More from the weekend

N is potty trained for the most part but when he's at my house he just gets too busy playing to remember. His mommy realized that he needed to use the bathroom and said to N, "Quickly, quickly before it's too late." N looks at her and comes out with, "It's already too late. It's just too late." And as daddy walks him down the hallway to clean him up he keeps repeating, "It's just too late." I just mopped and laughed.

W looking at the DVD's I borrowed from the library, "Gram why didn't you get Curious George?" "Well since you have Curious George at home I figured you won't want to watch it here." "Next time get Curious George. It's better at your house."

Saturday morning my dad and I took them to play at a school playground. They were the only kids there. Whole sandbox 20' by 8' filled with tonka type trucks, diggers, loaders, etc. W is playing with about a dozen different toys. N has one and he's pushing it around singing Thomas the Tank Engine songs. W announces "Hey I need that tractor." "No it's my turn." "Well it's important that I have that one to finish this contruction before traffic." N nods his head and hands over the green tractor. Obviously he realized that traffic in the sandbox was going to pick up shortly and those dump trucks full of sand need to be level.

On the tire swing, N says "Push us high so I can touch a cloud." W comes out with "No you can't touch a cloud. You need to keep both hands on the chain so you won't fall off. Mommy would be mad if you fell off and got hurt. She's say, N I told you not to touch those clouds." Hands staying on the chain and off those clouds.

Sunday: Astrid's website + my credit card = more sock yarn

Auntie's education and more

W and N slept over Friday night. In the morning Auntie N decided to get them breakfast before she went off to work.

W: Where's the hole in the middle of my bagel?
Auntie: It's there but the cream cheese covered it over.
W: Well get it back.
(Auntie had to get the knife and get the cream cheese out of the hole in the middle).
W: That's much better. They don't taste good without the hole.

Auntie: What do you want for breakfast?
N: Flake cereal.
(Auntie pours some corn flakes into a small bowl for N)
N: No not these. I was the flakes covered in candy. (frosted flakes)


We had a combined birthday party for my dad, hubby, and the twins on Friday night. Tonight W called to discuss important things.
W: Gram, do you have any cheesecake from the party?
Me: Yes I do.
W: Well I didn't get any cheesecake.
Me: You didn't? That's sad.
W: Yes it is sad. I got chocolate cake and chocolate and vanilla ice cream but I didn't get any cheesecake.
Me: Ok, next time you sleep over I'll get cheesecake for you.
W: Then I can have some and I won't be sad anymore. Cheesecake always makes me happy.

Next up was N.
N: Hi Gram. Do you have chocolate cake?
Me: Yes I have some chocolate cake left over from the party.
N: Good. I like chocolate cake with banilla ice cream. Chocolate makes me happy.

Must run in the family because cheesecake and chocolate make me happy too.

Another scarf from my pal

I participated in the ISE4. I received the first scarf of the enchange from Rachel, and wife and mom to a couple little cuties. She is the queen of the tag sale getting bargins like you can't believe. Beautiful blue scarf made from bamboo yarn. I've worn it a couple times and it's great. Imagine my shock to have the mailman put this package on my doorstep. Another scarf from Rachel. Soft pink cable, coffee and a book that has great ideas for all different crafts (which my oldest daughter took home with her today). Do I get the best exchange pals!?!?! Joey didn't seem all the impressed and slept thru the entire package opening and photographing thing.

Summer dishcloth exchange

I decided to participate in a dishcloth swap. My package was sent off to Kat. Always fun to have an international pal because I put together a box the speaks of summer in the USA. My pal for the swap was Sherry. I think she and I will be good cyber friends because we both seem to be OBSESSED with grandchildren. Her little Bella is a doll.
Anyways, we start off with a dragonfly cloth, a pattern, brown and blue suger n cream yarn.
Candy, ribbon, a headband, a do it yourself scrap booking card, note pad, soap she molded herself, a tin with a picture of yarn on the lid and inspirational saying inside.
Cow soap on a rope (made me giggle) and a note card with socks on the front. She noticed a few pair of socks on my blog and when she saw the card she had to get it. You meet the nicest people with these swaps and Sherry certainly is one of the nicest of all.

