LYS Trip

(As I mentioned in the last post) I got to go to a LYS** by myself. It was lovely.

**By LYS, I mean a LYS in the big city, ok a suburb south of the big city, 2 hours from my home. It's just the way the timing of the day worked out.

I got there around 2:30 and they didn't close until 5. Over 2 hours. To shop, knit. Alone. No kids. No nagging husband (love you babe!). It was just wonderful.

I spent a long time walking around just looking at the yarn. My husband said I could buy yarn, but I was convinced I would just fight the urge and look at it. I have enough yarn at home. It was still pretty to look at and feel. They had a huge wall of just sock yarn. It was gorgeous.

After I gazed, and stared at, and felt the yarn for who knows how long, I went to look at buttons. I specifically needed buttons to match this sweater. I found them.

Then, I went back to the yarn. Then I looked at the books. Then back to the yarn. I decided I needed to get away from the yarn if I was going to resist the urge to buy any. I picked up a pattern.....The Wonderful Wallaby....which I have already knit but I had borrowed the patterned from my friend and she is moving (we'll talk about that later). I want to knit it again, so I figured it was worth the money.

I had the LYS worker hold the buttons and pattern for me and went to the "coffee shop" side of the store to sit and knit. There were 5 other women sitting and knitting. Even though I didn't know any of them I had a blast!! We talked and knit and talked and knit some more. It was so wonderful to just sit and do something I enjoyed and have a conversation with adults without being interrupted.

Really. I should do that more often. The ladies even told me that they are they every Saturday and Sunday if I thought I wanted to stop by again. I love knitters.

At 5 minutes to 5:00pm, I went to pay for my iced tea, buttons, and pattern. I was not buying any yarn. I did not need any Malabrigo Sock Yarn, or Handpainted Mountain Colors Yarn. No, not me. No expensive yarn purchases here.

I decided to get some stitch markers. Can you see what they say? (the pic's a little blurry) One says "SSK" and the other "M1". Cool. Impluse buy. But cool. I wanted some of these the last time I was there.

I also picked up these US size 0 (2mm) 9" circular needles. I am going to try them on some socks. I don't know if I'll like them, or if they will just cramp up my hands.

Wait, w'a's that? Is that a skein of local handpainted yarn? All by itself? No matching skeins? I can't leave it alone, can I? It's so pretty. It's merino. It's worsted. It would make a lovely pair of longies. But it's only one skein. Ha! It's only $14! Handpainted yarn!! 220 yards! Well, maybe something around here will match.....oh look.....Cascade 220.....inexpensive but good wool....this would make a lovely trim for the waistband and legs.....sheesh, could be boy or girl......bet I could dye a shirt to match......only 7 bucks for the Cascade.....yeah I should get it.....hubby said I could buy yarn.....what a great deal.........

And I left the store with this too:

It really is quite lovely. And wasn't expensive. I managed to leave the store and only spend roughly $40-50. That is pretty good. There was sooooo much wonderful wooly, alpaca, cashmere-ness in that store to buy. I am proud of myself. Two skeins. And some needles and buttons. And a pattern (just one). And stitch markers (just two, but functional).

All in all, a lovely day. (Followed by a lovely evening dinner with moms from my homeschool group to celebrate another new life!!)

(*****Oh, and if blogger takes out my formatting, or changes it, or screws it up, I am really sorry. I had paragraphs in here. Reasonably spaced ones at that. It always does this when I upload pictures. Sorry. And it bothers me. A lot. Rant over.*****)

Blackberry Blogger

Only time for a quick post from my phone today.

My errands in the "big city" today are leaving me with a 3 hour time block there *all to myself*. What shall I do??

I'll tell you. I called the LYS there and they are indeed open at that time. I am making a trip to the yarn store, alone, no kids, with two hours (driving time will eat up the 3rd) to look, feel, and touch the yarn.

