Podcasts

I have learned to love podcasts. Because Sawyer is in love with tv, we try to not have it on anymore (with the exception of Thursday night for the Office). This has taught me to learn to love quiet (often I will spend hours with no noise in the house) and podcasts. We have an Apple TV, which allows me to listen to things from my computer on our surround sound system, which is nice as the computer speakers aren't the best.

ANYWAY, I love podcasts, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you in case you are looking for something to listen to.

* Knitmore Girls- A fun podcast about knitting. It's a mom and daughter who sit and talk about their knitting and review products. Fun stuff.

*This American Life- Oh man, I love this one. I wish I could get the back episodes, as I forgot to subscribe and download them every week. (You can get them for 99 cents, but there are 500 or so, and I'm poor) This podcast takes a different topic every week and tells people's stories. Last week it was about kid politics, and this week it was about people who take a long time to make life changing decisions. All fascinating and fun to listen to. Edited to add... Jess in Ohio (an awesome librarian and knitter) pointed out to me that you can listen to back episodes on the TAL website. Which I am doing right now. LOVE! :)

*NPR Planet Money- I am fascinated by money and economics. This podcast isn't too technical for the non-economist to listen to, but I feel like I learn something every time I listen. Love it. In fact, I am listening to it right now, and I plan on looking up more NPR podcasts as soon as I'm done here.

*KnitCents- A good podcast about knitting and saving money, two great things in my opinion. :)

Those are the ones I listen to without fail.  I have a few more that I listen to if I run out of my regulars... mostly knitting ones. If you have any podcasts that you love, let me know! I will keep you updated if any others make it into my regular rotation.

Have a great Wednesday!

Danger Crafts

I love Rebecca Danger's designs.... I was very excited to see that she had one sewing pattern released, and immediately snatched it up. Here is my first sewn monster, for Sawyer.

He's pretty small (less than 12" tall), but very cute. Sawyer likes him. Well, as much as he can... he tries to grab him, so to me that is an endorsement. :) I plan on making more in different sizes. The large one in the sewing pattern is pretty big, and I think it will make a fun couch pillow. And, of course, Weston wants one so him and Sawyer can play together. 

I also bought her new book The Big Book of Knitted Monsters so that I can knit a bunch of them! I just love them. So be on the lookout. I might hide a monster in your house. :)

JB Britches

Today is Josh's birthday.  Here he is in his birthday present from last year.

It is the Knotty but Nice hat from Knitty. It was a very fun knit, and he wears it a lot, so I'm glad that I made it. I want to make one for myself... but... you know how that goes. :) Last year, we went to Colorado, where Josh was working at a ski resort, for his birthday. This year, we won't be together and it is sad. I haven't seen Josh since his birthday last year.... :( But, he is coming up next month and I am very excited!

So, Josh, if you are reading this, Happy Birthday. I know that I don't have a knitted present for you this year, but I still think you are awesome.  Blame Sawyer for your lack of hand knits. He's pretty demanding. We miss you and can't wait to see you next month. Be safe!

Happy Birthday!

Sawyer is 3 months old today! I can not believe how much he has changed in such a short period of time.

To keep up with Sawyer, follow him on his own blog here. :)

Two FO, a new blog, and food

First off, I finished two things today. My french press slippers and Sawyer's baby chick quilt. Both just needed the last bit of finishing done, and it feels good to get them out of my sewing room.





Second, I just discovered this blog today. Wow. I love the pictures and I'm dying to try some of the recipes already. Look and drool.

And last but not least, we have started doing Full Circle Farms again and I am excited to go pick up my veggie box today!! Whoo hoo for fresh food!

