Stitching Away

This past week has been more full than I had originally anticipated!

C went off to Misha's house to potty train (and it was a very successful venture, I might add....THANK YOU, MISHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I had a laid back list of things I wanted to accomplish. I probably could have, too, if it weren't for the fact that I felt like being so lazy the first couple of days. I did a whole lot of nothin'! And then, sadly, something completely unexpected came up; Misha's dad was admitted to the hospital for cardiac reasons. There was a lot of emotion and uncertainty there for a while, so I went down to her house on Wednesday to pick up C early, and ended up staying at her house overnight with A in tow (which means that yes, he missed a day of school, lol) for moral and emotional support. After a lot of prayers and a lot of waiting, we found out that it was a heart attack, and after spending the day with Misha on Thursday, A, C and I all headed back home. (To those of you wondering, he is doing much better now and is at home, though he has a lifestyle overhaul to put into action, and it won't be easy. Any and all thoughts and prayers for her family are appreciated!)

So last night I actually got around to working on the crafting I'd put off at the beginning of the week. I finished the hat for the friend of a friend that just started chemo (I'm hoping to get some better pictures before I get it sent off):

It's not actually quite that dark of a purple, though it is dark, and I hate that you can barely see the stitch definition in the photo. (There are swirls that go all the way up the hat.)

Since I completed that one, I began on another hooded scarf that I was commissioned to do. :) The yarn is super soft, and it's working up quicker than I expected! (I don't generally do well with monotonous knitting, but this time, it's not so bad! LOL I'm already over 5" into it!):

As to the blanket that I started a few posts back (which will be sent to Tammy for her Prayer Blanket Challenge), it's growing at an enormous rate!

It's already 36" across (which is the smallest it should be, as it could end up going to anyone from the age of toddler to teen), but I think I'm going to add on about another 4" or so and then do a little "border" or sorts, color scheme-wise. I am loving how it's turning out!

That massive spider is still in my craft room, and I'm still too chicken to take it on...but I can't be mad at The Instigator for not killing it yet, either...because he got me a brand new computer last weekend! :D He had one built for me that is better than the little HP slimline one I previously had (which wasn't powerful enough to play WoW on effectively), and I am very happy with it! And on top of that, I'd made a comment a week or so ago that I needed a chair that sat lower because I ended up hunched over at my desk all day due to the correlation between where my eye level is and my monitor...so yesterday, he brought me home a little stand for my monitor that raised it up, and while my posture still leaves much to be desired, lol, I'm not constantly rubbing my neck and shoulders from the knots that formed from my previous situation. Hooray! :D Okay, now I'm going back to my crafting...

A slight change of plans...

So it seems (alas!) that I will  not be able to achieve everything on my list in the previous posting. C is not going to make it to the weekend without his mommy. lol He has done phenomenally in the area of potty training, and is officially in "big boy underwear." He has, however, begun to pull out all the stops with Misha. He's showing his dramatic flare, and he's showing it hard! LOL Everyone that tells me my children are oh-so-sweet gives me looks of disbelief when I reply with a snort and an "only when they want to be." But it's soooooooo true. Misha even called me and said she doesn't know how I don't go insane! Between C and The Instigator and A's tantrums....Where on earth she even got the notion that I'm not insane, I have no clue. LOL But the clincher in not waiting it out until the weekend is this: Yesterday, he asked Misha why his Mommy doesn't want him anymore. I will not lie, it was hard to not cry when I heard that. (And had The Instigator not been sitting across the room, watching and waiting for the tears to start falling so he could poke fun at me, I would have cried!)

So tomorrow (since we try to go down to Ramstein on Thursdays anyway, for The Instigator to go to his martial arts class), we will be going down and picking up C. It will be interesting to see how he reacts...my mom keeps throwing this story up at me about when I was in Sunday School one time (probably about C's age), and she came to pick me up afterward, I yelled "MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!" and proceeded to tear across the length of the room, arms spread open, and threw my myself at her, wrapped my arms around her legs and slid down to the floor, hugging her. So yes, I totally get where my boys come by their dramatic flare. And I will admit it. (Mostly because I have to. Anyone that knows me or my husband for more than 5 seconds would be able to pin that one on me.) I would laugh if C did the same thing (or something similar), and am considering video taping the event to have evidence, just in case he does behave similarly!


