Knitting Zeal

Friday favorites, or wow, this crazy busy week is almost done.

This first week of summer has been a whirlwind of activity.  I haven't had time to post, but I keep thinking about what I want to share.  Here is my week's wrap-up:

• Father's day was filled with fun.  We had breakfast at a local restaurant where dads ate free.  Andrew enjoyed a mouse shaped pancake.  I grilled dinner and we had a nice dinner at home.  I forget why we didn't eat outside...maybe because the weather continues to be annoying here.  We had chicken marinated in Chiavetta's bbq, tomato salad with toasted French bread, and pasta with pesto. 

 

• Monday started our summer music class schedule.  We are in with a new teacher who I really like.  The songs for the summer are great and the class is small, which is less overwhelming for Andrew.
• We had a super fun play date on Tuesday.  The mommies ate baked brie and brownie pudding while the kiddos played.  Andrew loves new toys.  Of course he rarely plays with the toys here.  Currently he is playing with a receipt.  Seriously.
• Wednesday was Pop day and Andrew continues to ask where he is.  (at his house? he asks.)
• Thursday we had another play date.  Andrew's girlfriend and baby sister came for lunch and fun.  They had a great time together.  It's all fun and games until nap time, though!  After nap, I took Andrew to get his second haircut.  As much as I adore his blonde curls, it was getting unruly and it is summer.  We went to Wiggle Worms, a kids place nearby.  The hairdresser was great, considering Andrew was bashful and buried his head into me.  He didn't want to sit in the car shaped chair, so he sat on my lap.  He got a #4 clipper cut in the back and she shaped the top and sides with her magic scissors.  It is short, but very cute. Before After
• Then, I found out Michael Jackson died and I immediately called my mom.  How sad and crazy his life was.  Back in 1984 my mom took my sister and I to his concert at JFK stadium (which no longer stands!) in Philadelphia.  The show was rained out.  We stood in the rain and waited to hear what was happening.  They rescheduled the concert and we got to go back and see it.  I don't remember it all that much, but somewhere I have the concert program, maybe in the attic.  I loved his music in the 80s, but as he got weirder, I couldn't stand to see or hear him anymore.  The news coverage is impressive...and thankfully there is less Jon/Kate news as a result. 
• Today we visited my sister and her kids for a play date.  Andrew adores his oldest cousin and cried out her name as we drove home because he missed her.  He had lots of fun playing with new toys.  We got home and watched Sesame Street because we were tired and it is really humid outside! 

• I did finish the baby blanket I was working on for Andrew last weekend.  I made him the pinwheel blanket using yarn I bought when I was in France five years ago.  I like how it turned out and am waiting for personalized labels that I ordered from an Etsy shop to add to it.  Andrew loves the "taggies" on his bas (blankets) so he needs a tag on this one.  Here he is dancing around it.

 

TGIF!

Happy Obama Day

Today is the inauguration of Barack Obama.  It is an amazing day that seems to have brought a great deal of hope for a better future for America.  I only wish that Andrew was old enough to understand the significance of today.  He doesn't understand or remember it, but he was with me when I voted last November, taking part in an exciting election.  Whenever he sees Barack Obama speak on the news, he stops what he is doing and watches and smiles.  It is sweet.  I hope that he develops as much interest in the news, the world, and history as his parents. 

I plan to let Andrew watch a bit of the ceremonies today, even if he doesn't quite understand it.  Someday I'll be able to tell him about how he did get to see history in the making. 

Happy Tuesday!

Friday wrap-up

Another week has flown by in a blink.  The election was amazing and I just am so surprised by how many people voted and were excited by the results.  People were celebrating in the streets of Philadelphia--over the election! 

I do find it extremely amusing yet disturbing that gun sales have increased this week since the election.  Apparently due to fears that the Obama administration will make tougher gun laws regarding purchasing guns.  Or there is going to be a domestic coup.  Because there aren't enough guns floating around out there...

I've been working on making some needle felted acorns to decorate for Thanksgiving.  The "corn" parts are larger than the caps I found and for the past few days it has been too wet outside to find some more caps. I forgot how much fun needle felting was and want to continue exploring different projects.  I also have been working on making a series of knitted hats for presents for all the kids in our life.  So far I finished one for Andrew and started a second. 

Putting a crimp on my crafting this week was the recommendation that I get surgery to release my right carpal tunnel.  I went for a nerve study that involved electric shocks and needles.  Apparently the nerves in my right wrist did not react to being shocked or probed, so now I go back to the hand specialist to see what he thinks.  I don't know anyone who has ever had the surgery, but I know many people who also have carpal tunnel issues.  So many people tell me to avoid surgery, to try chiropractic care, etc.  I'm not sure what to do yet.  It sounds like a relatively simple procedure, except my dominant hand is my right one and I don't know how I could take care of the toddler without it.  Changing diapers and strapping him into his seats, let alone holding him, would be difficult for a week or two. 

