Whine

Wine for One
Originally uploaded by The Watercolor Guy.

I want to write. Words and stories are welling up inside me, but there's just no opportunity to set them down right now and I'm extremely frustrated.

Dennis is in Chicago for four days attending his grandmother's memorial service and catching up with cousins he hasn't seen in years. I'm on my own with the girls.

I have a kidney stone the size of New Hampshire that is making me feel incredibly awful. I can't really take my painkillers because they make me loopy and there's no one else here to watch Emma and Kate.

Kate is in this phase where she cries at the drop of a hat, for nothing that anyone else would even think about crying over: because there are two tiny sparkly pink pieces of glitter on her stepstool, because the stuffed animal she wants is 8 inches away at the foot of the bed, because her book isn't in the right stack on the shelf.

I've gotten a dozen rejections since getting home from vacation. My writing stinks (I know this is not true, but it feels that way at this particular moment).

I'm grouchy from the incessant pain and can't even stand myself. Poor Emma and Kate are stuck with me.

I miss my parents and being on vacation. I miss Dennis. I miss feeling like a normal human being (did I mention the stone?).

And yes, I would love some cheese to go with my whine...

Stripes

Kate and Emma hamming it up at the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, Oregon. The tops were knit in Mission Falls 1824 cotton from the Minnowknits Sugar N Spice pattern. They each got to pick their own colors. Now they want more, including 'bumblebee' shirts in charcoal grey and yellow.

Strong Verse

My poem In Dreams He Purrs is currently the featured poem at Strong Verse.

Re-entry

We're home! After two days on the road, temperatures over 100, and a night in a hotel filled to capacity with Little League players during a loss of electricity (and AC), we're finally back in our own house. The process of adjusting back to normal life has begun...

Vacation

This morning, I'm coming to you from the historic 1889 Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, Oregon. It took us about 6 1/2 hours to drive here from Hillsboro yesterday. We'll be visiting the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center this morning, which includes a fabulous museum and a chance to see real ruts in the ground from the covered wagons that came across on the Oregon Trail. After that, it's off to Idaho and my parents' house. More later in the week if I get a chance, but in the meantime, hope you're all having a fantastic summer.

A Tale of Two Socks

I've been knitting socks.

I started a pair of Grumperina's famous Jaywalkers for myself, using some lovely Lorna's Laces shepherd sock yarn that I've been dying to try. It looked wonderful:



Then I found some Opal prisma yarn that I thought would be perfect for my mom, so I started a pair of stockinette socks to take as a surprise when we go on vacation to her house (this FRIDAY!!). I set the Jaywalkers aside to work on my mom's socks. The good news is, the first one is finished:



The bad news is, when I went to do a couple of rounds on the Jaywalkers last night, I discovered 2 dropped stitches, right where the double decrease occurs in the pattern. I know it was NOT like that when I put it down a week ago, so I can only assume that a small band of trolls infiltrated my work area when I was out shopping at my LYS and mucked with my knitting. Or possibly the LL didn't like the thought that I was scoping out other yarns and decided to mess with my head a little. In any case, despite my best efforts, a lot of concentration, and several curse words, I failed to fix the problem and actually made it worse. I then tried to rip back a few rows past it and start over there, but couldn't get those teeny tiny stitches back on the needles, so I finally gave up and frogged the whole thing.

RIP Jaywalkers.

(Not to worry, I'm taking the yarn and pattern with me on vacation - the Jaywalkers WILL live again)

Summer Days

Yesterday, I took the girls to OMSI. It was a clear, sunny day, so as we crossed the Willamette River, we were treated to views like this of Mt. Hood:

Mt. Hood
Originally uploaded by Cartographer.
and Mt. St. Helens:

Mt. St. Helens
Originally uploaded by Cartographer.
The only disappoint for Emma and Kate was that neither volcano was erupting at that moment!

We had a great time at OMSI learning about sound and how we hear, searching through owl pellets for tiny rodent bones (which we got to bring home!), and seeing strange creatures like the axolotl, an amphibian that retains its larval stage throughout its life and displays an incredible ability to regenerate.

It was blissfully quiet at the museum, so the girls had ample opportunity to play in the science playground without waiting for turns in the sandbox or the water area. On the way out, we stopped by the store where Kate picked a school set of 2 pencils, pencil sharpener, and ruler all decorated with dinosaurs and stored in their own little box. Emma got a set of shark tattoos (temporary) and 'body bits' which are little rubbery nose, ear, hand, and foot that have a somewhat sticky surface and can stretch or cling to walls, windows, etc. I even got in on the action by making a quick stop at the Yarn Garden and picking up a couple of skeins of Tahki cotton.

We came home, had lunch, relaxed and played with our new toys, and then met Dennis at Pizza Roma for dinner. It was a good day. I hope everyone else is having such a lovely summer!

Summer Poem

Stilts
Originally uploaded by Digital Trav.


stilt tracks in shore mud
as clear as handwritten words
summer’s bird poem

Ahhhhhhhh

That's the sound of me, decompressing. I spent the entire afternoon at the spa today, getting blonde highlights and a cut, followed by a full hour of massage. Ahhhhh.

Other reasons I'm feeling more relaxed right now than I have in ages:
– I finished my 5th round of 30 poems in 30 days
– We've filled 8 bags of clothes/toys/miscellaneous items to give to Goodwill
– I cleared my files and shredded 4 grocery bags' worth of papers we no longer need
– I can actually see the surface of my writing desk
– It's a four-day weekend!!
– Kate is FINALLY potty-trained
– In precisely two weeks, we will be on vacation

Tomorrow, I will sleep in, take a walk with my girls, and enjoy whatever the day brings. I hope it brings something good for all of you!