Currently {Thanksgiving Edition}

Are y'all stuffed?  I'm completely stuffed.  We've had three Thanksgiving dinners in a week.  Not "we" as in {at our house}, but "we" as in we've eaten three different times in three different places.  Could have been four places, but we were double booked on Thanksgiving Day.

Here are all the things we were picking, reading, watching, rushing, and planning this week!

Picking:  I starting picking the foods that I was cooking for our dinner earlier this year than I have in the past.  (I'm writing a post to share later...)  Everything went surprisingly well except for the chess pie.  Paula Deen doesn't know how long to cook a chess pie.  Because of this fact, my pie was DIS-GUST-ING.

Reading:  Cookbooks.  Recipes.  Just trying to find the easiest, but yummiest food ideas.

Watching:  Football.  Tons and tons of football.  Listen... I love me some football, but I'm 4th and Done with all the football right now.  Bring on the college basketball!  C-A-T-S!  BBN!

Rushing:  I'm trying to not feel rushed with Christmas so close.  I am so damn behind in gift shopping.  I only have a couple of items.  I'm seeing people that are already done.  I hate them.

Planning:  I'm hoping to do a little remodeling here on the blog.  I've been planning and tweaking and I think it's close to being ready!

Next week's theme's:

dancing, cooking, losing, clearing, sharing

Currently link up is hosted by Harvesting Kale and OT & ET.

Currently {november twenty first}

this weeks themes:

finding, writing, dressing, thinking, beginning

Finding:  Glasses!  I've worn glasses since I was in the 2nd grade.  I've tried contacts, but every time my finger comes close to my eyeball?  Nope.  I found a couple of places online where I can order glasses, but...

I'm not sure about my parents, but as an adult I have never once been offered my prescription after an exam.  I didn't even know I could ask for it.  At my last exam, my prescription hadn't changed, but my insurance had.  Under my current plan, the exam is covered, but the actual glasses are not.  Because that makes SO MUCH SENSE.  Anyway...  I needed new glasses because my current pair are prone to just drop off my face occasionally, but I couldn't afford to fork over $200 for frames and another $200-300 for the lenses.  Then my friend let me know that she'd never bought her glasses from her doctor and had never left after an exam without her prescription.  I probably sound like a real dunce, but I had no idea.  I promise I'm getting to the point here....  Kaia had an appointment this week and when I asked them for a copy of my prescription, they nearly fell out of their chairs.  It got worse when I asked for a copy of Kaia's before we left.

The assistant came to the window and said, "Uh... you are aware that she's already picked out a pair of glasses, right?"  I tried not to rip her head off and instead said, "Yes, she told me which ones she picked out.  I'd still like a copy of her prescription please."

They made me feel like I was stealing and I didn't like it.  Because she is under 18, her frames and lenses are covered, but when I go back for my next appointment, they are probably all going to have a heart attack when I leave with nothing but a slip of paper in my hand.

Writing:  I don't do too much writing.  As evidenced in the lack of posts on this here blog...

Dressing:  When I read this all I think about is dressing/stuffing because it's Thanksgiving time!  I have a confession to make...  I hate dressing/stuffing.  It feels like a rock in the pit of my stomach every time I eat it.  I'm not very pilgrim-y apparently.

Thinking:  I've been doing a lot of thinking about homeschool.  It's no secret that my oldest daughter has been struggling with finding herself.  Not to mention the relentless bullying of a few girls.  Because of the shoplifting, she was assigned a court designated worker to defer her case and keep it out of the court system.  As part of the deferral program, she was required to begin counseling.  Her counselor asked her to begin keeping a journal.  A place for her to write down her frustrations, thoughts, feelings.  She accidentally left it at school when she went to the eye doctor and one of her "friends" found it.  Instead of realizing what it was and keeping it safe for her until she returned (like a REAL friend would have done), the girl read it then turned it in to a teacher.  Who read it himself before turning it over to the vice principal telling him that he needed to read it as well because there were things he should see.  The vice principal DID NOT read it, but instead returned it to Kaia.  But the damage was already done.  Her trust was broken by the girl, by the teacher.  Now I fear that she will think she can trust no one.  

Beginning:  I started on the beginning of three different scarves this week.  I ended up getting very frustrated because I just couldn't seem to find the pattern that felt right for who the gift is for.  Finally on the fourth pattern, I think I've got the one.

Reading:  Uh... er.... yeah, still on The Ruins.  However!  I see that Anne Rice has come out with a new Lestat book!!  I guess I need to re-read the Vampire Chronicles series.

Watching:  Peaky Blinders, season 2 came out right before I finished season 1!

next weeks themes:

picking, reading, watching, rushing, planning

Currently link up is hosted by Harvesting Kale and OT & ET.

Snow Day!

