Jen Crutchfield

Demolition

2012-01-26T21:14:00.000-05:00

You want to know what's really awesome? Walking into the basement laundry room and NOT hearing water dripping from the bathroom upstairs.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Why was water dripping you ask? Well, I'll tell you. See that lovely white caulk where there should be grout between the tiles in the photo below? That's where the grout had worn away over time and Jon used caulk to create a quick fix so water wouldn't drip into our basement any more. Because when the grout wears away? Then the water soaks into the wallboard behind the tiles and then drips into the basement once the wallboard is completely saturated. Cool, huh?

Yeah. Not really.

The next thing that happens when you have caulk in your shower where it's not supposed to be is that when you try to clean the walls in the shower, the caulk wants to remove itself from between the tiles. Very annoying. So again, slowly over time, the water began to drip into the basement.

We decided we were done with water dripping into the basement.

Jon started this project on the evening of Christmas Day. I'm pretty sure he was hoping that he could finish the entire project before he went back to work just after New Year's Day.

Removing the tiles was the easy part and was very, very fun. Demolition is fun. You've all seen Extreme Makeover Home Edition, right? Of course ours was really nothing at all like that but still. It was fun to tear the tiles off of the wall.

Then we all took turns removing the wall board which had been behind the tiles. The good news was that this was a Sunday and our trash day is Monday. All of our first night's work was happily carted away by the garbage man the very next day! This made the mama of the house very happy.

And once the project began we decided we were going all the way and taking everything out. Above you have the entirely empty bathroom. It's kind of like that book, If you Give a Moose a Muffin.

If you take out the shower and the tub, then you're gonna have to re-do the floor. And if you re-do the floor, you're gonna have to re-do the sink and the vanity. And when you try to remove the toilet, it's gonna break so you'll have to replace that, too. Yeah. It broke.

So there you have it. Phase one. A totally clean slate to work with. You're going to have to come back tomorrow for the big finish!

2011 Reading List

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm moving my 2011 Reading List from a page into a regular post. I was a little disappointed at the low number of books I read last year but ya know, being a mom takes up a lot of my time. Guess it just wasn't a priority for me last year.

Actually what I need to do is listen to more audiobooks while I'm crafting. Maybe we'll see if I can bump that up in 2012.

2011 Reading List

Fifty Shades Darker by EL James
Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Nocturne by Syrie James
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
Toys by James Patterson
Blood Covenant by Michael Franzese
Don't Blink by James Patterson & Howard Roughan
Unlikely Angel by Ashley Smith (with Stacy Mattingly)
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Love Wins by Rob Bell
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
When Love is Not Enough by Nancy L. Thomas
Tick Tock by James Patterson
Unmarketing by Scott Stratten
Organizing From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern
Always Looking Up: the Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox
Animal Farm by George Orwell

So that's my list. What did you read last year? What are you reading right now?

2010 Reading List

Welcome!

2012-01-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there!

Welcome to new friends just heading over from the Debt Princess today. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Please check out the posts on the Too Much Information page to find out more about me.

But really, more than enough about me. Who are you?

Please leave a comment with a link where I can find you!

Entertainment Today

2012-01-12T10:34:00.003-05:00

Movies:

Dr. Seuss Green Eggs & Ham
Dumbo

Music:

Baroque Splendor (because I love me some good orchestra music)

So what are you watching and listening to today?

Entertainment Today

2012-01-04T19:07:00.003-05:00

Day 2 of our efforts to be entertained for free from what we already own.

Free Entertainment Today

Music: 10,000 Maniacs In My Tribe (This is our last 10,000 Maniacs. Honestly, I'm glad for that. They're good in small doses.)

Movie: The Bee Movie

Make your own grass greener

2012-01-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is funny to me because it is quite impossible to see grass outside my windows right now. We finally got snow in northern Indiana and we got it good.

What I'm really talking about is how it's so easy to think that the "grass is greener" on the other side of the hill, over the fence, inside your neighbor's house. Whatever. You get the point. We all think that somebody else has it better than we do. But we are comparing what we see, generally somebody else's best, to our worst.

It's not a reasonable comparison, it's not fair, and it doesn't make sense.

I'm not doing it any more.

