Month: January 2007

Shoe Shopping Sucks.

Sarah General

We’re attending a holiday party this weekend. Denis started his new job last week, and for some reason they hold their holiday party in February. It’s “semi-formal” – which makes me think of prom gowns and midnight bowling after, but I don’t imagine that’s what it will be like.

I’m nervous, as I haven’t actually gone out for an evening among adults in years. I’m worried that I will be boring, as the only topics of conversation I really have to offer revolve around Carrie, knitting, and the musical.

I’m also worried that I won’t have anything to wear on my feet. I bought a dress last night, just a simple black dress with three-quarters length sleeves. How hard could it be to find a pair of dressy but not strappy black shoes? Apparently, even though my feet are a rather normal size 9 in regular shoes, they are freakishly wide for dress shoes. I mean, I can’t even squeeze half my toes into the shoe. I went to three different stores this evening after rehearsal with nothing to show for it.

Luckily, Zappos is having a free overnight shipping thing going on right now, so I’m going to go order several pairs of black dressy shoes in various widths and keep my fingers crossed that when they arrive on Thursday at least one pair will fit me. I guess I wouldn’t make a good candidate for Cinderella…I don’t imagine glass slippers come in wide widths!

Birthdays!

Sarah General

Today is my “baby” brother Michael’s birthday, and also Lauren’s birthday.

Carrie’s been wandering around singing “Happy birthday dear Uncle Mike-o” all day. Now if only I could actually catch it on video…

Knitting Blahs

Sarah Knitting

I’m not feeling very inspired by my knitting projects lately. After I finished the bag for the knit mitten kit swap I decided I’d try to finish up some things that had been languishing in my knitting bag for a long time. The first thing on that list was my scarf, hat & mitten set. I’m making the mittens/fingerless gloves/whatever up as I go along, and I’m not sure I’m all that happy with how they’re turning out. But I want to finish up this project before I start anything new. So…I’m avoiding knitting at the moment.

But all bets are off on February 1st, when Project Spectrum 2.0 starts. I have two cardigans (one me-sized, one Carrie-sized) and at least two pairs of socks that could fit into the blue/white/grey color scheme for February and March. Think I can knit two sweaters and two pairs of socks in two months? OK, maybe not, but at least it will be a goal. Technically, the cardigans will also have a fair amount of green, so if they stretch into April and May that would be OK. I’m still pondering some non-knitting projects to do with that color scheme.

And if I really apply myself, I bet I could finish those mittens before Thursday so I can start all those new projects guilt free!

Funny Toddler Sayings

Sarah Carolyn

The latest funny things Carrie says:

In response to my suggestion that she help me fold laundry in the living room (to get her out of Denis’ hair while he used the steam cleaner in the family room): “Oh! Laundry in the living room? That’d be great!”

“Mommy, blank me up!” is how she asks to be tucked in.

“I blow it off” is what she says when something is too hot and she’s going to blow on it to cool it off.

And, heaven forbid anyone ask her what she had for breakfast, because I’m sure “raisin opium” would warrant a call to CPS. I liked it better when she mispronounced oatmeal as “opamee”!

Twenty-Seven Months Old!

Sarah Monthly Updates

Dear Carolyn,

I can’t believe how much you’ve changed this month. You’ve started actually singing – maybe not recognizable tunes, but you’re no longer simply reciting the words to songs. You’re sleeping in your toddler bed all the time now, in fact we took your crib down a couple of weeks ago. You can draw people and carrots (don’t ask me why you like to draw carrots, I have no idea), and circles, triangles, and sometimes even squares. I gave you an open cup to drink from the other day, expecting to have to mop up a puddle of water, and you drank the whole thing without spilling a drop. And you’re starting to insist on wearing panties around the house instead of diapers – granted, you’re not quite making it to the potty most of the time, but you’re really trying to get the hang of it all.

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You’ve also become…willful is the wrong word, but it’s the best I can come up with. We play chase every day while I try to wrestle you into whatever clothes you’ve picked out. You run away after every meal before I can wash your sticky hands. You’ve discovered that if you wedge yourself into a small enough space, I can’t actually get you out against your will. We’ve been discussing cooperation. Often. And how only little girls who cooperate get to watch Elmo’s Potty Time DVD. I never thought I’d resort to bribery, but I think you’d do almost anything if it meant watching your beloved furry red monster sing about using the potty.
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You adore playing in the snow that we’ve finally gotten – although I think you were pretty happy to be using the slide just a week or two ago. You spend hours playing with lacing beads and your kitchen. And just today you spent the entire morning playing with a box big enough for you to lay down in and close the top – first it was a boat, then a car, and at some point you dragged your Elmo chair in there and had a tea party with your babies. I thought you liked your playsilks before, but this month you’ve started using them to be a superhero, a baby bird, and a teacher (you put it on like a cape, only in front of you, and say you’re a teacher). You’ve got a wonderful imagination. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Love, Mommy

Preschool, and a People

Sarah Milestones


What does this look like to you? According to Carrie, it’s “a people!” She told me what she was drawing: “eyes, a nose, a mouth…legs, feet, shoes…arms and hands!” This is the first time I’ve ever seen her draw something more than a basic shape and have it look like what she said she was drawing. I had to take a picture, since it’s not likely we’ll be keeping this piece of paper, but when she becomes a famous artist someday she might want to see her first real drawing.

