Here We Go Again?

But really, probably not.  Many times I've dedicated myself to blogging, but I lack the follow through.

There are a few things that I have followed through on though.

First thing is school.  I started in August and am now finishing up my 2nd semester.  I am already registered for my 3rd semester as well.  If you knew my college background, you would be very impressed by this.  I have many times made it through the first semester, but never through the second.  Either I didn't even try for a second semester or I just quit part way through.  If it weren't for my GI Bill money, I would have been sorely tempted to drop this semester too.

Second thing is breaking up with Pepsi.  This has not been easy.  It's been 6 days today since my last soda.  I'm really rather impressed with myself.  I'm not kicking the caffeine habit yet though.  I'm drinking tea.  Wonderful, yummy tea from Teavana.

Third thing is homeschooling Ethan.  We're still going strong and I'm rather impressed with Ethan.  This actually hasn't been that hard as it's been fun too.  We have our lazy days, but he's learning and that's what is important.

So you see, I do occasionally have follow through.

And a random thought.  We drove through Starbucks over the weekend.  R got coffee, I got a bottle of water.  When we got to the window the guy working the drive thru handed me my water and said "Here's your wa wa."  Really?  My wa wa?  I never even used that language with Ethan, let alone another adult.

Going to try Time4Learning.com

I’ve been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

Sooooo.......

Plans have actually changed a bit here.  Ethan will not be going to preschool, we withdrew him.  We're going to try homeschooling him instead.  I'm going to start him with K stuff because it seems he's beyond the PreK stuff.

We've found a great homeschooling group and we're both enjoying it. :)

Ryan's MBA program started yesterday, my classes start next week.  I took a Saturday class that is 4 hours long.  Not sure what I was thinking!

Things are going well in the new house.  It's really a great house.  Loving the Florida room.  Even though it's not air conditioned, with the fan on, it stays nice.  I love it!

Supposed to be a beach day today, but it's raining.  Oh well.  I'm happy for the rain. It hasn't rained anywhere near enough this summer. 

Today is mine and Ryan's 6th anniversary.  I honestly didn't even think of it until I saw the reminder on Facebook.  Yeah.......  hehe

It's been a while

A long, long while since I last posted. Having a lazy day today though I should be unpacking some more. Gotta get the last of my swap packages together and then I am done with swapping. It's fun, but time consuming and costly.

Ethan is banging on the Band Hero drums and singing. He also has a microphone he sings with and a keyboard in his room. I hope he continues to love music.

Ethan starts preschool on in September. He's going to a Montessori school. I start school on August 30, hopefully! Going for my AA degree thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Ryan starts school for his MBA on August 24. We'll all be learning!

I did so much laundry yesterday and still have more to do today. I'll get started on that after I finish up here. And get some cleaning and unpacking done. Fun times! The yard really needs to be mowed too. I promised Ethan bike riding this week too. Should have done it this morning. Oh well.

For those of you that care.......

Here is where I've been hanging out the past few months.

http://missmorganablack.blogspot.com/

My original plan was to upkeep both blogs, but that hasn't been happening. I was also going to keep my other blog in character, but that hasn't happened either.

So, I just post my weekly musings over there. If you're reading this and interested, there is some Harry Potter swap stuff, but I have regular posts too. :)

Sunday, Sunday...

Gosh, the time just flies when I don't have to update weekly. Once the new swap starts, I'll be blogging in character, but I'll still be updating this blog too.

I'm so excited, I get to be a prefect this term!!! It'll be more work, but the swap is so fun it'll be worth it.

This past week I didn't do a ton of knitting. I need to go up to the knit shop to try to fix my Juliet top. I was going pretty good on it, but I left it sitting on the couch and Ethan crawled up here. Some of the stitches came off and I can't figure out where to put my stitch marker for the KFB increases. So, that's on a hiatus until I get up to the shop. I crocheted another soaker for Ethan. I got the correct gauge and it's still too big. This is my 3rd time ripping this out, so I'm done. Soakers just hate me. I still need to finish up my gift longies. I also need to weave in ends and block my lace shawl. I love the shawl. When I get my Malabrigo lace in, I'm going to make another, but using 2 skeins to make it bigger. I've also started on some toe up sock, but haven't got very far yet.

Here is some finished spinning. It's superwash Merino by Sugarbeestudios.