So as that gives me one to one and a half fewer days without him, some of my list is just not going to be accomplished. I spent all day yesterday doing a lot of nothing and being incredibly lazy...I didn't have to feed a little mouth or change a stinky butt (nor will I have to do the latter again, once he's back!!!) or repeatedly tell my child to stop running in the house. I didn't have to set a good example by eating healthy, so my lunch was apple pie. (It was also my snack, in both the morning and afternoon! LOL) I cycled one load of laundry through and put away dishes and started loading up the dishwasher, but stopped before all the dishes were in there (telling you! Lazy!), and I played WoW. A lot of WoW. But on my already level 85 character, not my level 36  character. LOL So sadly, I will not be catching up on laundry. I might get close, but it won't be done before tomorrow night. Nor will my "toon" reach 40 by my self-imposed "deadline." I did read (quite a bit, actually, though I won't be finishing the book before tomorrow night, either), and I have been ridiculously loud and obnoxious with my music, singing along at the top of my lungs. Shockingly, I haven't touched the crafting. I thought for sure that was what I would snatch up the second I had a moment to myself, but I'm beginning to think crafting is what keeps me from going ballistic...it's my therapy...no child home all day long requires no therapy! LOL Today I went back to bed after I took A to the bus stop, and I just got out of the shower and am now eating a late lunch (if you can call chips and salsa "lunch"!). I may get to crafting yet today...we will see! As to exploring our town...well, I'll just have to hope the weather intends to warm up a little so that I can take C along with me! :)

Edit: And the plans have now changed again...Misha just got the news that her dad is in the hospital with some serious cardiac problems. Since she is trying to get back to the States to see him, I'll be picking up C tonight instead...I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I've gotten to myself! Please send your thoughts and prayers to Misha and her family right now.

Different kind of To-Do list

Things I am going to do (or at least attempt to do!) while I am kid-less during the day this week:

1. Add the ribbon to the Tiramisu Blanket I started back in June of last year for a baby that is now about 3 months old...

2. Finish the chemo cap for the friend of a friend (I'm approaching halfway done!)

3. Actually catch up on laundry! (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is possible!....for a few hours, at least! LOL)

4. Begin on the next hooded scarf that I have been commissioned to make

5. Blog (I'm going to aim to post daily...I still have a bunch of those 30 Days of Letters to write!)

6. Read (I have a book I just started last night that I want to finish!)

7. Play my music as loudly as I can while doing housework (I won't be interrupting any little ones from their movies or playtime!!!) and sing along obnoxiously!

8. Enjoy the silence while blogging and reading

9. Explore the town I live in a little bit!

10. Make (and document) at least one item of a crafting nature (and I'm talking thinking outside the yarn box!)

11. And if I have time....level one of my World of Warcraft characters to level 40! LOL

So ambitious of me...I guess I'd better get to it!!!

Under My Skin

I have always been the kind of person that is rather easily offended (compared to most people...or at least compared to the people that I generally spend time around!) and quickly gets defensive. I've been working on that a lot the past few years (and being married to The Instigator has certainly helped in that development of character quite a bit, for as much as he picks on me! LOL), but every now and again, no matter how hard I try to let something go, I just can't seem to. Tonight happens to be one of those times.

I love social networking. I am a social person by nature, and I love that technology helps me to still be so connected to friends and family back in the States and finding people with similar interests. But occasionally, something stirs up that defensive monster in me....one of the groups I'm in on such a site discusses the television musical comedy, "Glee." (I adore that show! I go through withdrawals without it!) One of the most recent episodes featured music from a certain Justin Bieber. Because of this, one of the topics approached in this discussion forum had to do with some interviews that the 16-year-old singer has given recently. (And by "recently," I do mean since he shot to stardom...what, 3 years ago? Something like that...I'm not exactly a fan, though I don't despise him, so I don't really keep track...) One person mentioned that in an interview he gave, he mentioned that "in America" basketball is not referred to as basketball, and another person or two commented on how thick he must be. I replied and pointed out that "America" doesn't necessarily mean "United States" (as the question was raised, "isn't he from Canada, not the U.S.?") before I noticed the post directly before mine from a moderator of the group telling everyone to stop discussing The Biebs. It must have ruffled someone's feathers (more than the one, count 'em, one person that freaked out over discussing the interviews), because my reply to a post prior to the mod's prompted a direct reply from said moderator stating: "Is what I said not clear enough?" Immediately, that reply alone irked me. I mean, really? So I merely replied to the mod stating "I replied before reading through the end of the postings. It’s deleted now." What I wanted to say was "A) I said nothing in regard to Justin Bieber. I merely stated a geographical fact. So regardless that I posted that reply before I saw the mod warning, it was not directly related to Justin Bieber's intelligence or interviews; B) You could have simply deleted my comment yourself and sent me a private message pointing out said mod warning, and while I might have rolled my eyes at the computer screen over it, I'd have dealt with it as that is a moderator's prerogative; and C) Since someone here clearly doesn't take their Midol before publicly posting a mod post, I'll just alleviate you of my presence and continue to watch the show unencumbered by your personal opinions." /leave group

