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.

Happy New Year

Remember when New Year's Eve was a REALLY big deal? Back then, I thought about New Year's Eve for weeks...what would I do, where would I go, would I kiss someone at midnight? Now, I'm totally and completely content to spend the night at home, curled up under a blanket, knitting and a good book as a companion. Maybe I'll be awake at midnight to give G a smooch. Maybe not. I've turned into an old lady. And I'm totally at peace with that. The past few days, I've been reflecting on the year, and looking forward to 2009. So now you all get to hear about it.

2008 was a mixed bag for me. Gesa's death has affected me more profoundly that I had anticipated. It was by far the defining event of this year. I've been thinking alot about her this week. I've had several friends and family members pass away, but this has been the one that has been the biggest struggle for me. I guess it's because she was such a large part of both my personal AND professional life. I know it won't go away anytime soon, but I'm hoping putting 2008 behind will help. Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

On a bigger and better note, 2008 had some high points as well. It was the year we paid off our credit cards (a substantial amount, unfortunately), and bought the farmland. It was the year of the Alaskan cruise. And in knitting, the year I learned to do Fair Isle (and fell in love with it). Family life was good as well. The kids are getting more and more fun with each passing day. More of their individual personalities are showing, and it's so fun and fulfilling to watch.

2009 is looking good so far. We're meeting with a couple of builders over the next couple of weeks to discuss our plans for the new house. It looks like I'll make it to Rhinebeck. More debts will be paid down, or even off. I still have a lot of improvements to make, but really, life is looking pretty damn good right now. But of course, there's the obligatory New Year's Resolutions.

So, here goes:
1. Lose weight (yup, make this one every year...but this year will be different.)
2. Exercise consistently
3. Grow more of our own food
4. Simplify our lives and our stuff
5. Read more...I joined a group on ravelry with the goal of 52 books in 52 weeks.
6. Get up earlier each morning (maybe I'll use that time to work on #2).
7. Work more towards becoming debt free
8. Recycle
9. Works towards living in the moment
10. Blog more

Thinking back, I probably made some of these last year as well. Further proof I have a ways to go. But we're all works in progress, right?

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy New Year. Kiss someone at midnight. Or get some good sleep. Here's to new beginnings.

6 random things

I was tagged by Jess for 6 random things, so here goes:

Here's how it works:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random things about me:

1. I LOVE washing dishes by hand. Seriously, I LOVE it. To the point that sometimes I wish we didn't have a dishwasher. But George disagrees, so we still have one.

2. I am terrified of mice.

3. When I was little, I had an imaginary friend named Susabelle. Anytime anything bad happened, she was always to blame.

4. When I was in medical school in St. Louis and really homesick, the thing I missed most was the smell of sagebrush.

5. I think Diet Coke is the nectar of the gods.

6. Tonight I played CLUE for the first time in probably 20 years, and had a blast.

Next up...I'd like to tag

Kim
Erica
Carolyn
Angela
Lorette
Theresa

Have a great Monday.

Finally!

Months and months ago we started negotiating to buy some farm land. After some re-nogiatating and lots and lots of paperwork, I'm thrilled to announce...IT'S OURS!

We now own 25 acres of land in Homedale. The top of the hill has views of both the Owyhee mountains as well as the Snake River. There's then a slope, and corrals on the bottom, with a spring that runs most of the year. We're hoping to start building a home a year or so from now, with the goal that it will be done by the time Catie starts kindergarten, so she can just start in Homedale and not have to switch schools.

Right now the top of the hill is pretty good pasture grass. The hill and low areas need quite a bit of work and re-seeding, plus we need to figure out irrigation. But we are beyond excited. I'm hoping to have an intensive grazing system for beef cattle and fiber critters (definitely more sheep and maybe a few more alpacas). Plus I'll finally get my chickens. I'd love to someday have a market garden, but that's far in the future from now. We've signed up for a course through the extension office called Living on the Land, and I think we'll get tons of great info from that.

