What a week! I'm so glad it is the weekend! Not that I don't have anything to do this weekend, but at least it is my stuff that I have to do! This was a week of 'shifting priorities' at work, so I never felt like I actually got anything finished! Now, if I don't finish anything, it is because I am lazy, not because I had to go do something else that is more critical (at least to someone else!)

Yesterday, winter came back for a short visit - another day of rain. It was cold, windy and wet! and then, on the way home. the sun came out! a beautiful double rainbow was out all the way home (the sky was happy it was Friday too!) It was still out when I got home, so I got a couple of pictures of it from the back yard. Today is supposed to be warmer, and then tomorrow, and most of next week, it is supposed to be warm and sunny! I am so ready for spring!



I got to have lunch with a girlfriend on Thursday - it was nice to catch up with her. She lives here in Redding, but I see her more in Susanville than I do here, since she spends most of her weekends in Susanville.

Just a few pictures of the work we got done last weekend. AJ helped me spread out bark in the garden off the patio, and put in my pansies in the pool area. I also put some in out front! I also took some pictures of the flower bed out front - the one that Mom and I put in a couple of years ago (the one with the hollyhocks!).

We had a breakthrough yesterday! Allison was playing in her room, bouncing on her bed, and she stopped and took herself to the bathroom for a poopie! Yippee! I almost didn't even notice except I went to check on her because she stopped bouncing and was quiet! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! She's been doing better at daycare and school to take herself in to go pottie, but we didn't know how much of that was a scheduling/timing thing for her or a realization that she should go to the bathroom to stay dry. I was so excited I almost threw her a party!

The weather has been so nice on weekends lately, I have gotten in a rush for real Spring! Yesterday, I picked up a flat of pansies to plant, and a mini-greenhouse to start some seeds for the garden. I have tried starting seeds before, and it was a colossal fail, so I am a little anxious about this try. I know what I am doing this afternoon!



The pansies will go out in the pool area flower pots. When the boys were helping me clean up out there a few weeks ago, they dumped all the dirt out with the old plants, so I got more potting soil yesterday, and some more bark to put out in the area off the patio. I picked up 4 cubic feet of each - we'll see how much more I need! (Those bags were heavy!) I am so ready to put in other plants, but that is about all that is available at the stores right now. I need to stop by the nursery after church to see what they have, but....it is still early. The pansies won't last too long around here anyway!

I did a check last week on my front flower bed, and it is in pretty good shape. The Dusty Miller was nipped back by the cold weather, so I need to see if it will come back, but the lavender was already blooming, the columbine is putting out a new flower bud, and the pincushion plant and potato bush are both okay. I don;t know if my _____ (forgot the name - the one ones up against the fence) (Now I remember - Hollyhocks!) will bloom again this year or not. They bloomed last year, and I don't know if they bloom every other year. or if it is just the first year they don't bloom. I need to do some serious weed control in that bed - the grass came through the mulch we put in. I'm hoping to get Ralph to spray it with weed-killer when he sprays the rest of the yard area. I'm so ready for Spring! Maybe next year, I'll plant bulbs so they come up in the spring! (I say that every year around this time, and then by the time it is time to plant bulbs, I am burned out with playing in the yard.)

Alex finally got something done on his Eagle Project! This weekend is the 'Scouting for Trees" project - where the scouts plant trees in areas needing reforestation. In this case, they are planting trees up by Shasta Dam in the burn area. Alex didn't particularly want to go, so we made a deal - he finishes part of his project, he doesn't have to go camping. He finished the 'written plan' for his project, and turned it in for review by his scout master. He still needs feedback from the school principal (his project is a clean-up remodel of a school garden area) but she was out of the office when he was trying to get this done (if he had planned ahead.....) He really does need a lot of work on it still, but - it is started!

Here are a couple of butterfly bookmarks I've been working on - hopefully they are presents for 'Spring'. I need a few more, and then I hope to get some flowers (pansies, etc.) and give to co-workers on a nice sunny day!

I've got to start getting up earlier! I haven't taken the time all week to update the blog! Bad me! I don't think daylight savings time is going to help either - it's hard enough to get up early now - it will be an hour earlier in a week! I have been busy at night though. I finished up another doily. This one is about 19 inches across, and the thread is variegated blue and white. The photo doesn't show the colors very well.



