Balancing the checkbook!

Well, that's a thankless job done once again. I HATE balancing the checkbook, and I'd let it build up for three months this time. I shouldn't do that. Harlan never writes in when he takes out cash from the atm and he takes out 60 and 80 and a hundred at a time when he does it. I don't always catch them when I check the balances and stuff when I do the bills. I missed one for 60 from about a month ago. Scary stuff. So, I'd better see about getting it done a little more on time. We don't have much left, but tomorrow is payday and the mortgage will get paid.

Miss Jordyn turns six!

It's Jordyn's birthday today and I don't have a picture to share! Darn! I have one on my fireplace, though. When I see her after the Fourth, I'll try to make sure I use my camera phone to get a few to share. It'll be fun seeing Jesse then, too! I hope my grandkids get to visit while Jesse's down from Iowa. The cousins don't get to see each other much.

I got to talk to Phillip, my own birthday boy, last night! It always makes me feel good to hear his voice. He stays busy with his tattoo work.

I didn't get to play with socks last night. I was a little tired when I got home from work, so I pretty much vegged out.

I wonder what work will bring today....

Shawl

I finally got a picture taken of that shawl I had been working on earlier and thought I would share it. It's a little over six feet long, but mostly I wanted to try to get the pattern itself to show up. Whatcha think? I got this pattern free from http://www.lionbrandyarn.com . They've got some really nice freebies there. Check it out!

Here's a picture!

There! He had one! This picture was taken last December at Phillip and Emily's house in Denton. Emily is the one standing behind him and Kady, his sister from Minnesota, is sitting next to him. We woke them all up when we went to visit, but they look awake here, don't they?

Phillip's birthday!

Today he turns 33. My firstborn, my star. The pictures I have of him are in albums and on the fireplace. I don't have one in my computer! I wonder if Harlan does. I'll ask him before he heads to work.

If you read this, Happy birthday, Phillip. It's a happy day!

Socks are evil!

Yes, I got started on them after all, and it's amazing what those dastardly things will do to drive you insane. Needless to say, the socks won today. But I'm not out yet. Watch this space for more progress.

Ephemera 2 Belladonna

I'm ecstatic! I wrote to ask about a review copy of Belladonna and they said they'd be sure I got one, but to remind them after the new year. Yay! I LOVE that series! Have you read the first one? It's Sebastian by Anne Bishop. I can't recommend it highly enough. Ephemera is a new series and it promises to be every bit as good as the Black Jewels. I'm definitely an Anne Bishop fan.

Well, after all that, I didn't get started on my socks today. I've been goofing off most of the day and now I've got to actually get a few things done around here! I have work tomorrow and you know what that means.....needing clothes clean to go to work in. Oh well. It's been a fun day just being lazy. We all need those every so often, don't we?

A different approach

I gave up on that first pattern. It was off the label of the yarn and while that’s a nice basic pattern, when you’re trying to learn these things, it’s nice to have something to refer to. So! I went looking for sock how-to on the net and I found this! http://www.royea.net/sockdemo1.html What a wonderful thing for Terri to do, putting this all together for people like me. I’ve got to write and thank her.

See more progress on: knit a pair of socks

Free offers

If you’re interested in some free cleaning supplies to make your house nice, here’s one that you can sign up for (it expires soon). http://www.cleanhomejournal.com/WelcomeBack/one/EnterInfo.aspx
We all like clean homes, don’t we?

See more progress on: spring clean my house

Roses

I have a small rose bush (minature type) in my sewing/craft/reading room. Two of the buds opened up this morning! I thought I would share a picture of one of them here. Pretty, isn't it?

Accu-chek monitors

I love my Accu-Chek Compact and I wanted to let you know of a great deal that's going on this week through CVS stores (formerly Eckerd's). Get their FREE easy care card. It gives you special discounts and other perks. Then this week, pick up their special: they have the Accu-Chek Compact on sale for $19.99! Yes, that's really it! It's normally about $75 so this is a phenomenal deal all by itself. Inside the box is a coupon (good till the end of 2007) for a $25 rebate on the purchase. So, if you need a monitor, this is a great way to get a free one, and if you'd like to have a free second monitor to leave at work or somewhere else, here's a great way to do that.

Just thought it was a great enough deal to pass it along.

Favorite PASTimes: Welcome to PASTimes!

Favorite PASTimes: Welcome to PASTimes!

Socks

I've started trying to knit my first pair of socks, working on five size 2 needles. I think with practice, I might get the hang of it, but it sure is taking a bit to learn and master! I have newfound admiration (well, actually I had it all along) for those able to knit these buggers. lol

I get my car back this afternoon! Oh happy day! But first I get to go out to lunch with my darling husband, so I'd better get a move on so I don't end up too late.

