Indoor Activities

It’s in the negative numbers outside.  I’m up early(ish) and have done a search for my daughter on knitting patterns.

Yesterday I managed to finish one more gift and make a good start on another one.  The plan today is to finish the gift and move on to another project.  I’m hoping to make a good start on the second project I have in mind but I’ll see how the day goes.

Ken will be watching football all day.  I’ll hibernate in the living room to watch West Wing while I work on crochet projects.  It’s too cold to do anything other than stay inside and keep as warm as possible.

The week will be busy but I only have four days of work this week.  I’ll be off for eleven days and I’m hoping to finish a couple of projects.  My daughter and I will be working on batch cooking for a day or two.  We’ll do video chatting with the girls in Georgia for the holiday and gift exchange.

My hope is to get a few projects done for my daughter while she’s here.  There are projects I want to work on which she needs to be here for so I can make sure things fit appropriately.

During our lovely frigid weather today – crocheting, West Wing, and quiet.  Doesn’t sound like a bad day to me even if the temp outside wasn’t horrible.

Family Weekend

Friday Ken and I escaped from Wisconsin to go visit our middle daughter in Indiana.  Chicago traffic was slow (as expected) but we got there in fairly good time.  Saturday morning, I got a text message from my Georgia daughters saying they were 30 minutes out.  We knew they were coming but Vicki did not.  They wanted to surprise her for her birthday.

Vicki and I were supposed to be going grocery shopping for her.  However, since her sisters were so almost to her, I stalled.  Vicki looked puzzled when a knock sounded on her door.  She was thrilled to see her sisters.  It was Vicki’s birthday yesterday and we all converged on her for the weekend.

We spent Saturday running around together.  Vicki and I did errands while Virginia and Stephanie showered and slept.  We brought home lunch for all.  After sharing lunch, we went shopping and Ken came with us.  Virginia got to see my new car for the first time.  We wandered and enjoyed shoe and bag shopping.  Ken looked for tennis shoes.

Stephanie took some family pictures.  I can’t wait to see them.  We were insane and had them taken outside.  It was cold but fortunately no snow on the ground so easier walking.  She took all sorts of combinations.  It will be interesting to see how they turn out and the silliness of them.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent talking, spending time together.  It was wonderful to all be in the same room.  Virginia talked about her homework assignment.  Stephanie, Vicki, and I crafted.  Vicki and Stephanie made supper.  We watched football.

I worked on a shawl for Vicki.  I had it started six times before I got an actual pattern which would work.  I ripped out more than I crocheted.  Sometimes that’s just how it goes.

Sunday we got up to wish Vicki “Happy Birthday”.  Stephanie made waffles, eggs, and bacon.  It was delicious!  Ken and I left around 10 central time and got home about 4.  It took a little longer than normal because of bad roads and weather.

It was a fun and exhausting weekend.  The Georgia girls stayed till lunch time with Vicki.  The three of them had a good lunch before Virginia and Stephanie headed for home.  They also made it safely home around 11 eastern last night.

Crocheting and Charmed

Last night after Ken went to bed, I watched Charmed and crocheted.  I spent the night watching the season with the Avatars.  I’ve been rewatching this program because it was a good program and I enjoy it.  While I watched, I worked on a wrap for Virginia and a blanket for Stephanie.

The wrap turned out beautifully as you can see.  I spent less than $5 on the materials.  I spent a few hours creating and it is gorgeous.  I hope Virginia likes it.

I’m still working on Stephanie’s.  She wants an eight row border which I got through half of last night.  When I’m done on the computer, I’ll be working on it this afternoon and evening.  I’m hoping she’ll be able to take both with her when she goes home.

This morning I made garbage soup for lunch and I’m hoping I’ll have enough left to take for lunches this week.  Ken went grocery shopping so we’ve been doing this Ibotta app where you can get rebates based on your purchases.  For us it isn’t a lot of money but I’ll take what I can get.  Ken also saved over $8 in coupons.

Ken’s watching football.  I’ll be crocheting and watching Charmed.  It isn’t an exciting life but I’m not complaining.  It will be peaceful and calm and quiet.

Super bowl… I can’t believe this title…

Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like football – with a passion I don’t like it.  I’d be happy if all of the stadiums were sucked into a void somewhere and we never had to deal with another game ever.  So this is not going to be a happy go packers post – if you are looking for that just quit reading…

I’m sick to death of the whole super bowl thing.  I do not want to hear one more word about the damn thing – I know this won’t happen but really does this have to be the focus for two weeks?  Why can’t they play the super bowl the day after the final play off game?   I know why – big bucks.  Okay and maybe logistics.

Our lovely governor is going to the super bowl.  Ken heard that it is going to cost $10,000 for him to go and that was on the taxpayers dime.  I looked on line to see what was up and found that he bought the tickets for him and his family – one article said he was charging it to his campaign.  I question that use of funds. 

In all the articles he made a point of saying that the tax payers only had to pay for the security detail he was required to take.  Well I say with the money crunch, he should be staying home and watching it at the governor’s mansion.  Or he should be reimbursing the state for the cost of that security detail. 

I do want to say that I’m proud to be a Wisconsinite.  I think our fans are well behaved and good natured (for the most part).  I think they show what good sportsmanship is and love the game.  We have good people in our state – yes we have some damn awful ones too but overall… good people. 

Aside from that I have only one thing to say about the super bowl – Is it done yet?

Back to Work

It has been a busy weekend.  Vicki and I watched an entire season of Merlin series.  Now we are caught up to the current season.  I crocheted while I watched for most of the time.  Still not done with the baby blanket.  I worked on that during craft day.  We had a good time.  There were five of us though one went off to watch the Packers play football rather than sit with the crafters. 

Mostly I crocheted but I also helped arrange beads for Vicki’s necklace Beth was making.  The three of us worked on it arranging and spilling beads everywhere.  The little suckers like to bounce and scramble all over the place.  I’m sure we will be finding them in our living room for a while. 

I wrote part of a chapter last night.  It was to the point where I could see the scene.  I worked for a couple of hours and got half the chapter done.  I will be finishing it tonight most likely.  I have to go back and reread a section or two to make sure I have details right.  After that I’ll be finishing the chapter.  I can already see that part in my head. 

I got a surprise in the mail on Saturday.  One of my poems was published in The Unicorn – I’ve updated the credits page to reflect this new publication.  I was thrilled as I wasn’t expecting it.  Rev Paul does a wonderful job on this small publication.  It is always an honor to have one of my pieces included in his publication. 

Now it is back to work today.  It should be an interesting day.  Being morning all I really want to do is go back to sleep but I like my paycheck so I’ll just keep working.

Craft Day

I’m hosting a craft day next weekend.  It should be a lot of fun.  It will be my middle daughter, her godmother, a friend, one of my sisters, and my mom.  We are all going to bring something to do while we sit around and chat. 
This is something I’d love to do more often.  It would be great to have a regular time when women could come together to socialize without there being expectations for the day.  No makeup unless you want to.  No fancy clothes.  Just women coming together to laugh and talk while we work on crafts (or not). 
I plan to work on crocheting.  I know some people are bringing other things like knitting, needlework, or beading. It doesn’t really matter if we are getting together to enjoy the time.
Ken will be in a different room watching the football game.  I don’t know if other men will join him – they are welcome.  Some of the women might wander in there too.  Not all women share my abhorrence for football. 
I’m looking forward to it and hope that everyone has a good time…