Ringing In the New Year

We're ringing in the new year with surprisingly warm weather ((50 degrees or so)), some new games ((check out Holding Pattern)), a cold beer and the X-files movie.

 We watched pretty much the entire series, so it's kind of interesting to see what they do with the whole movie thing. Maybe not the most traditional means of ringing in the New Year, but hey, we're geeks, what do you want?

 MiniMonster has had a busy day, and he's sleeping right now. He also outgrew his 12 month clothing for the most part, except for the few with nice button necks to give them more room. The other ones are too squinchy and he gets really upset if you try and put them on. He even outgrew all of his 12 month footies, and he's not even 12 months old yet. Big guy!

 We went on a major shopping spree this week to buy him upgraded stuff, and made some good finds. He also has Batman PJ's now. ((We got them in two sizes so he wouldn't outgrow it quite as fast.))

 He also made a point of picking himself some (largely green) Dino and Monster socks. That was kinda funny. <3 Oh and he convinced Auntie Roo's good friend Lil' to buy him an incredibly cute stuffed tortoise at Kohls. It was kind of impressive to see him in action, since Lil', like Auntie Roo, isn't entirely comfortable around small children not having handled them very often, and especially because he's been in clingy, anxiety mode lately. I know it's normal for kids, but it's frustrating for everyone I think, him too.

 And we still haven't figured out what kind of cake we're going to make him.

 I do recommend that even the non geeks check out Echo Bazaar though. It's fun, kind of Lovecraftian and turn based, and easy to master. Less tricky and thought involved than Die2Nite and it's zombie glory, but definitely addictive. I'm having a blast.

I'm not Dreaming of a White Post-Christmas

But I might tonight, since Tilmani and I spent an obnoxious amount of time shoveling something like two feet of snow out of the driveway, and that's after he did some break out shoveling last night. Needless to say we're both pretty sore, but the driveway is clear and so are the steps.

 The back and Side yard have really wild and interesting Snow Drifts, full of edges and valleys. In some places the ground has only an half inch of snow due to the powerful wind gusts last night, and in other places... well... it's like the driveway. It's sort of cool, but dang heavy. The snow wasn't the wettest and heaviest we've shoveled, but it certainly wasn't fluffy and light.

 I'm rather glad I own some home made wool socks these days ((These were made by my teacher and her antique auto-knitter.)) They kept my feet toasty warm, which was fantastic, since normally my fingers and toes practically freeze off by the time I've been out shoveling for a little while, regardless of my foot and hand gear.

 It's a good soup day, so we're making the Onion-Potato soup in my recipe list, although I admit I tossed some bacon bits in just to change it up a little.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

 Well it's almost Christmas, we've even got all the gifts for people wrapped, and ready. Unfortunately the soonest we'll be delivering any of them is Sunday, and then the others on Monday. I was hoping to deliver some of them today, but Grandma S isn't feeling up for it.

 We tried out a cookie press we got at WalMart, it had... well... mixed results. Tilmani thinks that the cookie sheets themselves might be the problem. I'm not sure that it's not the cookie press.

The edge you press to the cookie sheet is scaloped, so it doesn't actually get that close, and although one click is supposed to be 'one cookie', that doesn't mean the cookie actually leaves the end of the press.  The recipie itself isn't bad though, so I guess we'll experiment and see what we can do. It's not having trouble coming out through the shaping disks, just sticking to the trays.

 Also, just to provide you with a hearty dose of cute:

Cold Toes and Stuffy Nose

The MiniMonster has a cold, so I'll save you the horrors of one of his 'just sneezed' pictures. They're pretty sloppy right now, but that's probably what he gets for trying to chew on cart handles every time I reach for something at the store. :/

 I'm trying to prevent him from doing that but I'm only human... and I'm not the kind of person who wants to shut him in a Lysol soaked bubble.

 The tree is now fully decorated and looks pretty awesome. We turned off the living room lights last night ans showed it to the Monster. He was crying at the time but stopped when we brought him in and showed him the tree in the dark, all lit up with colorful little pinpricks and cool blue glowing snowflake lights. I suspect he'll like it even better when there are toys underneath for him to rip the crinkly paper and tissue off of.

 I'm going to make another 'food run' later today and drop more food with some of my relatives. Crock Pot BBQ and some loaded mashed potatoes, the potatoes in little single serve bowls.  ((Thank you locking lids!))

 I also made a new post at Holding Pattern, and I actually pulled in a big old rant on that one, because it's something I've been subject to, and it's really annoying. I guess in some ways Role Play communities can be a lot like being back in school, only the players aren't always high school aged. It may well be the age of the geek because I can name any number of players, male AND female, who are thirty and up, as well as under thirty.

 I think that says a lot for us not shutting our imaginations in a box... and that's kinda cool.

The Caffine is the Life

 Maybe it was the excitement of having a  GIANT GLOWING TREE covered in bells and colorful things in the living room, but MiniMonster did -not- want to go to sleep last night. He refused to lie down until almost ten, and then he only made it about ten minutes with everyone else in bed before setting up a howling ruckous.


He was clearly exhausted, he kept cuddling up and rubbing his eyes, but absolutely would not sleep, didn't want bottle, didn't need changed, didn't want food... but couldn't seem to sleep. Eventually, burnt to a frazzle trying to figure it out, I took him to our room, where the second he touched mattress... he was out like a light. ((it is very interesting to try and reposition an instant-noodle.))
 He took over half my pillow in the process and staked his claim by dropping his pacifier and drooling.

 Pushed to the edge of the bed, and already anxious ((Grandma S needs some minor surgery, nothing technically serious but it's not stopping me from being obsessively anxious.)), I couldn't sleep a wink, and was pretty much awake until sometime after 2:30. I did at one point also make the mistake of trying to take MiniMonster back to his room, and that... well that went exactly like the begining of the night. ((not well))

 Tilmani checked on him, got the same results I had, and deposited him back in bed with me, where he latched on and snoozed again.

 He was cute enough this morning to be forgiven for his night time antics, crawling back up onto my pillow and poking my nose while making doe eyes, and looking out through the curtains and bouncing. ((It was snowing)). So He was forgiven and got blueberry pancake with the rest of us.

 We just ordered him something we think he'll love, an baby-Mp3 player from ThinkGeek. It's got a solid rubbery outside to keep it from being damaged, hidden volume control... good stuff.

Oh Tannenbaum Oh Tannenbaum,

Mini Monster would like everyone to be very clear on the fact that WE HAVE A TREE. It's an Artificial Tree, but it's a pretty nice one, though we did spend some time 'fluffing' the posable parts of the branches to fill it all out. It's not 100% decorated, we need to put the tree skirt down and also put on some more ornaments, but it's most of the way there.

 MiniMonster was extremely excited by this, though he was a little edgy when it first went up because everyone was a little stressed. When it was up and lit (It's not lit in the picture) however, he did a circuit of the tree and delicately poked the lights he could reached, and jingled the bells that we hung down low.

 I still need to finish fixing the toe of his Christmas stocking, but it's a pretty good Christmas Season so far.

MiniMonster Furnature Moving Service and Popcorn Addicts Anonymous

 I'm currently watching Mini Monster play on the floor, he's shoved our two 'guest chairs' away from the wall and is sitting behind/underneath them, banging a purple bath octopus on the floor, a shape sorting blue and green elephant, and a rubber bath tiger in scuba gear. ((It's a very interesting plastic safari behind that chair, especially if you include the toys hung between the legs of one of the chairs.))

 It's kinda funny watching him shove the chairs around, I think he likes doing it because it makes him feel big and strong, and also I guess it's his version of building a fort, and moving everything to places he wants.

 I was going to try and see if I could find "Legends of the Guardians", but apparently red-box doesn't have it, (yet). I'll ask tonight if we can check and see if it's on the PlayStation Store. I haven't read the book, though I heard good things about it, and the trailers are absolutely beautiful.

 Owl City also did one of the songs (yeah you can laugh now) which I heard on the radio yesterday, and it was really nice. Even if I don't end up liking the show I want to listen to that song again.

 Aditionally, we've discovered Popcorn Indiana's Caramel Popcorn. The popcorn I mentioned yesterday? That's the one. Their white cheddar isn't very good I don't think, but the caramel... oh that's some good caramel popcorn. They also have a bacon ranch one I really want to try, but they don't seem to have that one in the immediate area. ((I'm seriously disappointed here.))