So far, so good, today!

It's warm out there!

I never seem to get everything done that I want to. I did manage to finish my lace shawl last night, though! Yay! Now I think I'm going to start on a pair of socks. I have that magic stripes yarn and I want to see how well it works.

We finally had to invest in an air conditioner again. We use a small window one in the bedroom at night and the old one (which we got free from a friend) finally just gave out last night. I woke up and it was pretty warm in here.

Ah, Sunday...I should be working, but playing is so much fun!

Off to work!

I'm still missing my car! I guess I'll be able to pick it up on Monday (they're guessing), but I'll have to call up and make sure first. I'm driving a red Dodge Neon in the meantime, and while it's better than that loaner car was, it just doesn't feel the same not to be able to put the top down on a nice day and cruise along.

Where do all of my pens go?

Without a car

I'm taking my car in tomorrow to get it fixed. The girl called back. She had gotten ahold of her insurance agency and gotten it all arranged for me. She was so nice about it! It makes you feel good when you don't have to argue over things like this. I'll definitely miss my car, but there's a chance I might be able to get it back yet this week. Fingers crossed!

Bad intersection!

There I was, at the light, waiting to go across, and sure enough, a young girl (22-in college) in a gold Jeep Liberty didn't stop for me and ran into the back of my poor little Miata! I was pretty shook up to begin with, but I'm better now. She called tonight and said that she sent in a claim to her insurance, so it'll get taken care of. Whew! What a relief! The estimate we got said just under $700. I hope they aren't going to make us go to a bunch of different places for estimates. I'm confident with Campbell's. I hate that it's going to take 3-4 days and they're closed on weekends, so it's going to leave me without a car for a while. Grrrr. Still, she was pretty responsible about it, and I appreciate it.

Knitting

I've been working on some projects that are really fun! I'm knitting a pretty blue lace stole for myself and I'm getting some dishrags done up. The one I'm working on now will make my third pink one. I need to get onto another color, though, because I'm getting a little tired of pink. I found some other wrap/stole patterns I'd like to do, too, but first I think I'm going to work on making a pair of socks. I found one of the most fun patterns for them at knitpicks. Here's a link to them: http://www.knitpicks.com/projects/Projects_Display_Yarn.aspx?itemid=50440220 They've got some great prices for yarn, too, and a nice selection. This one looks a lot more difficult than it is. It uses a magic stripe kind of yarn combined with a solid color. Looks great, doesn't it?

Happy Father's Day!

I've got to call my dad later on. He might be sleeping in this morning, although I suppose he's up by now. Maybe I should call this morning?

Anyway, today my mind is on my son, who is a father of three. He's locked up in Lovelady at the moment. I'm sure he's lonesome and feeling sad, especially today. Two of his children acquired a new stepfather in May. Jesse is really great with the kids and far more responsible about taking care of them. I'm really glad they have him. Today would be his first Father's Day, officially. I wonder what the kids did for him. He does a lot for the kids. I hope they did something nice.

It's sad to think of Jake missing out on all of this, but I also know he only has himself to blame. He's never shown responsibility the way he should. He's also spent so long locked up, only out for months at a time, it seems. The last time (before this) that he was locked up, he promised the kids they were going to be a proper family. Connie took them to visit him regularly. He'd gotten locked up when the now seven year old was just turned one. He was still locked up when his only son was born shortly after. So when he did get out, did he fulfill his promises? No. He decided to go work in a tattoo shop, which would have been okay, but he spent all the money he made rather than help with any bills or food and went out and partied it away. He wasn't faithful to his wife. He didn't spend any time with the kids. When Connie caught him, they split up. He'd only been out two weeks when it all started. Less than a year later he was locked up again. I miss him. He can be very sweet. But I'm being honest when I say he hasn' t done right by his kids. Now he wants to get to know them, but they've moved on. His daughter up north wants to know him and wants a father in her life. I hope he can actually settle down and do right by her. I hope that with all my heart, for her sake. But who knows what will happen?

Reading withdrawl

With company coming either Sunday or Monday, I've been busy trying to reorganize the house for that week that they're here. That and make sure everything is clean. I'll get the new shower liner up today. I imagine it'll smell like vinyl for a while.

Then poor Harlan's car broke down on his way home from work last night and I had to go get him. It's a darn good thing we have three vehicles. I can't imagine how we would both get to work with just mine. I love my car!

As a result of all the organizing, though, I haven't had nearly the time to read that I would like. I've got Doomsday Book going, and Thriller on loan (and I need to finish that up soon!) and a lot I want to get started in. I don't imagine I'll get a lot of reading time in with the inlaws here, either, but we'll see.

It's payday! Another thing to take care of...