Thomas the Tank Engine recall

I've mentioned a couple times that my grandsons are really into Thomas the Tank Engine and how I've probably invested way too much money buying trains, buildings, t shirts, etc. We have a great time sitting on the floor playing trains for hours at a time. They learned colors and numbers from playing with the different engines.

So imagine my suprise to find news of a recall in the paper this morning for Thomas things between 2005 and 2007. I looked up the recall info on the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website and found the list. HOLY CRAP!!!

Red James Engine & Red James’ # 5 Coal Tender
Red Lights & Sounds James Engine & Red James’ #5 Lights & Sounds Coal Tender
James with Team Colors Engine & James with Team Colors #5 Coal Tender
Red Skarloey Engine
Brown & Yellow Old Slow Coach
Red Hook & Ladder Truck & Red Water Tanker Truck
Red Musical Caboose
Red Sodor Line Caboose
Red Coal Car labeled “2006 Day Out With Thomas” on the Side
Red Baggage Car
Red Holiday Caboose
Red “Sodor Mail” Car
Red Fire Brigade Truck
Red Fire Brigade Train
Deluxe Sodor Fire Station
Red Coal Car
Yellow Box Car
Red Stop Sign
Yellow Railroad Crossing Sign
Yellow “Sodor Cargo Company” Cargo Piece
Smelting Yard
Ice Cream Factory

The bold indicates the ones I have that need to be sent back. If you know of anyone who might have newer Thomas stuff please share this information and RC2's website which has the form needed to get replacement things.

Gotta love the quality of things coming from China. "We need to make the toothpaste taste sweeter but want something cheap. Let's add antifreeze." "What's a cheap filler for this petfood? How about some chemicals used in plastic?" "We need some paint to finish these train cars that will be played with by small children. Hummmm, well this stuff has a high contect of lead but what the heck. We'll only use it on 1.5 million units."

Knitpicks had yarn on sale ....

and I had a credit card and a computer last night. Enough said.

Weekend round up

Little Missy A: Yup, I'm super cute here on the couch after my bath.
One less single sock in the bunch. Lana Grossa Meilenweit Multieffekt #3127. Love, love, love these. Good thing I've got another ball of the same yarn so I can make myself a pair.
And another Clementine shawlette. This one is being done on #6 needles so it'll be a bit wider. I'm also toying with the idea of adding another repeat to make it even wider yet. Well see.

Spent yesterday up visiting with the grandkids. W is sick. He has mono so he was a little grumpy. I woke him up from a nap and he spent 20 minutes sitting on my lap sobbing into my shoulder crying, "I'm sick, I'm sick." Heartbreaking. We went for a stroller ride (since he gets tired easily) and he settled down well.

N was his usual happy little self full getting into one thing after another as only a naughty 2 yr old can. I love naughty 2 yr olds. You can just see the wheels in their little heads turning as they try to think of what they can get into next.

The missy was a gram's girl. Crawled to be by me and wouldn't go to anyone else while I was holding her. She must have figured out that I've always got cookies and lollypops. lol.

The coffee swap

How can you not love the mailman when he brings you stuff like this? Perri, was my wonderful swap buddy. Coffee, treats, coffee flavoring, more treats, and more coffee.
Won't that knitpicks parade make wonderful socks for little missy A? The Country hill yarn is a yummy mix of orange and white. Sock key chain which will make my hubby definately think I'm over the point of being OBSESSED with sock knitting and to be perfectly honest .... he's right. A knitting rules sticker. I've got all Steph's books. She's hysterical.
A Lionbrand bag that is big enough to hold a bed pillow. It actually ended up holding my cat charlie after this picture was taken (cats crawl into anything don't they?).
These adorable stitch markers
And a lamb pez dispenser. I emailed Perri and told her that Connecticut has given the world 2 things: frisbees and pez.

