Your turn

As for my 365 days of grace thing, I'm out. Things pretty much minorly suck around here today on so many fronts that I've stopped counting, and I can't come up with one good thing, much less five. Even Liza quotes, which are normally a virtual mine of funny, are either not memorable or almost brought me to tears, so that's not working for me.

So, what are your five good things for today? Maybe some of them will rub off on me.

27/365

1. The grocery store employee who helped me find a parking spot that was clear enough for me to make it into without getting stuck, and who actually shoveled away the slush behind my car while I was in the store so that I'd definitely make it out. Dude, you rock, and I called the store to tell your manager, so I hope there's a little extra in your check this month.

2. The following conversation:
J: "So, are you and Sybil going to go to that roleplaying game at M's house on Valentine's Day?"
G: "No, there are plenty of other things I'd rather do if you're watching the kid for me."
J: "Why don't you ladies go have a nice romantic dinner somewhere? It would be fun watching how everyone reacted to that."
G: "Yeah, but all the good places are already reserved."
J: "You could take a votive candle with you to Jimmy John's."
G: "Um .... no."

3. "My favorite colors have switched to black and gold, not pink and purple, because I saw it in a book and it looked like a better combination."

4. The strangely compelling bacon, egg, and cheese bagels at McDonald's.

5. Meeting a friend for coffee on a day when both of us have had it with our kids.

26/365

1. Jason made it home from Texas today, despite the bad weather and the horrible roads and the flight delays.

2. It takes a sign this big to fit all of the candle's on the "birthday cake" Liza and I made for Jason.

3. The sun coming out on the 12" of snow we got today.

4. When the flannel sheets get put on the bed for the first time each fall.

5. Finding new blogs to read.

25/365

1. Putting away so much stuff that I can see (part of) the top of my sewing table again.

2. Laying on the couch reading an entire book in one sitting.

3. Turning leftover sliced strawberries into strawberry milkshakes.

4. "Silly mommy! You're playing a trick on me!"

5. When I balance the checkbook and pay all the bills in my inbox, and I don't get four more in the mail later that day.

Great! Not so great...

Great! - http://wendi-aarons.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-got-answers.html

Not so great (pretty crappy, actually) - http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/the-cpsia-soon-to-bar-kids-from-libraries/

I think I'll head to our library on Feb. 9th and check out a wheelbarrow full of kids' books, just in case.

Yeah, genius, there are ways to fix that

Liza has had a cold for the past few days (hence the new quote on the masthead), and she's grown progressively more clingy over time, even as her cold seems to be getting better. We've gone from "let's snuggle on the couch" every few hours, to "I WANT TO CUDDLE!!!!!!" screamed anytime I'm doing anything other than moving at top speed. Meals have been especially bad, because after listening to her whining for 10 minutes while I fix the food and watching her wolfing down whatever she deigns to eat off her own plate, I get about two minutes of peace to eat my own meal before she starts attempting to climb into my lap at the table.

I've been indulging her - she's been sick, after all - but I passed my limit on cuddle extortion about 3pm yesterday. This morning as we were cuddling on the couch for like the fourteenth time today, I got exasperated.

"Look, I like cuddling with you and everything, but can you tell me why you have to beg for cuddles 1500 times a day?"

"Um, um, um ... I'm cold."

"Yeah, well, it's 19 degrees outside, and you're running around the house in just a bikini top and a mermaid tail. Maybe we could cuddle less and you could put on more clothes?"

"Oh, okay." She climbs down off my lap and heads for her room.

When she comes back a few minutes later, she is wearing wool socks ... and a bikini top and a mermaid tail. sigh

-

24/365

1. Having to restock the legwarmers ... again!

2. Following my daughter as she skips at top speed through the grocery store. Even better - watching her skip in place when I have her wait for me. It looks like the whitest hip-hop move you've ever seen.

3. Strawberry shortcake for breakfast.

4. "Mommy, get up! I made you a bowl of cereal for breakfast!" And there wasn't even (much) cereal on the floor around the bowl, either.

5. The window has stopped leaking. The wall has started leaking (and growing mold), but I'm not supposed to mention that in the list, am I?

23/365

1. Realizing very early in a project - before wasting too much time on it - that it's just not going to work out.

2. Strawberry shortcake (the dessert, not the cartoon)

3. When taking the kid out of the polyester football jersey and polarfleece hoodie drops her temperature by more than 1 degree F.

4. Watching television shows I only nominally care about - more brainpower left over for my knitting that way.

5. Passing on to my daughter the robot game* my father used to play with me.


* Lay on the floor on your back and stick an arm or leg up in the air. The kid has to try to get all of your legs and arms flat on the floor, but every time she pushes one down, you pop a different one up. Weird robot noises are optional, but greatly appreciated. Endlessly entertaining for kids, as long as you don't mind an occasional knee to the eyeball when the kid is climbing all over you. Kids like to be the robot, too, as long as the adult keeps up a running commentary from the point of view of The Worst Robot Repair Person Ever.

22/365

1. Cornbread.

2. The rabbit at the pet store that hopped right over to Liza and wanted to be picked up and cuddled.

3. The piece of "trash" that Liza picked up from the floor of the pet store - it was actually my (expensive sapphire) earring that had fallen out without me noticing.

4. "Daddy, go away. Mommy and I are knitting right now."

5. The anticipation of waiting for a package that should be coming in the mail.

What a difference a buttonhole makes

Ack! The cuteness of legwarmers turned into armwarmers by making a thumbhole on the side! Thanks to Happy Girl for the modeling ... her nails are much nicer looking than mine, and let's not discuss what those stripes would have looked like on my, um, muscular forearms.

