Well we survived our first two days of work/daycare. Houston had a blast and loves going to "school". He came home singing a song he learned there yesterday. That's fun stuff. They said he did great and was very well behaved but that he has a struggle with naptime. This didn't surprise me at all though because he almost never takes naps anymore. I'm sure he'll adjust. His teachers are really sweet and one of them lays with him during naptime until he falls asleep. I'm surprised they've gotten him to sleep both days. Brody is a completely different story. He is having a rough time of it. His second day was actually worse than his first. They said he kept doing the milk sign and crying all day. One of Houston's teachers from the three year old room had to go help in the one year old room because they were having such a hard time with Brody. He seemed to attach himself to her pretty well. She was holding him when I got there and wasn't crying. It's really great to see how all the ladies that work there are so great and loving with the kids. I'm so happy there are people out there to do that kind of thing. Brody likes to nurse all day when he's not feeling well and we're all coming down with a cold so I think that's part of the reason he was like that. We were supposed to go to Bradenton this weekend to visit my uncle but I can't very well go bringing sick germs into a chemo house. Hopefully we'll be able to go next weekend.
Brett dropped them off and picked them up on the first day and I did both on the second day. We're still trying to figure out the best way to go about this as i'm working in Live Oak for a while. I left my office at 5:00 yesterday and it took me until 5:50 to get to the daycare. I didn't know there was so much traffic in Lake City! Ha ha ... it's traffic for sure but it's nothing like Houston traffic ... now THAT'S traffic. The daycare is only about ten minutes from the Lake City office so it will be much easier once I get to work there.
The craziest thing happened yesterday ... I got there to pick up the kids and there was a really big boarded up hole and pile of cement blocks in front of the building. Somebody drove their car right into the daycare yesterday!!! Holy crap!!!! Amazingly, nobody was hurt. I asked Houston what happened and he said it was loud and then he made a siren noise and said a fire truck came. Gotta love something like that happening on the second day of daycare ever. Jeez.
As for me, I managed to make some progress at work. There's definitely a big learning curve but i'm happy with what i've figured out and learned so far. Especially since i'm pretty much training myself. It's going well though. I just have to remind myself that i'm not supposed to know all of this stuff already. I did manage to finish two wind loads and three energy reports so that was good. Now i'm learning shearwall design and designing a user-friendly spreadsheet that we can use to analyze them. I got a little stressed about this after I couldn't figure something out but I asked some questions and came up with a new plan of attack and I feel pretty good about what's left to do.
It was so nice to sleep in until 8 o'clock this morning. That getting up at 6:30 is going to take some getting used to as is staring at a computer screen for eight hours a day. Well that's it for me for today. The boys and I are going shopping. Houston got some birthday money that we're going to use to go buy him some clothes. And my Grandma Hearne sent him some money to be used on a toy so I think we're going to see if we can find a race track for his matchbox cars. I have some really cute pictures and videos of birthday fun that i'm going to upload probably on tuesday. Now that I have a superfast internet connection at work it seems silly to spend so much time waiting for dial-up at home. I'll probably post them during my lunch break on tuesday. Thanks for all the birthday gifts everyone ... I have thank you cards and pictures to get out in the mail from both birthdays this summer.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOUSTON!!!
My not-so-baby boy turns three today. Wish I had time to write more but it's been a crazy week, we just got back from a full day of appointments and errands in Gainesville and my new job starts tomorrow morning. Lots to pack and lots to do. Send some good vibes our way tomorrow ... especially for Brody.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Socks!!!
I finally finished my affectionately named Ugly Socks. Yipee!!! It's gonna be a good week, I can feel it. A finished pair of socks to start it off, art class on monday and a new career move starting wednesday. Well it's not really a move, more of an expansion but either way i'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
One more thing ...
The daycare the boys will be going to is Happy Hearts East. That's the one behind KC's. Just in case you were wondering.
The Last Detail ...
The last detail of me going back to work is being dealt with today. Please send good vibes my way that things will work out how they need to. Everything else has fallen into place better than I could have expected so hopefully this will go the same way. I wish I could handle it myself but i'm home with the kiddos and my dear hubby is handling it for me. Gotta love that man!
I went to yoga last night and as I expected I couldn't calm my mind at all. No matter how hard I tried, my mind kept veering back to thoughts of putting the boys in daycare. Now i've had a lot of less than peaceful yoga experiences over the last ten months or so due to stress that I couldn't manage to leave at the door when I got there as my teacher tells us too. This was different ... somehow, someway. My mind was racing over all the details of what's to come and thoughts of how it's going to work out and all of my hopes and fears about the situation at hand. Even though I couldn't quiet my mind, in a lot of ways it was a better, more healthy kind of stress ... if that makes sense. There's some peace in having a plan and thinking over the details as opposed to the stress of knowing that something has to change but not knowing what that something was and how it needed to change.