It's officially SNOW DAY #1 here in western Kentucky.  We have basically a half inch of snow on the ground.  I know for you Northerners this sounds crazy, but we take our tiny snowfall amounts VERY seriously.  I made my required trip to the grocery to purchase supplies for the forthcoming blizzard.

Bread?  Check.
Milk?  Check.
Most important item?  TOILET PAPER!  Check!!

Then I sat in my yoga pants and a hoodie for the whole weekend!  I'm a rebel.  A lazy, lazy rebel.  I was able to finish up a couple of knitting projects that I had going though!

I bought the Milo vest pattern from Tikki Knits waaaay back in 2013 and have kept putting it off because it's knit completely in the round.  I hope that after I have been knitting for a few years, my fear and difficulty with the beginning of rounds will go away.  Of course, I had a little bit of trouble at first, had to frog and start over.  Now that it is done, I absolutely love it!  I've never knit anything with a cable and it was easier than expected (I did chose what I thought was the easiest one though) and love the way it turned out!

Funny girl with her crazy faces!

The second finished project is the Margot & Iris Tunic by Fawn Pea.  I actually started this project back in September.  I got bored with it and it sat in a bag for a month.  I used a 100% acrylic yarn for it and I should have used something with a little (or A LOT) of cotton instead.

I've never blocked a project before, but this one really needs it.  Except everything I've read says to not block acrylic yarn because it will mess up the garment.  AHHH!  I haz the confusion.  As you can see from the above photo the bottom garter stitch edge is rolling up pretty badly.  To the point where you can't see the pretty decorative stitching!  And the arms....  I would definitely do them differently next time by adding more rows between the body and the decorative rows and them make them a bit longer as well.

Next project, a scarf!

Currently {november thirteenth}

Thirteenth.  Is that a word?  It doesn't really look right.  Sort of like follow.  If you stare at that word for too long, it just starts to look all wrong.

I pretty much neglected my "Currently" posts for the month of October.  Going right along with the theme of pretty much neglecting the whole blog.  Am I the only person who has these bursts of "Oooo!  I want to blog about this and this and can't forget that!"  mixed in with "Oh for fucks sake... I have nothing to talk about!"?!?  I think I'm blog-polar.

See what I did there?  I'm also very clever.

Occasionally.

So...  Here I am jumping back on that horse.

this week's prompts:

laughing, crying, cooking, looking, planning

Laughing:  All day, errr-day I am laughing at this crazy three year old.  She comes up with some of the funniest things.  Monday night she told me that my hands smelled delicious. Like milk and chocolate.  Except they didn't and we were laying in the bed.  In the dark.  Wednesday she told me that her jammies were riding up into her penis.  Yep.  Penis.  The child is an endless supply of Rowan-isms.  I should write a book.

Crying:  Nobody has been doing too much crying lately, but I will tell you something that does bring a tear to my eye.  Christmas decorations/music/junk everywhere before Thanksgiving.  Not a fan.

Cooking:  Hot ham and cheese.  Croissants.  I've had them for lunch three times this week.  European style croissants from the deli at Walmart, Kentucky Legend ham (seriously the best ham EVER), and good ol' processed American cheese.  Open faced on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes in the oven set at 250 degrees.  M'mmmm.... haammmm... cheeessse.

Looking and Planning:  These two go together!  I have been planning what I'm going to cook for our Thanksgiving meal and looking all over Pinterest for recipes.  I'm going to brine our turkey this year. Never done this so here's hoping that I don't make the turkey so salty we can't can't eat it.  Also, homemade ice cream and pear crisp.

Reading:  I am SO BEHIND on my reading challenge!  I am still reading The Ruins.

Watching:  Finished catching up on Arrow last week.  This week I've started Peaky Blinders.

next weeks themes:

finding, writing, dressing, thinking, beginning

Currently link up is hosted by Harvesting Kale and OT & ET.

Blue Bow Tie Baby

Saturday evening Neil comes in the living room.

Neil:  "Mom, I need black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a tie."

Me:  "Err, ok.  When do you need these by?"

Neil:  "Tueday."

Gee, son.  Thanks so much for the short notice.  You're swell.

Sunday, my husband takes him when he goes to buy a few groceries.  Comes home with a nice pair of black dress pants that they found at St. Vincent de Paul for only $3 (!!!) and a nice, white button up shirt with ugly brown tortoise shell buttons. No tie.  Husband says that the ties were just too expensive.  Seriously?!?  Blarg.

I did the only thing I could think of to do.  I made one instead.

I used the pattern and instructions found here, pulled out some satin-y, silky, royal blue fabric, and started sewing!

I was really surprised how easy it was to make one after I got into it.

Just cut out the pattern pieces (fabric and interfacing).

Sew them together and cut off the excess fabric around the edges so they are all nice and pretty.

Turn those suckers inside out with a nifty little knitting needle!  Press 'em flat.

Fold the ends inside 1/4 of an inch and place one inside the other.  Sew the seam.  Mine was a little wonky, but no one is going to see it so SHHHH!  Don't tell.

