project linus

I don't know how many of you have heard of Project Linus, but it is a great organization. Most people wouldn't know about it unless they had been positively affected by it. When Cole was hospitalized as an infant, we were given a quilt from the Project Linus organization. I can't even tell you how much that meant to me. It's hard to be a parent watching your sick child be hooked up to machines and tested for different things. It is even harder feeling like it is your fault, like you could have somehow prevented it. Something as small as a blanket made by a stranger for your child can mean the world. I've decided to challenge myself to make several blankets for Project Linus this year. I know how much my heart warms when I see Cole's quilt, I'm hoping I can bring the same feelings to other parents and their kids. If you have the ability, I would like to challenge you to find your local chapter and make at least one blanket for them, if you don't have a local chapter, I'm sure that mine would be more than happy to receive your donation. :)

...

Sometimes I am just sad. Today, I'm sad. Yesterday, I was sad. I wish I knew why. It's a weird contradiction, because part of me is happier than usual. I think part of it is that I feel lonely lately. Being a stay at home mom is very isolating. Being a mom period is isolating. I get out and see people, it's true, but I have to fight against the fact that staying at home all day by myself makes me feel like I never want to see people. Part of me would be just as content to hide away all the time but, since I want to avoid becoming completely agoraphobic, I force myself to leave my house.

I don't want to drive to Boise by myself tonight. I don't want to sit in a coffee shop and write. I do want to go to bed at 6 and watch the Olympics and eat takeout. I want really good burgers and fries and I want to be by myself and just mope. Of course, this isn't a healthy idea. A better idea would be to go to Boise anyway, but I may take a sick day. Josh is going out with Drew, so I could really have alone time. Now, the question, do I stay at home and mope? Or do I do the healthy thing and leave? Right now I'm thinking the lonely thing. I like me the Olympics and I like me the burgers and fries and sometimes I feel like I just need to hide out.

I have a few projects I'm working on right now for the Ravelympics. I'm making a couple of BSU scarves that a friend ordered, and I'm working on something for me too. I came across this pattern online and realized I had the perfect yarn in my stash to make it. I enjoy knitting as much as I enjoy crocheting, and right now I'm really enjoying the fact that I'm learning new things. Figuring out a new stitch makes me very happy. I'll probably include some crocheting or knitting into my alone time tonight.

Oh! And cake. I think I need cake...

an excuse to buy more...

I went to the Brandi Carlile concert a couple days ago with Beth. It was such a good time. Brandi puts on an amazing concert, so much energy through the whole thing. Her opening act was very good. Her name is Katie Herzig and I think I may be a little bit in love with her. Her voice was awesome, and her songs were really good. I spent a good chunk of time listening to her stuff on youtube when I got home.

I'm going to have to take at least a little bit of a break from playing games on my DS and compy. They may be a lot of fun, but right now I need to work on some crochet projects. On top of that, my friend Brandi told me about the Ravelympics which is pretty much a challenge to concentrate on a project during the Winter Olympics and finish it during that time. I'm trying to decide on what I want to work on. I really want to make this dress in a much shorter version (think long, tunic-style, tank top), without the beads, and in a darker color (probably grey), but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that yet. I know whatever I do, I want to make it a knitting project because that is going to be the biggest challenge. Anyhow, I'm on a pattern hunt. We will see what I come up with. I will probably put project updates on my other blog, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

Okay, it's time for me to go get to work. I need to get started on an ele and a giraffe for a friend's 3 year old!

more of the usual...

It has most likely been too long since I last posted. Holidays make life busy.

I got new DS games for Christmas! The Professor Layton game I had demanded Josh get me was nestled sweetly in my stocking where it was supposed to be. The puzzles are fun. The story isn't as good as the first one I don't think, but that is okay, I play them for the puzzles anyway. the other game I got was a Sherlock Holmes game. I am excited to check it out, but right now Prof. Layton is consuming my DS attention.

On an even nerdier note, I have been spending entirely too much time leveling alts on WoW. Silly addictive game. My Paladin is now a 73 and I have a hunter up to 47. I'm sure that they will both eventually reach level cap and join my other two 80s. This may make me completely pathetic, but I really don't care. I find plenty of time for my family and other hobbies as well.

Knitting is a new hobby taking up a lot of my attention. I've discovered that since I started knitting I have found time to make projects for myself. I don't know if I could knit for others, it takes too much time. Crocheting is easier to part with for some reason. I've been posting my projects on a different blog so that this one wasn't swallowed up by all of the things I have been making. It's great to have something to keep my hands busy. It's also great to make a little extra money from something that I enjoy.

My book is feeling neglected. I suppose that holidays suck up a lot of time, but I still feel bad for not working on it like I would like to. It is coming along. I like my plot and I like where I am going to be able to take it. I thought about giving myself a word cap, and then I changed my mind. I don't want to limit where it could go, or extend it beyond where it should. Maybe I will just give myself a time cap. I'd like to have it done and ready for editing by the end of the year.