I think this is going to be good for me in so many ways and i'm really looking forward to a lot of it. The only hesitation that I keep going back to is that Brody is as young as he is. I really wish I could stay home with him for another ten months but i'm just going to have to get over that. And then there's the stress of my brain and how well it's going to adjust to being an engineer again. People assume and expect really great things from someone they can call a "rocket scientist". It's kind of a blessing and a curse at the same time. It's nice for people to assume i'm smart but it's also a lot to live up to. People, especially my family, seem to think that if i'm not doing something amazing with my life then i'm wasting it ... which sucks. Because there's more to me than being an Aerospace Engineer. A whole lot more. And then there are people that, for whatever reasons or self-esteem issues they have, don't like me because i'm a rocket scientist. I've found it differs by where I live too. I think that's one of the reasons I loved living in Houston. Everyone was a rocket scientist so it wasn't a big deal. I never had to dumb myself down so that I didn't offend anyone. It was the norm, not the exception, for people to have some sort of engineering/science related degree, or two or three. And I never ran into the issues I have run into here of people not liking me because of the title that follows me around. So as I said, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time. I'm not one to really care what others think but sometimes you have to do things just to get along. It's been an interesting transition, this moving to Lake City thing. I think things are finally looking up as far as my career goes though so i'm excited about that. But I digress ....
I haven't been in a true working enviroment in over three years now so I have some doubts/worries about myself. It will probably all work out just fine but i'm a thinker so i'm going to think about it until it does. One thing is for sure though ... i'm ready to start excercising my brain again and bring all that engineering knowledge back to the front. I keep having to remind myself that I did get that degree all by myself and I did work at NASA so there are brains in there. If I can do what i've done in the past, then surely I can handle what lies in front of me. And if people don't like me for it ... well then that's their problem. :P And since i'm on the subject (well sort of) ... I've had people ask me why things "didn't work out at NASA" and that just really upsets me every time it happens. I didn't know I had to go around explaining my life choices to everyone so they didn't assume something "didn't work out". What is that about anyway? So since this is my blog and i've somehow stumbled upon this subject i'll clear it up. We made the choice to move. Things were going very well for me at Boeing/NASA. I got a great review and a great raise and a great bonus every time it came around. And when I left I was told that my job would always be there for me if I wanted to come back. So just in case you are one of those people who think things "didn't work out" for me ... I hope this clears things up. Sometimes I just feel like there is this ghost of NASA and being a "Rocket Scientist" that won't stop following me around. And that ... well that just gets aggrivating.
I went to yoga last night and as I expected I couldn't calm my mind at all. No matter how hard I tried, my mind kept veering back to thoughts of putting the boys in daycare. Now i've had a lot of less than peaceful yoga experiences over the last ten months or so due to stress that I couldn't manage to leave at the door when I got there as my teacher tells us too. This was different ... somehow, someway. My mind was racing over all the details of what's to come and thoughts of how it's going to work out and all of my hopes and fears about the situation at hand. Even though I couldn't quiet my mind, in a lot of ways it was a better, more healthy kind of stress ... if that makes sense. There's some peace in having a plan and thinking over the details as opposed to the stress of knowing that something has to change but not knowing what that something was and how it needed to change.
I think this is going to be good for me in so many ways and i'm really looking forward to a lot of it. The only hesitation that I keep going back to is that Brody is as young as he is. I really wish I could stay home with him for another ten months but i'm just going to have to get over that. And then there's the stress of my brain and how well it's going to adjust to being an engineer again. People assume and expect really great things from someone they can call a "rocket scientist". It's kind of a blessing and a curse at the same time. It's nice for people to assume i'm smart but it's also a lot to live up to. People, especially my family, seem to think that if i'm not doing something amazing with my life then i'm wasting it ... which sucks. Because there's more to me than being an Aerospace Engineer. A whole lot more. And then there are people that, for whatever reasons or self-esteem issues they have, don't like me because i'm a rocket scientist. I've found it differs by where I live too. I think that's one of the reasons I loved living in Houston. Everyone was a rocket scientist so it wasn't a big deal. I never had to dumb myself down so that I didn't offend anyone. It was the norm, not the exception, for people to have some sort of engineering/science related degree, or two or three. And I never ran into the issues I have run into here of people not liking me because of the title that follows me around. So as I said, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time. I'm not one to really care what others think but sometimes you have to do things just to get along. It's been an interesting transition, this moving to Lake City thing. I think things are finally looking up as far as my career goes though so i'm excited about that. But I digress ....
I haven't been in a true working enviroment in over three years now so I have some doubts/worries about myself. It will probably all work out just fine but i'm a thinker so i'm going to think about it until it does. One thing is for sure though ... i'm ready to start excercising my brain again and bring all that engineering knowledge back to the front. I keep having to remind myself that I did get that degree all by myself and I did work at NASA so there are brains in there. If I can do what i've done in the past, then surely I can handle what lies in front of me. And if people don't like me for it ... well then that's their problem. :P And since i'm on the subject (well sort of) ... I've had people ask me why things "didn't work out at NASA" and that just really upsets me every time it happens. I didn't know I had to go around explaining my life choices to everyone so they didn't assume something "didn't work out". What is that about anyway? So since this is my blog and i've somehow stumbled upon this subject i'll clear it up. We made the choice to move. Things were going very well for me at Boeing/NASA. I got a great review and a great raise and a great bonus every time it came around. And when I left I was told that my job would always be there for me if I wanted to come back. So just in case you are one of those people who think things "didn't work out" for me ... I hope this clears things up. Sometimes I just feel like there is this ghost of NASA and being a "Rocket Scientist" that won't stop following me around. And that ... well that just gets aggrivating.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
A Whole New World ...
