snapshots.

and flashbacks to some of this past weeks highlights. a bike ride with Katie, a great riding partner who shared some tips and tricks. am hoping we get to do this again soon. it felt pretty good keeping up with someone training for a triathlon!

I had to take a photo of this "unsubscribe" option for Cobb County School Distrist, YES! never email me again.  so glad to be done with high school (Andrew is too!)

Sophie gets the newspaper, one of the first "tricks" I taught her when she was a wee puppy.

goodie box for Andrew.  This is something I did for PJ when he left for college, a box of stuff that they don't get to open until after their classes on the first day.  I had a lot of fun at Trader Joe's picking out stuff for Andrew, very different from PJ's !  Andrew is taking 1 storage container of clothes and 3 containers for kitchen stuff.

New cycling gear-road bike, new helmet, and riding shoes with cleats.  I'm still trying to get used to the shoes, and totally love the new bike. 

and finally, a lovely birthday dinner, spicy shrimp tacos, and mini apricot cakes courtesy of Andrew.  Steve made margaritas, and I got some lovely cards and books. a happy day indeed.

seems kinda weird that the next time I post, both boys will be officially moved out of our house and in their own "space".  I think it's time to re-design the blog as well, seems appropriate to freshen up lots of things now. stay tuned.



i love a giveaway.andpie.

my recent success in winning cool stuff has prompted me to enter every possible giveaway on blogs i read especially when it comes to books and yarn.  that being said after hearing the recent episode of the craftlit podcast, which featured an interview with andi and her book big foot knits, i couldn't resist.  this is a must for any sock knitter's library.  i love my hand-knit socks, but sometimes the fit isn't always "spot on".  this book goes beyond just giving pattern instructions and provides a recipe or template to customizing them for optimal fit. so i'm doing my part by spreading the word.  this also reminds me that i have sorely neglecting this blog, and i hope to change that.  may to august has kept me busy, while at the same time i've been trying to be "not too busy". i've wanted to spend more time closer to home.  the next big thing is getting andrew ready for college-move in day is NEXT WEEK-gah! i'm really gonna miss him, but am excited for him at the same time.  i'll be changing a lot of my daily routine, especially kitchen duties, so perhaps that will provide some moderately interesting content to bring to the blog.  in the meantime, i'll leave you with a photo of the lemon meringue pie andrew made yesterday. andrew heading off to college is going to be great on my waistline.

Catching up and casting on

instead of doing weekly spreads of project life for may and june i opted for a monthly approach.  the only thing i have left to figure out is how to include the wedding invitation, rehearsal dinner menu, etc., right now they are in an 8x12 page protector.  i used only one photo from each event in an attempt to keep it simple. i do plan to create a photo book using more of the photos from this year. sunday my work space went from this

to this

and this

i have a large number of artwork postcards that i've picked up over the years from various museums, and decided to use these where i have gaps-especially in the 2x3 spaces.  i think it's a nice addition, and a great way to show off some of my favorite works of art.

on the knitting front-i've also cast on and made great progress on my river crossing cardigan and the gingko shoulderette, and need to find a sock pattern for the upcoming falcons season.  i also need to finish the last bit on my pendulum shawlette. the dilemma is that i've run out of the contrasting color, but only need a tad, so i've got to figure out if incorporating the main color is going to work or if i need to buy another skein of the contrasting color-we shall see.

something else i'm really loving and getting caught up on is craftlit listening to jane eyre, dracula, and age of innocence.   this podcast is sooooo awesome, has made my morning and afternoon commute much more pleasant.

and despite the wretched weather predicted for tomorrow, i am ready for my 9th time "doing" the peachtree road race.  i say "doing" as i walk it not run it, but love it nonetheless.  look for me!

ANNNNd that's a wrap. . .

This month has been a flurry of activity, and every event was so awesome-here's a snapshot

 

 



PJ turns 20

 

 

Steve and I celebrated 22 years-photo is from Katie's wedding cause I forgot to take a photo on "the day". It was also the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby which I had a lot of fun watching.



A trip to Miami was included, but can't seem get the photo, there are some on instagram.

Mother's day-complete with going to see the Great Gatsby and Mexican

Andrew celebrates turning 18

Girls night out with Katie before the wedding festivities.  The Optimist.

