I found a pattern to use to make bookmarks for Valentine's Day for work. The pattern works up quickly - similar to a snowflake, but is different that what I have done before. I have 5 done, and I need at least another 4 - minimum. If I make more, they can find good homes, I am sure!

I started a scarf at AJ's game last night, and finished about half of it. Since he has Scouts tonight, a game on Wednesday, and a Tournament Friday and Saturday, I should finish it, and maybe even something else this week! This scarf is for the sister of one of AJ's team members. The Mom is a substitute teacher, and has worked with Alli many times, and we talk quite a bit at games (basketball, soccer, and baseball). The daughter, Amanda, liked the previous scarf I was working on, and I offered it to her, but the colors weren't really "her" (shades of brown). I had a skein of yarn with me for my next project, and it is purple - much more "her", so it will have a home when it is done. The brown scarf found a home at work yesterday too!

We got Alli's blood draw done yesterday morning - what a breeze! We had less than a 10 minute wait in the lobby, and the techs were very careful to find a good vein and made a good draw first time. We were out in less than 15 minutes! Alli was full of giggles during the wait, and giggles right up until the needle went in. Since I just happened to have some "treats" with me, once the initial shock went away, she was all giggles again. One of the techs' daughter is friends with Alli's daycare provider's daughter, so he recognized her from seeing her at Sandie's house.

Another week-end almost come and gone! My Saturday was shot! AJ had to be at the College for a Boy Scout function at 8:00 a.m., so Alli, AJ and I left home at 7:40. After dropping him off, Alli and I went to Wal-Mart shopping, and then to the lab to do a blood draw for Alli. (She has an appointment February 2nd in Sacramento.) We got there at 9:10 (they opened at 9:00) and signed in as the 14th person. They called us up at 10:15 to check us in and take our insurance information, and at 10:30 they called us for the blood draw. We left at 11:10, and no blood draw. They couldn't find a vein, so Alli and I get to go back on Monday! I stopped at Burger King on the way home for Alli to have a special lunch (she did so well!) and got home at 11:45, with no trip to the grocery store. That was on my agenda right after the blood draw. AJ's function was over "sometime between 3:00 and 4:00", so I was back at the college at 2:50 until 4:15, just waiting for him, and of course, it was over after 4:00. Most of my day was spent waiting! At least when I was waiting for AJ I could read my book and crochet. When I was waiting with Alli, I had to keep her under control. She did very well for the first hour. The second hour was a little louder than the first!

I did finish another doily Friday night! I like this one, but...most of my house is done in green, so this one will have to find a new home. I also have a scarf that needs a home, but I think someone at work will like that one. I think I need to take some of my doilies in to work to see if any one likes them. I have toyed with the idea of taking them to the crafter's mall here in town to see if they would sell, but I don't want to have a "booth", just get rid of a few doilies. Another idea is to sell them on e-bay. I don't know if I am ready to get involved with selling on e-bay, but it might be a fun challenge (notice I said "might"!)

Red Scraves

I got all three scarves done, and in a box ready to ship. Yay me! I was afraid I would get them done, but not ship them. (Well, I haven't actually shipped then yet, but...I have them in a box!)

Lost Kitty?

I had a cat in my lap for a while, and then the next time I looked, he was hiding with the stuffed toys! He is hiding in the front corner on the left.

I finished it! I had serious issues with the last row, and gave up last night. This morning, I took a look at the picture, and re-read the instructions. I still think the instructions are wrong, but it was easy to see what needed to be done. I am happy with this one - it turned out very nice. Now, to find it a good home!

AJ's basketball tournament got rescheduled to next weekend, so today isn't nearly as busy as I thought it would be. We have hair cuts this morning at8:30, and AJ has a flag ceremony for scouts today, and needs to be in town at the convention center at 1:00 for practise, and again at 5:30 for the ceremony. It will be easier without fitting in a couple of games too! Unfortunately, it was rescheduled for next week - Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He already has Merit Badge Pow-Wow on Saturday 8:00 - 3:00, so now he has to decide what he wants to do. He needs one more Merit Badge to get his Life level, and then only 4 more Merit Badges and an Eagle Project are needed for Eagle Scout. I would like his to do the Pow Wow, but it is his choice. (I would hate to see him miss the Pow Wow, and then the coach not play him in the game.)

