Gimmesanity

This morning, we took our PT test. As I stretched and prepared to run my 1.5 miles, I thought to myself: “If I can’t be with my Bean for her birthday, I’m going to make sure that I put everything I can into each and every day here. I have to make this worth the sacrifice.”

As I ran, I asked myself, “Why am I here?”
“For my family.”
“Why are you here?”
“For my family.”
“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”
“FOR MY FAMILY!!!”

I shaved a whole minute off my run, and got a 99.25 on my test.

That was for you.

Happy birthday, beautiful Bean.
Mommy loves you.
Everything I do, I do for all of you.

We got home this past Friday. Oy, it was a rough flight, time-wise. We arrived at 2:30 in the morning. Thankfully, Bean was a total angel on the flight. I told Alan that he owes her a shiny new Camaro when she turns 16. We’ve spent the weekend keeping busy, trying to find the pattern to our lives again.

On Saturday, Mami and I took the girls to the zoo for the local fleece festival.
Monkey got to try out some weaving. I want a loom so badly. But, I’ve been restraining myself. Maybe I can try to be good and hope that Santa brings me one…

Sunday was my birfday.
Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes. I chillaxed with my mom, hung out at her place and napped with Bean in the afternoon, then we had dinner, cake, and, of course, wine.

On Sunday, I also managed to head out and find buttons for a little sweater that I finished while in Colombia. It was my mindless go-to project when I needed a way to release some anxious energy. This little sweater knitted up quickly and with few problems.

I couldn’t find any buttons that I actually liked, though. Maybe it was all that yellow - cuz, this sweater is totally “OHAI, I AM YELLOW!” when you see it in person. So, I decided that the best (and easiest) thing would be to mix up the buttons a bit to add some more color.

I think it worked.

I like it. a lot.

Deets:
Pattern: Riverstone
Yarn: The Fibre Company Savannah DK Organic in Marigold, 2 skeins exactly. I had lint leftover, that’s about it.
Needles: US5
Rav’d

Mods: I worked the sleeves in the round, worked the yoke flat, then went back to working in the round for other sleeve.
My gauge was way off, so I used the pattern as a recipe and just measured and tried it on Bean as I went along. If I was to make this again, I’d make the neck not as wide. I know babies have huge noggins, but, dang, they don’t need that much space. I sewed up one side of the neck and put a button on the other side.

This was my first time working with this yarn, and, OMG, I wanna eat it. It washes up so nicely and gets soft and delicious. I’m totally going to make myself something out of this stuff.

One last picture of the Bean just because she’s so darn cute.

Bean approves of her new sweater.

There are days when I find myself slipping into an anxious fog. Days when I start to think about all the ways that life can be so difficult. I focus on the things that go wrong, the things that are out of my control.

Then, I empty out my camera and find gems like these:

Suddenly, things are actually pretty damn good over here.

It started with a quiet breakfast, just me and my thoughts as the Bean took her morning nap.

Picking up a new skill for a potential new project. It’s not perfect, but I’m getting there. In the meantime, I have a new coaster.

Sharing a post-nap banana with this toothy beauty…

…before going out to meet a new friend.

Internets, meet beautiful baby Jacob.
I’m honored that he’ll be coming home in this.
Also, I wanted to keep him, but his mom said no.

Then, it was off to pick up Monkey from school, hang out as a family, and then knead some pizza dough for dinner. There’s something so cathartic about making dough from scratch.

This became one veggie pizza and one pesto, chicken, and ’shroom pie. Yum.

Now, the babies are asleep, the apartment has been picked up…mostly. It’s time for some knitting, a movie, and a few snuggles with my Alan on the sofa.

Hi, I am an impossible color to photograph accurately.

Hope your day was fabulous, too.