I do hope to get a writing blog up and running sometime . . .

Here’s the thing. It is STILL not working for me. I miss the crafty.

Hmmmmmmm . . .

Why has [...]]]> I do not know how I neglected this for so long. It’s really quite embarrassing. But for all our trips to parks and Little D’s obssession with nature shows about birds, we had not gone out to do a true nature walk. A ramble. Tsk tsk, shame on me.

Why has it taken me so long to get Little D into a really nice, nature oriented park? I do not know. I have been blinded by the equipment heavy play parks and baby gyms. I have been disoriented by the bustle of the city. I’ve been distracted by the worries in our lives over food allergies and speech delays. And I guess I forgot. I forgot how much I loved getting out into the world of trees and birds and just rambling. It was such a part of my life when I was a kid. We had an enormous backyard that my brother and I conquered daily. We frequented state parks. And when time did not allow for such a day long excursion, we’d head up to our local botanical gardens and walk the trails. We made up stories. We drew maps of our adventures. It was so much fun and SO NECESSARY. Geez.

But today I went out to meet a lovely group of local AP moms and we rambled and roamed the meadows and hills and woods with our kids and babies. It was GREAT. Little D had A BLAST. This little guy who can get so frustrated at regular parks - taking turns on swings, finding a shovel in the sandbox, feeling nervous around the more boisterous kids on the playscapes - was full of focused and content energy. He ran. He climbed up and down stony steps. He picked flowers. He learned how to blow the puffy seeds off of a dandelion. He tumbled and rolled in long grass. He got sweaty and shed his coat and hat. It was all so right.

I feel like sometimes the mom I meant to be has been overshadowed by my worries over Little D’s health issues. I’ve gotten so exhausted and honestly, bitter, that I’ve made a lot of choices based on convenience. It has seemed easier to go to the parks with swings and sandboxes. Neat, organized, not too much thought needed, I know exactly what to expect. Just go. And not that they are bad. Little D loves swings. We’ll still be going to parks with swings. But I thought I’d be the mom showing my kid the world I saw as a kid. Full of magic and wonder. I always meant to be this mom. This mom I was today.

In short, April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and April [...]]]> So I don’t have much time to write today but I wanted to help get the word out about the wonderful Carnival of Gentle Discipline. I just found out about by way of PhD Parenting who linked to the source at The Baby Dust Diaries.

In short, April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and April 30th is SpankOut Day USA.

The Carnival of Gentle Discipline is a week long celebration (April 26-30th) of Gentle Discipline. For those who have not heard the term, Gentle Discipline refers to parenting your children with gentleness and respect, and without the use of punshiments or threats. There is, of course, a lot more to it but as I said, I am short on time right now. I am hoping to participate and anyone who wants to support Gentle Discipline can! Follow the link above or click on the button below to The Baby Dust Diaries post to find out how.

In the wee morning hours of April 2nd we had to put our dear old cat, Pharoah, to sleep.  He was very old and very sick and it [...]]]> So a sad sort of a post.  I feel bad.  I really should have written about this when it happened but I couldn’t quite get into the mindspace needed.

In the wee morning hours of April 2nd we had to put our dear old cat, Pharoah, to sleep.  He was very old and very sick and it was time.  But still very sad.  I was and am very sad.  Hone is extremely sad.  He raised Pharaoh from a tiny kitten.  They spent a little over 20 years together!  They saw each other through some really rough times. 

Pharoah was an exceptionally sweet cat.  Never spiteful.  He had a gentle, kittenish meow.  He was an all around gentlemanly cat.  I was not able to be as demonstrative with kitty cuddles due to my kitty allergies but he and I had an understanding.  Love for Hone bonded us.

Sweet Mr. Pharoah, we miss you!

More reorganization on the way and soon (soon!) this will be a mommy blog.

Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

(I really need more sleep.)

I think what I really want to write abut here is mommying and not lame sweaters.

I may wipe the slate clean and start over. I may just keep what’s here and continue with new stuff.

I am pondering.

1) I almost have my writing blog organized. But I cannot decide how I want to use it or share it. Do I want to link it here? Do I want to keep it separate? Do I want to use my real name on it? Do I want to post actual writing [...]]]> Bloggy blog blog bloggity!

1) I almost have my writing blog organized. But I cannot decide how I want to use it or share it. Do I want to link it here? Do I want to keep it separate? Do I want to use my real name on it? Do I want to post actual writing I am doing or just talk about the process of writing? Decisions decisions . . .