I do have a few items that need addressing while I am there. I need 5 buttons for my Baby Surprise Jacket. I need to check out their needle selection. I am considering trying socks on two circs, or even one if they carry a 9 inch circular needle.

Other than that, there is always sock yarn, and the "clearance corner".

I hope my checkbook can keep up.

Random Thursday

Sorry for the short hiatus. It happens.

~~~

Since I last posted a "Random Thursday", I have been paying attention to how often I get to shower. Apparently, Thursday is the day. As in, I get to shower once a week. Seems to be this day of the week. I am kind of ok with that. Ok, not really. But it is what it is.

~~~

Did you know that Apple does not allow "unauthorized apps" on their products like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad?? (I will add here that I don't own any of these....but because of the following information, I may consider Apple products in the future.) What does this mean for you? It means that Steve Jobs, the Apple CEO/Runs the show/Inventor dude does not allow applications to be downloaded to his products that are not authorized by his company.

Do you want to know what he is specifically blocking? Of course you do. He does not allow applications that allow downloading of pornography on his products. Really. This is awesome. I wish more companies thought like this and did something like this.

Thank You Steve Jobs!!

You can read more here.

H/T to Become What You Are

~~~

Thank you to all the bloggers who stopped by and got their Sunshine Award and also stayed around to read a few posts and leave comments. It's always nice to know someone is reading.

~~~

I am hoping to get around to updating my sidebar with some currents photos of the family, a link to a post (to be written) that tells a little more about me, and an updated list of blogs I read.

I currently have the blogs into a few categories: Bat Shit Crazy, Catholic, Knitting, Man Blogs, Recipes, and Keeping Me Sane. I realize now that I have organized them on my phone that I have about 50 I am reading quite regularly.

~~~

Do you want to hear about my tattoos? Would that be a weird post? Would it be interesting? Does it make a difference if I feel differently about a lot of them than I did at the time I got them?

I am going to tell you one cute thing about one of them. I have a sleeve consisting of faeries. (Yes, I like to spell "fairy" weird. Shoot me.) A few of them are in the buff (with wings). My 3 year old daughter pointed to one of them the other day and said, "She needs a pretty dress." Ha!

~~~

I have been working of finishing my WIPs. That's Works-In-Progress. It's a knitting acronym. I finished one today and I have two more: this shawl and this sweater.

I am trying to decide if I should finish them before I start anything else, or just move on and make the fun baby projects I want to start???