So, in my effort to make our own grass greener, it occurred to me that we already own a plethora of entertainment. Literally. In the entertainment cabinet. The space given to music CD's is absolutely full. The DVD space has two almost full shelves.

Sarah and I started out by sorting them all alphabetically. Cause that's how I roll, yo. Honestly? I couldn't think of a better way to sort them than that. Anything else would have been more difficult anyway. And Sarah could help by identifying the first letter for me. Easy peasy.

The plan is to start at the beginning and work through to the end over the course of the year. I figure if we get to one and we're not willing to listen or watch that must mean that one can head out to the Goodwill.

Today's choices?

Music: 10,000 Maniacs Our Time in Eden (You should've seen Sarah dancing to this one. Good stuff. Evan - "Is she speaking English?")

Movie: Air Buddies (ugh - I wish this one could go to Goodwill but I have a strong feeling I'll be outvoted by Sarah)

I'll let you know how it goes. Have you watched all the movies in your cabinet lately? How about listening to those CD's you already own?

Loves

2011-12-28T03:18:00.000-05:00

Have you ever looked around and realized "there is absolutely nothing I can do to show these people what they mean to me?"

Ok. I might be feeling a little overly emotional tonight. Or this might just be who I am.

Stop and look around.

Those people. Think for a minute about what they really mean to you.

Now go and find a way to show them.

Loves.

That cool crayon melting project

2011-11-05T22:03:00.000-04:00

For those of you who like to read the last page of the book first, here it is. The finished project.

And for the rest of you, here's the process.

First we collected all of the crayons we could find in the house. We had a few.

Sarah helped me sort them by color.

Then we laid them all out like a rainbow. Which, incidentally is Sarah's favorite color.

Yes, "rainbow" is her favorite color.

Obviously we had too many to fit on our canvas so we narrowed it down.

Then we glued them onto the canvas using Aleene's Tacky Glue. After leaving the glue to dry for a couple of hours we came back and it was melting time.

Seriously?

This is really fun.

All we used was a regular old hair dryer. It was really fun to watch as the crayons started to melt and then melt together. Also, it was cool to see the way the air would blow the wax across the canvas if you held the dryer at an angle.

And this picture is here because Jon likes to take artsy photos.

So really, this was the most fun artsy craftsy project we've done in a while. This one will be hanging soon in Sarah's bedroom. Way up high so that she can't touch it.

Next we'll be making one for Jason's room to go with his black/white/gray/red color scheme. It's going to be awesome.

We found this great idea on Pinterest. Do you have an account there yet? Put your link in the comments and I'll follow you. I also saw this project with some great tips on Sara Mincy's site.

What crafty projects have you been up to lately?

The one where I get a tattoo. Really.

2011-10-27T10:59:00.001-04:00

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #6

2011-10-16T15:10:00.000-04:00

The update this week includes some progress. I've been working on joining the circles as I go along for the Flowers in the Snow project. This is not easy. Like I said before, I've got 192 chances to get it right!

But seriously, this is not easy. I was considering switching gears and NOT joining them as I go along. I was even considering making today the day I take all of these out until I took the photo. Doesn't really look so bad after all.

My problem is that I see the close up item and fail to see the big picture. When I'm looking at it close up I see "oh that one stitch is too loose." And "why did I put those two circles next to each other?"

Blerg.

When really, I need to look at the big picture and realize that it's gorgeous. I'm the only one who sees the flaws. I'm going to continue and get better at it. So there.

And as for Sarah's sweater. I haven't had much time to work on it. The thing is that I started working the sleeve on DPN's and that's really hard for me. It's best if I sit at a table and use the surface to help hold the rest of the garment.

But, I am ridiculously proud of myself that I made that ribbed bottom edge. Is that gorgeous or what?

Sorry the photo appears to be a little blurry. Might've been the lighting. Not sure.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have lots of progress to show next week, too.

Check out everyone's year of project updates.

Year of Projects Series
Initial Post
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #1
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #2
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #3

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #4

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #5

Haiti Revisited

2011-10-11T13:02:00.000-04:00

So last summer (2010) we went on a cruise. We had a great time.

One of the places we stopped was in Labadee, Haiti. It's a private beach where the ship comes in and everyone from the biggest boat in the world (yes, really) gets off the ship to enjoy the beauty and splendor that is Haiti. Luxury. Extravagance.

