intarsia

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:40:00 +0000

LOLcatz parade!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Summer Family Time, Disaster!

One of Brent's new favorite things lately has been riding on the back of Will's bike. They enjoy it so much that yesterday Will sent me to the store to buy myself a bike so we could all ride together. I don't know much about bikes, and when I got home with my pretty new Crayon blue street bike with the white wheel wells and pinstriping and wide comfy padded seat, he commented while he installed Gigi's childseat, "You should have bought a mountain bike. The hills are really tough."

Fast forward 30 minutes or so and all four of us were out and ready to ride! I found out real quick -- about two laps around the block -- he was completely right, and chugging up the hills without an 18-speed bike was kicking my butt. I said, "Let's stop circling and go down to the pond and back so at least we get a fun ride out of it before I collapse. I can walk the bike back if I have to." I disastrously forgot that the hills just get steeper in that direction, and that street bicycles don't have great brakes.

Fast forward about 2 minutes and Gigi and I were buried in a tangle of thorny vines at the foot of the hill on Faylin, right where it meets Applegate at a nice, sharp, 90 degree turn. Ouch. :(

To be a little more detailed, Gigi was in her child seat, resting on a bed of thorns and crying, and I was under the bike with the top half of my body hanging over the lip of a miniature cliff (not a dangerous fall, but a very steep incline curving down about 3 feet to a different level of ground, so still a drop), my weight held up by my left hand mashed down on a bunch of thorns and by what felt like a thorny vine wrapped around my neck. I tried to reach for Gigi but discovered that if I moved my left hand I would slide down the cliff and if I tried to scoot myself away from the cliff the vine around my neck bit into my skin. And Gigi cried on.

Will got there pretty quickly and struggled for a couple of minutes with trying to get my bike and Gigi upright again while holding up his own bike, because Brent is too heavy an off-balancer for the kickstand to work. He did his best, but his bike and Brent both fell over into the fortunately softer grass next to the street a couple of times. Meanwhile, I was yanking with my right hand at the vine I'd found behind my head, tangled in my hair. After enough yanks to really get some burning pain around my neck, I realized the vine was actually caught up in my necklace and I was sawing at my own skin with the (very strong) gold chain. I got that untangled, finally, and got poor Will to give me a hand up so I could get my left hand out of the nest of thorns and help with the bikes and, by this point, both crying children.

I trudged the three blocks home pushing Gigi on the bike, limping on a badly bruised left hip, and like Gigi, covered from my face to my feet in angry red welts and scratches and dripping blood from various thorn punctures, with Will and Brent eying me sympathetically. Will couldn't offer me his bike so he could push because I can't reach the ground from his bike seat, but he did bathe Gigi while I took a shower, and then he drove to the CVS for some Neosporin.

Today, Gigi and I both look like we got tossed into a barrel full of angry cats and I'm avoiding my usual Monday trip to my father's apartment so that I don't have to hear the lecture about being careful with my baby. At least scratches heal pretty quickly and the puffy bruising on my hip is easy to hide.

I don't think Gigi and I will be joining Will and Brent on their evening rides again!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Where's Brent??

That's not him!

Wait, what's this?

Oh, there he is!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Pictures AND a Thousand Words! (Well, maybe a couple hundred.)

So, Gigi and I are still decompressing from the June 11-15 trip to Estes Park, Colorado. The weather was amazing, though it did rain on us a few times this year. (Lightning in the Rocky Mountains is scary, y'all.) Gigi ran a lowgrade fever for a couple of days upon first getting back home -- airline plague? -- but is back to her ole self now. Brent seemed to miss us, was adorably happy to see us back, but his ole self is changing daily.

He is making some verbal/reasoning skill leaps as of late that just fascinate me. And make me giggle, too. Here are two from yesterday: First was the Mommy-can't-find-her-cellphone-AGAIN situation which had me wandering around pouting with the house phone in my hand, straining my ears for that muffled little ringtone. When I finally did find it, Brent's face lit up. "You did it! You not sadding, Mama? You happy?" (which is to say, he's starting to attempt verb conjugation, not without some blunders.)

And probably less monumental but much more entertaining was a classic cause-and-effect lesson he received thanks to Tyler, the gassiest beagle in the world.

"Mama, what that smell?! Where's the poop?"
"That's just Tyler. He farted."
"Farted?"
"He made a noise of the butt." (I didn't coin that phrase; Brent did.)
"Noise of the butt smell like poop?!"
"Yep."
Commence 3 yr old running in circles squealing, "Pbbt, EWW!! Pbbt, EWW!" punctuating with shrieking giggles.

Meanwhile, Gigi gets stronger and more mobile everyday. She can cruise, stand unsupported, and has been taking steps now and again, though they are still followed at this point by falls. (Isn't this picture pretty?? I miss Ana's camera.)

