Last Night of Chanuckah

The last two days of work were rough. High spirits combined with short fuses make for an interesting combination in a high school. As always, my desire to look professional warred with my need to patrol a very large building. The cute black flats? Not so good for extended walking. My poor legs were aching all night. This did not, however, diminish the wonderful time we had celebrating the last night of Chanuckah.


My folks and youngest sibling came over and we ate latkes, lit candles, watched a magic show, analyzed the contents of Squidette's closet and ate chinese food. (Hey, its not just for Christmas any more!)

The Squidlings now own tennis rackets thanks to their grandparents so we just came back from the playground where they hit at each other and at a wall for a good bit. We all went for a "short" bike ride earlier to break in Squidette's new bike computer and do some more fine tuning of my new bike. The ride uptown was fast and easy but we hit the wind coming back and it was a tough return. Tomorrow should be even warmer and we will probably hit the road again. For now I leave you with pictures of a happy family.

Yes, I'm appealing ...

to you all for your unwanted needles -- particularly in sizes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 -- and yes, even yarn. I took a good look at the boxes yesterday and they are actually low! In my office I have 10 clear, large, Rubbermaid boxes containing the yarn arranged roughly by color. There were also a couple of bags on the floor. Yesterday I consolidated the bags in to the boxes and filled one of the bags with blanket squares to be assembled. Last night I assembled panel number 3.

The last two days have been overrun with kids. As more and more learn, they show their friends and then their friends want to learn. "Miss, can my friend have sticks and string?" Yesterday I provided yarn and jury-rigged needles to several more girls and had to turn away a few who wanted lessons because I had to do building patrol after school. We are at the point where far more kids are learning from their friend then from me! Woo Hoo! The first male has now taken needles and yarn to hand saying that he concentrates better with his hands moving. This has led me to warn them that most people do not understand the knitting and understanding thing so they should ask permission before knitting in class. I do not need my staff mad at me!

Mailing information can be found here at the school website. (This way you know I am legit and am not just taking your yarn for myself.)

Thank you in advance!

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel ...

On Saturday I engaged in a futile search for Chanuckah gelt on my sister-in-law's behalf. Gelt, for the uninitiated, means money but in this context refers to foil covered chocolate coins. It is a traditional Chanuckah treat and is often given inside of hollow plastic dreidels. Saturday's search involved 3 major chain drug stores and the local supermarket. Guys, my apartment complex was built by the Garment Workers Union. In other words -- Jews! Most of the older folk here are, indeed, Jewish or of Jewish upbringing. (Apparently there are a significant number of Communists in the complex as we found out when someone came looking for signatures to get their guy on the Democratic ballot.) So ... why no gelt?

Having given up on the gelt and having passed up the only package of Dreidels that I noticed, we celebrated without.

Sunday night I hear, from my room, crying. Little Squid had just realized that a classmate would not be returning after the break and he wanted to give his friend a gift. He thought that a dreidel would be the perfect gift since his friend did not know what it was. "O.k.," say I, "why don't you stop off at CVS on the way home and pick one up for him." (That was where I saw the lone package on Saturday.) Fine. Off to dreamland he goes and that is the end of the story ... until the next night.

On Monday, Little Squid, Squidette, and Little Squid's chaperone go in to CVS and do not find ready-made dreidels. What they do find is a kit for making dreidels -- yes, out of clay. Home they come, read the directions and stuff quick-dry clay into the mold. Fast forward to 9 p.m. when Little Squid is supposed to be fast asleep. From the depths of my bedroom where I am snuggled deep in bed I hear sobs. Heartbreaking sobs. The kind of sobs that make a mother abandon her husband and run to help.

"I don't know if the dreidel will be ready in time. How can it dry in the mold?" Quick thinking, and without my glasses, I grope around on the floor for the instructions and, turning on the light, attempt to read them. Um ... "Little Squid, you read them."

"Take molded dreidel out of mold and trim excess off with scissors." O.k., seems simple enough. We grab the mold and start unmolding. Nope. No doing. That clay is stuck very nicely in the mold. I dig it out, ball it up and resmush it in the mold. Try once again to extract it. The dreidel is not having it.

O.k., time for some quick thinking again ... "let's leave it in the mold overnight and maybe it will harden enough to remove in the morning." He buys it. Time for bed. Again.

Tuesday morning we successfully extract one side from the mold and leave the other side, which does not want to give up its grip, in the mold to harden while we are gone for the day.

Tuesday evening the dreidel is successfully extracted and left to dry. "But I still have to paint it and one side has to dry before I can paint the other side. If I start it after my homework there will not be enough time to do both sides." The kid should be a lawyer except that he wasn't manipulating us, he was genuinely concerned, knowing the homework always comes first. We grant an exemption and promise that he can paint the first two sides before doing his homework and then finish it up after.

Meanwhile, Mama Squid is terrified that this will not work. She is convinced that the dreidel will not spin and will be far too wonky to please the somewhat picky youngest squid. In a rush of sad-child fueled guilt, she rushes in to two different drug stores on the Upper East Side on Tuesday evening and finds not one shred of Chanuckah stuff. On Wednesday morning she hits a CVS near Little Squid's school then Eli's (Eli Zabar for heavens sake is not stocking enough dreidels to get through Chanuckah?! They do have gelt but at $6 for 24 or so I'm not buying). Frantically she rushes in to a CVS and a Kings Pharmacy which are on her way to work -- still on the Upper East Side -- which is home to many, many Jews.

Finally, in a fit of desperation, Mama Squid parks near the Duane Reade in East Harlem. The logic here is that if all of the stores receive the same stuff to sell then if any store will have dreidels it will be the one in East Harlem -- a very non-Jewish area. Any guesses as to what she found? You got it! Nothing!!! But hey, they barely had Christmas stuff either.

Mama Squid slunk off to work and started sharing her tale of woe with fellow Jews. "Do you have a spare dreidel?" she begged. One promised to raid his son's stash and bring it in tomorrow. "Not the Mickey Mouse one," he said "my son won't part with that one." "And not the ..." "Never mind," came the response. I'll keep looking." Finally, Mama Squid's friend and mentor came through with a jelly bean filled dreidel. She was giving them to her student-aides for the holiday. Phew!

