Two Black Sheep

The Mall and Misery

The thing about birthdays is that they come around every year (usually, at least). Since the last post, there have been four . . . four . . . in that time span. Gus turned five on the 8th, Betty and Veronica turned 19 on the 15th, and SK turned another year older today (truthfully, he turned 35). And the thing about birthdays and blogs is that once you've extolled the virtues of the person in question, you've pretty much said it all. That being said, I'm pretty sure that everyone had a happy birthday although I wasn't with any of them when they celebrated it.

This is the first year that the Girls and I have been apart for their big day. Sure I posted birthday wishes on Veronica's Facebook wall and texted them much love and affection, but it's just kind of weird celebrating without them. I did, however, use their birthday as a chance to grab a burrito at Moe's and some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins afterward. For some reason, I wanted Chocolate Mousse and World Class Chocolate on the day of their birth, and the Flyer was a very obliging husband-to-be at that point and trudged off to B-R to grab me two scoops before he went to work. Six hours later, the Girls made their debut. For the record, he suggested Baskin-Robbins on their birthday . . . but I happily went along for the ride.

Since we weren't with the girls for their actual birthday, we celebrated a week early in Philadelphia. Prior to them attending Temple, Philly was the forgotten city for me. I went there rarely, cursed every minute of the travel, and couldn't figure out what all the hub-bub was about. In November 2008, my girlfriend Mary and I saw Kings of Leon at the Electric Factory, and she made it her goal to make me love the city. I'll have to admit, the flirtation with the City of Brotherly Love might have begun that evening. Of course, with all things romantic, it could have been the alcohol. I texted her last weekend and told her that I was giving the Flyer the abbreviated Mary tour of Old City. We walked a fair bit (translation: a lot) and then popped in to Triumph for dinner and drinks, but the Girls and their sweeties met us later that night at the Franklin Fountain for ice cream.

The next morning, we checked out early and walked and walked and walked. The nice part about where we were was even with lots of walking, you never really felt tired. So, one water bottle, two pairs of Toms, an Etsy shirt, some Starbucks cards, and cash for a new tattoo later, the girls went on their merry little way to their first birthday without us. Lucky for them, their friends thought of cupcakes . . . and I got my World Class Chocolate. 

The knitting is slow going. Whereas Mabel started out like gang busters, I've started up an affair with the treadmill . . . so far, it's been fairly discrete, but I sense things getting more serious in the next few days. Don't worry, Knitting, I'll be back in no time.

Ava, who's pretty sure she has a sister out there

Here Comes the Hotstepper

Happy Easter (maybe a day late) . . . holidays are different when you don't have kids in the house. There was no dying of the hard boiled eggs, no buying of the Easter candy, no attempting to make everyone happy with the Easter dinner but pleasing no one. Actually, it was kind of like any other Sunday for us, except that we celebrated with an all day Law and Order: UK marathon. By the end, I actually did believe that Jamie Bamber was a Brit after all. Amazing.

At least while I was off I got to knit on the February Lady Sweater, which I will now refer to by its new and improved name: Mabel. For some reason, I just don't want to call it by FLS possibly for fear of jinxing myself. So Mabel she is, and truly, I have no idea where the name came from . . . it just strikes me as a Mabel. I think I have about eight more inches of the body to go and then just the sleeves. It's coming along quite nicely, and the rhythm of the Gull Stitch comes back relatively quickly. Probably helps that I have a student teacher right now (and that I have a ton of television series on DVD to watch). I'm hoping . . . hoping  . . . that it will be done by the end of April. The shop is having a WIP-a-thon, but I'm not sure that I'm going to participate. Trust me, it's not that I don't have any WIPs (au contraire) but I really want to concentrate on getting a sweater done for a fall class . . . and I know my limits.

The sock I finished was started when I got my sweet peas tattooed this summer. It languished, as socks so often do, and needed only a few more round until it was finished. When I started this pair, I know that I intended to knit the left one spiraling one way and the right one spiraling the opposite. I think that if I reverse the position of the decrease and the way that I knit the decrease I should get the desired effect . . . but will I? For this one, I knit until the decrease, did a yarn over, and then knit two together. So, if I knit until the decrease, knit two together through the back loops (because I am lazy . . . sue me), and then the yarn over, I am thinking it will work. Famous last words?

Enjoy this beautiful weather . . . our state standardized tests begin this week . . . joy.

Ava

PS - The girls will be 19 in ten days . . . huh. We'll be celebrating  a week early next weekend in Philly with a big dinner . . . which should be fun.

Two Birds On a Wire

The girls leave for Temple tomorrow . . . no photos, no words . . . just a knot in my throat trying to keep the tears jammed down just a little bit further.

