A Quick Night at the Ball Game

The Timber Rattlers announced that Scooter Gennett (former Rattler, now a Brewer) was rehabbing with them this weekend, and Friday was "Webkinz Cow Night" so we decided to go to the T-Rats game.

Timber Rattlers games are pretty inexpensive, especially compared to MLB games (I think Anna went to a Brewers game when she was little.  Even the cheap seats at Brewers games are expensive).  We decided to take the grass seat option-something we've never done-as the tickets were $6 instead of $12 for seats where we usually sit (the kind with backs and a cup holder).  I ordered them online--Anna didn't want to go, so it was 4 tickets@$6=$24.  Great.  Until you tack on a $7 convenience fee just for the privilege of ordering a ticket online.  And $5 to park.  So we were essentially paying for 6 tickets for 4 people.

Whatever.  It was still not a bad price for a night out.

So we get to the ballpark, and it's not nearly as busy as usual.  Mind you, we always go on Star Wars night and sometimes go on Storybook Princess night.  It was just Webkinz cow night, so we were ok.  The stands were mostly empty.

We opted to sit in the grass seats by the Kidszone, because Emily wanted to play.  This is when we found out that the Kidszone is actually $5.  WTF?  To jump in the bounce house and go down the inflatable slide.  *sigh*  Then the grass seats started to fill in.

I'm not one to put on airs.  I have my white trash roots, and I am always a pay check away from white trash (or homelessness in some cases).  On any given day I am white trash.  But what a motley crue in the grass seats!

There was every kid in the ballpark running around, pushing and shoving, flying down the hill at 80 miles an hour toward the cement barrier with parents sitting on blankets ignoring the shit out of them while they drank their Jack Daniels Lynchburg Lemonades.  In addition to every kid in the ballpark, we came on "The local Junior High choir sings the national anthem" night, so even though they had seats (with backs I'm assuming) they all invited their friends and were hanging in the cheapseats, mostly standing and talking to each other and taking selfies.  In front of us was a preteen who spent the entire time we were there taking pictures of herself on her phone with the field in the background.  Combine that with the people who were just there to pound beers, and it was the dirt mall of the ballpark.

I did get to take this nice picture though:

We made it through the first inning and it was time to go.  We hit the "spin the wheel" game on the way out, and Emily won 2 free happy meals, so hurray!  Kids, you're eatin' tonight!

I'm not a snob about most things.  I drive old cars, live in old houses, shop at the Goodwill (not because it's trendy; because it's cheap).  But I won't sit in the grass seats again.

And another one bites the dust

So in the same bin I found the half finished socks, I found a pair of half finished mittens from probably last fall. Fortunately this one had the pattern with it, so I didn't have to figure it out. So I decided to finish them up.

Here's what they looked like when I found them.

I know the yarn is Lamb's Pride bulky.  Oh how I love the twist of Lamb's pride!  It is my favorite wool to knit with, just for the beautiful twist:

So since I am home with water running out of my butt (I knew you would like a visual) I finished up these mittens.  They are supposed to be felted, but they fit Emily pretty perfectly now so I might just keep them this way.  Still nice, warm mittens.

I had 2 bags with yarn and/or projects in them in the bedroom, but they have mysteriously disappeared to the new house, I am guessing.  Along with my spinning wheel, which had better make it there in one piece.

And my yellow tulips opened:

And here is an even prettier picture of my orange tulips:

So I think I'm going to finish the kitchener on my roundabout socks, then see if I can find the rest of the yarn for those.  Or start a new pair, if I can find my ball maker.  I think it might still be upstairs, unless it's not.  *sigh*

Finished Objects from long ago

So I wanted to knit something, but I still have that problem where some yarn is here and some yarn is there...and I'm just uninspired.  So I had a basket of projects and such in my bedroom, and in it was some worsted weight socks.  One was done, and the other was halfway through the heel.  So I looked at it for about a day and thought, "What the hell?"

