Yes, this is being posted a week after I started writing it. Took me a bit to get the pictures up. Fresh new content is coming tomorrow.Last week, I spent most of my free time removing and replacing the floor in our kitchen and tiny half bath. My shoulders have finally recovered, but my hands still ache a bit. Kit thinks I'm crazy for pushing myself to get it done -- I did it in chunks so there was very little bare floor at any one time, so theoretically I could have let it go for a bit and given myself a rest. But my temperament is such that once I start a big project, I need to get it done or it drives me nuts, especially if it's something sort of unpleasant. If I don't finish it right away, chances are it will stay partly done for just about forever (witness the stair treads, the book, any number of craft projects and partially knitted items, etc. and so on). So anyhow, here's a picture of the floor in progress:
It's hard to tell in this pic, but the black and white tiles are repulsive and thus the ones that are being replaced. The new I-can't-believe-it's-not-slate tiles are the ones on the left there. All tiles are adhesive linoleum 12x12 squares. I got the new ones at Lowe's, for about $150, and I had about half a box of tiles leftover.Also last week, Becky "graduated" from preschool, which means I had to show up with a video camera and listen to her sing songs from Disney movies. She has not moved to another class or anything interesting like that. It was just the singing. But she looked cute, and that's the important thing, right?
Zack was also quite adorable.
Things to remember:
- When she first started throwing tantrums, Becky would fetch a pillow from the couch, carefully place it under her head, and then commence her tantrum. Zack, on the other hand, will just whack his head into the floor wherever he happens to be. We try not to let him stay on concrete if he's going to start wailing.
- Last week when I was driving them down the shore, we passed a cemetery. I don't recall ever having any sort of extended conversation with Becky about what exactly a cemetery is, but she has somehow deduced that a cemetery is a scary place. Because a cemetery is a scary place, she believes that trucks (which she is scared of because they make loud noises) live in the cemetery.
Mmmmm...fried brain...
Obligatory Etsy update: I just posted an
original sock pattern! It's called "Iunctio" and here are some pretty pictures:
Available for 6 bucks, and of course pattern support is included.
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About 2 months ago, I went to Home Depot to buy a couple of floor tiles to replace the cracked and peeling ones in our kitchen. Sadly, they had no black and white floor tiles available, so the subfloor continued to gradually expose itself. About 2 weeks ago, I decided the kitchen floor had deteriorated to the point that I just couldn't take it any more. We had company the first weekend after I decided this (the Fabulous O'Kulpells) and were traveling last weekend to an event which required both of us to cook (okay, not "required" but it's a big private gaming con and people like food so we took a bunch). So last week I went to Lowe's with a coupon and Kit's blessing and bought some new 12"x12" self-adhesive floor tiles. I didn't start last week (because of the cooking), but really, it's making me crazy, so I started last night (starting required Kit to be available for refrigerator moving or I probably would have started yesterday during the day and might be done -- or dead -- by now). I got about a third of the floor done...the easy third, which required very little cutting, but lots of scraping and peeling. My arms ache, my hands hurt (I have bruises and blisters on my right palm -- imagine the jokes you could make if I was a guy!) and I was ridiculously tired at bed time last night. Which of course means that Zack was up every couple of hours. He's got a miserable cough and just wanted his blankets, but still. Then Becky got up at 6:15 this morning. And wanted to walk into town for a bagel later in the morning. My brain is so tired it
hurts. I can't wait to watch the finale of Real Housewives of New Jersey tonight -- maybe being brain-dead will give some insight into their vapidness that has been escaping me until now.
Friday already?
I had planned several nice long posts this week, about the new product line I launched in the
Etsy store:
And about the children:
The realy cute outfit Becky's wearing was made for her by her Grandma Tedi, and it's freakin' adorable.