I also have an on-the-bobbin picture of my hand carded Targhee fleece from Whimzypinzy. I love the colors. I ordered and received some Targhee top in this colorway from Whimzypinzy too. She is awesome to work with and did a great dye job! I just bought some Border Leicester locks from her as well. I would definitely recommend her shop!



Here is my new Little Gem. It's really an awesome wheel, though it's been different getting used to the different tension. She came with some Fleece Artist BFL. I love BFL, but it was a pain to work with. I'm glad I didn't buy it.




And here is some top that I dyed with food coloring. I'm in the process of buying some acid dyes so I can get better colors. I'm just not getting the colors I want with food dyes, Koolaid, etc.


There may be a coop in the future on DSD for BFL. They have locks/curls and I'm pretty excited about it! Also on DSD, I recently particpated in a bead coop to make some stitch markers.

Yesterday I did a lot of sewing. I am making some gift diapers and I'm doing a trade. I'll be doing more sewing again today. I'll have pics of the sewing in the next blog update. I did finish a pair of Stellar Transitions for E. They are so cute and fit so well! I have another pair to finish up today. I'll try to knock out a few more pairs this week. E has been taking off his diapers lately to pee in the potty, though he's going in his diapers as well.

I really need to finish up all these items that just need ends weaved and a kitchener stitch. My goal is to get all that done before I get started on anything else.

Well, I guess that's it for today. I'll have some sewing pictures for the next update. And some on-the-bobbin of my custom dyed Targhee. I looks lovely!

The Swap is Over

And I'm back to irregular postings. Not to worry because another swap will begin shortly.

I went to a spin-in at my LYS, Knitwitz, 2 Saturdays ago (the 29th). It was great fun and I spun up all of my Spunky Club Mud Season. It looks awesome and I think I'm going to use it for socks. It is Merino and I kept it as singles.





I don't have an on-the-bobbin picture, but I'll try to get one tomorrow. I am currently spinning some Targhee locks/wool that I've been handcarding. They are in the Valley of Grapes colorway by Whimzy Pinzy Creations on Etsy. The colors are spinning up wonderfully. I am going to be ordering some top in this colorway as well, I'd like to get a smoother yarn to make a shawl with.

Here is my finished Lucy bag. I am really very happy with it and am looking forward to making one for myself.



I've decided I will join the next HSKS swap. I wasn't sure, since making this bag was a total time suck, but I'm going to sew the bag this time around. I just have a lot of knitting projects to do and don't want to be held to a timeline for another knit bag. But sewing one is doable and the swap is lots of fun.

Here are my 2 FC diapers finished up. One is already at it's new home, the other is waiting for me to finish a drawstring on a pair of shorties. They both came out good and I am happy with them.




Here's my first skein of Alpaca. I finished spinning up the rest and will have pictures of that skein next, though I must admit they look pretty similar. :) The Alpaca was pretty easy to spin and it's super soft. It is also very hairy, which is kind of a PIA. I left this as singles and I'm thinking shawl, eventually.



So, on Ravelry, we're starting a Queue challenge. It's all local people and I think it'll be fun. We all listed projects we're hoping to finish this year and we'll get points for those that we do. I have just recently purchased quite a bit of yarn for a couple of bigger projects and am scared and excited to knit them. I'm actually going to do a gauge swatch too! lol First I need to finish up a couple of smaller projects I am currently working on and then I'm going to swatch for my Juliet. I'm using Cascade Bulky Leisure in a nice, deep green color. It's a cotton/alpaca blend, nice! At the same time, I'm thinking of casting on for my Mini Boob Holder. I'd like to get one done and get a good feel for it b/c I want to make another one with Mrs. Weasley sleeves for the Harry Potter movie later this year.

My Little Gem is being made and will hopefully be arriving here in the somewhat near future. I'm looking forward to it and am hoping to be able to get a lace weight single with it.

On a personal note, I have been feeling so crappy lately. Just really unhappy with my life type of crappy. I am just tired of feeling responsible for 2 other people besides myself, it's wearing me down and I just feel like I'm losing touch with me. I guess a lot of it has to do with having a very demanding 2.5 year old. Ryan is pretty needy too. I feel all I do is give, give, give of myself. Maybe I don't even give that much, but I'm a loner and a selfish type of person, so the amount of giving I'm doing seems to be a lot. Sometimes I just want to run away and be somewhere by myself. For a few weeks. Even a weekend would be nice. To sleep in, to not have to worry about cleaning/dressing/laundry for anyone but myself, to not have to feed anyone but myself, to do nothing all day long if I wanted to. I need a vacation from my life.