End of story ... the clay dreidel is painted and spins though it is still rather soft. Little Squid will give it to his friend on the last day of school.
(As for why this family has no dreidels to gift ... well it seems that we disposed of all but the glass ones during the great possession purge of the summer of '06.)

First Panel

Here you go -- the first panel of the 7 needed to make a blanket. I will bring home another panel's worth of blocks tomorrow and try to get them together. Ditto Thursday and on Friday I will bring home all of the remaining blocks and try to get a blanket done before the end of the winter break. Piece of cake. (Just don't count on me doing much else.)

Too many knitters to count today -- at least 10 newbies. Two are now knitting in the round and a few are working of scarves for themselves after having contributed multiple blanket blocks.

Anyone have straight needles in the middle sizes that they don't need? I gave mine to the cause several years ago.

(I took a batch of donated dpns and put rubber bands on the ends today -- made about 6 pair this way -- and ran out.)

Holiday, Biking and a newish cousin

The weekend essentially revolved around the winter holdidays. Friday was the first night of chanuckah and we tried a new tactic with our menorah -- the traditional window sill placement. Previously there has been too much in the way of flammable material near our window so the candles were lit on the dining roomtable. This, of course, wrecks havoc with our reading material and since chanuckah candles are notoriously wobbly and cannot be moved once lit, we decided to try our currently-clear sill. What do you think?Yesterday found us upstate with Papa Squid's side of the family. Cousins played together and the adults conversed pleasantly. Here is the newest Cousin Squid cozying up to Squidette.This morning found the kids charging and assembling their gifts from the aunts and uncles. Thank you notes were then written using the stationary provided by another aunt. Yup, looks like what I imagine Christmas morning to look like.

Today was a non-stop day from the time we did the rough fit of my bike to the trial ride through Central Park with Papa Squid (the squidlings were in hebrew school) to returning home to do laundry to a trip to Barnes and Noble for last minute gifts and finally to a trip to the post office to mail out said gifts. Got to love living near the main post office! Open 24/7 it is. Candles, dinner and then some time in the lobby so that Little Squid could get the most out of the remote control hummer with which he was gifted. This thing is almost as big as his bike! No, it did not come from us, we favor smaller gifts.

Finally, a spot of charka spinning to ground me. There are still a few presents that need ends hidden and wrapping wrapped but I am mostly done. Mike will put together his holiday cookie boxes in the morning and I will bring my work presents in tomorrow and hang them where mice cannot get them for the next day or two.

Phew! The next week will be a busy one with publishing parties (Little Squid), "office" parties (me X 2) and students who really want to be else where. Have a wonderful week!

A Holiday Meme

In yesterdays meme, my cousin Elana also tagged her brother. So ... yenta that I am, I had to go check out his blog. Said cousin is a doctor and writes a medical blog (see #3 from yesterday) but I can get over that. In the comments on his answers to the meme was a reference to today's meme which I then took from this blog. So, consider it stolen from the medical blog world and let loose in the knit blog world.

1. Latkes or Sufganiyot?

Latkes! Love that savory goodness.


2. Multi-colored candles or blue-and-white?

What ever is in the box, though I do favor a single color per night with a contrast shamos.

3. Do you place the Hanukiah by the window or away from the window?

Usually away -- we are 11 stories up. We also do not have much space near the window. This year we are trying the window for the first time. I'll let you know how it works out.

4. Favorite Holiday Dish?

Latkes!

5. Favorite Holiday Memory?

Running around with my cousins at the big family chanuckah party.

6. One Hanukiah or more than one?

One. I was brought up with one per person but have been converted to the one-per-family method. Unfortunately we now get one box of chanuckah candles per-kid from religious school so we have a plethora of candles and I am debating going to more than one.

7. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Nope.

8. Favorite Holiday Dessert?

I really do not have one. I know that sufganiot are traditional (jelly donuts) but I am not really a fan of them. Frankly, after pigging out on latkes, I am usually too full for dessert.

9. Favorite Holiday Song?

Ma-o-tuzr. (Rock of Ages) Squidette learned this on the clarinet and violin last year.

I am not tagging anyone but if you want to grab it ... go right ahead. Happy Chanuckah!

5 Things Meme

I've been tagged by my cousin, Elana, to share "Five Things you might not know about me." This is a tough one since I tend to be fairly open in this blog but I will give it a shot.

1. In college I flirted with becoming far more religiously observant then I am now. I saw Judaism as an anchor in a storm and spent my first two years in college taking refuge in the Hillel House at George Washington University. During the end of my sophomore year I deepened a friendship that had existed on a very superficial level with the man who is now known as Papa Squid. When I transfered colleges a few months later, I did not find the same community at the Cornell Hillel house as I had at G.W. and my path towards a very observant life ended. My anchor then took the very real and very solid form of the Love of My Life, Papa Squid.

2. For years I thought that I did not have the right personality to become a teacher despite the fact that it was what I always wanted to be. This stemmed from a misinterpretation of a comment from someone I love and respect. Years later when I was looking at leaving graduate school and going into teaching I mentioned this to the person in question who replied that she meant the lower grades, not the upper ones that I wanted to teach. She thought I'd be great with older kids. I concurred and here I am.

3. I am inexplicably afraid of doctors. I even get nervous calling to make an appointment for an annual check-up for any one of us. My mother-in-law used to enable me in this fear by occasionally calling the pediatrician when one of the kids was sick. Just the fact that she was willing to do this gave me the courage to make the call and deal with it. This is not a disabling fear -- I did go for a well-Mama appointment just yesterday and the kids get taken at least once a year for check-ups as well as the, fortunately, rare sick-kid visits. I used to try to palm off all kid-related doctor appointments on Papa Squid but have almost stopped doing it. Basically I have acknowledged that I have a problem and am handling it in a mature manner.

4. I once swore that I would never get married and never have kids. You see how well I stuck to that one. Good thing I know a stupid decision when I see one.