Here's a view from the top of the hill. We'd like to put the house out from where this picture was taken...looking east over the river.

This is what I've been working toward for years, and am a little floored that it's finally happening. Now we need to come up with a name for our farm. Right now I'm leaning towards Riverview Farm and Fibers. Any other suggestions?

Thankful

Last year, I posted about what I was most thankful for. I thought I'd continue the tradition. This year, I thought I'd make a little list.


The "Top 8 of 2008"


1. A great husband. Seriously...he went on a knitting cruise with me. How cool is that?
2. The sweetest daughter in the whole wide world. It makes my heart melt when she says, "Mommy, I love you more than anything."
3. And now she's potty trained.
4. A heck of a character for a son. He is just so much fun to watch. Mischievious and in to everything, but not in a bad way.
5. That he survived the penny incident unscathed. It could have been much worse.
6. That Aylin (Gesa's daughter) has done so well.
7. That I've learned to appreciate each moment even more, because of what happened to Gesa.
8. That this man is our next president.



It's been a rough year for me in many ways. But in the grand scheme of things, I'm quite fortunate. I'm lucky to be here and to have all the blessings that I do. Have a wonderful day.

YES WE CAN!!

Amazing. Thanks, America.

Exhausted

I was initially scheduled to work this weekend, but one of my partners needed to switch, so I ended up with the weekend off. So did I have a nice relaxing weekend? Heck no! Saturday one of my friends came over (who thinks it's FUN to organize things), and yet another friend and her kids came over on Sunday. We spent the majority of the weekend de-junking the back porch. I didn't think to take a "before" picture, but take my work for it...it was an utter disaster. A few years ago, I had put our old table out there, with hopes of it being a craft area. Well, it pretty much became a junk table. So 12 bags of junk later, it looks like this...
We organized some of the cupboards as well.

It was appalling how much stuff we had. Nothing important. Well, except Catie's immunization record that had been lost for months. Food that had been long expired (2003 even). Tons of old plastic grocery bags. Old bottles and paper that never made it to recycling. For all my thoughts that we've been scaling down, it was more than apparent than ever that we have a long way to go. Nowhere near where I'd like to be. I have this desire to get rid of almost everything and start over with the bare minimum. But we just need to be diligent on keeping thing clean and getting rid of things we don't use or need.

Next up...the kitchen...

I've been back at work a week. It's always good to go away, but it's just as good (or better) to get home. We had a great time in Portland and at the coast. The first weekend was spent at OFFF, then we headed to the coast. The first few days we were there were beautiful. The last few days it rained, but still a great time. I got a fair amount of knitting done, and managed to teach my sister to crochet. I went to a knitting retreat last weekend in Lincoln City, hosted by Nestucca Bay Yarns. I not only learned to knit (fairly consistently) with my left hand, but actually cut a steek. I thought I'd be paralyzed by it, but it wasn't so bad. I'm fascinated with color work now, and am looking at Christmas stockings to knit for the kids.

In other news, Miss C has finally figured out the big girl potty thing. She was pretty stubborn for the longest time, but all the sudden, something clicked. We spent much of last week sitting on the potty, sometimes successful, sometimes not. But in the past 24 hours, it's like a switch has flipped, and she's ready. More than ready. Amazing. I'm so excited about it, I'm telling just about everyone. And now you all.

One of the motivations for potty training was dance lessons, which start tomorrow. She's awfully excited about the dance gear. Here she is all decked out, complete with cheesy grin. I can't believe how big she's getting.

And a couple more kid pictures from the beach...who knew kelp could be so exciting...and that a 19 month old could be so brilliant?

Top 10

Top Ten Things I Learned at OFFF:

10. I can actually walk past STR and not buy anything. Not a single skein.
9. Sometimes, willpower isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now I'm regretting walking past that STR.
8. What a ratio is on my spinning wheel.
7. That I probably won't make much use of said ratios. I just sit down and spin. And that's what works for me. And that's usually okay.
6. How to really use my drumcarder for blending.
5. I'm a sucker for African baskets.
4. How to skirt a fleece.
3. How to spin for lace. Well, sort of...I need to practice this.
2. Navajo plying and me need to get to know each other better.
1. I love love LOVE spinning raw fleece. How did I not know about this sooner?

