Unexpected day off

Today is a mental health day to get some things taken care of. Thus I have time to write.

Some changes: Reimond is moving up to Minneapolis the first weekend of September to start a new life by his siblings. I am thrilled for him and the opportunities available to him up there and I look forward to seeing what things are in store for him. He's got a line on a couple of jobs up there, and a place to stay with both Liisa and Tony. It's exciting and scary and he's really looking forward to both reconnecting with old friends and having family close by. 

The next change is that Liisa is selling her (my) house. After 8 years of doing updates and managing things she's ready for a change and the flexibility of not worrying about yard work and upkeep. She lives at her boyfriends house and has the opportunity to do those things there. They have Eleanor, a blind puppy, who has her own Facebook page from her shelter days (Toadette the blind puppy) and has her own fan base. They discovered after adopting her that she has hydrocephalus and the pressure affected her optic nerves so while. She can see somewhat, she can't process what she sees. She is busy, active, and full of love, and she is adored by Liisa and Dave. 

 

On the project front I finished my Reyna shawl. I have to soak and block it and then will put a picture of it. 

I may have already posted this one of my knitting on it all scrunched in my lap.

I also sewed a new cover for my swing. It's made of outdoor fabric, and I lined the seat area with duck canvas for added stability. I am satisfied with it and it buys me a bit more time before I need to decide what the next option is. The frame was still in good shape, but I have loved the heck out of the seat area...

I so enjoy sitting out in my yard and swinging while I read, stitch, and relax.

We went out for dinner with Patrick and his girlfriend for his belated birthday. He's doing well and is happy. Aurora is also busy with her life. She has a boyfriend as well, works, and has joined a bowling league off base because she no longer has base access (aged out) except as our guest. Our once predictable child is now as unpredictable as the rest of them. Regarding when she's home and if she's joining us for meals! 

 

 Pictures from Mascoutah homecoming. 

Skye is liking first grade, and Adrianna is practicing sitting up independently. She has also started intentionally rolling over, then getting upset because she doesn't want to be on her back (or tummy). Brie is tired but she's managing things and says she's doing okay. There is no drill this coming month (September) so I'm not sure when we will next see the girls. Skye's birthday will be celebrated at some point as she is turning 6 on the 26th. Eric and I both work this weekend, and then next weekend we are driving Rei to Minnesota and collecting what I had left at the house. It's gonna be a busy labor day weekend!

That's life around here. I'm enjoying the cooler weather despite the sprinkles in the air.

Rainy end to a productive 4 days off...

The weather the last two days has mostly sucked. Rain rain and more rain. Yesterday I stayed in and got lots of chores done I have wanted to tackle for awhile. There is still more to do, but I have expanded the open space in my bedroom, which makes me happy, and I have kept up on my main floor not being a disaster area. Today though my sinuses and allergies said I did enough. My body is achy and my head is congested.  As the weather clears and the dust and dander settle from cleaning it will feel better I hope.

I am 31 rows from finishing the Reyna shawl, and I embroidered 4 more blocks on the dragon/fantasy quilt. I was just playing with the layout with the 13 blocks done so far. 

I have two more of the black creatures to do, then I have 6 blocks in white on black to embroider. I also have a few more random dragons to do. I am leaning towards a 4x6 layout, but it really depends on how I feel after I finish up the remaining blocks. I can always add more. I will be squaring these ones up so, and perhaps adding in borders and other design elements. It's a work in progress for my honey (and me). Today's primary job was running to Joann's and to Jackmans to get more thread, stabilizer, needles, and outdoor fabric to recover my swing.  

As you may have guessed, the torn seat is my favorite side to sit, and my handwork goes on the left seat. The swing itself we have had for 8 years now. I bought it on clearance at Target shortly after the wedding, and we lost the canopy on it the first summer following from the winds. It. Is well. Used and loved. I bought some duck canvas to reinforce the seat area, and some outdoor fabric (weather treated, sun resistant) to make a sling like slip cover for over the entire swing. It's harder to describe than to actually do. The frame is still in good shape, but the type of seating on it is a challenge to replace, so I am going to make an attempt to see if I can save it with new fabric... Wish me luck! I'll take pictures when it's done, but it'll have to quit raining first so I can get the measurements right!

Back to work tomorrow... School is resuming in St. Louis city this coming week which means child protection reports will pick up. I have been a part of a workforce/implementation team for a new system of investigation and assessment protocols we started using back in May and now I am looking to help be a trainer in them as a front line worker when we expand it to the surrounding counties. Never a dull moment... Okay not completely true, but I try to stay busy. 