Thanks for everything Perri. I love it all. Gotta go brew some coffee.

The power wheel jeep

My son in law was giving a broken power wheel jeep. He's an electrician so he rewired the jeep and got it running for W and N. Now that they have a 2 acre yard to drive around they are having a blast in their jeep however sometimes a guy wants to take a road trip.

W: We should go somewhere today.
N: Yes we'll go.
W: How about if we go to see gram?*
N: Drive to gram's house and play trains.
W: I'll drive and you sit here and we'll go to grams and sleep over.
N: Ok.
W: Oh no we can't go. The battery won't have enough power and we're too little to walk on the highway.

*gram lives 65 miles away now
Smarties!

Last year they got a wagon and W told N, "Hop in and we'll go to grams." They lived about 8 miles away so it would have been quite a hike! N got in the wagon and off W went down the street. Got to the corner and turned right (dad walking behind watching). Gets to the next corner of a fairly busy road and says, "We can't go to grams because we're too little to cross the road by ourselves. Dad, you'll have to come too."

Dear swap pals

One of these is a scarf, a coffee swap package, and a summer dishcloth package so if you are my swap buddy your package is in the mail.
Finished a pair for my "I love colorful socks" daughter. I rarely find knots in sock yarn. This skein? 3 knots. Oh well, I think they match fairly well.
I haven't been feeling well. I thought I had a cold but really it's a case of startitis. Can't seem to finish another pair so I just keep casting on single socks and ending up with this pile-o-socks. I'd love to tell you I won't add to the pile but I've got 3 new skeins of sock yarn sitting on the couch calling to me ...... "Diane, come on and cast me on. You know you want to."

Today my twin son and daughter are 19 yrs old. Yes, 19 yrs old. Doesn't seem possible that this has happened since they were 2 yesterday. They are wonderful, kind, young adults who will put me in a really nice home when I am old and feeble.

And for something completely different ..... you know how you and your spouse bring different things to the marriage table? I cook, my hubby does the dishes. I clean, he does the gardening. I in charge of Mt Laundry, he changes the oil in the car. Turns out the only thing he really needs me for is .......

putting the paper on the holder. I guess it's a still he hasn't mastered yet.

We have a winner

TREK

Thanks for all the great rants. Doesn't it feel good to get stuff off your chest?

Wedding pics

A lovely evening as Dorrie and Bobby because Mr and Mrs Robert Boyd.
My brother Andy and his wonderful wife Diane. The lady in front is my mom. Another pic of the bride and groom. They are just a wonderful couple. So caring and considerate of each other. Definately a love built on a strong foundation of friendship. I won the center piece for sending back my rsvp first. My sister in law (who I would hate if she wasn't so nice) made every friggin thing you could think of for this wedding. Invitations, programs, flowers, favors, etc.

How about a wedding rant? I had the pleasure of sitting next to Dorrie's father and step mom. I had met them 2 yrs ago at a cookout for Dorrie's birthday. They live about 10 minutes away but didn't show up until 15 minutes before the party was supose to end. Obviously the step mom didn't want to come at all because she looked disgusted at everyone and didn't say a word.

After dinner, I went outside to make a quick phone and to get some fresh air. Andy followed me and we had a little chat after my call. I said, "Boy is Charlie's wife a sourpuss. What a face all night. Should have done everyone a favor and just stayed home."

Turns out I wasn't the first person at the table to send back my rsvp after all. She had. Responding that no they would not be coming. Why? Because the bride decided that she would be walked to be married by her mother and Andy. The step mom took great offense to this and decided that they would not attend.

Two weeks ago Charlie grew a backbone and called to say they had changed their minds and would be attending but he would not rent or wear a tux.

My sister in law and brother didn't let on that there was an issue. The father and his wife were included in pictures, listed in the program as parents of the bride (very classy that they left out the word "step" when referring to everyone), escourted in by a groomsman to the ceremony, announced at the reception, and the father danced with his daughter for the father/bride dance. I wish I could say I would have been as forgiving of everything but I honestly don't think I would have been.

