A sock finished

This is a photo of a friend, Cindy.  She is holding her FIRST SOCK!!!!  I am really excited for her.  We've been working on this sock for about two months.  It is a proud moment.  I am really excited for her and believe we got another hooked.  Now she needs to finish the second one to complete the pair.  These are going to her grandson. 

You can see the pride in her eyes!

Writing

Writing seems to be something I do a lot.  I write in my journal, really my planner, stuff I want to remember.  I add funny little cartoons I see on facebook or on the web.  Things that strike my fancy .  Things that make me laugh.  Things that make me think.  I write about appointments, things I need to do, people I want to remember, and, most importantly  I write about papers I have due.

At work I write up procedures.  How to do all the things that I do.  You would think this is pretty intuitive, but apparently not.  I think the things I do are pretty blah, but they aren't.  People inside my building don't know all the things I do or how they need to be done.  I find it pretty amazing, but it is true.

I write for my classes.  I am always writing a paper, fretting over writing a paper, worrying over the grade I am going to get on a paper, considering how I could have done a paper better, or re-writing a paper.  Occasionally, I get to bask in the glow of having a finished paper turned in.  That usually lasts about a day.  Not much time at all.

So now I am embarquing on a new quest.  I have joined NaNoWriMo.  What is that you ask?  Good question.  November is National Novel Writing Month.  You try to write a book (in my case, a collection of short stories) in a month.  No editing (whew!  That takes off a lot of pressure), just writing.  Writing 1600 words a day.  I know, some people look at that and think OMG That's a LOT!  But really it isn't.  So far, this work has taken me about 10 minutes and I have three hundred words.  About an hour a day of complete writing will get me close to 1600 words a day.  No sweat.

So what will I be writing on?  I don't know... what ever comes to mind.  No editing and no path.  It should be interesting.

The end of summer

Well, the end of the summer is near and there has been so much go on.  We've had our county fair and Baylor did really well.  We got to enjoy two weeks with Brandon Ingerman - Ethan's best friend and a young man I am proud to know.  I am still working on Camp Loopy projects and going through a lot of yarn without getting anything done.

County Fair

 As I said, Baylor did really well, bringing home 4 blue rosettes - one for his grass hay, one for his alfalfa hay and two for his steer.  He won his class in both the FFA show on Wednesday and the Clark County Cattle Producers on Thursday.  It was the best he's ever done.

We missed one of our integral parts of our fair in the person of Donna Fry.  She was in Alabama at her daughter's house and didn't come to the fair.  We really missed her.  I learned a lot about the paperwork, though.

John Nixon was also highly missed and well as my mom.  It's amazing how you always think that certain people will always be at the fair.  When they aren't, it's very sad.



Brandon Ingerman

It's always great when Brandon is home on leave.  He is in the army and we worry about him when he's gone. He's a great young man with a wonderful sense of humor.  I love that he was home during the fair this time.  We got him a fair pass so he could come and go as he pleased, which was perfect.  The best part is that everyone he wanted to see was at the fair, so he only had to go to the fair and see everyone. 

Camp Loopy

I've been working on Camp Loopy projects and gotten exactly 0 done.  I am still working on them, though. 

Lastly, my poor little wubbie broke his leg earlier this week.  We aren't real sure how it happened, just that it did.  He had a plate put in and is walking on it OK.  Hopefully, he'll heal up well and be good as new in no time.

Live from home

Presenting the first post from my home!  Yep, that's right, I bought a laptop and finally joined the 21st century.  I bought an HP.  It's pretty good, has lots of storage and Beats audio.  It takes me a few minutes to get used to the straight keyboard after using the ergo one all day, but I found I am addicted to the internet and am not getting much done.

I am making myself do something else - anything else- for a while before I allow myself to get on again.  I need to get away from a computer screen occasionally.  But there is just so much cool stuff out there, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be looked at.

Baylor's Party

Baylor's grad party was wonderful.  There must have been 200 people that showed up to enjoy the day with him.  Even though it was hot, it was still a lot of fun.  The party officially ended at 7, but there were people enjoying themselves until 10.  Baylor was going to Matt's party, but never made it to that party.  I think B had a great time even though he kept saying he didn't want a party.

