N is here today…part of his suspension. Oh…we won’t go there right now. Basically, after hearing the report from T, I found myself thinking…normal boy who is not being intellectually challenged…basically…bored boy….this boy bored, w his kinky sense of humor, means Trouble, capital T. Poor kid.
This weekend I was feeling really good. I had bought N a package of Hulk boxer briefs months and months ago—the first time we washed them—before he ever wore them—the seam at the seat ripped out. We’ve been having that problem w hanes products way too much lately—undies and socks, popping open at the seams, without any real pressure put on them. T had to toss over half a bag of brand new socks he’d gotten N because the seams kept popping open…so, needless to say, I don’t plan to buy anything hanes again…I even checked my own undershirt tags (I have a thing for wife beaters—I admit it) –fruit of a loom, so I won’t have to toss them out and buy new at least…
Anyway…I have meant to just sew up the seat seam, since they are Hulk undies, and be done w it…but this is me…that’s far too simple. So, I crocheted the hole shut—I figured w the extra space made by the crochet, the seam would better hold. That sort of thing. My bead reamer is what I used to poke the holes in the fabric. Crocheting the hole ‘round didn’t take very long at all. I have pictures. I cannot in good conscious put them forth in public. I can’t even look at them—and I had to watch the boy do what he did. I used neon lime green yarn—it’s Hulk – so green is perfect—and this is N’s green yarn that he picks out all the time….he thought they were so cool when I showed him—I love the boy for always loving everything I do for him like this—we’ll see how long it sticks. We got the clean and freshly crocheted undies on him. Now, what I did not expect was N to walk around w his finger in the holes in between the stitches, bending over to show off the crocheting, w his finger still pulling and prying …and … if I describe any more I may laugh or cry or both…and you KNOW I had to keep a straight face when he did it as I was telling him to keep his fingers out of his butt, that it wasn’t appropriate to do in front of …anyone at all…I did manage to keep a straight face and sound stern and in command—but oh, I was rolling inside…it was horrible…
Moving on…
I have a pair of jeans that I love that the knee ripped out on them—I am planning to crochet the hole on that pair as well.
I also knit the entire body—except for the tongue—of R’s mardi gras dragon pouch…using a pattern for a dragon scarf: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fiery-dragon-scarf
Now, this is a pattern I have been meaning to knit for my kids, if not myself, for a very long time…but it’s been on the to do list and not the doing it right now list…
I have all the pieces, modified in places to account for the …pouch…and the lack of scarf-like-ness. I haven’t sewn it all up yet. Was going to do that last night. Wasn’t expecting N to be here. Then again, I was planning to walk E to our house yesterday, put some stuff together, get some stuff accomplished, stay there for dinner, everything…except we had three dogs w us as we walked them over…and mud puppy (that’s Ken) in the house was a big no-no. The temperature was dropping—not badly, not below freezing, otherwise I wouldn’t have brought them—Ken and Princess could have handled it—but I didn’t want to leave Bear out there…so we went to our house. I made some calls. We took the dogs home. We had dinner. We went back. T called about N. The battery on the drill died out too much for it to help me. T dropped N off. We stayed as long as I was willing to…actually longer, since the kids were having fun and were busy playing together.