 I was kind of hoping to find a snack that would replace chips in my snack pantheon, but so far I don't think it's going to quite cut it, unless another flavor is better than the cheddar. Darn.
 MiniMonster LOVES the caramel popcorn at least as much as I do though, which is kind of fun....and has sneaky potential as a last ditch 'get out of that and come here' lure/

Inside every Responsible Adult

 Is a little kid who's pretty convinced that they're making up everything as they go along. I'm having one of those days where I feel kinda like that at random intervals. I dunno exactly what triggers these things, maybe it was playing around on the floor with Owen and giving him a horsie ride on my leg. ((Great work out by the way.)), or maybe it was after I put him down and he made a loving attempt to scalp me. ((He grabbed a big hank of my hair and yanked. Man... remind me again why I'm growing my hair back out?))

 Of course then again it could be that I'm curled up on my couch with a fantasy book, a bottle of fizzy white grape juice, and a big bag of caramel popcorn. There's just something about caramel popcorn I guess that makes me feel like a kid... though admittedly then I was picking it out of Cracker Jack because I thought it was the only part of Cracker Jack worth having. ((I know, sacrilegious.))

 The MiniMonster is napping, and I just had a brief flash where my brain clicked into action and went... y'know... this is OUR house. OUR living room. OUR son. ... How messed up and amazing is this? We're like a responsible adult or something like that.

 I wonder if all adults go through this from time to time.

 On a completely unrelated note:
 I'm going to dust off "Holding pattern for Wild Dreams", a blog I started and did absolutely nothing with before this one, and may use it as a dumping ground for random stories about the RP world(s) I am intermittently involved with.
 The Link is available in the Followed Blogs list. 

MiniMonster has Leveled Up

 So the Mini Monster continues to grow at an alarming rate. He's now taking an occasional bold venture and letting go of everything he's holding onto when standing or cruising. He's even taken forays of one or two steps without holding things, but mostly he'll just let go, stand for a minute, and then either drop to his butt or grab on again. Most of these forays include having his father or I close at hand, but they're really awesome and fun, and we've been telling him how incredible he is. ((He eats it up, and I don't blame him)).

 He's also apparently Cute-leveled. We had to make a emergency run to WallyWorld this morning because the Diaper Pail liner decided to completely run out, and in spite of my certainty that I had purchased refills, either the laundry gremlins took them ((And our new Toothbrush holder... and the brackets for the shelf we're trying to hang in the bedroom...)), I couldn't find a single one. So after that discovery, ((and one extra diaper change I had to stuff in a ziplock to seal and pitch)), We packed up and fled to get stuff.

 We made a quick stop at the dump ((Wow it's so NICE if you get there literally right when they open. No crazy people trying to attack you for your position in the cue.)), and then jumped on the road and went shopping. It took me about 15 minutes to find the refills, since for no discernible or logical reason they'd reorganized things since two days ago, and had stashed them in a totally different location, but I managed to grab four and trot out the door again.

 After he charmed the cashiers within inches of their sanity, he turned his cranked up Cute-powers on a totally random woman in the parking lot, who not only gushed at him (He smiled lots), but called her friend over to gush (He smiled some more), and then gave him a dollar.

 He has apparently leveled his cute powers to the point where strangers will now give him money for being cute. This is truly an amazing power. Now if we can keep this up until college.. *grin*
 But you never know: it might have been the hat.

He's also enjoyed the first snowfalls of the season:

 

And then settled in for a snooze with his new blanket. I think it has a sleep spell on it or something. He dozes off fast curled up with it! <3 ((That's Tilmani by the way.))

I had my own silly little joys on the way back from today's trip. I stopped and treated myself to a hot Mocha and an breakfast meal from McDonalds. The McGriddle was... well great when you're starving but after 10 bites the appeal wears down to middling. I was however, ridiculously excited when we got into the driveway, I started to put the remnants into the bag, and discovered that I had -entirely forgotten- about the Hash Brown. I have a crippling weakness for McDonalds Hash Browns. It was cold, but I popped it in the toaster oven and enjoyed it while MiniMonster devoured some Cheerios and Baby Goldfish.

 Good times!

Photo@#*^@it.

 Has anyone else out there been having rediculous amounts of trouble with photobucket these days?
 Every time I try and use it anymore, I can't upload anything directly from my computer, I usually end up bringing it HERE, uploading, and -then- moving it to photobucket. Usually it'll take stuff from another web site, but not always. It's driving me BONKERS, and I'm not sure about a good alternative.

Octgenarians and OMG

Sorry for the absence folks, though I officially invite you all to my neck of New England to come play in our scattering of snow.
 I'm watching old episodes of American Chopper, so you can laugh about comparing that to my topics of the hour.

 Today was apparently my day for running into INSANE SENIOR CITIZENS. I'm immensely sorry to those of you in that set who are not insane, because I ran into the ones that make -everyone else- look bad.
 At the dump, I went to move up from the recyling area to the actual trash dump, and nearly got my nose taken off by a large van, who almost waited for me to leave my spot then changed their mind at the last minute. They then pulled forward, with me behind them, and pulled up in front of the trash. Seeing that I was pulling up to the trash right behind them the driver imediately stopped, although she had clear space directly in front of her, leaving me at an angle because I couldn't adjust without hitting her or the car behind us. And she sat there. She just... sat there. Doing NOTHING. For a good five minutes while, feeling a touch of rage at this obnoxious behaviour, started unloading my trash. Only when I was partially done did she pop out of her car, pull out RECYCLING, and walk all the way back to the other building. ((She could have taken my spot, but apparently that made too much sense.))

 While she sorted out her cardboard and cans, I finagled my way back out and escaped the dump. I then had to go to the post office. A nice looking little old woman with white hair and a sweet grandmotherly smile pulled in ahead of me and parked. I went to pull into the slot beside her. She waited until I was half way into the space and then attempted to open her door with great vigor into my hood. Fortunately she did not time this correctly and I stopped, and it swung without hitting my car. She gazed at me in a sort of vague way, and wandered off into the post office with a look that indicated that she figured she must have hallucinated my son and I, since obviously no one else in the world would be parking in the post office while she was there.

 After that, Several people attempted to run into our cart at the grocery, and another sweet smiling happy granny beamed at me... and then cut in line in front of us. Apparently sweet granny smile is code for "I own your ass because no one will contradict me." ((Betcha didn't know that.))

 Also just to make myself laugh: I dropped a dollar in the bin and grabbed June Deveraux's "Rememberance' from the paperback bin. It's a Romance Novel.

 The first thing it did was make fun of itself.

 ...I am actually. laughing. ((Repeatedly.)) at a Romance Novel.


 I'm either really bored or June Deveraux is a better author than I was prepared to give her credit for.
 She's also educated herself to hugely entertaining levels on the more risque aspects of 'ye olden times' and is using it to poke fun at the fact that "Every Generation thinks it's the one that invented sex". <-- this is kind of true I guess.

 Hell I didn't know that in the roaring twenties there were open Gay Bars. They didn't exactly cover that in the history books when I was growing up, but I thought that was kind of insanely cool, because it fit the era, which was also when dating really started to resemble the way we know it today. It was a major time of sexual liberation and as a culture we haven't back tracked a whole lot. ((Some, but not all the way.)) Yet we act like we, as the last generation or three, invented sexual liberation.

 Haha. Jokes on us.

Snow

Well we've had our first ice storms for the season, and now we've got our first snow that's not 'ten flakes out in the yard', the wind is blowing a fairly nice flurry outside, the first real snow of the seasons.

 We haven't gone out in it, but it's nice to see. We're even getting a little bit on the street.

The Turkey Has Landed

   "The Turkey Has Landed":
 Yesterday my mother in law and I, as well as my sister in law, embarked on the frightening mission otherwise known as "Thanksgiving Shopping". We bought stuffing mix, we bought turkey, we got the seasonings that weren't in my spice cabinet yet, we dodged people rushing around in glassy eyed panic... ((including me who had never had to size up how much turkey was required to feed more than four people.))

