40% completed, maybe I'll just knit those sweater until I die! LOL! I like to knit something and be successful at it. This is going well, easy to following, I understand the pattern all on my own and it knits up quickly! :)

I really am not feeling well so that's my post for today. My computer is acting up also, it takes about 30 minutes of reloads for it to finally load and work to a minimum so I can go online. We sure don't have the funds to have it repaired right now once the computer act up more or blows up something inside of it. That's just the icing in my day.

uh..... yeah, yeah, hugs to you all.

p/s: Here are two posts I wrote in my blog a year ago. I think it's fun to see how a year can change someone, sadly enough. Our lives are almost the same for us. Oct. 14, '02 and Oct. 16, '02 I left them un-edited, even though I wrote some things, I might have not if it was written today.

50$ and baby knits

Yesterday the kids, my mom and I, went shopping downtown and bought nothing I was out for! LOL! I resisted buying the backpack at Gap when I saw they had at least ten of them, when friday there was only one. Then as a spur of the moment thing we popped up at Veronik's door. The kids had a blast playing together and my mom, V and I got some grown up talk going on! ;) Only once you get kids and stay home with them do you value the opportunity to talk to other adults in a day. LOL! Carl joined us there and even brought a yummy homemade seafood pizza with him. This was one of those "I'm so proud he can cook" moment! teehee! We were all so hungry, it was nice for him to bring good food along. The kids sure were happy to finally see daddy too, they hadn't seen him all weekend.

Now tonight..... at 10pm I get a call, it's that 'dh' of mine (not dear!) once again he will have not come home like he said, his cell phone isn't working and there is now way to reach him. So finally after waiting a few hours for him, I decide I have enough. We (my mom and I) went along with our lovely evening, the kids were really happy, we went out and they were so well behaved (we were lucky). LOL!

As for my morning, I had a BLAST making 50$ in two hours. :) How you asked? By doing what I do best, be opinionated. LOL! I participated in a survey about advertizing, it was so much fun. Before it started, in the waiting room I was knitting away on a baby bootie. I could feel the looks on me but instead of being shy, I just smiled and kept on knitting. Once the survey started and after saying that knitting was one of my little pleasures in life. Others said how they were impressed seeing my fiddle with the 5 needles at once. I was beaming! :) So the concensus was that American ads were funny but most were done with the cookie cutter 'model'. The young and cute girl saying how eyelash g-r-o-w when you apply this brand of mascara and that hair product ads just aren't really convincing! LOL! Ok, we did talk about mostly french ads and talked much more about those. We were taped and people were watching and listening in our survey comments from a 'tricked' mirror. I just had so much fun and can't wait until they call me back to be a part of another survey. :)

Now, what about knitting? Well said bootie has been completed and sadly it is HUGE, that's the kind of thing that will make me wonder if I can really knit or what!? Gosh, can't I even knit the most basic item, a baby bootie? Sheesh! I did get courageous and started the EZ Baby Surprise sweater anyway, hopefully, it'll come out better. ;)

Last pic is simply of little stitch markers I made myself, I could make these all day. I still don't have the hang of wrapping the wire around the little headpins but they are usable and I love them. :) Oh, I found coilless safety pins locally. For once I found something knitting related at somewhere I didn't expect. LOL! Anyway, here I was jumping up and down in the beading section of the crafting store. This store has a total of 50 yarn balls and that's about it, half of it is acrylic and the other half is Paton's Classic Wool. So I got the yarn for Zoe's felted mittens, now I just need to knit them. They will wait until I finish the baby sweater as the pregnant mom is about to burst! ;)

hugs, wednesday is a very "busy bee" day for me.

Thanksgiving monday

On the insistence of my friend Amy, I am posting a new entry! LOL! Oh, the pressure I am under from friends, I tell ya! ;) I started this beautiful day eating some french toast, lovingly made by my mommy! :) Of course the kids whom had already ate stole many bites frommy plate. The weather outside is gorgeous, the leaves are slowly falling on the ground and I just love how fall smells. Carl is about to come home from his weekend working out of the city, the kids will be pleased to see him for the day.