Eric is calling to let me know he's headed home from work, so I guess I'll end my update here.

Let's have a great week!

Lazy Friday.

I am relaxing! I took yesterday and today off to watch Brie's girls, not realizing that Skye started first grade this past Tuesday. Brie's husband is keeping them through today and will decide if he is keeping them the weekend or bringing them to me. Since I had requested the time off in advance and it was approved, I figured I might as well use it. This is a four day drill weekend for Brie. 

Yesterday I did some chores, went grocery shopping, knit, and watched the Olympic Games on television. 

This is the Reyna shawl. Figured it would be nice for me! It's another of my WIPs (works in progress) towards completing things.  As i said to Eric, things lose their luster sometimes as I reach mid point, but then when picked up again become fun as I realize how close they are to being done. I promise this will look much better when blocked. Right now it's all scrunched up on my needles. It made for good tv watching knitting because the pattern is simple. So simple I screwed it up the first time I tried it and ended up ripping it all out and restarting. It was take two I got bored on and set it aside. 

If I have the girls knitting will be my handwork this weekend. If Eric K. Keeps them, then I plan to sew much of the weekend. I have patterns, notions, and material for a number of garments for me I want to make up, and I also have quilt blocks to embroider or make up... My Eric worked an overtime shift on Wednesday and we had yesterday off together. Now he works his three day weekend so my days are my own to get stuff done.

Which reminds me, I haven't had coffee or breakfast yet! Perhaps I'll take them outside :)

This heart cloud sat over me on Sunday afternoon and made me smile.  Weather today is similar, so I want to enjoy it before it gets beastly hot out! 

Anniversaries and reunions

On August 2nd Eric and I celebrated 8 years of married life.  I swear I don't know where the time went, but here we are and I couldn't be happier.  Eric surprised me with 8 beautiful red roses:

 

and we had a nice dinner at red lobster, where we enjoyed the "crab fest". We also enjoyed a new drink on the menu and came home with 6 new mugs! Reimond joined us for dinner as he was the only kid home, and it was nice to remember and acknowledge the changes we have all made in the past 8 years.  

Reimond drastically changed his look from being a boy as seen here in the photo with my mom and Liisa from mid July

To a more grown up look 

 Complete with shorter hair and lots of self confidence.  When I look at this picture I see my brother Erik in the upper face, and my brother Neal in the grin, my dad as a young man, and my son Anthony. I'm really proud of the decisions he's made and the path he is headed on. 

These last eight years have brought a lot of challenges and successes to our lives and I feel very blessed. I am notsurewhat the future holds for us, but I know Eric and I can manage as long as we have each other.

I finished another project that's been around for almost a year: 

The pattern was a mystery and while I finished the first one in good time, I took forever on the second one.  They are beaded and I am going to need to remove a bead or three at the heel because they bother my foot where they are placed. Otherwise I am happy with them. 

The little girls went home Monday (8/1) and man has this week been tiring back at work.  The caseloads are slow, which is good, but I cleared most of my active cases before I left for 2 weeks so now I have only 6 open cases (as opposed to 15-20 on an average week) and the day just drags! We are losing a supervisor to budget cuts, and two workers are leaving to move out of state, so things may get harder soon. Always a pleasure working for the government! I am looking forward to the weekend and just being. I learned I won a raffle prize from the yarn crawl--out in Washington Missouri!--so I plan to drive out there Saturday to get it, and maybe laze by the Missouri River for a spell or Finda winery to sit at so I don't just spend the day in the car.

Eric is in Indiana through Sunday for his 30th high school reunion. I had mine 6 years ago... I'm so glad he is able to go. It was serendipitous that he heard about it on Facebook and just happened to be on vacation this week, so he had the time and the freedom to go! He'll also be spending time with family, and I know he'll have a great time. Meanwhile, I will have a weekend by myself to relax and rejuvenate!

On that note, I am going to post some photos I took in the last two days, of a break in the storm clouds from last evening,and a lunch at a river park today.

Time to open my bottle of peach wine and find my knitting!

Three more days to go...

Although I actually go back to work Monday and Eric will have child duty until their mother gets here.

Eric very graciously played chauffeur and nursemaid on Thursday so I could do the yarn crawl with children in tow. 

