now she just needs a name. narrowed it down to either violet or beatrix.

Current Mood:  good

reasons i don’t want one, with no offense meant to those who have one
-it makes me feel old
-it makes me feel less cool (like i am cool at all now ha!)
-i feel like they come with a free pair of mom jeans and applique vest
-i don’t like or fit in with the soccer mom image that they represent to me

reasons i should just suck it up:
-i can get ALL the features i want in the other car without the pricetag
-i will probably only have it for 6 years, in which time the other car i want will be TRASHED
-yes this car will be trashed too, but it’s a minivan and i don’t care about it so why not
-at the end of its probable 6 year run i will have kids that will be less likely to trash it
-caring what other people think about my car is dumb
-what car i drive doesn’t define me
-i can actually haul more than just me and chris and the babies around
-those that i know who have minivans don’t fit into the stereotype i’ve built at all, so it shouldn’t even really still bother me since i know those reasons aren’t true

reasons that i don’t want to suck it up
-i REALLY DO NOT WANT A MINIVAN

reasons why i probably will suck it up and get one
-i’ll have a long time to pick out the next car which will be ossim and well deserved after minivan hell
-i can doll it up with stickers that are HARDCORE (or maybe just some sort of funny stormtrooper family with the bows on it)
-i’m a grown up who needs a bigger car and this is a less expensive option for my family, which is the most important point

i think i may have, in one day, talked myself into a vehicle that i never thought i ever wanted.

Current Mood:  amused

6 weeks ago today, Zoe Josephine was born, 7lbs 14 oz, 20 inches long. she was born beautiful, screaming, and with all bits and parts where they should be. it was a wonderfully healing and fulfilling experience to be able to be mentally present for the birth of my child, for chris to be able to share it too, and to have her with us in our room. i cherish alex’s experiences even more now, and hers too. she’s my little bee and she’s already living up to her name.

pictures of her can be found here, but here’s my favorite:

Current Mood:  calm

we do need to figure out alex’s arrangements though, but we have a backup if we end up with no good options. and really there’s probably 1987489754 things i’m also forgetting. but hey. really all a baby needs is food (got it) diapers (plenty) and a car seat (all set) to get home from the hospital, so no stress.

other things are going great. i’ve been knitting up a storm, doing a little sewing, and playing SC2/WoW when i can (which isn’t a lot) — that’s ok, because all of those things won’t be seen for months once baby comes. gets me used to shifting gears.

alex is doing great. his vocabulary is insane, and he’s a little funny guy for sure. he’s sweet, but he has both husband AND my temper. we’re in so much trouble.

Current Mood:  cheerful

First off – shame on me for not complaining sooner. Today was the third time that this Panera has messed up my order, and the only thing I can promise is that it will be the last.

I know this is a busy location, but the general disregard for people is insulting and offputting. I’m a regular at another Panera so I know this isn’t a company problem.

Today I ordered an egg and four cheese souffle (at noon) which was really what I wanted. Being 7 months pregnant, and just having my braces adjusted, I can safely say it’s ALL I wanted. I asked when they were made, and was told “11am, but they’re fine because they’re on the warmer”. I ordered something additional as a just in case (thank goodness) and went to wait for my order. A woman who I can only assume was the manager rudely pushed past me to get to the counter, and started kindly assisting another customer — all with her back squarely in my face. No excuse me, no nothing. When my order was called and I said it was mine, she rudely pushed my bag in my face with barely a word.

When I returned to my office and cut open my egg souffle, it was some sort of spinach/pepper concoction – VERY different from the four cheese I had specifically requested. To say that I broke down in tears is not hyperbole. This was the straw that broke my back today – yes, I realize I am lucky to have these ‘problems’, but that is not the point here. It’s a summation of a lack of service in this location, and it’s systemic.

My kind husband returned the food to get me what I really wanted, but of course by the time he got back (which wasn’t really that long) they had tossed the remaining egg souffles, with no offer to make another one. Honestly? I don’t care how difficult it would be to make another one. If someone comes back to the store with one that YOU messed up, it is your obligation to make a new one. Although now I wonder if I was also served food that was well past it’s expiration time.

I was not bothered to be presented with my receipt (although my Panera card will show the transaction) and will not return to that location even if I was given all the gift certificates in the world. I’ll also make sure that anyone in my office who will listen knows this story.

Will I continue to go to other Paneras? That depends on the response to this complaint. I truly hope that you take this seriously, as while there is the chance that I am overly hormonal due to being pregnant, the experience I had was terrible from start to finish regardless of any emotional input on my part.

Edit: this was the Woodland Park/Sunrise Valley location in Herndon.

so we’ve been trying to prepare him for the baby, and talking about that she’s coming, introducing him to the concept of siblings, a baby around the house, etc. we’ve asked him what he should do with the baby (we suggest things like love, kiss, hug) and the things he’s suggested just make me hysterical – although i try not to let him see me laugh, lest he think any of these suggestions are alright. except the ones that are, of course.

using his words:

• hit the baby! (he raises his hand and pretends to hit me)
• eat the baby! (he opens his mouth as wide as possible. occasionally he also mashes teeth)
• feed the baby mulch (he’s done this to a girl at school once. he meant well, i think)
• kiss the baby (man was i glad to hear this one)
• show the baby tv
• hug the baby

he then practices many of these on my leg. i think we’re in trouble.  he also knows this is hilarious — we were in the grocery the other day and he points to a man, and goes. “Momma, hit the man!” and when I said no he SCREAMED it at the top of his lungs. now THAT was awesome. er, i mean no! not nice.

