I’m Beautiful Like Me.

Today was a really nice day. After waking up rather late (1pm-ish) and having breakfast with Husband and Buddha, we packed up, told a sleeping T we were leaving and went out for a bit.

We went by the aforementioned house again, this time stopped and peeked into windows. The neighborhood is still not great, and while the house has major potential, it would require way more work than I am willing to put into it right now. Husband is more in love with it now than he was before. Frankly, I just want a house I can move into, not one that needs that much work before it becomes livable! Turns out the house next to it is also for sale. It’s a bit smaller (still 2200 feet!) for the same price, but it’s clean, painted, has new carpet and is ready to move in. Meh. I’m interested in looking around more. A lot more.

We then drove into the Highlands and hit the Knit Nook. It was textile heaven. I want to break in, throw all the yarn on the floor and roll around in it! I purchased a small bit of yarn, my first skein of wool, a bamboo crochet hook (size F) and my first pair of knitting needles. The skein of wool is for the needles. Tonya (the girl at Knit Nook) suggested a large pair (I got the 10.5) and the wool because it is chunky and only 1 ply. I could spend a large fortune there, but I restrained myself.

Then we went to Heine Bros. for a mocha latte and chilled out front for a long bit. I was sorry for not bringing my camera. I bought Buddha a Kizito chocolate chip cookie, which he promptly fed to the sparrows. I reminisced while Husband browsed cameras for T on ebay (he brought his laptop).

On our way home, we stopped at the grocery to get stuffs to make wraps for dinner. When we got home, we found everything very, very clean. Thanks, T! She helped construct wraps and the four of us ate. I called Joy and chatted with her for a bit. They were headed out to Busch Gardens, so we kept our call short.

Later, I went and hid in the bedroom with a book from the library, my skein of wool and the new knitting needles. In the span of 45 minutes, I managed to cast on about 4 times and to do the knit stitch! I am *so* proud of myself!

Casting on

Knitting! I am knitting!!!

We woke up late.

T was in the shower. I just lectured her on Friday about half-hour showers every morning. It’s been weeks since I chewed her out for leaving hairballs in the shower drain. Slightly irritating way to start the day when you really wanted a bath before leaving.

So we waited for more hot water. It wasn’t terribly long, but I wish I had gotten my ass in gear earlier so we coulda hung out with P, her husband and their girls longer this afternoon.

We got there about 2pm. We alternated hanging out in the back yard and in the kitchen, sipping beer while we prepared homemade salsa and setting all the goodies out. P’s hubby grilled dogs, brats, burgers, steaks, chicken and ribs. We ate chips and salsa, potato salad, beans, the whole nine. P and I even managed to steal a few smokes away from the bunch so we could just chill and chat. It’s hot out there, but I had a great time kickin’ it with them.

Buddha was very sweet, but his usual curious self. He didn’t eat much. I think he must be teething again. I spotted another molar coming in on the top left. Last night was another test of my patience getting him to sleep. He gets to this icky point of being completely inconsolable. He doesn’t want to nurse, he doesn’t want to snuggle, he doesn’t want me to put him down, he doesn’t want me to hold him, he just screams and screams. This is the third time he’s gotten like this and it leaves me feeling completely helpless.

T is staying at P’s tonight to watch the girls so P and her man can hit up the movies. After we had been home awhile, I helped myself to the leftovers that P packed up for me to bring home and the boy helped me eat that. He nursed for a bit, too. Later, we shared an ice cream bar. It’s the funniest thing, watching him try to figure out how to lick the ice cream. We’re going to scrub down in the tub shortly to wash off the sunscreen, bug spray, food and dirt and hopefully go to sleep without incidence tonight.

It’s been a good bit since I’ve had an evening to myself at home. I’ve watched just about all of my DVR’d shows and Sunday night television isn’t my favorite. I think I have a few movies I still haven’t seen yet, though. I’m going to continue working on crocheting the Circles to Square blanket for my mom’s birthday. It’s still going pretty slowly, because it’s so hard to get any work done when Buddha is awake. He gets into my yarn, tries to steal my hook and climbs all over me, making it next to impossible to get very far.

Husband is likely going to have a late night tonight. At least we got to spend some time together this afternoon before work, though. It’s nice to see him hanging out with P’s husband, since he gets so very little time to socialize with others. And he’s off the next 2 days, so we’ll get plenty of time to hang out then. Better get it while I can - school in back in session for him today.

It’s the Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day to those of you celebrating the holiday today!

I’m ambivalent about the day. I love the food, but hate the fireworks.

Dinner was great. I bought a 5 quart Teflon skillet and made home fries for the first time in ages. We also had Sloppy Joes and greens. We sat together at the dinner table and stuffed ourselves. But the neighbors are stinking up the place with their incessant firecrackers and making me jumpy. I’m not a jumpy person, dammit. I hate twitching with every pop, boom, crack, bang, pow.

I want to go out. There’s so much going on in the city today! Weird Al is performing right down the street from me at the Iroquois Amphitheater. And it gets better - yes, better! George Clinton and the P-Funk All*Stars are playing the Louisville Waterfront, absolutely free! I really, really want to go. Alas, I have no way down there (insert sobbing smiley here, please). I tried to convince Husband to stay home tonight so we could attend, but he is being infuriatingly sensible. P is hanging out with her sister and their girls this evening. I even tried calling my mom to see if I might borrow her Jeep so I could go, but she doesn’t answer. Curses!