5. I never intended on becoming an Assistant Principal. When Mike was pushed to start the A.P. program so that he could take over from his soon-to-retire boss, I joined him to get the credits (for salary purposes) and keep him company. Before Mike could step into his bosses job, his boss passed away. Since Mike was not yet certified, the job went to someone else. At the same time my friend and mentor started asking me when I would have my certification because she would not retire until I was ready to step into her job. And there you go.

I tag Ann, Cookie, Dave, Susan and Debbie!

Yea!!!

A Bike Friday (Pocket Crusoe) in its natural habitat ... a NYC apartment.

Oh My!

19 young ladies today. I am and was floored both figuratively and literally. Literally, because there is barely enough room in my office for 3 other people, let alone 19 so we took it to the hallway and sat ... on the floor. I moved from group to group and at least one other staff member pitched in, teaching some of the girls how to cast on using the backward loop method (I tend to teach long-tail.) Most of the kids were new to our sport and took to it like fish to water. Some of the "older" kids taught groups of newbies and everyone had successfully cast on and was actually knitting by the time I kicked them out. A few more have learned to purl and bind off so they are slowly enlarging their skill set. There are now well over 30 blocks on the wall and I have hopes that by next weekend we will have enough for me to put the first blanket together.

A huge Thank You to Debbie whose donation of needles was the only thing that stood between my teaching and my turning kids away today. I had picked up another 5 pair on Friday but with 19 knitters ... at least 10 of them new ... I immediately ran out of medium sized needles. I will have to give a shout out to the kids for a return of materials from those who have given up so that others can learn.(The blocks have been rearranged and are now overlapping in order to fit them all on the board.)

In other news ... on Friday, I received this:
Today, I received this:My New Bike!!! It will be assembled by the ever capable Papa Squid sometime before Sunday.

The Cage ...

We are not cruel and unusual parents. O.k., maybe unusual but not cruel! I'm not sure how the cage wound up being a running joke but it there it is. I passed on Elizabeth's suggestion of a hook from the ceiling but Papa Squid pointed out that our ceilings are too low. So, the cage it is. (Yes, Cookie, he is a nice young man but he is also a monster! A cute monster, kind of like Cookie Monster. Matter of fact he is a lot like Cookie Monster. But not blue and not furry (yet).)

Today I was thrilled to receive a huge package from Debbie! Included were lots yarn and needles for my kids at school and presents for me and the squidlings. The presents have been set aside for the start of Chanuckah in a few days. Thank you, Debbie! I promise pictures when we open them.

The O'neill Building deserves a proper photo on the blog but it will wait until the scaffolding is all gone. It is a beautiful structure and they are putting back two golden domes that were removed a long, long time ago. The first dome is up and glows wonderfully in the sun. Papa Squid and I will do our best to photograph it over the winter break. The developers have done a wonderful job of renovating the Ladies Mile buildings. These were the grand old department stores back when our neighborhood was Uptown.

I am feeling mostly better today and hope this lasts. Its been a long time since a cold has taken over my body for this long. Blah!

And at last, a picture for today -- proof that my odder creations get worn.

Where to Put the Cage?

Here I am, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I am asked, quiet seriously -- "if you move your spinning wheel ... (I look up) and I move some books, we could put the cage there for Little Squid." Given that we have been redecorating again today -- two shelves put up so far -- I figured that the question would be serious. Squidette immediately yells for Little Squid and whines that we are discussing putting a cage in the corner for him. I counter with "no, I want to put it on the terrace."

He'd prefer it in the corner.

That's all I have for you. My cold is still wiping me out and after 4 hours in the synagogue learning about Bat Mitzvah preparations I was not good for anything. For the curious, the event is still 21 months away. And yes, the 4 hour were actually worthwhile and I did not feel like my time had been wasted. I also now have a new appreciation for our Rabbi.

Squidette wound up somewhat saddened as a friend we had not seen in a long time asked after Grandma. She didn't know that Grandma was no longer with us. While it has been over a year, we still feel it pretty keenly when someone brings it up. I could use a parental hug right now. (My folks have been calling to check up on my cold every day which makes me feel loved but sometimes you just need a hug.)

The session also brought up some interesting issues regarding honors and such and all sorts of ways that we could insult (both intentionally and inadvertently) lots and lots of people. Oh Joy.

I think I will go snuffle my way through the bagel cutting now and head off to bed a bit early. No, the mittens are not finished but the new baby blanket is started and I am almost ready to start the heel flap on Little Squid's new sock.

And last, a kind of random image. Please tell me that you interpret the url on this sign the same way I do ...

Slow Saturday

I really want to knit myself a purple scarf to go with my new grey wool coat. The lovely young lady who shepards Little Squid home from school, however, has expressed that she needs mittens. This means that the mitts that I knit for her are now mine. Normally I could easily knock out a plain pair of mittens in 3 days. This has not happened. I got the first one finished except for the thumb, had Squidette try it on and determined that it was too small for the giftee. I then cast on 3 more times before I settled on going up just one size in Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns. By the way, thanks Dave for pointing out that the purpose of the elastic in this book is to keep one's place. I was kind of stupid that way and kept having to leaf through the book to find my page. (The original mitten has been set aside, not frogged, and will eventually get a mate -- probably a spare pair for Little Squid.)

Anyhow, I am once again working on the mittens and swear that I will not start anything for myself until they are done. There is also the matter of a pair of mittens promised to a certain sister. When these are done I will weigh them and determine if darling sister's mittens require a purchase of yarn. (I have half a ball in the right color.) If so ... then she will wait a smidge longer until I get back to Knitty City to get another ball. If not ... then I will cast on and maybe she will get them before she goes back to school for the next semester. Since her birthday is not until March, I figure I have a fair amount of leeway.

We spent much of today at Ikea and actually managed to obtain everything we set out to get. Little Squid now has a new rug for his room, Papa Squid got the small piece of furniture on which to pile things near our bathroom and shelves to go over his desk.