Great weekend. Unfortunately, I was too busy in my classes to take a single picture. From here we're headed to the Oregon coast. Then another knitting retreat next weekend. I don't know about the rest of my family, but this is pretty much my dream vacation...fiber, fiber, and more fiber.

Not something you really want to hear

There's just some things that you can't prepare for when you have kids. Sundays are typically lazy mornings around our house. The kids got up and had toast. George went out to mow the lawn, but before he did, he gave them a snack of raisins and turned on Lady and the Tramp. I was checking my email and talking to my mom on the phone, when I hear "Owie, Mommy. Owie. There's a raisin in my nose." What the heck? Sure enough, there was a raisin in her nostril, about 2-3 cm up there. Of course, she wouldn't lay still for me to try and get it out. I tried to get her to blow her nose, but there was no cooperating at that point. G came in and tried to hold her, but still no success. She was freaking out and WANTED to go to the hospital.

So off Catie and I go. I'm giggling as we're driving in. And as we check in. The nurses were all very nice and understanding. Catie had finally calmed down on the trip to the ER, and so was more cooperative. Thank goodness she's comfortable in the hospital, not because she's ever been a patient, but because of coming to visit me. She settled down and started playing.



The ER doc had me try and blow in her mouth. SUCCESS! A big ol' raisin booger came flying out. She hung out at the hospital with the nurses while I checked on a newborn. Then she comes home and tells me she wants a granola bar with a raisin in it, so she can take the raisin out. What is she going to do with that little dessicated grape, pray tell?

Gauge Swatches LIE!

So in a moment of utter insanity, I signed up for the Ravelympics. I've had the pattern and yarn for A Walk in the Woods since May, before we went on the cruise. I thought, "Hey, I can knit a cardigan...in 2 weeks." What in the heck was I thinking. I didn't get it started until Saturday. I had swatched earlier in the week, and re-swatched Friday night. The pattern called for size 6 needles. I made gauge with size 9. Then I merilly cast on. About 4 or 5 rows in the the pattern, it was quite obvious that the actual product and the gauge swatch were two entirely different beasts. A sweater whose back was supposed to measure 24.5 inches was more like 27 or 28 inches. So I went back down to size 7s. This is pretty close. The material is quite stretchy, so I'm hoping it will work. If not, at least I tried. Here's my progress thus far...about 3-4 inches of the back. The picture is dark and blurry, but at least it's something.

I have a 4 day weekend this weekend. Today is my birthday...#34. Just another day at this point. But yesterday was awesome. Catie, her friend (Gesa's daughter) and I had a "girls' day" out. We went to lunch, Build-A-Bear, the bookstore, for tea anc cookies, and to get a hair cut. I don't know about them, but I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. They seriously wore me out! Here we are leaving home:

The girls with their haircuts and "ponies"

And just so Jack didn't feel left out, here's one of him. Looks like HE's the one who really needed the haircut. He's quite scruffy.

I have tomorrow and Monday off. Knitting and more knitting are in my future. Monday night I'm taking a 2 socks at once class. I'm hoping that will speed up my sock knitting some. Other than that, things are pretty boring. I'm looking forward to a morning of sleeping in. Assuming the kids are agreeable to that. Please oh please oh please!

Is this like riding a bicycle?

Once you get back on, it's like you've been doing it forever? Sure hope so, because, it's certainly been awhile. Boy do I suck at blogging. I thought about just officially stopping, but decided against it. Probably the Catholic guilt thing getting the best of me. Plus, I'm getting some serious grief from a couple of people about not staying up on this. I'm telling myself that work has slowed down some, so hopefully I'll have time to blog a bit more. I'm saying that as there are about 8 stacks of charts sitting in my office at work for me to deal with this weekend. But that's for Sunday...it's still Saturday night. So off we go, then.