21/365

1. Homemade chicken soup when you're feeling not-so-hot. Or caring for someone who is feeling not-so-hot.

2. Had to restock the legwarmers because the studio sold out in less than a week.

3. Turning a heel on a hand-knit sock. It seems like magic no matter how many times I do it.

4. White noise machine.

5. Puffs Plus.

20/365

1. According to the lab results, Zach is aggressively healthy, at least physically. He's crazy as a loon when it comes to drinking water obsessively from anyplace other than his water dish, but apparently there's no physiological reason for that. It's just the crazies.

2. I finished my yummy cashmere cowl and I love it!

3. It warmed up enough today that the squirrels finally came out again, and the one that visits our back porch came by while I was near the back door. He did a dive off the railing into the 18" of snow on the deck, which completely covered him until he poked his head up and shook all the loose stuff off. Cutest thing ever done by a tree rat.

4. Mindless sewing done on days when mindlessness is necessary and appreciated.

5. Knowing that, no matter how bad the leak in our window/wall/roof/gutter/siding is (two gallons collected in containers on my windowsill last night! Huzzah!), fixing it will not send us into foreclosure or anything. Might postpone that trip to Disney we've been planning, but that's not tragic.

19/365

1. Zach's preliminary test indicates that it's unlikely he has diabetes, despite his weight loss and obsession with drinking out of every water source except his water bowl. Hooray for (probably) not having to give him insulin for the rest of his life!

2. With no prompting from me, the vet called Zach "Mr. Grumpypants," referring to my cat's extremely vocal hatred of veterinarians and anaesthesia and shots and needles and waking up and cars and overnight fasting and oh god the horror of it all.

3. Jason did not fall off the ladder while attempting to use an ice pick to remove the 6" tall ice dam that's causing the leaking around our bedroom window. Still have the ice dam, and the husband, in one piece.

4. Breaking off 4' long icicles and handing them to Liza, who just about falls over from the weight. Good times, good times.

5. Playful Parenting. I'm only 1/4 of the way through it, but the techniques make a lot of sense and seem to mesh pretty well with some of what we're already doing.

18/365 - Illustrated edition

1. First black cherries in a long, long time.

2. First cat drawing, which includes helpful "CTAS" label in case there was any confusion about what it is.

3. The spot of super-soft fur Zach has behind each ear.

4. The feeling I get when I open up my etsy site and find a new sale.

5. The "handy" yarn holder my dad made for me after I made an offhand remark about needing one over the holidays. Dude, you rock.

Also, today has sucked in a multitude of ways, including but not limited to the water that's dripping into our bedroom from the top of the window frame which makes a splish sound every 0.75 seconds no matter how many towels we put on the windowsill. Stupid freaking snow that never ever ever leaves. But I still managed to come up with five things, so apparently life isn't all sucky. Just mostly.

17/365

1. The quiet that descends on the house after the last party guest leaves.

2. "Oh, you don't want to go down in the basement, Sydney, it's full of cat hair and I haven't vacuumed in weeks." "Why haven't you vacuumed?" "Because I'm lazy. It says so right on my license plate."

3. Cheesy greasy Mexican food.

4. The surprising warmth of felted wool mittens.

5. Liza jumping up and down because tomorrow Obama becomes our president.

16/365

1. Waking up at a friend's house to 4" of new snow on the ground, and knowing that I'm not the one who has to suit up and deal with the snowblower before breakfast.

2. Putting cookie frosting and sprinkles on homemade sugar cookies. It may taste like ass (haven't tried one yet), but it looks so cute.

3. Reading a book about the developmental stages of a typical four-year-old, and finding out that my manic, hysterical, sobbing, independent, whip-smart child is normal and should be encouraged.

4. Liza reading road signs as we drive past them on the highway at 65 mph.

5. Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi.

15/365

1. When I put something in the washer to felt it, then forget about it, and remember it in time to pull it out and it's just the right size.

2. Also, felting? Fun. Knitting socks that are close to two feet long before felting is just silly-looking.

3. Rhubarb.

4. Winning a game when I wasn't really paying attention while playing it.

5. Snuggling up with Liza in bed and feeling her go from completely rigid with tension to as pliable as a lump of putty over the course of about 90 seconds. Apparently, I'm a stress reliever.

14/365

1. The feeling you get when you finally do something you've been putting off, and it isn't nearly as boring/bad/painful/whatever as you'd feared.

2. Hearing Liza address her new BFF (the girl she met at the play area at the mall, when they ran headfirst into each other and fell down, laughing hysterically) as, "Where are you, my little friend?"

3. Watching steam rise from the small part of the waterfall on the river that's not frozen yet.

4. Taking a 20-minute nap on the couch under a blanket I crocheted. The warm cat curled up on my stomach was a nice touch, too.

5. The satisfaction of dumping out a vacuum cleaner tank full of cat hair, dust mites, sequins, and various forms of breakfast cereal, all of which has accumulated since last Friday. So long, suckers!

13/365

1. Stepping outside my comfort range when crafting.

2. Toll House place-and-bake cookies. Let's face it, they're better than (my) homemade, with a lot less cleanup.

3. Way too much time spent on ravelry looking for patterns for yarn I don't have yet.

4. When the person I've been going back and forth with about a Craig's List posting finally comes and pays for the cabinet, freeing up another square foot of floor space in my garage.

5. Sunshine after a week of snow. Sure, it's 1F outside, but at least it's a cheerful 1F.

funny, funny

scuba scuba