nothing new to report

Today Hector looked under the crawl space to see if we had an unwelcome visitor. We couldn't see any signs of life or death and it didn't smell of skunk so he just sealed it up tight. We figured that if there was a skunk underneath then it should smell too like the house and also the skunky smell only lasted for the morning and it didn't return. You know like when you drive past a dead skunk on the road and it smells for days.

The Kings had an early afternoon game which we watched on TV. It was a close score through the whole game and had to go into overtime then eventually a shootout which the Kings won!! Yeah. We kept turning in to see the Packers game and they were down 14-0 which changed into a big win for the Packers. Kat is super hyped up since they're her team.

It's funny how this week and I had 2 requests for a knitted item. Becky my SIL asked for a bracelet bag and Kat asked for a felted doggie coat. The purse was no problem but the dog one might involve some math and calculations. It doesn't help that Bobbie is a large Rottweiler/shepherd mix so I might have to start with a small prototype for Kat's little Pomeranian (sp?) Cece since she is just a wee thing.

Hector is on call tonight so it's just me and the kidlets...I better get used to it because Hector is getting all the details completed on his 5th (?) annual Tahoe snow trip. There should be plenty of snow by the time they head up there in late February.

Unwelcome Guest

This morning when I woke up and went through my normal routine. Josh came in and we went into his room where his dresser is and I smelled a skunky odor. As we went through our daily rituals, I kept smelling that skunk odor. Today is trash day and I went outside to bring the trash out to the curb and I didn't smell anything that suggested that a skunk was by our house last night. We have a marsh area about 3 blocks from our house so we occasionally see skunks, opossums and raccoons roaming around.
Well I took the Tyler to school and came back to our stinky house. There is an opening to the crawl space under the house and recently it was detached so I propped the hose reel unit against it not thinking anything of it that maybe something was in there. A couple of days ago I was in the backyard chopping wood (sounds funny, huh?) for my fireplace and the grate was dislodged a bit again. I thought with the recent storms the wind might have blown the hose thingy a bit. But then I called Hector if he noticed the smell this morning and he said yes. Plus he heard some scratching noise while in the computer room that sounded like it was in the walls. Great, we most likely have a skunk trapped under the house! I used a flashlight at the opening to peek in and see if I could see the critter. Of course, I couldn't since I didn't actually go in there because I don't want to be sprayed and it's dark and dirty down there. Maybe I can lure it out with some food and then Hector can fasten the grate on securely so we won't have this happen again.

Wow

It took me a while but I'm getting more pictures uploaded. Knitting has taken over all my free time and now I've put knitting aside briefly to update. The above pic is a bracelet purse that I knit about 4 of these purses for Christmas to put gift cards in them for girls & women. I bought several size bangle bracelets which you can wear as a bracelet purse or just carry. It's the perfect size for parties or for occasions when you just need a purse to carry the bare essentials. This particular purse is the most outrageous from the bunch with the furry yarn. It was lots of fun to do and I plan to make one for myself.

Here is Kat and her friend Brandon at Kiraku Saturday night before the hockey game. If you follow this blog or really know her, Kat's natural hair color is brown and for the last year or two she switched to blond. Well, she shows up at my house with a VERY VIBRANT shade of red which hovers on the border of fuschia. Kat requested the red that Gillian Anderson has on X-Files and this is what she got. After my initial shock, it is a pretty color but we're waiting for the color to fade just a tad. ;-)

hey

I am outside in this chilly weather watching Ty ride his bike. We (mostly me) decided to get more active. He can do his homework later and the hour in between Josh's bus will be spent doing some physical activity. The trick is to find the activity that we both enjoy. I was active in doing our massive loads of laundry which involves carrying several loads up & down the stairs to the garage then folding most of it. All of our socks are in one basket waiting to be sorted. Well Tyler is done for now after 20 minutes of riding. Baby steps.

This is a test

I am attempting to blog from my ipod. So far so good and it is slow going trying to type.

TGIF

Since the holidays, I've lost track of which day it is but not we're back in sync as we get ready for winter break to end and school to start! Tyler is slightly bummed that he has to go back to school but he misses his friends. It'll be nice to have the kids out of the house soon.

Yesterday Hector had the day off and there is a big storm rolling in (supposedly) so I thought we could head to the beach and see if there were any big waves. The sky was overcast but rain never appeared at all. The boys had a blast running around in the sand and playing with their Cosmic Catch while I tried to take pictures. Hopefully I'll upload those later today if I'm lucky. The waves weren't any bigger than usual and a handful of surfers were out trying to catch a ride. Oh well.