 Did I mention I'd had about four hours sleep when I did this? Eech. Next year I hope to be considerably better prepared. We also got off to a late start. We were SUPPOSED to bail between twelve and one to head out, but the transport vehicle didn't roll into my driveway until two.

 On the plus side I've got everything to make Spaghetti and Meatballs tonight, and Hungarian Goulash Soup tomorow, and Turkey the day after, for us and our guests. ((GAH)).
 Tomorow also has the honor of being Tilmani's birthday, so I'm trying to make sure it's kind of special entirely of it's own accord, and doesn't get lost in the Holiday. ((Which is why we're having the Ghoulash, because we all love it, and it's FAIRLY simple.))

 Unfortunately none of his presents have arrived, but the extra cost to expedite shipping is really godawful. :(
I would have gotten things sooner, but it took forever to corner him to find out what he might like. We did manage between myself and family members, however, to get him some things he should REALLY enjoy.

 Anyway, cross your fingers and pray for our Thanksgiving bird to come out alright. I got one with a popper, because historically they've been pretty accurate in giving us the heads up on a done bird, and while we will have stuffing, it's not the kind that will cook while crammed up the ass of a disemboweled bird. ((I do love me some meat, but that's just not a pretty mental picture.))

 We're having Turkey (thirteen + lbs and staring at me from the fridge), a Stuffing with Cranberrys and sausage bits, Cranberry Apple Chutney, and Mashed Potatoes. Sides will probably include some rolls brought by the guests, and I believe someone will be bringing an pumpkin pie for desert. I anticipate that MiniMonster will be especially pleased with the desert.

 He seems to be trying to cut even MORE teeth, and has some bumps in the upper gum that indicate where they're trying to come through. Not sure why he decided to have a spree for the upper gums, but I'm sure he'll be so much happier when he gets a break, poor guy.

 Giving him a nightly bath has made everyone a lot happier, and we haven't, knock on wood, had another run of Night terrors. (THANK GOD.) Does mean we've played with the house thermostat though, because he definitely notices before we do if it's a little on the cold side, especially when he's freshly washed.

 Oh and he still hates socks.

Not boarding the Catbus

So for those of you who are unfamiliar with the works of Studio Ghibli, the Catbus is an charming creature in "My Neighbor Totoro", and is a huge cat creature with mice-lamps, a Cheshire grin, and lots of feet, it's also in the movie, indirectly indicated as the source of many strong gusts of wind, since most people can't see it when it rushes past them.


 MiniMonster is unlikely to be attempting to board one any time soon. He has no objection to cats, or to dogs...and probably not to mice though we haven't found out on that front, but he's not exactly fond of strong wind.

 I'm hoping when he's old enough to really appreciate the story in 'Totoro' it'll help ease his mind, but unfortunately in the mean time it makes for slightly restless nights. He woke up two or three times last night because we've been having windy weather, though he went back to sleep when he got to curl up with me in his Dad's chair in the living room.

 I gotta admit, it's one of the reasons I do like Ghibli films though. 90-99% of Disney revolves around girls getting married by rich, powerful guys, and having this marriage be -the most- important thing in their life, above anything else. Or bastardizing classic stories and myths to the point of being non-recognizable ((See Hunchback and Mulan)), plus merchandizing until you choke.

 Ghibli films -actually have children.-. They're often about life changing events which require them to show greater maturity, but they're about strength of character, without loosing a sense of enchantment, wonder and magic. They're just awesome films, and so much fun. <3

 I'm gonna go geek out and watch one this afternoon I think.

And now for something completely different

There's not enough awesome sillyness in the world, especially as we close in on the Holidays.

 This made me smile in spite of nearly being clipped by a deranged older woman at the dump while I was trying to get back into my car, and having an really rude lady at JoAnnes decide that my handful of stuff and babystroller were way less important than HER stuff, and bolted around us to cut in line.

Sausage Casserole and Soapbox.

 I made a Potato-Sausage casserole last night as an attempt at a new recipie, it actually came out pretty well, but the potatoes actually needed to cook longer. ((I've noticed that problem with some of Taste of Homes recipes that involve potatoes.)) Also if you *cough* happen to use spicy sausage... leave out the pepper. It was good enough though that we'll probably do a second run at it.

 Otherwise: sorry, I'm rambling today.

 I felt a bit like Geek-Ebert yesterday with the giant Zombie blog, which was kinda fun ((G-Ebert. ;) )), although I felt more growly later when a topic came up on Ravelry about Bullying. I am happy that people are becoming more concious of the enormous harm it can do, but I'm a little annoyed but one of the current blanket assumptions I keep seeing.
 "All Bullies must automatically have abusive/terrible parents."

 I'm sorry... but I flatly CAN'T agree with that as a blanket truth. I'm sure a number of them do. But not all of them, there's just no way. It doesn't take an abusive parent to make certain children crave authority, power, and the 'respect' they earn from making others feel that they are supreme above all others. True, many of these bullies are cripplingly insecure, especially among the girls, but that doesn't mean they come from bad homes. It may mean they've made bad choices, that they've wrapped themselves up in the illusion that the tangled and barbed knot of peer pressure and the urge to climb to the top of the heap by beating down everyone around them actually will MEAN something once they've left school... but it doesn't mean they were abused.

 It's the goddamn Lord of the Flies. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's a little savage microcosm, a tiny island where who has the latest fashion, the best sports scores, and the most important parent make or break you, where if you're new, you're a target, because you're a threat to the established order.

 At some point along the line, it is, weather or not people want to admit it, the BULLIES choice to Bully, and something they, personally, need to take responsibility for. That's the only way I see the cycle being broken. You can stand on a soap box all day long and say "I abuse (insert other person here) because Mommy and Daddy abused me", but at the end of the day, you're the one who made the choice to continue the cycle of abuse.

 Blaming everything on the previous generation's actions is only an excuse not to change, and it's a pathetic one.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

 So Tilmani and I snagged "The Walking Dead" off of Netflicks and watched the first two episodes last night. It was actually pretty fun ((Tilmani is a big zombie fan)) and we both had plenty of stuff to creep us out, but we also, and I'm sorry to those who have latched on as die hard fans, MST3Ked the heck out of it.

 Our first argument was that the Deputy got all the way to his house without making any attempt whatsoever to find shoes. Arguably there's a lot of stress involved in waking up in an empty hospital, but between having absoloutely no one respond to you falling out of bed, and having no one in the halls, that seemed in our book to be a huge red flag, and that was BEFORE finding an nommed up corpse in the hallway. ((Omnomnom))

 Having a body in the hallway that had clearly been dead for at little while and just -left- there should have also been a major red flag that there was something -really- wrong, and a good sign that shoes, if not other clothing, and possibly an improvised weapon, should be begged borrowed or stolen. Maybe you'd look like a fool if there turned out to be a rational explanation, but if I woke up in an empty hospital and found a corpse on the floor missing most of their midsection, I'd rather look like a fool than the corpse. Just sayin'.

 Since he decided it wasn't a good idea to even tape something to his feet to try and avoid the broken glass everywhere, we scoffed at that for a while, then banged our heads as he marched through a field of corpses. right through the middle. Not around the edges, right down the middle like he was looking for a seat in the movie theater. This while still in bare feet and having just walked through broken glass. Somehow, because it's TV, he didn't cut his feet on anything, but again, I would have skirted the edges. You don't know what killed the people, you know one body inside has been EATEN by something, and, well, corpses in general tend to harbor disease, which you wouldn't want on your bare, potentially sliced up feet.

 Thirdly: After discovering HALF OF A PERSON trying to crawl across the grass and Nom him on the way home ((in boxer shorts and a hospital robe)), he goes into his house (without shutting the front door yet), has a small melt down ((Ok that was understandable)), and then goes outside and sits down.

 Then because apparently he suffered complete amnesia about half of a corpse trying to catch him  in the park, he is completely non suspicious of the guy shuffling down the middle of the road in a suit. Doesn't even blink. Doesn't stop to wonder why the guy doesn't answer when he calls 'hey'...

 Yeah, just a few giant things that seemed to defy basic brain power.

 We also argued about the pros and cons of horse over humvee, though since we were divided on that, we finally agreed that if he'd decided NOT to go into the city ((Where there were more people originally and therefore should have guessed that there might be a much much higher concentration of 'Walkers')), the horse wouldn't have been a bad idea, but going into the city, a car would have been better, if only because it's not made of meat and doesn't spook near Zombies.