Coincidentally, we signed her up for preschool today. She’ll be going two mornings a week starting next fall. We had to write a brief description of Carrie on the registration form. How do you sum up a child in two lines? We wrote something silly about how she loves dogs, and books, and books about dogs. And that she’s active and loves to play with puzzles and baby dolls. But we probably should have written something about how self-confident and independent she is, and that she’s caring and polite and adorable and a stinker. Oh, well, they’ll find out soon enough, right? And we have our next big challenge: she needs to be potty trained by the time school starts!

Just Two Seconds

Sarah Music

I’m fairly certain that Leonard Bernstein was under the influence of something when he wrote out the piano part to West Side Story. (To be fair, according to wikipedia he had assistants, so maybe it was one of them.) In the prologue, there is a piano solo. A solo which the orchestra director has assured me is really, truly necessary. The prologue is played at approximately 120 bpm. In the space of 4 beats (2 seconds) I have to play a B-flat major run up three scales, plus a few half steps at the end. So I literally have to play 7 notes in a half a second three times in a row, and then 6 more notes in a half a second.

I have practiced this 2 second snippet of music for hours so far, and the best I can do is about half-tempo – and that’s with plenty of mistakes. I think I need to hire a stunt double!

Goodies from Alaska!

Sarah Knit Mitten Kit Swap

Check out the fabulous mitten kit that arrived this afternoon! Rebecca really put together a wonderful kit:

I *love* the blue and orange combination of both the bag and the yarn – it’s not something I would have ever thought to put together myself, but it’s so perfect! (After all, they’re two of my favorite colors, why have I never put them together?) It will also go wonderfully with my blue winter coat. The yarn is an alpaca and silk blend. It is so incredibly soft and wonderful, I might just have to pet it for a while before I knit it up. I’ll have to think about how I’d like to do the mittens, since the included pattern is a great basic mitten pattern which leaves a lot of options for customization. Stripes? Fair isle? The possibilities are endless.

Also in this package are several packets of peppermint hot chocolate, a couple of polar bear smooches (which Denis tried to make off with but I insisted they had to be photographed first), and some lovely beaded stitch markers (blue and orange, of course!) made by Rebecca’s sister Sarah.

What a great package! Thanks, Rebecca! I’m off to go drink some fabulously yummy-sounding peppermint cocoa and pet my new yarn for a bit.

Knit Mitten Kit Finished

Sarah Knit Mitten Kit Swap

I meant to post this the day I mailed out the kit, but we’ve been cleaning house and I’ve barely had the time to check my email, let alone blog.

Anyway, after two trips through the washer, countless hours on the shelf in the dryer (it’s amazing how much water can still be soaked into wool after rolling it in a towel several times), and a few stitches here and there, the bag was ready for needle felting. I definitely foresee more needle felted projects in my future. I had to restrain myself from putting needle felted flowers all over the bag.

Since I delayed so much in posting this, Mary Lynn already received her kit so I can say who it was for! I really enjoyed putting this kit together, even if I did wait until the 11th hour. I love doing swaps. Usually the recipient’s tastes are not quite what mine would be, so when I choose the project or the colors it wouldn’t necessarily be something I would wear/use/want. But then by the time I’m done with the project or I put a kit together, I really like it. It lets me try out new colors or patterns without being committed to, say, owning a pair of neon yellow lace socks. Of course, this bag is two colors I adore, so I had a harder time than usual mailing it off. I can’t wait to see what’s in my kit when it gets here all the way from Alaska! I was working so hard on Mary Lynn’s kit that I actually forgot I would be getting one in return until my pal left a comment the other day.

There are more details on the project page.

Noting the Lasts

Sarah Milestones

Every first is celebrated in a child’s life. First time sleeping through the night, first steps, first words. Carrie slept in her “big girl bed” for the first time sometime last month. But she slept in her crib for the very last time last Wednesday afternoon.

We took the crib down yesterday. Her room looks so very different, and based on the trouble she’s had falling asleep since I think it will take her some time to get used to it too.

I have such mixed feelings about this transition. On the one hand, Carrie is so very proud of the fact that she’s sleeping in a big girl bed. She tells everyone she sees. And that makes me very happy for her. On the other hand, although she’ll always be my baby…she’s not a baby anymore. Not only because she’s sleeping in a bed of course, but that’s one major sign I’ve noticed lately.

It was so much sooner than we’d planned to move her, but she was ready. I’ve shed my tears over taking down the beautiful crib I so lovingly picked out for my cherished baby girl, and we will pack it away for future hopes and dreams. And I hope I never, ever forget how she looked sleeping in the crib with her little bottom stuck up in the air…my baby.