Overdue Book Review

See the Rachael Herron books listed above? Go. Buy. Them. Or buy digital copies like me. (And be sure to check out Rachael's blog at www.yarnagogo.com.)  

A Life in Stitches is the latest release. It's a book of personal essays. Rachael's writing is like having your BFF sitting next to on the couch, gabbing over chai lattes. I laughed. I cried. (The essays about her mom really hit me since I continue to battle emotions regarding Mom and her MS.) I promised myself that this time I really would post a blog about Rachael's mad writing skills. 

How to Knit a Love Song and How to Knit a Heart Back Home are the first two novels in the Cypress Hollow Yarn Series. I'm eagerly awaiting #3.  They have everything- yarn, romance, strong heroines, yarn, zippy dialogue, plausible plot lines, yarn, and a knitting pattern at the end of the book. Did I mention yarn?

Honeymooning is a short story that features two characters from Cypress Hollow. It's a fun, quick read. Your Rachael Herron Collection will not be complete without it.

I wish I could describe the books in such a way that you'd trip over yourself in your haste to buy them, but I don't have the words. Be assured that if I bought them for my nook, that means I love them enough to a) KEEP THEM FOREVER and b) CARRY THEM WITH ME WHEREVER I TRAVEL. If that's not convincing, what is? 

Be sure to check out Rachael's blog!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Another WIP

Baby sweater for a February baby (not mine), great book of baby patterns, and Jonas' new Halloween flashlight (when you turn on the light, it says 'boooooo').

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Watching the Lincoln Days Parade

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Back By Popular Demand

I know I should get back to blogging, and Michelle has now asked me twice to resume the project of the month blogs.  

I'm currently working on The Manwell.  It's a turtleneck dog sweater designed by Stephanie Michaud and printed in Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. I'm using Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn in #201 Denim Stripe. (I use this yarn A LOT since I bought about 20 balls of it on super clearance back in 2006. I know. Yarn hoarder. In my defense, sock yarn was very rare in the Hardin-LaRue area back then....)

As for the challenge this month, I will knit Jonas a two-color Christmas stocking. Fingers crossed.

And hey, it's nice to see ya'll again, dear readers!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

The Cat Who Wouldn't Die

We took Ruthie to the vet to be put down today. It was not as terribly sad as when we took Ringo last July because Jason and I had made the decision together last night that it was time. I would like to write the same quality eulogy for Ruthie as for Ringo, but I've been saying goodbye to her since we found out she had a necrotic kidney in June 2006. This experience is unlike any I've ever had with a beloved pet. All the ones before have been hit by cars, run away, or like my beloved dog Spot and Ringo, unplanned euthanasia. (Ok, so Philip's cat Boots and Dad's lab Duchess both died in their sleep, but I was five when Boots died and living in Atlanta when Duchess died so they weren't really my experience.)

Ruthie came through her kidney removal surgery five years ago with no problems. (Unless you count her personality change and the sometimes mis-matched pupils as problems.) But this last year has been a very slow decline in her health. In April I took her for a checkup and found out (many hundreds of dollars later) that she had spinalosis, arthritis, hip displaysia, and alzheimers. She started taking pain meds twice a day. This past week she went on a hunger strike. She couldn't hold down her meds anymore. And when she did eat, she couldn't keep that food in her belly, either.

It was time to let her go. To end her pain. To finish the long goodbye. And now that I'm writing about the end of her 12 years on this earth, I'm finally crying for her. She had driven us crazy so many times over the past five years that it's easy to forget she was once so incredibly sweet and cute and adorable that we named her Ruthie after the little girl on "7th Heaven." I will miss that version of my Baby Ruth. The house will be too quiet now. Especially at night when we're trying to sleep.

Goodbye, Ruthie.

Raindrops On Roses And Whiskers On Kittens

Happy Mother's Day!

Quick update on Jonas....He turned 2 last Monday (the 2nd). He's a full-on toddler, complete with temper tantrums and stubbornness and whining. Yay. At his wellness checkup, he weighed 29 lbs (65th percentile) and was 36.5 in tall (90th percentile). His favorite things are: Toy Story 3 (Buzz and Woody), Sesame Street (Murray and Super Grover 2.0), Tangled (Mandy Moore- he's had a thing for her since birth), whole milk, peanut butter crackers, mustard, mango dum-dums, books, calling his dad by his first name, shoes & socks, and his stuffed creatures (Stinky Monkey, Kitty, Bear and Bunny).

I Didn't See His Face, But His Thighs Were Amazing

I would love to share pictures of my trip, but I don't know how on this Macbook! I'm sure it's something really simple, and I'm making it harder than it is. I just haven't had the chance to play with it, between all the traveling and trying to keep it out of Jonas' clutches. (Which is really, really hard. I'm very frustrated that in a house this size, I have NOWHERE to put my things that he can't get to them. Grrrr!)

So we had lots of fun on the trip. Jonas loved Olivia! Michelle and Olivia drove over one day and met Meli, Jonas and me at Potomac Park. Once we strapped the kiddos into their strollers, we were off for a walking tour of the Mall and a picnic lunch (where Jonas took off and almost took out a runner with the most amazing thighs ever). It was wet and colder than I had expected. Luckily, Michelle had a spare long sleeve shirt for Jonas to borrow. So what if if was a pink-brown-green polka dot kimono-style shirt! Jonas was adorable and warm.

We also had a blast with Other Michele/Virginia Michele/This Michele/MicheLe. She almost made me pee in my pants with the stories of the old Rabbit she used to have. And I'm so happy she was there to get my obscure movie references! I think Jonas has recovered from meeting her dogs, too. (And now would be a wonderful time for a picture of Riley the Great Dane, but alas.....)

In Fayetteville, Pam took us to a yarn shop downtown. I can't remember the name right now, but it was Sunflower something and on Anderson St. The owner was pretty awesome. I'm definitely looking forward to going back to her shop. In Alexandria, Meli & I checked out Fiber Space. It's off of King St so it was easy to get to. I'm also looking forward to visiting that shop again. I missed out on Yarn Cloud in Woodbridge, VA. They were closed for inventory, but I'm sure I'll check it out the next time I visit Meli.

The long leg of the trip was the drive home from Stafford. We would have made it, if I hadn't detoured to Lynchburg to visit Randolph-Macon Woman's College (now just Randolph College because they went co-ed). The detour added about 2 hours to the trip. I gave up in Lexington, and because it was so late at that point I opted for a hotel instead of hitting up the hospitality of my friends in the city. Jonas was cranky, and I didn't have energy to be social. But we woke up rested and refreshed the next morning (Good Friday) and hurried home where we had to wait all day to finally see Jason again.

I guess I'm rested up from the trip and Easter and the Royal Wedding so now I have to get back to work around the house. I didn't finish my Lent To-Do List. There were some things that I needed to be home to do, and I didn't take my three week road trip into consideration when I made the list. Oh well. I completed 54 out of 67 tasks, and I think that's not too shabby.

Next blog.....long delayed book reviews for Rachael Herron and Suzanne Brockmann.