Monday Musings

Well, the bad news seems to be that my computer is broke. I'm lucky enough that John recently got free laptop computer from his work, so I can use that when he's not at work. But it's amazing how reliant I am on my computer. I've got my blog here, and on LJ. My business/etsy shop. I play on ravelry almost daily lately. Window shopping on Amazon, various communities and forums. I talk to my friends via colloquy and adium and gchat and IRC. Everything is bookmarked. I feel sort of disconnected from everything at the moment.

I guess it's good to disconnect at times, right? I try not to be online 24/7, but I admit fully to being guilty of being online a lot more than most people. Of course, it's hard not to be, when your socially isolated, living in the wilds of Central NY. Sometimes, online is the only adult interaction I get in a day, outside of the husband.a

Ah well.  The entire point of this post is to let you guys know I'm trying hard to remember to post here.  Even a dead Mac isn't stopping me.  And hopefully tomorrow and Wednesday's big snow storm won't either.

Confession

Alright.  I admit it.  For years, I made fun of Snuggie users.  Seriously, what purpose does a backwards bathrobe serve?  Nothing! At least that's what I told myself.

Well then I saw it.  The Sabres Snuggie.  I laughed, I made fun of it, I resisted as long as I could.  And then I caved.  Sluggo Snuggie...I would have you.  So, at the arena in December, I saw it...and I bought it.  Actually, I bought one with the new logo, despite it being a bit more expensive...If I was going to shame myself with a snuggie, I didn't need the shame of it being the slug too.  So instead of the Sluggo Snuggie, I have the Sabres Slanket.

I love my snuggie, I admit it.  It's warm!  It's soft!  I can't knit in it, but I can read my kindle and hug a baby or two.  At some point, I guess we'll have to try some of the (NSFW) Snuggie Sutra... (omg tmi! TMI!)

Now, before anyone goes off and makes fun of me, I have to tell you- Snuggies are contagious.  Wear one, and you'll want one of your own.  John has been making fun of me since I got it, and yet, he wears it quite often.  A few times I've had to threaten his life because he didn't want to give it back to me.

(Please note, no life threatening has really occurred.)

Guinea Pig days

Is it February yet?  Seriously...the sooner January ends,  the sooner February will end, and then maybe, just maybe, we can get some better weather.  I think January and February are the only months of the year that I question my sanity of living in the North.  Of course, like the sun, my wits return in the Spring and I enjoy life in the North...but really, right now...I'm so sick of the snow, cold and dreary days.

Winnie the Squeaky Butt Guinea Pig

Remember this little guy?  He's still around, and getting fat and spoiled.  I didn't get a chance to let you all know what Lilia decided his name was.  The winning name was...Winnie.

Ok, so no one gave us that name.  Lilia picked it herself.  It's cute, although I don't think anyone in the house calls him Winnie!  I call him Squeaky Butt, which cracks Lilia up (If you don't know, Butt is the funniest word ever for a 4 year old).  Lilia stills calls him Guinea Pig, and Liam...well, Liam is still a bit confused, and calls him Bunny.  So there you have it.

He's not a bad Guinea pig.  Squeaks a bit more than I expected, and it's most whenever I enter the room, as I'm the one that feeds him.  He loves apples, carrots and lettuce, and will eat the occasional tomato, and pepper.  It loves all the stuff I'm not supposed to give it- like popcorn sticks.  For some reason, he likes to tip over the big pink igloo.  I find it sleeping underneath the hay bale a lot, which is cute.  And the thing LOVES hay.  Good thing Timothy Hay smells so good.

The only thing I don't like is cleaning the cage.  I think I need a shop vac...

Hopefully the only long post of the year, just to kick things off!

Late to the game as ever.  Welcome to Parenthood, where I feel like there's never "nothing" to do.  It's already January 26, and I've only posted once...so much for New Year's Resolutions!  But for better or worse, both kids are entering very fun ages, though that seems to mean less ME time, in some ways.

A pair of Soakers I knit up for Bozu Bottoms

Actually, it also isn't helping that I'm attempting to sell some of my knit goods on Etsy. (Shameless plug!)  While I've made one sale since starting three weeks ago (Yay! *throws confetti*) knitting can be a slow process, and selling stuff can be even slower.  On top of that, I was working on some freebies for some friends.  It keeps me busy- since January 1st, I think I've knitted at least 4 hours a day, with most days being around 8 to 10 hours.  Phew!

This year is promising to be fun for me, or at the very least busy.  We're still doing lots of renovations on the house.  In fact, I've been twitching to do a new room...either the living room or dining room.  Yes, yes, I know I failed to post pics of our bedroom last year.  Take my word, it's pretty cute!  ;)  Ok, I solemnly swear to make a post...even if the bedroom isn't 100% done, and any pictures I have may or may not have a dirty sock on the floor...

Veggies Veggies Veggies

I'm also hoping to make this a big vegetable garden year.  I'm already looking forward getting my hands in the Earth.  I'm thinking I shouldn't make it too big, since this will be my first year doing my own garden that isn't in containers.  Carrots, tomatoes, peppers, peas...I am thinking I might use this site for guidance.  I really like the high yield, and kids gardens, plus the Kitchen Herb garden.  Of course, the part that makes me giddy, but reminds me I must show restraint is the fact that my yard would fit all three of those gardens, and more.  Add to that my desire for both blueberry and strawberry bushes, and my apple trees (Oh dear, I'm so worried about them right now!) and I've got a lot of fresh food in-fluxing this summer.  Maybe I won't have a need for a CSA this year...