They're so cute when they play together.

I haven't really had any more time to knit lately, but I am stubborn, and squeeze in a few stitches whenever I can. I finished ONE sock! The second is already a few inches in, but I got exhausted with trying to keep up with the slip stitch cable pattern when my focus is so constantly pulled in 3 different directions, so the pair of socks will be fraternal twins, rather than identical. In other words, mindless 2x2 ribbing for me! As I mentioned to some friends, the second sock will always be jealous of her older sister's beautiful patterning, but will feel secretly smug that she is much less full of errors.

And I snuck in a new tattoo a week ago. (Don't tell Dad.)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Imported Friends

I've been hangin' with my Rav homies this week. Like mail order brides, they come to me! In the last few weeks, I've gotten to meet Ashley/ashpags, Hanna/mzell, and Sarah/sareeswfla. (On the odd chance you are not a Ravelry-person, those links aren't gonna work for you. Sorry.)

Here's me with Sarah and Hanna on Sunday 6/7, and of course Gigi, at Chez Zee. We were the Ladies Who Lunched. Then we invaded Gauge for a couple of hours.

I can't seem to steal the photo of me and Ashley in a format that works on my computer, so here's the Flickr link for now.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Brent's 1st movie: a bust. (+ "I'm there.")

So, we took Brent to the Tinseltown in Pflugerville for the 6:40 showing of Disney Pixar's UP. He is absolutely in love with the preview; has every word of it memorized and can even act it out. The theater was nearly empty and more than half the people there had small children with them. I figured it was a Can't Lose situation. Well, Brent thought "the humongous TV" was "too loud!", got very upset, and wouldn't be calmed down. Will took him home before the previews had even ended. I stayed and watched with Ana and Gigi. I cried 3 times, Gigi pooped all over herself and me, but it was a good movie and I enjoyed it. I think Brent just won't be going to see movies until he's quite a bit older.

A cute story: Have you seen those "I'm there" State Farm TV commercials? There's one with a woman draped backwards over an exercise ball (like this:

except she has her arms dangling loosely over her head.) Well, the other day, Brent climbed up on Will in his computer chair, draped himself like that over Will's shoulder with his legs over the back of the chair and his head and arms on Will's chest, and said, "Daddy? I'm there."

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:07:00 +0000

A Productive Day of Websurfing

Actually, a Rav/Twi-buddy of mine (MzEll) brought all this fun stuff to my attention. :D THANKS, babe!

I found (and placed a frantic Amazon order for) this fabulous book:

mostly because of this squee-worth lil pink sweater:

Innit CUTE? Gigi will look stunning in it. Stunning, I tell you.

Also, a JEWEL of a blog-find for moms with creative little minds in their homes: The Crafty Crow. Simple, fun, genius crafts ideas for children. (She even does fun giveaways. I'm entering the one for the "Crobots: 20 amigurumi robots to make" book. Squee!) Go check it out. Seriously, some cute stuff there.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Peaceful Times

(if only for a few moments between tantrums and diaper changes!)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Finished Quant #4, and received a Gift of Jaywalkers!

Knitting Buddy Emily gave me these FABULOUS Jaywalkers which I am totally thrilled with:

And another FO! Don't have a photo yet of the FO because I haven't seen Esther to get her to model it before she whisks it away but I liked this one. I almost like Quants better in the solids and semi-solids I've made them in, rather than the variegateds.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:44:00 +0000

New WIP, new washing machine

Slippery Socks, by Olivia M, from the Winter 07 Knitty. So far a fun, easy knit. :)

Our washing machine broke a little over a week ago and Brent enjoyed the box even more than we're enjoying the new washer.

"Mamom, where's Gigi??"

"Oh, there it is!" (Yes, I say "there she is" but he's sticking to 'it'. Just like he stuck to 'baby in da trash' for a couple of weeks after she was born.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Playdate Yesterday

Brent helped(?) make an Ocean Bottle. 3/4 water with food coloring, 1/4 baby oil, and most importantly, a little Elmer's Glue along the threads of the cap to help avoid oil spills in the den.

He played with Friend Jonathan.

And Gigi conferred with her peers.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:01:00 +0000

She's a Maneater!

New teeth. Grrr, Arrrr, Grrrr!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:55:00 +0000

A Strange Dream

Forgot to add to my post this morning. Not sure if I even remembered it then. You know how dreams are. But it was odd enough I feel like recording it. Usually I have a pretty good idea what my dreams mean, but this one is a mystery.