Monday, Monday

Oh, Monday. You are such a fickle day. Sometimes you pass like a quiet breeze, nice and easy... other times you are like a hurricane and destroy everything in your path. So far, today has been a gentle breeze. Sawyer slept THROUGH the night. He went down at 8:45 and got up at 7:00. Amazing. And, he woke up smiling, which is always much more pleasant than the alternative! Now he is taking his morning nap, and I am working on getting things done around the house. I have a fun idea for Valentine's Day presents that I am working on and very excited about. Just need some sheets of photo paper and a stapler to finish the first half... and about 4 hours of time to finish the second half. The time might be hard to come by.... might have to actually stay up past 8:45 at night. :P

Some other random things. A friend posted about the movie Food, Inc, which I believe I have posted about before. I think it is important to know where your food comes from. Weston and I have really decreased our meat intake, and the little bit of meat that we do eat comes from Natural Pantry, is grass fed, and organic. This past weekend we had pancakes and bacon for breakfast... the bacon was uncured and organic and was quite different to cook than "normal" bacon. There was so little grease, it was amazing. And the taste... yum. Of course, the package of bacon was $7, but like I said, we eat meat maybe 2 times a week, so I don't feel too bad spending more on it. We also bought AK eggs at Natural Pantry (which are $7/dozen, much more than we would normally pay for eggs... but we are thinking about getting chickens to combat that cost.) and they cooked very differently too! A "normal" egg when cracked into a pan spreads EVERYWHERE. These eggs stayed in a nice little circle... no spreading. I can only think the difference in how these two foods cooked is because of the quality and freshness. They aren't filled with preservatives and the animals are happy.

Also, wanted to clairfy something about my last post. I was thinking about it, and it kind of sounded like I was anti-public school, which is not true. I will probably (90% positive this will happen) be sending Sawyer to a public school. There are EXCELLENT public school teachers. I just think it is sad that there are also teachers who aren't great, hate their jobs, or just plain aren't good at their jobs, and yet, they still keep their jobs. Part of it is because they don't want to/can't quit their jobs for $$ reasons, others I think just don't know they are bad at it... and another reason bad teachers stick around is that it is really hard to fire them. That is a whole different discussion. But,  I just wanted to point out that public schools aren't horrible, there are good and bad teachers everywhere, and I admire those great teachers who do make a difference in the lives of children.

More random things... My MIL has a friend who has a granddaughter who is a week or so older than Sawyer. This young girl has a blog (well, her family has a blog, but I think she is kind of the star). My MIL has asked me why Sawyer doesn't have "one of those". (I don't think she knows the word blog, just knows that she can look at a website to learn about this little girl... and wants people to learn about Sawyer) I'm thinking about it. Sawyer may debut his own blog soon. I don't want him taking over my blog... not that I don't love him, but this is MY little corner of the world where I talk about knitting, and other things that strike my fancy (which is him quite often, but still... he is not the star here). So look out for that. If I decide to do that, I will post a link here so if anyone is interested in keeping tabs on him, they can.

Alright, 10 o'clock. Have to shower before Sawyer gets up from his morning nap. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Waiting for Superman

Weston and I went to Bear's Tooth on Wednesday to see a movie I had wanted to see for a while, Waiting for Superman.  It was a documentary about the education system in America, specifically the public school system. I thought it was very well done, for what it was.  It didn't offer a lot of solutions (although it did show schools that DO work, such as KIPP schools and different charter schools), but it did highlight some of the problems that stand in the way of progress.  It followed a few children who were in failing schools and hoped to get into charter schools through the lottery system.  It was heartbreaking. I wanted to cry every time their name wasn't drawn. For some of those kids, not making it into the charter school will literally change their life. It will be the difference between making it to college and dropping out of school. It was really sad.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and really wish that there were an easy fix. A lot of the problems that stood in the way of solutions were why I left teaching (too much administration, decisions being made based on the sake of adults getting along, etc...). It also left me feeling very lucky that I have choices to make for Sawyer, and no matter what I choose, I can be assured that he will get a good education.  I have the ability to work with him at home and help him learn... not all parents can spend that much time with their children, or have the education to help past a certain point. It also made me worried about having to make all of these decisions for Sawyer. Ugh. Tough stuff. Luckily, the biggest decision I make for him everyday right now is what he is going to wear. :) Gives me plenty of time to think about the bigger decisions coming up.