Andrew has decided that sleeping in his crib is not for him and has started throwing extreme screaming fits when I put him to bed.  We haven't changed his routine, so I am wondering if he is going through some kind of internal adjustment.  Sometimes it takes just a couple of minutes for him to settle down, and other times it takes ten or more minutes of screaming.  It is frustrating because he can't tell me what it is and I have no clue.  He also has begun to throw the occasional temper tantrum.  Isn't he too young for this?  Oy, we are in for it if this keeps up!  Thankfully, he is good when we go out places and still enjoys playing with his toys and books.  He is still enjoying music class each week and I enrolled him for a holiday version as well as the winter session.  When we drive in the car and I play the music from class, he sort of sings along in his own way.  It is very cute.  The music school is offering a sign language class for parents and babies/toddlers.  I went to HS with the teacher and contacted her via facebook to get more info.  She mentioned that it helped with her kids' language development.  I am wondering if it would help us with understanding Andrew to help prevent some of his frustration.  He has become good at pointing to what he wants, so maybe he'll pick up signing easily. 

Happy weekend!

well loved book and Go out to VOTE!

 

This is Andrew's favorite book--can you tell?  We read it daily and he sleeps with it and reads it when he wakes up or before he falls asleep for naps.  The other day I found it in two pieces in his crib.  Some mornings, prior to it's loss of cover, I would find chewed up bits of the binding.  Apparently it is as tasty as it is good reading.  We have read it so much that I no longer need to actually look at the book and often tell him the story in the dark to calm him down.  It is cute that he has favorites already.  Lucky for him, Santa is planning to bring him a new copy.

Andrew did not really get the concept of trick or treating/begging for treats.  We went to one neighbor's house and he got a bit freaked out by this older man trying to give him bags of treats.  There were not many kids in our neighborhood on Friday--it doesn't help that we live on a dark street with no sidewalks and we are on a steep hill.  Next year I hope to take him to his cousins' house on Wisteria Lane because they get the good loot there!

   

Tomorrow is election day.  Finally those commercials will stop...at least for a few months.  While I really really really hope the democratic ticket wins, I also really hope that everyone who can vote, does so, regardless of your choice.  I still can't believe that with all the information available in the media, internet, etc that there are undecided voters.  How can one be undecided now?  I tend to think it is more likely apathy and not indecision for those who aren't sure yet.  Having a child makes me even more concerned about who is running the government.  So VOTE!!

Monkeys, baseball, and pumpkin bread

  Happy Halloween from the monkey!

Andrew donned his costume this afternoon for his visit with his grandmom and pop.  He is walking very well now and liked stomping and crinkling the leaves in the driveway while we waited for our visitors.  The squirrels ate half of his baby pumpkin and a good portion of our homer pumpkin.  I have one more left to carve if the monkey ever takes an afternoon nap, although the later it gets, it may not happen.  He is playing in his crib at the moment instead of sleeping.  It may be one of those days! 

So if you live in the Philadelphia region, I suppose you are aware that the Phillies won the world series.  Back before I knew my husband I used to go fairly regularly to the baseball games with some friends who were big fans.  I actually understand baseball, some of the rules, and used to know the team players (in 1993.)  Now, I have little clue of who is who, but baseball always made more sense to me than football, so I don't mind watching a game.  Andrew did not stay up for the final three innings of the last game, which was played separate from the first 6 innings because of rain, then snow that delayed the game.  It was a bizarre game, but in the end the Phillies won.  So today was the day for the "celebration parade" if that is what chaos is.  My husband works in center city in the tallest building in the city, and being on the 30 something floor gets him a nice view of the parade route, albeit from distance.  He reported to me earlier that it was wall to wall people in town and that there was no way anyone on the ground would be able to see anything unless they were near the front because there were so many people.  I watched a few minutes of the parade on tv, but it was rather dull and it is too nice of a day to sit around watching tv.  While I had the tv on, it was reported that the regional rail lines--the trains--were being shut down due to being overloaded.  They were not taking people into the city anymore.  (Ironically in days past the news media and the mayor were stressing not driving into the city and taking the trains or buses.)  So now my dh is trying to get home early for halloween and to see his monkey in person, and he can't. He has called me twice so far from the train station, which sounds like he is at the parade with so many people screaming (many intoxicated, according to him,) and there are so many people that he can't figure out where to go to get home.  He heard from a police officer that there is a three hour wait for a train out of the city.  He thought about taking a cab, but there are so many street closures, he doesn't know if that would work.  I can't get into the city by car to get him, so I'm not sure what will happen.  Philadelphia is crazy.  It's a shame for the people like him who were actually working today and not playing hooky from work or school. 