 So idiot boy wasted a perfectly good means of transportation because he figured it would be totally awesome to ride a horse downtown...and get it eaten.

 There was however NO argument that the Deputies wife was cheaper than a nickel prostitute, since apparently in less than a month after she assumed her comatose husband had been devoured by Zombies ((Assuming she hadn't been banging the guy since the second her husband went into the hospital)) she jumped in bed with his partner. That's some seriously fast mourning period, even for a troubled marriage. And with such a classy guy too! Willing to abandon other survivors at the drop of a hat... such an beautiful role model for her son!

 This 'Public Service Announcement' has been brought to you by "Geeks preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse"

Tricksy Knitter.com apparently has a chart designer, which I'll try out later now that I have a working log in. Unfortunately it won't save charts unless you're logged in, so I just lost an knit-purl chart that was intended to let me do a cornered edge for a blanket I'm trying to make, but I'll just re-do it later. It should be a pretty cool tool though.

Tired again

So... yeah. We had another crazy night. Mini Monster apparently decided to have some kind of stomach problem, and needed two diaper changes for really poopy very uncomfortable diapers during the night, and would not sleep in his own crib. Every time we tried to put him down, he'd wake up crying, no matter how soundly he'd just been asleep with us. It was extremely frustrating for all parties, since we were all incredibly tired. I gave up after about three rounds early in the night, including the diaper change. ((If anyone thought they heard loud, furious screeching, that would have been MiniMonster howling his righteous fury about having his butt wiped.Of course I probably would have been mad too, since...

  You get the idea.

 He wasn't too impressed to have cream applied either, but that did help him once he decided to get over the indignation.

 After that I gave up and brought him to bed with us, where he set up another yowl until he found Tilmani with his reaching, grabbed on, and snuggled up to his dad.

 We got a couple hours of sleep after that, before he woke up needing another change, ((This time Tilmani took care of it)) and something like four rounds and a bottle ((At two in the morning)) later, we finally convinced him to sleep in his own bed.

 Of course by that point we were pretty much guaranteed to be total zombies... and we even slept in by half an hour and didn't realize it. OOF.

 Here's hoping things settle down.

 Oh, I've also changed the archiving on the blog: Any thoughts? Does everyone like daily archiving better? Or weekly? Trying to be convenient but also friendly to those people out there who still have slower net.

Who Needs Sleep

Today was an "Who Needs Sleep" day. MiniMonster woke up at one, apparently he had a nightmare, and it took him a while to get back to sleep. Me, I didn't really -get- back to sleep. I just kind of did an off and on doze, and crawled out of bed at six.

I got running on a cup of coffee and a can of Red Bull ((otherwise known as my "Ultra Emergency Stash". I try and avoid the stuff unless I'm pretty sure that there's no way I'll function at a human level.

I started off feeling pretty Jeckel and Hyde, and just generally crabby, but fortunately the caffeine kicked in after a couple hours, and I mellowed out. As a second blessing, apparently the Monster somehow keyed in to the idea that Mommy was dead tired, and was very sweet today.

Haven't repaired his mitten yet, but I did cast on for a new hat for him. It's a little beret in sock yarn. I got some really nice hand died merino from "Creature Comforts" on Etsy, the owner of which I've actually talked to on GaiaOnline. The color is called "Iago" after the character in Shakesphere, and is shades of green, black, and white. I think it'll be really cute.

Creamy Onion-Potato Soup, Bedroom Gear, and Growing

So those of you who have been hanging on for the updates about the MiniMonster, you'll be interested to know that he's grown a full two inches since last month. He's got some new winter coats, some little boots, and -had- some nice mittens, but he destroyed one of them in his first time out wearing them, demonstrating that I still need some work on strengthening my end seams to resist his exploring little fingers.

We also had to go get a new set of sheets for our room, since apparently the Laundry Gremlins ((Those little Gremlins who mysteriously make random articles from the laundry vanish from the earth, regardless of where you're sure you left them)) ate one of our fitted sheets.

I got two sets, one in what's called "Willow Green" and another in "Fox Tail Orange", which reminds me less of a fox and more of a rich spice, like Paprika. It's actually a pretty color, and looks pretty good with our green and brown comforter. I think it'll also look good with my white and red-pink quilt. It's white with a pattern of crown vetch on it, so it's a bit girly for Tilmani's taste, but I put it out occasionally anyway.

We also ordered MiniMonster a book case. He'll be one pretty soon, and probably walking, so we got an book shelf with a magazine rack styled shelf set up on one side and some plastic bins in red, blue and yellow for him to easily put toys into and out of. ((Probably mostly out of)).

We've also got Thanksgiving and Tilmani's birthday coming up in rapid succession, so planning is underway to try and make sure he gets his own special day in spite of how close it is to Thanksgiving. Wish us luck!

Lastly, we have a recipe to share with everyone!
For lack of a better name: Creamy Onion-Potato Soup!

Onion Soup:

3 onions cut into strips/slivers

3/12 cups chicken Broth

1/3 cup flour

2 cups milk

2-3 cups cheddar cheese

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

½ cup mashed potato mix.<-- you may wish to add more potato flakes to make it nice, thick and smooth.

2 tbs butter

Slices of Pepperjack

Saute’ the onions in the butter, add the chicken broth and spices, boil, lower temperature and simmer for 20 min. Mix milk and flour, add to soup, add potato mix, cheese, stir until smooth and thickened.

Serve with a slice of pepperjack melting on top.

This soup comes out nice and thick, almost a little more like stew, and would be -fantastic- with a bread-bowl. The pepper amount can be adjusted to taste, since Tilmani and I like it a little spicy.

Laundry Faux Pas

...So apparently due to paying insuficient attention to the things that got tangled up in my laundry... I ran a Huggies "Jeans" diaper through the washing machine.

I would not recommend this course of action. I thought that one of Owen's toys (which needed washed) had exploded.

Well, we survived Halloween! Unfortunately my costume didn't quite make it until the Trick or Treaters arrived. We had part of the game group over, though one of our members couldn't make it, and will be out of the running for a while thanks to other "Real Life" necessities. ((Darn that RL stuff, getting in the way of a good game.))

Because he's going to be out for so long, we're going to switch over to playing a game we haven't run for a while, and jump back into the Star Wars universe.

I realize there's a running rumor that you can't be a fan of both Star TREK and Star WARS, but I don't agree. I'm a fan of both, though the Star Wars system lends itself more to roleplay IMHO. But then I've never tried a game set in the Trekiverse.

So yeah, we had part of the guys over, and since we were figuring out how to best handle a players extended absence without writing his character out (We didn't think that would be fair, because it would put him way behind in levels when he came back.) We watched some shows together, ate ourselves silly on candy, Crock Pot BBQ, and other goodies.

Turtle even brought us some Ramune soda, which I love. Apparently he discovered a candy store where they have bushels of Ramune and Pocky, and other candy goodies. He didn't spot the Pocky but his brother did, so I teased him that in penance he needs to bring us a selection of good Pocky for next game.

We also had Karen, Tom and Summer over, they came by and trick-or-treated, and had some food with us. Summer concluded that the chicken was "Too 'picy", and would have prefered to dine entirely on candy, which she wasn't allowed to do. There was an small chase with a carrot stick too. She was rather determined that she'd get all her sustenance from Sweet Tarts and Nerds, and her mom was pretty determined that at the least there would be some carrot in there too.

MiniMonster sort of enjoyed the attention, but after a while it got to be kind of too much and he turned clingy and upset... and eventually quietly spit up on my costume. He doesn't spit up much these days, so it's a pretty good indicator he's had quite enough of 'That' thank you.

He went to bed shortly after that, fussed for about two minutes and conked out for hours.

We all had a blast, and we actually did get some trick or treaters, who were quite ecstatic about discovering that we had full sized candy bars. Eyewidening and gasps of amazement were a -lot- of fun.

We've still got a good chunk of candy left over, since we didn't get that many, but I bet we get some repeat customers next year. ;)

Happy Halloween!

Since I don't know if I'll actually post on Halloween itself, I figure I'll wish everyone a happy and fun Halloween a little early!

