Just Monkeying Around


Jumping on the bandwagon a little late, but these were fun!

Pattern: Monkey, by Cookie A.
Yarn: Regia Cotton
Needles: US 1 dpns

Notes: Fun! This was a quick knit and now I have some fun lace socks that look great with my dress slacks for work!

Eye Candy Friday

Today's eye candy comes in the form of a proud mom moment. Last night Young Man's school held their annual sports banquet. We were happy with the school's sports program even before Young Man decided to join a team. Once we had the full experience, we are even more impressed. This is a small school that is part of a small league of small schools. While some of the schools have tryouts for the teams, ours takes all comers. All children are welcomed and all are equally encouraged. No, the school's teams aren't usually winners on the scoreboard, but they are definitely winners on and off the field. I doubt if the children realize just how lucky they are to have such positive and supportive coaches.

Each child gets a certificate of participation and a certificate recognizing something that he or she did in a game. The children aren't given a ton of trophies just for showing up, but two trophies are handed out for each sport: Most Improved and Best Teamwork. These two coveted awards reward the characteristics that we expect sports to develop. We were so proud of all the children at the banquet. The big bonus for Young Man was that he was the recipient of the Most Improved trophy for soccer! This was his first season and he impressed everyone with his field awareness and no fear attitude. Way to go!

Booking Through Thursday - What is Reading, Fundamentally?

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.

(Two weeks late for Reading is Fundamental week, but, well…)

To me, it is simple: If there are words and imagination, it is reading. Even though "reading" audiobooks and Braille books don't include the visual method of seeing words, they still include processing words and creating images in the mind. About the only thing I wouldn't count as reading would be watching a movie, play, or television program. In those cases, too much is done for me and not enough left to my imagination.

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Favorite Time Wasters

1. Wandering through Amazon.com and their recommendations for my buying habits - hey, you never know when you will find some new discovery.

2. Ravelry - Oh, my what a time suck this can be! Between the forums and the projects and just digging around, this one is very dangerous.

3. Blog reading - I don't have a super-huge blogroll, but it is enough to keep me unproductive for a long time.

4. Checking email - maybe if I check every five minutes, someone will write to me (yes, this does make me feel as pathetic as I did in junior high).

5. Channel surfing - this one requires wresting control of a remote from one of the two males in the household. Young Man can hold his own with Mr. Engineer for King of the Channel Surfers. It's not that there is anything on, but we just surf away.

6. Deadliest Catch marathons on Discovery Channel - I can watch the Hansen and Hillstrand brothers and the rest of the guys any night. Wait, isn't it Deadliest Catch night tonight?

7. National Treasure (the first one) on DVD - I really can't count how many times we have watched this one, but I always enjoy it.

8. Hiding in my craft room - I may say that I'm cleaning or working on a project, but the odds are good that I'm just checking in with my stash of yarn, fabric, patterns, or books.

9. Free Cell - solitaire is a real time waster, but this one at least keeps me thinking that I'm using my brain.

10. Bookworm - another useless time suck, but I love seeing how well I can do.

Memorial Day Thoughts

I had planned to have pictures of finished items today, but that would have required taking out the camera and actually snapping photos. Oh, well, now I have blog fodder for later in the week.

1. Freedom isn't free. Yes, that is a catchy slogan that is used by too many people for too many wrong reasons. Still, it is true. Young Man is currently reading two books on the Revolutionary War (this one and this one) and I am well into the Civil War in Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of Lincoln and his cabinet. Those wars defined the country we now know and those results certainly weren't free.

2. Regardless of our views on the current government and their decisions, those who carry out those decisions deserve our respect and admiration. We recently had the opportunity to spend some time with our neighbors' son who was home on leave from Iraq. He was a confused young man while he was growing up here. I never did agree with most of the parental decisions made on his behalf and have been more than a little distressed to see the same patterns being followed with his baby sister. Still, the Marines were the right choice for him and he is the one who made the choice. He has learned a whole different perspective and is growing into a nicely self-assured man. He still needs to learn more about the world and that there are other views beyond his parents' narrow ones, but he is on his way.

