Mommy demerit

Work has been so, so, so, so busy lately. It's the end of the fiscal year, which is a traditionally chaotic time in my line of work.

Yesterday, my daugther missed soccer practice because I had two huge deadlines that ran a little late, and I just couldn't get out of the house in time. She had a meltdown. She was really looking forward to going.

I felt terrible. Ideally, work would never get in the way of my children's activities. Incidents like this could easily breed resentment. But, at least I have a job and an income, so I try to remember that and be thankful.

We decided to make the most of the evening and have some FUN. We drove through McDonald's, snuck some food into the movie theater, and saw Mr. Bean's Holiday. It was a school night ::shock and awe::, so we were the only people in the theater. That scared my 6 yr. old son at first, but we quickly realized that we could talk and walk around because there was no one to disturb! (There were lots of subtitles, so it was great that we could read them out loud.)

About 20 minutes into the movie, my son pulled out his Nintendo DS and played it for the rest of the movie. We all had a great time, and we definitely needed the stress detox.

Have I mentioned lately...

...how much I love free stuff?!

I received a free book from Barns & Noble.com by UPS today. A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to join their First Look Club (The email said, "Get a free copy of the book your friends will be reading next year."), and I was just sent an Advanced Reading Copy of The Monsters of Templeton. There will be a forum and talks with the author starting in October. Cool stuff.

I can't wait to unwind and read it (stressful weekend and work is stressful right now, too).

Apparently, Stephen King recommends the book, too!

I love give aways!

I found several while blog surfing today, and this one is especially cool for us scrapbookers. ;)

HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer:



First, go here to the 5 Minutes for Mom blog and leave a comment.

Next, share the blog love and mention the contest on your own blog with a link back to the contest post.

Good luck!

Smarter than a 5th Grader

I'm smarter than a 5th Grader (online). Are you?

I made it to the top and answered the million dollar question correctly. Whoo hoo!

MomAgenda Planner Giveaway

This lady is giving away a Mom Agenda Planner on her blog. Just comment on her blog for a chance to win.



Want a bonus entry? Just post a link to her contest post in your own blog and post a link to the MomAgenda Planner site and then let her know that you've posted. Like I just did!

Miscellaneous knitting

Here are some squares and cloths that I’ve knitted and never shared (at least I don’t think I have). Sorry that some of the photos are blurry, but I haven’t figured out the best way of showing detail in the knitting yet. Also, I haven’t blocked these squares, so they don’t look “polished”, but you’ll get the gist. Maybe I’ll post new photos when/if I ever get these blocked.

This is the September Knit Along (KAL) for a group I belong to. The KAL started yesterday, and I’m knitting along as they post the pattern. Yesterday, 9 rows were posted. (I actually knitted 10 rows because we already know that every even row will be knitted across.) I’ve knitted cloths from KAL’s before, but I’m usually not able to knit along with the group. I knit the cloth later after the whole pattern has been posted. I’m going to try to actually knit along with the group this time. We don’t know what the pattern will be in advance, so the pattern on the cloth will be a surprise to us.

Here’s Day 1 of the September KAL:




This is the A+ Apple cloth that we gave to the student teacher at the end of last school year. We also gave her a simple, hand-made card. I’m not sure, but I think she might have been more impressed with the card! LOL



This is a cotton cloth for my father. It’s a cowboy hat. The image will show better when I’ve blocked the cloth. Can you see the hat? (Sorry for the blurriness.)




This cloth was a KAL, but I knitted it after the whole pattern was posted. It’s a cute swimsuit.



These two squares are knit from acrylic. One is a basic pattern. (I think it’s a basket weave.). The other is a plain leaf square from the book 200 knitted blocks.





Thanks for looking!