Knitting Zeal

dishpan hands

Since entering motherhood the quantity of dish washing I've done has risen dramatically.  As a result, I suffer from terribly dry skin on my hands, particularly my palms and cuticles.  I used to always have great manicured fingers, but I very rarely take the time to paint my nails anymore.  I am constantly moisturizing, but between the increased hand washing from having a baby/toddler who is in diapers and a messy eater, to the threat of germs/piggy flu, my hands are a mess.  It doesn't help that the hand sanitizer I use when not near a sink for hand washing is almost pure alcohol, which really burns! 

My palms were so bad last week that one actually split open and started to bleed.  Ugly and painful!  I've invested in a slew of hand potions/lotions and even tried a few diaper creams (which were messy!) and have settled on Heal my Hands Ultra, which has helped when I don't have to wash it off.  One balm cake should last me 6-12 months, but I am going through this cake fast, so I may be re-ordering soon.  (I really love all the Heal My Hands products, especially the lavender mint balm and the vanilla lip balm--both smell wonderful!)  I discovered them at Rhinebeck last year (with Julie's suggestion) and found that those balms work the best for me. 

The biggest mistake I make is not wearing gloves when washing dishes.  I've bought those ugly yellow dish gloves, but have managed to poke holes in them or find that they don't go up my arm far enough so water splashes in and annoys me.  This weekend while doing a bit of holiday shopping at TJ Maxx I found a cute pair of kitchen gloves that were purple with long polka dotted cuffs that go almost to my elbows.  They fit well and really have helped, as long as I wear them consistently.  For just $3, I should have bought a second pair!  My hands have improved dramatically this weekend, so hopefully knitting will be easier, especially when the fiber isn't getting caught on my dry skin!

Memory game

Back when I was young and ready to learn I was fascinated by the brain, how it works and how it encodes memories.  (I still am interested but too tired to try to learn much new these days.)  I ended up studying psychology as an undergrad partially because of my interest in the brain.  I ended up as a counselor instead of a researcher, but if I could design a study now, I would want to figure out a way to examine a toddler's brain and its ability to remember EVERYTHING.  

Andrew recalls so many mundane details of our lives and retells it, particularly while we are driving that I am beginning to wonder if he is brilliant, or just has lots of extra room for memories that my brain is too clogged to hold.  I noticed it when we were at Target one time and he pointed out where "daddy's iced tea" was located--diagonally across the store from where we were.  I later learned that he had gone to Target with daddy once several weeks prior and they bought a bottle of iced tea from the refrigerator case Andrew had pointed out.  Today as we drove to his pediatrician's office a few miles away he pointed out where daddy and he went to the car wash and he got a soft pretzel.  He is only two, so the description is something like "car wash, daddy's car, in there, the car wash" he said as we passed a local church that had been doing a fundraiser car wash a few weeks ago.  Chris had bought him a pretzel there, so he retold that part too.  Then we passed the hospital where he was born.  He told me it was the hospital and that daddy had taken mommy there in his car.  The last time his daddy took me to the hospital there was when I gave birth, so I started to wonder if my two year old was having a paranormal experience or remembered being a fetus. Then Andrew added that we went in daddy's car to the hospital to see grandma J who had a boo-boo on her knee.  That is when I realized he was recalling the one time we went to visit his grandma in a different hospital after she had knee replacement surgery--this was probably two months ago.  

The list of examples of weird things my toddler recalls goes on, and someday I am going to sit down and write up a scientific study for toddler memory development.  For now, we need to be careful of what we say or do with him in case he ends up ratting us out to someone who we don't want to know our whereabouts!  