Wait.

Haiti. Yeah. There was a tremendous earthquake there early in 2010. Shortly after the cruise line anticipated the questions and concerns of people who were planning vacations including a stop on the island later in the year. I did not keep the email we received but the gist of it was that we need not worry. In the months after the earthquake the cruise line would be helping the people of Haiti to recover. They said the cruise line played an important part in helping the nation recover to where it was before. As a matter of fact, every ship that stopped on the island would be delivering needed supplies and equipment.

That all sounds good, right?

Maybe. But then today I read this article about Peanut Butter Medicine and realize that it's a bunch of baloney.

Every day there are kids and families suffering on that island because they don't have what they need. Not because they don't get to join the soccer team, or because they don't have an iPod or the right shoes. They are dying because they don't have a place to live. They don't have food. It makes me sick to my stomach.

The area where the ship lands is on the far opposite side of the island from where the earthquake hit. There was no damage there. Other than the wounded spirits of the people.

While we were in Haiti we took a tour of the area with a local guide. He KNEW his country's history. He KNEW more about Haiti than Jon and I probably knew together about US history. It was amazing to listen to him talk about his country and hear the obvious pride in his nation and it's people.

He told us about his family and where he sleeps at night. He told us how he and the men of his family live away from the women. The women stay in the city so the kids can go to school. The men live close to the area where the ship lands so that they can work and send money back to the city so the kids can go to school.

This is the part that really got me. The cruise line gives the men a loan in the beginning of the season (or school year) so that they have enough to pay for school. Then, get this, the men work to pay off the loan. Think about that a minute.

Sounds like indentured servitude to me.

Again, while we were on the island, we contributed significantly to the local economy. If you've ever been on a trip like this you know it's hard not to. The people in the market will literally grab you to pull you into their stand to look at what they are selling. They literally competed for our dollars. I don't find it fun.

I bought a necklace. The one I really wanted broke when I picked it up. So I bought another I thought Sarah would like.

I bought a couple small pieces of art. They've since gone to Goodwill.

I bought Sarah a small doll. Because it was cute and I wanted to spend some money with the guy in that vendor space. He was nice and didn't grab me.

Ya know, I'm not really sure how to wrap up this rant, other than to say that I know God is at work in Haiti. I know God is at work in the lives of everyone working at the cruise line. I know God is at work in the lives of everyone traveling on cruises.

I would really love to see the cruise lines pay the workers appropriately. They should pay a wage that would allow the people to live well and to pay for school. They shouldn't pay in a way so that the people are indebted to them. That sucks all around.

And - I really would love to know that things were getting better in Haiti almost two years after the horrible earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people. I'm sure there are pockets of improvement.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look for those articles now. I'll find some and post them later this week.

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #5

2011-09-25T16:49:00.001-04:00

Flowers in the Snow Project

Just a quick update today. I've finished 168/192 of the circles for the Flowers in the Snow Project. I'm taking a short break from this so that I can work on my first knit sweater (below).

Knitting Pure & Simple

Children's V Neck Down Pullover

I decided to take a class at my local yarn store to learn how to make this "top down" sweater. I must say that I'm really proud of myself that it's already actually looking like a sweater. And, I was actually able to "divide for the sleeves" all by myself!

Check out everyone's year of project updates.

Year of Projects Series
Initial Post
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #1
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #2
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #3

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #4

2011-09-11T15:53:00.000-04:00

Hey Friends! I have an update. Although I cannot include pictures this week because my laptop is currently broken and I have to hobble along on my son's really old but absolutely adequate desktop computer. (I know, first world problems, right?) Anyway, getting pictures onto this post is just something I'll do later in the week when I have my own machine back.
Anyway, I have decided to take a break from the original Year of Projects project I had started on. That was all of the blocks from 200 Crochet Blocks. I have 30ish blocks done. Here's my difficulty and why I'm finding the project so frustrating. I'm having trouble making them all come out the same size which is why I was asking about blocking in a previous post. The ones which go round and round are easier to make the correct size because I can always just add another round of something if necessary. The ones that go back and forth are much harder for me to get right. Obviously I still have a problem with this gauge stuff. It also really depends on the day, I think. Some days I work really tightly and some days it just seems to be easier for me to work more loosely. Kind of a bummer. So I've decided that this project needs to just take a break and think about the error of its ways.

