Happy 4 year blogiversary.

I started this blog on New Years's Eve 4 years ago. I post sporadically, to say the least. Life gets in the way, as I'm sure you all know. It's not like I don't want to or mean to post. I just can't seem to get it done. Ravelry and Facebook take up my time, and probably a lot of yours as well. I do want to make an effort to try to keep this updated a bit more. More for my use than anyone else's. Probably a useless goal, but what the hell. It's the new year, right?

When I started this blog, Catie was 6 months old. Now she's in pre-school and starting to read. Jack has come along, and is the most hilarious character I've ever encountered. We've bought 25 acres with plans to build a house. The house plans fell through, and we ended up buying an existing home just down the road from the property. My knitting skills have improved tremendously. I've started spinning (though not enough). I've started sewing and gardening. I've gotten in touch with my inner housewife (and homebody). I've been trying to become more frugal. I've fallen in love with the local library system and read 75 books this past year. Now I'm on this preparedness kick. I want to get better at food storage. It's like I want to be a Mormon...without actually being one, if that makes any sense. Really, what I've become is...an old lady. I've turned into my grandmother(s). And I love it.

So tonight we're spending the night at home. We had an utterly exciting dinner of tuna casserole and green beans. Then played a couple of rousing games of Candyland. I'm about to finish a book...about food and the evolution of coooking/kitchens over the past 100 years. Yup. That's what I said. Wool socks. Flannel nightgown. So cool in its un-coolness.

So Happy New Year to all 3 of you who might read this!! 2009 was a good year for us here at the Skinner-Decker household. Hopefully 2010 will be just as wonderful, for us and for you.

Tomorrow...the obligatory list of resolutions.

I promised myself I wouldn't cry...

but I did.

Today was Miss Catie's first day of preschool. Now, I know it's "only preschool", but to me, good gosh, it's a pretty big day. I didn't get home last night until late, but George said it was easy to get her to bed (highly unusual for her). This morning she came in about 6:30 or 6:45, wanting to get up and get ready. We got ready and headed out the door at 7:30 to start a new family tradition. One of my patients had told me she takes her son out to breakfast every year on the first day of school. I thought that sounded like a pretty cool idea. So we set out for the local Moxie Java for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate. Here she is as we head out the door. She looks so excited.

After breakfast we headed to the preschool. She practically ran up the sidewalk to the door without us. We did finally get her to stop and turn around briefly for the pic.

Once inside she headed directly for the toys. We hung out for a bit. Some of the other kids were hanging close to their moms and dads. But her, nope. Didn't even care if I was there or not. She did somehow find the time to blow me a kiss. On the way out, I couldn't help the tears. I thought I wasn't going to be "one of those" moms. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just didn't think I'd cry. But boy did I.

Jack misses his sister, but at the same time, is loving having us to himself this morning. (I took the morning off today). He's running all over the place and doesn't have to fight over toys. I'm excited for Catie, but I can't wait to pick her up later this morning and hear all about it.

Not dead yet

Nope. Believe it or not, I'm still here. Been almost 5 months, but still alive and kicking. It's been an exciting few weeks/months. To recap briefly: gave up plans on building a house, bought a house instead, getting settled into said new house, turned 35, went to Sock Summit, and a whole bunch of other minute things that seemed important at the time, but I can't remember them now. I'd post pictures, but I have no idea where the camera is yet.

We've been in the new house 2 weeks. We're still nowhere near settled. Despite 5 or 6 trips to the Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store and 4 dumpster loads of garbage, I still find myself with way too much stuff. There's still numerous boxes to unpack and go through. I really thought I'd pared down. Now I know how much further we have to go.

This weekend I'm home alone. Tomorrow I'm going to get a massage. Maybe if I get my act together, I'll unpack more stuff and paint a room or two. But maybe I'll just read trashy magazines and novels. Hmmm...

Today is one of my days off this week. The beginning of the month, I changed my work schedule. I now usually work 3 to 3 1/2 days a week, but 12 hour days. This lets me be home a bit more with the kids. It's amazing how much this has helped my mommy guilt. I still wish I could be home more, but this is a start.

The puppy is settling in nicely. Settling into our bed, that is. I think the second night here, I couldn't stand the whining and crying coming from her crate, so she now has found a perfect spot snuggled up between G and I. If I can't listen to a puppy cry, is it any wonder that our kids still sleep with us most nights? I'm sure it's quite the picture. Mom, Dad, Catie, Jack, Annie, sometimes one of the other dogs, and maybe a cat all in bed in the mornings. Good thing we bought that king sized bed last fall! And I learned something new about dogs last week. Apparently, they can pass out after shots. Yup. G took her to get her immunizations, and after her shots, she was out cold. I shouldn't get such a kick out of that, but I do.

And in knitting news, I've been doing a fair amount. I think I've finally mastered continental knitting. It's becoming much faster and efficient for me. I still struggle some with tension, especially when purling, but it is now my preferred method. Knitting stockinette in the round is my absolute favorite thing to do! Sad, but true. I get all excited about just knitting around and around, holding the yarn in my left hand.

Here's a couple of hats I've finished lately. The first is from a kit I bought at the Nestucca Bay Yarn retreat last fall.

The second is a hat I made for George. It was one of my first full continental projects. The brown is some of the first yarn I spun. If you look close, you can see some giant slubs, as well as some parts that are way overspun. The beige is some Peace Fleece I've had sitting around. It's quite a "rustic" hat. But I love it.


Head over to Ravelry for stats on both.

There's been a bit more knitting as well. And some crocheting. I hope to get pics up later this week. Have a great day.

Newest Family Member

Sometimes things take you by surprise. Thursday night a couple of our friends said they had gotten some puppies that were too much for them. Of course I'm a sucker for puppies. Herding dogs no less. So now we have a new puppy, as do my mom and dad. Here's Annie. She's an Australian Shepherd.

It's been awhile since I've had a puppy. Way fun. But, boy does she like to chew on stuff. I'd forgotten about that part.

Historical Day

I set the alarm on my pager today for 10:00 Mountain Time. I had read that would be the approximate time Barack Obama would be sworn in as our next president. In the middle of seeing a patient, the alarm went off, and I couldn't help but smile. I just watched his speech online tonight, and was inspired yet again. When Obama was in Boise last year, I went, and was amazed. I am thrilled today is here and wish him the best. He certainly is facing some challenges, but I'm confident in his ability to meet them head on.

The images of the National Monument Mall were amazing. I can't imagine the energy and electricity that must have been in that crowd. I would have loved to have been there to experience it firsthand. Even watching the video gave me chills. Today is a good day to be an American.

Amazing 48 hours

Shhh....I'm blogging from my desk at work. In my defense, though, it is 5:12 pm, and I'm done seeing patients. Only the paperwork looms. I just had to share the utter awesome-ness (is that really a word?) of the last couple days.

1. Met with a builder.
2. Loved the builder.
3. Found out we'll need a lot less down on the construction loan that we had planned, so we'll be able to break ground sooner.
4. Work is ready for me to trial a flexible schedule...basically working fewer days, but somewhat longer hours when I am at work. The end result, though, will be more time/days at home with the kids.
5. Learned that I'll be able to buy a share in my office building, an incredible investment.
6. Got a good night's sleep for the first time in days.
7. Catie stayed in her bed all night, hence #6.
8. Finished the I-cord border on Catie's Tulip sweater.
9. Heard Jack put a two words together for the first time!
10. Tonight we're eating G's version of the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden. Yum.

Life is good. Finally.