Okay, deep breaths. . .we're supposed to leave for a camping trip today (trailer camping) and now everyone seems to be coming apart at the seems. Part of the problem, I do acknowledge this, is that I am very laid back when it comes to making plans. Well, it turns out we will be dry camping this week. While I was prepared for this by making sure the tea kettle is packed and the camping coffee maker (I don't have many needs, and coffee is one of them!) - I guess I wasn't looking at things like "do we have enough propane" and "where will we fill the tanks with water" - both of which are very good questions. And the one "we can't dry camp." Now that one I don't agree with. So, it seems everyone is running around in 10 different directions, while I have to work this morning before we go. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not home and in the middle of this. I did all of the food shopping, getting items ready, figuring out what was needed and all of that good stuff. One way or another this should all work out. . . especially since my husband gave up on me and just took the trailer to the dealer and is going to top off the propane and ask him these questions. . .! I guess I just figure if one can camp in a tent for 5 days, why can't one dry camp with a trailer for 5 days?! :-)

Hopefully I'll have a wonderful post next week when we get back with pictures and all. Yes, I remembered to pack the camera. . .but I forgot jelly!! I'd better call home. . .

I'm still waiting for the picture of the vest. . . :-)

Well, I gave him the vest and it's a little snug. I had added a few inches to the lenght of the vest, but I guess it wasn't quite enough :-/ Oh well. He likes it and said it's quite warm, so that's good :-) Now, I forgot to bring my camera to breakfast when I gave it to him to take a picture - so I was told that they would take a picture at home and e-mail it to me. . . well. . . they sent me a message on Sunday night saying the pictures just were not coming out right! We were all at the funeral on Monday :-( so hopefully tonight they will try again. Then I will post a picture!

As for my vest, I lost the magazine with the pattern in it! I had made a copy of the cable pattern and was using that for a while. But when it came time to check something in reducing for the armhole, I couldn't find the magazine! I looked everywhere and even cleaned the side of my bed where I keep such things. Oh well. I'm going to go to the bookstore at lunch today and hope they are not sold out of them :-/

I finished the shawl! It's a lot smaller than I expected though. Oh well. I'm going to block it hopefully this weekend and then I'll post the actual size up here - just so you can see how small it is. Or even better, maybe I can get my daughter to pose with it and then you'll really see! But, I'm happy that it's done. I did a little more work on my cabled shell (I put a close up of the stitch in my knitting table to the right), and I plan to cast on a new shawl fairly soon. I bought some really pretty silk yarn from ebay, and I finally found a pattern that I'd like to try in the same magazine that I'm doing the shell from. It's a great magazine. . . Bev (hi Bev!) wants to do a shell from it as well. I figure a magazine is good if it has at least one really good pattern, this one has three so far, and one more I might be interested in doing! How fun. And there is still the beaded shell I want to do. . . maybe I'll look for the yarn next week. . . if I ordre on-line it will come in about the time I'm ready to start. . .just thinking out-loud here. . .

I'm having one of those afternoons that makes it hard to concentrate. So I've been playing with the quizzes again. I actually liked the outcome of this one, so here it is:


Pirates of the Caribbean!

What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

No real happy news today. I could go on about my knitting last night, or the book I'm reading, or any number of things. But, my cousin, who was battling with cancer, passed away last night. It was to be expected in the near future, but when it happens one is never quite ready. On one hand I know that he was suffering a lot in the end. On the other hand, I feel really bad not being there for my extended family and being a better support. It's hard when you have young kids, work, go to school. . . but yet is that any kind of excuse? I think I went through these same emotions a bit when my other cousin died, but since he died unexpectedly, there wasn't the thoughts of "what could I have done better." I've tried to reconnect with the family that lives further away, but it's not an easy thing to do. They are now at a point in their lives when they are busy and not having the free time. E-mails work great for me, but apparently not for others. So *sigh* not much to be done that way. I'm actually not sure there is much to be done this time either. I'll go to the funeral, support my family the best I know how. Boy could I go for a long run about now. . .

Well, the graduation is done, grad night is done, and the party is done. There were hitches along the way, but when all is said and done, it was a nice weekend and a nice time had by all! Once it was all done, I sat down on Saturday and did a gauge swatch for my new cabled shell. It came out fine for the yarn and needles I have - but then I didn't have any time to knit with visiting relatives in that day. But Sunday, I was able to cast on the shell and get a bit done!! I even did a couple more rows of the shawl!! I'd better look into that yarn for the beaded sweater pretty soon. . . oh and the yarn for the poncho my daughter wants. . .

Well, today is my daughter's graduation. I feel so repetitive saying this so often! But, I'm ready with my kleenex and my compact and I'll go and enjoy!!

