So, I’ve had this orange Paul Frank monkey purse for years and years, that is finally dead. Which is a shame, because I love it.

I bought a blue Paul Frank monkey purse on eBay awhile back to replace it and I really don’t like it. It’s the wrong shape and it’s even ripping in the same place already, so I’ve been on the lookout for a new style of bag.

I saw a Gretsch canvas messenger bag on the Gretsch website a couple months ago. The description said something about being “heavy duty, thick canvas and cotton webbing strap” or some such nonsense. I say nonsense because when it turned up in my mailbox, it was flimsy, thin canvas and the strap totally sucked. But the bag still had some elements of cool and it wasn’t too expensive, so I decided to see what I could do with it.

My brother and I went to Guitar Center looking for a guitar strap to use as a strap for the bag. I’m really glad he came, because he chose the perfect strap that I never would have looked twice at hanging on the rack. In fact, when he picked it up to suggest it, I wrinkled my nose, and then he laid it against the bag and it was, well, perfect.

Today, I’m trying to sew a liner for it, to help with the flimsy feel. Though to be honest, I’ve kind of gotten used to the thin-ness of it and it doesn’t bug me so much. But, I’d already bought a couple fabrics to line it with so I thought I might as well give it a go. Besides, the sewing stuff is out today.

Why?

Because Veronica’s class does projects for book reports. They have a bunch of different types of books they have to read throughout the year, and to fulfull her Biography requirement, Veronica read a book about Betsy Ross. For her project, she wanted to sew a flag. Fortunately, this is a 4 day weekend for the girls so we had time to devote most of Friday to the sewing of a flag.

It looks totally fantastic. She really did sew it herself on the serger. I just helped her stay straight and I measured and cut the pieces. After her oral report, we’re going to (haha. How long before it actually happens?) put a back on it and turn it into a little blanket.

So, today I used the leftover red cotton to sew a trial-run liner

before cutting into the crushed gold velvet (hee hee) I intend to line it with.

The trial liner is pretty good. A little big. But I feel confident.

Yup. Sick again. So lame. I think the “sick” part is passing, now I’m just stuck with the residual sinus infection. I don’t think I ever get sick when I’m not landed with a sinus infection.

I’m on week 5 or 6 of exercising 3x a week and here I am sick. Again. Always happens.

Bah!

Moving on…

Aside from dad buying that incredible Gretsch for me, he also gave me some $$$ to go towards copyrighting music and buying other music related stuff I might need. (I think he’s more excited about my songwriting than I am). So I bought a secure stand that holds all the guitars in the house and keeps them both accessible and snapped-in-safe. A HUGE load of worry off my mind now. As I’d watch the kids run ’round and ’round the house, I’d wince, waiting for a little foot to get caught in a strap and send a guitar flying. So, this is great!

I also bought a pedal board online that is in transit now, I should get it tomorrow. Hee hee. Nate and I have spent quite a bit of time (Nate really took lead on this) watching guitar pedal reviews online to see what in the world kind of pedals we might want. These guys have the BEST reviews. It’s been fun.

So, I’m most likely getting a pedal or two and cables for my birthday on Thursday. And that’s good, because my brother is totally making fun of me for buying a fancy pedal board for the two pedals I currently own, a tuning pedal and a looper.

I don’t know why, but I can talk and talk about knitting stuff on the blog without feeling like I’m boring everyone to death, but talking music gear just feels so… one sided. Like, I’m the only person who cares.

Maybe it’s the lack of pictures?

But as I said before, I love posting. I totally miss it. I just don’t feel very interesting. Maybe I should figure out how to post sound bites?

I have 8 songs submitted for copyright. Four of them are in to my brother so he can add instrumentation with his friends. I’m trying to finish the scratch tracks, learn how to play electric guitar, experiment with tone, and use pedals. I’m exercising three times a week. I’m trying to keep up with the house (sort of) and everybody’s needs.

I’m hungry.

And really tired.

Last night, I held Max and took pictures of the kids dancing to Hindi music. The house was a wreck (it’s better now) but I took pictures anyway.

Apparently, it’s a weee-oooo, weee-ooo fancy car.

I’ve never heard another human being call it that in the history of ever.

But what do I know? Not much I guess because, “it’s NOT a police car, mom! It’s a weee-ooo, weee-ooo fancy car!”