I've been a bit of a fiber/craft slut lately and went on a little crochet binge for awhile. I made a bag and have started an afghan. But, alas, I missed my true love, knitting. How could I have strayed? I do have to admit, crochet is a fun mistress. But knitting...ahh...knitting...

Today I finished a pair of socks. The March Rockin' Sock club sock...Leafling.



They're from medium weight, and I'm more of a lightweight kinda girl, but sometimes it's good to broaden your horizons, right? I loved the pattern and colorway. Now to get cracking on May and July's socks. And just because that's not enough, I started a new baby sweater today. I have a couple of friends/co-workers that have had babies lately, and I'm a little behind on the gift knitting.

There's so much more to update y'all on. What would you like to hear about next?

Long Overdue

Nothing since April 14? Time flies. Just about every day I tell myself I need to post. And every day, I don't. I tell myself I'll do it tomorrow. Apparently nearly 60 tomorrows have gone by, and no blog post. My sister in law called me on it tonight. So here goes...

It's been an busy and eventful couple of months. I'm still adjusting to life without Gesa, both personally and professionally. There's days that I wish she was here to bounce something off of, or just to vent to her about work or home or the size of my butt, or something. I've inherited many of her patients, and we're all getting to know each other.

We went on our cruise to Alaska last month. It was amazing. It was somewhat stormy and rough, and because of the storms, the scenery may not have been as amazing as it could have been, but still, it was a GREAT vacation. The kids had a great time at their aunt LaLa's, and we're still hearing about the zoo and the park. There was much knitting and much buying of yarn. The food was good, the company was good. The zip line in Ketchikan was good (though the rope bridge/tree limb climbing part...not so much!) The Hubbard glacier was AMAZING! Victoria, BC, was, as always, a lovely place that I'm incredibly sad to leave. Overall, it was a desperately needed and perfect vacation. G even managed to enjoy himself, despite the overabundance of knitting and fiber that week. So much, in fact, that we signed up for next year.

Since being back, I've done some knitting. Mostly working. We've done some gardening as well. Things are growing quite well. Catie is proud of her garden, and likes to check it on a near daily basis to see what's growing. She has a little red watering can that she uses to water stuff. Quite cute, I'd say. When Jack is outside, mostly I try to keep him from eating rocks. Or bugs. Or alpaca poop. Seriously. That boy is something else.

This weekend, it's just me and the kids. G is in Las Vegas for a bit of a bachelor party for his friend Jason. We're having a good time so far. Probably not as good of a time as he's having, but well, I'll take snuggling with my kids in bed any day over loud and smoky casinos. It's the good life.

Back in the Saddle

Thank you all for your thoughts and condolences. Things are somewhat getting back to normal. There are about a hundred times a day when I think about something and it makes me think of Gesa. Indian food. Quilting. Shopping at the Macy's clearance store. And so on and so forth. But life goes on, I suppose.

We've been back from DC for a week. G tried to take a picture of the president's helicopter and he swears some man in a black trenchcoat followed him everywhere around the monument mall taking his picture after that. It's unfortunate that we can't even be geeky Americans and take pictures of something like that without being thought of as a possible terrorist. Or maybe G is just paranoid.

I'd like to go back there sometime, under better circumstances. What an amazing place for history. Maybe after the kids are a little older, we'll head to the Smithsonian.

While we were there, I finished my sweater I've been working on. Well, except for the zipper. But the knitting is done. And in time for my cruise. Which is in only 3 weeks! I've sort of lost my knitting mojo since then. I haven't done much knitting on my latest pair of socks. I haven't bought yarn in about 5 months. I was thinking that a little retail therapy might be just what the doctor ordered. Any recommendations for a quick shawl that I could maybe get done before the cruise? I was thinking about the Clapotis shawl. It looks like it'd be a pretty quick knit. Any ideas?