I also am itching to knit another pair of socks.

~~~

I have been seriously considering having an ultrasound to see if we can see what gender this baby is. This is the first time I have ever thought of doing this. I have never cared nor wanted to know the gender of my babies before they are born. I really like the surprise at birth. It gives me something to push for.

You want to know what is motivating me to find out? You do? Knitting. Yep. Crack is making me want to know what gender child we have conceived. Because? Well, because if I know what I am having I can knit accordingly. I can go ahead and knit those purple longies with rainbow trim if it's a girl. I can duplicate stitch a dinosaur on the back of that sweater if I know it's a boy.

My son suggests I just knit boy and girl things and save the wrong ones for another baby...."because you'll probably have like 10 more Ma." Uh-huh.

It's a lot of work to put in. I'd like to know what I am working for. Do I have a problem? Should I do it?

Sunshine Award, Post II

I have an update to add to my previous post. Because, well, I am at my mom's house and she has super fast internet.

So, additional "Sunshine" winners (you can find your award in the previous post):

Cas at In A Sea of Boys

Katherine at Having Left the Alter

Glenna at Knitting to Stay Sane

Papa K at Hands to War

Julie at Candy Rant

Sam at Thy Will Be Done

There. I feel much better. I felt like I left some of my better bloggy friends off the list yesterday. I am glad to include them in my "Sunshine". I realize that there is a man-blog in there. His blog gives me sunshine too. I like me a good man blog.

So go pick up your award already and post it on your blog. :)

Someone Thinks I am Special

Erin over at Running At Large has given me the "Sunshine Award". Thanks Erin!! (Award picture is at the bottom of this post.....because if I type after the picture the formatting goes away and I hate that!!)

I am really very humbled that my blogging is inspiring or otherwise brings sunshine to others. I started this blog as a place to get some things out, share pictures with far away relatives, and practice writing. It is weird how you end up making "friends" online that you have never met.

In the spirit (and rules) of the Sunshine Award....I am passing it onto the following bloggers (you are supposed to do 12, but I am just making a list without worrying about numbers) (and yes, some of these are knitting blogs, and some are batshitcrazy blogs too, they give me sunshine too, or at least good eye candy and a laugh):

Michelle at Stay at Home Mom Chronicles

Jenni at One Thing

Laura at God Will Provide

Ruth at Knittingbloggyblog

Digi (this is the batshitcrazy blog....but she makes me laugh)

And....now my son is up from his nap. That's it for me. I am sorry if I missed you. Oh, if I had time, I'd link Katherine and Cassie. Maybe another post?? Gotta run.

Take your award and pass it around. :)

Dear Walgreens,

WTF? What happened to us? We had such a good relationship. You were dependable, always there when I needed you.

For the past year and a half I have enjoyed coming to see you every week, sometimes every two weeks. I thought about you everyday and reached for your trinkets often.

Did you really think you weren't good enough for me? Did you really think I would stray?

I have been faithful to you. I have bragged about your strengths to my friends and talked you up to the other moms every chance I got. I never faultered in my unwaivering devotion to you. I thought we'd be together forever.

But you changed. I used to think of you as reliable. In fact, no one could hold a candle to the place you achieved within my heart. Now the only words I can use to describe you are smelly, saggy, and leaky. You're size has exploded. Even the kids don't want you around anymore.
Your "New and Improved" diapers suck.

Possibilities

I know my husband wonders why I have so much yarn. Sometimes I wonder to, but not usually. It's the possibilities - they are endless.

Every skein of yarn just has this thing about it....the unknown, the creativeness, the possibilities of what it could be.

Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's just women. I think we are naturally born to create. God gave us the task of helping him bring new life into this world and I think that makes us naturally want to create. I know for me, the idea that every skein of yarn is a new beginning, a new adventure, a new possibility really gets my blood flowing.

Is it socks? A sweater? Will it warm someone's hands, neck? Will it be a new toy to bring a smile to a toddler's face? There is just so much it could be.


I mean, just look at those colors. They are soooooo mesmerizing. This is Paton's Kroy Sock Yarn. I've never used it before, but this color combination makes me want to knit it now. They call it "Clover Colors", which I think does it no justice at all.


