Oh, dear

Well........ I totaled my car along with someone else's. Yes, the kids were in the car with me. Yes, we were all wearing our seat belts. Yes, we are all fine, not hurt at all. No, there was no one in the other car. What, you say? How can that be. Well, Catie the wunderkind driver HIT A PARKED CAR! Don't ask me how I did it. I have been recounting the tale to multiple cops, multiple insurance people, and multiple neighbors and friends. Let's just say, I was taking my time, sipping my decaf, sugar free, non-fat vanilla latte (venti size, in case you were wondering).... girls talking me ear off, and then WHAMMY! I was at a complete stop with the crunch you see here. Yes, I have a ticket and a court date.

5 cop cars showed up, an ambulance, AND a ladder truck. Yeesh. I was crying like the girl I am. Andy showed up and (I think I am married to the most capable man in America) proceeded to pull off the hanging parts of my car, clean up glass, and generally do what he does best.... getting the job done! He wasn't even mad at me, yet.

The good news is that Andy got kind of whigged out about money, but then, after realizing that he was just gonna have to trust God to provide our needs...... he saw that this could be an opportunity for faith, not fear. He hasn't even been staying up all night worrying. We'll see if this lasts.

The insurance guy tells me that we are $30 shy of a total. Car got towed to Hart, yes JH, my red van is coming for a visit. I know y'all will take good care of her, probably to the junk yard after you autopsy her first.

So, I am home bound with the kids. We are doing school, house work and I am spinning a bunch in the driveway that has nothing in it. So, the kids have a great place to razor and ride their bikes. I am lonely, anyone for a knit date? I'll feed you, I promise!

I am back to knitting like a fiend on Andy's Ecowool, raglan in a 2x2 rib. BORING! I got sleeves attached and am proceeding to finish it.. Oh yeah, it is knit in the round.

So, that is why I have been so quiet. I am alive, well, and doing school. catie

School has begun. Lots of Language Arts and a little Math. A side order of Play-Doh.

Alas, blogging isn't the only thing that has been neglected. Minstrel has had no attention lately. Notice all the bags and boxes around her! More school.

Math manipulatives. Mia is getting ready for subtraction and double digit adding. Maddy is just beginning addition. MY manipulatives, ie: knitting needles, are neglected as well

I did get to see Gina at Mosaic on Saturday.



















Good mindless knitting. Perfect for school. I can sit down, give an assignment, and attempt to do a little garter stitch. This is going to be the Ramblin Rows afghan. The last afghan I knit was in the early 90's and was a mauve/rose color. Gross. I never did finish the thing. It even went to China with me when I taught English there. Acrylic.

Now I can check item # 223 off my list of to-do today. Gotta fly! c

Doll Salad! Yep, we are back in the saddle of school again! I am not so sure if this is a good thing or not. Now that I have a 2nd and 1st grader, things are getting serious, if you know what I mean. Today we got off on the right foot at least. Mommy is pretty 'filled up' because Daddy was home ALL DAY yesterday. I haven't had that luxury in 3 weeks. He's been doing the bank and then 4-5 hours/night painting and all day Saturdays.

So far we have:

• had breakfast
• got dressed
• cleaned room
• made beds
• cleaned kitchen
• did rigorous language arts workout with dd#1
• attempted addition with dd#2
• put Chicken Cacciatore in crockpot but substituted beer for white wine as I had DRANK it all, ha ha ha ha
• took pix of recent activities in my secret knitting life
• posting to blogger, as we speak!

Whew! I am bushed already. Now I just have to feed kiddoes lunch and run to the grocery store, again, as I fed a painting crew on Saturday and they ate me out of house and home. Gotta hit the library too. Pick up books on Egypt as this year we are adding history to our school year.

Here is an almost FO. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. I used up bits and pieces of my handspun. Way cool. This is for my sil, Miriam. Her husband has done 2 tours in Iraq and is finally out of the Marines. They are prego with #4 and are so young. Not even 30.

Bella. The 1st part of her is done. Now I am knitting the 2nd border.

2nd border of Bella.