That's the song that was playing in the car on our way back home this afternoon and I found it very fitting. Fitting because I am about to enter a "whole new world". Not in a move across the country all by yourself and start a new life sort of way. Been there, done that, would do it again if I had to. Actually, I find that sort of thing to be very exciting ... exhilerating even (even if i can't spell it) although also very stressful at the same time. But no, not that kind of whole new world this time around. I've been a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom for three years now but that is about to come to end and soon. As in next week soon. Yikes!
I've thought about this a lot, I've stressed about it a lot, and I think this is the best decision that can be made at this point. I think the daycare will be great for Houston. It's Brody i'm sad about. I really wish I didn't have to leave him until he was two. But at the same time, I have to do what's best for my family and I appreciate the fact that I've been home with him for the first fifteen months of his life. Not many people get to do that in this two-income world we live in so I'm very appreciative that we've been able to make it work for this long. I wanted to work two days a week but due to the daycare situation and fees and all that I will be working three days a week. I'm trying to focus on having four day weekends because that's a happy thought. Not having to work on sunday evenings is a happy thought too. And not having money stress anymore is a very happy thought. Not in a "we're gonna be loaded" sort of way but in a "my income will finally be stable" sort of way. We bank on me making X dollars a month and that has worked out really well for us until the past six months or so. Wouldn't it figure that a few months after we take on a car loan my income goes to nothing every other month or so? A lot of what I do deals with new home construction and as most of you know, that's not going so well in Florida these days. So when we have months where I make less than X dollars, well you can imagine what that does to our budget. And that has happened several times in the past six months. So ... that combined with my being tired of working at night instead of spending time with my family has led us to make the decision for me to go back to work. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity that I do since there is no work in the aerospace field here. And I'm really looking forward to working at work and being home at home, if that makes sense.
So after many phone calls and much research, we finally visited a daycare today and were pleased with it. They will let us use and pay for three days. It's a little more expensive than I thought it would be, especially since we can't find somewhere for only two days, but we liked it and the kids seemed to like it too. Everyone was very nice and they've come highly recommended by several people. It's fairly close to the office too so I really can't complain. And they ended up lowering the rate for us a little today (sibling discount) compared to what they told us on the phone which I really appreciated.
There are so many things running through my head right now about this whole situation. Some of them good, some of them not-so-good. I'm going to try my best to focus on the positives for now. And also on my new job responsibilities. I'm hoping i'll be busy enough during the day that I don't worry too much about the kids. One of the great things in all of this is that i'm still technically working for myself so if I want to leave and go get the kids then I can. I don't have to worry about sick leave or vacation time or anything like that. All in all, I think it's going to be great. Hopefully it really will be the best of both worlds.
So wish me luck as I enter into the next phase of my life. I'm scared to death, super excited and pretty much an emotional mess all at the same time but at least there's a resolution in sight. Now I can focus on the details at hand instead of all the possible stressful situations I can dream up in my head about what we may need to do. Brett has a new truck, I have a new job, the boys have a good daycare to go to ... things are looking good. :) Hopefully I can relax at yoga tonight and allow our new life plans to settle in peacefully.
And for a little crafty bit, because you know it wouldn't be me if there weren't something thrown in here about yarn or knitting or painting or something crafty ...
I sold more stuff on Etsy. I continue to be surprised every time I make a sale. I like my stuff but I just get tickled pink every time somebody wants to buy some of it. I have more undyed yarn coming sometime this week too so hopefully I'll be able to get it dyed and posted soon. And something i'm really excited about ... some knitting friends of mine are opening a yarn shop in Gainesville. Isn't that great? Well if that wasn't great enough already ... they want me to teach a yarn dyeing class for them. How cool is that? We're meeting in a couple of weeks to work out the details but it looks as if the first class will be December 9th at Troy Springs. Cool beans, huh? :) You can check out the progress of Hanks Yarn and Fiber here.
I've thought about this a lot, I've stressed about it a lot, and I think this is the best decision that can be made at this point. I think the daycare will be great for Houston. It's Brody i'm sad about. I really wish I didn't have to leave him until he was two. But at the same time, I have to do what's best for my family and I appreciate the fact that I've been home with him for the first fifteen months of his life. Not many people get to do that in this two-income world we live in so I'm very appreciative that we've been able to make it work for this long. I wanted to work two days a week but due to the daycare situation and fees and all that I will be working three days a week. I'm trying to focus on having four day weekends because that's a happy thought. Not having to work on sunday evenings is a happy thought too. And not having money stress anymore is a very happy thought. Not in a "we're gonna be loaded" sort of way but in a "my income will finally be stable" sort of way. We bank on me making X dollars a month and that has worked out really well for us until the past six months or so. Wouldn't it figure that a few months after we take on a car loan my income goes to nothing every other month or so? A lot of what I do deals with new home construction and as most of you know, that's not going so well in Florida these days. So when we have months where I make less than X dollars, well you can imagine what that does to our budget. And that has happened several times in the past six months. So ... that combined with my being tired of working at night instead of spending time with my family has led us to make the decision for me to go back to work. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity that I do since there is no work in the aerospace field here. And I'm really looking forward to working at work and being home at home, if that makes sense.