So on to pumpkin bread.  I love Trader Joe's and enjoy trying all the different things they sell there.  Every fall they sell a pumpkin bread mix that is incredible.  I know it is easy to make it from scratch, but this mix is really great and fast to make.  So, I made a loaf this afternoon and the house smells great.  Even Andrew enjoyed eating some.  I added half a banana and some ground flax meal to the batter, along with some cinnamon, because I thought it might increase the nutritional value of the bread.  The flax meal gives it just a little bit of texture and does not affect the taste.  My friend stocks up on the mix to give out baked bread as gifts.  Good idea!!

Cookie race

 

While I suppose the presidential race is a bit more serious than this, but it certainly adds some yum factor to what is becoming a stressful race.  Wee boy and I visited our favorite local bakery this afternoon to order his, (sniff,) first birthday cake.  (While I could make it, I am not that insane at the moment.)  Weinrich's has been selling presidential race cookies for a while now and they keep track of what they sell.  So far, it seems that the Democratic ticket is in the lead by a large margin.  In fact, they were just about sold out of Obama cookies today and were busy filling a large order when I was there.  There was a story on our local news last week about the cookie race so since we were at the bakery I thought it would be fun to participate.  (Andrew also got a butter cookie from the bakery lady, his first "real" cookie.  I believe he may have inherited the maternal sweet tooth gene.)

Andrew went to music class yesterday and seemed to enjoy it.  The class was full--12 kids and 12 parents plus the teacher.  Andrew enjoyed checking out all of the other kids and instruments.  While it makes Chris shudder, I think I'll buy Andrew some of the instruments for Christmas.  The shakers and clacker ones fit nicely in his hand and he has always enjoyed shaking things to hear the sounds they make. 

He looks like he is ready to start school in this photo to  me.  I can't believe he is almost a year old.  Notice the rather generic looking remote control in his clutches.  He loves remote controls, particularly the universal one that actually makes the tv do things.  His other favorite toys this week are used danactive containers and empty vitamin water bottles that he trash picks out of the recycle bin.  Why we buy toys, I don't know...

Vote for me

Yesterday was the primaries in Pennsylvania, where I live.  It was all over the news for the past six weeks and it turned out to be a bit of an ugly fight by the end.  I thought it was rather unusual that Obama left the state before the results were even in.  Guess he really didn't believe he had a chance here.  Hillary won with a surprising (to me) ten point lead.  Andrew and I went to vote yesterday morning at our local HS.  He enjoyed participating in his civic duty.  Somehow we lucked out and did not receive a single campaign call.  Others I know received multiple calls daily.  I guess that do not call list really works!

I have not been knitting much lately.  Instead I have finished two novels in the past week. Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline was a fun to read book, as it is set in Philadelphia and used many local references.  The Philly Inquirer--the newspaper--was plugged a few times in the book.  Funny, the author is also a columnist there.  I once had the opportunity to go to a book reading by Scottoline, but it interfered with my knitting group, so I skipped it.  :-)

I also read James Patterson's 7th Heaven.  It was one of those quick read mysteries.  Both books would be great beach reads.  Lately all I can handle are fast paced, quick reads.  I have been reading while waiting for Andrew to cry it out at night.  He goes through phases where he will go to sleep easily at night for about a week, then fight and cry for up to two hours.  Now he is in a phase where he discovered that he can flip himself over to sleep, but wakes up at 2:30 am to play.  Guess who doesn't feel like playing then??

We found a new park nearby and have been enjoying the fantastic weather of late and going for walks daily.  While my allergies are bothersome, this hasn't been too bad of a year so far. 

Yesterday was Earth Day.  I picked up a few more cloth shopping bags at Whole Foods.  They have the best sized ones there that also have a long enough handle that I can throw the bag over my shoulder.  For a buck, they can't be beat!  I was at another super market the other day buying some groceries and had brought my two cloth bags with me.  I really needed one more bag, so the bagger and cashier used plastic for the remainder of my order.  For a pack of chicken (sealed in plastic, not leaking), two cards, and a box of crackers, they used three plastic bags!  I didn't realize it until I got out of the store. No wonder I have so many plastic bags floating around my house.

Happy Earth Day from Andrew!

nothing exciting here

Really, nothing going on.  Andrew has been having some sleep issues lately, although last night was a good one.  I went to a consignment sale over the weekend to see if I could fetch him a jumperoo for cheap--as I pulled up in the parking lot, the last one jumped out the door with it's new owner.  Rats!  I refuse to pay $70 for a toy he will use for exactly three months, plus, why fill the landfills more?  I keep checking craigslist for one, but nothing so far. 