The house next door For Sale/Lease is now officially occupied. We met the couple a few days ago after they moved in. They are renting for now to see how the school district works for them but they seem nice. This house had been on the market for a while mostly because of the price but leasing seemed to be a good option for both parties. We shall see how that goes. It's not even 9am and some kid is already in the backyard yelling and playing basketball.

I definitely need to hit the grocery store today and stock up on food. For some reason Tyler is very excited about this errand so go figure. I had to hustle out of bed at 8am because I heard the trash truck rumbling outside and drag the containers out to the curb. I thought it was the recycling truck but no it was trash which is a bummer because I didn't have a chance to empty our trashcans inside the house! Grrrrr.

Tonight is my very first Laker game. I will be going with my SIL Lupe and we're going to have a fun girls night out. I don't know what to expect but it probably won't be as cold as a hockey game. The seats are in the same section as our hockey tickets but 4 rows closer to the action. It'll be fun to try to spot the celebrities since more attend basketball games.

If I have time I'm going to buy some more K-cups for my Keurig single cup coffee maker. Kat gave me a gift card so I used it to buy the coffee maker. I used to get my caffeine from sodas but that didn't seem to cut it anymore and with the colder weather, cold sodas weren't helping stay warm. I didn't need more than a cup so this machine seemed the best option for me. It came with an 18 cup starter variety pack which I've enjoyed all the ones I had so far. I'm happy that it has worked out well for me and Josh even asks for his hot chocolate too.

I used my Borders gift card to buy another knitting book (shocking, isn't it?) and it's about wraps. It is a little ambitious for me but one day I will gather up enough really nice yarn and knit one for myself. By that time, the styles will be obsolete but who cares? There are lots of cute patterns that could stand the test of fashion time (I think) that look just a tad different than a standard poncho or wrap. Of course, I still need to knit that second sock still while I'm currently knitting a baby sweater. More procrastination!

This weekend will be pretty busy. Another hockey game Saturday night and this time Kat & Brandon will be joining us too. We plan to have a nice dinner at Kiraku and head out to the game. Sunday is dinner with my aunt and her family. I think we will be having sukiyaki where we cook everything in a broth at the table. Should be lots of fun....gotta go now.

A New Year

Happy New Year!!!
We spent a quiet evening at home with the kids. He-man and She-ra came over earlier to allow She-ra and I to run to the mall while He-man watched my kids play video games. I spent some major time at Barnes and Noble trying to find a certain sock knitting book but I couldn't find it on the shelves. I hate that...I had check online to see if that store had it and they said it was in stock. Grrr. Oh well, I still managed to find a nice reference guide and a book on knitted gifts. It should come in really handy.

We also went to Joann's where I picked up some more red yarn for a project that I keep getting sidetracked on because I need a lot of concentration while knitting it and that is just not possible most of the time. :) She-ra picked out some purple yarn so I can knit her little sis a hat but I ran out late last night so I want to head out and pick up one more skein today.

I've been busy at itunes scouring that site for something to add to my collection. And here is what I bought:

1. 1234 - Feist. You probably know this song from the itunes commercial but it's very catchy.
2. The Pretender - Foo Fighters. This song just rocks!
3. Life in Cartoon Motion - MIKA. I bought the entire CD...so far I like Grace Kelly and have to listen to it a few more times to get the feel for it but has kinda Queen/70's vibe to it.
4. Version - Mark Ronson. His version of some songs like Britney Spears and Coldplay.
5. Radikal Techno 6. A collection of techno songs....gotta have my techno!
6. The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese - Richard Cheese. Very funny guy who puts his lounge singer spin on some popular hits like Nirvana, Radiohead, U2 and The Clash.
7. Chicago - I loved this movie when it first came out so I had to have it and it was only $9.99!
8. Rat Race - I remember renting this movie because Kat told me it was hilarious and it was. So I got it at the $9.99 bargain bin too.

Boy I think that was enough shopping at itunes. I still have about $50 for future purchases.

Oh, back to our new year's eve night...Hector brought some Woody's BBQ for dinner which is always awesome. Yum...plus we have plenty of leftovers for the week. He-man and She-ra pooped out after dinner and went home around 10:30pm. Earlier in the day, Hector's Zelda game got erased so he had to start over again. It was cute that both Hector and Tyler were playing side by side and helping each other out when they got stuck. Josh helped me with Guitar Hero by wearing one of our extra PS2 guitars while I played the latest game on the Wii. Lots of fun. By 11pm, Josh had fallen asleep on the sofa but Tyler had no problems staying up until midnight.

At midnight Tyler and Hector went out to join the other neighbors in lighting fireworks to celebrate and then we went to bed. Yep, it was another normal night at our house. :)