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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Socks and Tears

I started Teo's socks Tuesday night after work. I managed to get through the cuff watching tv. Thank goodness he likes a short cuff. Then yesterday at work, I got through the heel flap. And I worked through the turn heel and started on the foot watching tv, talking with Tony and snuggling in bed last night. I am determined to get these buggers done before the weekend is up. Stefani has declared she needs another pair of slippers. These are my favorites to make and they are the sturdiest little sock slippers! I just add a few stitches and use a bigger needle if I'm making them for a man. Otherwise they can be a little skinny for slipping on and off.


Bubba's Socks in Toasted Almond by Red Heart "Heart & Sole"


I have one thing to say about the next picture. You, people, humble me.


I can only attribute this to the free pattern sites that have picked up on my patterns...but all I can say is Thank You to those of you who have stayed and continue to come back time and time again. I received an email from a reader this morning that brought me to tears. Thank you for allowing me to talk and for giving me a voice. I hope that this blog helps your day in some way.

Be Blessed!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

New Socks

Ok be very proud of me...I have started a new pair of socks for my boy. He wore a hole in his favorite pair of wool ones he wears around the house. So I went to the LYS yesterday and hemmed and hawed for about 15 minutes trying to find the least girlie colored ball of yarn in their selection without it being a solid color. Found a lovely one. Basic Red Heart "Heart & Sole" in Toasted Almond. The predominant colors are dark brown, tan, navy, and purpley mauve color. Thankfully the purpley color doesn't overwhelm, so I am very happy with the progress so far. Couldn't find my metal #2's...had to use Bamboo #2's. Hate them..just putting that out there. Was able to get up to the heel flap last night. He likes a short cuff, so it makes it easy to get socks done for him quickly. lol
Hopefully this is the start of me coming out of my crafting funk.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Month of January

The month of January seems to have gone by in a blur, now that I am sitting here on the 24th thinking backwards. Yet, I remember good chunks of it going so slow it almost seemed like time stopped.

What have I done this month?



First up, I read the newest post on my favorite funny blog. Just click on the picture to go read Allie's latest post @ Hyperbole and a Half. If it doesn't have you peeing yourself or getting a charlie horse in your stomach because you are laughing so hard, then I am going to seriously question the presence of your funny bone!





Next, My daughter competed at the Osceola Powerlifting meet. She busted her butt to get down to the weight class she needed to be in and found out, in the end, that she went too extreme and lost her strength. She ended up scratching out of the meet because she bombed on her squats.




The gang rolling knee wraps.


Stefani - 280lb squat. Just couldn't get it back up.

120lb bench


Rockin' the 320lb deadlift. A personal meet best for her.



Then, the love of my life moved away. He has been in Florida for a full week now. Most of the time, I'm ok. I'm living for the weekends because I have things going on and it helps me "tick off" the dates on the calendar until he comes back. I just keep reminding myself that this is all for a reason and that I can do this. I am very good at being strong in the face of adversity.
On a really good note, the closing date on our house is officially the 18th of February. :)
And last, but certainly not least, I had the pleasure of taking my daughter to Bloomington, MN to the Mall of America to celebrate her 16th Birthday! :) She actually turned 16 on January 10th, but there was too much going on to fit in a trip to MOA. She got to bring a couple of friends with her, so she brought her BFF, Riley and her cousin, Bekah.
The girls ready to go shopping, eat chinese and get an ice cream cake!

Some time spent in the hot tub!
The girls went shopping for dresses for the "Snow Ball" happening at the beginning of February. Stefani's was easy, but Riley had a hard time finding one. We were finally able to locate a nice stash of special occasion dresses at Macy's and then we were having fun! :) MOA was so packed with people and the shops we wanted to go to were so far apart that it pretty much sucked all of the fun out of the day. The girls were exhausted and cranky by the end. They came to the determination that "small malls are better!" I would have to agree.

Friday, January 07, 2011

The Aftermath.....


All of a sudden, today I felt this overwhelming need to reconnect with people. I feel as though I not only fell off the wagon, but that the wagon picked up speed as I was running to catch up with it. Frankly people, I am not in good enough shape to work that hard!
My holidays were as good as they could be considering I was literally moving out of my house on Christmas Eve morning. In a foot of snow, no less.


My inlaws came to help out. That was a great blessing to us. We just seemed to get so much more accomplished when it wasn't just us, standing in the middle of the room, totally overwhelmed by the amount of "crap" we seem to have and saying "What next?" We will be going back this weekend to get the last of the mess done. Our upstairs is emptied and cleaned. Now all that is left is the few things that remain in the downstairs. As much as I would like to just throw a bomb on it and call it good...I can't.

I can't even begin to explain the amount of junk I purged out of that house. It was ridiculous and I experienced a sense of shame at the multiple garbage bags full of completely unnecessary items that were removed on a daily basis. I never had a house like you would see on "Hoarders", but there were times I looked at what I was keeping compared to what I was throwing away and wondered "What is WRONG with me?? How did I have all of that in this little house?" I endeavor that the next place will be totally organized and void of "junk". If I am not going to use it right away, it just needs to go, cuz I will never get back to it.

So, once we got ourselves moved into my parents' one bedroom apt in their basement, we were able to slow down for a few days and enjoy Christmas. We never did get a Christmas tree put up at the apt. I hung two stockings from two leftover nails on the wall and we called it good. I was just greatful we had someplace quiet, warm and homey to be. It wasn't about the decorations, it was totally about US being together. We had a lovely Christmas Eve with my parents. My dad made a beautiful Prime Rib Roast for supper and we exchanged gifts. My kids got items they loved and appreciated. One of the funnier gifts was this tshirt that my parents bought for my husband. I was gifted with a One Year Bible to help me read through it. Like the complete slacker that I have a tendency to be, here it is the 7th of January and I haven't even started it.


Christmas morning we had our family time together. Kids opened our gifts to them and my parents opened their gifts to each other. I got to listen to my dad say "Why would you get this?" to my mom while opening one of his gifts from her. They are special. I'll just leave it at that.
We went to my inlaws for the rest of Christmas Day. There we had lasagna and spaghetti and lots and lots and LOTS of junk food. I was so huge and bloated....oy ve! This side of the family kept saying "It's the last Mareno Christmas with us all together!"...like we were dying, not moving away. Like any good family Christmas, there were lots of offenses taken and tense moments, but all in all it was a good day. My kids were blessed hugely by the gparents. PS3 for my gamer and an iPod touch for trendy one. The PS3 was quite unexpected.
The princess knew what she was getting because it's the only thing she asked for from them.
It was a good day for hanging out with the cousins and BFF's (Stef's best friend is her cousins girlfriend) and making memories. Like this one.....here we have grandma rocking out to the new Band Hero game one of the kids got for Christmas....
I can't complain. It was a wonderful holiday time with the families. It will probably be a long time till we are able to all be together like that again. Especially now that a couple of the nephews are getting married and/or have serious relationships. (Omg..am I old enough to have nephews that old??)
Now that life has calmed down some, I pray that I feel the desire to pick up crafting again. Right now, I just don't.
In the apt I have about 3 feet of space that is just mine.....*sigh* I suppose that will increase some because Tony is leaving for Florida next week. I won't see him again till February, when he comes home for a weekend filled with powerlifting.......then I will move down a month later.
How am I going to do this? I feel like a chunk of me is dying and breaking off. How do these military wives handle this? I'm having a rough time right now. Just pray for me.

Crafting Memories: Section 5 of the Memories Blanket CAL

     Crafting Memories: Section 5 of the Memories Blanket CAL Oh my gosh!! It's the last week of the Memories CAL already!! I can't ...