Rant and win contest yarn

Ok, went thru my sock yarn stash and decided on some Trekking XXL 100 and cervinia for a prize. Give me a good rant.
And when a cat bites your toe while you are trying to take a picture of your current sock in progress this is what you get.

These are for an exchange pal

Spring into Summer Dishcloth swap

Blocked washcloths with links to patterns

Kitty
Elephant
Dog
Pig
Turtle

Reminder to Rant to win

Did you post your rant to win? We've got some good ones out there.

Well, I forgot to update my rant. I emailed Walmart.com on Saturday May 12th to let them know what was going on with the store. Late Monday I got an email back from Walmart apologizing for the situation and asking me to fax over my receipts. I emailed back stating that I didn't have any receipts.

Tuesday I decided to call customer service and see where we were in the process. I spoke with a very nice woman who again apologized, put me on hold to read the notes on my account, came back and asked me if I faxed my receipts yet, put me on hold again, came back and apologized again asking me what exactly had happened at the store, put me on hold again while she called the store, came back apologized and said I would be hearing from the accounting department by the end of the day.

Wednesday I received an email from the accounting department stating that yes I was under refunded $9.54 and it would be credited back to my card shortly. My idea of shortly would have been that day. Their idea of shortly was Friday.

Friday I get a call from the store manager at Waterbury Walmart asking me why I didn't just come back to the store to get the rest of my refund. I couldn't believe this guy had the balls to call and question anything I did. After all, I didn't create any of this situation; his staff did. And that's exactly what I told him.

So that's the end of my rant. I'm not anti Walmart, just anti bad service. I told my mom you know it's not the money it's the principle of the thing. So you know what that means? It cost me more in my time than it was worth. It took me 50 minutes to get the initial $159.00 back. That was cost effective. It took me 30 minutes to get $9.54 returned. Not cost effective but I just couldn't let it go.

What's your rant?

The green blog isn't a blob

As you are knitting lace it's not impressive. My family looks at the picture, looks at what's on my needles, and wonders what I've been drinking that makes me think the blob on my needles will look anything like the picture. That is until they see this on the floor. (my blocking assistant Joey making sure no one walks on the shawl).
Then I moved the cat (that's the hard part) unpinned and realized that I'm the only one home. So here is a chair on the front porch modeling my new shawl.
I'll wear it tomorrow to my neice's wedding. Since I'm wearing black slacks and a white shirt this will be the only thing separating me from the waitstaff. lol.

***The yarn is Knitpicks gossamer which was really nice to work with and blocked beautifully. The pattern is also thru knitpicks. The charting is easy to follow and looks great once it's done.

All blocked up with somewhere to go

They said to steam block but I don't have the time for that so I wet blocked last night.
I love the shape on this shawlette.
Very textured pattern which is fast and easy. The chart was easy to follow.
It blocked beautiful. Merino wool and alpaca blend. I love it. I hope my ISE4 pal does too.

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling

Clementine .......... I even sing terrible on a blog. This is what I've finally decided to make for my ISE4 pal. Merino/alpaca yarn which is oh so soft. Love it.

And Mater is currently in the great room. He's not floating much anymore. Currently Charlie cat is just dragging him from room to room by his ribbon.

Got my camera back so .... $39.47

I found this on ebay but Yarn Treehouse has their own website. The midnight blue is sports weight 40% alpaca and 60% merino, the purple is lace weight 80% merino and 20% japan toraylon (toraylon? what's toraylon?) and the multi colored is 100% merino wool.
These are done.
The green blob is in the process of being finished. Casting off 400+ stitches takes a while and is very boring.
New shawl is going to be Wendy's Fir Cone Wrap. I'm trying on size 7 needles and think it'll be nice. We'll see.

Well I've gotten some good rants If you have one to share please enter my contest.