 

It has been a cold and dreary rainy day today.  Andrew decided to wear his monkey rain gear.  He  had his two year old check up at the doctor's and is perfectly normal, as normal as toddlers go, I suppose.  He did get the flu shot and the H1N1 nasal vaccine while he was there.  I am hoping he does not have a reaction to either vaccine.  He did well with the flu shot last year.  He didn't even cry at the shot, but he was less than thrilled with the mist shot up his nostrils for the other one.  He cried because he had to get dressed and go home.  Seriously.  We were all done and I just had to re-dress him, as he was in an undershirt, diaper and socks only for the exam.  He flipped out and insisted he didn't want to get dressed and leave.  So after having a conversation with the doc about dealing with temper tantrums (he said to walk away and ignore them) I had to wrestle my very strong toddler back into his clothes and force his boots on his feet so we could leave.  He absolutely refused to put his coat on, so I gave up on it and covered him with a blanket in the car and cranked up the heat. He was fine by the time we got home and was excited to use his monkey umbrella in the rain.

 Someone received their first shiner this week after hurtling himself over the side of the bathtub.  Bad mommy was standing next to him.  At least no stitches were involved, this time!

Insomnia and other distractions

So for the past few nights I haven't been able to sleep well.  The pillow issue is part of the problem, but not the whole issue.  Generally I don't sleep soundly, because of the anxiety from the toddler's potentially erratic sleep schedule, but lately it's been worse.  I think it started when I finished reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.  That book was just disturbing.  Also, our fall schedule hasn't quite started so we are floating around without any definitive daily plans.  Before I had a child I lived via my daily planner.  Every hour of my day was planned.  As much as I try to continue to plan my days, a small human interferes by being disagreeable or wanting to follow his own agenda!  I'm still not used to that!  Next week we start tumbling, music and swimming classes again, so we will have plans for three mornings of the week.  I am not complaining...I just am not used to the unpredictability of a toddler. 

I am also slightly stressed, but more excited, about the toddler's upcoming birthday party.  He is going to be TWO!  Yikes, where did my baby go?  We are having a mini luau for him and I have been busy figuring out the menu and designing his cake.  I still need to figure out what flavor cake to make.  I would like to find a recipe for a graham cracker cake that would work in a bundt pan. I am going to use the castle cake pan I have to make a sandcastle and set it on a sheet cake that will be decorated as a beach.  Hopefully it will work!  I bought the toddler a little trike that looks like a tiny vesper scooter.  He liked trying out his cousins' bikes when we were visiting, so it is time he learned how to pedal a bike himself.  We live close to a park that has a little tiny town for toddlers to bike around in it--it has small buildings in it that are designed to look like businesses in our town.  There are even parking spots and traffic lights.  It will be fun to have him try out his trike there.  We are having his party a week before his birthday because for his birthday weekend we are taking him to the beach.  Can't wait to visit the beach again...hoping the weather is decent!!

Pillow Quest: watch for an upcoming review!

I've been in the market for new pillows...ok, actually I am always in the market for new pillows.  I haven't yet found a pillow that doesn't give my neck a kink or provides the support I want.  I recently discovered CSN Mattress, an online retailer that sells mattresses and bed accessories.  I am looking forward to trying out my new pillows when they arrive.  I will post a review on my review blog of them to let you know if I finally get some sleep!

cleaning out and preventing hoarding

So my latest project isn't knitting related, but one regarding cleaning out my home and simplifying.  I've been discussing hoarding with several people lately, saw a show about it, and discovered there is even a series on tv called "hoarders."  While I am not a hoarder by definition, I definitely am a collector and have collected too much stuff over the years.  Now having a child who keeps accumulating new stuff, I need to make room for his stuff. 

This all started with my grandmother's death.  While I knew she had many possessions, I have since learned from my aunt, who had to clean out her apartment, about just how much stuff she kept.  Apparently she had letters from the 1940s saved, along with lots of stuffed animals, clothes with tags, and tons of costume "QVC" jewelry, amongst other things.  My aunt was able to donate a large part of her stuff to Goodwill, but is now having trouble getting rid of the remaining things--trouble meaning that it is hard for her to part with those things.  She is threatening to bring it all up to my family (mom, sister and I) next spring when she visits.  My grandmother apparently had a huge collection of pot holders and kitchen towels--all new!  She also had lots of kitchen items, despite the fact that she hadn't cooked in years.   There is just so many remnants of our lives that we have that no one else is really interested in owning.  I started thinking about all the crap I own that is cluttering up my home.  Would I want my husband or son to have to go through all of it?  Certainly there is going to be stuff, but I have too much unused stuff.