There were holes-- one in the driveway, and one under the couch. There was a 2 yr old girl stuck down in each. Like Baby Jessica? But one in each. Twins? I don't think they were my daughters, but I was worried about them. So scared and worried. For some reason, no one was trying to get them out though. We were throwing food and water down to them and just worrying. At one point, Mamash almost fell into the hole under the couch and I caught her by an arm and hauled her back out.

P.S. Oh, and the disposal works. :) My man is GOOD.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:38:00 +0000

WHAT a weekend.

When Will gets a wild hair... Our washing machine broke on Thursday? Maybe Friday. Our disposal broke on Saturday. This deluge of bad luck in need of attention apparently made him feel a surge of what I can only call Manly Fix-It-ness. He bought and installed a new washer; he turned our power off and on for hours while he repaired (after 6 YEARS mind you) the broken light fixture in the entryway, AND tried to get the disposal working (unfortunately to no avail); and he stocked our freezers with an entire cow's worth of beef that his parents brought over. And that was just on Saturday. Sunday, he decided it was time to organize the entire orphanage's worth of toys in our den and get them moved into the kids' rooms. That took us all day, I went to knitting in the middle of it anyway, and in all honesty, it's not really done. Unless we want the toys in boxes and bins all over the kids' rooms. I think we need to still get rid of 2/3 of the toys even through we already threw away everything broken and incomplete. I wish that new law about packaging/testing didn't make the Goodwill incapable of taking perfectly good, practically new toys. Garage sales are a HUGE PITA and Criagslist scares me...

And the disposal is still not working. I think he got it where it will at least drain water so that I can do dishes if I am careful not to let food go down the drain. Wish me luck!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +0000

My guitar player is cuter than your guitar player

And she's working on having just as many teeth! She had only two less than a week ago. She sprouted canines over the weekend, and woke up with her two front teeth yesterday morning. She'll have a mouthful before we know it!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:08:00 +0000

The Quant and some Yarn Porn

My husband wouldn't take the picture til I smiled, but yeah, I still look like I feel run-over. :P (My good buddy, ibuprofen left over from after the Gigi-c-section is helping me out with the backache though.) He didn't tell me I had it on crookedish. I think Sheva will look smashing in it though!

And THIS is my new yarnbaby, a 900 yd hank of Robincat handspun cashmere/silk that I am absofreakinglutely in love with on Sunday at Gauge. Ana plunked down the dough for it and said "Happy Birthday!" while I literally hopped and squee'ed behind her. She says she will make me a pinwheel shawl with it.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:29:00 +0000

I finally finished knitting something!

(The 2-color quant I made for Sheva.) I know. You don't believe it. And you don't have to, since I don't have photos. But I'll try to get some.

I also have like a month of photos I haven't resized and uploaded, so nothing new of the kids either. Could I BE any more of a slacker? I almost said 'any bigger a slacker' but decided not to, because that's certainly possible. Will baked a marble cake with fudge frosting last night...

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Funniest Picture Yet

(For those wondering, that sticker was in the junk mail.)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Big ole TMI here!

(But I wanna document it, 'cause I still go back and read the weird TMI shit I wrote about when I was dealing with my first pregnancy and I'm glad I did it.)

I started my period last night. And so ends the freedom from Aunt Flo, at least until menopause. (My kids will probably still be in school when that happens to me. Great.) I was thinking this big, deep philosophical mumbo jumbo about it while I was doing the dishes an hour ago. Something about closing a big chapter of womanhood as soon as I wean Gigi... I hate hormones. They make me an idiot. :P

Anyway, I'll post something less embarrassing later this weekend so that maybe this will go mostly unnoticed.

P.S. That word, "embarrass," has it always been spelled that way? Srsly. I'm a fairly good speller and that one LOOKS wrong. It's only supposed to have one R but my spellcheck insists it should have 2. I always cave in and put the second one in there but I get this funny feeling like the world is trying to pull something over on me. Is this how senility starts? Take it just a few steps further and I'll be 90 yrs old, making rude noises with my dentures in an IHOP in Kentucky I've never set foot in, and telling the waitress that they DO make Cream of Wheat pancakes here, I eat them here every Sunday and have for 50 yrs, so get me my damn Cream of Wheat pancakes!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:23:00 +0000

He's an ARTIST I tell ya!

At the tender age of 3 1/2, Brent has produced this masterpiece triptych called "Robots," individually titled "Robot," "Robot Dancing," and "Robot."(My favorite is the sassy lil guy on the right. I think he looks like quite the dancer but Brent says only the middle one is dancing.) Brilliant use of the Crayola Washable marker medium. (Click on it so you can see past the pink text... sorry about that.)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:34:00 +0000

I got a LAPTOP!