Current Mood:  amused

we were going to not find out again, but we figured we’d just do it one way one time, and the other the other. i don’t regret knowing really, but i think i’d be ok if i didn’t. it’s fun to look at girl clothes though, i fully admit.

each week is moderately better than the last, but i’m still somewhat dry-heave-y. nothing terrible, just annoying almost 6 months in. worth it though!

alex is great – talking up a storm and being a crazy man. he loves his big boy room, and is just such a cool kid. loving and funny and everything i could ask for. i think his most popular things to say these days is, “NO ALE X DO IT” and “NO MOMMA” – ha. i have been a total slack ass in the picture department, so i’ll fix that soon and post some. i take a lot of cell phone pictures that i have to upload.

his birthday is coming up – two already. i can hardly believe it. time really does go so fast.

Current Mood:  tired

The end results

fair warning – this is alllll about knitting.

so the winter olympics/ravelympics finished like almost two weeks ago, and this post has been open in draft form almost as long as that. i earned a bunch of medals but those are just fun for rav, more importantly – i finished 4 of the 6 projects i set out to do. it was a fun process, and it helped me knock out two things that had been REALLY just sitting around and bugging me for a while, and afterwards convinced me to frog something i should have taken care of years ago

1-sweater frogged. no good pictures of that really.

2 -mrs. beetons – I’d made a pair of these right before/when alex was born, with the intent

Mrs Beetons for ME!

that they were for me. but sometimes when you make something you find someone more deserving of a gift than yourself, and as such they were gifted to the midwife that did so much for alex, wendy. (as a side note, wendy is currently in haiti assisting a charity she’s been involved with for quite some time, midwives for haiti. check out her blog here for some great, moving stories from the ground – her day yesterday included a woman giving birth on the sidewalk!).

anyways, i really wanted a pair for me too, so i made that one of my goals and got them done lickety split. now i just need it to get cold again (OF WHICH I AM IN NO RUSH TO SEE HAPPEN THANK YOU).

3- zee french market bag! i’ve never made a bag, and i’ve never done any felting, so this sounded like a good learning opportunity. well, the bag was like the simplest thing i’d done in a really long time – it was just like a big hat (which is evidenced in the pictures in that i am wearing it as such ) made out of yarn i’ll never buy again (and used from my frogged sweater in #1) because it causes the worst hand fatigue in the world. for those that know, three words – lamb’s pride bulky. ow ow ow.

as for the felting part, it seems my washing machine wants to fight me on felting things to the teeth. this turned out to be a good thing, since 3 washes in and one dry cycle only felted it moderately, which turned out to be exactly what i wanted but didn’t know it.

4 – rainbow socks – i started these earlier last year and then finished one way quick. the other? not so quick. i got full on second sock syndrome, and just never picked it back up. the pattern looked so daunting (this might have technically been my first lace) but it really wasn’t, and i like how it looks. my swollen ankles disagree right now, but they are comfy – and on right now

5- Gryffindor socks — SSB had gotten me this awesome self-striping sock yarn in Gryff colors a few years back, and i figured socks would be perfect for it. well, the pattern i wanted to use was actually TOO easy that i always just put them down and never got past like 4 inches of cuff. i decided like 2 days too late to count it as a frogging project for the ravlympics to remake them as mitts, so that’s in progress. the goal is to finish them before the hp7 premiere, which i think with two kids i’ll have to call out of work one day to see ;P

6 – spinning the 70% merino/30% seacell – i got almost through 4oz, but 8oz was the total i wanted to hit, and i way missed it. i’ve spun a bit since then though and i’m probably about 5-6oz in. i can’t wait till it’s done!

i’m really loving the new wheel; i love the first one too, but this one is sort of the not starter wheel. not that i’m still not a newb spinner, but i just needed more speed control really – i’m not very good at that on my other one, much better on this one!

anyways, that’s my tl;dr knitting post.

Current Mood:  accomplished

no, seriously – i’ve had this conversation. but usually when the first line delivered by the other person is said in a totally snarky manner.

i’m not sure why some people begrudge when you can actually do something well. i’ve had people say, ‘i thought you just knit scarves’ when they see i’ve done something complex and nice, and others say, ‘couldn’t you just have bought that’? i can do few things reasonably well, and one of them is knitting. people just love to cut others down. i love you if you don’t, so this isn’t for you.

also, if you guess that this post is also talking about something else, you’re correct. it’s a great parallel to where i’m sitting right now which will not be named. but i’m here 5 days a week. i bet you can guess.

Ravelympics WIPS as of 2/21

in other more positive news, my knitting for the ravelympics is going awesome. i’ve made a lot of progress – two items complete (one frogged and easy project and one knitted pair of mitts), and four more to go.

Out of the remaining four projects, the rainbow sock (upper left corner) was cast on 2/15 and is almost about to have the heel turned, the other sock (gryffendor) has only had one repeat of yellow done during this time (but it’s the last priority), the mitts were started and finished during the timeframe, and the bag (big black blob in the lower right) was new as well, made out of the yarn from the frogged sweater. it’s actually quite large, about 16 inches across and so far 4 inches high. the pattern calls for 8 inches before the handles, as it’s not a very large bag (it’ll be felted so it’ll shrink) – but i think i might make it a little bit taller. we’ll see.

Mm. Merino + Seacell = awesome

last is the spinning i’m doing on my new wheel – i’m spinning up some miss babs pencil roving - and loving every moment of it. i really spins incredibly well and i can’t wait to see how it plies. i’m not being very precise with it as it’s forgiving, so i’ll have to reserve judgment for the final result. i can’t wait to see it.

all my ravelympics progress pictures are here – i’m trying to take a picture a day so i and others who care (probably 1 of you) can see how it’s growing/going!

i swear i still have a husband and a wonderful son and am still pregnant. there’s a whole post i could do about them and i will – just not this one.

Current Mood:  good