Halloween is personally one of my favorite times of the year, since it's a bonifide excuse to dress up, give out, and get candy, and the historical information behind it is also pretty damn neat.

I mean then again I do love me some interesting and obscure Monsters. I did a paper once on Black Shuck, after all. I think that was the most fun I ever had researching something in college.

I think it's even going to be pretty nice weather for it. Maybe a little cool but not freeze you to your bones cold. I'll cross my fingers for it anyway, and I bet a lot of kids out there are doing the same. It's always a little annoying when you work super hard on your costume and then you hide 90% of it under puffy layers of warm things to keep from being Mr. Freeze instead of Batman.

Apparently later today we're having some sort of Live Action game up and down the street based on a book called "Hunger Games". Our Lawn is going to be the 'graveyard' area I think since it's across the street from the hosts house, has a large lawn, and a view of almost everything. Tilmani's a little unsure, but I already gave permission. *cough* So here's hoping that all goes down alright and I don't have to threaten an teenager with a cold blast of hose. I am a mean and evil person when I'm tired, after-all.

We'll probably have our usual weekend game gathering, at which I figure on making some crock pot Vinegar BBQ and maybe a side of sweet potatoes, and then hand out some candy.

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MiniMonster has pretty much cut the three teeth up top that he was working on, and ambitiously... seems to be working on TWO MORE.

I swear this kid has got it into his head that he's going to be biting chunks out of things by thanksgiving. He's sure trying hard enough! He needed some new socks, and we bought him some little leather soled slippers, since the weather is getting colder, and his feet are getting bigger. We tried buying him some shoes but Tilmani's estimate on his feet size was... *cough* a little off. I think you could fit both his feet into one of those shoes, so fortunately the slippers fit, but I bought those while MiniMonster was actually along.

He also decided to say "Hi" to the phone last night when his father called, that was a fun moment. Of course then he kept saying "Hi" for the next ten minutes, which was also cute. I guess you can't blame the guy for enthusiasm!

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Discovered some fun new web comics: I recommend "The Not so Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal", which was a fun find. Really gorgeous art too! Otherwise not a ton of stuff, but I'll keep you posted.

I mean I'm sure anyone on facebook has figured out I'm addicted to "Mouse Hunt". (HA! I made the Pumpkin Pummeler Trap! Dang that thing is hysterical... though I apologize to anyone annoyed by the updates regarding my mouse hunting triumphs.

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And you probably notice I sprouted an award. Leez of "Gnome Season" apparently decided to pass along the "Blog With Substance" award, which she also got and is convinced she doesn't deserve. I'm kinda tickled by getting a blog award... though I'm sure my 'obligatory interview' stuff will be pretty boring.

1. Thank the blogger who gave me the award.

^_^ Thanks Leez! And you do too deserve it.

2. Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five words:
..
Love, Learning, Family, Friends, Creativity...

3. Pass this on to 10 other bloggers that you feel have a substance in their blogs.:

...Yeah I definitely don't know ten. Leeze has already got it... so: Erica (Adventures in Surrogacy) and Wanda (Langham Fat Farm) I choose you! *throws a pokeball*

Cabbage Patch Drolls

So apparently there is an article on the web on how kids should be sleeping through the night at three months old. This in spite of pretty much any other source and experience I've personally had saying MOST kids won't start this until at least six months, since, you know, they're eating constantly, they're in a giant new strange world, they're growing... then somewhere around six months as they finally start getting used to and exploring everything, they start teething, crawling, trying to stand and walk.... more new things that put a lot of stress on the body.

But they're supposed to be sleeping through the night. Because an article, which admits it doesn't cover all the factors... says they should.

I find this... to say the least, hysterical in the most bitter kind of way. Especially because I know there are people who will take this to mean that if your child isn't sleeping through the night as though you hit the magical "You're three months old now, Sleep!" button, that you, personally, are somehow a failure as a parent.

Kids aren't magical wind up toys that do everything for your convenience and comfort, they're little people who are getting used to being in a giant new world full of new experiences. They don't come with magic on/off switches, they don't start out with a self cleaning option, and they don't control the interruptions that sometimes come in the night.

Last time I met a little chubby cheeked, permanently smiling kid that did whatever anyone wanted, it came in a cardboard box with a little birth certificate that said "Cabbage Patch Kids".

*GRUMP*.

-----

It was a pretty interesting weekend though, I have to admit. Saturday Tilmani and I got to go on our date, though I also went outside and put some pumpkins on our stone wall by the steps as part of decorating for Halloween. While I was outside doing this, I kept hearing someone call "Buddy! Buddy get back here!"
I figured it was someone's dog, as there are a few on the street, and didn't think much of it... until I heard the distinct sound of horseshoes on pavement. I looked up and there was a horse coming down the street!
He took one look at me, did the horse equivalent of an 'don't mind me', and bolted up the kitchen side of our house into the back yard to visit with the horses that stable behind us. His rather frazzled keepers spent about 10 minutes trying to narrow him down from one side of the house to the other, since when they pursued him up behind he came down the other side into our driveway, then turned around and went back because of a car pulling out of the driveway. ((I imagine the driver was at least as surprised as he was.))

He was eventually safely caught, and escorted off the property unharmed. MiniMonster got to see him walk past the kitchen doors again, he thought that was enormously exciting.
-----------------

The Date was great. We went to the Elegant Ewe, where I got a thousand yards of "Dream in Color" sock yarn in "Purple Paisley" to try and make the Spanish Armada shawl with. ((If I can actually pull off some decent shawls I might actually try and put one on my Etsy. Although if someone wants one in just plain basic knitting, I can do that very easily. Price would depend on the yarn.

We went to the Candy Store, and I got some of my favorite candies, we went to Michaels and got a new scrap book ((I need to go print photos))
Yeah it was just a blast.

Sunday was good too, we went to a joint Birthday Party for Aunt Kris and Papa Tom, Mini got to taste the Lasagnina, and was nuts for Butternut Squash with brown sugar. I'm gonna have to try and make it for him some time, since I'm more than happy to encourage any veggies he wants to eat, and there's not actually a ton of brown sugar in it.

Fuzzy Monsters and Rice Cakes

Some new project fun: I've temporarily put aside my second attempt at 'Mystery Afghan' so I can try and figure out how I somehow gained seven stitches while following the directions.

So I pulled out the 'Fuzzy Monster' mod for the Fuzzy Lamb pattern and I'm trying to make a green monster for the Mini Monster. If it goes well I'll make some more and back stock them for my friend Mouse for her con-going adventures.

I also scored some great pictures of MiniMonster "Getting Piggy with it" with his rice cakes. Sour Cream and Onion in case you're wondering.

Tilmani and I are crossing our fingers to catch up with Nana J too, so that we can get a sitter for the monster and go for a "Date" this weekend.

Go to Starbucks, the Expensive Yarn store, The Candy Store, Starbucks, and Outback... ohhh bliss.

Nospheratu!

The Mini Monster has cut one of his two upper front teeth, and the other is immediately on it's heels! This was a rather exciting development for us, and kind of funny timing if you consider the teeth on the traditional Nospheratu vampire, and Halloween's rapid approach.

I've purchased some candy for the Trick or Treater's, but I'm not entirely sure if I have enough. I bought two boxes of full sized bars, none of the fun sized ones for me, and definitely no DumDums.

I always hated getting DumDum's when I trick or treated, I dunno about the rest of you but they just never had that much appeal for me. They just make your mouth sticky and don't taste all that great. It was kinda like getting pretty much any form of 'bad' candy. Like *shudder* Necco Wafers.

I realize that they're cheap candy, but Halloween and Christmas only come once a year, and if I have an excuse to dress up and get candy (speaking from Kid-view) I want to do it in STYLE. I mean most kids around here are already going to be sulking because they'll need to wear warm coats over their costumes, so I don't see it hurting to give them 'real' candy bars.

Mini ones also always seem to be a little stale, I've never understood that.

I just hope they actually get to eat them. I used to work with a woman... I'm sure most of us have met the type. The aging woman desperately trying to pretend she's still Sweet Sixteen. She dressed in clothing that was too small, wore too much makeup, bleached her hair to straw... and boasted about how whenever she and her son went trick or treating she'd trained him to give the bag to -her- afterward, so she could take all the 'good' candy. ((Her phrasing)). He got the dumdums and the Necco wafers, she got the Reeses, the Chocolate Bars, the Baby Ruths... you name it.