Since I've been sick the last couple of days (food poisioning), I've only been sitting around not able to do much else. So, I finished the vest and read about 100 pages in the book! I was pretty happy with the vest, but I have to figure out how and if it needs to be blocked since it was knitted in the round. I'll figure it out later this weekend and then post a picture. Maybe I'll wait though and post a picture next weekend with my Dad wearing it :-) After I finished, I was going to do a test swatch for another shell, but I was too tired. And knowing that I'm going to be up late tonight I decided to go to bed around 10:30pm. With everything else going on, I probably won't get to it until this weekend. But that's okay - at least I have the yarn and the pattern. Which reminds me - I've decided not to do the full sweater with the yarn I have, but a shell from the latest magazine with a high neck and wonderful cables. Maybe I'll scan that picture in this weekend and post it for all to see which one I mean! Oh, and I also worked some more (finally) on my shawl! I'm almost out of yarn and the shawl is still fairly small, so it's going to be more of a lap shawl than a nice, over-the-shoulder one. That's okay, because this was mostly a test to see if I could make up my own pattern. I'll know when it's done and blocked just how I like what I did. Then, I have another shawl all ready to start, pattern in the same magazine, yarn bought months ago on ebay. Things are just moving along!

After a lot of talking to the doctor's office (by my husband), we finally got a date for my daughter's knee surgery. July 15th. So, in the mean time there is the post-op brace she has to get fitted for and the physical therapy to continue with. I wish it was sooner, but this is much better than the original date they gave us!

(Running is going well, I'm steady at 2.7 miles. . . reading is going well. . .knitting going well. . . more updates this weekend. I have my older daughter's graduation to get ready for this week and I should have a lot more free time for posting and pictures after that!)

So, it's another Friday (and payday at that)! Things are going along fairly fine, but I have a few more hurdles to get over. . .namely, my daughter's graduation and such next week. The school sent out a letter to all families stating that no sandles or tennis shoes can be worn by the graduates and they will be checking all students for appropriate clothes. What is that all about?!! Then, they have to dress up for their grad night - which all parents attend the first half of - of course, dressed up. **sigh** I could go on, but I won't. I already have a dress from my graduation, but my daughter does not yet. I'll be taking her out this weekend - and I hope we find something nice but not too expensive! In the mean time, I've upped my physical activity to help with my well being :-) I ran on my own Wednesday evening, and felt so good about it that I added a little bit of extra into it. I did 2.7 miles instead of 2.5! I know, not much, but adding slowly feels really good :-) Last night I did a 2.7 miles walk up in the hills with my youngest. She doesn't go out with me too often, so I try to enjoy those times that she does. It was her first time out with her knee brace, and she wasn't quite up for running (not to mention that she had a hard physical therapy work out the day before!) So, I was happy to walk with her and get some mileage for my summer challenge. Did I mention that here?! Probably not. Of course, I've joined yet another e-mail list, but this is to do with running. And the people on the list were very nice and accepting when I joined in. Anyhow, they are running a summer challenge from June 1st through the end of August. It's a log of mileage (I'm just doing the run/walk one, but there are challenges that include bikes/swimming) and it's basically to challenge ourselves to set a goal and meet it. I'm hoping to do the bronze level which is 7 miles a week. So far this week I'm ahead of schedule! The next level is silver at 14 miles a week, so I doubt I'll reach that. Anyhow, it has me motivated to do a little extra walking/running when I might otherwise just sit and knit! Which brings me to the next point - I found some great patterns in the new knitting magazine (I don't remember which one off the top of my head. . .), but there is one really beautiful shell that I want to make! So, I'm adding that to my pile with the beaded shell I plan to make and then the full sweater that I already have the yarn for (but don't want to start in this heat). I will start looking for yarn as soon as I finish that vest. I'm still plugging away at it. I'm to the point of the arm holes, and have now stopped working in the round and I'm just working on the back. Unfortunately, that's the boring part so I'll just have to push myself to get some done each night. Good thing I started this early!

I did it!! I ran the 5k on Monday and did okay! It was warm out, but there were a lot of trees. We started off going downhill, and ended the last mile going up hill. I started off at a fairly fast pace (for me) and stayed with my daughter for almost one mile! Right before we hit that marker, she pulled ahead of me and I told her to go on and not worry. I hit the first marker at 8:53. I was so excited! I know it was going downhill, but still! And, I ran for almost 15 minutes straight without any walks! Second mile I hit around 19:05, which was more back to my normal pace. I ended up walking quite a bit that last uphill, but I did run down the finish line and through the end to finish at 30:40! That's great for me because I was hoping to be under 35min! Now my daughter, she finished at 28:18 which is wonderful!! We're both going to run in the pajama run at the end of the month :-) I enjoy doing these runs with her. Now if I could just get my husband to join us. . . I know he would outpace me, but it will still be nice to have him running with us.

On a reading note, I did pick up, and finish, a book before I thought I would. I read "Trans-siter Radio," and although it was about an odd story, I liked it. It's not one I would recommend to others though unless they are fairly open minded. It's about a teacher who falls in love with her male professor, right before he gets a sex change operation. Most certainly a different type of book! So, I finished that and then I've recently started "A Home at the End of the World." It hasn't pulled me in at the beginning like the last two books, but so far it's okay.

As for knitting. . . still plugging away on the vest. . . I can't wait to start a new beaded shell I have a book for. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but my friend gave me a great bead knitting book last week and there is a wonderful shell I really want to make. Of course I'll need to get yarn, and beads, for it. . . but that's part of the fun! Maybe I'll even get to go to a yarn store and not just buy through my catalogs. . .!!