A Frayed Knot

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

One year ago...

...right now I was extremely woozy and out of it due to some serious anesthesia, but also very excited and eager to meet the baby that had been growing inside me for the previous 38 weeks. Eight minutes later, I heard some very angry cries as Rebecca Jayne made known her displeasure at being so unceremoniusly removed from her nice, cozy home. My wonderful doctor lifted her up so that I could see her over the sheet before they whisked her away to be weighed, measured, and tested while I was repaired.

I didn't get to spend much time with her that first night, as both she and I required serious monitoring, but we spent lots of time together as the days went on. I treasure every wonderful moment with her...even at 2am when all I really want to do is sleep. Becky, you're a wonderful baby. Thank you for the joy you've brought to us, and for being such a good girl. I know you can't read this today (partly because you can't read yet, but also because it's past your bedtime), but maybe someday you will, and I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you. So there. Also, someday I will show this to all of your friends and you will just die of embarrassment.

Then and now:

Monday, April 23, 2007

A fan is born

Stupid Blogger (the site, not me). I started this post last week and then it disappeared so I've had to start it all over again. Grrr.

Weekend before last, the husband and I headed up to that bastion of baseball, Fenway Park. I don't honestly know how anyone can attend a ballgame at Fenway and not leave a Red Sox fan. I have had the pleasure of attending baseball games at several major league stadiums: Kaufman, back when it was just Royals' stadium; Shea; Yankee Stadium; Dodger Stadium; and Angel Stadium when it was Anaheim Stadium. I have also attending a number of other major league sporting events at a number of venues, from football in glorious Arrowhead to hockey in the pit that was Reunion Arena. Fenway Park puts all of them to shame.

It starts with the pregame spectacle. The streets are filled with fans in Boston regalia of every sort, from sweatshirts and caps to jerseys, jackets, and possibly underwear (we saw some in the extremely overpriced fan shop, but thankfully not on anyone. Though I actually would have been pretty thankful if the woman two rows in front of us had been wearing some. Shudder.). There are restaurants of every flavor lining the streets around the stadium -- we went for Mexican. I choose poorly off the menu, but Kit reports that his BBQ was quite tasty. Everyone is friendly, and not everyone is obsessed with the upcoming game, though enough are that if you want to have that discussion, you can.

When you enter the park, you are met with the sight of more concession stands than you have ever imagined, serving everything from Fenway Franks (highly recommended) to Fried Dough (exactly what it sounds like, and definitely not recommended -- a zeppole, it ain't) to Dunkin' Donuts to pizza, nachos, ice cream, and on and on and on. If you have a yen for something, they probably have a concession for it (unless it's cotton candy on the first day of Kids' Weekend -- ask me how I know). I don't think there's a piece of wall that's not covered with a concession of some sort, except where the bathrooms are (speaking of, A++ on cleanliness and non-grossness, especially for a sports venue).

You take your seats, and it feels less like a big league venue than any other major sporting event I've ever been to. It's like going to a Little League game, only with really, really excellent baseball. Everyone's in a good mood (mostly), there's singing along with things and cheering and it's just so much fun. Even the loud obnoxious guys behind us -- standard in every ballpark bleacher section -- were funny rather than truly obnoxious. They had been heckling some guys in MIT sweatshirts down front when we got there, and a little later on I overheard this conversation:

Guy 1: Hey, you know what we should ask those MIT guys? If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one to hear it, does it make a sound?
Guy 2: That's really more of a philisophical question.
Guy 1, after a long pause: You're right. Let's find some Harvard guys to ask.

That would have been the conversation of the day, had not the grandmother of the little boy in front of us come back with four beers (for three adults) and apologized to her grandson for not being able to get him the soda he had asked for because her hands were full. Really, now, I like my beer as much as the next fella, but come on, people -- take care of the children first, please.

As far as the game itself goes, the Sox won 8-0, but instead of being boring the way high-scoring shutouts often are, there were some really nice catches by Manny, and Big Papi hit us a homer. If it had been ten degrees warmer and sunny, it would have been the perfect baseball game. We were thrilled to get to share the afternoon with a couple of our favorite people, Dave and Ab -- both of them are just tons of fun to hang out with, and they've got a lovely little girl just a bit older than Becky, so we can trade war stories, which is nice.

We got a double treat when the couple we were house/dog sitting for (it was coincidental to the game -- they happened to be at another event that weekend but were sweet enough to let us crash at their pad) came home in the middle of the night and we got to spend most of Sunday hanging out with them. I had been so disappointed that we weren't going to get to see them -- they're another couple of our favorite people -- so it was really a nice suprise that they made it back and we could spend some time with them. Kevin, thank you for not making too much fun of my sense of direction. It is appreciated.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Long time no blog

Wow -- sorry about that. I had no intention of just sort of disappearing from the blogosphere there. Part of it is that work has been a leetle crazy lately, and partly because of that (but also partly because of my shiny new PSP), I've been leaving my laptop at work lately. I'm really trying to carry as little stuff as possible back and forth -- otherwise I end up laden down like a little donkey, and it's just a pain. Sometimes literally. So, anyway, back to blogging.