I'd love to brag about it but even if I knew what all these letters and numbers meant I still couldn't remember them all. It's actually fairly bottom of the line but it serves my purposes. I know it has a nice clicky keyboard that I don't typo on as much as the smushy one on Will's work laptop, and a wireless real mouse so I don't have to use the touchpad one, and Will says it has a DVD player/burner/ripper and a Webcam. Wonder if I can figure out how to use all that. All I know is now I can install Firefox, I can Remember Me all my logins, and I don't have to avoid fun websites because of viruses anymore! (No, not P0RN. It was a Blockbuster banner ad that virused the work laptop and got my websurfing privileges curtailed. Bah.) And I can buy a cute laptop bag like the one I had made for Ana in 2007. (I think she liked it.)

I ordered that at larainedesigns.etsy.com -- check her out!

Oh, and I can't believe it but American Idol has sucked me AGAIN this year. Danny MyWifeIsDead(HeartSmush) and ILookLikeRobertDowneyJr with MyCuteLittleGlasses FOR THE WIN!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:42:00 +0000

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I went and found some good heartsmush pictures for a little trip down sentimental lane. :)

Here is a smooch. Timeline: unsure but likely around 2006. Participants are my doggie Reese and the lovely Sophia, daughter of the lovely Renee.

Some snuggles. Timeline: 08/14/08. Participants: My mom & Gigi.

And a sweet serenade. Timeline: 07/14/08. Participants: Will & Brent.

Sleeping Together, hee hee! Timeline: 10/29/07. Participants: Brent & his great-grandmother "Mamash".

And of course, loving family time. Timeline: 01/17/09. Participants: Gigi, me, Brent's guardian lion named "Tiger", Will, and Brent the budding photographer!

All my love,
Ceci :)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Cool! An Award.

This is a cute lil net-virus-award thingie. I like the badge. :) Thank you for the nomination, sweet Judy.

So, here's the instructions for my nominees:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 8 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Aaaand here are my infectees, I mean nominees: Ana AKA the Inimitable Entrelac, Kim, Mary, Sally, mom, Ria, Helen, and Adriana,

P.S. In the "You learn something new everyday files": I went and looked up 'inimitable' after I typed it because I realized that I honestly had no freakin' clue what it means. It means 'surpassing imitation; matchless'. Makes sense. I just knew it somehow meant really, really cool.

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:49:00 +0000

CREAMY JALAPEÑO DIP
Similar to that great stuff from Chuy's!

1⁄3 cup pickled jalapeños
Juice from pickled jalapeños, to taste
1 packet buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise (not reduced-fat)
1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed, chopped

Place the jalapeños in the blender and purée until very fine, using juice as needed. Mix the dressing mix, buttermilk, mayonnaise and cilantro in a separate bowl; add to puréed jalapeños. Mix in blender. The dip is best if you refrigerate it overnight. Serve with chips or fresh vegetables, or use as a salad dressing.

(Credit: chron.com/food)

noreply@blogger.com (Ceci) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Officially Coming Out

It's been another full week and I don't have a single photo of my kids to post. I added two rows of entrelac to my current Quant (it's a whopping 3" across, yo) but I haven't taken a picture of that either.

So, it's time to admit it.

When I'm not changing diapers, doing the hide n seek thing with Brent, or playing doorman to the dog parade, I'm happily buried in the Twilight forums on Ravelry, doing searches on YouTube for cheesy old 80s videos, and cracking dirty jokes with internet buddies via instant messages. In short, I'm having a second teenagerhood. And yeah, I occasionally do the dishes and even a little laundry. But only when I really have to.

So now you know my secret. Do you still love me? (My husband does, seeing as the surge of immaturity has been accompanied by a renewed surge of teenager-ish hormones.) (Rampant overshare is another symptom of my malady, apparently.) (As is babbling and an inability to stay on topic.)

In other news, a new source of income has (hopefully temporarily) overcome my months-long need to be as frugal as possible and I got the okay from the man and our bank account to take $100 and spend away. A list of the things that made me happy:

1) A handmade little red/pink felt sewing kit from Gauge which has been longing to be mine since early Fall. That it is so lovely and yet waited for me is a sign that it was meant to be.

2) A locally sewn green/yellow/cream fabic crochet hook case, also from Gauge. I will get photos of both soon. Maybe.

3) 5 new paperback books: Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez; The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King, for which incidentally I love the cover art; and the first 3 books in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. In an attempt to salvage my IQ a bit, I've started with the Márquez. He's a Nobel laureate, ya know. And a Colombiano, like my mom.

and 4) 2 skeins of drop dead gorgeous hand dyed merino/tencel sportweight. I actually have a photo of that, though only because the seller provided it. Isn't it lovely? (And no, I have no immediate plans for it, though I'm thinking it would make a lovely Revontuli-bastardized-to-be-a-capelet.)