So after many phone calls and much research, we finally visited a daycare today and were pleased with it. They will let us use and pay for three days. It's a little more expensive than I thought it would be, especially since we can't find somewhere for only two days, but we liked it and the kids seemed to like it too. Everyone was very nice and they've come highly recommended by several people. It's fairly close to the office too so I really can't complain. And they ended up lowering the rate for us a little today (sibling discount) compared to what they told us on the phone which I really appreciated.
There are so many things running through my head right now about this whole situation. Some of them good, some of them not-so-good. I'm going to try my best to focus on the positives for now. And also on my new job responsibilities. I'm hoping i'll be busy enough during the day that I don't worry too much about the kids. One of the great things in all of this is that i'm still technically working for myself so if I want to leave and go get the kids then I can. I don't have to worry about sick leave or vacation time or anything like that. All in all, I think it's going to be great. Hopefully it really will be the best of both worlds.
So wish me luck as I enter into the next phase of my life. I'm scared to death, super excited and pretty much an emotional mess all at the same time but at least there's a resolution in sight. Now I can focus on the details at hand instead of all the possible stressful situations I can dream up in my head about what we may need to do. Brett has a new truck, I have a new job, the boys have a good daycare to go to ... things are looking good. :) Hopefully I can relax at yoga tonight and allow our new life plans to settle in peacefully.
And for a little crafty bit, because you know it wouldn't be me if there weren't something thrown in here about yarn or knitting or painting or something crafty ...
I sold more stuff on Etsy. I continue to be surprised every time I make a sale. I like my stuff but I just get tickled pink every time somebody wants to buy some of it. I have more undyed yarn coming sometime this week too so hopefully I'll be able to get it dyed and posted soon. And something i'm really excited about ... some knitting friends of mine are opening a yarn shop in Gainesville. Isn't that great? Well if that wasn't great enough already ... they want me to teach a yarn dyeing class for them. How cool is that? We're meeting in a couple of weeks to work out the details but it looks as if the first class will be December 9th at Troy Springs. Cool beans, huh? :) You can check out the progress of Hanks Yarn and Fiber here.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Yarn Without a Name
So this is my latest colorway. I love this one so much that i'm adding it to my own stash instead of selling it. I can repeat it so i'll definitely make more of these. For some reason I have a mental block about naming this one. Anyone have any ideas? Keep it celestial/space related. Maybe "Stardust"? Funny thing that i've been pondering this one for almost a week and as soon as I start to type this post a name comes to me. Hmm. I'll see if anyone else comes up with something better. Also, i'm going to use this yarn for the Snarktember Sockalong. If that doesn't make any sense to you, it will by early September. :) There's some other exciting crafty news brewing too but i'm not ready to tell you all just yet ... maybe next week.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Hand Dyed Yarn Swap
Remember the hand dyed yarn swap I started? Well I must say, these ladies have come up with some gorgeous yarn. And everyone is being so generous too. The only rule was that you had to dye and send sock yarn but participants are finding all kinds of goodies along with their yarn. Just one more thing that supports my theory of knitters being some of the most generous people in the world. :)
Etsy, Speech Therapy, Art and Birthdays
So I sold more yarn at SnB and on Etsy this week. Sold some stitch markers on Etsy last week too. To be honest, I love what I make but i'm really surprised at how willing others are to buy it. It's awesome. There's nothing like having people want to use their hard-earned money to buy things i've made. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)
Houston had his first speech therapy session yesterday. There was good news and there was not so good news. The good news is that he works really well with Miss Melissa, his therapist. She had hoped he would be ready by the time he was three to give her the attention span she needs to make progress. She said he did really well and that he's ready. The not so good news is that his evaluation chart looked almost exactly like it did back in January. Basically what that means is that he hasn't developed any new sounds in the last seven months which puts him even farther behind for age related development. He's talking up a storm though which is what she hoped would happen by now. So we'll be going to Gainesville once a week for therapy and we have homework to do two days a week. He has a folder that we take home and as they move on to the next sound she'll add cards and games to his folder for us to work on at home. Right now we're working on popping our P's. After just one session yesterday he came out saying "soap" instead of "sew" so that was really great to hear. Melissa came very highly recommended by our pediatrician and I really love her as does Houston. That's why we're going to stick with her and make the drive to Gainesville instead of finding someone here. Now I really need to get a move on finding childcare two days a week since we have a speech therapy bill to add to our monthly budget. We have a couple tricks up our sleeve on that front so let's hope that one of them pans out soon.