Due to sleeping issues, lack of that is, not much knitting has occurred in this house.  I have all the elephante parts done but the ears, which are supposed to be crocheted.  I tried it, and it looks too wonky.  I may use someone's suggestion on Ravelry to use the elephant ears from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  We'll see...

My first crocus appeared today--I was without camera.  It was pretty and I am eager for spring to arrive!

Oh, I got a new kitchen faucet installed today.  It has a sprayer too.  I am excited.  I am a boring housewife!  It's the little things that make life a bit easier that I value now!!

Happy Tuesday, night!

PS:  Cara had her baby today--a girl!  Congrats to the new mommy!! I can't wait to see what she'll knit for the baby!!

September 11th.

This Monday marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.  Almost 3,000 people perished as a result of the acts that occurred on that devastating day.  I will never forget September 11, 2001;  how I felt that morning driving to work before the first plane crash; how I felt immediately after; or how I feel now.

As I drove to work that morning--a clear blue sky, sun shining brightly--the U2 song Beautiful Day was playing on the radio as I pulled into my parking spot.  I recall thinking that it was an appropriate song for the day.  Less than 15 minutes later one of the secretaries in my office came in and remarked that she heard on the radio that one of the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane.  Another secretary pulled out a little television set and we watched one of the morning news shows.  As we watched, what we thought was news footage of the original crash was actually the second plane crashing into the other tower--we saw it on live TV.  A wave of disbelief passed through the office as it became evident that this was not an accident, as previously reported.

As the events of the day unfolded the sense of fear and confusion filled me. The visual images of people jumping or falling to their death is permanently burned into my visual memory.  I cannot imagine what it must have felt to be in any of the disasters that occurred that day. 

For as much pain as I still feel today regarding the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001, I know that they do not match the feelings of those who lost their loved ones.  As part of 2,996:  A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11, I have the privilege of writing this blog entry honoring Rajesh A. Mirpuri, an intelligent, successful, young man who perished that day in the World Trade Center.

 

Rajesh Mirpuri was born on September 18, 1970 in Hong Kong and raised in New Jersey.  The only son of Arjan and Indra Mirpuri, he was raised in the Hindu faith and very devoted to his family.  Educated at the University of Vermont and New York University, at the young age of 30, Rajesh was the vice president of sales for the financial software firm, Data Synapse, based in midtown Manhattan.  On the morning of September 11, 2001, Rajesh was attending a financial technology conference at the World Trade Center, Tower One, 106th floor.  Shortly after the crash of the plane into his building, Rajesh contacted his boss, Peter Lee, telling him of the thick smoke and inability of being able to see more than three meters.  He left behind his grieving parents and many friends.

A devoted son is one way of describing Rajesh.  His father was quoted in interviews after the tragic day of telling a beautiful story of just how good a son Rajesh was to his parents.  In the summer of 1996 Rajesh was working in Tokyo and had told his parents of his plans to vacation in Hawaii.  It was the day of his parents' 30th anniversary and Rajesh called his father, who was in New Jersey, to tell him he had arrived in Honolulu.  Within an half hour, Mr. Mirpuri's doorbell rang.  He found his son standing at the door as an anniversary surprise. 

Rajesh was fond of the New York nightlife and fine dining, as well as traveling the world, watching and participating in sports.  He did volunteer work to benefit the homeless and the elderly.  He was a good friend, intelligent, hard working, and has a strong sense of family values.  He was the type of son that made his parents proud as he showed that all of the hard work that goes into raising a child has it's pay offs. 

To honor their son, the Mirpuris built a temple inside their home where they burn incense and have numerous photographs of Rajesh.  They also held 12 days of puja ceremonies, in their home, as well as a larger memorial service at the Sadhu Vaswani Center, a temple in Closter, NJ.  It was reported that Rajesh's parents received an urn of ash from the city of New York.  Following the Hindu tradition, they planned to sink the urn in the Ganges River in India and pray for their son's spirit and those of all the other victims.

From all of the articles I could find about Rajesh it became clear to me that he was an amazing person, touching everyone who knew him.  At his tribute page on Legacy.com, there are memorial entries from friends and family members, showing how truly missed he is by many.  His parents' lives will never be the same.  They have their memories of a remarkable son who demonstrated the important values they taught him as he grew into an adult.  I hope that as time passes that their pain eases at least slightly and that if they read this, they feel I have appropriately memorialized their son.  I wish them peace as this difficult anniversary passes. 

I used the following resources in compiling this entry:

Newsday

Legacy.com

CNN

The Age

United in Memory

Wand Partners

Please read some of the other memorials written by bloggers by clicking here.

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