There’s beer in the fridge, though and it’s my new favorite - Blue Moon’s seasonal beer Honey Moon. I stayed up way too late again last night, sipping 3 of those delish brews and hanging out with Husband. I’m pretty exhausted from lack of sleep. Plus, I went shopping for a bit, cooked dinner and played a ton with the boy. I even chatted with Joy for a bit. She complained about boredom but then said she was going to Busch Gardens today. That kid, I tell ya, she expects to be entertained 24/7.

I bought some new clothes for myself while shopping today. I got a pretty good deal, too. I bought 5 summery shirts and a pair of shorts and spent a whopping $40. I still haven’t gotten around to trying them on yet, though, ’cause I’m so tired and started dinner as soon as we got back. It gets damn hot in that kitchen quick!

I’ve still got a ton of shows on the DVR and I wanna watch Vantage Point. And I’ve got tons of crocheting left to do. I’ve only made 6 of the 16 small squares and none of the other size squares! Mom’s birthday is only in a few days, so I suppose her gift will be late. It took me forever to decide on a color pattern and finally decided to use two color patterns. Here’s what I have so far:

I spend most of my time inside our tiny apartment. There are a couple of reasons for that: we only have one very small vehicle, I hate traffic and well, I don’t really have anywhere to go. But after not having gone out for quite some time, I was ready to get out of the house today.

My 16 year old niece was supposed to come to our place for a few nights. She was supposed to come over yesterday, but my brother waited until after Husband left with the truck before telling me that he was having car problems (despite the fact that he knew well ahead of then). So, we were going to drive over to his place to pick her up today. But again, they didn’t have their shit together. After much frustration, I finally decided to just go do what I wanted to go do without her and pick her up afterwards.

P called and we planned to meet up later to go to Louisville’s Waterfront Park after she got off from work. But first, we went to Bernheim Forest. I have been itching to get out there for some time now.

I absolutely adore this park. In the past when I have went, we typically drove all the way into the back and spent our time hiking the trails. Now, I have wandered the very front before, but not much. In any case, it’s very interesting and it’s what we did today. The paths are paved and all the trees, bushes, flowers and plants are all marked stating what they are. The place is huge and extremely well-maintained. I took over a hundred photos! Here are my favorites:

And now some photos featuring my favorite people!

This week on July 2, Slugger Field is hosting Stitch ‘n Pitch, a way to bring together two great American traditions, baseball and needle arts.

While there were some aggrevations today, we got out there and enjoyed the beautiful weather and had a great time. I’m sorry that my niece didn’t join us, but there is (hopefully) always next time.

Also, while I am here, let me update on xSO. He had sentencing today. He received 18 months probation and some community hours (don’t remember how many). He’s still in jail, on hold for transfer to the neighboring county. The court date there is currently set for the 7th of July, but it’s unlikely he’ll be transfered so quickly. We don’t believe he’ll be out of jail before Joy comes home. They have been able to visit a few more times, as well and she will likely get to visit with him several times per week, at least until he transfers. I spoke with her today and she sounds well, although a bit tired. It’s good for her to be with that side of the family - it’s larger than my side so there is more for her to do and more people to entertain her.

But I miss her.

I have been itching to get out to Otter Creek since before we returned to Kentucky to live. It wasn’t possible to make it there when we came for our visit in June of 2006 (not enough time) and when we first moved here, money was really tight, so that kept us from going. Then, by the time Spring rolled around, we had a new baby. Then we moved and well, it just never happened.

So the last few days I have been feeling pretty down in the dumps and decided that I’m just going to pack up the kids and go. Husband surprised me by saying that he wanted to come along, too. I’m glad for it. It was good for us. It was good for my soul.

Some shots of the creek.

We left much later than planned, but the drive was shorter than I anticipated. Good thing too, how we were all mushed into the truck. In any case, we unpacked our stuff and set up a spot by a picnic table. It was fairly quiet out there on a Wednesday morning. We braved the cold creek for a bit, taking the baby, who was both intrigued and afraid. He lost his inhibitions after a bit and enjoyed himself throwing rocks. As we were entering the creek from the bank, there was a spectacular swirl of butterflies fluttering about. The girl even managed to catch one! The current rushing over the rocks was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was too cold for me to thoroughly enjoy, however, and I vow to revisit in August when it simply must be warmer.

As we were setting up and getting ready to head to the creek, Buddha decides he doesn’t care for the sand on his toes.

Joy.

T sunbathing.The boy loved throwing rocks and watching them ker-plunk!Joy in the creek.

She’s a mermaid!

Husband and I.

Then Husband and I packed in the boy and took off hiking, leaving the girls at the creek per their request. It was invigorating to hike. Also a bit disencouraging, as the realization set in that I am completely out of shape. I plodded on faithfully though and made a conscious decision to dedicate more of my free time doing things of this very nature for both my physical health as well as my mental health.

It was peaceful and beautiful. I quickly found my knack for spotting things again. We saw fish swimming in the creek, a toad, a caterpillar, poked interest at a red cedar… I reminisced about previous occasions that I hiked these trails to Husband and how much I missed Furthur Dog as she had always accompanied me. I went on to say that we had always listened for but never saw woodland creatures because her presence had likely scared them away. At that very moment, I looked off to my right and spotted a large and majestic doe! Of course, my movement frightened her away, but it was magikal all the same.

We made our way back after about 30 minutes of walking and packed up to head home. We stopped off for a bite to eat at A&W. It was delicious, but pricey for fast food. When we arrived home, Husband conked out for a bit. I made him lunch for work and then conked out myself.

Ahhhh, today was a good day.