I'm really looking forward to going in to an office to work a couple days a week too. It will be good for our family in so many ways. And although some people have questioned whether or not it's a good idea for Brett and I to work together two days a week, we're not worried about it. For one, i'll be doing structural work and will not be working on any of the same projects that Brett is. Two, it will be nice to get the chance to have lunch with my hubby a couple days a week. And three, i'm still working on my own time ... not actually an employee of GTC so I can come and go as I please. And we're one of those couples that does everything together anyway. We never get to a point where we have to take a break from eachother like some people do and if we do, we'll know it and deal with it. I even have a desk and computer reserved for me at the office so they're ready for me to be there as soon as I can. I did some thrift shopping in Gainesville yesterday after speech therapy and got some work clothes. Got a ton of stuff actually including a basically brand new pair of really super comfortable dress shoes all for $30. I love great finds like that. I could have found so much more too if I didn't have the boys with me. I have enough to get started for now though with what I found yesterday. I haven't had to wear work clothes in over three years and since there's been two babies in those three years you can imagine how I have nothing to wear to work. It was really nice to see myself in some decent clothes again too. My wardrobe has pretty much consisted of baggy t-shirts and shorts for the past three years.
Brody is walking all over the place now and he and Houston are quite the accomplished painters these days. They love to paint so much. We paint pretty much every day. Art class is going well and people are very generous with supply donations. I'm really looking forward to it being a little cooler outside. It's crazy how hot it's been at 9:30 in the morning. The kids don't seem to mind too much though. And speaking of art stuff, Houston's grandpa got him a really nice wooden easel and art supplies for his birthday. He's going to be so excited when he sees that. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens it. And speaking of birthdays, we finally figured out what we're going to do for Houston's party. It's going to be saturday the 25th at 3pm. We're not going to do our usual invite everyone we know and throw a big party. We're just going to have family and a few friends over and have some snacks and cake and ice cream. I don't think i'm even going to send out invites like I usually do since it's so close to then already. I'll just send out some emails and make some phone calls. It will still probably end up being bigger than Brody's party. So many people were out of town at weddings that day. There were probably five different weddings that we knew of that day.
Well I guess that's enough rambling on for one day ...
Houston had his first speech therapy session yesterday. There was good news and there was not so good news. The good news is that he works really well with Miss Melissa, his therapist. She had hoped he would be ready by the time he was three to give her the attention span she needs to make progress. She said he did really well and that he's ready. The not so good news is that his evaluation chart looked almost exactly like it did back in January. Basically what that means is that he hasn't developed any new sounds in the last seven months which puts him even farther behind for age related development. He's talking up a storm though which is what she hoped would happen by now. So we'll be going to Gainesville once a week for therapy and we have homework to do two days a week. He has a folder that we take home and as they move on to the next sound she'll add cards and games to his folder for us to work on at home. Right now we're working on popping our P's. After just one session yesterday he came out saying "soap" instead of "sew" so that was really great to hear. Melissa came very highly recommended by our pediatrician and I really love her as does Houston. That's why we're going to stick with her and make the drive to Gainesville instead of finding someone here. Now I really need to get a move on finding childcare two days a week since we have a speech therapy bill to add to our monthly budget. We have a couple tricks up our sleeve on that front so let's hope that one of them pans out soon.
I'm really looking forward to going in to an office to work a couple days a week too. It will be good for our family in so many ways. And although some people have questioned whether or not it's a good idea for Brett and I to work together two days a week, we're not worried about it. For one, i'll be doing structural work and will not be working on any of the same projects that Brett is. Two, it will be nice to get the chance to have lunch with my hubby a couple days a week. And three, i'm still working on my own time ... not actually an employee of GTC so I can come and go as I please. And we're one of those couples that does everything together anyway. We never get to a point where we have to take a break from eachother like some people do and if we do, we'll know it and deal with it. I even have a desk and computer reserved for me at the office so they're ready for me to be there as soon as I can. I did some thrift shopping in Gainesville yesterday after speech therapy and got some work clothes. Got a ton of stuff actually including a basically brand new pair of really super comfortable dress shoes all for $30. I love great finds like that. I could have found so much more too if I didn't have the boys with me. I have enough to get started for now though with what I found yesterday. I haven't had to wear work clothes in over three years and since there's been two babies in those three years you can imagine how I have nothing to wear to work. It was really nice to see myself in some decent clothes again too. My wardrobe has pretty much consisted of baggy t-shirts and shorts for the past three years.
Brody is walking all over the place now and he and Houston are quite the accomplished painters these days. They love to paint so much. We paint pretty much every day. Art class is going well and people are very generous with supply donations. I'm really looking forward to it being a little cooler outside. It's crazy how hot it's been at 9:30 in the morning. The kids don't seem to mind too much though. And speaking of art stuff, Houston's grandpa got him a really nice wooden easel and art supplies for his birthday. He's going to be so excited when he sees that. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens it. And speaking of birthdays, we finally figured out what we're going to do for Houston's party. It's going to be saturday the 25th at 3pm. We're not going to do our usual invite everyone we know and throw a big party. We're just going to have family and a few friends over and have some snacks and cake and ice cream. I don't think i'm even going to send out invites like I usually do since it's so close to then already. I'll just send out some emails and make some phone calls. It will still probably end up being bigger than Brody's party. So many people were out of town at weddings that day. There were probably five different weddings that we knew of that day.
Well I guess that's enough rambling on for one day ...