I finished my first ripple blanket since I've last updated. It was fun to figure out a new pattern.

Flowers in the Snow

I've started on the circles for this project. I have been to her site and drooled over her version of the project so many times that I just couldn't help it any more. I had to get started. So far I have somewhere around 50 circles made. I honestly haven't counted today. I decided yesterday that my goal will be to make at least 12 each day because that would get me finished with the circles in 16 days.

In a couple of weeks I am taking a knitting class at my Local Yarn Store, the Yarn Gourmet, where we'll be knitting a top down child's sweater. I'm really excited about it but I'm concerned because I've been doing so much crochet. I took some time to practice my knitting last week and my fingers weren't happy about it. Practice makes perfect right? I may have to whip up a couple of knit scarves in the next two weeks to get my fingers and my brain ready for knitting rather than crochet.

Thanks for checking out my update. Promise I'll add photos later in the week.

Check out other folks projects and join the year long blog-a-long on Ravelry.

Year of Projects Series
Initial Post
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #1
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #2
Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #3

Thursday WreathDay

2011-09-01T13:27:00.000-04:00

Here's what my helper, Miss Pretty Pretty, and I came up with today. We made pom-poms and attached them to a wreath form that we had in the basement. All crafty folks have one of those just laying around, right?

The yarn was all just leftovers from other projects. This would also be a great way to use those big bags of yarn you can find at Goodwill for $6-$8.

Sarah and I love to make wreaths so watch out. If you invite us over, we may just bring you one.

This week in pictures

2011-08-27T19:54:00.000-04:00

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #3

2011-08-22T11:44:00.000-04:00

This is what I've been up to lately. I am taking a break from my squares to learn something new. I've never made a ripple blanket before so I wanted to learn. I used a pattern from Vanna's Choice Color It Beautiful Afghans (Leisure Arts #4432) for this first one. I am also using Vanna's Choice yarn for the first time.

I've decided I really like the yarn and need to start watching for it to go on sale. The thing I always find out when making a new pattern is that it's never as difficult as it looks. I am totally loving the ripples and watching how the colors work together as the blanket takes shape.

After I finish this I plan to get back to my squares from the 200 Blocks book. I might change direction a bit and choose the ones I like the best and start making them in different colors to get the project moving along again.

I hope you'll check out others year of projects updates.

Ravelry Blog A Long Update #1

Ravelry Blog A Long Update #2

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Reboot Day 3 - The day the popcorn bowl became the apple bowl

2011-08-10T22:29:00.000-04:00

Those apples? Are tomorrow's breakfast. And will probably all get used in one day.

Today's juice recipes:

orange
cucumber/kale/lemon
zucchini/apple/lemon
apple/nectarine/blueberry

So on day three I'm feeling decidedly better. For the first two days I felt nauseous in the late afternoon and really wanted to just go to bed. Today, finally, and thankfully, I am feeling much better.

I'm thinking that part of the key to feeling well during this fast is being distracted. In the movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead both men shown were removed from their normal every day routines. Ideally, I would love to go and stay at the beach for ten days while I finish this fast. Unfortunately, that's not in the plan for this week so I will just have to make sure I'm distracted with plenty to do at home for the next week.

I'm only a week away from being finished with ten days! How cool is that?

The one thing that has been really bothering me while doing this is all of the waste. Every time I clean out the juicer it really bugs me to throw away all that pulp. I feel like I should be saving it to add to smoothies or casseroles or something. I've decided that when I'm not doing this for ten days straight then maybe I'll save the pulp for adding to other recipes.

The right juicer for the job

Also? The amount of water I'm using to clean the juicer seems like too much to me. Maybe it's because I don't like doing the actual cleaning that this bugs me so much. Or maybe it's just because I have such a difficult time cleaning out the blade portion that I don't like it so much. It seems like it takes me forever to get all of the little itty bitty fibers out of there. Any ideas for that would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Jack LaLanne juicer and I really do like it quite a bit, notwithstanding all my grumbling about the cleaning. I love how quiet it is. It works fast and well. The only other juicer I've ever owned sounded like a jet engine running in my kitchen. No wonder juicing was not a fun experience. This one however, is earning a permanent spot on the counter top this week.