Then you have something totally lush and seductive like this - Malabrigo Silky Merino, 50% silk, 50% merino wool. Malabrigo brand is known for it's softness anyway. But with that added silk content it is just as soft as a new baby's bottom against your skin. I can't wait to see what these skeins form into. Maybe a sweater for me (yes, I have enough of this for a sweater, it was on sale!!) or maybe a bunch of other projects, as shawl or two, some scarves, a baby blanket, I don't know. For now, I am just going to pet it.

The deep rich hues of this red have me thinking of tulips, and love, and hearts. Oh, and it is so cozy, and squishy, and cushiony.....oooooo......I just can't get enough of feeling this beautiful yarn. It's Madelinetosh Tosh Merino, a 1-ply 100% Merino Wool yarn. In case you can't tell, I love natural fibers. There is nothing like real 100% wool to keep you snug as a bug. This yarn is slated for trim on a baby sweater I want to make out of the same wool in a colorway called "Nutmeg".

Finally, Smooshy. Yes, the yarn is actually called "Smooshy". It's by Dream in Color. It's a fingering weight superwash wool, mostly intended for socks. But to be honest, I have no idea exactly what I will make out of this. The color is "Beach Fog". In the search I did on Ravelry to see what the colorway looks like knit up it was very blue/green. In fact, this skein has blues, greens, purple, and the slightest bit of an orangey-brown. It's to "dye" for (hee hee). I have a sock pattern this would go great with (Rivendell Socks), but I could also see this as a shawl, or some baby clothes, or I could just keep it on the counter and caress it every few hours for the rest of my life.

There is just so much you can do. I love that I can turn string into something wearable. I love the process and the finished product. I love the imagining and dreaming (yes, I dream about yarn and knitting and stitch patterns. I know, weird). The possibilities are what keep me coming back for more.

And no sweetie, it's not gonna stop.

Nipple, Nipple, Nipple, Breast

I read a very funny, and honest, post on Friday over at the Yarn Harlot. Seriously.....go read it. It's the "Really Random Friday" post from 5/7/10 (in case by the time you read this she has posted more).

Apparently, she used the words "breast" and "nipple" in her post the day before, which I read without incidence. Someone, or someones, were offended. I just don't get people. So she posted the next day about how nipple and breast are not dirty words and will not cause anyone to become pregnant or corrupt our youth. "Futhermore," she added (and this is my favorite part),"......I really, really, really think it would have helped if the word nipple wasn't coming up for the first time when we were trying to attach 7 pounds of starving humanity to it." Ha! So right.

This got me thinking about my kids. I breastfeed. I have been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for the last 5 years and for about 2 years when my 10 year old was born. Breasts are for feeding babies. My kids, especially my 10 year old who has watched me nurse his brother and sister, are very familiar with the words breasts, nipples, etc. We call them "mookies" here, just because that's what Flower calls them - ya know, since that's what they're for.

(**I do think it's just fine that breasts can be a sexual thing too, between a husband and wife. I just don't think that is the only use, nor the main use, reason, or purpose, for breasts and I only talk to my children about the intended use God designed women's breasts for - feeding and nurturing the baby.**)

The mookies are well loved around here. My Lovey cuddles them, hugs them, and gives them kisses when I get out of the shower. My Flower tells me how the baby in my belly "needs to come out and have some mookies". It's wonderful that my babies feel so secure and loved and know that this body part is part of what has nourished them.

I remember when I first had my babies thinking of all those questions that new moms think about, especially how I will answer the questions my own babies ask. My children, of course, are curious to know what every body part is called. I tell them about their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. We sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" (now try to get that tune out of your head). I don't tell them that their eyes are called "peepers" or that their hands are "grabbers". So, I also don't make up words for other parts of their anatomy. A boy has a penis. A girl has a vulva. No, I don't use vagina....but that's because you don't see the vagina. You see the vulva.

