Natalie Dee Is One of Us

My Marbles -- I Still Have Them

I downloaded this image from here. You'll find an awesome selection, and it's all f*r*e*e. And, as I like to say, "If it's free, it's me!"

It's 24 hours later, and my headache is -- drum roll, please -- gone. Yeah, baby!

Granted, it took most of the day, more decongestants, two Excedrin Migraine, diet Coke (with caffeine), and a lie-down with my trusty hot rice bags, but I finally kicked that lousy headache to the curb.

Sheesh! I guess it's only fitting that someone as stubborn as I am would have headaches equally as stubborn.

Despite it all, I was able to accomplish quite a bit today. Let's see ...

• Touched up my hair. Why is it that whatever gray hair I have tends to concentrate right out front, in the open, where everyone can see it? I have nothing against gray hair, but the whole gray-at-the-temples thing works so much better on men, I think. Last I checked, I'm not a guy.
  
  
• Cleaned my everyday jewelry (wedding and engagement bands, cocktail-type ring from my favorite aunt, and my diamond earrings from SpecialEd).
  
  
• Copied (ripped?) three Weird Al albums to my laptop. I've been meaning to do this for a long time. And I'm so proud: this is the first time I've ever copied music to my computer -- and all by myself, too!
  
  
• Worked about 2 inches of the first of a pair of socks for SpecialEd. His feet have been "problematic," and that means that shoes are right out. What they need are some nice wool socks that are custom knit to fit just right.
  
  
• Wrote out a check to my bruddah to pay him back for the stuff at IKEA that he put on his credit card.
  
  
• Oversaw the burning of about a ream's worth of bills, bank statements, and other personal papers. We have a shredder, but it's intended for just one or two sheets at a time. You let that paperwork get a toe in the door, and it'll breed in the dark. This little job allowed us to get back on top of the situation, plus it enabled Skimbleshanks to burn things, something that's usually pretty near and dear to a boy's heart. It seemed to satisfy him, and he was quite cautious, which was a relief to see.
  
  
• Wrote a check for a field trip to the Constitution Center -- and GIFT SHOP (yes, this was included on the permission slip) -- in Philly. Kids just love gift shops. Their parents? Not so much.
  
  
• Did my roughly quarterly ironing session. Gee, what will I wear tomorrow? I have so many nice, crisp shirts to choose from!
  
  
• Wrote my weekly post for Type-A Mom. This week's article is about the actual size of an infant's stomach. Ever wonder why babies are prone to "spitting up"? Well, it often has to do with their being overfed by the adults in their lives who are obsessed that they (the babies) get "enough" to eat. A newborn's stomach has the capacity of a thimble or a marble. Think about that for a minute. Hmm. So even if you can get a newborn to suck down an ounce or two of breast milk or formula, you'd better be prepared for its imminent return, because a newborn's stomach does not stretch. Period.

So it was a productive day, overall. And I still have about as many marbles today as I usually have. However, I expect I'll lose a few tomorrow ... when I have to go back to work for "da man."

My February Lady Sweater

Picture from Flint Knits, (C) Pamela Wynne

My goal was to wear my February Lady sweater to Stitches East last weekend. *snort* I was nowhere close to being done. Oh, all I had left to do was to knit both sleeves, weave in all the ends, seam the sides, sew on the buttons, and block and let dry. Shoot, it feels like this first sleeve is taking longer than the entire body did. I'll post pictures of it once I've finished.

On the bright side, now that I've reached this point, I finally have the pattern memorized. I know, I know. So I'm a slow study, OK? I do have some goof ups in the body, but I decided that I could live with them and that if anyone so lacked in sensitivity as too point those errors out, I'd just have to give 'em the look. You know the one I'm talking about, don't you? All moms have it, and apparently I have it in spades. I was even able to make the head teacher at our karate school back down. He basically asked us how we'd walk in a way that communicated that we weren't to be messed with. I walked right up to him, giving him "the look" the entire way, and he took a step back. Seriously. How sweet is that?

Anyway, back to the sweater. I'm loving this sweater so much that I'm planning on making at least one more. This is my first foray into lace, and it's really been fun. For those of you who neither know nor care, tough ... This pattern involves multiples of 7 stitches (across) and 4 rows (up and down). So you make the same pattern of 7 stitches over and over for a row, then do the next row all with the purl stitch, then a different pattern of 7 stitches over and over for a row, and then a row of purl again. You have to pay attention, but you don't have to be absolutely glued to your work. I have a battered index card and a row counter to help me out. The sleeve is looking really nice, even if it is taking forever.

Many thanks to Flint Knits for sharing this wonderful pattern! It's beautiful, challenging (but not frustratingly so), and appears to be fairly addictive.

And, speaking of addictive, I just today joined the Diet Coke Lovers group over at Ravelry.

SpecialEd has just informed me that we've missed The Office (another group I'm in over at Ravelry). Dang you, NaBloPoMo! I was so focused on doing something productive that I completely forgot about my weekly date with Michael, Jim, Dwight, and the rest of the gang. Oh, well. Thank goodness for the internets!