As you can see by my purchases, I tried to be responsible and only got what spoke to my heart: the gold and the variegated on the left screams large shawl, in a lace weight, the purple on the right. Is soft and cuddly; the top yarn is for socks for Eric, who needs more work socks, and the two middle yarns Skye said were needed: one makes a hat with a cat for a pompom, the other is a princess shawl. I also got a lovely shawl pin. 

The baby is not the best road tripper. She does not like the car seat. Skye Is a wonderful traveler and helper. We got stuck in a major traffic jam when a semi carrying hay caught fire closing down the freeway as we were coming home, and we spent 2hours in gridlocked traffic. Not fun!  The previous part of the day was nice though, with lunch near the Missouri River in Washington Missouri, and Ted Drews at Knitorious.  

I finished Eric's socks, and they are the same size, just need a soak and being blocked (although I think he's wearing them today already). 

This has been the story of our weather this week: ostensibly comfortable, with an unbearable heat index.  Sadly we haven't done a lot of outside activities, except sporadically and in the shade.

 

Skye played with a neighbor's chameleon and was fascinated by it. 

I have decided I was amazing with all I got done as a daycare mom. Keeping two little ones and keeping up with chores has been a challenge. I feel like there is stuff I wanted to accomplish over my two weeks off, but haven't seen the end of much of anything. I almost could use anger few days off after they go home to rest up! Oh well, it's been worth it. The girls are wonderful and I love being a grandma. 

Anyhow, that's how this week has gone!

10 days and counting

I've had the little girls since Friday night (7/15) and I am starting to feel it.  I've loved having them, but today I am feeling burnt out. Eric was home for 4 days after his 10 days training in Little Rock, so we did more playing than working and now I have to catch back up.  A load of dishes in the dishwasher, a baby napping, a little girl playing on her tablet, and me taking a quick breather... 

Yesterday the temperature reached 102 degrees and a 112 ( or higher) heat index, so we went to the pool. We had a good time and used plenty of sunscreen. It was nice--the water was about perfect, warm enough to sit in and refreshing compared to the air outside. 

I am about a third done with Eric's second sock, and I am in the mood to make doll clothes. Maybe I can squeeze in some sewing this week. So far pick up knitting has been easiest to do, with all the interruptions but we'll see.  The yarn crawl is down to 6 shops now and Eric said he'd come with so I can participate this year. We are going to do it on Thursday, when it starts, with both girls in tow. It may be interesting!

The heatwave has broken, or so they say, but today is overcast and gloomy.  Time to turn on some lights and get active again.

I'm back!

I'm back!

I post on Facebook when anything big comes up, or even small things, so I have gotten way from blogging. Work has strict guidelines for computer use, and when I am home there are often other things taking my time and attention.  But I got an email from a dear friend who pointed me to another blogger and I found myself captivated again. I spent a week reading her blog from oldest to newest and was reminded of why I loved my blog and I missed it.

So a brief synopsis of things since over a year ago:

I still work in child protection. There are thinks I like and appreciate about it, and others that have hurt my heart. I still want to do counseling/therapy, and still feel drawn to it, but I am not seeing signs that it is time to move on yet.

Eric still works for the federal government.  He's had a promotion, and more responsibility. It's a job, it pays the bills, and he works hard. He takes good care of me and we are happy.

We are down to two kids at home, for however long. Aurora graduated college, and Reimond decided it wasn't for him. Both are living at home for the nonce. Patrick is living in town, and Brie and her girls are in Missouri, about 90 minutes away, with her husband.  I have the girls for two weeks while Brie is at guard annual training. I took two weeks off to do it and we are managing just fine. Skye will be 6 in August, and Adrianna is 5 months. 

 

Tony's kids are growing too: Justin is 11 and Alexis is 9.  He just bought a boat and it looks like such fun! He and Andrea are going strong. Liisa got divorced the end of last year. She has a new guy in her life who makes her happy. I am so proud of the adults my children have become. They are wonderful people.

I am still very actively doing my handwork.  I just finished knitting a summer sweater for me, and a sweater for Skye. Still need to make Adrianna's matching one. I also finished an entralac scarf. Now my knitting focus is a pair of socks for Eric. I have a couple of quilts being stitched, and two to quilt. I have cross stitch projects and crochet projects too. I also am still spinning on the drop spindle. Have not gotten a spinning wheel yet, but still hoping for one.

 

I need to focus more on my diet and exercise. I saw the cardiologist who said I need to lose weight and become fitter. I'm trying. The girls are keeping me moving that's for sure.  Small steps are what I need to do...

Anyway, it's a start!