The funniest thing ever is Flower talking about penises and vulvas. She is quite chatty these days. She has been interested in the difference between her and her brother since she noticed me changing his diapers when he was a newborn. I think this is normal and natural. She should know that God created two different humans, and that it is ok that we are different and even something to be celebrated. I don't get super in depth with her about this topic just yet. But she is pretty happy just to know this one basic element of boy and girls.

Anywho. Penis and vulva. Flower often likes to tell us all what we have. And she has to say it about everyone when she does. It's sooooo cute. It usually goes like this, "I have a vulva. Lovey has a penis. Daddy have a penis. Mommy have a vuvla. Wobbers have penis. Sum-Sum has vulva. Grandma have a vulva." It is seriously to die for.

She also comments about mookies. I will never forget the morning she woke up and told my husband, "You have mookies. You have little mookies. Mommy have BIG mookies! I have little mookies." All he could say was, "Yep." Of course she followed this with, "You have a penis."

That's my girl.

So, my point in all this is not only to share some kind of funny toddler ramblings with you but also to second the Yarn Harlot in her post about these words not being dirty words. Because they're not. Using these words will not corrupt the world. I don't think they are totally appropriate for every conversation, in every instance. But used the way they are meant to be used, and in context of what you are talking about (the Yarn Harlot used them when talking about the fit of a sweater she was knitting, totally appropriate) they are completely normal and totally fine.

Nipple, nipple, nipple, breast. Vulva. Penis.

Day After Mother's Day

I woke up this morning to find this awaiting me:


On the inside was this:

My Wobbers wrote me a poem! As in authored a poem just for me. :D It brought a smile to my face that has yet to even think about disappearing. I also really like the picture he drew of me. That's a lot of teeth I have. Hee hee.

Would you like to know what it says? Of course you would:

Would it be cool to have a mom who worked on the moon?

Who woke up at a quarter to noon?

A mom who would spray paint the moon

Then jump down cuz I had to be at school soon?

Oh how nice it would be.

Oops! I forgot! My mom is a midwife, a teacher, and the best part -

A Mom.

No mom is better than you!

Love Wobbers (okay, he put his real name), who will always be your baby.

And then on top of the picture he wrote, "Happy Day after Moms Day".

I especially like that he put in the poem something about going to school - because we homeschool. That's funny. I also love that I have to pull teeth to get him to do assignments, especially writing, and he wrote me a poem, on purpose, because he wanted to!!

Thank you Wobbers!! I can't believe you're 10! You are the bestest little boy a mom could ask for!

"Ribbit, Ribbit"

It took me a while in the knitting community to understand why tearing a project apart is called "frogging". Apparently, it has to do with the "rip-it, rip-it" you do when you rip or pull the stitches out. From that sound, which does sound like you are ripping fabric ('cause lets face it, you are) was born the term "frogging".

Today, I frogged. I went from this:

to this:

and this:

Now, instead of a completed sweater, I have three sweater parts and a pile of wound skeins. The second picture shows the body and two sleeves living there lives completely independent of each other.

It is amazing to me how little time goes into destroying months worth of work. All in all, it took me about 2 hours to rip the sweater back - and this was mostly because I had a lot of ends to unweave.

Now begins the process of re-knitting and re-designing this sweater. Obviously, if I was to make the "Seamless Hybrid" EZ sweater, I should have followed all of the percentage instructions given in the directions. But I didn't. Thus, ripping. Not fitting properly. All a learning process.

I have new skills to learn now. I am going to make a sweater with set in sleeves. What this means is that I will knit the body to shoulder depth and then *gulp* cut the fabric where I want the sleeves to go and sew them in where they belong. This, I am hoping, will prevent me from having to reknit the sleeves entirely. If that doesn't work.....well, we'll cross that path when we get there. Steeking. My new skill.

Yes, I am still here :)

I had all but given up on poor blog.

I have so many ideas, and so many things I want to tell you about, and write about, that I just couldn't wrap my mind around them all.

Then I got a lovely comment on my last post from Katherine. It was so nice, I decided I just needed to press on. Not only do I love blog, but the writing is sort of therapeutic especially when things get crazy.

So, without further waiting, I must share some simple updates with you. I will make a real effort for regular blogging from now on.