Monday, August 13, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Childcare Update and a Rough Night
First of all let me say I appreciate all the advice and support on my childcare situation. I haven't found anything yet but since I've made the decision I've been able to think about things a little more. And nights like the last two nights have me leaning more towards finding something sooner rather than later and just paying for childcare instead of trying to find someone to swap with. I'm so tired it's ridiculous. I fell asleep while rocking Brody to sleep last night then woke back up at 11:30 at night and tried to drink some coffee to wake up and get a job finished. Didn't go so well so I'll be at it again tonight. It's weeks like these where I have three late nights in a row without the ability to do anything with my family or anything for relaxation that really wear on me. I'm already worn out from dealing with the kids all day and then I have to make dinner, get the kids to sleep and then go to work. I just don't know how much longer I can do that. And the more Brett and I talk about it, the more we would like the kids to be in a daycare/school type setting. If they are going to be away from me then they might as well have some structure, socialization, and learn a little something. If there was someone we knew who did in-home childcare in Lake City (wouldn't be a problem if we lived in Gainesville) then I would be up for it. But the thought of having only one adult (that I don't know well) with nobody else there to see what goes on is just not something I can handle. At least in a daycare/school setting there are more adults and more structure and all that. That being said, the fact that Brody is only 14 months old poses a problem. From what I've heard, there are a lot of places that only take kids two and up and I really want them both to go to the same place. Not only that but I only want (and can only pay for) two days a week right now. So I have to find a place that allows people to share hours, a place that takes kids under two, and another mom with two kids who needs childcare three days a week. I know this is a lot to ask, I just hope it's not impossible. Part of me thinks I might just need to suck it up and keep working at night like I've been doing for the last three years until Brody turns two in another ten months. That's another ten months of being exhausted but I know how quickly ten months can fly by. And then I think of yesterday ... what a day it was. Brett came home and took the boys out for a drive trying to get them to sleep while I stayed home and cooked dinner. See neither one of them took and nap and usually a drive will get them down. I had taken them for a drive before he got home and it didn't work so he tried again, which also didn't work. So we ate dinner and then we tried to get some work done while they laid on some blankets in the living room watching cartoons. See I'm trying to teach myself reinforced concrete design for the new project type I've taken on so Brett's helping me out a little. Good thing we kept all of our college textbooks because they've really come in handy lately. We don't use any concrete in the space industry, obviously, because it's so heavy. We're all about lightweight and composite materials so I never learned a thing about concrete in school. We did the usual steel beam analysis in strengths of materials but we never touched on the concrete stuff. So anyway, the kids wouldn't let it happen so I ended up playing with them trying to wear them out while Brett tried to figure out my plan of action on this new project. Poor guy comes home from working all day and then has to work more at night because the kids wouldn't let me work. I even skipped Yoga last night so I could get some work done and watch the space shuttle launch. Well it was too hazy to see the launch and the kids were crazy so obviously I should have just gone to Yoga. I don't know what was up with the kids but I couldn't get them to sleep until around eleven and then I ended up rocking myself to sleep along with them. (it might be that we didn't play outside for long yesterday since it was so freakin' hot ... thermometer on the porch read 102 and the one in the yard read 105) Then Brett woke me up around eleven-thirty and explained what he had learned while I'm sitting there fighting to stay awake and process and understand all this info on concrete design. Yikes! This is really getting ridiculous. So today we are both exhausted and I still have to finish that project tonight as well as get all the supplies ready for my kids art class tomorrow morning. Like I said, it's weeks like these where I think I need to find childcare sooner rather than later.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Free Pattern to Share
I came across this pattern and I'm adding it to my to-knit list so I thought I'd pass it along. It's based on the hat Mary Jane wore in Spiderman 2. Pithy Hat
Bon Voyage, Endeavor!
The crew members of STS-118 pose for their official portrait. Pictured from the left are mission specialists Richard A. (Rick) Mastracchio, Barbara R. Morgan (teacher turned astronaut, she was Christa McAuliffe's backup for the ill-fated Challenger mission), Pilot Charles O. Hobaugh, Commander Scott J. Kelly and mission specialists Tracy E. Caldwell, Canadian Space Agency's Dafydd R. (Dave) Williams, and Alvin Drew Jr. Credit: NASA.
Mission: STS-118The 22nd shuttle flight to the International Space Station, STS-118 continues station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment.
