I'm trying to sleep

I can relate!

Latest TV Obsession

I have a secret.




Okay, it's not really a secret.... more like a guilty pleasure....but I don't feel guilty about it.
I like Korean soap operas. For the record, I am not Korean.

I don't remember how we stumbled upon this channel but most likely Hector was channel surfing and came upon Chilwoo the Mighty. Although the TV listed it as Formidable Rivals. Set in the feudal era, we watched some young boys affected by the war/conflict then onto adult life. It was quite fascinating..so much that we stuck around to the end just to find out how it would all turn out. Yes, 19 episodes later we reach the final one....and for some reason the DVR doesn't record it. Booo! I found out later that the listing changed although it was shown at the same time so the DVR didn't recognize it. I still have to watch the final episode on youtube.

Then it was on to the next one Matchmaker's Lover. This was different; set in present time. We spent another 16 episodes on that one. The next one we skipped because it didn't interest us. Something about television behind the scenes stuff.

This is the current one now...I am up to the 4th episode out of 24 and I like this one. It is way too complicated to explain but it's about the lives of rich spoiled kids in high school. If you want to read more about it.... Boys Over Flower. I get 2 episodes a week so it's a lot of fun although I have to read subtitles.

Coraline

On Sunday, we took the kids to see Coraline 3-D before it disappears from the theaters. The kids seemed to like it even though it has a creepy vibe to it that I sensed from the commercials. It was really well done and the 3-D was nicely done. Not too much or too little but just right.

The funny part is when the 2 sisters come out on stage in the other world. One sister is dressed as a mermaid and a child behind us exclaims, " She's almost naked!" The comment became funnier because the 2nd sister comes out wearing pasties and bikini bottom and we're like. "WHOA!" If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.

No holiday on Monday which bummed me and kids out. Boo....

Now on to laundry.

Felted Purse

I finished this great bag about a week ago. It was a fast project and I enjoyed it very much. So far I've been very good with using the stash yarn. I think I will call this purse the Snowball purse. Wasn't that the name of those weird pink blob cakes with coconut sprinkled on the outside with chocolate cake inside? From Hostess or something like that? Thats what the color combo reminds me of. I forgot to take before pictures because it's kinda cool to see how big and floppy it is then throw it in the washer which then shrinks and felts to this.

It's a good size purse. About 7 inches tall and 10 inches wide.

I still have some more yarn is more colors so I see another one in my future. :)

Sharing

Today I am going to share with all of cyber space my recipe for the Bestest Lemonade in the Whole World. I believe it to the bottom of my heart. My friend She-ra once asked me for the recipe and I laughed. What? It's lemon juice, sugar and water. Nothing more than that. But no, there are ratios and measures according to her when she handed me the recipe for her lemonade. The juice of 2 lemons, x amount of sugar and water. 2 Lemons??? That is absurd! I squeeze about 8-10 lemons for a half gallon pitcher.

She-ra has a beautiful old lemon tree just overloaded with lemons for the taking. I just collected 3 bags full the other week. I squeeze the juice out and put it in a container. Reminder: warn people which container has lemonade and which one has pure lemon juice!!! Very important. I've 2 occasions where the unsuspecting person took a big swallow of lemon juice. Ugh, my teeth ache at the thought.

Okay, so here is the recipe...remember you got it from me!

12 oz. lemon juice (fresh is the best)
~ approx. 1 1/3 cup sugar (start at 1 cup and then add the 1/3 cup to taste)
add water to make 1/2 gallon (64 oz)

You're welcome! Now I have to make some lemonade because Tyler and Hector guzzle it down.

west end girls

Another group that I love love love. The Pet Shop Boys have been around for ages and they're still making music. I have all their albums. I finally got tickets last year (?) because they rarely tour and a few days before the concert, they cancelled. Boo. Never rescheduled. Double boo.

Oh well, I have plenty of their music to keep to going.

ooops

The other day on Headline News the anchor read a story on how a woman lost her engagement or wedding ring in the snow and was digging around for it when a firetruck stopped to help her out. The firefighters found her ring and she rewarded them with snakes ( steaks). That's how she read it.. so Hector and I heard her say snakes which made us to a double take then she corrected herself.

So that brings me to this little clip....

Creative Process

It might seem that I knit a lot but what you don't see is the numerous attempts at starting a project. Take this weekend for example, we pretty much had a free weekend except for doing our taxes so I thought I'd have plenty of time to work on a project or 2 (depending on my mood or attention span). I worked on some socks..the pair that originally started as toe-up socks, then ripped out to begin some Monkey socks then ripped out again because I didn't like how the yarn felt. Sounds kinda weird plus I didn't like they looked. So I spend loads of time browsing my books, magazines etc to find the 'right' project. I look online to see how the same yarn is used by other people to get some insight. Nothing. Okay I did start a scarf with the same yarn and I had to start it at least 3 times. I first cast on the wrong # of stitches and by the 3rd row wondered why the pattern wasn't working. Then I tried again with the right # of stitches but somehow had too many by the 3rd row. Repeat a few more times.

Then started same scarf project with a completely different yarn and so far about 3 inches done and I'm okay with it. And that was just one of my adventures.

I tried starting a baby sweater for baby D and got about 4 inches done before giving up & ripping it out. Just not feeling it. I tried a baby hat ...same situation.

To sum up, I didn't accomplish much this weekend except I didn't start anything worth working on. I tried but I've got nothing. Today is scarf day which I suppose it's fine but scarves are soooo long and that can get tiring. I might have to come up with another back-up project soon so I can switch between them. Very soon.

Happy Valentine's Day

I heard this song on my iPod today and it reminded me of how much I love it (and Eurythmics).