Recently Papa Squid began to work on this place to make it look a little more finished. Given that we never finished painting this summer, it is taking some work. Pictures were hung, shelves were purchased and Herman was placed.Some of my tea pots. The four on the right-hand shelf were given to me by my mother-in-law. From left to right they were obtained during her travels in: China, Italy, Turkey and the Christmas Tree shop. The tea pots on the left shelf (left to right): craft fair here in NYC, Quebec City, my sister-in-law and London. Yes, almost all of my tea pots have a story behind them. There are more of them but they are not yet on obvious display.Herman and friends.

Wow!

As I finally ventured forth to get the yarn for the long-promised baby blanket, I decided to check my mail box first. After all, who knew?

Who knew is right! Look what I found!Chanuckah towels that apparently jumped out at Susan found their way to New York and jumped out of my mailbox. I love them and promise to use them once the holiday starts in a week. Thank you, Susan!

Then, after I thought all possibility of bigger packages was done for the day, the doorbell rings and it is USPS with my Sock-ret pal Angel package!Debbie, you out did yourself.

Included in the package is KnitPicks yarn in a self-striping colorway, purple Cascade 220 (I think I have a vest in mind for this), sockie needle point protectors, an adorable notebook, stationary, a calendar, pens and sparkly pencils, a paw print tape measure, magnets and some other swag that my poor cold-adeled brain can't recall right not. Thank you so much Debbie! The pack of tissues is already in my jacket pocket ready for my non-stop runny nose. *grin*

Two packages in one day. I feel so special!

It's here!!!

Good bye old sofa -- you served us well.Hello New!

By the way, all of our memories are the pits. Squidette remembered it as being blue, I remembered it as being more burgandy and it is ... beige. Which makes perfect sense since we are awful when it comes to committing to color. It does have burgandy, gold and green in the swirls so those will be what I look for when I go shopping for the yarn for a new sofa blanket.

Now to take that nap I was talking about!

Saga of the Squirrel: Act 3

(I figure I can be productive while I am waiting for the couch so ... here you go.)

Saga of the Squirrel: Act 3

As our story begins, I am once again spending time wandering the building, checking on the temperature in classrooms, touching base with staff and basically doing my job. I had left my office with the windows closed because it was still early in the day and my office was not yet over heated -- that and I was being very wary of the squirrels.

When I returned I found my office under siege. Apparently a squirrel had entered the office to my east and the occupants had chased it into my office and cornered it there.
Now remember -- my windows were CLOSED so there was no way out for this guy.

Maintenance is called and a guy comes in, armed with a window pole, and opens the top window. For some reason he thought the squirrel would climb up to it. Given what had happened the day before, I seriously doubted this and said so. So, he goes in again, armed with the window pole, and discovers that the angle does not work for using the pole
on to open the lower sash. Stymied, we stood there for a while.

Finally I offered to go in (we had not seen the squirrel for quite a while) and just open the window. The maintenance guy gets the hint (I really was going in) and did it himself. While he was in there I took advantage of the open door and grabbed my squirrel trap so I could bait it. We stand vigil for a while, watching the window to see if it leaves. I bait the trap and slide it into the office. A service monitor is placed at the door to watch for the squirrel and I go and try to do work elsewhere.

After an hour or so I return to reports of no sighting of the furry. So, I figure the coast is clear and go back into my office and spend the rest of the day working at my desk. At the time I am convinced (I think) that he is gone. The day is spent a little on edge while I wait for the squirrel to poke it's nose out of a box of yarn.

The trap stays, baited, under my desk. Just in case.

The Best Laid Plans

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Get up before the crack of dawn.

2. Wake kids up shortly after before the crack of dawn.

3. Drag sleepy kids uptown to friends house for drop off by 7:00 a.m.

4. Rush back home for couch delivery.

5. Wait for couch.

6. Wait for couch.

7. Wait for couch. (Couch is due between 8 and 10 a.m.)

8. Accept delivery of couch and bribe nice gentlemen to take old couch to garbage room.

9. Put living room back in order.

10. Collapse on new couch and sleep, sleep, sleep.

11. Wake up, eat lunch, go back to sleep.

12. Pick up kids from school.

What do you think? Other then the morning rush and the strain of waiting (and the strain of having totally forgotten what this thing is supposed to look like) there is nothing else and I refuse to put anything else there. If some knitting or spinning gets done, wonderful. If a closet gets straightened -- then I've lost my mind.

I need to sleep. This cold has been dragging me down for 4 days now and I need this day.

Some Answers

For those of you in the know, my first Sock-ret pal was a bit on the slow side. I am sure she meant well but the end of the first sending period came and went and nothing was sent. The powers-that-be (Rachel) intervened and I was gifted with both an Angel and a second sock-ret pal (known known as Socky the Second). Socky the Second asked some questions earlier so I figure I will answer them before I go to work.

First, do you really want solids? I too am drawn to the siren song of variegated yarn and I too feel I should invest in more solids. So do you REALLY want solids or would you rather stay on the dangerous path that is lovely variegated yarn? It's alright, you can be honest, it won't go beyond me, you, and everyone who reads the comments on your blog.

Actually, no. I really want variegated. I love seeing how the colors swirl and change.

Second, Elizabeth Peters (love her, LOVE HER), do you have a particular series you prefer? Just curious.

I just finished listening to the Amelia Peabody series and have only spot tasted her other stuff but I have liked it all. The Amelia books are so much my faves that I have been known to read and listen to them and then relisten when I could not decide on a new audio book.

Third- er- third...um, seems wrong not to have a third, doesn't it? But, really, your site, fantastically informative. So I guess, for now, it's the two.

Why thank you. I try to be amusing and informative.

Do you mind to post answers here? Or in posts, you know, I'm not sockticular.

Actually, I mind very much. *grin*

Best inky wishes,
Socky the Second
(Squids are inky, right? Not just octupus? Or was that a really sad example of my high school biology learnin'?)

Yes, Squid are inky. You can even buy canned squid in their own ink. No kidding. We, however, in the Squid-Knit family are not inky unless our pens are leaking ... or unless we adorn ourselves with Bobs. But that's another story. Time to go to work.