Orbiter: Endeavour
Mission: Space Station Assembly Mission 13A.1
Primary Payload: S5 Truss
Launch Date: August 8
Launch Time: 6:36:39 p.m. EDT
Launch Window: 10 minutes
Launch Pad: 39A
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
note: all info totally ganked from nasa.gov
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Help Finding Child Care
Okay my trusty readers ... I need some help. Here's the deal ... I need to go back to work, sort of. While I love staying home with my kids I also have to work too. So far i've been doing this the superwoman way. I stay home with my kids while my hubby works 50+ hours a week and then I work at night after everybody goes to sleep and then there's my crafty stuff and art class and all that. While I love everything I do, i'm just tired. I don't get enough sleep and it's wearing on me. Not only that but I miss out on family time with Brett and the boys. I miss out on being able to sit and knit leisurely while watching watching the boys play and enjoying some adult conversation with my hubby. Given that I have an engineering degree and my hubby works for an engineering firm, I have a great opportunity to have work dropped in my lap and to set my own schedule. While it's not rocket science and by no means nearly as exciting and interesting .... it does work that technical part of my brain that needs excercise, no matter how hard I try to make it go away. Not only that but it sure does help pay the bills. And if Brett is ever going to get rid of that old truck he drives, I have got to increase my income. That or sell my beloved Pathfinder and get a smaller economy car. I don't want to do that but it may come down to it if I can't figure something out. I could do in-home child care but I really don't want to do that if I can avoid it. I like to be able to get up and go somewhere when I want to. It's hard enough with my own two kids. And then there would still be the engineering work at night and the fact that I got an engineering degree partly so I wouldn't have to worry about money. Well I really got it because I wanted to work in the space industry, the money was just a bonus that I didn't really even think about until I was already halfway through my degree. But I digress ... obviously there is no space industry here in Lake City ... yet. There's plenty of room for a big facility and I will continue to hope that someday the End Timers aren't the only ones who think this is the "promise land". Until then I will use my AE degree to do Civil and Structural work. Hey ... it pays the bills and is actually somewhat interesting.
So here's what i'm looking for ... I would like to find someone I can trade child care with two days a week. For example, they watch my kids on monday and wednesday while I go to work and i'll watch thier kids on tuesday and thursday while they go to work, school, shopping, sit around watching soaps and eating bon-bons ... whatever they want to do. The great thing is that I set my own schedule so it can be any two days of the week, it doesn't really matter. And it can be later hours too like 10 - 6 or even 12 - 8. Or it can be only six hours instead of eight. All of that is flexible. So ... if you know anyone in Lake City that might be up for this .... please, please, please let me know. If I can't find someone to work something like this out with in a month or so then I might move to the next phase of finding someone I can pay to watch the boys two days a week. I would even be up for a daycare center if I could only pay for the two days a week instead of having to pay for the whole week. I'm trying to increase our income here, not decrease it. :) And while i'm pretty much guaranteed to make more money if I can free up some hours, it's contract work so i'm not paid hourly. If there's no work, I don't get paid.
So here's what i'm looking for ... I would like to find someone I can trade child care with two days a week. For example, they watch my kids on monday and wednesday while I go to work and i'll watch thier kids on tuesday and thursday while they go to work, school, shopping, sit around watching soaps and eating bon-bons ... whatever they want to do. The great thing is that I set my own schedule so it can be any two days of the week, it doesn't really matter. And it can be later hours too like 10 - 6 or even 12 - 8. Or it can be only six hours instead of eight. All of that is flexible. So ... if you know anyone in Lake City that might be up for this .... please, please, please let me know. If I can't find someone to work something like this out with in a month or so then I might move to the next phase of finding someone I can pay to watch the boys two days a week. I would even be up for a daycare center if I could only pay for the two days a week instead of having to pay for the whole week. I'm trying to increase our income here, not decrease it. :) And while i'm pretty much guaranteed to make more money if I can free up some hours, it's contract work so i'm not paid hourly. If there's no work, I don't get paid.
Better Picture
Here's a better picture of CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY MOON. The first pics I took were at night and didn't really show the true color.
Monday, August 06, 2007
My Etsy Shop
I've been asked how to find my shop on Etsy. You can go to www.rocketyarn.etsy.com. There's also a link to the right of this post on my blog. Look for the two pictures stacked one right above the other with a caption underneath that says something like "buy handmade". Also, if you know me personally and want to buy something please send me an email before completing an Etsy transaction. Thanks!
Cuteness
We went to Tallahassee Saturday evening to celebrate our friend Andre's birthday. We all stayed at his parents house and had a good time as usual. I love his parents, they rock! And of course we ate tons of yummy food. I didn't take any pictures because I was busy knitting away trying to finish his birthday gift before he opened presents that night. Andre and Stephanie just found out they are having a baby. We actually found out last Thursday but he and Stephanie waited to tell his parents in person. There are some booties that some ladies in my stitch 'n' bitch group have been knitting. These things are so cute it's just about ridiculous. So of course, I had to knit up a pair for the father-to-be. I finished one in the car on the way to Tallahassee and finished the other one while we were there. People kept asking me what I was knitting and I wouldn't tell anyone because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Awesome thing I discovered lately ... I can knit in the car! I get (and always have gotten) very car sick if I try to do anything except for look straight ahead while riding in a car. Reading is completely out of the question as is looking at a map. I've always been this way. Why is it that I can knit in the car without getting sick? Interesting. When I was younger I felt sick just riding in the back seat because I couldn't see straight ahead of me. Anyway, I digress. Now for the cuteness ...
And yes, they are slightly different. The yarn I used has three colors plied together that change one at a time. Makes a really cool fabric. I know this would bother some people but I knew Andre and Stephanie would like it. The booties were definitely a big hit! There will be a matching hat added to the set within the next nine months that will really tie it all together. Kinda like a rug has a way of tying the room together ... any Big Lebowski fans out there? Hee hee.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Everybody, meet Rocket Yarn ...