3. I am very lucky to have the luxury of thinking these thoughts in the warmth and safety of my home.

Curl Up With a Book Sunday

It has taken me a solid week to process my latest children's book. Fly By Night, by Frances Hardinge, is absolutely wonderful! Ms. Hardinge creates an intricate world full of terrible things (banning books!!!) and suspicious people. She explores power and the ways in which absolute power corrupts. She also introduces us to rich and colorful characters who have far greater depth of character than we initially realize. Many of her characters show their best as they are forced into roles that are far beyond any that they imagined they could fulfil. The characters are developed well and the plot thoroughly tracked. The only downside is that the book is a touch long. I enjoyed every bit, but a little more editing might make it more accessible. Still, I highly recommend this book for young adults of any age.

Once again, I owe a debt to Elizabeth Bird. Her wonderful blog, A Fuse #8 Production, regularly introduces me to new delights and this is one. Like her, I can hardly wait for Ms. Hardinge's next book, Well Witched. Unlike Ms. Bird, I haven't had an advance copy to review!

Socks Under the Saturday Sky

It is a partly/mostly cloudy day here. This is very odd, but not as odd as the rain and tornadoes that were about on Thursday. It made for a quiet day of watching the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Semifinals and then a trip to the zoo. It was cool enough for the monkeys to be out and about and we even saw the Margay! That is one kitty that is good at hiding from the public.

I spent some time on socks and am nearly finished with my first pair of Monkeys. Today, I leave you with something a bit more slithery.

Pattern: Bellatrix, by Monkey Toes (pattern is available free on Ravelry)

Yarn: Happy Feet from Newton's Yarn Company

Needles: US 1 for the cuffs and US 0 for the rest

Notes: This is a different pattern! It has graduated yarnovers that leave a nice, jaggedy look. I knit them in a Slytherin green appropriate for their namesake, that wickedest of witches from the Harry Potter books. All in all, I like the pattern and have really liked the versions of it that I have seen in more highly varigated yarns. This was my first time using this yarn and I'm waiting until these have a bath before I decide if I like it or not. The yarn seems okay. It isn't as soft as some, but it isn't bad. The problem is that this skein still smells very much like the sheep from whence it came! Somehow I don't think that warm sheep is a scent that will be very popular if the smell doesn't wash out.

Friday Smiles

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

Booking Through Thursday - Books Vs Movies

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

This is taking more thought than I expected. My first instinct was to state that to me, books are to movies as long-term relationships are to flings. Perhaps a better analogy is gourmet meals to fast food. With a book, I invest time and ingredients such as emotion and energy. I plan and I anticipate the payoff at the end. This would explain why I am so deeply affected when a book disappoints me. A perfect example is The Gathering. After being dragged through emotions and memories only to discover that many were blind alleys, I expected some answer, some closure. Instead, I was left with an ending that rang false to my sensibilities. With a movie, I expect a good time, perhaps some spice, but I don't really expect to be moved.

Unfortunately, the movie publicity machine is so good ate what it does, that I deceive myself into believing that a fast food bite will satisfy me and move me the way an extraordinary gourmet meal can excite and entice my senses and sear itself into my synapses until I never forget the experience. Time and again, I go to a movie and walk out only partially satisfied. The truth is that no move is ever going to give me what a good book can. Maybe if I can remember this the next time I go to a theater, I can just enjoy the short snack for what it is.

Another Season Ends

Young Man and his team finished off his first soccer season in style. They played together very well. They passed, they kicked, they blocked, the listened to their coach(!). Yes, they even won their last game of the season. This was the first time that a team from this little school ever had a winning season in any sport. Not only did they win more than they lost, they ended up at least third in the 11-team league! We should hear the final standings tomorrow. Until then, the team is celebrating third place and a great season. Today's game was a good one. The other team did have a good defense, but Young Man and his friends had a better offense. The final score was 7-3. After five goals, the team was rotated to move the best scorer to defense and to give some defenders a chance at forward. Yes, Young Man moved up to forward and worked his way to the goal until he finally scored!

Just to prove that even winning teams have fun, the team photographers had their hands full getting a team photo.

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Movies I'm Excited to See

1. Indiana Jones 4 - We introduced Young Man to Indy this weekend (mostly, he didn't see the scariest parts) and now we all want to see the newest film in the franchise.

2. IronMan - I wasn't sure that I wanted to see this one, but all the reviews from people I trust have been overwhelmingly positive.

3. National Treasure 2 - I just picked this up on DVD and am looking forward to watching it (again) with the family. I rather doubt that we will watch it as often has we have NT1, but it will still be a good, silly, modestly historical time.