Teens Knitting: An Even Dozen

The knitting club has finally reached critical mass. There are now young ladies stopping by my office at all hours looking for yarn and instruction. It has been a long time since things have been this way and I must say that I missed it. If I am going to fully understand why I do what I do then I have to be surrounded by my "clients," the kids in our school. The knitting club had taken a back seat to other responsibilities, both work related and personal, and I lost touch with the average kid. Today I realized that I have finally gained back the critical mass of kids that makes this such a wonderful endeavor.

Last week we moved the group in to a near by, larger, office. My friend was out of the building and I figured that she would not mind. (She didn't.) Yesterday, when my office started overflowing, we were invited next door where a dozen young ladies sat knitting and learning to knit while the my friend sat and worked at her desk.

Periodically, one or another would get up and go in to my office to get a different yarn but for the most part they sat quietly chatting in while helping each other out. One young lady is trying to knit mitts for herself, another is making a bright, striped, scarf and most of the rest are working on the blanket blocks shown above. As of this morning we had 22 blocks. Warm Up America calls for 49 blocks per blanket so we are well on our way. My goal is to get this done with fewer than half being made by me. Since only one, so far, is mine, it looks like we will do it! Meanwhile, I am knitting two small blocks together to make a double sized block and have to even out another with an interesting shape. I also have to buy more pins to put the blocks up on the wall.

The Enforcer!

That's me! I am the gal who enforces the rules as set forth by the Powers that Be. Today I enforced the regulation regarding Holiday displays. Notice that Holiday is capitalized as per my newly adopted faith, that of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I had already adopted the "Pirates vs. Global Warming" hypothesis (it makes a good point of how statistics can be bent to ones own purposes) so it was only a short hop to full fledged Pastafarianism. As of tomorrow I am going to display an empty box of Ronzoni in my office in celebration of the Holiday. I'm pretty sure that no one can object unless it attracts mice.

Since Pastafarianism is a laid back, accept all, kind of thing, I also feel free to commemorate a military victory and it's associated miracle which occurred over 2000 years ago. Remind me to show you a picture of my way cool menorah sometime during this celebration two weeks from now.

Meanwhile I will refrain on commenting on the Sock-ret pal issues (scroll down to see Rachel's posts) except to point out that there is a reason I have not thanked anyone for a package in the last 2 months. Thank you to Rachel and Dani for working out the problems. I swear here and publicaly that I will NEVER stand up a swap partner!!! Thank you to the people who have stepped up to the plate as angels and second pals!!!

It's Not Christmas Yet

Earlier, but not early enough, KnittyOtter asked me to take my camera with me on my walk to midtown when I went to resupply myself with cosmetics. Oops! I had meant to take the camera to give you all a taste of NYC during the holiday season -- the store windows and such -- but I was in such a rush to beat the crowds and claim my makeup bonus that I forgot the camera. Besides, without snow it is not quite as nice.

So, in an effort to make it up to my favorite Otter, I present some of the unusual bits of my neighborhood and NYC in general as captured during a later trip out with Squidette to get some boxes for holiday cookies.

In Manhattan there are no large lots to set up for Christmas tree sales so we get these sidewalk stands that tend to pop up the day after Thanksgiving.

Yes, this one has been there for a week already. They eat up half the sidewalk but I kind of like them because they add such a lovely smell to the overly polluted air. When it snows, they are positively lovely.

We just stumbled across this firehouse. I know I have passed it before but I do not think I've ever noticed it during the holiday season.

There were actually two of these trees and the picture does not do it justice. The tree is covered in silk flowers like the bundle pictured at the bottom. We chose this one to pose the hand coverings on.







KnittyOtter kind of guilted me in to hiding some ends before I went out. I say some ends because I did the ends on each of one of the 3 pairs of hand coverings available. (Actually the single glove ends were already hidden but those on its mate are not). Yes, the mates are still waiting for their ends to be hidden and a snake scarf is waiting for it's eyes and tongue.

Lazy Weekend

For those waiting for the outcome to the latest Act in the Saga of the Squirrel ... it is rather lame ... he appears to have found his way out of the building. At least that is what we think. The exterminator did come back and set up a Hav-a-Heart trap early on Friday but it was still empty by the time I left for the day. If it is empty tomorrow we will call this tale closed.

Meanwhile I have been so wiped out this week that I have not even started editing Act 3 of the Saga so you will have to wait a bit for it. Hey, good things come to those who wait. Right?

I have been very productive on the knitting front but since ends are not yet hidden and it is still totally dark here, there are no photos for now. Maybe tomorrow.

All of the planned holiday gifts are done. 2 teacher scarves, 1 pair of mitts (my own design) for the third teacher (I got bored of scarves), 1 pair of Fetching for our Little Squid transit person (babysitter just sounds wrong), the Violin teacher gauntlets and socks for my boss. Maybe I will make one or two more gifts but none are planned for now. Instead I am back to trying to finish some of you UFOs and I will finally buy the yarn for and start the last baby blanket that I owe. I also owe the kid sister mittens and a hat but hey, her birthday isn't until March so I have time.

We did get a new fan / light for Little Squid. Lowes had some really cool ones and this new one would look better in a living room or such but it is what he wanted and the price was in our range. We will hook it this afternoon. Yes, I will take pictures -- exciting, no?

I also have more Knitting Club tales but since I didn't post it last week I will give double -- and pictures of the blanket in progress (15 blocks so far) this week.

Otherwise my big plans for the day involve laundry and the purchase of make-up which will involve a trip into Midtown and a department store during the holiday season. Yes, I am nuts but I will also not make it through the month with what I have and hey, they have a Bonus!

Giving Thanks for the Stash

November is now over and the stats are in: yarn used -- 13 units, yarn gained -- 2 units. Net loss -- 11 units! (A unit is a ball or skein of any weight.) Items completed: Sock-ret pal socks (1 unit), baby blankie (4 units), teacher scarf (4 units -- balled and multistranded from a large cone of lace weight merino -- balls were roughly 40 grams a piece), Violin gauntlets (2 units), Fetching (zero units -- there is still enough yarn to make a third mitt). There is still one teacher scarf in progress that has already used 2 units. I am going to continue trying to use more then I acquire for the month of December. I do acknowledge that I will have to get three skeins of something bulky and baby friendly so I can finally give my friend his baby blankie.