Haven't done much knitting since last week, more like swatching and not being happy with it, then frogging/ripping it out and starting over again. On friday I went to Veronik's (that's her name, not a hip boutique) LOL! She is designing *ME* a sweater that will actually fit and uses my gauge to make sure that the pattern works for me and not the other way around! From now on the blue sweater that I will knit will be referred as Blueberry Avery!

My friend Crystal is still pregnant but baby will be sure to come out to play soon enough. At least mommy is back into knitting, so I'm sure baby girl is just giving her a chance to complete her projects. Then she'll come into the world and get to wear something very cute. My little contribution for baby's wardrobe will be a Baby Surprise sweater and stay-on baby booties from the Knitting for Baby book (written by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas). If she's lucky she might even get a hat! LOL!

Yesterday I searched online for instructions to make a swift, yes I could borrow one from a friend BUT in my little quirky way, I thought it might be fun the "build" something. Maybe dh will even let me play with his toys, I mean tools. teehee! Here are the instructions that I am inspiring myself from. There might be a few different designs before I end up with something usable but I think that's half the fun! :) You'll notice that the instruction's design looks nothing like the swift pictured either, ha! ~Jo~ feel adventurous today!

Oh and keep your fingers crossed that the Baby Gap store still has that bag I was looking at a few days ago, I got the OK from my mom to go and get it. Seems she is tired of me talking about said bag for the last few MONTHS! LOL! Hey, I was waiting for it to go on sale! ;) Oh and I feel like making chili tonight. HA! Me cook? Only a few times a year but my chili is awesome! Ok, well I like it, since I put what *I* like in it. Fall hits our house and soups and chili are what's in season for us.

hugs, enjoy the day

Courage, swatchy

Courage

I started a sweater for Zoe, it was going well and now, I'm in a funk, not sure I want to keep at it. Starting some swatching for a new yarn also. Well actually this yarn was a pain. I wound it because I could see three ends to it, well I ended making 3 balls of yarn with a 6 once skein. SHEESH! At least I'm happy to know right from the start. I'd show you pics of the yarn but it's pastels which won't show up much anyway. Also not sure I want my might-go-in-labor-at-any-second friend to see what I am starting yet. ;) The color of the yarn is Angel print, isn't that precious though? LOL!

Here's my little non-knitting bit of the day.

It takes courage to become a parent or maybe it is a grain of craziness. LOL! To actually want to submit yourself to the needs of a child can be overwhelming at times. There are no breaks, the pay isn't why we do it and the gratitude isn't always shown by the kids. So why do people still want to become a parent and stay up until the middle of the night just 'cause we are worried, go to a sleeping child and see how they are breathing. Walk around on the tip of our toes, just to sneeze and wake them up as we are about to go to sleep. Worry about the sniffles, fever, if they are nice to others, hope they make good friends and take the best decisions. Accept when they decide to do stuff we would rather them not. Encourage them even if we know they will make mistakes to learn on their own.

What can I say, I love being a mom (some days more than others LOL!) and I would do it all over again BUT maybe I'd change a few things. ;) I am starting to realize what it means when people say, "if only I were younger and knew everything I know now". I see many occasions slip by and know that if the same events happened in ten years, they wouldn't bother me one bit. I need to grow up, in my head I am still 16yo but I can't go back in time, nor would I want too. ;) If only I knew then what I know now....

Wishing a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend to the Canadians out there. :)

quicky

Mommy & Coffee meeting this morning, I started a new knitting project in their hornor! LOL! Had this Gawd awful acrylic that was screaming, make me a sweater so it is on the needles. I am trying out the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. It's a very basic and easy pattern which is why I am trying it out. LOL!

Dh had the day off yesterday, we spent most of the afternoon shopping just him and I, it felt good to spend time with him. He should surprise me with another day off before the end of the week too. :) I bought some rubber markers at the hardware store and will decorate them with beads bought from WalMart, I also got myslef some pliers that will ease me beading experience. I think they're called beading plyers, anyway they are smaller and I can't wait to try them. Dh got to buy a few tool for work, he was please as can be, if only we could have found him a warm construction worker's jacket. Even Value Village didn't have anything of mild interest.

Oh and thanks to the government of Canada for making this all possible! HA!

