April

What is up with this weather?!  Oye - one day it's 80 and the next it's 40.  I just want the weather to make up it's mind.  

We've had a lot of drama lately.  M&D are moving down.  They really enjoyed their month here in February.  They were back last week to check out Wilmington and decided the F-V area is where they want to be.  They want to open up a sewing/fabric shop here in town.  We really need one, so it would be great.  It's a lot of stress.

Also, my friend J. has been very sick.  She's got 3 kids and home-schools them, so it's a lot of stress.  Her DH works full-time, so it's a lot for her to do all on her own.  She had surgery to remove her gall bladder a couple weeks ago and seems to be much better.  I actually did knit her a prayer shawl - it was actually one that I resurrected from my knitting basket.  It originally was going to be for Erica, who passed away last year.  I couldn't bring myself to frog it and it's been with me ever since.  It just felt good to knit it again, this time for J. with all my prayers for her and her family.  The surgery was a success and we're so happy for her.

Unfortunately, J.'s DH R. lost his job officially today.  He knew on Friday that he was going to be laid off today.  How terrible.  Today he went in, signed his separation agreement and then the family headed off to visit family in GA.  It's good that they can get away and hopefully have some time to regroup.  I'm so sad for them.  They are such good people, caring, sweet, hard working... it's hard to see this happen to someone so close.  I know others that have been laid off, but none that have been so close to us and none that have had kids.  

Please pray for them - I worry about the tough times they have ahead.

Fun Pictures!

This weekend we visited Imagination Station in Wilson, and they have a kaleidoscope where one person looks in each end. It was really fun!

Slippers!

I've wanted to knit myself slippers for months, but just haven't had the time. It's getting cold again here in NC, and I decided tonight I need slippers. Easy pattern, 3 hours of knitting, and my feet are warm tonight!

The Yarn Harlot

I admit I'm a little slow. I'm just now reading "Yarn Harlot: the secret life of a knitter" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. From 2005.

I have loved this book from the start. First, I'm a mom and I love that the chapters are short and stand alone. That is fantastic. It means I can actually read it and not forget things (wait -that makes me sound like I'm old - really I'm not old!). Second, this woman is a riot. I've known this for years since I read her blog, and this book is some of her best stuff. Stephanie is so normal. She's a mom, she knits, she battles squirrels... I can identify with her life and she makes me feel like I'm more normal. Bonus!

And now for my favorite chapter of her book - Parents and Knitters. She writes "The top ten ways why being a parent is like being a knitter". And while I enjoy the entire chapter my favorite today is "3. Both knitting and parenting are more pleasant if you have the occasional glass of wine, but go right down the drain if you start up with a lot of tequila or shooters." I feel like she actually knows me - or my kids - or my knitting.

Now I have to go get all her books from the library!

Free-range knitter: The yarn harlot writes again
Things I Learned From Knitting Whether I Wanted To or Not
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting
Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks
At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much
Knitlit Too edited by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf

Another New Post! Thank You!

Another post!!! I got "Thank You" award from Sabrina of My Little Slice of Pie. I was thanked and now I am supposed to thank 10 other bloggers. They in turn thank ten others and link back to me - so exciting! Sabrina's blog is fantastic - especially her recipes! She has a recipe for just about everything - and they're all the home-made type that I aspire to make. And she's in my knitting group and she goes to my gym (where as I don't actually go to my gym, but I think about it every month when I see the money go out of my checking account). You inspire me!

Now to thank 10 others!
1. Kate of GooGooGoingsOn
2. Ellen of Purl Diva
3. Laurie of Crazy Aunt Purl
4. Maya of the Gamble Life
5. Amy of Boogie Knits
6. Laurie of Punk Rock HR
7. Ginny and the other thread-spinners at 30 threads
8. Kelly of Yarn Rambles
9. Franklin of Panopticon
10. Wendy of Knit and Tonic

Love you all!!!

Busy Busy!

I know it's been just over a month since I last posted and for the record I'm still alive. I've been so busy since returning from Maine, then I got sick, and then my parents arrived - it's been crazy!

Speaking of crazy - NC weather is crazy. In mid-January my kids got two days off from school for 6 inches of snow! Wow 6 whole inches! You can see how thrilled they are....

Well, actually they did have fun... but two days off for this much snow?!? really now??

Then this past weekend it was in the 70s. GORGEOUS!!!! We spent Sunday at the beach with my parents. (yes they're making "sand angels" - it's February!)

The knitting is going fabulous as well - I've finished a few more gifts and done some work for a friend. Now I'm working on my super easy (read super boring to knit) raglan wrap sweater. It's going to so cute when I'm done... it's just horribly boring to knit. I've had to throw in a few lace projects here and there just to keep interested. But again - it will be very nice when done... very soft and flattering (I hope!)

And my new business is going well. I'm trying to get on top of that as well, but with everything else I worry I'm not putting enough effort into it. Hopefully over the next week or so I can get back to it - there's only so much time in a week!

2009

Ok - so I'm quite possibly the last person to blog about what they want out of 2009. I had a few things going against me... recovering from knitting a zillion (22) gifts for people for Christmas, traveling to the frozen tundra known as Maine then hitting a damn ice patch here in NC almost killing us, and then of course my son's 7th birthday. But now at 11:30 at night before I have to go back to work I'm ready to go!

2009 needs a theme - something to keep me focused on my goals. A few years ago my theme was "Simplify", then there was "the year of Jen", now I think I'll go with "spend and eat nothing" given my current money and pants situation.

Actually, I'm going with "Breathe". While this may seem odd, it makes a lot of sense in my life. First, my life is insane. In the last year, we've given up our 4 cats (tragic), moved from Maine to North Carolina, and completely reinvented our lives. I'm trying to keep everything together and dammit, that's hard to do. So "breathe" is a good mantra for when I'm on the verge of losing my mind.

Second, I'm determined to start running again and doing races. So breathing is important there as well. Third, I'm getting sick of this topic, so lets move on....

My resolutions!

1. Spend more time focused on my kids and husband
2. Lose weight (like you didn't see that coming)
3. Better balance between work/family/life
4. Get back into running and going to the gym
5. Build my businesses, both Etsy and Arbonne

Now most people would say that these goals work against each other, but I think I've found ways to meld them together. For example, spinning class with DH is both time spent focused on him and gets my ass to the gym - hello resolutions 1, 2, 3, and 4!

So here's to 2009! I have hope for a happy, calm, fun year!