So, starting yesterday, I've started cleaning out our basement.  I filled a whole big trash bag with old rugs that I was hoping to clean and old bedding that I thought could be reused again, but after a year in the basement that is constantly damp, there was no way anyone could sleep on it.  I realized that I saved stuff that I thought would be salvageable, but in reality, it was not usable or even in donation condition.   Today I filled two trash bags.  One with a large number of old lunch bags that had become moldy/mildewy or were ripped or didn't zipper anymore.  I threw out a wok that I had not used since I lived in out apartment, which was at least nine years ago.  I got rid of an electric skillet that had a broken lid.  I had saved boxes from toys...not sure why!  Those went into the recycle pile.  I still have a lot more to do, but I feel I got a good start.  I can actually see the basement floor better and was able to shelve some boxes where the trashed items had been stored!

To recycle some of the things we have that we do not need anymore that are in good condition I joined the local freecycle group on Yahoo.  We have three tv sets in our barn that we do not need, so I am hoping to pass them on to someone who cold use them.  We also have two window AC units.  We need to test them to see if they work before we pass them on. 

Starting last winter I had begun to donate at least one bag of stuff to the Purple Heart, who actually come to our house once a month to collect things.  That was very helpful at the change of season, when we sorted through all of out old clothing. 

This past weekend I sold lots of baby stuff at a consignment sale that is held twice a year.  I don't know how much  money I made yet, but the only things that didn't sell were some clothes, so I am happy with that.  (The clothes are going to Goodwill!)

I still have lots of work to do.  Hopefully Andrew will continue to nap daily, giving me at least an hour or so to keep clearing out.  It's going to take a long time, but in the end I know it will be a better place for all of us.

bee attack

The Exterminator

So we hit a bit of a problem the end of last week with our fence installation.  Between all the rain days and heat, the fence was delayed constantly.  Then the fence guys discovered a bee nest (technically I believe they were yellow jackets, that are really wasps, not bees but apparently I'm the only one who was being technical.  The exterminator even kept calling them bees) in a pile of wood that was on the fence line.  It was discarded wood from the previous owner of our home.  Apparently two of the three fence guys were allergic and one of them got stung, but only swelled up and did not stop breathing (and neither of them carried an epi pen with them!  duh.)  So they were a bit hesitant to continue working until we had an exterminator come out.  (They did try to kill them with gasoline and offered to burn them, but I'm almost positive that it is illegal in our township to start fires in your back yard.)  On Friday we had our exterminator come out to remedy the issue.  It looked like he was going to use a flame thrower, but in the end he used a lot of smoke and some wasp killer chemical stuff and then stirred up the nest.  He suggested getting rid of the wood pile, so Chris bagged it up over the weekend.  When the fence guys came back this week, they were cautious and said they still saw bees so they were going to wait a few more days.  I did find it slightly amusing/irritating when the one guy pointed out that he saw bees in our yard.  Really?  Uhh, it is summer and we have lots of flowers and edibles for them naturally.  I've never seen a bee-free yard in the summer ever.  Anyway, the delays annoyed me but they finally came back today and finished the fence.  It does look great and when they were here, they did work really hard at installation.  Now our yard is completely enclosed and the toddler can be set free without me worrying that he could fall off the ledge into the neighbor's yard.  I'm sure he'll find another way to get into trouble!

First lollipop!