Ava

Wicker Chair

Ummm . . . so, a few weeks have passed and the girls and I went home to Ohio and I never mentioned it. I guess when you realize that your kids leave for college in two weeks (yup, 14 days from today), the blog kind of takes a back seat. Here are some high-lights from the trip home:

• family reunions will inevitably occur on the hottest day of the summer in a building with no air conditioning. Corona will be used in place of water since the family forgot to pack water;
• all little boys are obsessed with cars around the age of 18-months. No matter how many times one is seen, each car is identified with a point and the question, "Car?";
• who knew such a beautiful park existed in Wheeling, West Virginia? Oglebay was amazing;
• only two skeins of yarn can be purchased during a trip. It takes some doing, but it is completely possible to spend less than $25 on yarn;
• the Ohio State Fair is a pretty big deal. Nothing makes a bunny lover happier than seeing bunny after bunny after bunny. Nothing amuses me more than seeing my sister push a stroller through a pile of cow poo (until I remember that the stroller is going in my car);
• mothers embellish (deal with it);
• dinners with an old friend should occur more often than once every ten years. It makes catching up a bit easier;
• the end of the Asian Expedition a the Columbus Zoo will reduce a 4-year-old to tears every single time. Next year it will reduce a 5-year-old to tears . . . I think it's because he doesn't get to pet the tiger;
• Ohio really does have the best ice cream in the world;
• being away from the political "issues" for almost two weeks takes a while to catch up (and makes for a lot of head scratching);
• two weeks is a long time to be away from your bed (and the person who sleeps in it . . . especially when you leave on your 18th wedding anniversary - love you, honey); and
• it's never a good idea to listen to sentimental music while driving eight hours when your mind is clearly two weeks in the future.

The knitting has kind of slowed for the time being. I'm in the process of knitting a Fair Isle stocking for a class at the shop. It's all sorts of fun (using the colors from my Great American Afghan), but I left it at here when I went to Ohio. The Cable Sampler Scarf is almost done (yippee!), and I think I have about two more inches on the Barfly Pullover before I begin 7 inches of mistake rib stitch (oh, joy! oh, loveliness! oh, open a bottle of riesling).

I'll try to get a shot of the pullover (as boring as it is) and the scarf (when it is done) in the next few days. I'm sure that we will be hitting Target and Walmart with school shopping, so I am not sure how much time knitting will receive for the next few weeks.

Ava (who starts back to school in two weeks as well)

Send Me On My Way

Official High School Graduates

Considering that I spent most of the weekend in fear of the weatherman and his "lovely" predictions, graduation went off pretty well for the most part. No torrential downpour during the ceremony, no real outbursts or family issues, no drama . . . just fun and moderately nice weather (which is always a bonus in our non-air conditioned house). Many thanks to everyone in the family for coming out but especially to my friend L for offering to have the graduation party at her house. She honestly will never know how easy it made my weekend (think full blown panic attack, otherwise). Consequently, I am three repeats in on her thank-you socks . . . and still typing that word wrong.

Caps and Silly String Flying High

On more interesting news, the Flyer and I took Lola, SK, and the Other Sister to the casino (and won $108 on the slots) after graduation and maybe it was happiness and joy (and lots of lager), but Lola and I told our sister about the blog . . . and felt like total idiots. In true Black Sheep fashion, we let her pick her name; from now on, we will refer to her as Daphne . . . maybe we'll get her to knit. I have a feeling that's not likely, though.

It's Official . . . Daphne Blacksheep

Three more days of school before we can put an end to this school year and begin planning anew.

Ava

PS - "Send Me On My Way" was the girls' class song . . . and I couldn't think of a better one!

Thank You

Thirteen years ago, they walked through the doors of Ramsey, holding hands and wearing matching outfits. I was officially a mess, a blubbering idiot who didn't even realize that someone from church said hello to both me and the girls.

Last full day of school for Betty and Veronica

Friday night they will walk across the stage, independently but wearing matching outfits. I will still officially be a mess but not quite so blubbering.Congrats to the class of 2009 . . . especially the ones I love the best.

Ava

PS - Blog silence brought to you courtesy of the family . . . shhhh!

Boom

One of these days, I'll dig out my old prom photos and do a comparison. Some how, I just don't think there will be one. They looked gorgeous, their dates clean up well, and that is that. Have fun, my lovelies! Graduation is just around the corner . . . that, and knitting content.

PS - For some reason, this reminds me of a knitting pattern . . . wonder which one it is?