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Reboot Day 2 - Bread! Give me bread!

2011-08-09T14:41:00.002-04:00

Ok, so bread is not the thing that I've been craving the most today, but I have been wanting it. And not just any bread. I'm talking warm, sweet, buttery bread. Yeah.

I also wanted a banana at breakfast time. I usually just grab one because they're quick and easy. I started to grab one and had to stop myself. It also made me think about how very much of my eating behavior is simply mindless. A banana may not seem like a big deal but then what happens when you eat mindlessly all day long? A few M&M's aren't so bad. But, as I've said before, they gang up on you!

My friend Kalai wrote an article about all of the times she had to say "just this one time, I'm not going to have it." I think it's a great article about how many times we have to say "no" to our own wants over the course of a week. Don't let yourself be fooled. This stuff is hard to do!

To start out today I had apple juice. These five apples became 20 ounces of juice.

(Update: Aaaaaaand sometimes, you hit the "publish post" button before you mean to. Sorry about that folks. I intended to finish this post and share it later. Since I've already posted this much, I'll leave it for now and just add to it later in the day.)

Update 9:06 pm

Hi. I'm back to finish the post I started earlier. Turns out, it really wasn't a bad thing I did that because I don't really have much to share right now. I feel a little like I'm wilting.

I have a small (tolerable) headache, my energy is low but I don't feel tired, and I'm really wanting something to eat. Almost anything. I also know that if I eat something now, I won't want to stop. Now is not the time to give in.

I know I can do this. I really, really want to do this. I will do this. Maybe tomorrow morning will be easier. G'night.

Reboot Day 1 - The one where I learn what kale is

2011-08-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

Last night I wasn't sleeping and I found another food documentary on Netflix. And why not, really? It is our national obsession. One of them, anyway.

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that today is officially Day 1 of my 10-Day juice fast. Oh boy. That freaks me out just typing that. Thinking about my schedule this week is a little concerning as well. How am I going to do this? Bring juice with me seems to be the only option. Not sure how that's going to work out. More on that later, I guess.

In the film, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, the juice they mention many times is the "mean green." I made some today and thought it might be helpful to share with you how that went.

The original recipe for the "mean green" juice can be found on the Facebook page FAQ for the movie. The only change I made to this first one was that I left out the ginger. I've had juices with it before and don't really enjoy the aggressive spicy-ness of the ginger.

I also got to learn what kale looks like. To my knowledge I've never eaten it before and certainly have never before purchased it at the grocery store.

So this plate of fruits and veggies

Became 24 ounces of beautiful green juice. I poured some before I remembered to take the photo. I love this measuring cup because it fits underneath the chute for the juice on my machine and it has the ounce measurements. Very helpful for me today.

I started out drinking this cup of juice (Go Bears!)

And saved this in the fridge for later. Yes, that is a re-used Snapple bottle.

So. What do I think? I think that juicing is an acquired taste. If you don't like vegetables and haven't eaten any that aren't fried in quite some time, you're going to have a hard time getting used to the flavors. I actually like the "mean green" juice.

For me, I enjoy the juices the most when I drink them through straws because I don't like that white film that develops on the top of the juice. It's a texture thing. I just don't like it.

So yeah. I'm going for it. Ten days. Who's in? Maybe try a three day fast if ten days sounds like too much to you. Or even try one of the Reboot Programs to get yourself started before trying a total juice fast.

I do know this much. This is going to be difficult. It's 4:04 pm on Day 1 and I'm hungry. Even though I'm just about finished with my Bears cup full of juice. Days 3 and 4 are gonna be ugly folks.

Are you willing to try with me? Misery loves company, right? If you don't want to do the fast yourself then maybe tell me why I'm crazy for trying. Maybe that will get me riled up enough to continue on when I want to quit.

What do you think?

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Back to (back to) School

2011-08-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

Sarah gets to go back to school this fall. She's been in school before but we took her out for a while because in order for me to run my business it was more convenient to have her in day care full time than in pre-school for half days.

Spanish Immersion

This fall she gets to go back to school. She's going to be in the Spanish Immersion program at Covenant Christian School. We're really excited about it and she keeps telling us that she's going to learn Spanish "all day long!"