Heat

It has been so hot this month.  June was down 5 inches for rainfall, yet we had about 10 days over 90.  This is crazy.  July came in at 90's and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon.  I ache all over and I  don't know if its because of the heat or my age. 

Procrastination

That was the subject of the Yarn Harlot's post today.  How the charming, handsome beast will raise his head just when you need to get stuff done and tell you: "It will be alright, sit down and watch a movie." "you can get this done in no time, no need to go through those photos now."

Yes, the charming beast has been purring in my ear as well.  It's only 5 days until Baylor's grad party, one until his birthday.  What have I got done?  Well, as of lunch today, I got photos chosen (some need to be printed yet, but I'll do that tonight), and table coverings purchased.  What needs done?  A long, long list of stuff:

1. Get photo boards ready
2. Purchase drinks/ chips
3. Prepare dishes and take them to the shop
4. What other decorations do you need?
5. Order a birthday cake for Baylor

I'm sure there is a lot more, but all I can think is that I really want to go home and knit or read for the next 6 hours.  Add to that the 4H meeting tonight at the flower beds and Knit Night on Wednesday or Thursday and I am pretty busy.  I know I'll get it all done, just the when of it all.

My Wingspan scarf is coming out nicely.  If one the camera would play nice with this computer, I would post a photo or two.  I've come to the conclusion that I will not finish Baylor's hat by his grad party, but can still have it done in a timely fashion, hopefully before fair.  That's my next deadline.

Mother's Day

I know it's the day after Mother's Day.  But there are some really amazing women in my circle of friends that deserve a bit of a shout out.

To my knit night friends:  What would I do without you?  We laugh and cry together.  We support each other, not just in our fiber endeavors, but in our life endeavors.  We've only been together for two years, yet it's like we've always known each other.  We encourage each other to push our limitations to see what we can accomplish.  We show each other our favorite (yarn, patterns, recipes, etc.).  You are the sisters of my heart that I love to spend time with.  I am so glad to have met you and have you with this bumpy ride. 

To my church friends: You are my spiritual life line, helping me find my way through the darkness that can sometimes come.  Thank you for your friendship and support during our past few months.

To my sisters: What can I say?  We are as different as night and day, as alike as monarch butterflies.  We disagree, and live on opposite sides of any issue.  Just watch one of us bring up an issue, and you'll find at least one other that disagrees.  Yet, we agree to respect the other's opinion.   We've grown up together and have so much history, stories to tell our children and grandchildren.  Thank goodness for all these forms of electronic communication, so we can talk all the time.

To my friends:  You know who you are, the wonderful women I've met over the years through all the other organizations we've been involved with - 4H, FFA, sports, just our past histories together.  All the times we've laughed and cryed together.

To my daughters: Yes, some of you reading this will be surprised to know I have multiple daughters.  No, I only gave birth to one, but these are all young women who are daughters none the less.  I've watched you grow into these amazing women who are interesting and intelligent, beautiful and strong.  Never underestimate yourself.

All of these women are strong, independent, and have made me the woman I am today.  I am so fortunate to know these women.

New Beginnings

I'm done with my exam, done with my project, done for the summer.  It's time to get in some R&R and to have a relaxing summer.  YEAH!

So, here is the plan for the summer.  Ethan will be home in two, yes count them two days!  I am so excited.  Check this out.  He ran at Allegheny this past weekend.  They had 20 posters of participants from different schools. Ethan was one of them.  It's a cool poster.

Baylor will be done in 7 days.  YEAH! He has Farm Day on Friday, so he's not counting Friday.  Saturday is the NE Band Dodgeball Tournament and he has a team together.  Ethan is on it.  Now if Brandon was home, the team would be unstoppable!  They are calling themselves the White Stallions.

Commencement is coming up and I need to get announcements addressed this weekend.  I have a list that I am having Steve and Baylor check, just to be sure I catch everyone.  I can't believe it's coming up so fast.