I never told her but that always -really- made me mad. I understand checking your kids candy to make sure that it hasn't been tampered with, but that's an entirely different animal. As an adult, if you want Halloween candy THAT badly, go buy yourself a bag.

Chantilly Lace and a pretty face...

So after my relative success with the "I'm Blue" Doily/Afghan/Round... Thingie, I'm absoloutely itching to try another high complexity project, and I'm giving some serious thought to diving into a lace project. I don't technically have Lace Weight yarn, but I do have some fingering weight Alpaca, which isn't -that- much heavier. It will however make the "FO" ((Finished Object)) come out larger than if I knitted it with almost thread thin laceweight.

I'm debating some patterns from ravelry/yahoo group designer MMario, who makes some really incredible patterns, and furthermore, offers them to knitters for free. He does accept donations, but they aren't required.

I'm debating between "Spanish Armada", which has the advantage of having both written instructions AND the usual chart, or "Threadfall" Which is chart only, but -seems- relatively clear. Both are knitted on round needles, though the resulting project will actually be a square.

Of course then again I could do my "Mystery Afghan" again, and maybe stash bust some of my green Manos del Urugay.

HMM. Choices Choices!!

I'm Blue da ba dee ba da dah

So one of the yarns I bought at the Sheep and Wool Festival was some naturally dyed homespun. Actually I bought two different blues, but only one of them became an issue.

The darker blue yarn immediately 'showed it's true colors' on winding, staining Tilmani's hands and mine. It continued in this bent when I started knitting with it, attempting a 'Mystery Afghan' pattern I'd been given a while ago.

My fingers were blue, my nails were blue, my palms were blue... my NEEDLES turned blue...

Oh and the couch cushion started to turn blue. JUST by having the ball of yarn sitting on it.

Needless to say after this discovery, I bound off what I'd done instead of trying to switch colors and continue, and went through the work of doing what apparently HADN'T been done properly to begin with, and got the extra dye rinsed out. Or that's what I'm hoping anyway. I put it in the bathroom as an attempt at blocking, and you guys might laugh because we actually used one of our baby gates that's not currently in action.

Have a look!

THIS. IS. SPAR...oh wait no it's not.

Thanks to "Emptyhead51" for the welcome back and sorry for my long absence, those of you who care. ;) We've been getting a new roof put on the house, and today they're putting in a bathroom fan that -actually draws air-. ((Gasp)). It's also a great deal quieter than the previous one, which, by comparison, sounded like a jet intake. For all this noise, it was also incapable of so much as moving a Kleenex. Granted the Kleenex had -aloe- in it, but since the fan sounded like it was preparing for take off, it could have at least managed to make the tissue twitch feebly or something.

As I mentioned before, The MiniMonster is making great strides, so to speak, in getting toward standing and cruising, and I've been admittedly reading ahead a bit into the toddler books so I can foresee what I've got coming.

The Toddler books however don't include anything about random nesting instinct, or the vague prophet like certainty that we may someday be painting up a room for another kid, who in my crazed, nesting fashion I am somehow equally certain will be a girl.

... I don't make these things up. I wish I did. So yes, babies apparently make you CRAZY. It's true.

I also decided to have a fun round of "Open my Big Mouth" this morning and posted my two cents in a Ravelry Topic. The last month or so there have been several very heated debates on copyrights and knitting. Specifically the issue is weather or not a pattern designer can put a footnote on their pattern saying "You can't sell the finished product."

It's actually not that uncommon, and many designers are actually outright rude in the way they phrase these demands. I own one pattern actually with a particularly snarky footnote to that regard. I was irked and annoyed to find it, and ended up not trying (yet) to even make the pattern. Hell, there are even people who try and say "You aren't allowed to make MY design with, say Red Heart Yarn."

Now this is interesting because, and here's where the "Open my big mouth" part comes in.

Copyright law actually protects the knitter of the END PRODUCT in this case. Not the designer. The designer is considered to have received fair compensation for the PRICE OF THE PATTERN. And the finished products made from it are the sole property of the person who created them, who then has the full, LEGAL right, to sell them.

This has been confirmed by several peoples lawyers and even a letter someone got from the Bureau for Copyrights, or whatever they're actually called. ((I'm tired and I don't care to check right now.)) Which makes the resulting arguments from the handful of grouchy designers actually sound somehow more childish, since they all complain that it's 'not right', or it doesn't 'feel right'. Or even 'It's not moral'. None of which actually has the slightest bearing on the current state of the law.

...It also doesn't cause any of the complainers to stop trying to sell their patterns online.

That's actually where it kinda makes me roll my eyes. If you actually feel that the law is HORRIBLY wronging you by allowing people to sell what they make based on something you received money for, then stop selling it. Fight it if you want but no one's yet won that fight apparently.

Apparently however it makes far more sense to sit on your butt, and scream how horribly unfair it is that the product you were paid for can legally make someone else a profit.

...Somehow that sounds like bitching that the apple you sold someone was sold in a pie, and goddamn it, where's your cut.

I can kinda almost hear the people who like to know they're protected by the current law retreating from ever buying anything from those designers. Oops. More profit loss. So sad.

Mini Monster pulled himself up and then let go of his handhold, entirely on his own. He only stood upright for a few seconds, turning to look over at his shoulder at us cost him his balance, but he was at least as excited as we were.

It. Was. AWESOME.

Happy October!

Well it's finally October, so now I can begin my countdown to Halloween. I promise I'll try and get some photos of myself and MiniMonster in our costumes.

I did, in fact, finish the sock, and there's only one slight problem with it. The problem being: It's so big I could probably fit both feet into it. Or at least one and a half feet. It fits Tilmani slightly better, so I might have just used yarn thats a bit too big for the pattern. I'll knit up the other one and he can have one seriously deranged pair of socks for the weekend, and/or for sleeping in. He joked that they could be his shield against my own 'Toes from the Crypt'. C_C

I'll try again to make some socks that are actually my size, but for now it's good to know that I can actually make them. Plus the pattern in the heel gave me a great idea what to do for a dressy shawl/wrap I want to make.

MiniMonster is still a little clingy, he's chowing down on some lunch right now. I gave him his yogurt and now he's trying some crunchier snacks to practice his nomming on.

I'm also seriously looking forward to the weekend, Tilmani and I will be trying to make an excursion to a yarn festival. *HEE*

I'm a little excited. Can ya tell?

More Sock Updates

I wish this picture hadn't come out blurry, because the expression is FANTASIC.
Mini Monster is actually on our 'hearth' ((the bricks are level with the floor)) where I caught him trying to break into my yarn stash again. Yesterday he was bound and determined he was going to break in and... well I don't know what his plans were after that because he couldn't get past the zipper on the bag. So he flipped over and used a pile of quilt blocks I'm someday going to make into something for him as a pillow while he goofed around.

Yeah quilting is one of those 'someday I'm going to' projects with an vague time line. Very very vague.

I also have, for those who requested it, more sock pictures! I successfully got the heel turned, even with picking up stitches to reconnect everything, which I admit is one of my least favorite parts of knitting. I'm pretty darn pleased with myself! The next big hurdle will be, I think, closing the toe, since one of the other things I have trouble with is the Kitchener Stitch, to make a seamless closed toe.


WISH ME LUCK.

Crazy Socks, Owls, and soforth

Mini Monster is down for a nap again so I'm sneaking in some knitting and blogging.
I've got Cake Boss playing in the background, since I'm a little weird like that I guess and I kinda like having the background noise.

I haven't gotten around to trying to turn the heel yet but I think the socks look ok... so far. I'm using a pattern from "Patons Next Steps Four: Socks and Slippers". (The basic sock in superfine) and some Serenity Garden Yarn "Deborah Norville Collection" in "Gems".

This is that totally crazy yarn I mentioned before, the one I thought was self striping but kinda alternates. It's crazy, but kinda fun, court is still kind of out I admit. Tilmani thinks they'll be fun, so cross your fingers. They'll certainly be comfortable!