Ooh La La

Dear Lotion Brain and Syrup Head -

Today marks the day that I become legally unnecessary: you are 18. You don't need me to go to the doctor's office or sign a form to add another hole or permanent design to your body. You can walk into any mini-mart and order a pack of cigarettes and a lottery ticket because you have reached that magic age of Adulthood. You can vote, serve in the Armed Forces, serve alcohol in some places, and even walk into an adult book store and have a look around (mind you, I wouldn't recommend doing that without moral support). Hell, you can even get married now (thank you, Lola . . . whatever would I do without you?) if you feel like it, but that would bring about a whole myriad of complications: no health care, no tuition, no dependency status with all its benefits. As adults, you are 100% responsible for your actions . . . and yet, you will always be the two little lovelies who turned my world upside down and put it right side up again. Who knows where I would be without you? One thing is for sure - my life is better for having you in it.

Eighteen years ago, I was petrified. I was convinced I would break you or not be a good mom or do something that would cause us all harm. Would you eat enough? Would your dad and I make it past the "sell-by" date that others had given us? Would you sleep? Would you meet the benchmarks on time? Would we have a place to live? Those questions all have answers, but fast forward 18 years, and I am still petrified. Will you eat enough next year? Will you get enough sleep? Will you like what you are doing? Will your dad and I survive without you? The answer to all of those questions is: I don't know . . . and that scares the shit out of me. My one lingering hope is that we gave you the tools to make your own decisions and the convictions to stand behind them.

So that's it . . . no real words of wisdom, no pearls to tuck away for a rainy day, no snappy sayings to pull out at the right moment. Just hope. Hope for a bright future, filled with love and happiness. It's a pretty powerful emotion if you let it in your life. After all, I hoped I made the right decision in August of 1990, and that was confirmed 18 years ago today at 10:28 and 10:29 PM. Happy birthday, Jordan and Shelby!

All my love,
Mom

PS - At least go buy that lottery ticket . . . it might be your lucky day! Save the tattoo and the lip piercings for later.

I Do Not Hook Up

What? Two posts in one day? Am I taking crazy pills? Little does Lola know that I originally had the previous post titled "If You Seek Amy" AND that it is a top selling video on iTunes right now . . . just saying that sometimes we are a little too connected in the bizarre love of Ms. Spears.

So ten days ago, what I meant to type was, "I'll post some FO shots of Betty's sweater in ten days." Exactly what I meant to say . . . ten days. Personally, I blame our state assessments, which I loathe. I understand why the kids take them (I really do), but they are a snapshot of that day, not the overall picture of that kid. No where on the form is there a bubble for, "Used a box of tissue due to a sinus infection," or "Took the assessment with the flu and left one minute after was finished," or "Is not taking this seriously by any means," or "Reads four grade levels below this assessment and has been instructed at that level all year," or "Made pretty pictures with the bubbles." And, I jump off my soap box to bring you the skinny on Betty's sweater.

There were no real modifications for this one except for the knitter's ineptness with reading directions. I misread the directions on the back decreases and began decreasing way too rapidly. Luckily, I caught it early, and after running it past Tricia, we decided that it really wouldn't matter. Personally, I'm fairly happy with the results, but it is a smidge too big on Betty. Granted it hasn't been blocked yet, so I am hoping that I can pull the hell out of it length wise and take up some of the slack. For now, it will work. I'm knitting like a fiend to finish Veronica's cardi as well as a pair of socks (which I should be knitting at this very moment). Hopefully I can get them done - or close to it - this weekend.

Last night, during the Randy Travis inspired country night on American Idol, I called Lola no less than four times. Each time, we used speaker phone because it was just easier to do it that way rather than relay everything. Unfortunately, I forgot that Veronica's boyfriend was sitting on the couch with us and he had never met Lola. You see where this is going, correct? Sadly, no one sang "Fancy" (or maybe that was a good thing) or "9 To 5" or "Coal Miner's Daughter" . . . but what was up with Adam's performance of "Ring of Fire"? That. Was. Dreadful. Full stop. I wanted to reach through the television and shove the microphone down his throat. The biggest question, though, was why was everyone covering Carrie Underwood songs? Was there some sort of contractual obligation? I would love for someone to cover the title of this post a) because it rocks and b) since Kara co-wrote it . . . what would she have to say?

Our mom is in Nebraska visiting the Other Sister but more importantly to celebrate Beaner's 5th birthday. It's hard to believe that the little spit-fire is five years old . . . perhaps she needs a new sweater?

A

Barfly

I'll add some knitting content later today as Betty's sweater if finished . . . but last night's Saturday Night Live was actually quite good. For Betty, Veronica, and me, this was the stand-out skit. We were in tears, and I was on the verge of hyper-ventilating. Enjoy!