This was the first draft of my logo. I'm currently redrawing him with thicker lines and designing my ball band labels to send DEEP SPACE and BLUE MOON to California today. I'm so excited about this. I love playing with color and dyeing yarn is the perfect way to do that. I'm so happy that others like my yarn enough to buy it. So far in the first five days of selling yarn i've sold five skeins of sock yarn. Not too shabby huh? Especially since i've only presented six skeins for sale. :)
Thursday, August 02, 2007
I'm So Excited!!!
So I posted two more skeins of yarn for sale on Etsy today and they both sold in less than eight hours! Yay! :) BLUE MOON and DEEP SPACE are both on their way to California. Bye-bye lovelies.
New Yarn Colorways
BLUE MOON - before and after reskeining
DEEP SPACE - haven't reskeined this one yet
DROPS OF JUPITER - before heat setting
Yarn drying from left to right: CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY MOON, DROPS OF JUPITER and DEEP SPACE
Yarn drying from left to right: CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY MOON, DROPS OF JUPITER, DEEP SPACE, BLUE MOON and (no name yet)
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Art Class #1
I've been busy dyeing yarn and haven't had much time for blogging. The art class went well on monday. Some of the kids painted the whole time and others were more interested in the toys. It was really fun to see who did what ... we definitely have a couple of little van Gogh's in the group. :)
I think my set-up was pretty good considering we don't have easels yet (working on that). There are a few things i'm going to do a little differently next time but all in all it went really well. I'm using cat food & water bowls for no-spill paint trays. They worked really well. I laid out about eight different stations with sheets in the grass. I spread them out a little thinking the kids might be less distracted with fewer kids right there next to them. This is something i'm going to change though. I think it may have been a little too spread out for some of the kids. Next time i'm going to make one long line across the yard with the sheets to make more of a concentrated "art area" and see how that works. I think it might lure some of the younger kids in to what's going on and they might want to participate a little more.
The kids seemed to have fun and all the moms were really appreciative and supportive and very generous with art supply donations. I can hardly wait to take another trip to Gainesville to buy more supplies for the next two classes. We're also working on buying and having donated materials needed to build easels. Here's what I have planned for those ...
Class #2: Fabric Art Collage - the kids will each have a rigid piece of felt (so they can move it around without it going all floppy on them) and a plate of glue. i will have cut out of different colors and textures of fabric a whole bunch of basic shapes ... circles, squares, triangles, etc as well as feathers and pom pom balls and pieces of yarn (of course). they will dip these items in the glue and stick it to their piece of felt. i plan on testing this one out with my kids first as usual to see if i need to tweak anything. i'm really looking forward to this project. i think it's going to be really fun.
Class #3: Sock Painting - i loved sock painting as a kid. i remember watching my dad paint with socks when i was younger. you wouldn't believe the cool stuff you can paint with a sock! this is going to be a blast! i'm going to cover my shed with a big roll of art paper and all the kids will have tube socks on their hands and will all paint the shed together. i can't wait to see how this class goes.
The hand washing station was a big hit.
These were the first two painters of the morning. You can see the other stations set up here in the background waiting for the kids to arrive.
Everyone's invited so if you want to join in the fun send me an email so I can add you to the mailing list. I email the details to everyone before each class.
I think my set-up was pretty good considering we don't have easels yet (working on that). There are a few things i'm going to do a little differently next time but all in all it went really well. I'm using cat food & water bowls for no-spill paint trays. They worked really well. I laid out about eight different stations with sheets in the grass. I spread them out a little thinking the kids might be less distracted with fewer kids right there next to them. This is something i'm going to change though. I think it may have been a little too spread out for some of the kids. Next time i'm going to make one long line across the yard with the sheets to make more of a concentrated "art area" and see how that works. I think it might lure some of the younger kids in to what's going on and they might want to participate a little more.
The kids seemed to have fun and all the moms were really appreciative and supportive and very generous with art supply donations. I can hardly wait to take another trip to Gainesville to buy more supplies for the next two classes. We're also working on buying and having donated materials needed to build easels. Here's what I have planned for those ...
Class #2: Fabric Art Collage - the kids will each have a rigid piece of felt (so they can move it around without it going all floppy on them) and a plate of glue. i will have cut out of different colors and textures of fabric a whole bunch of basic shapes ... circles, squares, triangles, etc as well as feathers and pom pom balls and pieces of yarn (of course). they will dip these items in the glue and stick it to their piece of felt. i plan on testing this one out with my kids first as usual to see if i need to tweak anything. i'm really looking forward to this project. i think it's going to be really fun.
Class #3: Sock Painting - i loved sock painting as a kid. i remember watching my dad paint with socks when i was younger. you wouldn't believe the cool stuff you can paint with a sock! this is going to be a blast! i'm going to cover my shed with a big roll of art paper and all the kids will have tube socks on their hands and will all paint the shed together. i can't wait to see how this class goes.
The hand washing station was a big hit.
These were the first two painters of the morning. You can see the other stations set up here in the background waiting for the kids to arrive.
Everyone's invited so if you want to join in the fun send me an email so I can add you to the mailing list. I email the details to everyone before each class.
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