And about how awesome our friends Kevin and Peggy and their dogs are and how much we enjoyed having them visit last weekend. But now it's Friday, and I have to get the kids down to Grandma's, make sure we're all packed for heading up to Boston, and, you, know, get up to Boston. Because it's PegCon weekend! This is a once-a-year private gaming con that our friend Kevin throws for his wife Peggy (also our friend, and yes, the same Kevin and Peggy that visited last weekend) for their anniversary. Have I mentioned that they're awesome? This is the second most fun we have every year (the number one spot is still held by Otherworld, which is, incidentally, where we met Kevin and Peggy) and I'm really looking forward to it.
Button, button, who's got the button?
That would be me. If you're on one of my various social networks, you've seen me yapping about sorting buttons pretty frequently over the past few weeks. I'm finally done!
Part of the reason this took so long (besides the sheer ridiculosity of the number of buttons, which is really what necessitated the sorting in the first place) is that it's something I could only work on when no one else was home, and sometimes I want to use those hours for other things. But yesterday I promised myself I was going to finish, even if it was the only thing I got done yesterday (it wasn't).
That was also my first completed studio decluttering project. I have this big giant space down in the basement that is, space-wise, perfect, but because I am an idiot, is not so great with the humidity. So stuff has just been piling up in there. As part of my larger decluttering of the house, I want to get it all cleared out, the carpet taken up (this is a large part of the humidity problem, since it wicks moisture and holds it) and then waterproof it, floor it, install new light fixtures, get/build new (to me) furniture (don't fret, Kit -- I want to do this myself...I'm not making new projects for you), etc. Step one is going through and sorting/purging everything that's in there now. This is what it looks like today:
I'll post updates as things change. And now I must needs make more ice cream and fetch the wee ones from their naps.
It's really very big in France
Hey, look, new stuff in the
Etsy store! Check it out!
And now back to our regularly scheduled posting. I got a yen the other day to watch Fame (the TV show, not the movie, though I think the movie is fun, too) so I Netflixed it. Of course it's not available for instant viewing, so I'm having to actually put the DVDs into the player. How will I ever survive? I started a new disc today and suddenly noticed that I had the option to turn on not only English but French subtitles. Really? Someone took the time and expense to translate Fame the TV show into French? I'm not even sure how I feel about this. I mean really, it's not that good a show.
I love it, but my favorite movie is Hudson Hawk. I'm well aware that I love crappy TV. Who knew the Frenchies did too? Then again, they have (had?) that whole unhealthy obsession with Jerry Lewis thing, too, so I guess it sort of makes sense.
I'm settling into the whole Etsy store thing -- not a lot of merch moving yet, but comparing the stats (I see you, Riff Raff!) to an article I read about how these things tend to build and crescendo before sales really start happening, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm adding new stuff all the time, and will actually be adding a couple of whole new product lines later this week (including at least one sock pattern!). I was a little unsure how I would feel about production crafting, since I know I absolutely hate production knitting (don't look for any handknit goodies in there any time soon!), but I've apparently chosen my projects well and am really enjoying it so far. It would be great if this ended up being lucrative enough to be a real full-time business.
Speaking of knitting, it's been weird lately. I'm working on a sweater for one of the women who takes care of Zack (and who cared for Becky when she was a baby). It's a fun sweater to knit, but I'm at that point I always get to, where the knitting isn't quite done, but I'm done with the knitting, if you know what I mean. So last Monday and Tuesday I knitted on it like mad and got it to the point where I'm ready to do the bottom hem...and haven't touched it since. I didn't knit
at all for the rest of the week, even though I have about a gajillion swatches I need to be working on and a couple of pairs of socks I need to get done so I can publish the patterns, and a bunch of WIPs that I'd like to get done, too. Weird. I finally cast on one of the pairs of socks last night and am making good progress on those, but I need to get this sweater
done. I may have developed a bit of an aversion to it since I discovered just as I was getting done with the bit I wanted to get done Tuesday that I had twisted the sweater at the chest join, necessitating the removal of the pick up row from the provisional stitches at the shoulder. (Yes, I realize that made no sense at all unless you can actually see the sweater I'm working on. Think of it as baking an apple pie but forgetting to put in the butter until after you have the top crust on. It's solvable, and not even that difficult to solve, but annoying and scary for a minute there until you realize it's easy to solve.)