I'll also get my compost pile going again.  Even just the little time I had one last year...the results were very awesome.  I hate throwing away all the little scraps of food that we do.  It seems like such a waste.  Having a compost was actually really cool, and not nearly as smelly as I thought it might be.  The resulting soil was really dark, and rich, and I swear it was one of the reasons my container crops were so successful last year.

Cluck!

We've started the planning for chickens as well.  Oh Fresh Eggs...I can't wait.  Choosing a coop is difficult though.  I don't think either of us have much skill in building, so we won't be building our own coop.  There are different options out there, some really inexpensive, although I question how well they'd protect the chickens in the cold, and some really expensive...I personally love the idea of the Cube.  But we'll see.  John has also nicely pointed out (while being super supportive, mind you.) that I hate the cold, and have to ask myself if I really want to be trekking out daily in the winter to feed the Ladies.  He has a point...Am I allowed to keep them in the basement?

So we've got kids, knitting, house stuff, gardens, chickens...anything else?  Oh yes!  This post was brought to my attention.  Of course, because I'm not busy enough, I want to do it.  I'm starting in February because it's a little late to do it in January.

And hopefully, I'll record all of it here.   I know you're looking forward to it!  I am, at least.

Happy (belated) New Years

Ok, ok, we all know I'm a little slow on the upkeep of this blog.  But I promise, I've been a very busy woman this month.

New Years are good.  All our friends left town, so it was just us and the kids.  We each had nice dinners.  We gave the kids sparkling grape juice and had a mini celebration before they went to bed.  Lilia, who has never had anything carbonated before, didn't like it.  "It hurts my tongue!" she informed us, and asked for "real" juice.  It made me laugh.

After the kids went to bed, we had a nice relaxing evening to ourselves, and rung in the New Year with the traditional kiss, and 46 & two.

Liam had his second birthday, which meant CAKE, and a delay in the start of our dieting.  I'm still not feeling up to dieting, so we'll see how successful January will be for me.

I also decided to open up my own Etsy shoppe, which was a big decision for me.  I still get very anxious about the decision- and I agree with one of my friends who is opening her own shoppe as well, it's hard not to sit there and think "Am I throwing money down a hole here?"  Thankfully, the type of product I made (knit goods) can always be used as gifts, and even with all the yarn I bought, it can be used.  So it's not the same as say...opening a real business in the real world.  I don't risk losing everything, which is sort of reassuring.

Of course, at the same time I was getting my shoppe up, drama came crashing down at home, and I found myself needing to find my mother a place around here, and moving her up.  It was stressful, and almost a resentful situation, but now that she's up here, I find the situation isn't bad at all.  It makes me life a little more busy, but hey...I can handle it- I'm a Super Woman.

SO there you have it.  January so far.  It already feels like February should be around the corner, and yet I just realized it's on the 13th, and not even half the month has gone by.

Liam's Birthday cake

Let's just hope that I don't need too much of this, and it will all be good.

Happy Christmas Eve!

I think Christmas, or similar winter holidays, which are so rich in tradition are the best, and hardest holidays for couples.  Each family has its own traditions, and sometime combining them can be difficult.  I know growing up in my household, leaving the house was something we never did.  Christmas was intimate- something we did only together as a family.  John's family is more extensive, so they did traveling around Christmas time, something that's taken a lot of years to get used to.  Even now, I don't care for it, although I enjoy spending Christmas with the family immensely so it's worth it.

Other random things that I think about when thinking about Christmas now compared to the Christmas I grew up with...I don't remember Christmas Eve dinner being elaborate or special.  In fact, I can't even tell you what we had.  I think it was a normal dinner.  John's family does fish each year, which is so amusing to me since most of them don't even like fish!  My family always exchanged PJ's on Christmas Eve, which I have no clue where or when that tradition started, but I've always liked it.  Fresh new PJ's to sleep in, and to look cute in for Christmas morning pictures.  Christmas morning was always Cinnamon rolls for my family, and Bacon for John's.  Now it's a yummy combination.  Though I sadly don't mean Cinnamon Bacon Rolls.

I'm a firm believe that Christmas is what you make it.  All the stresses of the holiday can impact the overall feeling only if you let it.  Sometimes I hate the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, but when it comes to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, they really are the best days of the year for me.  Mostly because the day is all about me and my husband and my kids, and our family, and just enjoying making one another happy.  Sure, the kids might not understand that right now, but they will some day, I hope.

I hope you and yours experience the joy and love of these days.  And please, share your Christmas traditions with me.  I love to hear about differences and similarities.

Our Christmas Card Photo this year

Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

Happy Guinea Pig Birthday!

For Lilia's 4th birthday, she asked for a Guinea pig.  I did some research to see if that was an appropriate gift, and while the opinion is mixed, I decided it was ok since I'm in the acceptance that the Guinea Pig is mine.  Her birthday is Monday, so we got the Guinea Pig last night so it had a little time to acclimate.

Piggy!

So here is the little guy.  I think he's adorable, although very skittish at the moment.  I'm afraid it'll be some time before Lilia can hold it, although I can hold him, and let her pet him.  Which I'm sure she won't mind.

Right now, he's in my open closet.  Lilia has no clue he's there, which is actually fun.  I keep slipping in to watch him, and give him fresh hay.  I've already discovered he likes the marigolds from the hay blend I got, and carrots, but not orange peppers.

Half the cage, the side he hides in.

Because he is Lilia's present, I'm letting her pick the name.  Lately she's taken to asking me what my opinion is though, so I have to come up with a few names.  And that's what I'd like hear from you!  Name suggestions, appropriate for a 4 year old.  So, please, leave a comment here in "A little bit me" with a name suggestion for the little guy.  Right now, I'm calling him piggy, which I don't really want to stick.  ;)  There are 4 days until my little girl turns 4.  And of course, I'll let you know what was ultimately picked!