4. John Adams HBO Miniseries - This comes out on DVD on 10 June, and I can hardly wait! We don't get any premium cable channels so the quick release of DVDs makes me very happy.

5. Kung Fu Panda - What! C'mon, admit it. You want some escapism. I think I have to take Young Man to this soon.

6. Hancock - Will Smith, 'nuff said.

7. Princess Bride - I don't care if I have already seen this dozens of times. It's been at least two months since my last viewing, so it is time to queue it up again.

8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Well, of course.

9. My Neighbor Totoro - Love this movie! We used to watch it all the time, but it has slipped in the rotation after Young Man developed his Star Wars habit.

10. Three Colors Trilogy (Blue/White/Red) - I've seen Red before, but it has been many years. I really do want to see the other two movies in the trilogy.

In Which I Prove

...that I am not the only shutterbug in the family

Today's pictures were brought to you by Young Man and his art teacher's idea for a fabulous field trip.

It Was Another Fine Night

Saturday was miserably hot. Luckily for everyone it wasn't as hot as the first predictions. Still, it was hot enough to make everyone cranky and miserable. It was still near 90°F when Young Man and his team began their warm up at 6:30 p.m. As the sun went down, the temperature dropped to much more tolerable levels. At the beginning of the game, the boys still seemed a little slow. They were playing well, but both teams seemed a little off. Discussions with the parents revealed that nearly half of Young Man's team had been up very late Friday evening. That, coupled with the heat, slowed everything down. Happily, the boys seemed to perk up after a few minutes of play. Unlike the past few weeks, this game wasn't exactly a nail biter. In fact, it was very difficult to get any action pictures of Young Man and his fellow defensemen. I had to resign myself to a few very distant pictures and some posed shots.

The action last night was with our offense. They scored 7 unanswered goals before the opposing team managed to get on the scoreboard! The final score was 7-2 after a few very good shots by the opposing team late in the fourth quarter. Young Man played the entire game and came home extremely happy. His parents were very happy for him and enjoyed watching him keep his head in the game and stay alert all night.

I really love my camera, a Nikon D40. I have raved about it to many people. Still, I am already finding its limitations. When I picked this camera, I wanted it for action shots so I picked up a nice VR lens. I never imagined that I would be trying to take pictures under the lights at night and I had no idea what I should have been looking for to accomplish this. Now I find myself craving a much faster lens and Mr. Engineer isn't stopping me, but he has remarked that I need a faster camera before I pop for the fancy (and very expensive) new lens. He's right. For now, I am finding ways to stretch my nighttime photography as far as I can and I'm learning as much as I can with the equipment I have. There may be more serious research happening before next spring's season. Who knew that the photo bug would bite this hard? Then again, with subjects like this, how can I resist?

Saturday Sky

To be precise, this is the sky from Thursday morning. Today it was just clear and beastly hot. It will be even nastier hot later today. We are all glad that the lacrosse game isn't until 7:30 p.m. I feel for my friend who is headed to the baseball field to watch her son play a 12:30 p.m. game. Ugh!

Eye Candy With Apologies

To those in cold climates, I apologize. This week's eye candy comes courtesy of Young Man and his new-found interest in photography.

Booking Through Thursday - Manual Labor Redux

Following up last week’s question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we’re expanding the question….
Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?
Do you ever read manuals?
How-to books?
Self-help guides?
Anything at all?

I will usually read the quick start guide to a new toy, but I rarely finish it. New toys need to be discovered! If I have a specific question or get stuck, then I will pick up the manual. Eventually, I return to the manual to learn about the things that I couldn't discover on my own. Shoot, I didn't read the manual for my Nikon until I had it for over six months. Okay, so it was lost in the mystery that has engulfed my craft room. I did find it and I have now read it. Mr. Engineer will do a short play time and then read all manuals front to back. We do have the occasional friendly competition to see who can find the more obscure feature of our gadget. We both love how-to books and have been known to curl up with a good home improvement tome on an evening, and I do love my knitting books.

The only genre from the suggestions that we don't spend time on are self-help guides. We could claim that we are already the improved models, but that is probably a bit of a stretch.