Press it nice and flat.  Behold the awesomeness that is your first bow tie.  Patiently wait for your son to get home from school.  

*insert Jeopardy music*

Get bored and decide to remove the ghastly brown buttons and replace them with white ones.  Smile.  Realize you have no idea how to tie a bow tie.  Panic.  Watch this video by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Laugh and learn how to tie a bow tie!

BAM!  Bow tie!!

Then...  I'm told it's supposed to be black.  *facepalm*  Well it's blue damn it so deal with it.

Productivity

A gloriously lazy weekend was had by me.  Saturday I stayed in my pajamas and didn't even put on a bra all day long.  It was AWESOME.  I think I am still trying to recover from the band competition debacle from last weekend. *shudders*

Good news though.  I did manage to get another knitting project finished!  An earflap hat for Neil.  Luckily he pays no attention whatsoever to what I am knitting.  I actually started on Friday, but it just did not feel or look right to me.  I cast-on three times and frogged three times.  Finally just ended up sort of making up the earflap part of the pattern I was using.  I have not been knitting anywhere near long enough to be making it up as I go along, but you know what?  It worked.

This was the best picture I could get to show the color of this yarn.  It's a neon green, but so hard to get right on camera.  He loves that color for some strange reason, but I didn't want his head to look like a big neon green beacon so I mixed it up with some black.  Haven't really ever done a project with stripes before I am thrilled with the way it turned out!

Yay for lazy weekends in pajamas!

Remixed

It's almost Friday!!!  Three day school week as my kids were out on both Monday (professional development) and Tuesday (Election day).  Bless it.  We won't even start in on the politics, but let's just say I am disappointed in my state.

Monday I drove my son to Elizabethtown for his orthodontist appointment.  He wasn't looking forward to it because this visit meant they were putting on his bottom brackets and a pretty strong upper wire.  One that was bad enough that the doc called it "The Monster".  And it is.  He hasn't been able to eat anything that requires chewing since then.  Brings him to tears.  He and Aleve have become BFF's.

I made it one slipper into Kaia's Leethal Mary Janes.  I DO NOT like this yarn.  Maybe it's the particular pattern that I am trying to use it with, but it's hard for me to work with.  So I moved on to doing Rowan's Be Loving, Remixed hat.  Easy, quick knit.  I could have finished it in one day, but I stretched it out over two.  It turned out awesome and she loves it.

I thought it was going to be too big as I was knitting it, but nope, it's a perfect fit.  This was supposed to be a Christmas stocking stuffer, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of the pom-pom, she was all *grabby hands*.  Definitely could make many more of these!

On to the next project!

And So It Begins...

I got the yarn for Christmas presents today!!  

Promptly realized I don't have size 13 circular needles.

Second guessed the super thin sport weight yarn.

Started on the Leethal Mary Janes.

Ooo!  Ooo!  And I voted!

Whaat whaaat?!

*crickets*

Yes, yes... I know.  I am the single WORST blogger in the history of bloggers.  It's been almost a month since I even logged on to my dashboard.  Blogging is serious business apparently and I am much too scatterbrained and busy to remember to post daily.  I am envious of the ladies who find the time to post on the regular.  I always have the best intentions, but life ALWAYS comes first.

As you know, lately we've been dealing with a whole Mack truckload of life.  Every weekend it's been a football game and/or a marching band competition.  Last weekend saw us getting up at 1:45am to have our son to the high school by 2:45am for dress and head out for state semifinals and finals.

Getting up at 1:45am wasn't even the worst of what we had to go through.  We were the first band to perform.  It was 32F degrees (wind chill of 22F degrees), snowing, the field was slippery and wet, and the wind was blowing about 20mph for the entire day.  Some students instruments had to be unfrozen from their hands.  Skin was lost.  The poor color guard girls were wearing what amounted to tissue paper.  It was the most ridiculous conditions I have ever seen and I am still dumbfounded that the officials of the KMEA allowed the contest to continue.

I've been reading trying to make sure I hit my goal of 25 books for the year.  I attempted a book that I read some great reviews about, but seriously....  all the nopes.  I only managed to get about 100 pages in.  It was just a difficult read and couldn't hold my interest.

When I wasn't reading, I was (and still am) working on a Margot & Iris Tunic for Ro.  It is almost complete.  I only have 4 rows on one arm and the other arm to finish.  I'll need to get on this quick as I have some yarn coming in the mail for six projects I want to get done for Christmas.  Yes, I know this is rather ambitious.  Do not rain on my parade.

Did I also mention that we ripped up all the carpet from our living room?  Yes, we did that.  No, it doesn't look good.  The beautiful hardwood is under there, but the previous carpet before the one we ripped up ...  *sigh* ... well, it was GLUED DOWN.  So we have a bunch of funky old glue and glued down padding just chillin'.

Oh and also... my son was baptized yesterday.  So there was that.