Current happenings

Spring has arrived.  I am so thankful, what a long cold winter it was.

 I am working on a few projects, one of them is a knit blanket for a brand new little nephew that will be born in August.  The blanket I made for Jericho, his big brother to be, was pretty... but we didnt know if Sarah was having a boy or a girl when I chose the yarn, so I made it from a variegated baby yarn in pale blues, purples and white.  The new blanket is definitely different, it's going to be very bold. 

The yarn for Parker's blanket.

 

Jericho's blanket

 Maddy is doing well with the homeschooling.  Right now I would say that World history and Latin are still her favorite classes.  We need to start lining up her materials for next year, but I still have lots of time to find just the right stuff for her.  Tentatively next year she will be taking English, Geometry or Algebra 2, US History, Latin 2, another lab science as well as some "fun" classes.  Fun being the point... so it will be totally Maddy driven.  We have some local art classes, including stained glass, pottery, as well as things like Karate etc.  She will also be getting a part time job in the fall... and sometime over the next year will be taking Driver's ed through a local program.  We will also be utilizing a SAT program to help her get ready for that in the spring of 2014. Her Junior year is going to be a busy busy year for us.

In July, the husband and I will be going on our first vacation (alone without children) in 23 years.  A group of our friends, that we met online, get together every year in July for a weekend.  This year the stars all aligned and we are able to go. *knock on wood*  Its also the year of our 25th wedding anniversary, so we decided to extend our trip past the weekend and visit the area.  I am so excited, and nervous, and excited, and just can't wait, and excited...

Eileen has moved into a new place with her young man.  He is a full time culinary student as well as a  full time sous chef at a local restaurant.   Eileen will be returning to college in the fall. She is also working full time as a pharmacy tech at the state's biggest hospital.  She is a pretty busy young lady but she knows what she wants to do with her life and is moving herself that direction.  I am very excited for her.

Its a lovely day outside... there is a soft breeze and the sun is shining.  Its a very nice day and I hope you are having a great day as well.

~Regi

Superbowl Fun

We had a lot of fun watching the Superbowl last night.  The game was riveting.  Unlike years in the past where we would watch a bit and then do other things and come back for the commercials and halftime show, we watched every minute of it.  I did manage to get some knitting done but for the most part we sat glued to the tv.  I do wish the Patriots had managed to win, but my hat's off to the NY Giants... it was an awesome game and they totally deserve that win. 

At one point Maddy started talking during a commercial and her father and I both said "Shhh Maddy the commercials are on".  She looked at us like we were insane and said "wait wut?"  I told her, "its the superbowl... if you gotta talk... do it during the game but please be quiet for the commercials" and she just laughed.

Personally I enjoyed the halftime show, although the reviews seemed to be mixed.  It was filled with pageantry, old and new artists alike (forgive me Madonna for calling you old)  *grins*  dancing and familiar songs. 

We had lots of yummy food,  most of which the husband had prepared while I was at work.  He is such a good egg, I might keep him for a bit longer. *wink*

All in all we had a very good time.

This morning we got him all packed up for another week at his job.  Its been tough with him living up there during the week and only coming home on the weekends, but we are managing.  We are both so grateful he was able to find this job.  He seems to be enjoying his co-workers, and the job is a nice challenge which is always a good thing.  He says he is meeting some really nice people and he has even found some co-workers with kids Maddy's age, and has found at least 2 that will be Sophomores with her next year at MCI.  Its going to be a challenge to help her adjust and fit in at the new school and yet help her keep her ties at the old one but we are going to try our best.  Its only an hour away and with FB, Twitter, texting etc she will never be too far from her friends at all.

My job is going well and I have made some nice friends there.  I am not sure how feasible it would be to continue working in the Augusta store after we move but I would sure like to try.  Even if its only a couple of really long shifts a week, as it wouldn't make any sense to drive 45 minutes to work for a 4 hour shift.  Oh well... we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

In regards to my crafting, I still have some work to do on Jericho's blanket, and my sister has given me a cross-stitch bib to work on for her.  She will be coming over sometime this week with her sewing machine in order for us to sew the backing and binding on the baby quilt she made.  I can't wait to see how its going to turn out.

Guess thats all for now.  Hopefully I will get at least one more post in before March.  lol

*hugs*
Regi

... And it's November!