Rehearsal dinner at Bistro VG-amazing.

Katie and Rob say I do at Summerour-it was a lovely ceremony.

The get away car

Celebrating Mom's birthday with afternoon tea

Sending PJ to France. He had to actually take a flight the next day due to weather delays.

Steve celebrates a birthday, we also had lunch with Polly, Roy, Andrew, Mom, Karen and Mary.

Celebrating Andrew's graduation-it was the perfect day to have a graduation OUTSIDE!

 

Final celebration of the month at Karen's along with the rest of the family-Paula and Andrew.



Next up-time to pack clothes and knitting for vacation!  Everything was so wonderful and I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such a great family.

a few quiet moments before.

this happens...sigh.....they really DO grow up!

half way through..divided into thirds

disclaimer-the photo has nothing to do with content-just an illustration of making the most of my "found moments" to knit. one of my jobs is escorting the vending machine guy when he comes each week, am on the collar of my featherweight cardigan (yeah!)
so since it's been a while since my last post-i think instagram is becoming my mini blog-i figured an update was in order.  we are half way through may, and so far i've:

celebrated 2 birthdays
celebrated an anniversary and the kentucky derby
attended a conference in miami

pre-mother's day mani/pedicure + lunch
made a strawberry pie
mother's day brunch + great gatsby + mexican
acquired and conquered a cold
maintained my house keeping, laundry and exercise regimes-may have missed 2 bike rides or walks
visited the dog park twice
nearly completed a cardigan
nearly completed a shawlette (pendulum's almost done!)

still to do:
get a car wash
make sure i don't forget to get some fresh air and exercise
celebrate with "the girls"
go one more time to the dog park
buy one more gift for family abroad
wrap gifts for friends/family abroad for PJ to pack
celebrate with "the wedding party"
attend a wedding celebration 
make one round trip drive to the airport
prepare and host a birthday tea
bake one cheesecake for the final birthday celebration for the month
attend the final birthday celebration for the month (lunch out :-) )
attend one high school graduation
celebrate high school graduations for 2 awesome people
finalize sophie's doggy day care
finalize sophie and mom's meals
finalize travel plans
gather quilt day bits and pieces (must not forget!!!)
pack for trip . . . . relax (i hope!)

what i most likely WON'T do before may 29, but would like to:
find cute skirts to take on vacation
get to see the dixie stars for sewing
finish reading a book
create some playlists for vacation-thank goodness for pandora
plant veggies in the patch that has been plowed for me at a friend's house
go for an outdoor bike ride
find a new blog reader "thing-y" since google reader is ending (SOON!)

so much to do, and seemingly so little time, but is all so good-my list could include trips to visit sick family or friends or worse.  i see from this list that i am richly blessed and lucky to have so many "good" things to celebrate.





 

Project Life Week 14

hard to believe i'm 14 weeks into this project, and i know at some point i'll fall a bit behind.  in an attempt to  keep things somewhat orderly, i've already created folders on my computer for weeks 15-23 along with the calendar dates so i can at least file the photos in the appropriate week.  i'm really loving the project life core kit-the cards are so awesome, and i don't have to re-size, or find coordinating paper. they are helpful in providing "prompts" to help create a story for the week.  with the many events coming up, i'm sure i'll have more pages for each week, but for now i'm trying to go with simplicity.  i love this approach to scrapbooking better than what i've done in the past-i have several albums filled with pictures i cropped and created a story of sorts which included paper and stickers.  at one point i was doing 3 simultaneously-yes i know!!, one as a family album and one for each of the boys.  once they got to the age where they didn't want their picture taken the former way of scrapbooking was abandoned for albums with sleeves that captured the year's highlights.  i may have to go back and fill in the gaps in their own albums-some day!  my other favorite album approach is to create the albums online-how easy is that?! i think if you priced out the cost of the album, embellishments  supplies, and the cost of the photos, it's a cheaper alternative.   as i reflect over my photo journaling throughout the years i'm totally okay with it all.  it not only documents what our family has done, but it shows the changing trends and techniques of scrapbooking, and at the end of the day it's all about the photos and the story they tell.