Today 15 years flew before my eyes….

It’s my 15th  wedding anniversary.  Today.  Specifically, tonight at approx. 11:30 p.m. — where has the time gone?  

We got married at the Silver Bell Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.  The guy on the left graduated high school with Craig (his class was approx. 24 50 people! I stand corrected) — we saw him as we were getting off the plane.  Unknown to us, he was working in Vegas at the time and also unknown to us the guy on the right (who was younger than Craig but still from the same town) was on our plane going to visit the guy on the left.   They ended up being our witnesses.  They were not sober.

Here’s the outside of the chapel during the day.  C’mon, it was 110 degrees…what do you expect?  A happy smile?

Ahhh…I was a lucky one, wasn’t I?  This one was a keeper!!!

We came back and had a reception, though…

The above photo is my favorite.

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I loved the decorations on that little cake…the place provided the cake, but I got to choose the cake topper, which were pink carnations.  One of my favorite flowers.  Didn’t Craig look handsome in that suit?

Ah yes….the cake smash.

What a ride it has been.  15 years.  15 years!  I keep repeating it to myself.  Some days it seems like it has flown, other days it feels like an eternity.  And look where we are – 2 kids, jobs, house, dog…a life I never really expected, but feel extremely lucky to have. 

Craig, you are truly my best friend.  And I still can’t wait to grow old with you.

Staying up

2:07 a.m. — editing etsy photos.  Children quiet.  Husband snoring.

End of Baseball Season

Cole had his last baseball game tonight.  I’m gonna miss the group of parents that I’ve hung out with each week in the stands…they’re all really nice people.  Here’s a shot of Cole at 3rd base:

I think it was towards the end of the game…can’t you tell from looking at the other team?  They’re all fidgeting.

I have also been knitting up my very first mitten:

This is recycled lambswool/angora that I bought from Beth in my snb group.  It’s a bulky weight, so it’s going fast.  (P.S.  Don’t you love the smear on the table?  I wonder which child left that…)

Here’s another picture of one of my limbs modeling for you (I know you didn’t get enough with the “unfinished sock with toes sticking out” picture):

I’m sure there are a zillion patterns for knitting mittens in the round.  I chose to do my first pair as simple as possible…I figure the sewing is actually good practice.  Crazy?

My father-in-law took our Jeep after the game to work on (we need new front brakes and new front tires) and the front right one blew out on him on Route 23.  Craig was off playing basketball, so he called me.  He managed to find the tire jack (under the back passenger seat, isn’t that weird?) and got the spare on (which was almost flat).  So…we are definitely looking at some car repair expenses.  I feel bad because Ernie didn’t get back on the road until after 10:00 p.m. and he lives an hour south of us.

That’s put a slight damper on my evening, but “it is what it is”.

Grumpy, Tired Thursday Evening

It’s 10:10 p.m. and I’m tired and grumpy.  Lainie and I went over to Trixy’s house tonight to view yarn and fabric, which was fun.  However, I did not realize how tired Lainie was.  I should have gotten the hint when she got crazy and silly at Trixy’s, but I didn’t and so did not avoid the meltdown later at home.  Blargh.  The only productive thing I did this evening was to take some pictures of my stash to post on ravelry, but I’m too tired to work on that now.  So, I’ll leave you with 2 pictures of recently purchased yarn:

Recycled Ice blue bulky lambswool that I purchased from Beth.  This is so soft, can’t wait to make a special pair of mittens from this!

2 skeins of sock yarn bought from theytoldmesew (on etsy).  I got these on sale and I feel like I’m kathymarie all of a sudden with the bright colors! — that top skein is not quite what I pictured when I bought it…a tad more peachy, but that’s okay.

Does anyone have plans for the weekend?  I’m getting a new workout tomorrow night, cleaning on Saturday and going to Woodman’s on Sunday.  Wow, that all sounds so fun that I can hardly stand it.

Happy Friday, everyone.

A Score From the Local Library

I took Lainie to the library tonight to turn in her summer reading program sheet.  We not only read the required 24 books, we read an additional 24 books so that she could enter into a drawing for a prize!  That’s big time stuff for a 4 year old, you know.   Cole is at the age where he has to read chapter books, and I make him read them out loud, because he skips a lot of words in his hurry to finish reading it.  We have only read 3 of the 10 books required.  Must be done by 7/31/08!  I’m going to have to crack that whip!

We wandered around the library and I perused the section where they sell books that the library no longer wants to catalogue.  I hit the motherload tonight!!!!

I love books.  I especially love vintage children’s books.  I got all of these for $1.00!  Now, that sounds great, but I truly got an incredible find.  Just look at the book on top.

(ugly quartz rock from Colorado holding the page down)

This, my friends, is a Lois Lenski book!  Most of Lois Lenski’s books are out of print and she has a huge following.  Lois Lenski wrote and illustrated books in the 1960’s about children all around the country – migrant workers, coal families, etc.   When I visited my Aunt Mev as a child, she let me go up into her attic and pick out any books I wanted.  That’s how I found out about Lois Lenski.  It’s a major shame that these books are out of print.

I’m not sure if either of my kids will be interested in these books, but I plan to read each one and I will especially cherish my new Lois Lenski book!!!

Back!

Yes, I’m back from vacation!  It was enjoyable, active and relaxing.  We saw a “Wild West Show” in Ogallala, NE (fabulous – done by high schoolers), spent a day at the Winter Park Resort (Me and Lainie hiked down a mountain, Craig and Cole went mountain biking), Craig and Cole went white water rafting, we all went to Water World near Denver, saw the play “Oklahoma” in Grand Lake, Colorado (it was really good, very professional), went to Cherry Blossom fest in Denver,  swam in the pool and hiked up and down a 13,000 foot mountain!  We decided to come home a little early — just ready to be home, I guess.

Of course I have to show you all a few obligatory vacation pictures:

Our first day in Colorado – we hiked up a hill to where there is still some snow.  This is the closest you all will see of my short hair that’s in need of a trim (after 5+ hours in the car).  And I hiked this in flip flops.  What a tourist.

Zooming along in the car.  You just can’t capture how large the mountains are.

Cole white water rafting with Craig.

But let’s chat about the really important stuff:  Vacation knitting.  Those 15 hours in the car did not go in vain!!!

Moderne Log Cabin Blanket.  More colors to come.  Just remember…they matched the last decor scheme we had in the living room.  Stash, people, stash!!!

I’m not real happy with my ”picking up stitches” in the tan.  Does anyone know if this is normal or is there something I could do to make it look neater?

And I worked a very tiny bit at the hotel on the second sock. 

We did not, alas, go on any factory tours.  If I offended anyone with my Coors “crappy beer” comment, I do apologize.   We got unpacked this morning and I shipped the kids off to Grandma’s house for the night (parental guilt over the younger one, she had major separation anxiety when I went to leave).  Late this afternoon I went to the gym and then to The Yarn Exchange, to buy yarn to accompany an etsy yarn purchase.  Of course, I bought something else – some alpaca.  I’m going to make a scarf for my tactile friend, Christina.  She’ll love the softness!