Defensive Moves

Young Man was back out on the soccer field today. As I sat working at my desk it occurred to me that I could just as easily complete my work at home, so I hit the road in time to watch the second half of the game. Something tells me that I will never regret the trade-offs that I make to attend these games. This was another easy game for the team. Shortly after I arrived, their coach started requiring six passes before any shots on goal. After the next goal, the team was not allowed to score anymore. In this league, they keep the games to an eight goal maximum. The final score was 8-1. Even so, it was still fun to watch the intensity with which Young Man focuses on the game. He always knows where the ball is and is usually between the ball and the goal. Working after he goes to bed is a small price to pay to get to see that.

10 Things I'm Really Good At

1. Baking - Mom didn't have time to teach me to cook meals, but she was a great baker and did teach me the hows and whys and wherefores to baking. Of course, this made high school home economics class really boring. Who wants to make muffins when you spent the weekend making bread?

2. Reviewing resumes - I despise interviewing, but I am really good at weeding out the resumes of those who just won't fit the need. One of my former leads now has to do this for himself and he finally appreciates this talent.

3. Listening - I try not to give advice, but I am the one that people come to when they need to unload their worries. One of these days I need to put up a "The Doctor Is In" sign like Lucy.

4. Knitting - Yes, I can brag about this one. When I figured out those knits and purls, it all just fell into place. I really enjoy sharing this talent with others.

5. Snuggling - Young Man and Mr. Engineer both enjoy snuggling. It is something of a family talent.

6. Sarcasm - Teresa isn't the only one with the biting wit. I am learning to use it appropriately, but it can be soooo hard. Young Man is now developing this talent. Something tells me that I will be in for some of my own medicine soon.

7. Sewing - Beyond the basic skills involved in turning a pattern into a completed garment, my mother also shared the gift of how to create a design with minimal patterning and still end up with the desired end result. Thanks to her, I know how to start with just about any pattern to get the basic sizing and create my own fantasies in fabric.

8. Cooking - I don't always like to do it and am very glad that Mr. Engineer does, but I can put together some mean dishes in the kitchen. My sister and Mr. Engineer get the credit for teaching me to cook. Like any good chemist, I enjoy mixing and measuring (and sometimes just dumping) to get to a result. Okay, so I am a lousy chemist, but I'm a great cook.

9. Ignoring dust bunnies - My home is a dust bunny sanctuary. There are only so many hours in the day and I know that I will never look back on my life and wish that I had done more cleaning.

10. Finding answers - I am certainly not the smartest person at work (I work with some freaking geniuses), but I am often the one who comes up with results. I may not know something when asked, but I can find the answers or find the person who does know. A former coworker called me The Oracle. That's pushing it, but she had a point. Mr. Engineer has this talent as well. He used be known as The Answer Man. Finding answers is how I now know that lacrosse sticks are specifically mentioned on the TSA's list of sporting items that can be in checked baggage, but are not allowed as carry-on items. This is not surprising. I've seen the damage that a lacrosse stick can do to shins. Getting Young Man's long pole to New York this summer will be an adventure!

Rain, Rain, Go Away?

Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by this sight as I looked out the back door this morning! We rarely get rain at this time of year. We do get what we term "May Gray" where the marine layer hangs around until late morning or early afternoon. Sometimes that carries on until we have to call it "June Gloom." Rain, however, is unusual. The weather matched the spirits in the house. Young Man was feeling under the weather so I stayed home with him and reminded him to drink lots of fluids until he thought that he would float away. He is much better now and should be back at school on Tuesday.

I spent the morning making phone calls to arrange for all the work meetings that I was missing and then spent the afternoon knitting on my new Bellatrix socks. The second sock is half finished already. I'm still concerned that the yarn smells too much like sheep and it isn't as lusciously soft as some yarns I have recently purchased.

Happy Day

This is what Young Man made for me (with some assistance from a fantastic mom at his school).

Saturday Sky Through Persimmon Leaves

This is the view out the front door this evening. The sky was sort of hazy all day, but it was a very nice spring day. The trip to the dentist proved only mildly painful and the offending bit of whatever it was has been removed. My gums feel better already. The family spent the afternoon at the park. Young Man has been making gigantic paper airplanes so he wanted to fly them off of a bike trail bridge into the creek bed. Since the creek is dry and easily accessible, repeat flights were possible.

