count down to summer

there are 59 days till summer, at least the way i count it. once we return from dillard house summer officially begins at my house: school's out, the pool's open, soccer is over, traffic is a bit better, and the fear of frost is over! my summer plans will follow at a later post, but figured with what i've got to (and want to) accomplish over the next "few" days- all this might slow down my blogging, but i'll still be checking yours!!! i plan to print the list off and keep is posted over my desk, so i can keep up with everything...so here goes . . . fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy fast ride . . .

Complete 2 ½ sock mates
Complete 5 of the remaining clues for the sotsii
Complete moss sweater
Complete baby blanket
1 baby shower
6 soccer games
Drop off for 10 soccer practices
Prepare a 90 minute Sunday school lesson, and present over 2 Sundays-topic:
Christian art from the time of Christ to the present
Complete the family photo project- some in albums, some in frames, some on the wall
Make 15-20 birthday cards (and mail)
Go on 3 trips (1 business and 2 pleasure), maybe even one more business trip
Celebrate 4 birthdays (one is having a big party this time)
Plan and execute the above mentioned party
Celebrate an anniversary
Complete 3 quilt squares for quilt of the month
Complete quilt top of William Morris quilt
Do some journaling- have a cool journal, colored markers and pencils, but no journaling!!
Restock the wine fridge
Plan outdoor gardening for containers
Clothes shopping trip with the boys
Print out 2008 pictures and put pictures in photo album sans embellishments
Complete Central Park framed photo project for bedroom
Scan photos for David and Kecia
Update WOC scrapbook
Create and make scrapbook album from New York and Vegas
ALSO,
plan numerous meals, laundry, grocery shopping, sleeping, bike riding, magazine reading, book reading, drink wine, go to church, go to work, battle traffic, blog, and much much more!

look out summer here i come

a perfect match

i finished the mate to the "nymph" on Wednesday (at lunch), and had to wear them, even though my feet started sweating before lunch due to the heat today, supposed to get upto mid 60's, we'll see. anyway carol ann graciously took the photo so you could get the full effect of shirt, pants and new socks yea! thanks again to melanie for doing the color way for me . .

who knew . . .

i should have known there was "real" history behind the kitchener stitch. f ound this while purusing the net. couldn't find my easy-peasy print out of how to do this stitch- in keeping with true knitting form, there is a logical explanation for what we do, at least we think so! here's more stuff on his lordship

spring time in the 'hood

friday was a gorgeous day wasn't it?

I love the old houses on piedmont avenue







a cherry tree of some sort?




loripedilum


a recent removation- lovely








do you see the bird nest?


some folks cringe when i tell them i commute to midtown, but i ♥ it- not the commute, but the area! it is very homey, and some of the houses are the same one's that where here when my mom lived in this area in the early 60s--

friday i took a walk 'cause i had a taste for ice cream, but when i got to sebastians i found it was closed- :-( , so i continued walking til i got to chocolate pink, a very cool bakery near my office. i bought mr k, a banana cream cupcake, and for myself----pink lemonade, a perfect compliment for my afternoon tea-










what a week, soooo glad it's over, but next week will most likely be much of the same, oh well, i do like to stay busy. . . and happy easter.

let's do lunch . . .

knowning how i am about food when mr k sent me the notice about a lunch and learn for on-line survey program i jumped at the chance. . . not to learn, but to LUNCH! today i had a fantabulous lunch at the city grill in the hurt building downtown, and while i didn't take photos of my lunch mainly because i was at a table of total strangers who might find it a "bit" odd, i will describe to you what was in a word delish-

a grilled chicken sandwich with grilled portabellas & caramelized onions, topped with melted fresh mozzarella with a port wine reduction- served on a fresh chibata roll which i didn't eat, and served with wonderful flash fried french fries with coarse ground salt (yum, it was hard to eat only a few- they were so crispy!, and the grand finale was a pistachio chocolate mousse, served in a molasses/caramel shaped bowl-thing, topped with chopped pistachios, fresh strawberries, raspberries, and the biggest blackberries i've seen in a while! alright wipe the drool off the computer- i even got a few rounds of sock knitting done, while listening to the presentation and taking notes.

i left full fat and happy! well maybe not fat per say, but very satisfied! the presentation wasn't so bad either, in fact, i think we're going to subscribe (for our training initiative) and while i don't have photos of the food i did take a few of the restaurant- what a gorgeous place

B is for . .

boleyn and blind- bare naked ambition! just returned from seeing the other boleyn girl--excellent. i, being a bit british and an amateur historian, never knew there was another boleyn girl until i read the book. this movie was dead on with the book, which is always a good thing, and unlike most recent movies about historical figures i don't think the book/movie exaggerates at all the historical facts as they are portrayed in the movie those being 1) it was definately a man's world 2) the good of the family came first and foremost-love forget it, advancement at all costs for yourself and your family 3) power corrupts and absolute power corrups absolutely. oh yea- it's good to be king

the movie is filled with court intrigue, deception, betrayal-and all that

costumes and setting- fabulous

the acting was pretty good as well-natalie portman is very convincing, and at the end i had very little pity for ann-- considering the hole that she dug herself into that she couldn't get out of- i think her only redemption might be good queen bess (the 1st that is!) God save the queen!!!!!