I scheduled an appointment for Alli with her Neurologist for February 2nd. On Thursday, her teacher was working with her and said Alli's eyes rolled back in her head for a second and then she was just fine. I think it is time to see the doctor! I just hate the drive down and back! Oh well, it is on a Friday, so I get an early start on the weekend at least! (Providing there are no issues at work. I will be home by 2:00 in the afternoon, so if they need me, I can still go to work - bummer!)

Well, AJ's basketball team won their first game this week! AJ even got to play for a few minutes, but got pulled out pretty quick. (They were 20 points ahead when he went in, and only 10 points ahead when he came out!) He looked so nervous out there, I think even the coach took pity on him! He went back in the game for the last 90 seconds, and played much better - less nervous, more "in the game" than before. He has a tournament this weekend, so he may get more play time. That will help him a lot, just to get on the court. He told me he likes the practise, but would just as soon not be in the game. I think as he gets more experience, he will be more willing to play in the game. I'm not looking forward to several hours sitting in the bleachers, but...the price you pay I guess!

I haven't done much handwork recently. The doily I am working on needs 8 roses done, and I got lazy about doing them. I have three done completely (ends woven in) and 4 more done, ready to have the ends woven in. Just one more, and then I can get the doily finished! I had decided that I don't like piecing doilies - just let me go round and round! I need to get started on Valentines Day and Easter stuff for co-workers. I found a cute heart bookmark to make for VD, but I haven't really even started looking for Easter yet.

I did get all three scarfs done (almost) for the Red Scarf Project. I need to fringe one, and weave in ends on one, and they are ready to go. I need to get them in the mail this week, so they are actually finished! These were a great project for basketball games. I have one more scarf started in blue for a co-worker to finish up, and with a tournament this weekend, I should get it done! Maybe I'll work on my fox at the games too - it is just round and round for another 50 rows!

Felted Purse Project - Finished

Here is the felted clutch. It measures 5 1/2 inches by 9 inches after felting.

It is a three day-weekend this weekend! Time to relax? Maybe! Alli was up this morning at 4:15, and did not go back to sleep. She played quietly (sort of) in her room until about 5:00, and then got up. I got up and chased her down and put her back to bed, where she stayed until about 5:30. We are up! Since I usually get up around 5:15, it is not a problem, but I would have liked to sleep in!

I got a call from Alli's speech therapist yesterday at work. She observed a "possible" seizure while she was in the classroom, and just wanted to let me know. Her son has seizures, so she knows what to look for, and still couldn't tell if it was or not, so I am going to think it wasn't! Alli was sitting in her rocking chair quietly (which makes me think she was sleeping!) and the Therapist called her name to go to work. She said Alli didn't respond, and had a "funny" look. When she called again, she responded and seemed to be just fine. (I will monitor her, and talk to her doctor on the next visit though!) I think it was just Alli's quirky way of waking up - it is like her brain wakes up before her body, so she looks weird for a couple of seconds, and then everything catches up her brain. Her speech therapist was very happy to tell me that Alli was "playing" with her using her PEC's. The Therapist said that using humor with language indicates an understanding of language, so she is going to increase the complexity of her PEC's a little bit. (She was having Alli "ask" for pieces of her cookie for snack using a cookie icon, and Alli would hand her a pretzel icon and giggle and giggle.)

AJ got to play in his first basketball game Thursday night. He did pretty well. He told me he didn't do as well as he wanted to, but the coach told him he liked his defence. Not bad! I don't know that it made up for me sitting on the bleachers for 2 1/2 hours, but AJ was happy, and I finished one Red Scarf, and started another.