The late evening found us back at the lacrosse field for the weekly game. The game started at 8:30 p.m. and that is a little too late for even my camera. Young Man didn't get as much playing time as usual and the entire team seemed a little off their game. The boys played the same team as last week, but it appeared that the other team came ready to play. They started off quickly with two goals. Our boys made that up, but the other team kept scoring. The third quarter started with a score of 4-8. The fourth quarter was by far the best for our boys, but it wasn't enough. The final score was 7-9. Young Man's school friend did get a hat trick and the boys never gave up even when the score differential was enough for Young Man's team to receive possession without face offs. The boys played hard to the end and that is always great to see. They need to do more passing practice so that may happen this week.

Is It Friday Already?

How did that happen?

1. Is it just me or is time moving at warp speed this year?
2. I feel like I just finished Wednesday and it is already time to wrap up the week.

Friday nights means football in some areas, but it is lacrosse night out here.
1. Tonight we watched a lacrosse game together as a family (mostly) for a change.
2. We saw the CIF southern section championship game and it was cool.
3. Varsity boys play lacrosse FAST!
4. Seeing the goalie get an assist on a goal is pretty amazing.
5. When the goalie runs over 3/4 of the field to assist with the goal you get a distinct feeling that the team is showing off.
6. It was very, very cool to see the high school team coached by Young Man's club team coach win the game 11-7.
7. Young Man had a great time seeing a lot of his teammates.
8. It is fun for Young man's parents to see him hanging with his buddies.
9. Yes, we know that he will not always want to sit in the stands with his parents.
10. We are really looking forward to Saturday's game.

The game was a nice way to keep my mind off of Saturday morning.
1. I am not at all looking forward to Saturday morning when I go to the dentist.
2. I like my dentist, but I don't like going when I had to have an appointment squeezed in.
3. I really don't like needing an appointment because of a toothache.
4. Hopefully, the problem is just something caught under a crown.
5. This crown has been a real pain since day one and has already been replaced once.
6. Pending dental work makes me very nervous.
7. Even knowing that I will get lots of knitting time while waiting isn't helping.

Sometimes even knitting leaves me off-kilter.
1. I am making the Bellatrix socks by Monkey toes (pattern available on Ravelry).
2. It is a pretty strange pattern.
3. I can't decide if the one finished sock looks better inside out or rightside out.
4. The yarn is a first time for me as well.
5. I bought Happy Feet from a local store during their big parking lot sale.
6. Even carded, spun, plied, and dyed, the yarn still smells very much like the sheep from which it came.
7. I really hope that a good washing will clean out the sheep scent.

It's time for more ibuprofen.

Booking Through Thursday - Manual Labor

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

I enjoy some how-to books for writing. I have the trusty Strunk & White, of course, I use a secretarial handbook quite often to check business formatting questions, and I have treated myself to a copy of Words Into Type and The Chicago Manual of Style. A cursory glance at the bookshelves yielded a quick count of an even dozen different grammar, writing, or dictionary-type books. Duplicates weren't counted. A year or so ago, a friend even treated me to one of my Amazon wishlist items, Common Errors in English Usage, by Paul Brians. How sweet was that? Beyond that, both Mr. Engineer and I enjoy books that describe the common sayings and oddities of the English language.



Oh, to follow up on yesterday's post, yes, Young Man did get that ball away from his competitor. The final score was 6-1.

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday - Travel

10 Places You'd Love to Travel To (That You Haven't Gone to Yet)

1. Italy - my neighbors went on a tour and I was soooo jealous
2. Portugal - I worked a project that went to Portugal, but I didn't get to go along
3. France outside of Paris - I spent 3 weeks in Paris and would love to go back
4. New Zealand - I know it's not all Lord of the Rings, but I don't care
5. Yellowstone National Park - I saw the original Geysir in Iceland and want to see our most famous one.
6. The Grand Canyon - Flying over just isn't the same, I'm sure
7. Sequoia National Park - Big trees, REALLY big trees
8. Florida - Everglades, Kennedy Space Center, anything except Disneyworld
9. New York (rushing thought JFK Airport doesn't count at all)
10. Maine - Why not?

In other news, Fly by Night is much better than my last book read. Shoot, Fly by Night is much better than many recent books that I have read!