I also bought some orange and green yarn (Cotton Classic) to make some 'pumpkin' socks. I'm going to do the top edge, the heel, and the toe in the green, and the rest in the warm pumpkin orange. Simple, but they should be entertaining and fun.

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I've heard a lot of debate about the Guardians of Gahool movie, and I gotta admit, the trailer is STUNNING, and I kinda want to see it. I never read the books but I remember hearing good things... but then again, I know how bad Hollywood can make a good thing. I mean look at 'The Postman'. Great book. Horrendous bastardization of a film.

Damn Zombies and Unqueivalent Exchange

So today was 'game' day. Turtle, Bear and... ok he doesn't have a nickname yet so we'll call him Luxord, because he looks kinda like Luxord from kingdom Hearts.


...No seriously he does. If he ever cosplayed he would get attacked by more obsessed Jailbait than he could shake a deck of card at.

...That's also probably why he doesn't cosplay. I don't think I would in his shoes.

Anyway it was game day, so we had another run of our Dungeons and Dragons game. We're a bit more adventure oriented than treasure oriented, even though the GM is having fun using an old set up from the very early run of the game, which was pretty much originally designed for dungeon crawling, and has turned it into a lot more stuff. Including a recent assassination attempt on the Castilian of the town, for reasons we don't yet understand, Necromancers, Wizards, Thieves, Dragons... and most of the group having their entire past sealed off for them, again for reasons we don't know, by an Wizard from a previous game we'd been part of. Somehow our sealed up memories have a lot to do with everything that's going on, but since all our attempts to unlock our memories have gone pretty badly, we're having to find any connections the long way.

My own character is also getting increasingly distressed, because he seems to have developed the uncanny knack for finding, and pissing off, anything in the area with necromantic powers. And one of them from the first few days of the game is back, by the looks of it, and he's probably still pretty mad about my Rogue turning his sentient-skeleton spouse ((He's an necromancer and a zombie, there's a fun combo for you.)) into a pile of bone chips.

We didn't catch the assassin, but we did find his hiding hole, and my rogue was happy enough to clean it out for him, especially of the bottles marked as antitdotes. We're not sure if one of them will cure the Castelian, but any shot at the moment is better than none. That and since I've taken all of the poison bottles he left behind, it might cramp his style for a while.

While we were doing this: MiniMonster got out for a short walk and enjoyed the fall weather, and got to show off his skeleton shirt, pumpkin hat and nice orange coat. The orange coat was actually a coincidence but it looks pretty darn cute with his pumpkin hat. I think I might have to make him a new one at some point. Once he came back we jokingly assigned him the role of being a Kobold, since they're small, prankish, and occasionally noisy, and he was pouncing away in his bouncer so hard it was hard to hear anything for a while.

I think he kind of got a kick out of that, or at least that everyone was sort of including him in the action, though he got impatient around his dinner time, understandably, and we broke things up on a break out of the Dungeon area in which we'd uncovered the assassin.

He did have a little bit of an upset after everyone left though, he crawled across the floor and jammed his fingers on, or under, part of his Bouncer and was very upset, though fortunately not seriously hurt. We then had a bit of a debate as to weather he was injured enough that it counted as a free pass to go after and play with the lap top, or if he was ok with cuddles, kisses, and some 'Hint' water in his bottle to cool his mouth (We think he's teething again) and his fingers.
He thought it was an equivalent exchange, I said it wasn't. I won, but not without an argument.

I also got a little knitting in. I'm trying to knit a sock using "Premier" yarns sock yarn in 'Gems'.
It's... knitting up very interesting. It started out looking like it was going to be self striping, then broke into a big band of jumbled colors, now seems to have gone back into something kind of like self striping. I'll take a picture tomorrow when the lighting is better.

We made Hungarian Goulash for the group, and that completely disappeared, which is a great sign of a successful dish. Apparently the Spice Cake I made for Tilmani and a potluck late last week also went over very well. It was Spice Cake with Cream Cheese frosting and homemade apple butter layered in the middle. Those who tried it said it came out great, which was a relief. It leaked apple butter overnight before it went in to work, and I was worried it wouldn't come out well, but all reports say otherwise. Nice to know something I made didn't turn out a disaster!

I have one last giggle for everyone before I stop writing for the night. Tilmani found this one and I had to laugh, even though i only saw the very tail end.
You'd have to be a little familiar with Pokemon to get part of it, but I've always noted that the game would be hugely different if the Pokemon, most of which wield some kind of elemental power, some of which are ridiculously HUGE (like Gyradros.) Were actually as dangerous as they really should be.



((I actually played a 'serious' version of pokemon as a RPG once. It was a ton of fun. My trainer actually only had one Pokemon, an Absol, which are a pokemon with an scythe like blade on their head and impressive claws. He also only had one hand, specifically BECAUSE of that Pokemon. It was actually an fun game while it lasted.

Ahhh. The Reminiscing of the Geeks.

Food Coma

I should probably switch to blogging in the evening, since apparently my pork loin plans didn't go quite... well. As planned.

I picked a different brand than last time, and it took longer to cook than the package indicated, and while it smelled good, it really didn't -taste- that good. The delicious smell pretty much stayed surface only, and the pork loin itself was sort of dry and overall, barely flavorful. The Apple-Bourbon one we had last time was about a hundred times better.

Tilmani made pancakes this morning though, to try and make the weekend get off to a good start since last night I ended up so frustrated at everything going wrong at the tail end of the day I ended up in kind of a funk-mood.

It seems to have worked. Mini Monster, who had a dash of apple-butter in his oatmeal (Homemade), and two pieces of plain pancake, is talking to his pacifier, and punching the buttons on an musical frog thing that was originally for his car seat, but never got hung. ((I rediscovered it under the laundry yesterday. It's kind of surreal when you put the laundry pile down on something and from somewhere in the depths you hear perky music, and slowly realize that in the pile of stuff that somehow never made it to the closet, is a musical gizmo.

The pancakes were delicious. :3

I'm also watching Tilmani play "Resonance of Fate". It's a little hard to figure out at first what the story is, so I actually cheated and read the Wiki, but it's a pretty cool game. Sort of steam punk and with some pretty funny dialogue. Vashyron and Leanne are my favorite out of the three protagonists. It is a shooter game though, so that might put some people off, though most of what's getting blown up are mutants and machines.

Might write some more later. My half finished cup of coffee is calling.

Dig it.

So it's apparently a big day for construction.

The guys showed up to start working on the chimney this morning, I can hear them around the back of the house thumping around as they work. Good deal, we need to get that fixed to make sure we don't have problems down the road if we use that chimney. Chimney fires are not your friend and all that, and that thing clearly had some alarming issues. When everything's over, they'll be gone.

We also picked the color for the roof shingles, we'll be getting a nice warm brown one that'll look really nice, though that's not yet underway.

There are also apparently some guys from the town working on the road again. Last time they came through they dug huge holes in the road and pulled up rocks bigger than the mini monster, filled them in, and drove away again. Until today.

They've come back, dug everything up, including these big trenches across the road that drive everyone crazy, only this time they haven't fully filled things in so the rock holes and the trenches are all notable, tire munching dips in the road. I'm not -exactly- sure what they think they're doing, and they certainly haven't explained themselves, but if they don't come back and fill them in again, I'll send Tilmani a note to make sure he knows about the holes before he comes home.

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Knitting: Still slooowwly trucking on the Christmas Stocking. I've lost my groove a bit so I haven't gotten as much done, but I'll have to see if I can pick it up again and finish. I hate loosing my groove in the middle of a project, but I guess it happens to the best of us.

Cooking wise: Well I made, and seriously over-spiced meatloaf last night. *ugh* Rookie Mistake. So tonight I'm going to go a little simpler and make a marinated pork loin I got at the supermarket. Tomato Basil marinade, it sounds good anyway. I think I'll make some roasted potatoes or something to go with it. It can't all be Goulash and Baked Potato Soup, but it'll be tasty anyway.

My email inbox was also the recipient of an interesting, and kind of weird sounding recipe for "Curried Apple Soup". It seems simple enough, I just can't quite get my head around weather or not it would be good. It did make me laugh though. Most of my life I've pretty much hated soup and chili.

What are my current favorites in the household menu? Soups and Chili.