Time sure flies when you are having fun!  *grins*

I have been getting between 32 and 34 hours a week at work and I am really getting into the swing of the job.  One of the CSMs told me last night that everyone has nothing but nice things to say about me... so that was good to hear.  I will have my 3 month performance review the first week of December and also my discount card.  That will be nice!!  Things have been getting busier and crazier at work as the holidays approach.  The weekend before Halloween everything was orange and black... costumes and scary themed food and candy.  I worked Halloween night and it was really dead.  I had a day off and when I came in next there were Christmas decorations up, Christmas trees in the entrys and Christmas music playing.  I felt a bit disoriented lol.

My niece, who got married in August, is pregnant.  Well technically, she was pregnant at the wedding, but it was early on yet and very few people knew.  She now has a baby belly... although its a little one and she finds out on Wednesday what the gender of the baby is.  I keep reminding her that not all babies want to share that info right off... but she is confident her child will behave and show the appropriate bits hehe.  Boy does she have a lot to learn about being a parent lmao... i cant wait to see it all unfold.  I hope her child is as much a joy and handful as Miss Sarah was for her parents.  I am trying to figure out what to make for this little one.  My sister is making the traditional (well in our family) cross-stitch blanket.  My eldest has stated she is making a quilt, so either i make some clothes for the child or knit something.  I may just go ahead and make a quilt too... a baby cant have too many quilts, but we will see.  I found a very cute pattern for a knit hat... it resembles a small berry, pattern can be found on Ravelry here.  Also found a pattern for a little knit blanket with a waffle pattern that looks adorable.  I think I will wait till we know on Wednesday (or dont know for that matter) before i finalize my plans. 


Paul and I had a long talk yesterday... he told me he fully intends to take the new job in Jan.  Its going to be very hard for the family to adjust but its going to be a good thing.  The pay is wonderful for this area, we will have medical insurance for the first time in a very long time... 401k, etc... and the town this business is in has a wonderful highschool.  Its actually a private boarding school but families that live in the town get to send their high school kids there.  Maddy will have the opportunity to get a fantastic education which will only benefit her in the future... and its half way between my sisters town and the town my eldest daughter lives in.  I just found out today that the library there is a Carnegie library.  That's exciting!  They also have an Egg festival in July... a week long festival of egg stuff.  >.>  hehe.  It will be nice to be part of a town again.

I guess thats it for now... i will try to post pictures of the projects I am thinking about doing for the baby.

*hugs*
Reg

Whoa... It's October already?

Hah... been some time since I posted, life has been a bit crazy.

Training went well, had about 3 days with my sponsor before I was set free.  I made sure that the CSMs up front knew I was a bit nervous being alone, so for the rest of my first week and all of my second, I was put at a register near a more experienced cashier.  It went very well.  I have been getting an average of 32-34 hours a week and they have mostly been afternoon into late evening shifts.

About 2 - 3 weeks after I started at Walmart, the husband went into work and left unemployed.  He was laid off with a bunch of his other co-workers.  They are all considered displaced workers as their jobs went to a company in Canada. As such he has additional unemployment benefits such as training etc.  Its been such an odd transition... He was the breadwinner and i the stay at home parent... and now its completely reversed.  He has a good job prospect about an hour north of us but that position doesn't start till Jan 3.  In the meantime he is enrolled in a program to help Maine workers start up businesses etc.  When he was laid off the last time (2008) he was in this program then as well. We are both hoping it will take off this time, he has a lot of great ideas.  We are just taking things a day at a time at this point, its all you can really do in these situations. 

I need to start getting my Christmas projects done, I know what I am making for a few people, need to figure out the rest of it soon.

I will try to remember to post every so often ... especially when the holiday projects start flowing.

*hugs*
Regi

WIPs and 1 finish

I completed the mother's day gift for Hubbys mom... good thing as Mother's day was yesterday. *smiles*. I did not however get a picture of it... I kept meaning to and then next thing I knew we were heading out the door. We gave her a lovely potholder and some lavender soap I made, a copy of my favorite picture of the husband and our girls in a nice frame... and a lavender candle from pier 1 imports... all in a nice little basket. We also gave her a funny tshirt that said Help my husband has retired and has no hobbies... she got a big chuckle out of that.

I have also gotten Maddy's quilt top finally sandwiched so although I wont count that as a finish (cause technically its not finished lol) Im excited to have gotten it to that point. Next step is the tying and border quilting. Then the lovely binding.

I have also been working on the Improv squares... Im really not liking them at this point. The eldest does however like them so perhaps they have a home before they are even done.