But I didn't. Why? Because that's not very nice, and because it really isn't necessary. So I was going to just leave all that unsaid and in my head...but then I went to go lay down and go to sleep...but it clearly was bothering me more than I realized, because I kept subconsciously clenching my jaw and fitfully moving around trying to get comfortable! That's not exactly conducive to The Instigator getting good sleep, and the poor man has to get up for work in the morning (after a 3-day weekend of gaming into the wee hours of the morning and being the first up with the kids so I could get some extra rest)! So instead, I slipped back downstairs, fired the computer up, and have now gotten it off my chest. I really do feel so much better now! LOL (And now, I see that there is someone in the group that "liked" my comment apology for posting the first reply and that I deleted it...for all I know it could have been said mod! So I'll just take a deep breath and let it all go....)

Ah, the world of social networking to one who's hackles are so easily raised....LOL

My Prince

My life has been running at a break-neck speed in a helter-skelter manner for the past 6 and a half years. I met my husband in January of '04 (while I was dating someone else), and The Instigator and I started dating in June '04 (after I'd broken up with the previous boyfriend, of course, lol). By mid-August '04, we were engaged...and got pregnant (SURPRISE!). We were married in the beginning of that December. The following April, I had A. And when A was only 8 months old, we got another surprise....C was on the way in 9 months. Since C was born (in August '06), The Instigator has done a year-long tour in Korea without us, we've moved overseas and spent 3 years in Italy, and while in Italy, The Instigator went on 2 deployments to the desert. We recently moved from Italy to Germany. (As in this past Christmas season. Very recent!) So ever since I met my husband, things have been full-steam ahead! A started Kindergarten this past fall, and it's amazing the difference in having only one of the two boys at home during the day makes.

C was only 7 weeks old when The Instigator left for Korea. It was rough. I needed cuddle time, and I (conveniently) had a new baby that was absolutely okay with being constantly held and coddled and carried around. (And yes, that has totally come back to bite me in the butt since then. LOL) When A was about 8 or 9 months old, we left him with my in-laws for two weeks. (It seemed like the longest 2 weeks of my life, on top of which I had the extra pregnancy hormones! LOL) I've tried my best to make sure our boys don't have severe cases of separation anxiety. I leave them with friends or family, or take them to the CDC (= child development center = base daycare) when The Instigator is deployed and I get it for free. I never sneak away (I don't need them to freak out or have abandonment issues!), but I always tell them where I'm going, that I'll be back, and get and give hugs and kisses.

To my recollection, C has never been away from me and The Instigator overnight. It's always the one or the other of us. (Though I admit, I could easily be forgetting a time or two of family watching him for a night, since, as I've explained, my life has been so hectic, I'd not remember! LOL) Well, Misha and her boys came up to spend the weekend with us. (We had a BLAST!) And she decided (with The Instigator offering to reimburse her with a graphics card for a computer so she can play World of Warcraft on a desktop computer) that she was going to potty train C. Yes, you read that right. C was born in August of 2006, and he is/was still in pull-ups. He is not easy to work with on this. Nobody ever believes me when I explain it. They think I'm exaggerating or just not trying some trick or another. But I promise you, I've tried them all. He. Just. Doesn't. Care. He will sit in pee or poo for hours, because he didn't want to go in the toilet. And that's in pull-ups or underwear. It's not enough discomfort to motivate him to put it where it belongs. I've tried letting him run around naked, but he will, no lie, go right on the floor, both for number 1 and number 2. He. Doesn't. Care. At all. But Misha can't stand to watch me still change the butt of a 4-year-old (and really wants to play WoW for extended periods of time on a desktop computer! LOL LOL LOL), so she has taken him home with her for a week. A whooooooooooole week. I honestly didn't think I'd feel his absence this much, if at all. Granted, going from 4 boys in a house to 2 is in itself a large change in noise level. But going from 4 to 1?! It's eerily quiet. LOL

It will certainly be nice to not be pestered every waking moment with "Mama, I'm thirsty," "Mama, I'm hungry," "Mama, I'm stinky," and be able to keep a house clean during the week without little 4-year-old hands going behind me and undoing as much of it as physically possible. LOL But it will definitely be different. C is my little prince. He absolutely has my heart. (It's kind of hard for him to not have someone's heart! He's adorable!) I know that once he's done with his potty-training "boot camp" with Miss Misha, I'll be glad to have him home again. :) Until then, I think I'll revel in the silence, the cleanliness, and the crafting time that I get this week! ;)

(See? I told you he was adorable!)