Still knitting the sweater.  Haven't made as much progress as I was hoping to, but I have ambitious plans to catch up this weekend. Of course, I also came up with a fun idea of Valentine presents to send to various people, so I need to work on those too. Only a month away! :) Hope everyone had a good week...

Schedule

Sawyer has decided that he is a schedule baby.  Much to his mother's dismay... I am not a schedule person. I do things when they "feel" right... if I'm hungry, I eat, if I'm sleepy, I sleep (if I can... sometimes the little person in the house protests to that). But, Sawyer has decided that he is a SCHEDULE baby. Wake up: 6:30, morning nap 8:30, afternoon nap 12:30, evening rest 6:00, bed time 8:30. If you are not on his schedule, he is NOT happy.  One thing that is kind of nice about him being a schedule baby is that if he is fussy around 12:15, you know why. It is because he is tired. Simple fix, get him ready for his nap. The thing that is a pain about him being a schedule baby is that it makes it hard to get things done outside of the house... if we aren't home during one of his nap times, he has a hard time napping. But, oh well. He is in charge... he even has an outfit that says so.

I'm plugging away on his sweater. I'm still super worried that he will grow out of it before it is done, but I am going to finish it anyway. Because Sally 2011 is a finisher. And because there is hope that maybe he will stay this size for another month and be able to wear it... ha ha. (And if he doesn't fit into this sweater, I may be forced to have another child just to have someone to wear it... that is how much work has gone into it...)

That is really all that is going on here. Still no more snow. :( The snow we have is packed down and covered in ice. Gross. We have had a ton of fog recently, which has put a nice layer of frost on everything. It is pretty, but I would prefer about another foot or more of snow....

But I don't want to be a cowboy....

Weston's family is from Texas. So, Sawyer already has a cowboy hat... his aunt brought it home for him before he was even a week old.  It finally *sort of* fits on him, so we decided to take some pictures. He was not a fan....

Poor Sawyer. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Sale day!

Tomorrow is sale day at Quilt Tree. It happens three times a year, and is CRAZY town. I used to go as a customer (if you are going for classes, be there early, if you are just going for fabric, go in the afternoon...) but now I have to work it every time.  It is really hit or miss how I feel about working the sale. Most times, it is fine because my shift goes really quickly because you don't get a break. However, sometimes people are super cranky and that really annoys me. You have to know going into it that you are going to be there for a while. Clearly, it is hard to move around the store... there are TONS of people there, it is going to take us a while to get through the line. So take a chill pill, drink your coffee or whatever, and relax. Being mean to the clerks doesn't make us move any faster. In fact, sometimes it causes us to make mistakes, which makes it take even longer.

I am planning on signing up for one class today when I head to work (which I hopefully remember to do... I've been meaning to do it since last Wednesday...) which is a finishing class for hand work.  I want to work on my embroidery quilt that I started when I was pregnant, and I think this will be the perfect time for it.

That is really all I have, just a PSA about being nice to people who help you out in stores. A little kindness goes a long way. :) Have a great weekend!

Fireworks!

In case I haven't posted enough about how much I loved the fireworks, here is one more shout out for them. I loved it. Every second of it. And if you did too (or even if you were neutral on it!) PLEASE write your assembly person and let them know. You can find out who your assembly person is and get there email address here.

Go. Email. Let your voice be heard.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve! We had a BLAST (pun intended) shooting off fireworks. The dogs didn't seem to mind, and the few that Sawyer stayed up to see, he LOVED. It was great.

And as far as the first day of Sally 2011 is concerned, I'm doing well. I've gotten dressed, and I'm currently working on my block swap blocks (a WIP that was started in April and will continue until this April).  I also have avoided temptation and haven't bought any new fabric or yarn at any of the end of year sales... which was hard, since I go to work in a fabric and yarn store and see all of the stuff EVERY DAY. BUT, I reminded myself... even if it is FREE, I don't NEED it. So, none of it came home with me. Even the lovely fabric that was only $2/yard that would have looked great on the back of a quilt. So go me.

Back to work. Must get as much done before Sawyer wakes up from his nap.  Happy 2011!