Now, since the previous paragraph was totally boring, I present:

Violin Gauntlets modeled on the lovely arms of Squidette. A gift for our wonderful Violin teacher who cannot wear wool.
Pattern: my own riff on Fetching using one fewer repeats, cables crossing on different rows and much length.
Yarn: Reynolds Tiara Silk and Viscose purchased many years ago at the annual Smiley's hotel sale (which I am passing on this year)

And as for the Squirrel Update: He appears to have found his way out of the building or at least out of the display case. I am really bummed that we were never able to get a picture of him. Every time I entered the lobby, he was hiding. Apparently he did give a good show for our students -- kind of like having a mini zoo in the lobby. I will work on editing Act 3 over the weekend for posting during a slow news day next week.

Saga of the Squirrel: A New Tale

So far the Squirrel Saga Acts that you have read are several years old. Today's tale is fresh ... so fresh that it does not yet have an ending.

And here we go ...

This morning as I am slowly getting my act together and putting away my coat, purse, etc., a teacher comes in and asks "have they caught the squirrel yet?"

I look at her blankly. "Squirrel, what squirrel," I say with confusion in my voice, thinking that it was a rather strange coincidence since I had just posted Act 2 last night.

"The squirrel in the showcase," she responds, matter of factly.

"Explain, please," I respond, still confused.

Apparently she had been working on the two showcases in the lobby yesterday -- yes, I remember her scraping tape off the glass -- when all of a sudden the kids noticed a squirrel in one of them. Seeing the kids, the squirrel scampered up and perched on top of the light where it seems to have stayed all night.

As of this morning it was still on the light where I saw it's beady eyes with my own narrowed gaze. It was sighted periodically throughout the day today.

While the cases were open on and off all day yesterday, there was always a person in them and they would have noticed a squirrel flying by. It seems, however, that there is considerable open space along much of our electrical conduits and this guy somehow got into this open space and found his way to the display case from the inside. Mice have also, apparently, found their way into the case on occasion as evidence on the bottom of the case suggests. Our friend has emptied it's bladder at least once during its captivity. We have no idea how he got in to the walls of the building.

Pest control has been called and at least one Hav-a-Heart trap will be on hand by morning.

This is a true story. I can't make this stuff up. My imagination just does not run to squirrels in showcases.

May your day not involve wildlife where it should not be.

This post is the sole property of Devorah Zamansky and may not be copied without permission.

Saga of the Squirrel: Act 2

Setting: My office which has the usual four walls but with doors in both the northern and eastern walls leading to other offices. The Southern wall is entirely taken up with radiators and windows. The Western wall is taken up with old fashioned built-in floor to way-high (not ceiling) cabinets. There is no way to directly access my office from the hallway.

And so on to our tale …

So, there I was, minding my own business, bopping around the building and in and
out of the offices actually getting things accomplished. I had left the top sash of my window open a little because unlike much of the school, my office is rather overheated.

Now, I rarely open my bottom sash and when I do I only open it a crack because
squirrels seem to love our school. On this day the bottom sash was not open because even though my office was hot, I did not need a 20 degree breeze across my keyboard.

After finishing my stroll of the facilities, I returned to my office where I noticed a squirrel on my window sill -- inside. Normally this is not a big deal but as I said, the bottom sash was not open and the upper sash was a good 8 feet up from the window sill. I momentarily panicked – after all, I had to get to the window in order to open it to let the squirrel out. My secretary closed the door from my office to her office and I closed the door from my office to the adjacent office. I then retrieved a window pole from
another room and set out to enter my office from my secretary's office. I
figured I would use the pole to push the window open from the bottom without getting too close to the now panicked squirrel.

In the meantime the squirrel was running around the room jumping desperately in an effort to get out through the top sash. There were no curtains on the outer windows and the shades offered only a slippery surface for the squirrel’s sharp claws. Returning with the window pole I put my face to the window just as the squirrel gave a flying jump AT
the door and caught itself, briefly, on my door curtain. What I saw was squirrel
belly and claws -- my face was protected by mere millimeters of 60 year old glass. Yes, I know I was on the other side but I have to admit that I screamed.

Once again I approached the door, hand on the knob when the blasted squirrel flew AGAIN at my door. Why he didn't go for the other door where my male colleague was watching, I have no idea.

At that point a braver teacher than I observed the situation and cooing “poor squirrel” opened the door, calmly walked to the window and opened it. The squirrel left as fast as it could and we closed all the windows.

For days afterwards my office stank of scared squirrel.

Ironically enough, there was a squirrel trap in my office. (Hav-a-heart if you care.) However, since it was in my office I couldn't get it and this squirrel, unlike the one we bought the trap for (act 1) WANTED to leave.

The image of squirrel belly flying at my face is one I will never forget.
The contents of this post are the sole property of Devorah Zamansky and may not be reproduced without permission.

Happy Birthday Sis the Elder!

*** THANK YOU for all your wonderful birthday wishes!!!***

I'm not joking you. My sister's birthday is the day after mine. She is X years and 364 days older then me. (Hey, I shared my age, I'm not sharing hers.)Doesn't she look like the younger sister?!

Having siblings so separated in age is interesting. I think that we have to work harder to be friends because, growing up, our ages very much defined what we could do.

Over the years we have shared confidences, joys and sorrows. As my only older sibling she is and has always been a role model for me. I watched as she went off to college and had what seemed to be a rip-roaring time while getting grades that set the standard for the rest of us.

Sis also set the standard for how to build an adult life -- an example that we have all learned from and turned to our advantage. It is always a good thing to have someone pave the way.

In the last few months our roles have been somewhat reversed and it has been kind of cool to be the more experienced sibling when it comes to our kids. Watching her turn in to a mom has been a wonderful experience.

As a human being, my older sister is kind, intelligent, humorous and an all-around great gal. I am so glad to have her both as a sister and as a friend.

Happy Birthday Sis!