~~~Showers~~~

I am really not getting as many showers as I'd like. In fact, usually I cannot remember the last time I've had one even if I think real hard.

Today I finally took one. Is it bad that I was so exhausted from standing up in the hot water trying to shave my legs that I almost passed out?? It doesn't help that I have forgone any kind of shaving for so long that I had to go over one leg two times and the other three. Don't even get me started on the underarm hair. I should have just taken a chisel in with me to get it off.

Oh, and it's not that I like the unshaven look or that I'm a hippy. I just have small children, and I homeschool, and I'm busy. Events like shaving just seem to fall to the wayside. Um, showers too. If I get in the shower at all I am generally not concerned with the state of my body hair. I know that sounds kind of yucky, but that's the way things are.

~~~Knitting~~~

A whole lot of knitting is going on here. I don't have actual pictures to post on blog, because it takes forever to load them. But I have been loading my projects in Ravelry, with pictures. And guess what? They have a new feature that allows me to post a link to invite you to look at my project page whether you have a Ravelry account or not. :) I am sorry not to give you any eye candy here, but if you click on the links below you can see pictures and notes on the wonderful things I have been knitting. It's lovely. It also means I only have to wait one time to load pictures and then can share them with the ravelry community and you.

Sweater for Flower
New Baby Sweater
New Baby Hat
Cute Turtle Toy
Baby Diaper Soaker
Flower's Fingerless Gloves
Nighttime Diaper Soaker

As for the Sweater that will never die.....it's getting frogged back partly and reknit. You can read about details here and see some new pictures. I should have listened to my instincts on that one.

If you really want to see all my projects, and anything else interesting on ravelry, just join. It's free and really worth it.

I also have acquired quite a bit more yarn. It's a sickness I tell you. My project list has grown also since I am trying to only get yarn for projects I actually intend to make. Right now, the list looks like this:

Finish Wonderful Wallaby for Flower (almost done)
Frog and fix Husband Sweater
Wonderful Wallaby for Lovely
Longies for Baby in Malabrigo "Oceanos"
Longies for Baby in Malabrigo "Sealing Wax"
Sweater for Baby in Madelintosh Merino "Nutmeg" and "Scarlet"
Finish Nighttime Soaker
More size small soakers for Baby in random assorted wool
Baby hats
Wonderful Wallaby for Wobbers in Wool-Ease "Pines Print"
February Lady Sweater for me in Malabrigo "Verde Esperanza"
Rivendel Socks in some local Wool/Cashmere/Nylon blend in "Plum"
Baby blanket (maybe)
Something pretty out of Malabrigo Silky Merino
Finish Mitts Pattern and publish
Reknit that second mitt
Traveling Woman Shawl out of Mountain Colors Twizzle (which is what the mitts are made out of)

Ya know, just a small list. Should be able to get that all done before the baby comes in September. Right? Uh-huh. Suuuuuuure.

~~~Baby Weight~~~

I am 20 weeks along. And ya know what? I have yet to gain a single pound with this pregnancy!! I am very excited about this and not for reasons of vanity. I know I will have a much easier time with this pregnancy if I do not pack on the pounds. I will be more comfortable, healthier, and have an easier time feeling normal again after delivery.

I have in fact lost weight during this pregnancy. Lost weight. And it's staying off. I have done nothing to accomplish this. I am not on purpose doing anything different. I am not exercising. Not trying to eat less. Not eating more healthy than I have been. I will say I do not feel as ravenously hungry this time around. I am not making a cake every other day, like I did when I was pregnant with Lovey, and consuming the whole thing myself. And I am knitting a lot. That must be keeping me too busy to gorge. I feel like it's great because I am just eating a normal portion of food when I sit down, instead of enough to feed 2-3 adults. (Seriously, I have been eating like that for the last couple of years, enough to feed 2-3 adults per sitting....it's kind of gross when I think about it.)

So, because I am not shy about my numbers.....I am going to share some with you. I wouldn't want you to think that I am some thin or skinny mama happy to not be gaining weight. I've got some to lose.

Pregnancy #1: 18 years old, 125 lb. I lost about 10 lb in the first few months, then went on to gain it back plus 65 lbs. (One month, in just 4 weeks, I gained 35 lbs. Seriously.) Delivered a healthy 8 lb 4 oz boy and I weighed 190 lbs at delivery.

In the next 2 years, I lost most of the pregnancy weight and was a reasonably healthy 140-150 lb. woman. Then I met my husband. We were very happy and both put on about 20 lbs over the next 2-3 years. Uh-huh.

Pregnancy #2: 25 years old, 170 lb. I also lost about 10-15 pounds at the beginning of this pregnancy. I delivered at 198 lbs, a 7 lb. 10 oz. baby girl.

Pregnancy #3: 27 years old, 190 lb. I lost 15 pounds at the beginning of this pregnancy. I delivered at 214 lbs, a 7 lb 4 oz baby boy.

I had been hovering around 220 lbs. for the last year.