It was inevitable that Andrew would discover candy at some point.  He almost made it to the age of two without having candy, with the exception of two mm's once.  We went out to dinner with his best buddy one night last week when the daddies were busy.  We had dinner at Jason's Deli, a perfectly toddler friendly place with lots of food options and free ice cream.  They also have free organic lollipops in big bowls at the registers.  The toddler's buddy was well acquainted with lollipops and talked about having one the whole time.  I had grabbed one and put it in my bag when we left.  Two days later the toddler discovered it and realized it was what his buddy was talking so much about.  He seemed to enjoy eating it and left sticky marks everywhere. 

I missed my five year mark!

I just read Lolly's great post about her five year blogiversary and I realized that I completely forgot about mine.  I can't believe it's been five years of blogging for me.  My first post was rather boring, but I think it's become more interesting over the years (at least to me!)  Five years ago was before Ravelry, so my blog was the way for me to keep track of my knitting projects.  It's evolved into more of a life journal, one that I don't mind sharing with the internet.  Lately it's more about parenting than knitting, but I don't want to change the name of my blog. 

I named my blog Knitting Zeal partially as a private joke.  When I started, I was working at a company that had strong religious roots, despite their insistence that they were not religious.  Staff had to endure many religious-based meetings/retreats, even if their personal religious beliefs were different.  Most of those meetings were harmless and mildly interesting,  but the word zeal was crammed into those meetings constantly and it became a bit of a joke among the more sarcastic staff, myself included.  My zeal has always been about knitting, so it became the title I chose.  I never told anyone I worked with about my blog.  I work at keeping it anonymous enough so that it isn't search-able by my former employer--I hope!  I never did blog about work details, for it would be unprofessional and I certainly did not want to get dooced.  Anyway, that is the origin of my blog name, or at least as specific as I want to get for the internet!!

I am constantly composing blog posts in my mind during the day when I can't write.  When I actually have time to write, I draw a blank.  I started buying notebooks to keep with me everywhere so that I can jot down notes when I'm thinking of them.  (Office Max has spiral notebooks on sale this week for a penny, maximum purchase of three!)  This ties in to my interest in finally writing a book.  I've had ideas for novels over the years, but never did anything with them.  Now that Andrew is a bit older and requires slightly less (slightly) attention, I want to start writing, even if the book goes no where.  Ok, at least that's my plan! 

New Fence

We have lived in our house since 2001.  And since the day we moved in, the fence surrounding our back yard has been deteriorating and falling down.  Half the yard had decent fencing, the other half had a privacy style fence that just was disintegrating.  I have no idea how old it is.  It could easily be 25 years old or more.  We put off replacing it because we had nothing to fence in nor did we want to spend the money.  

It is now 2009 and we now have something to fence in:  the toddler.  Besides the fact that the falling down fence was unsightly, it had also become a hazard to the toddler, who is more curious than George.  Back in the spring we started researching fence types.  We had four different estimates come in varying in price greatly.  We ruled out PVC style fencing, since it was significantly more money than the cost of cedar.  I finally decided to use the company we hired because the price seemed fair and their work had a good reputation.  Plus, a huge competitor in the area's salesman was critical of them, which made me think they might be better. 

So, in early June we contracted with this X fence company to install red cedar picket and privacy fencing in out backyard.  Company X said the work would start in three weeks.  After two months and repeated phone calls, the work finally began on Friday.  This is the start of the new fence.  They already messed up and forgot the second gate--the utility gate, as opposed to the walkway gate.  The did remove about half of the fence from the yard, but they only put up about six panels of the new fence.  Then they were tired.  Seriously, that was the reason for stopping work at 3:00 in the afternoon.  They started around 9-ish that morning.  It is hard work, but isn't that their job?  It was a beautiful weather day on Friday, so heat was not an issue.  They were supposed to return on Saturday to work half a day.  No one showed up or called.  It rained off and on today and I am wondering if they will return tomorrow.  I was told that they were behind in jobs all summer because of all the rain we had, so I wonder if the rain today made the ground too soft for working tomorrow. 