A Birthday Letter From Squidette

Dear Mama Squid,
Today you are 40, the age you are meant to be, or so you say. You have provided Little Squid and me from the start what with food (don't contradict me) and socks and a place to live. You drive Little Squid and me to school and bring us to places we would never see otherwise. You give Papa Squid, Little squid, and me all the winter wear we need. You are loving, kind, caring, and have a sense of humor. You are good at your job and provide for us all. For all of this, Papa, Little, and I wish you a happy 40th birthday. We love you.

Love,
Squidette

Last Day ...

of my second score. (Or, last day of my 4th decade if you so prefer.) It was only as we came home that I realized that my family should be especially nice to me today since I will never be a 30-something again. They didn't buy it. But then Papa Squid and Squidette are busy making my birthday pie for tomorrow. Yum!

We hit the New York Botanical Gardens today for the train show. I really think that it should be called the "model house" show since that is the real highlight. There are dozens of scale versions of famous structures (buildings, bridges, lighthouses) all done in plant materials.The Guggenheim Museum done up in fungus.

The Haupt Conservatory where the show takes place. Now if they only left a window into it with a Conservatory within a Conservatory within a Conservatory ... that would be neat!

A view of NYC if the buildings were made of plant materials and were that close together. *grin*


More Train Show Photos can be found here.Before

After

A new breed of plant. These were popping up all over in the forest. Odd. We think they must be a type of fungus, all connected under ground.

Tomorrow, a guest post by Squidette!

The Sock Rides Again

If you are looking for Act 2 of The Saga of the Squirrel, give me a day or so. Much editing must be done before I feel that it is ready for the public. The Saga was originally written in the present tense and may present a certain respected person in a somewhat negative light so I am working on it and making sure to maintain the truth while protecting the innocent.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog ...

For the last two weeks I have, amazingly, not had a sock-in-progress. Instead, my carry-along project has been a pair of gauntlet mitts for our violin teacher. Yesterday I finished them. Tomorrow I will gently hit them with some steam and take a picture for you. After finishing them, however, I had the unreasonable urge to start another project mainly, socks. Grabbing a ball of yarn purchased this summer while traveling, I cast on twice for socks for Little Squid. I was going to put a pattern in to them but I've decided to go with my standard k2p2 ribbed all the way cuff and a plain foot. Knowing how Little Squid wears his sneakers, I think this is just safer in terms of lack of sag possibilities. I am also working on the second teacher scarf but that gets big, fast, so it is not my carry-along.

The sock is one anxious to get in to the thick of things so it came with us on our morning shopping excursion.

First it hit Home Depot and was amazed at how many drill sets they expect to sell this holiday season. It was also pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to return the fan purchased just yesterday. (The fan started to overheat within minutes of being plugged in.)Then the sock went to the Greenmarket at Union Square. Apples!At this point the sock saw a wool vendor and hid in terror of being sold so it was not able to witness this photograph which documents how New York Squid shop -- with shopping carts and luggage racks (for schleping the fan) in tow.

The Saga of the Squirrel: Act 1

Some background – I am an Assistant Principal at a New York City Public High School. The following story has absolutely nothing to do with the city’s Department of Education; it is only about a squirrel. All of the people involved really exist, and this tale is absolutely true.

The Setting:

A large High School Building near a park. The building, erected in 1941, has all the characteristics of that time – huge windows, double height ceilings and wonderful marble work in the entry way. Built before modern ventilation, all classrooms have enormous, double hung windows. The top sashes cannot be opened without the aide of a “window pole,” an item consisting of a wooden pole 9 – 12 feet long and 1.5 inches in diameter topped with a hook used to pull top sashes down and then push them back up. Basement classrooms have full sized windows by dint of concrete lined window pits that reach from ground level to the floor level of the room outside the window. The pits are probably eight feet wide from window to wall, and let in a good amount of light, as well as other things.

And now our tale ...

Once upon a time, a squirrel managed to get into one of the basement classrooms. Smart thinking staff members opened a window in a back “cage” (closet created with wire mesh walls), and shut the squirrel away from the main classroom. Classes went on in the outer room while the squirrel quietly explored his surroundings and decided that they were good. Every day we checked on him and periodically, thinking he was gone, shut the window. This went on for several days with him periodically reappearing to torment us. This guy wasn’t having any of that open window leading to trees and nature, he had discovered that high school students are a veritable font of snacks and, as far as we can figure, he made his way out of the cage each afternoon and munched happily on our kids’ leavings.

Meanwhile, a Squirrel Savvy teacher had gone out and purchased a Hav-a-Heart trap which we left in the cage. The squirrel, however, was more savvy than the teacher and, not needing the food in the cage, ignored it and went for the candy crumbs and sunflower seeds scattered about the classroom by considerate students.

Finally, after days of ignoring the humans in the room, he came through the rather crude cardboard barrier we had erected at the bottom of the cage door, and ventured in to the classroom while class was in session. This terrified our urban students, and they fled for the safety of a wildlife-free classroom. Something had to be done.

Our intrepid and creature-loving teacher decided on a more forceful approach to squirrel removal. Reclaiming his trap, he baited it with fresh peanut butter, and bravely ventured back in to the classroom. There he waited. And waited. And waited. All the while our furry friend had gone in to seclusion beneath the radiators. In those dark corners he lurked, waiting for us to leave him alone. The teacher was having none of it though and he requested that cheese be brought. The lovely ladies in the cafeteria complied, providing a whole meal worth of cheese for all involved in the venture, as well as the squirrel. Then the idea of toasting the cheese was suggested – the scintillating aroma might entice our friend out from his hiding place. Yours truly ran off to retrieve the toasting materials, and when I returned I was greeted with an urgent “hush!” Slipping into the room, I let the door close quickly and silently behind me, catching my skirt in the process. There were now three humans in the room – our squirrel savvy teacher, our fearless stockman and me with skirt caught in the door, unable to move.