Welcome to Michelle (who came here after seeing the Yarn Harlot in the AYYAB2U shirt), and to Ramona #2, who is another Frayed Knot. Glad to have you both! Hi to Ramona #1 and thanks for the Easter wishes. I loved the cartoon and giggled the first time I read it...then it was open in one of my tabs for awhile and I read a few more times and realized about the fourth time that I actually hadn't gotten the joke before and it was even funnier. :)

I've been meaning to mention for awhile this sock pattern I came across recently. I can't remember how I found her...I think a link on the Yarn Harlot, maybe. Anyhow, go check out the Whiskers and Paw Prints pattern. I'm planning on breaking out the Lisa Souza Petroglyph for these...for the first pair, anyhow. I frankly cannot fathom how this pattern is not up there with Jaywalkers and Pomotamus as socks that everyone knows/blogs about and feels like they must knit at least once. They have what looks like some pretty challenging stitch patterns going on, and they're cute as hell (look at the picture of the bottom of the foot! Could you just die?!?!) To be fair, I feel no urge whatsoever to knit either Jaywalkers or Pomotamus. My judgment in these matters may be a tetch skewed.

Also, I won some yarn from Eve for helping her out with her research for her thesis on humour (it's spelled right -- she's Canadian). I had a heck of a time deciding, but finally went for a skein of Cider Moon Glacier in Pumpkin Pie.

Thanksgiving socks (scheduled to be done next Easter)! I had just gotten a skein of same in the Silver Pines colorway from Sheri over at The Loopy Ewe, and this is the first sock yarn that I have ever just needed to touch. I have not been able to bring myself to put the two skeins away with the other sock yarns that are patiently waiting for my attention...I'm just letting them sit there next to the couch so I can rub them on my cheek (and occasionally Becky and Kit's cheeks) whenever I feel the urge.

In knitting news, I got the first of my Dad's socks done (except for the heel, which is like an hour's worth of knitting, and I'll do both heels at the same time), and I'm hoping to get the other one done this weekend when we go up to Boston. 8 hours in the car plus several hours at the ballgame, plus no baby to take care of at night (though we will be keeping a watchful eye on the two sweet dogs we're going to be sitting for, but they're pretty self sufficient) equals LOTS of knitting time. I am also making progress on my stepmother's gift...except that now I've decided that I really want to give her the socks I'm making for the Hill Country Yarn design contest. The color is perfect for her, too, I think (not saying more because I know she and my dad read this). I started my mom's socks, too, but I'm going to have to rip them out because I'm pretty sure I don't have enough yarn for a nice pair. Not that she wouldn't appreciate little anklets, but I'd rather get something nice for the heels and toes and do up a nice pair for her. So that's what I'm gonna do. I've found a couple of stitch patterns to incorporate into the HCY pattern, so I'm going to try to get those charted tonight. I think both are going to require quite a bit of modification. At least it's not lace.

Finally (this is how I get you to read the whole thing), your Becky Fix!

She is, can you believe it, going to be a whole year old in a couple of weeks! I can't hardly stand it. She can hold her own bottle now; we're transitioning her to whole milk; and she's got the concept of "uh-oh!" down, but can only say the first syllable, which is pretty hysterical. I keep hearing, "Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!" from the kitchen when I'm washing her bottles and I peek in and see that she's dropped a toy and is looking for it.

This is her new friend, Tallulah Turtle, courtesy of Grandma Tedi. Tallulah giggles maniacally when you press her foot, and used to scare the pants off Becky, but now they're bestest buds and it's awfully easy to get big laughs and grins out of Becky when Tallulah's around.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Belle of the Ball

Last weekend, we travelled up to beautiful Woburn, MA, for the annual Fortunetide Ball. Aside from raising money for our favorite non-profit (Otherworld -- email me if you're interested in details), it's a great chance for us to get up north and see scads of our favorite people. I'm dragging Kit up there again in two weeks for a Sox game (birthday surprise gone wrong), and we will have the pleasure of sharing the day with the delightful Ab and Dave, and maybe even AJ, if she's up for it. I am excited about seeing a game at Fenway -- I love historical stuff, and also, deep down inside, I kinda want to be a Red Sox fan. So much less embarrassing than admitting you're a Royals fan. Well, except for when the Royals beat the Sox 7-1 on opening day. Hiyo! (Love you, Kit.)

Without further ado, the prettiest girl at the ball: