I got some pictures this morning while waiting for Alli's bus. Here is the pillow - so far - and a washcloth I made while on the plane. They are sitting on my new coffee table. Pictures are scheduled for tomorrow for my new furniture!

Well, vacation is over, and I still haven't caught up! I spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas (for business) and I am really behind. The good news is that the week is almost over, and I may get caught up over the weekend.

Texas was a lot of fun. Busy, but fun. The weather was cooler than expected - only in the 80's - so even with the humidity, it wasn't too bad. The conference was great, and I am looking forward to putting some of the things I saw and learned into practice.

Before I left for San Antonio, I asked AJ what he wanted me to bring him back. His reply - "a monkey". When I explained that I was thinking more of a T Shirt or candy or book, he still wanted a monkey. When I explained that Texas wasn't exactly known for their monkeys, he decided - he still wanted a monkey. I looked at LAX - no monkey. I looked at the hotel/resort - no monkey. I explained my problem to the resort staff - still no monkey. I did get a very cute armadillo (actually - two of them, one was for Alli). On the way back home, I looked at the San Antonio Airport - a MONKEY! Now AJ had both an armadillo, and a monkey. (And no where to easily stuff both a monkey and an armadillo. Luckily, my co-worker still had room in her luggage for me to stuff the armadillo!) Once we got home, the monkey was an instant success, and the armadillo is now an armo-piggy. (He is still pretty cute! He is sitting by the computer as I type.)

I didn't have a lot of time to do too much of my handwork. They kept us pretty busy with classes, and wining and dining us. (Not to mention lying by the pool, with the Cabana Boy stopping by frequently to see if there was anything else we needed to be completely happy. I could get used to that!) I did get about half of my pillow done on the plane. (Pictures should go up tomorrow.)

Spring is here, at least for a couple of days! I think the temp got up to the mid 70's today, and no clouds and best of all - no rain! With the last storm dropping so much snow, the mountains surrounding us are beautiful! I am just glad I didn't have drive in them during the storm. I was planning to go up to Susanville for Easter, but changed my plans when chains were required to get there! The kids don't have much fun trying to find the Easter Eggs in the snow anyway (unless we don't dye the eggs first!). There's not much challenge to finding dyed eggs in the snow.

AJ had his first baseball game today - unscheduled! His school schedule was for 11 games for the season, and the first 5 were rained out. So far as I knew, his first game was tomorrow. He called his Dad today (from school) and said they added a game in this afternoon. His team lost, but AJ got to play 4 of the 6 innings at first base, and managed to make the first out of the game by fielding a groundball. I wish I had known he was playing, but I don't know that I could have taken the time off anyway. I am still trying to catch up from vacation last week, and I took yesterday off to take Alli to Sacramento for a Doctor's appointment. I think I need to put in a little bit of work, once in a while! They may not miss me if I am gone for a while, but everyday? They might notice!

I am off again next week too. I am going to Texas for a Conference put on by one of the computer systems we use. It should be a fun trip, the other person from the Bank that I am traveling with is fun, and there is usually a lot of information at this conference. We leave Saturday morning from Redding at 7:00 am, and get back Tuesday night at 11:00 pm. If I am not careful, the bank may get used to me being gone and decide they don't need me!

I'm back from vacation - not that I really went anywhere. The kids were out of school for Spring Break, and a friend visited for a few days, and somehow the week just flew by. I didn't really have a list of things I wanted to do while on vacation, which was a good thing. The most strenuous thing I did was drive - and I like driving!

When I first decided to take vacation at Spring Break with the kids, I had visions of picnics in the park and walks on the River Trail. Instead, it rained. And rained, and rained. It is still raining. We did have one good day, and one sort of good day, but they came after my company went home. We even had to drive through snow on our visit to Susanville. Not what I had in mind for "Spring Break". I guess it was a change for my guest, as she lives in Texas now, and they have already jumped to summer. I promised to send some postcard of Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta so she can refresh her memory of what they look like.

I did finish the Easter Projects I had started, cross bookmarks and crocheted egg covers over plastic Easter eggs. I played Easter Bunny and delivered baskets to the Bank. Last night of course, I set up baskets for the kids. AJ isn't up yet, and Alli hasn't noticed them yet. She probably won't until AJ gets up and gets into his. Once she finds out there is candy inside the plastic eggs, she will pay attention!

I started a couple of new projects (I know, I know - I haven't finished all my other project yet!). One is the Seraphina Shawl, done in Simply Soft black. It is turning out very nice, even though I had to frog 6 rows (frog is "rip it, rip it"). I am almost back to where I was before frogging. I also started a pillow cover to go with my new furniture (coming next week!). This is a simple project, so I can work on it at meetings, etc. I found out that I have to concentrate on the shawl more than I thought (that would explain the frogging!) so I don't think I will take it with me when I can't concentrate solely on it. Hopefully, I won't have to frog anymore!

I finished the baby afghan! It took a lot less time than I thought it would, and it turned out very nice! I ended up doing it all in white. I think it would be nice with a border of pink or blue, but Joanne's didn't have the pink in stock when I wanted it, so it stayed all white. I took it in to work to show off, and everyone liked it. I am teaching (trying to anyway - she started real lessons with someone else, but she sees me everyday, so it is easy to ask me something) someone from work to crochet a baby blanket for her soon-to-be first grandchild. She was impressed with the afghan, and the time it took to make it!









I also have started bookmarks and plastic easter egg covers. I need at least 8 of each, and I have 2 bookmarks and 4 eggs done. I need these by the 12th, so I should have plenty of time to finish them. I keep trying different patterns for the egg covers, and I will probably have all 8 done, just trying patterns out! I still have to put tassels on the bookmarks, but they work up pretty quickly too!

Once again, it is raining! Yesterday, it cleared up for a minute, so I sent AJ out with his dog Jasper for a walk, to get him away from his computer games, and to give her a little exercise. They weren't gone but 10 or 15 minutes, and it started pouring. By the time they got back, they were soaked. They ran all they home, so they both got some good exercise at least, and Jasper got a bath! I am afraid to send him back out again today, even though it has cleared up for a few minutes (again). AJ has three baseball games scheduled this week, and Alli has one on Saturday. The 10-day forecast has rain everyday, so we may not start baseball yet! One of these days, we will have baseball here, but it will probably be a short season.

I am almost finished with the body of my baby afghan! I think I am going to do the border and hood part in pink (it's for Baby Leah). I should have plenty of time to re-do it if I don't like it. The afghan went together really fast! I still have to get myself together for my Easter Projects. I have a pattern to cover plastic Easter Eggs, and they look really cute, so I will be making some of those, and a bookmark too. I have to make a decision about which bookmark I make. I have a really fun carrot bookmark, but I also have some very nice crosses, so I don't quite know which one I will make yet. Decisions, decisions!

It is , once again, raining! We are supposed to have this storm for a couple of days, then nice Thursday, with a new storm coming in Friday for the week-end. I don't usually get me garden planted until mid-April, but we are going, the ground will still be too wet even by then to get the garden rototilled and planted. I usually have put out some flowers by now, but not this year! We are going to go straight from rain to the high temps of summer - no middle ground. Right now, those high temps look pretty good!

AJ has a game on Thursday, so hopefully it will be nice. Alli doesn't have a game until April 8th. Ralph and AJ were working with her catching, throwing and hitting, and have decided to just focus on catching and hitting. She throws very well already! She was getting tired of playing the other day, and threw the ball at AJ and hit him in the chest pretty hard. She definitely has the aim! Now we have to work on the rest of the game.

It looks like our beautiful Spring weather is leaving us again. I didn't get as much done on my baby afghan as I wished yesterday, mainly because it was so beautiful outside. Alas, the clouds are coming back and they expect another inch of rain in the next two days. Luck us, it should clear up for Thursday and Friday, and then rain again on the weekend.

I did get quite a bit done on my afghan and a couple of other projects, but only because Alli was being a stinker yesterday! I swear I was checking on her every few minutes, but sometime in between checks, she got into the refrigerator and got out some yogurt. By the time I noticed (she was VERY quiet!) she had finished the carton. Unfortunately, she didn't get a spoon too, so she ate it with her fingers. I think yogurt is supposed to be good for your skin. Hers should be beautiful this morning! She was covered in yogurt. She was happy, but messy! I spent the rest of the day inside after that, keeping a closer eye on her. She didn't try it again, but I am sure she will!

Well, its a quiet Sunday morning, and I am just catching up with myself for the next week. Sunday is usually my "look ahead" day, as Saturday is usually my "catch-up" day. On Sunday, the house is still relatively clean from Saturday, everyone tends to sleep in (except Alli today! She fell asleep on the couch right after dinner last night at 7:30, so was wide awake at 5:30 this morning!) and it is usually quiet here. Today is supposed to be a sunny day, so I hope to get a chance to enjoy it!

Looking ahead to next week - a quiet week too! I have only one evening with a commitment - Tuesday for Boy Scouts - and that usually means I get to crochet during the boys meeting. I am about 1/3 of the way done with the baby blanket I have started, so I should get more completed on Tuesday! I am only busy at Scouts if someone needs to turn in a receipt or has questions about the Troop's account. I - so far - only have one daytime commitment too. I have lunch scheduled with the Pastor of the church I have been going to recently. I have tentative lunch plans with other people, but they probably won't pan out. Not bad - especially compared to last week. I had something going on every night last week, and several things during the day as well! It was definitely a stresser week last week!

Alli's first baseball game was scheduled for Saturday, but the field was still too wet and was cancelled. Considering we are more than 9 inches ahead of average rainfall for the year, and it is still raining, we may never get baseball going. She now has her first game scheduled for April 8th. I did get a chance to talk to the coach, but I still am concerned with Alli playing baseball. Ralph, AJ and I have been working with her a little bit to get her to catch a ball (no coordination there!) hit a ball (no coordination there either!) and throw the ball. Throwing has never been an issue for her except for learning to NOT throw. She has pretty good aim and has a lot of strength, and a temper - not good to put together. She is also hard to get started running, so I am not sure how baseball is going to work, but we will try. She constantly amazes me doing things that I didn't think she was capable of or had an interest in. Lesson for the day - never underestimate Allison!

I got my camera back, so I can post some of my finished and unfinished projects! Here is the bird house bookmark I finished. This is the one that Ralph wants to give to his co-workers as a Thank you. It turned out very nice, and I have two more started, and requests for several more. We will have to see! I have quite a few projects in mind, so it may take me a while to get back around to these.

Also, here is the "A" pillow I made for AJ. I still have the "J" pillow to go. I am using Caron's Simply Soft yarn, and it has a nice feel to it. I'm not real happy with the stuffing, as I think it shows through too much, but AJ is happy with it, so I guess that is all that matters.




Here is the afghan I have started for Alli. I am using Joanne's Sensation Rainbow Boucle yarn, and it is working up beautifully. The color changes are great, as it is all done with just one yarn, and so far, I have used almost one skein. I think I will only need a total of three skeins to finish, so I am also most 1/3 done! This is my slowest project, as I work on it when I don't want to work on any of the others!

My other WIP is a baby blanket, and I don't know if I will get it done in time for the baby shower, which is in about 3 weeks! It is the Hooded Baby Blanket on the skein of Lion's Pound of Love yarn. I still have a long way to go on it!

With that being said, I had better get to work!

I am trying to catch up with myself. This week is a blur - it is already Wednesday night! I knew this week was going to go by quickly, but - Wow! I have gotten in late from work every night so far, and that just really makes the time fly. AJ had Scouts Monday and Tuesday night, and again tomorrow, with baseball practice running until 5:45, and I had a nail appointment (Me Time!) tonight, so I have been in late.

Today at work was a stresser day. It went well, but I stressed before hand big time. I facilitated a meeting for all the Loan Administrators, and it was the first time in a couple of years that they all got together, so I didn't know what issues were going to be brought up. (Of course they were supposed to e-mail me anything they wanted on the agenda, but that never happens, so I wasn't surprised to have only my items on the agenda!) It went well, so I have a day or so to relax. Friday, after our monthly staff meeting, I have a training session scheduled, and then a 90 day review to do for an employee. Why did I sign up to be a supervisor? It wasn't the pay, so it must have been something else! I remember...it was because people we supposed to listen to me when I tell them how things are supposed to be done correctly! (That doesn't work either!) As it is, no one listens to me! (They say they listen, but I know they are just humoring me!) I actually have a great group of people, with minimal "supervision" required. They just need me when something goes wrong, and they don't want to deal with it.

AJ and I worked with Alli a little bit tonight. Friday is her first day of baseball practice, and we are working with her to throw and try to catch a baseball. Ralph worked with her yesterday to hit with a bat. It will be her first time in Little League. Locally, they have a "Challenger's League" for the Special Needs kids, but we haven't participated before. Supposedly, they assign a helper to each kid, and the "help" they play baseball. Both Allis' teacher and Special Ed PE teacher encouraged us to put her in the League, so will see how it goes. Wish us luck!

Well, it is Sunday morning, and I don't have nearly what I wanted to get done this weekend, done! I had high hopes for yesterday, but flaked out instead. I have a new project started - a baby blanket from the pattern on the "Pound of Love" yarn. I am not highly motivated for it, so I will have to push myself to finish it in the given time.

I want to take today and finish up a few of my WIP's (Works in process). I have an "A" pillow that needs to be stuffed and then I need to start the "J" pillow (for my son - AJ), and I have three bookmarks I need to finish up as well. My husband wants one as a thank you gift for someone in his office who has helped a lot with setting up Allison for riding. She gave us two riding helmets that her kids have outgrown, and turned us on to a rodeo the High School Rodeo Association was putting on for "Special Needs Kids". (Alli is severely Autistic.) I don't know that a simple book mark is enough, but it really isn't a simple bookmark either! It is a birdhouse, complete with bluebird, climbing ivy and flowers. Just the fact that my husband appreciates the work and thinks it is a good gift makes me happy! I will post pictures when it is done (before I give it away!)

I have an afghan started for Allison too, made with the Joannes' brand Rainbow Boucle in Purple. I will post a picture too - when I get my camera back. The best laid plans... I meant also to take pictures of my WIP's this weekend and post them, but I left my camera (for a worthy cause) with my boss for the weekend. We (collectively as a group for my bank) painting the interior of a house for Habitat for Humanity, and I was the only one there with a camera. I was on first shift, so the camera stayed there through the day. I will get it back on Monday, but....When to find the time to take pictures? This week is looking ugly as to scheduling. Good thing I can get some time in crocheting while I am "waiting" for AJ as a couple of his functions this week.

I did it! I got all of my bookmarks finished, and I am ready to go. I put together little "presents" for my staff for St. Patrick Day, which include the book mark, a little pin with a Irish saying (Kiss I'm Irish, etc.) some gold and silver "lucky coins", a little bottle of bubbles in the shape of a clover leaf, and a crocheted refrigerator magnet. Here is a picture of the magnet. The "present" itself is a green bag with a clover leaf cut out. I am ready to go! And it is a good thing, because I realized last night that I have to have five of the packages out today, because two people are not there tomorrow, two have to ship done to Sacramento, and one has to go to our other office across town (OK, it's not that far "across town" in Redding, but if I want them on everyone's desk before they come in, I have to have them there the day before!) As it is, I have to sweet talk someone at the other office to set up the present for me, as I don't get across town early enough.

Almost done! I have 7 bookmarks done (all but finishing!), and one more (minimum) to make. I could always use more! I still have to put the tassel on all but one of them, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I thought I would get more done last night, as it was Boy Scouts Meeting night, but I am taking over as Treasurer for AJ's troop, and last night was the handoff. I spent my "crochet time" learning the prior Treasurer's bookkeeping methods.

I usually spend the Scout Meetings sitting in the back of the room crocheting or knitting and talking with the other parents, so I have over an hour of time every Tuesday night. I have even started my own little "club". One of the other Scout Mom's started knitting again this winter after watching me at a few meetings, and is now hooked. Several others have expressed interest in learning, but haven't followed through. None of the other parents crochet, so I am on my own there, but they are all fascinated with my projects.