It’s still sitting here, the dragon pouch in pieces. I did find the novelty yarn to make the tongue though, so I will sit here and do that in a little bit as well. I am taking advantage of the fact that I have access to the computer at the moment. This weekend, one kid had the desktop and one took over the laptop. And all I could think was, darn it, the netbook is at the other house. So, I kept busy. I zested lemons—then dried the sliced leftover lemons for later…I set up the first trial run of limoncello…and my son took one look at the bottle this am…w the plastic wrap under the cork keeping it shut—pulled the plastic wrap out and stuck a different cork in—at which point I caught him—so our limoncello has an extra cork floating in the bottom. We have a variety of different sized corks for our ever growing variety of bottles that we have for whatever reason…
I have a regular grater—well, actually, I bought it at ikea years ago. It’s a bowl that has a grater lid and a zester lid and a regular closing the bowl lid…I used that to zest out the lemons. We had been told to buy a microplane zester…I’ve looked them up, since we weren’t sure what they were when first they were suggested (that’s not what we call ‘em, now that I’ve seen ‘em). Yeah, I can see where the microplaner would save time…but…maybe it’s just me…I like taking the time to do things. I have an innate need for that sort of busy unbusy time—where my hands are doing repetitious things and my mind is free to travel. Both Waldorf and Montessori pedagogies have a similar thing innate in their trainings. Our ancestors knew the value of things, based up the need to do the work, but the sheer mundane repetition allowed the mind to wander far far afield. I think this society/culture/what have you is in serious need of that disconnected mental time…I greatly value that time…I do come across as a technophobe—I own electric egg beaters only because my son has uhm augmented the antique pairs of egg beaters I have managed to find (the kind where you hand crank the turn while the 2 egg beaters spin, not just a wire whisk sort of thing)…but I refuse to own an electric can opener—because they do not like me. I like cel phones—so long as someone else is in possession of said cel phone. I have no need to contact someone 24/7—nor do I in any way want to be contacted 24/7.
Segue. I’ve been working, for a long time now, based on someone else’s work ethics. I’ve been taught to believe that I have to be there, be available, for every client, every potential client, every reader, every reviewer, every little thing. Over the past few months, I have been determinedly making and taking more time for myself…even though I am not always doing what I told myself I would be doing –otherwise my shoes would all be unpacked...the tree in my front yard would be trimmed…and the darned dog who ATE my mimosa trees and my olive tree and then hurt herself chewing on a rose bush would have already been fed to vultures and porcupines ( I don’t know why I told her that’s what I would feed her to…but that’s what I said…it did nothing to deter the silly thing…who munched on my frozen rue plants afterwards…)…
While reading the latest Goddess Guidebook post last night: http://www.goddessguidebook.com/my-job/
Leonie recommended a terrific woman, Marissa Bracke: http://marissabracke.com/
Her article, ‘The Danger of Perpetual Availability and the Value of Being Unavailable’ makes such incredible sense to me. In fact, it is something I have been slowly moving into place for several months, whether I recognized what I have been doing as that or not…and ever since we moved in to our own house while simultaneously living w R, I have been wanting to have more of that space. It’s easy for me to set a schedule up for myself…but difficult for me to get E on that schedule—I won’t wake her up in the morning (she’s grumpy enough) –and her eating—of all the things French to inherit…a bowl of chicken noodle soup, fresh from the can, warmed in the microwave—and two hours later I am still looking at her…and if I yell, she can’t eat because she gets upset…I don’t have to yell…if I say anything, she gets upset—she doesn’t eat—she gets sick—the whole blood sugar thing…and she is too thin and too boney as it is…not that she can’t put the food away when she’s ready…but it’s the ‘ready’ part…I have only met one other person worse than her…but I don’t have to live w that guy…I have to live w her…and even though I am tolerant…it skews my mornings and my schedule w getting to our house and getting things busy.
But that wasn’t where I was planning to go. I have altered my schedule to make more room for my family and time w my family. I have spent too long following someone else’s self-imposed schedule (as he told it to me 6, 7 years ago) …7a to 7p, Monday through Saturday, taking Sundays off. I’ve been mimicking that, although I often work Sundays if need be. Given what I do, Sunday work is sort of…mandatory every now and then. I have not had any complaints due to my shorter hours. In fact, now I am getting more appointments, and appointments farther out as well. That is definitely an interesting and unexpected turn there. It also bodes well for when more children arrive—or circumstances w the current children change, one way or the other. It’s very good to know. Regardless.
It is too cold to drag both kids out to go to our house yet today. I am planning to wait til after T picks N up to go…maybe the drill battery will be charged and more helpful by then.
More to come soon… I have hungry busy heathens roaming the house…
Peace.