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Monster Wise: He's doing good. He didn't sleep so well last night but he's catching up this morning, and after he did finally get to sleep last night he woke up in a fantastic and very social mood this morning. He was all smiles, giggles and big hugs. He's really getting into the idea of hugs, though big ol' sloppy Monster kisses are still uncommon enough to be a little thrilling.

He's also the subject of an interesting debate, since something Grandma S. found online clashes with my baby book. ((Regarding weather or not kids his age could/should have whole grain bread.))

Her article says no, but my baby book, and my good friend who actually made a point of studying children and their growth, say yes, they're just fine with Whole Grains, and if they weren't, hundreds of generations of kids would have had some big demonstrable digestive problems because White Bread, which Grandma S. says is the only kind he should have, is a rather recent invention. Anyway I haven't seen the slightest problem from Monster sampling some thin strips of Whole Grain, in fact he thinks it's marvelous. It's also a seriously interesting result if he sneezes. ((Have I mentioned he also is still getting over a cold?))

It did raise an interesting point of discussion though, that it can be hard to track down when something on the web was actually published, and it's also a great point as to why you should double check any sources on the web. I know the currency of the information in my baby book, since the contents are updated and checked with the edition, and I also have a second backup source. The online article is from an unverified source, with no quoted reference material and unknown qualifications from the person actually citing that opinion. It also goes against generations of babies gone before.

Of course then again, not too long ago, all things considered, people were proclaiming that cigarettes were good for your heath and were soothing for coughs.

Common Sense seems to be pretty flexible on some fronts.

Purple Panda

Finished the Purple Panda I was knitting ((A Fuzzy Mitten pattern)). It's my first actually commissioned knit, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Since it was for a baby shower and therefore obviously for a very SMALL recipient, it had to have yarn only detailing, and I used mostly "Moon and Stars" yarn.

Red Heart yarn tends to come with a hefty bad rap, it's super saver yarn is unpleasant to the touch, though is, by all reports, very sturdy and softens up eventually, and most of it's available colors are stark and a bit gawdy, especially once you've become a bit spoiled by the affordable luxury yarns of KnitPix or the fantastic arrays many Local Yarn Stores carry.

For Kids toys though it's hard to beat Moon and Stars for quick and plushy soft, and importantly, very washable and not that pricey.

Mini Monster absolutely loved the feel of it, and when we let him handle the partially finished Panda, it was a small battle to get it back again. As you can see in the photos, I replaced the original head design with the Intarsia version provided by the lovely FuzzyMitten blog. It came out much much better, and I'm going to be much happier making a couple others, including one for Mini Himself.

He got to see both Grandmothers again today, Grandma S and Auntie Roo came by to drop off stuff, including the footie-PJ's that Grandma S got for him. The most amusing of the set was a gray pair with earth moving equipment stitched on the front. I joked that it was cement colored to keep him in one place at night. ((he was unimpressed by the joke.))

Nana J also came by, while we were waiting for Grandma S and Roo. Her's was an unexpected drop by, but it did let me send off Purple Panda and his care card. ((I included washing instructions as well as what he was made of, and a mention of where the design came from.))

Gloom, Gray and Grump.

If you ever want to feel the sensation that your skills have been devalued with a single comment, ask an mother of several kids their advice on your own kid. Not only will they give you ten times more advice than you actually wanted, but they'll make you feel like a bad mom while you do it.

What do you mean you aren't stewing and smushing all of your own fruit and steaming your own veggies? How could you POSSIBLY consider giving them something pre-prepared from a jar, regardless of the ingredient list! You should be eating only microwave tv-meals, and spending all your time and energy preparing an illustrious list of the most exclusive ingredients for your tot. After all, the floor and cabinets will appreciate the increased quality of everything they get smeared with.

While I can definitely see the value of prepare your own stuff, for someone who's only really broken away from using the microwave (at all) around a year ago, the idea of constantly being at the stove for ANY reason is, quite frankly, daunting. And goddamn it, after spending all day working, my husband and I deserve a good home cooked meal just as much as the Mini monster does. It's not my fault we can't eat all the same dishes yet, and it's not his either.

My husband especially works some pretty insane hours, and he definitely deserves to get something that didn't come out of a take out box once in a while, which is why I made us Soup last night instead of juggling soup and trying to cook rice and beans, in which case I definitely would have burned something. Mini was just fine with his jarred sweet potatoes and cereal.

That being said I did make my first attempt to Stew some fruit today. I chopped up a peach and a nectarine into tiny chunks and cooked them on the stove, after first starting the wrong burner. ((I'm a genius when I'm sick.))

Mini definietly didn't want to wait, so he had his normal favorite, Yogurt. ((I'm also gonna try and mix some of the stewed fruit, blended, with plain yogurt.))

I guess I'm just being tired and pissy because I know Mini Monster is a really happy, healthy baby, but I'm out there working under the knowledge that no matter what, someone's not going to be happy. There are people who won't like me because I'm a stay at home mom, there are people who won't like me for using formula, for using disposable diapers, you name it. Someone out there WON'T like me for it.

But I don't, really don't think any of it makes me a bad mom because I've got damn good reasons for all of it. ((And if you are one of those people who starts screaming that I shouldn't use formula because it's somehow evil, come visit. I'll bop you upside the head a few times with a bottle of Simulac while I explain my choices.))

Weather wise it's sorta gray and blah, mixed with bursts of sunshine. Could be better, could be worse. Definitely starting to really 'feel' like fall though. I'm looking forward to taking a weekend and getting a pumpkin (or two) to decorate the steps/lawn. It'll also be an enlightening experience to see if it survives. I don't know the pumpkin survival rating for this neighborhood.

Baby it's Cold Inside: pt 2

Well it was actually fairly chilly indoors last night, more so if you're eight months old and have a mile wide stubborn streak, and a tendency to go wandering out from under your blankets the second Mommy and Daddy aren't looking, so the two champions of sniffles ((Me and Mini Monster)) ended up snuggled up together for the night, because that's the only way he stays under the blankets.

I could have lived without the ice cold fingers grabbing my nose and lips... or the ice cold feet jammed into my chest area, seeking warmth. ((He has Mommy's tendency to shed heat from his hands and feet, even when he's bundled up in his fluffy warm footies, he's been known to make Tilmani fly into the air by wrapping chilly little fingers around his toes.))

Anyway it worked out fairly well, he got bored investigating my nose eventually and went to sleep, and everyone was warmer and happier for it. We conceded to cranking up the heat a bit this morning.

It was however awesome weather to be trying out some nice rich soups though, so yesterday, well before Mini demonstrated that he had inherited Mom's "Toes from The Crypt", we made Hungarian Goulash Soup.

I found the recipe in this months "Taste of Home" magazine, and decided to try it. I don't have a subscription to the magazine, but I got their fall baking collection and there was pretty much nothing in there that we -wouldn't- try, so I figured it was a safe gamble.

The soup collection wasn't quite as much of a bonanza but we found five our six recipes we think we'd like to try, and to be adventuresome, we went with the Goulash first.

Aside from me accidentally blackening the bacon, ((I replaced it)) it came out pretty damn good! Next time I'll actually let the potatoes cook a little longer than recommended, because they weren't tenderized to our taste in the recommended time, but otherwise I had no complaints at all, not even about the green peppers, and, well. I'm not exactly first in line as a Green Pepper supporter.

Otherwise Mini's Christmas Stocking is going fine, although it's been put on hold temporarily to make a Panda for a Baby Shower gift. Unfortunately I didn't have the copy with the Intarsia face, so I stitched it from yarn instead. I'll get the Intarsia version ASAP though I think. Having the extra layer of knitting makes the poor panda's face look slightly... alien. I would have gone with the recommended felt, but it's for a newborn, and I wanted to make sure it was good and solid.

Baby it's Cold Inside

So Cold season has hit the household. MiniMonster came down with a cold, complete with stuffy/drippy nose, cough, and general grumpies, though he's on the mend now, and is back to his cheerful nut ball self. I'm coming down with the damn cold in the mean time, so as of yesterday, the scratchy throat and stuffy nose hit. It didn't make for a very fun night, and I still feel pretty ick.

Fortunately Tilmani hasn't caught it yet, but it could yet happen, and wouldn't entirely surprise me if it did.