2) I am about to embark on a silly photography game for myself. Using color. Each week I will pick a color and take photos showcasing that color and then make a mosaic of those photos in a crazy explosion of that color. Or something. Yeah, so really I just like making mosaics (like here and here).

3) I have a tiny repurposed toddler clothes project.  Well, it’s not really a repurpose job, more of a slight adjustment to a shirt.  BUT it will prolong the life of said shirt so  . . . maybe it’s more of a recycle!  Post about that soon.

4) I think I am giving up on my resolutions because I just cannot do them.  They are stressing me out.  

5) But I am still writing my novel.

Well, maybe not all short rows. There may be some short rows out there that are okay, some that are sweet and kind and polite. But the short rows in Hone’s sweater-in-progress? Are sucky and rude. Super sucky and rude.

I have unpicked the short row section of [...]]]> I HATE short rows!!

Well, maybe not all short rows. There may be some short rows out there that are okay, some that are sweet and kind and polite. But the short rows in Hone’s sweater-in-progress? Are sucky and rude. Super sucky and rude.

I have unpicked the short row section of this sweater no less than 4 times. I believe the problem is that this sweater is knit in the round and after wrapping stitches on both sides you then knit an entire round instead of continuing back and forth. I think this is the problem. But what do I know? My current score for knitting-sweaters-for-Hone is me:0, sweaters:3.

So these evil short rows keep leaving holes in my knitting. Holes! Big gaping holes!

Stupid short rows.

I tried and tried and tried to figure out how not to have holes. I employed the brains of my good knitting friend and googled for hours and yet, no solution could be found. Finally I just started knotting up the holes on the inside. I know! It’s bad. It’s ugly. My perfectionist self is very annoyed. When the sweater is done I am sure Hone will love it and wear it and say how awesome it is but I will be all, “Yeah, but the holes. Stupid sweater.”

Sigh.

Pretty marker.

Needles.

Underarm awaiting the kitchener stitch.

Pile-o-sweater.

Stupid knot.

Stupid row of knots.

My brain.

1) Do something about feeling so floompy all the time. Start exercising. Take it slow. How about once in January, twice in February, thrice in March and so on so by next December you’ll be dancing around about three times a week. Think about how nice exercising would [...]]]> Yeah, they were were WAY too ambitious. Obviously.

1) Do something about feeling so floompy all the time. Start exercising. Take it slow. How about once in January, twice in February, thrice in March and so on so by next December you’ll be dancing around about three times a week. Think about how nice exercising would be someday far in the future.

2) Read one book a week. Really long books can span two weeks but only if they are REALLY long. Reading Little D toddler books do not count, not even when you read them 79 times in a row. (This goal is NOT about making myself read because I LOVE to read. It’s about GIVING MYSELF THE TIME to read. Because currently I never do. It somehow feels like too much of a luxury, like there are toddler clothes I could fold or toys I could be busy tripping over.) This one started out well but then I picked a “real” book (instead of a children’s novel that reads like the wind) for the first week of February and it, ahem, took me all month to read. But it was really good. But took so long to read. Whew! So, read a little (for fun) everyday.

3) Write up reviews of the books you read mainly to make yourself think about them in more words than “Book good. Book not good.” Put them here or on Goodreads, or something. *Snort* Write reviews being all coherent and crap? You silly person. Okay, uh make sure you RATE each book you read on Goodreads.

4) Do Illustration Friday 10 times this year. See, piece of cake, not even once a month. Seriously, you can do this! Seriously, you cannot. Doodle a little if you want to, or whatever.

5) Do Project 365 this year. AND so it actually does something like improve your photo skills, these shots have to be in fully manual mode. Actually taking more photos would be good and I have a plan I will detail later in a separate post. Muhahahahahahahahaha.

6) Knit one sweater for yourself this year. Like a real sweater. So, like, pretend you are going to knit yourself a sweater and you know, if it works out, great.

7)Knit one sweater for Hone this year. Also a real sweater. Oh! You can keep this one since this sweater is almost done. Woo!

8 ) And just so he doesn’t feel left out, knit one sweater for Little D this year. This one can be fake. You can keep this one too. Toddlers are small.

9) Write a novel. (Shhhhh, this one is being snuck in so I won’t really notice it until it’s too late.) Write a novel. What? This resolution is totally doable. What? Shut up.

10) Start cooking more. (No, I won’t quantify it! Neener neener.) So I am doing this already. Weird, since I sorta hate cooking. But I love eating so maybe that is it . . .