I felted my clutch during the week. I just need to get a button for it, and it is done! I will post pictures later (when I have natural light). I also started a new doily and another project for me. The project for me is a fake fox stole. I may never finish it, or even wear it if I do finish it, but it is just adorable! I have the head done, I "just" need to do the body and tail, legs and ears. My hope is to have it done by Christmas next year, to use during the "party" time of year. If I ever make it to Eastern Star, it would go well with a formal too!

Another project!

I just looked at my blog, and realized I forgot to post a picture of my most recent doily! This was worked off of a charted pattern, and I finished it in a weekend! Of course, the weekend I did it in is the weekend that AJ had 3 extra boys spend the night for his birthday, and I just sat around and supervised them - lots of crochet time that way!

Felted Purse Project

I have, once again, started a new project! It is even for me! I am making a felted clutch, and have everything done but the felting! Most of the crochet work took one evening - Monday. Last night I had scouts with AJ (and his birthday!) so only had enough time to sew it together and get it ready to felt. Maybe tonight I will get it finished! It worked up really fast (it is only a large rectangle about 13 inches by 44 inches) that you fold up together. I got a large sparkly button at Wal-Mart last night, and I just hope it doesn't turn out too big for the loop! I probably should have waited until I felted it to pick out a button, but, since I was there....I did it anyway!

Alli's new school visit

I went to Alli's new school yesterday, and what a treat! It is so much larger than the old classroom! They are able to set up work cubicles for each of the kids, an area for group tables, and a "storytime" area. There are lots of cupboards so they can store things "out of sight", too. They also have a second room that they are treating as a therapy room, with all of their therapy balls, bouncing balls, climbing stuff, etc. for the kids out of the regular room. They even have some storage area available to them in the second room (previously stored in a shed not too close to the classroom), and over the summer they are building a playground next to them. (School is switching from Middle School to K-1 Charter school next year) It will definitely be a good switch. Alli was very excited to go into the classroom, but she was ready to go home soon too. Since I picked her up at 1:50 and took her up to the new school, and then took her back to daycare at 3:00, she had a meltdown after I left. "When Mommy picks me up, we are supposed to go home!" Poor Sandy! AJ was spending the day there too, and he helped out with Alli, but she was a real pill! I know better, too! I usually plan for things so I don't pick her up and take her back.

AJ has a birthday party today - he will be 14 on Tuesday, so he is having some boys spend the night tonight. Oh Boy - games and pizza! The boys are all good boys, and they are fun to be around. I just really wish it was a summer party, so I could through them outside! The weather is supposed to be good this weekend though, so they may go outside anyway!

Red Scarf Porject

I finished the Red Scarf (for the Red Scarf Project) last night, and it looks very nice! It is made with Wool-eaze yarn and has 10% lamb's wool in it, so it is also nice and soft! Next project - actually getting it mailed! They ask that you put a card or something with it stating "hand made by ..." so I need to get that done, and then mail it out!

Another doily finished! This one is called Pineapple Fanfare, and finished up very quickly! My next project (almost already complete) is a scarf for the Red Scarf Project (http://crochet. about.com/ od/charities/ ss/redscarfproje ct.htm) I just have a few more rows to do - mainly to finish up the skein of yarn than because the scarf needs to be longer.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I didn't even make it till midnight last night! I went to bed at 11:00 - which was just as well - Alli went to bed at her normal time. She did sleep in a little bit, but we were both up by 6:30 this morning. Ralph and AJ stayed up quite late, so we will see what time they get up this morning!

I think I am finally getting some pep back. Last night I managed to cook and clean up! Not that I did a lot of cooking, but there was a lot of clean up! We had fresh crab for dinner - not much to cook, but since I like mine in a salad, I chopped tons of veggies and homemade dressing. AJ just ate his crab as he picked it out of the shell - nothing fancy for him! He was done before I even got all of mine picked. Of course, I was stopped several times to re-provision Alli, and clean her up. She doesn't do crab, so she got leftover steak and instant mash potatoes - which she got everywhere. One of these days, she will eat neatly, but I don't know when! It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't like to feel the texture of her potatoes (with her hands), and then didn't rub her face after she had potatoes on her fingers! Oh well - nothing a nice warm bath won't cure!