I decided to frog the 'continental' sampler that I was making using the pattern from the Sweater Workshop. I'm just not interested in doing it anymore, so why keep on working on it. Also I have dropped knitting continental for now as it is SO slow. I tried doing some ribbing and my tension is so loose you couldn't even notie it. So english style it is for me for now on, at least I know how to continental if needed.

hugs,

shawl and throw

I am only a few rows away from ending the main part of my shawl!!! I am so excited, then I will pick up on two sides and keep on knitting and soon enough this shawl will be DONE! I couldn't be happier, I really like knitting this and might, just might save up for a Colinette Absolutely Fabulous Throw At around 250$ Canadian, YES, that would be an expensive project but some things are just plain worth it! Also on this UK Kangaroo site the kit is 52£ which converts to les than 120$ Can. of course shipping would be pretty steep from the UK and then paying customs fees but still, could it be worth it? I think knitting a throw is less scary to me than knitting actually clothing, as a throw doesn't need to fit on anyone! lol! More so it is comfy to watch tv with! teehee! You can click on the Colinette colorways to have a bigger image, I really like that Amethyst one. :)

Last night I went out with dh for a little 'romantic' supper, well at least with no kids in tow. It was nice, he did realize that not being home much was affecting everyone but he also knows that working on this weekend contract is worth the money. I simply said, "ask the kids if it's worth it!" I think he got what I meant. Even at our poorest the love in this family is what made us go through tough times. Money comes and goes but the bonds we are building with the kids will last a lifetime. Teeny tiny bonus, he might have a day off this week, HA! I'll make sure to keep him busy on that day. ;)

hugs,

6 years

6:57am. The phone rings, it never rings at this time, so I ran across the hallway get in the kitchen praying the kids won't get up. Hello? "Happy 6 year anniversary, honey!" WOW! Is it worst that he called so early or the fact that he working for the 14th day in a row and still took time to call me to say that. That sure was weird, if the 7th year is the toughest one in a relationship, we sure have a bumpy ride coming soon then.

I finished my blueberry swatch, that's the name of my sweater! LOL! Yes, I named my sweater 'cause I like the color, the pattern is really called Accordion. I'll wash it and hope the gauge doesn't change 'cause *I* got gauge on the 1st swatch, now how surprising is THAT? I never get gauge usually.

Slowly knitting on my shawl too, baby alpaca is so soft to work with, it truely is a pleasure. I think I like knitting lace, well at least simple lace. My pattern has mostly yo's, k2tog and some 'sl2 knitwise, k1 and psso'. Also each row is easy to remember so I don't need to constantly refer to the chart. It's silly how I didn't touch it for a month just because I had to join a new ball of yarn. Silly, silly me. ;)

Next weekend is Canada's thanksgiving weekend, I wonder if dh will still be working out of town and sleeping there again. Doesn't his boss care that he has a family and he is just not seeing his loved ones anymore!? Gosh, it sure is hard for me and of course on the kids too. Daddy is their hero after all. I had so many hopes that this fall dh and I, we would get a little weekend away from home together, just to reconnect. Just to spend some time and actually get to talk for once, no not about if the kids brushed their teeth before bed. I just want some adult talk and need to know some things on our relationship. Oh well, maybe some day we'll have time to talk, how hard can it to find time though? UGH!

Jo's 1st sweater!

In the picture leaves were lovingly placed by the kids! LOL! So much going on at once. I bought yarn for my very first sweater, I couldn't be more excited but then I thought that I might get overwhelmed by the numbers of projects that I have already started. I'm less than an inch away from knitting the toe part of my 2nd Broadripple sock. Finally I joined a new ball of yarn to my shawl, it was waiting for me to get over the fear of trying a russian join. LOL! I still am s-l-o-w-l-y knitting away on the continental sampler.

Dh will be working out of town all weekend once more, it bums me out but what can I do? At least he's got a job, I know that but he's been working for 12 straight days now, it would be nice to have him home too. He still has a bad cough that wakes him up in the middle of the night for the past week, you can tell he's dead tired too. He needs rest and he's missing his daughter's skating lesson. At least we were lucky enough that he did make it to Zoe's evaluation lesson, he was really proud to have been there and witnessed our daugther's first ever evaluation for anything. LOL!

Enjoy the leaves turning colors, it's a beautiful sight!

p/s: Does anyone know WHY I can't see my blogrolling links anymore? It had been driving me crazy all week. I reinstalled the code many times and still nothing! UGH! I miss visiting my friends.