You can see where it's been sitting on the needles awhile by the crease in the heel.  I didn't have the pattern in with them (I usually do, so I wonder what happened to it?).  It's either this pattern or very similar (I thought it was called "sock hop" something, but I didn't find anything like that).  So I winged it and finished the socks in less than a day.

I gave them to Anna, and she loves them!  I seriously think they have been sitting since before or shortly after Emily was born.  Seriously.  So it was nice to finish them and nice to have something to do.

I also have some pretty flower pictures.  Hyacinths and orange tulips.  I need to remember to mark where they are in my garden so I can take them with me.

 Not much was done this weekend.  Anna and Emily were going to sleep at my mom's house until Anna decided to be a puker (I thought we were over this...) so she's been vegging on the couch for 2 days.  I played some games and managed to vacuum.  And Bob Pleco (or plecostomus) has decided to eat the algae off the glass of the turtle tank finally, so I guess it was a good weekend.

Moving is Hard

So, hubby got a new job and we're moving about an hour and a half away from where we are now.  I'm happy he got a new job (something he doesn't believe).  He just doesn't seem to understand the whole "I'm going to miss my house" thing, and equates that with "You are questioning the entire process".   No, I'm going to miss my house.

I love our little house.  It's the perfect size for us.  We have a spare bedroom, a finished basement AND a sewing room AND a cedar closet.  It really was (and is) my dream home.

The house we found to rent I am glad we are just renting.  I am getting the house in filthy condition (new landlord=not quite understanding why it's not ok to charge me $600 for my cats, but give me a disgusting carpet with carpet beetles).  It's an old farmhouse, but the only place to put my sewing machine is in a dark cubby upstairs.

The plus is that there are 10 miles of walking trails behind the house, with a little creek that runs through it.  Needless to say, my Anna is in love.

Speaking of Anna, she was recognized as a youth volunteer.  She's put in over 600 hours at Heckrodt, and I am very proud of her.

I have been knitting a little bit, thinking about it mostly.  I'm working on a scarf for a friend.  I also made this little shawlette:

One of the hardest things is finding all of my yarn.  Half of it is at the new house and half is at the old house, and I feel like it's just so much work to put anything together.  To the point where I am nearly done with a sock and it seems like too much work to find a yarn needle to get it off the needles.

But everything seems like so much work.  I'm very down lately, worrying about getting a job, not even wanting to bother with school.  I just don't seem to care that there's a semi coming at me in my lane.

Christmas Projects 1 of 4

So the latch hook is finished (well except for the finishing!) Woohoo!

Nick's hat is at the decreases, baby sweater is a third done and Emily's Barbie clothes are woefully behind. But I'm working on it.

Thinking Ahead-New Year Style

So there's been more than one moment this week where I've said to myself, "Self, this would be a good resolution to do EVERY DAY!"  They're pretty basic, and boring, but here are some I've thought of:

1. STOP READING COMMENTS FOR FUCK'S SAKE!  Seriously, nothing can make me more miserable than reading comments on news stories, whether on Facebook or tv or newspaper sites.  I am even sick of reading comments on some people's Facebook posts.  It's the same old crap all the fucking time.
And speaking of Facebook...

2. FACEBOOK NEEDS TO BE A "SOMETIMES" FOOD.  I spend WAY too much of my life on Facebook.  Mostly it's wasting up to an hour at a time looking at bullshit I really don't care about, that usually makes me sad or angry.  I like the funny stuff, but there just isn't enough of that.  Mostly drama, and I just don't have time for drama.  At least I shouldn't.  It seems I always do.

3. MORE KID ONE-ON-ONE TIME.  (Sensing time as a theme?)  My kids LOVE "mom and me" time, even at their ages.  Even if it's just running to the grocery store or grabbing a quick lunch.  So why not make them feel special whenever I can?  It's an easy thing to do.