Curl Up With a Book - Or Not

Last night I finished The Gathering, by Anne Enright. Okay, it won the Man Booker Prize. Yes, Ms. Enright is a talented writer and I am jealous of her skill at picking precisely the best way to share her imagery. Still, I did not like this book. There, I said it. For all the skill and craftsmanship, I just didn't like the book. I felt robbed at the end. There was a tragedy (several of them, perhaps), but many families have those. Ms. Enright takes her readers on a convoluted trace through the memories and imaginings of her narrator as she follows the thread of her dead brother's life. At some point, I tired of the chase.

Maybe I am tainted by short attention span media or too pedestrian in my thoughts and cannot grasp lofty themes and artistic vision. Or maybe I want a book to have a plot and to actually answer the questions that are posed. Or I want characters who are consistent. I don't for a second believe that the narrator would come to the conclusions that she does at the very end. I feel cheated that there never was an explanation for or conclusion to the hints dropped about the narrator. Her brother's pain and suffering were explained, but not her own. There seemed to be too many dropped hints and loose threads.

Obviously, many reviewers think highly of this book. I am glad that they felt such enjoyment. I'll keep looking.

I Do Not Like Yellow

Or pink. I definitely do not like pink. I have enjoyed painting over every yellow room in my house. Still, several of my recent yarn purchases have been pink and this one is yellow and pink and I HAD to have it when I saw it. Weird.

Project: Thuja, by Bobby Ziegler, in Knitty

Yarn: Austermann Step Duett, Color 55

Needles: US1, 2.25 mm

Notes: Super easy pattern. I changed the heels to shortrows to keep the yarn patterning. It's a very nice variation on a standard ribbing and looks great. They scrunch down when I want them to scrunch, yet stay up when I want them to stay up. The colorway is nice and bright and springy. Maybe I should rename these Happy Socks.

And the Sun Sets On Another Saturday



It was a beautiful day today. It was a little warm, but not too warm. We made a quick trip through the Farmers' Market again this weekend for more delicious tangerines and strawberries. This time I remembered to pick up some tomatoes and Mr. Engineer got his Tabbouleh. Much of the day was spent cleaning in preparation for the arrival of two of Young Man's friends from school. The three had just long enough for a bit of playing before dinner and a dash to the lacrosse field where Young Man and one of the children had a game.

Tonight's game was much anticipated. The opponent was another of the three teams fielded by the team that won last week's second match. This team was also undefeated, but the three teams they had played were the same three teams that Young Man's team had also won against. It was definitely a good match. Both teams played very well. The opposing team was better at connecting on their passes, but they made too many fouls and spent too much time playing one down. Young Man's team played together as a team extremely well. They are starting to know and trust each other and it really shows.



Still, the opposing team was able to score quickly and Young Man's team came back with an answering goal. The opposing team then made two more goals and our boys made one. Because all of tonight's games started very late, they ran 20-minute halves instead of the more typical 15-minute quarters. This made for some tense moments as the clock ticked away in the second half. Finally, Young Man's team scored the tying goal. There were only a few minutes left when Young Man's school mate saw his chance and slipped in the last goal of the night! They finished the evening ahead 4-3. As always, we were extremely proud of the boys. It was great to bring home two very exited players and one sister of an excited player. This win should push the team into first place in the league and that was the highlight of the after-game talk by the coach.

Now it is time for all lacrosse players (and their parents) to sign off for the night.

Hello, I Knit Socks

Yes, I cast on for another pair of socks. The wonderfully silly Bellatrix pattern from Monkey Toes is now available as a free download on Ravelry. Even better, designs by Monkey Toes are featured in the May Sockdown knitalong/contest in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group also on Ravelry. I discovered that group yesterday and it seemed like a classic fit for me. I have an embarassing amount of sock yarn.

Maybe the sock yarn stash will see a dent after the Summer of Socks commences. Wait, I'm already knitting socks! I probably should knit something else besides socks before 21 June and the official start. Naw. Yes, I did join up. How could I resist?

Booking Through Thursday - Mayday!

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

This one is easy peazy. I head straight for the nearest news stand/book seller and peruse the books. I will probably pick up a magazine to which I don't currently subscribe (The Economist is good for long flights) as well as at least one book. I will probably skip over the bestsellers and head for the older stuff. I might hit up a non-fiction book since so many of the fiction titles at airports are romances or true crime. Okay, if I am in that sort of a mood, I will pick up a Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy just for old times' sake. I used to devour those books when I was traveling to Detroit every month. Yes, I did purchase some of those in airports when I would run out of books on the return trip.

This makes me long for a vacation flight!