i'd also recommend gregory's book the queen's fool, i enjoyed it a lot. we don't see movies at the theatre often, but this was definately worth seeing on the big screen---- next movie to see made of honor, looks good.

las vegas revue

gotcha, this one is has nothing to do with show girls! a few questions asked by inquiring minds . .

who should go to vegas?: shopper, gamblers, and those who are not in a committed relationship of any kind.


would you go to vegas again?: only if someone else was paying for the trip, as was the case with this trip.


what is there to do in vegas, specifically in the "downtown" area?: not much except for shopping, eating, gambling, walk through gargantuan hotels, drinking, going to "shows".


how was the food in vegas?: caeser's palace lunch buffet: just above okay---dinner buffet at excalibur: awful, unless you like a morrison's cafeteria set up. room service at the westin: very good, as was the breakfast set up for the conference. steakhouse 46 at the flamingo hotel: very very very good- i guess i'm the kind of person who likes to know ahead of time what i'm eating and how it's prepared-that's why i really, really don't like buffets-DH and i completely disagree on food.

what did you do that you enjoyed?: saw an improv show featuring jim belushi's son (i'm sure he hates that!) at second city inside the flamingo, and the visit to gail knits.


overall it was a chance to see a city i had only heard about, a lot of the really good shows are very expensive- AND would you believe that the same bottled wine i can get at publix was 3 times the cost in vegas- no foolin'. . . anyway enjoy the photos- believe me, this was not new york! if you want to see more photos go here.

plane knitting . . .

elvis and me, yes that's the name of a book-oh well!, plus tunes (michael buble crooning in my ear- sweet) and a great book (i only had a few pages to go, so i took a short break during the flight to finish)- my traveling companions (of course, steve was with me, and the seats on the plane were tiny, i don't think we've sat this close in a loooong time!)

the goal for the las vegas was to knit 1 sock with the elvis yarn, and if i wanted to get real ambitions, i'd wanted to start the second- of course, the 2nd sock hasn't materialized yet, but i did finish one- love the color way. is it just me, or is there a slight difference between how the yarn looks in the skein, and how it looks knitted up?

the pattern is from interweaves winter 2005, mona schmidt embossed leaves socks-love this pattern, and the fit is perfect.







during the conference i finished the leg on the 2nd nymph sock, and am nearly done with the gusset-this will be done by the weekend for sure. i'm really loving the flexibility of socks, they can go anywhere, AND no matter what pattern you use, the shaping and process are the same.

while we were in vegas i visited Gail Knits- here we are-






i was surprised to see the wools and other heavier yarns thought there would be more light weight stuff. i bought some pale green sock yarn, and some yarn for my "travel blanket". this place was definitely warm and fuzzy--tons of local ladies hanging out and having a great time- they even chatted with steve and i- fun!

it's always good to have goals, and the short term knitting ones have been met! yea, now i've set a few long term . . . sometimes planning is just as much fun, as the completed product, but the coupe de gras is when you can put that BIG check mark next to it! . . . so by May 1st i hope to . . .

♥ complete the mates for nymph, elvis, spicy, and isabelle's pink sock
♥ complete the sotsii; i'm about 43% done now
♥ complete blanket for newest baby at the office (this blanket is already late he was born 3/12)
♥ complete the Moss sweater- i'm ready to move onto another winter sweater this fall
if i get this stuff done, something out of Fitted Knits.

then i'll have nothing on my needles (gasp! i know) -

i believe these goals are reachable because i'll have 4 days in miami, and i plan to sequester myself when i'm not in class. also, when i'm at kecia's i'm sure i'll have some knitting time while i visit. so keep your fingers crossed for me.

spring/summer knitting plans:
sleeve-less shell (i've already done one in lavender-and it's a pretty easy knit)

1 or 2 lace stoles (secret sister gift definitely needs to be started)
socks, and socks! i've got to replace nearly every pair of winter shoes and a couple pieces in my wardrobe, so my wardrobe will be centered around the socks-

sounds like a good plan to me! Oh yea, here's my february quilt square, getting better, but still have a loooong way to go before i consider myself "good" at this- but am enjoying the colors and the fact that i'm challenging myself . .












also haven't done a gratitude in a while --
GRATITUDES
being able to take time off when sick without "worrying" (wednesday)
the chance to see new places (like vegas)
knowing my kids can do okay and can be trusted when i'm on the other side of the country
having a chance to "catch up" with my sister (in april)-i like the sound of that-hey i've got a sister!!!!

TTFN