Nothing witty, pithy, or amusing or deep today. Just a quick update on life and knitting. Adios folks, catie

6 reasons I hate about being Me

1st of all: It's hotter than CRAP in my house. Downstairs with the a/c unit in the dining room, it is ABOVE 80 degrees where the computer is right now. Upstairs, the last time I checked at 10 am, it was 81 degrees. When I went to bed last night, it was 89 degrees upstairs and a frigid 79 when I woke up (due to the exhaust fan that gets deployed at bedtime).

2nd of all: I am a 2nd job widow right now. I have been whiny and cranky due to the heat, kids, lack of a break, and a fast from my best buddy, Andy. My husband. He is a FABULOUS worker. Maybe a little too fabulous as I have hardly seen him in 3 weeks. Sallee, Yes that was not a figment of my imagination, you saw him last night at Ukrops on the ONE night I managed to wheedle him to stay home. Oh..... He paints houses. And right now, we are up to our eyeballs in jobs.

3rdly: My ding bat brother-in-law has been using this AOL account at all hours of the day for hours on end. IE: Catie gets absolutely NO ONLINE TIME!

4thly: After a 3 week school hiatus, we are back in school. A new 2nd grader and a 1st grader, and a dissatisfied 3yo who really wants some attention for himself.... so, we have begun "preschool." That is basically a big letter 'A' on a large piece of construction paper and a draw a few things that start with 'A' and a snack with the letter 'A'.

5thly: My knitting is going terrible. I have words, words that are most undignified that I would use, but won't (due to the delicate constitution of some other knitters ears/eyes that are more kind, gracious, ladylike than myself). I have ripped out Zimmerman's Surprise Baby Jacket more times than I can count. Of course, me being who I am, never do anything the easy way. I HAVE to use handspun. Not because of any reason other than my pride! Oh yeah, I forgot to say this. I actually (hold on folks, this is really a horror moment), by accident, CUT A HOLE IN BELLA WHEN I WAS TRIMMING AN END TO A NEW BALL OF YARN.

6thly: I am shopping deprived. OK. So I have a list of things I desperately want.

1. Light, cordless vacuum. This is for light, daily cleaning of the hard wood floors.
2. Pair of Birkenstock to wear with my hand knit socks, which are few and far between as I have found myself not REALLY a sock knitter.
3. New book. Romantic Hand Knits. This should light up our married life a bit!
4. I Pod. Speaks for itself.

*sigh* I think me and the kids are going to B&N for the book!

So, gentle readers, these are my reasons, er, excuses for not posting lately. No time to post a picture, sorry, nothing to show...

That said, I am now going to go in the back yard and eat worms.

Life has settled down quite a bit! Kids went to Grandma's house yesterday and I spun the rest of Grandma's Garden ALL DAY LONG!!! Still plying it up, but should be done after I finish this entry. BTW, Grandma's Garden is the EXACT color of this dragon fly. Isn't that cool! It isn't often you see turquoise in nature, at least, here in VA. Only God could make a color that original!

My eldest dd has been capturing these dragon flies. It is kind of fun to look at them up close. Their wings are so delicate it is amazing that they can fly.
As for me, besides spinning, I have been figuring out what to do with the tomatoes that are coming in. I have put up 6 quarts in the freezer so far. I am lazy and so I don't peel the skins off. Just a quick wash and then a quick dice. Sock some salt to them, put them into Mason jars and away to the freezer we go.

Here we have some of the grape tomatoes. They are about half the sides of Roma's or paste tomatoes. I found a quick method for drying them in the oven. I am fantasizing about my Italian Meatloaf recipe that has sun dried tomatoes in them. Next I am going to figure out how to preserve my fresh basil. I am thinking of buzzing it up in the food processor with some olive oil and freezing it in ice cube trays. Imagine one of those being dropped into a stew this winter!


I leave you with this picture that Andy took at the beach a couple of weeks ago. I gotta get back to cleaning house and spinning. Oh yeah, gotta feed my kids some lunch. Y'all have a great day and thanks for stopping by. Catie