We stopped by the school building today so she could have a look around since she'd never been there before. I took loads of pictures of her in the classroom but could only get her to be still one time for the photo above. I'm pretty sure she tried out every toy and book in the room. It made me feel good that she was so willing to try everything out but I'm sure she'll still be apprehensive when I leave her on the first day of school.

So, what are your best tips for happy pre-schoolers at drop off? Is your kid a crier or one who kisses you and runs off, not looking back? For the criers, do you drop them off and run out the door or do you hang around for a while? I'm typically a "drop & runner" but if you have any better ideas I'd love to hear them.

Green (Smoothie) Living

2011-08-03T16:11:00.002-04:00

Breakfast of champions

I've been inspired to claw my way back up onto the band wagon of healthy eating again. Yes, again. I know, I know. It gets old some times, doesn't it? It's true that I haven't had any soda in over a month, so that's fantastic but really just the tip of the iceberg for eating habits around these parts.

Well you can only start from where you're at so here I am. I was inspired this week by my friend Michelle who posted her recipe for a green smoothie. I decided to make my own version which included:

two cups of frozen blueberries (from the Blueberry Ranch of course!)
one half cup of almond milk
one cup of fresh baby spinach

That's it. I like to use the frozen berries so that I don't have to use a bunch of ice when I make smoothies.

The verdict? It's not my favorite smoothie ever but it was by far not the worst, either. If you decide to make this, just remember to drink it all right now. Don't let it sit around for a while. You want that spinach to be really well mixed in. Settling does not help the yumminess factor of the spinach.

How about you? What are you doing to be healthy these day? Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe I could try? Let me know!

27 Days

2011-07-27T22:52:00.000-04:00

So it's been 27 days since I've had any soda to drink. I thought it might be harder than it has been. Honestly, I haven't really missed it.

Until today.

Day 27.

Why today? I have no idea. There've been times when I've craved it because I was eating something I would normally have pop with; popcorn at the movie theater for example. But I bought my bottled water and drank it happily. I had decided in advance I would have water with my popcorn and that felt fine to me then.

Today though was different. I waaaaaanted some pop today. My mouth wanted it. I wanted the taste and I wanted the fizz of the carbonation. It was just weird. Have you ever really stopped and payed attention to all the different ways your body "wants" something? It can be interesting if you really pay attention.

If you're still wondering, the answer is no, I still haven't drank any pop. And I don't intend to.

And I'm happy and thankful to be able to say, that I mostly don't miss it at all.

Baby blanket for Connor

2011-07-25T18:48:00.000-04:00

I sent this blanket off in the mail today for our niece Jeannette. She's just about ready to have her little guy and we're just wishing we could head out to visit with them once he's born.

Ravelry Blog-A-Long Update #2

2011-07-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

Hey Friends! Thanks for stopping by from the Blog-A-Long. I'm really having fun visiting everyone's blogs to see the projects you're all working on, too. If you're not involved in the blog-a-long yet, I hope you'll go to the Ravelry page and visit some of the others.

I'm glad to have finished eight blocks this week. Since I have over 150 to make if I want the blanket to fit my bed, I really want to get them done as quickly as I can. However, second from the bottom on the right you can see that the gauge is horrible and the "square" looks ruffled. Nowhere near flat. I'll be re-making some of them before I can use them in any kind of an afghan. Oh well, that's part of the fun, right?

There are quite a few blocks in the book that I've skipped just because of the intricacy of the pattern. If I can't pick it up right away, I can't really get it done while I'm watching television or while the kids are around. I'm thinking these blocks are going to have to wait until the kids go back to school in a few weeks. Nothing like leaving the hard part for the end, eh?

Thanks for stopping by. What are you working on?

The Blog-A-Long Series

Initial Post

Update #1

13!

2011-07-22T14:54:00.000-04:00

His birthday list included:

getting a Facebook account

being allowed to play the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops

being allowed to watch YouTube videos on his phone,

and a Nintendo DSi.

He's been ~~annoying~~ patiently waiting all week for his party.

He's just so excited.

Jon and I are so very proud of our Evan.

He's passionate and spirited.

He's opinionated and curious.

He's creative and kind hearted.

I'm sure these teen age years are going to be exciting.

And I'm going to try not to blink too many times because I've been told that if I do,

he'll be going to college before I know it.