I also started a couple of other project (of course!) One is a series of small projects - unknown to me what they will be! One of the Yahoo groups that I am one is posting a series of small 'mystery' projects. They send out one pattern a week, and if you have finished the pattern from the week before, you get a new pattern. This week, it was a coaster:



It is about 5 inches across - a bit big for a coaster for me, but the pattern is pretty. It worked up in one evening. We'll see what comes along next!

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend! Friday was so nasty, too! Alex was supposed to be snow camping from Friday night through today, but due to a storm blowing through on Friday, the whole trip was canceled. It was the annual Klondike - a weekend of competition for all the scouts in the area. They compete in things from building the highest snow tower to sled races (where the boys are the sled dogs) to rope bridge building. Usually lots of fun, and this year they even had snow for it! Unfortunately, they also had a snow storm with high winds. It is supposed to be rescheduled, but...we'll see!

Saturday turned out to be beautiful - clear skies and sunny, with a temp of around 60 or so. Perfect! Now, did I get busy and get a bunch or yard work done? NO! I did get some weeds pulled though - at least I did something!

I also finished up my grocery bag. I'm not too happy with the top - it pulls it too much, but...I followed the instructions the first time. Next time, I'll do it my way! It may even be better their way - the tighter top may hold 'stuff' in the bag better! I don't think it is a good bag for actual groceries, but it should be good for the Wal-mart trips and other small stuff!



I like how the color pattern worked out - definitely not planned! I started another bag last night - new pattern. The new pattern is made in three pieces - two panels, front/back, and one 'side and bottom' panel. The pattern calls for 'plarn' ("yarn" made from plastic grocery bags cut into strips and looped together) but making plarn is a whole different project, and I am using three strands of regular yarn instead. I figured it was one way to use up some of the extra yarn I have outside in the garage as well! My luck, I will run out of what I have and have to buy new anyway!

It's been another typical busy week - and nothing really to show for it! AJ has been replaced as the Sr. Patrol Leader in Scouts, so now he is back in the rank and files - which is nice for him - he had been SPL for almost two years - a long time! Now, if he can just focus on his Eagle Project, and gt it done!

I have plans this year to climb Mt. Lassen again on Labor Day weekend (my 49th birthday!), so have been trying to set aside some time to actually start working out, so I fare a little better this time. I got the Wii Fit Plus for Christmas, and have started using it (again) to 'do something'. It is hard to find the time to do it though! I did some yoga last night to stretch out my back and neck muscles (very sore!) in between getting dinner ready. I did a 1-2 minute exercise, ran into the kitchen and stir/ flip or turn something, and ran back and do another exercise, then ran back into the kitchen. I probably got more exercise from the running back and forth! The yoga stretches do seem to help my neck and shoulder though - too much sitting at the desk staring at the computer! The Wii wants me to lose 10+ pounds, but I would be happy with loosing 5 pounds and keeping it off. AJ does the exercises with me, too! I actually can jog for 12 minutes - which adds up to 0.7 miles (I run on the treadmill.) I hope to increase this time, and increase the incline, so I am ready for the 20% grade at Lassen!

I finished a project yesterday that I have had the material for for a month! I picked up all the beads and wire right after Christmas, and then....didn't do it. I am so happy I got it done though. I wore it today with a brown dress (the blue shirt just doesn't do it justice!) and it looked really nice. This is crocheted with wire and beads.

Finished at last! It seems like this doily took forever, but...I guess it didn't. I did it in size 20 thread, and it is 14 inches across. I started it after I started my bag, and finished it long before the bag! The bag is in my take-along project bag - I work on it at lunch and other times when I get stuck somewhere, just sitting (Boy Scout meetings, etc.)



It is coming along, too! I will probably work on it some more this weekend - it is a good project for sitting and watching TV. I am getting a nice color pattern on it too - cool! You never know what you will get with variegated yarn. I put some produce in so you could see the progress - it is a little hard to see the height in the flat bag!



We had a huge rain storm last night - we got 1.68 inches of rain - most of it within one hour. We were watching Ralph's weather station, and it was raining at a rate of over 4 inches an hour at times. We even lost our satellite TV for a while because of the rain. Luckily, it wasn't during anything really important! I spent a good portion of yesterday, just sitting around (crocheting) and watching the Olympics. I haven't done that in a while! Alli took a long nap yesterday, so didn't go to sleep until after 11:00, so we both slept in this morning. Since I didn't do much yesterday, I have a ton of things to do today!