Here is a link to one of my favorite songs by Eurythmics.

Love is a Stranger.

Gotta have some love today!

Happy Friday

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the fun things in life!




I should try this some day and see what my kids come up with.

Future Illustrator

Tyler brought back this movie poster-type drawing he made. It's very funny and entertaining. Be sure to note that this is rated A for Action and the material may be too funny for adults.

Monkey See, Monkey Socks

My Monkey Socks are finished! I'm extra excited because they fit perfectly too. Bonus!

Very warm and comfy.

Even Hector was impressed mostly because I waved these under his face all weekend admiring my handiwork. He stated that these were cool because of the lace pattern. Aw what a nice guy. Hector puts up with all my nonsense and vice versa!

My toe-up socks were ripped out and I cast on for more Monkey Socks! I wanted to see how they will turn out with self-striping yarn.

On a Roll

Now that our ski trips are over (for now) we can settle back to our normal lives. Kings hockey has become very exciting since the Western conference is extremely tight. The Kings along with all the other teams have shot at the playoffs and there is still 30 games to go. Lately the Kings have been doing really well on the road against some tough teams. I'm happy that they will return home on Thursday so I can see a game up close. Isn't weird that I'm hockey-obsessed now? :)



I'm getting some knitting done. I have about 3 or 4 projects on the needles right now which I rotate depending on my mood. The socks that I started around New Years are finally done. These are the first socks that I've knit for Tyler. They are plain knit socks in KnitPicks Essential yarn. The yarn is soft, easy to work and hopefully durable.

The other projects I'm working on are

1. Monkey Socks. I'm using Wildfoote yarn in pinks, white and yellow. At first I thought these might be too small for me but I managed to get it on. I am nearing the toe so maybe by tomorrow I'll have pictures of the completed socks. I love this pattern so you 'll be seeing more of these this year.
2. Toe-Up socks. The socks I knit are top down meaning I start at the cuff and continue down to the toe. This time I am knitting the oppposite direction which means this will take me twice as long because I have to read the instructions several times to make sure I'm doing this correctly. It took me many attempts over the last year just to manage the cast-on. I must have had some kind of mental block because I couldn't figure it out. The one cast-on that finally clicked is Judy's Magic Cast-On and I forge on. These are knit in stockinette so I have less to worry about but the yarn I'm using is really cool self patterning. Sensations Soles & More in pinks, grays.
3. Felted Slippers. I made these for my mom for Christmas which she loved. Nice cushy and warm slippers to wear. Unfortunately she threw them back in the washer and shrunk them even more! Argh. So I need to make another pair for her. At least these are on big needles so it shouldn't be too long if I don't get distracted.

I need to upload some more photos because yesterday we handed Tyler a digital camera and he came back with some cute pictures. Sure, most of them are of his stuffed animals but he centered and composed his shots nicely. Hmmm, maybe a future photographer?

The Dentist

This is too funny. The little boy is very cute.
I want whatever drugs this kid got next time I go to the dentist to go along with those cool glasses that shows movies.

Sunshine Village

Yes, that is the name of the condo complex. Kinda of cheesy but it was a very comfortable place. Here are some pictures.

Here is Hannah with Tyler and Joshua kicking back in the living room.

These 3 pics are the beds in the loft. It worked really well for this trip. The extra bathroom makes a huge difference and I always look for that when I book a place.

Here is the bedroom where they crammed a king bed in there. A dresser and closet too. The bedroom faces the street so you can hear the cars but it wasn't a problem for us.

Shibori Banners

Last week, Tyler's class had their Adventures in Art so I decided to help. The kids made Shibori banners and it was totally cool. Paper towels (the industrial kind like in public restrooms), food coloring with some water (I think the ratio is 4:1), and wooden dowels.

The paper towel is folded lengthwise in half and then into a triangular football fold. Like those paper footballs we used to play with as kids or adults. Then sit on paper towel to get those creases in. Starting with the yellow dye, dip a corner/area in then dip another area in red, blue etc. The paper towel absorbs the colors, then stick the folded paper towel into between several layers of newspaper and step on the newspaper to squeeze out excess dye. Unfold the paper towel and behold, a really cool, unique design!

this is something really easy to do at home and the kids love how they turn out.

Mammoth II

Yes, it seemed like we were just at Mammoth and it was exactly one month ago. Round 2 to the ski resort, this time with my cousin Hannah in tow. This was her first (?) trip there and it was loads of fun. She took a 2 day snowboarding lesson and is now very sore. I think she is going to invest in some butt pads for future trips. The kids had a great time since there was a new person (victim) to talk to.

Like I said, our condo was probably the best one we stayed at so far except for the parking issue.
Also on this trip, Josh wasn't progressing along in his skiing as we'd like but an instructor told us about the disabled sports program which is one-on-one instruction. We signed Josh up for the morning session and the 2 person team took Josh on the chair lift for the first time. Well, the results were immediate and he just did great. He did what he was supposed to do so we're glad that we found out about it although it was a little late. Oh well, now we know for future trips. Hector took Josh skiing for the rest of the afternoon and has some great video of the runs.

The funny thing is that we arrived back home (Sunday night) and tomorrow morning Hector will be heading back up to Mammoth with He-man for a small mancation. They will be gone Monday to Thursday. So a little unpacking, repacking and off he goes again. This time he will have a nice time boarding without worrying about the kids or me!

Did I mention the great weather we had? We've been very lucky in the timing of our trips. We seem to the miss the storms and snow dumps by a week then get to enjoy the great spring-like conditions. Also, even though it was the weekend, Mammoth didn't seem too crowded which is great. It probably had to be due to the SuperBowl because the roads weren't too busy and we got home no problem with no delays.