Balance

Last night I learned about myself, in a very simple way but this was new to me. You never know how you will react as a parent until something happens and then well, you..... react! LOL! Yesterday was Zoe's 5th skating lesson and tadada.... she had a TEST! Oh my goodness but she didn't prepare, I thought to myself. Oh dear, she wasn't too impressed by the coach that was grading her test and even made a funny grin while she talked. That's my girl! LOL! Zoe had to skate forward half the width of the ice, then they skated backwards, the coach chuckled as she saw Zoe twist on place. LOL! She did eventually back up while twisting though, Zoe jumped and did two spins, one skating and one walking on ice. Also she had to 'shave' off some ice with her skates. Then, it was over, that's it and just like that the testing was over.

How come there was a test? I sure didn't know about it, my blood pressure went sky high while she was under the watchful eye of the head coach. Then another little skater got to do her test and she proudly got a badge. That's when I realised, HEY! I never saw Zoe get a badge.... oh no, my poor girl will surely notice the high fives the skater next to her is getting and the lovely red badge she just received from her teacher. Oh well, Zoe's already occupied making "waves" with her skates, skating around objects and just doing her thing. The last 5-10minutes of each lesson all the 1st year skaters play a game together, it's fun to see the kids all interacting together, they seem so happy to skate and play around the ice. Oh and once the class was done, what did she proudly show me? Her very first skating badge! Yup, she got it and her teacher came to join us after the lesson to say that Zoe did very well on her testing. They wanted her to get started on the next level right away as she was already mastering the 1st level (they don't want to hold her back in a level that is too easy for her). She explained to us what the badges meant (#1 being for balance) and that there are 7 in this CanSkate program. Zoe will be tested again in december and march. Her current teacher will only stay with her until she reaches the 3rd level, it was comforting for us to know that she will be with Zoe for the whole season. I really like the teacher and I think that's really important too. :) Notice the mittens, done JUST in time for her class.

Yesterday I also noticed something, Zoe is really into dancing, she loves it, doesn't walk anymore she dances from one side of the room to the other, even while crossing the street, she glides, that girl does not walk. She is happy, loves shaking her stuff when music is on. I want to play on that, though I can't dance at all! LOL! She loves doing yoga, so yoga it is. Today after a too long break I will start exercising. She can be my yoga buddy, I know she'll encourage me to do it everyday too. Then again maybe it's time for mommy to learn how to dance. ;)

p/s: Zoe is 4 years old and today she is my hero, I will try to look at life through her eyes for once. She is such a happy child, eyes always beaming with pride, a smile constantly reminding you that life is wonderful and a heart of gold. Here's what she told me just before going to bed last night: "Mommy, thank you for letting me take skating lessons. When I grow up, I want to teach skating to other kids." She's so sweet! :)

PH finale

Last night, for the very 1st time I watched "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter", this is John Ritter's last work before leaving Earth. Boy do I feel like a dork, this show made me laugh and I feel like I missed so much by not watching it previously. I just went to their website and learned that the show won't be cancelled (good!). Quoting the website: "Future episodes will then take viewers into the Hennessy household as they experience the loss of a beloved father and construct a new life." I think it's wise, no one could replace him and it'll give the show some new challenges I'm sure. I hope it does stay funny though, I truely enjoyed watching it.

For those who have smaller kids, did you know John is the voice behing Clifford the Big Red Dog? I used to watch Three's Company(you can see some clips on the show and hear the theme songs too) when I was younger, I still remember it played at 5:30pm right before supper. At 5 o'clock I'd be watching Cheers. You know, 'where everybody knows your name'. Yes, I have watched TONS of tv shows in my life! LOL! I used to skip school when I knew somethingexciting would be happening on General Hospital. lol!

So my little day goes something like this, morning, mommy & coffee group aka knitting circle except I'm the only one knitting. LOL! Then groceries, we keep running out, how funny is that? Evening is Zoe's 5th skating lesson, I can't wait to go freeze myself in the bleachers, good thing coffee is cheap there. OH and last but surely NOT least, it's tonight the final episode of Paradise Hotel, which couple shall win the mystery prize? Dave and Charla, Scott and Holly or..... Keith and Tara! oooooh the excitement! LOL!

hugs,