Also, “it’s NOT a fire truck, mom! It’s a fire station!”

ok, honey.

Impossible as it seems, I know I’ll forget at some point that he called them that. So I’m documenting it here.

Clark does listen to me sometimes. Yesterday, he acquired a pair of cowboy boots, which he loves. It took some convincing, but I think he believes me now that they aren’t “running boots.” He was sure they were. So now, accepting the fact that they’re “walking boots,” he seems to think that merely wearing them entitles him to walk the neighborhood at leisure and I’m being nagged.

Baby love

Sock love

I’m sad Knitpicks discontinued this yarn. It was the Felici self striping stuff. I’m interested to see how it holds up. They have a new color, Pirate King,

that looks like it’d make a great pair of socks for a little boy. Maybe striped with a coordinating solid? Maybe not. This is the yarn I was excited about buying for Clark that when I showed the girls, I got several glares for even thinking about knitting him another pair of socks before making pairs for them.

But hey! He has smaller feet and, um, doesn’t LOSE socks!

Hamster love

So, I’m really enjoying Papu, Liv’s new hamster. We’ve had some biting incidents, but I still think he’s a sweet little thing that needs to be tamed and whose handlers need to learn how to handle him. Never having had a hamster myself, I’ve only seen them asleep in a lump, covered with bedding from the cage.

Because I’d only ever seen them in a pet store during the day, I had no idea how much they EAT! (We feed this guy twice a day). How much they drink. How much they run on that ridiculous wheel (like, 7 hours a night). He’s hilarious. He’s funny when he stretches, he’s funny when he eats… he reaches up with his CUTE little paws, with CUTE little fingers, (that’s my favorite thing about pet rats), and takes food right out of our hands.

Liv is mad at him right now, because he bit her pretty bad while we were trying to wake him up yesterday. We’re learning. After he woke up on his own later in the evening, I took him out and they all were able to pet him without incident.

So far, we’ve discovered he likes carrots. LOVES dry oatmeal. Devours those silly hamster pellets. And won’t give a second glance to cucumbers.

Hey all. Spring Break is over. The girls are back in school. Clark is rapidly working his way through an entire pack of Juicy Fruit…

So, we had a couple of birthdays

I’m no cake decorator, but I must say these turned out pretty well. And while they were being decorated, Clark practically sang, “I’m so happy! I love my Superman cake! I’m sooooo happy!”

Another bit of excitement, Liv FINALLY got a pet. Her very own hamster. Meet Papu.

And I’m almost done with another pair of socks for Clark, but he’s in footy jammies right now and doesn’t want to pose for a pic. We’ll get one later in the week. But they’re way cute, and I so love knitting him socks. “I love my socks, mommy. I’m sooooo happy! Fank you fer making them fer me!”

Though, if I keep knitting socks for Clark and don’t make some for the girls pretty soon, they’re going to go out and find another mother.

Do you know what I’m doing? I’m posting! On my “new” iMac, which is really Carol’s old iMac. We’re buying it from her. I am very happy. Her husband dropped it off last night, and yesterday, my computer wouldn’t even power up. Thank heavens for Mac and their “time machine” feature. All we had to do was connect the external hard drive to the new computer and everything moved over.

I’ve lost track of how many times Carol and her husband have helped us out. Good friend award!

Thanks, guys.

I’m also very excited because my mother-in-law has signed up to take the rug braiding class with me in June! Provided her strength is back and her chemo treatment is wrapped up by then. And my mom is going to meet us down there to play with Max during the class. This will be so much fun.

I carded another Green Tea batt, spun and knit it yesterday. I think I’m going to go for it, as in, call it good and card more for my etsy shop. I’d like to get a few more colorways up at the same time, so I have some dyeing to do. And some pictures to take.

This weekend, aside from being General Conference (so excited!), is also when we get to celebrate Clark’s and Abby’s birthdays. Busy, busy. We’re having a family potluck tomorrow night that I need to get ready for.

Kids are off school tomorrow and next week is Spring Break during which Abby and possibly Liv want to have birthday parties with their friends, and Veronica wants to sew a Betsy Ross flag for a book report. I’m tired already.

“It was on accident, mom!”

Somebody really, really, really loves his hand knit socks.