I went to my first Ash Wednesday Services last night - I expected more people, thinking it would be more like Christmas and Easter - packed with those that just come on those days. Instead it was a very small, intimate service - very nice!

Before I left last night, I put dinner in the oven for Ralph to serve the kids. I stole the recipe from Mom (chicken with stuffing mix baked over the top). One of her neighbors had brought a similar casserole by her place after Dad died, and Allison loved it. It seems she liked Mom's version too! Ralph said she ate it like it was better than mashed potatoes, and we know how much she loves her mashed potatoes! I tried Mom's recipe for Chicken Pot Pie earlier in the week, but lacked the same success. Ralph loved it, but neither Alli nor AJ would touch it. Alli even went to bed hungry rather than eat it! (She didn't go to bed hungry, really! One reason she probably didn't eat it was because she had had too many snacks before dinner, and she was tired and cranky already, and fell asleep right after she got up from the table while watching TV.) Oh well, one more recipe to add to my 'keepers' at least!

Gosh - time to actually blog this morning! How did that happen? Wait, I know! That's what happens when Allison wakes up at 4:30! Silly girl! She is nice and chipper this morning. We'll see how long she stays that way. She will probably be a cranky bear this afternoon.

Here are a couple of pictures of the yard area I cleaned up this weekend, with the help of the boys. There wasn't much left after the freeze this winter. The day lilies are already coming back out, and the roses are beginning to start sprouting as well.


I took Alli shopping for new shoes this weekend. Her teacher called me Friday and said she had been tripping a lot (again) lately, and her ankle was rolling when she tripped. I had stopped putting the brace on her ankle, because she was tripping even more with it on than she was before. So....we went shopping. We got the cutest high top sneakers for her! It is hard to tell the color here, but the laces are black and pink - very cute! Hopefully, the higher top will help support her ankle better. Her old shoes were pretty worn out, so even new low top sneakers would have helped!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Alex took me for my very first drive yesterday - and we both survived, and no damage to anything! He drove me to Anderson to a Trustee's meeting at the church, and did a decent job of it. I think the instructor is right - he just needs the practice now to know when to start his braking, how fast to accelerate, how sharp to turn the corner, etc. Things that he will learn by doing! (My poor stress level!)

I sat down Friday night and found a pattern on-line for a grocery bag, picked up new yarn for it Saturday afternoon, and started it last night while watching the Olympics. I didn't need a new bag - I have plenty of bags now! Still, this one is coming together pretty quickly - I got the base done yesterday, and I didn't work that much on it. (Yes, I was watching the Olympics, but not until after dinner, and I had a headache, so didn't work too hard!) The pattern recommended using the cone of cotton yarn, so there were no knots in the mesh part of the bag, so that was a good excuse to go 'shopping' for yarn! (Like a needed an excuse!) I do like the colors in this cone, but next one will probably be made with my leftover yarn, and if there is a knot in the mesh, it will just have to have a knot in the mesh! (It's a grocery bag - who will notice but me!) Here is my progress to far:



I hopefully will be able to work on it again today - but not until late afternoon. I am getting a late start today, (I got to sleep in until 7:00!) and if the weather holds, I need to do some much needed yard work today. I got most of my list of indoor things done yesterday, but I still have a few things to do inside, just in case the rain moves in like they say it is supposed to.

It's Saturday! Yippee! I even got to sleep in - sort of. I woke up at 5:00 - I was just able to roll over and go back to sleep for a little while :)

Yesterday we had two exciting developments. First - AJ did his first drive with the driving instructor! He went out for two hours yesterday, and is now able to drive with any adult. He is planning on driving me to my Trustee's meeting today in Anderson. The instructor said he did very well for a first drive. Looking at the comments she made on his paperwork, it looks like practice is the thing he needs most - accelerating, braking, corners, etc. Things you learn by doing, not book lessons.

Our second exciting thing - Ralph said Alli said "Some" when she ran out of snack! She was at the counter, and had finished her snack, even the crumbs, and pick up the bowl, tapped it on the counter, and said "some". Of course, she got 'some'! Since the 'S' sound isn't part of her normal babble, I am impressed!

Here are pictures of the bookmarks that I made - they turned out quite nice and delicate looking, I think!