4. MORE TIME FOR SCHOOL (Time....)  I know I didn't spend enough time on my one class.  I got off to a rotten start for the semester and just never seemed motivated to get my shit together.  This semester, it's checking in at least once a day, whether I want to or not.  I'm not going to do the "I'll get all my stuff done before the day it's due" because why lie?  I won't.  I do better when I have a deadline (and that's actually not a lie).

5. LIMITING TIME SPENT AROUND TOXIC PEOPLE. Ok, so there are always some "toxic" people we can't seem to get rid of.  Mostly those are called "family".  I've done a pretty fair job this past year of stepping away, but holy hell, nothing can test your toxicity meter like Christmas.  Here is an example of why I step away:

A Mother-In-Law Christmas Story

Once Upon a Time, my Mother-In-Law was broke and asked us for money.  But she still got us something for Christmas.  Why she didn't just not get us anything was beyond me, until I saw what she got us.

She's broke, but she got us Rachael Ray pots and pans.  Now, I don't need pots and pans, but what a lovely gift.  Expensive. Only then she says, "Look inside the box.  They aren't all there".

No, friends and neighbors, SHE needed new pots and pans, so to justify it, she left us the little frying pan and one pot and kept the rest.  Now, she could have taken them out of the box and just put a bow on them and we'd never know there was a whole set.  Yet, she chose not to do this.  And THEN had the audacity to bitch at Brian for using her new pan (Whose new pan is this?) when we came over to cook HER breakfast for Christmas.  You know, and brought ALL. THE. FOOD.

And Lynnette, by some act of Nature or the Divine or just her own willpower (which is a minor miracle) did not lose her shit on her MIL.

OK, so anyway, on that note, I hope you understand the limiting toxic people thing, and in some ways, the levels.  At least, seeing the next point, maybe distance makes the heart stop being so pissed off all the time?....

6. DE-CLUTTER.  Yes, it's the age-old "Of course I will organize and de-clutter my life" resolution everyone makes with the "I'm going to lose weight" resolution.  But I REALLY don't have a choice this year.  Brian got a new job that will require relocation, and even though someone will be moving us this time (for the first time.  Ever. Because someone is paying for it for the first time. Ever.) we have so much SHIT.  It's not just little shit, like books and toys and yarn, of which there is a half ton (and no, I am not a complete idiot and no, I will not be parting with any of the yarn.  I am just saying.  Not gonna happen.  But it will be packed, labeled and organized.) it's also big shit like excess furniture.  When we got this house there was lots of excess furniture, and we had some, then we acquired more shit thinking we weren't leaving here and, well, I have 5 bedrooms, a basement and a garage (complete with attic) full of crap.  I would like to halve it, but I would be happy to lose at least 30% of it.

7. EAT OUT LESS. We spend an INSANE amount of money going out to eat, whether it's me grabbing lunch on the way home from work to "It's 6pm.  What are we having for dinner?  Oh you're going to run and get something?  OK"  A little planning can not only limit my runs to the grocery store, but will save us the unhealthy expensive meals.

There will be more.  These are just the ones that I have been thinking about the past week.  I won't be exercising unless I feel like it. I will eat lots of ice cream and gluten.  I will still play video games, because it's something I enjoy and why the fuck not?  I'm going to knit hopefully lots.  I have ideas for creating cool things that I hope I'll get to do in the New Year.  Because it makes me happy.  And honestly, I would like 2015 to end as a year of happy, since the beginning of it might be mass chaos.

What am I up to?

So, Winter Solstice. Christmas looming around the corner. And I'm sitting on the couch, drinking a bloody Mary. Last 2 pans of Chex Mix (I made it from scratch for the first time in my life) are just about ready to come out of the oven. And I'm working on...

A trippy 1970's owl latch hook for Anna. Trying to get it done by Christmas.

Along with Barbie clothes made for Emily. And a hat knit for Nick. And a baby surprise jacket knit for my coworkers baby.

And I need to make cookies. And candy. And come up with something for my brother and sister in law. And now host lunch on Christmas day for my mother-in-law.

Head. Exploding.