Pregnancy #4: 29 years old, 216 lbs. I weighed myself as soon as I got the positive pregnancy test at 12 days post-conception. I dropped down to 205 lbs by 10 weeks and have remained there since.

I am very excited to not be packing on pounds and I hope I can keep it up. By this point in my other 3 pregnancies, I had already recovered from the lost weight and then some. So this is new to me and wonderful. At least I think it's wonderful. ;)

~~~~~~~

That's all I have today. I hope you enjoy those links. Oh! I almost forgot! Those teeth finally came in and Lovey is back in all his wonderfulness. The Brute seems to have disappeared for now.

Was it somethibg I said?

I have a neat little stat counter at the bottom of the screen. I get an email once a week from "site-meter" giving me numbers on blog visits (and details if I want them).

My average weekly visits have been about 40, or roughly 6 per day.

Week before last; 5 total. Less than 1 per day.

This week: 1 visit.

Must be my charm.

Weirdness & Confusion

I read quite a few knitting blogs. (No, this entire post isn't about knitting. If you keep reading, hopefully I'll make a point about some interesting political/religious fare.) I have some over in my sidebar, which desperately needs updating. Even though it is titled "Blogs I Actually Read", there are some over there that I have stopped reading and many more that I read that aren't there.


Quite a few of the blogs I read, I read on my phone. Consequently, when trying to find new material to read, I search out and find new blogs to read usually from other bloggers' side bars. This has worked pretty well to up my knitting reading list from 2-4 blogs to about 20.


I have found some interesting things about knitters and people in general. I believe the knitting population represents a reasonably good sample of the average population. I say this because most of us knitters are your average, normal, trying to be "good" type people with our various (and common) flaws that make us who we are. Most of the knitters I've run into on the blogsphere try not to comment too much politically or religiously, which I also find to be pretty common with the general population.


Of course, there are exceptions.


There are those who lean so far to the extreme one way or another that they feel their views need to penetrate every facet of their life *cough*ahem*cough* (I never do that....). As such, I have run into some, well let's say stimulating posts out there in the knitting world. As I refuse to be a troll on someone else's blog and their opinions, my first reaction when I encounter these blatant refusals to see the world for what it really is (a Battleship with Christ as my Caption which I am aboard) to simply "delete" them from my reading list.


But, since I do have my own blog to voice my own opinions (ain't that nice?), I can at least come here and mention to you some of the weirdness and confusion I have encountered.


Weirdness. Almost every knitting blogger has a cat. Really. WTF? Do I have to get a cat now? They are only good for keeping mice away (and a lot of them can't even do that). Who wants to clean up cat litter? Then again, you don't have to let them outside and they don't need too much of your attention, ever - unless it's time that they "decided" belongs to them. (I do not own a cat, but lived for a few years with an Aunt who had 3. Annoying buggers.) (P.S. I don't think owning a dog is any better, but for different reasons. And yes, we have a dog. Not my idea, thankyouverymuch.)


And then we have confusion. I define confusion as simply not being able to accept Revealed Truths. This can result in major confusion with choices you are presented with in life and also confusion on ordering priorities.


I have a dear friend (Christian, of course) who has no other definition for h0m0sexuality other than "confusion". I like this definition, as it seems to hit home rather well. There is some serious confusion going on there and a refusal to accept Revealed Truths - due to same confusion and society's pressure to order priorities as you see or "feel" fit.


Anywho....back to confusion.


I should say here that I do not mind reading posts on knitting blogs that are not about knitting. In fact, I actually like hearing (a little) about the bloggers other going-ons in life, their family, work, etc. I obviously really like getting my fiber fix from these folks, but if you want to tell my about Aunt Nettie's new house, or your teenager's new attitude, by all means....it's your blog. It's nice to know a little bit about the person holding the needles.