Comic. Oh, the comic. Sweet time-suck of frustration and awesome. It is getting better I think. The art is progressing and the writing is starting to look and sound like actual comic writing. I hope that the people that read it are getting enjoyment from it, and I hope that this new year brings even more readers.

In other news, I have a three year old now. I'm old. See her blog for more details. I also have the sweetest 1 1/2 year old on the planet. He is such a monkey and he makes me smile daily. See his blog for more details. (I have such a terrible blog addiction, it isn't even funny, I wonder if they have special therapists for that...)

I think that's about it. I won't bore you all with any more details of my life. Things are busy, hectic, crazy, obnoxious, and messy. However, they are also wonderful. With the bad comes good, and sometimes we wouldn't find the things that are making us deliriously happy without going down the painful roads. I hope you are all having a wonderful new year so far and that it continues to be so. Happy January!

it's almost christmas...

It's almost Christmas and I should be more excited. The holidays are stressful. I have a few more orders to get done, but they should be fairly quick. I also have a few presents to get done for my family. I'm actually looking forward to wrapping presents. I think it's fun. I like making boxes look pretty under the tree.

Due to the fact that annoying things are attracted to me, I lost my license for driving without insurance. It's going to take forever to get it back. It makes me so ridiculously upset that I didn't do something fun to get in trouble. No I followed all of the traffic laws and got pulled over for something the cop admitted I didn't do and got a ticket for something that I wasn't aware of. I mean, if I'm going to get in trouble, I want to do something rebellious and sinister. That would make it feel a little better, right? Maybe? Maybe not. Maybe I just don't like getting in trouble.

The week after Christmas Josh is going hunting and the kids are going to go stay with his mom for a day (maybe two). I'm hoping to find a hotel room that I can afford in Boise so that when I get a break I can at least do something. I have this fear that I'm going to end up without a license and stuck in my house. I would rather be stuck in Boise and close to coffee and a movie theater.

The comic seems to be doing pretty well. We've been putting it up for 6 months now and we haven't lost any of our readers. I think that is a pretty darn good start. By this point I figure the people that were reading it to be nice would be done with it if they didn't like it. I'm still enjoying writing it and I have all kinds of story ideas. I suppose that is an excellent place to be.

A few weeks ago I started a new blog. I've been selling a few of my toys and things. It's keeping me busy and I enjoy feeling like I am actually doing something with my time. I pretty much suck at the whole stay at home mom thing. I'm not a fan of cooking and cleaning and sitting all day with a smile on my face waiting for my husband to come home. I really, really wish I was. If I could transform myself into Donna Reed I would be tempted, but since I can't, having a hobby has really helped.

Speaking of hobbies, my book has been going pretty well. I work on it when I can, and it keeps me feeling like I'm using my brain. That is a very good thing because occasionally I feel like my brain may be turning into complete mush.

I think it's time to wrap a few presents now. It would be good to do it while the kids are napping.

penny for a thought...

It seems that my life has reached the stress out point once again. I'm not really sure why, but for whatever reason, I am feeling overwhelmed. My solution this go of it seems to be playing more WoW. Today I got my paladin Penelope to 60 which really means nothing except for the fact that I am one step closer to having my 3rd character at max level.

Halloween came and went and I didn't blog about it at all. It seems strange to me because I spent hours making all of our costumes. Jenna wanted to be Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and she wanted Cole to be The Itsy Bitsy Spider. So, Josh and I decided to be nursery rhymes as well. He was Old King Cole and I was The Cat and The Fiddle. My kids were pretty darn adorable. I think I made a pretty cute kitty as well.

The comic seems to be doing okay. I'm working on new story lines and trying to weave more of a plot line through the whole thing. There are always set backs for me. I have so little faith in myself and any talent I may (or may not) have. It makes it hard when critics start in on it. Rhett has been getting a lot of praise for his art progression, and rightfully so. My writing seems to just get constantly criticized. It's really frustrating, but something I know I need to get used to.

Crocheting has been a big stress relief for me recently. If you are at all interested in what I make, you can check out my new blog (we're not going to talk about the huge blogging problem I have) Cuddle Zoo (thanks Brandi for the name).

Yeah. I'm done typing now. I'm going to go back to watching Twilight ridiculously early in the morning and leveling Penny some more. My brain isn't feeling so hot tonight... so I figure distracting it is the right move at the moment.

if there is interest...

I've been having a lot of fun making toys for my kids and getting things started for Christmas. That being said, I can't keep making things just for my kids or they are going to have a barrel full of crocheted toys. So, I am thinking about doing some commissioned work.

I think the best way for my sanity is to do a first come first serve kind of thing. If you are interested in some pretty cute, squishy, home made toys for Christmas, upcoming birthdays or baby showers, let me know! We can talk about what you are wanting and cost on the project.

Let me know if you are interested.

Here are a few things I have been working on lately:

looking towards christmas...

I'm guessing that we will have as little money this Christmas as we have every Christmas. So, I've been looking online for patterns to make some crochet type gifts. So far, these are the finalists (all from the lion brand web site).

For Cole:










For Jenna:
















And if I have time, I'd like to pull out a couple of these:
(from www.berroco.com)