It’s a bit sad, as these were my favorite of the three pair I’ve made for him. Apparently, they were his favorite, too. They were made from remnants of 2 skeins of Koigu.

I have another sock started for him somewhere that needs to be ripped out and started over. I have no idea where it got off to. But it’s not Koigu, and nothing feels quite like a Koigu sock.

(Added later)

I just handed Clark another pair of socks to wear so we could go out and he said, “No, it’ll make holes in it.”

“That’s ok. We’re supposed to wear our socks. If they get holes, I’ll make more.”

“Ok.”

So, there’s a little pond in our backyard. Like everything else done to our house prior to our moving in, it was not done professionally. I noticed some time ago that the pump had stopped. But I didn’t have the mental space, money, or whatever else I needed to deal with it. ‘Til last week.

And it was too late. The only fish I could find in the pond that had previously housed around 10, was this little guy, a descendent of the original 5.

That’s really sad. When we moved here, the pond had one big fish in it. I had an aquarium already with four large fish that I added to the pond when we moved in. And this little guy is all that’s left. I cried a little bit.

So, I got the hospital tank out of the garage, rinsed it, and set it up on the center island in the kitchen ’til we could decide what to do with him. I was reminded of how much I like having a fish tank in the kitchen, so as a family, we decided to keep it. We went out and picked up a filter and decor on Saturday.

I was planning to go with a natural, river theme. Nate really, really wanted a treasure chest that opened and closed with bubbles. Now, I’ve had fish tanks of various sorts most of my life, and I’ve never, ever, ever had a bubbling treasure chest. (Might as well get the neon pink gravel, right?). But I always enjoy making the husband happy, so we went with a Tiki theme.

And I love it!

That stupid little treasure chest is so relaxing to watch.

Open….

Close.

Open….

Close.

Open….

Close.

It’s rhythmic. I’m not going to get anything done for weeks. I could stare at it forever.

Open….

Close.

Which is kind of convenient as Max has decided that napping is for sissies, and being set down is for the dogs. At least I have something enjoyable to look at that passes the time.

The tank is a 10 gallon now. At some point, we’ll get a 20 long and another fish. (And probably some more Tiki stuff. Or a volcano). But for now, I’m content and Khan has some growing to do.

Something for everyone-

For my part, the fish is named Khan as a tribute to Shahrukh. We are still in full blown Bollywood mode at our house. Nate continues to find and bring new movies home. Paheli is the latest that I really, really like. (The talking puppets are hilarious). Watching Shahrukh act is something to behold. He’s amazing.

Liv, on the other hand, would argue that the fish is named for Aamir, another actor we enjoy watching. Taare Zameen Par is a fabulous movie (although I’ve only seen the second half. The first half is a bit sad). Disney has recently released a dubbed version, with the option of watching it original with subtitles. Liv thinks Aamir’s super dreamy. We celebrated his 45th birthday yesterday with pot pie and cookies.

And then there’s my brother, who will undoubtedly always see Khan as, well, KHAAAAAAAN!!!!

On Friday, I received an unexpected envelope in the mail from my friend, Katie. She sent a hat for Max made from yarn she spun, and it fits him perfectly!

It covers his ears and makes his face look chubby, and I love it. Thank you, Katie!

That night, I hosted a shower for my sister-in-law expecting her fifth baby.

She wants a rocker-recliner, so we took contributions for that

and she and I will hopefully pick one up tomorrow.

It’s quite convenient at times, having a graphic designer for a husband. He made a fantastic poster for me that coordinated with the plates and napkins and looked great.

It was a very fun evening and everything turned out well. I had a lot of help with the food, which is great because I was sick last week.

I’m still not at 100%. I’m quite tired and still stuffed up. But today should be a stress-free day. Nate, my knight-in-shining-armor not only made neat visuals for my party on Friday, but he also did the laundry over the weekend and cooked a fantastic dinner last night.

I’m feeling a bit spoiled.

Monday is my get-everyone-off-to-work-and-school-so-I-can-clean-up-from-the-weekend-and-do-laundry-day, but it’s mostly done. So, I’m going to (indulgently rest while I feel like crap) play with the boys and work on the shawl today! (And maybe start on my room, which is a total mess).

The shawl is almost to the second round of increases, which is where I was planning to add the rows of yarnovers.

I’d like to block what I have so I can get a feel for its actual size. It seems so small.