Recently I encountered a blog post wherein the author expressed her "outrage" at the treatment, or rather lack-there-of, of animals in zoos in China. She links to an article (didn't bother to read it myself) about animals dying of starvation in Chinese zoos. Then goes on to say that she doesn't know what kind of movement it takes to stop these things from happening, but she's going to find one. I should give her credit (and this I mean in a nice way) for making a fleeting comment about China's human rights record not being so good either.


Um.....confusion.


China's human rights don't exist. In a country where baby girls are aborted and/or left in the road to die more than I could believe is humanly possible, I would say that they do not have a "human rights record". I pretty much disqualify them as a place where human rights matter at all. I don't even like using the words "human rights". It is simply the Right to Life. If you do not respect the Right to Life, you don't respect anything.


What bothers me about this particular post is that her "outrage" is that ANIMALS are dying. Animals. In zoos. Really?? That's what bothers you? It just reminds me of all the "Save the Baby Whales" crap, "Save the Spotted Owl", "Save the Harp Seal". People are seriously confused.


How about you pretend that baby human over there is a harp seal and save her, mmm'kay?? Or pretend she's a tree? Or whatever else effed-up, not-as-important-as-another-human-being thing you'd like to pick to "save" and put that much much effort into saving all the HUMAN lives that are lost each year to abortion. Ok?


So, naturally, I deleted this blog immediately from my reading list.

Another (and this seems a little less important now that I've ranted about saving the whales) post I pulled up recently on a knitting blog also caught my attention and is slated for deletion. In an otherwise normal seeming knitting blog the author, on Easter, or maybe the day after, proudly reports that since neither her or her husband are Christian they are "free to do as they please" on Easter Sunday.

Oh? How nice? As though the rest of us who do believe the Truth are somehow not free to do as we please? Or are somehow being forced to participate in the celebration(s) of Our Lord's Resurrection? Come on. Pu-lease. People act like there is some kind of bondage involved with BELIEVING. Not like you could actually enjoy knowing the Truth. Not like you could willingly show up at Mass (or whichever services you attend) because you want to. Obviously, it's all out of guilt or repression. Yep.

I think I gotta delete her too. Sad.

I think maybe this one does bother me a bit. It seems we've gotten to a place in our society and culture where the only discrimination that is acceptable to (almost) everyone is that against Christians. What is up with that? I guess I should expect it. We are reminded even in Sacred Scripture that we will be persecuted. It just kind of sucks that with all the PC crap about trying not to "offend" any one for any reason (which is silly) that there is somehow an unspoken exception to that rule that says, "unless you're offending someone because they believe in God...that one is still OK *thumbs up*."

I promised a point here, didn't I? Well, maybe I don't exactly have one. I will leave you with a summary instead.

Cats are weird.
Save humans, not animals. Get your priorities straight. If you can rally for a "cause", make sure it's not a tree.
Speak out when someone brags about not being Christian.
Expect persecution.

Some Pictures

Oh! I forgot that blogger uploads photos in the opposite order that you load them. So......this is a really crappy picture of me. But Flower took it. She really loves to use the camera and always has to take picutres of me. I thought I'd show off her skills.

But this! This is a really cute picture of my Flower. She is getting so big!

And this is a sweet black and white that I snapped of her sleeping a few months ago. Everyone say it with me......"Awwwwww."

This is Lovey, who will now be known as "The Brute" (until he cuts his molars) escaping from his towel after a bath. Oh, and that ugly, burnt pumpkin red-orange-y color on the wall over there?? We painted that white this week. It's like a new house.

Awww. There he is again. :)

Hi!!! I am on THE INTERNET IN MY LIVING ROOM!!

CAN YOU TELL THAT I AM VERY EXCITED!?

Ok. I will stop with the caps like I am screaming. Seriously. This is cool. Please do not tell my wireless provider that a friend helped me figure out how to use my phone as a modem.

I promise there will be some kind of fancy pants post with photos soon!! Right now, I must take my husband some lunch. So, I gotta run.

Oh! The little baby counter dealio at the top left of my blogger screen says my baby is now urinating. Hmmm. Weird. And cool. And gross. :)