Besides all the delays and apologies I received, the fence that they are installing is not the fence that I thought I was ordering.  Originally, when we were looking at PVC fences, I picked out a picket fence in the PVC catalog.  I asked the fence dude about cedar options and I thought we would be getting the same style fence, just in red cedar.  This fence is very close to what I wanted, pickets that are a couple inches apart and a scalloped style.  I did think that the posts would have toppers on them, not cut down to flush with the pickets.  I don't mind the lack of post tops, I need to get used to the look.  Also, the wood on the pickets isn't sanded on top or shaped, just raw cut.  The edges are rough.  I had expected a more polished look.  I am not unhappy with the style, and to re-order it would delay installation even further.  I guess I am just hoping that the rest of the installation goes well and when it is all done I like how it looks.  It does smell wonderful! 

*********Update, as of 1:30ish pm on Monday:  They returned today, the hottest day of the summer so far, and are working like crazy.  They brought power tools for digging, which apparently has helped speed up the process.  Plus, the owner is doing a lot of the work.  The only critisism I have today, they are peeing behind our barn/shed instead of asking to use our bathroom.  Blech.  About a third of the yard is done now.  Photos later...

Good customer service goes a long way

I have been drinking/buying/giving gifts of Adagio tea for many years now.  I think I actually discovered them by reading about them on someone's blog, but I'm not positive.  Their teas are mostly sold loose leaf style and they also sell a wide assortment of tea pots to use for brewing.  I actually learned how to brew loose leaf tea from them and have been enjoying my tea, both hot and iced, using tea leaves that are whole as opposed to the crushed bagged type.  I write all this as an intro to my most recent experience with Adagio.  Last week when I was decanting tea into my glass pitcher from Adagio to make iced tea, I discovered, when the tea poured out the bottom of the pitcher, that there was a quarter inch sized hole in the bottom of the pitcher.  Not a crack, but a semi-circular hole! 
It was the oddest thing.  I emailed the company to see if that had been a common occurrence with that particular pitcher, as I recall at one point they stopped selling glassware for a bit.  The customer service rep emailed me back and offered to replace my pitcher.  I hadn't expected that, as it was over a year old and could possibly have been my fault, although I'm really careful with glass.  Today my new pitcher arrived, along with two tea samples!  The bottom of the new pitcher is much thicker than the old one. I am so impressed with Adagio for not only replacing the pitcher but also adding the freebies.  They have a lifetime customer here!
 

We had a terrible rain storm yesterday morning.  Our little town received over 4 inches of rain.  We were lucky and did not have damage, just some water in the basement.  We stayed home for the day, which worked out well since most of the roads in the area were closed due to flooding.

This is our back patio--it is hard to tell, but there was at least three inches of rain collecting there during the storm.  Thankfully we did not loose power this time, although the lights did flicker a bit.  Today is very sunny and humid!  We definitely do not have a drought this summer!

It's in the bag

For my birthday this year, the big four-zero, I got to pick out a fun gift--a new digital SLR camera.  I got the Canon Rebel T1i, which is easy to use on auto and has lots of features I'm still trying to figure out.  It takes wonderful pictures and is fast, which is great for my speedy toddler who wants his picture taken but doesn't want to sit still.  The camera, for the ridiculous amount it cost, did not come with a camera bag or cover, of course, so I've been fearful of leaving the house with it.  In my search for camera bags, they all looked either like professional equipment or just plain ugly.  After much searching, I finally found someone on Etsy, Jackie of Xcess Rize, who makes custom camera bags.  Her costs were equivalent to the manufactured bags, so I had her make me a bag. It arrived yesterday and it is great.  I had outside pockets added for holding Andrew's sippy cups or a bottle of water and a waterproof lining added to the interior.  Inside is a section for my camera, and room for other camera related things such as lenses or a flash (neither of which I own yet.)  There is room for my diaper wrangler diaper bag, my wallet, keys and phone too, so no need to carrying more than one bag when I go out with the toddler.