I looked around the room, and saw that our furry friend had emerged from his hiding place and was sniffing about, looking for a snack. He wandered about the room sniffing here and there, but alas it was early in the day and no food had yet been deposited on the floor. After a while, his nose guided him to the trap. He approached from the side, sniffing experimentally. A paw snaked out and tried to snag the tasty treat inside, but he was thwarted by the fine mesh of the trap. Circling, he tried from the other side, to no avail. Finally, while the humans held their collective breath, he ventured in to the opening and sniffed at the food. Daintily he started licking the trigger. Oh so gently his tongue lapped at the peanut butter while all the while his front paws remained suspended in mid-air.

The humans looked at each other. This was, after all, an East Harlem squirrel. He was street smart, and not about to get caught in some silly old trap. Our Squirrel Savvy teacher motioned to the stockman who passed over the window pole. Slowly, moving with deliberate care, Squirrel Savvy held the pole like a harpoon, and moving as carefully as Queequeg going after that famous whale, he sighted on the trigger and snapped the trap closed! All rejoiced as our furry friend was paraded to the nearest exit, and taken to the nearby park, where he was released to join his brethren – and live to torment me another day.

Thus ends The Saga of the Squirrel. Act 1

The contents of this post are the sole property of Devorah Zamansky and may not be reproduced without permission.

The Day After

... is when you forget until the next holiday that you need: more serving utensils, a much larger table cloth and a pretty glass pitcher for water. Since today is Black Friday, I am unlikely to try to obtain these items. We may, however, try to obtain a new fire extinguisher (no, we did not exhaust the last one, it is just really old) and a new ceiling fan/light for Little Squid (lucky we didn't have a fire because of the old one ... then we might have had need for the extinguisher which was so old that the charge was probably gone). Those involve Home Depot which opens in a mere hour and should not, I hope be subject to the Black Friday masses.


Meanwhile I leave you with images from yesterday.Yes, that is Big Bird's head and tail in two of the photos -- we ventured out to the turn-off area from the parade for a few minutes.

Thanks to Ann and Susan for the sweet e-cards. You got my day started right!

Happy Black Friday All!

40 minutes

That's how long it took to get home from ignition on to ignition off. Good time if I must say so myself. Dave wins!

Cookie asks "what are they like?" in reference to my students. They are nice, usually polite, teens. In a small, cozy situation like the one I described yesterday (7 people in my small office can only be called cozy) they are delightful. En mass, as in during dismissal, they can be a true force.

I have the privilege to work in a "magnet" school. Most of the kids are there because they want to be there and want to go on to higher education. In our 25 years we have turned out Doctors and Lawyers and Teachers and many other professionals from a largely immigrant population. Some of our kids are the first in their families to finish high school let alone go to college. They take Advanced Placement classes by the bucket load and most do not flinch at the high standards that we expect of them. Ethnically our students span pretty much all of the groups represented in our fair city. From Bangladesh to Poland to the Dominican Republic and tons of other places, our diversity is truly amazing.

Sally asked how I find the time to do it. I'm not sure if you mean the knitting club or my personal knitting. Since I restarted the club one week ago I have come to realize that I was shortchanging myself and my students by not running it. As an administrator I could easily go all day without interacting with a student. The knitting club brings me into intimate contact with my constituency and grounds me in the realities of our school. I do it to remain grounded and, frankly, to have some fun. If you can find ways to make your job fun, I say do it! If it means that I have to work a little late one day to make up for the hour of club then so be it. If you mean the personal knitting ... why I find the time the same way as anyone else ... at home in front of the t.v., while waiting in lines, pretty much anywhere I can get away with it.

Syl talks about how teens come to see her as a big sister and not an authority figure. I find the same thing happening with my students. They do, however, recognize my authority in the building and my relationship with them actually helps to foster it. When I walk in to a classroom that has some of "my" kids in it, the class comes to attention more quickly and listens more attentively. That is one of the things I forgot the last two years when I let the club slip almost out of existence. The side benefits of the student-teacher bond last for a long time and spread throughout the school in the form of respect-by-association.

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job?

On other topics ... periodically we joke about the books we will write when we retire. Mine will be titled "Wildlife in the Public Schools" and will discuss the perils of squirrels, hamsters, chickens, snakes and the like in a NYC public high school. As a certifiable squirrel wrangler (not certified, just certifiable), I have several amusing stories to tell. Anyone interested in reading them?

Happy Thanksgiving All!

If it's Tuesday ...

... it is knitting club! Today saw 7 young ladies, one new and the rest returning from last week. For a full hour they sat and knit (one purled) and chatted. That is my favorite part of the group. The kids talk among themselves and tend to not realize that an "authority" figure is listening. I learn so much about my students just by quietly eavesdropping on their casual conversation. It probably isn't eaves dropping since they are aware that I am in the room. They talk about boys, other kids and, of course, their teachers. Totally fascinating.

As a group they would prefer if I stop announcing how many blanket squares we have (zero) so I told them to get busy knitting to get this blanket off the ground. It was suggested that I set a deadline so I did. We want the first blanket done by the winter break and will ask the church across the street if they have someone who could use it.

On the home front, one Violin Teacher Gauntlet is done and the second started. I would like to have it finished by the end of the long weekend but we will see if life gets in the way. The first Teacher Scarf is also almost done and should see bind off tomorrow.

Here's hoping that your "day before Thanksgiving" is a good one. Any bets on how long it will take me to get home on Wednesday? Hint: a fast commute is about 35 minutes, a "normal" commute runs closer to 45 minutes. Last Friday it took me almost an hour. The day of the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting it can take well over an hour and I do not go anywhere near the tree. Any takers? (No prizes ... just fun.)

Yes, I Can Finish Stuff

Look! I really can finish stuff! And ... using stash yarns! This is the newest niece's welcome blanket. Now I only have one more blankie that I have to knit and I could knit it in stash yarn but then it would be in worsted weight and that takes just that much longer then bulky. So ... I think that my colleague will wait another few weeks and I will focus on my holiday gifts for another 2 weeks and then pick up the bulky and knock out his blankie in December.

These went out yesterday.

The one on top is for Susan and the one on the bottom is for my Sock-ret pal. I do not think that she reads my blog so it should not be a give-away. Size, by the way, is no indication of contents. Those are just the boxes I had available.

Now back to knitting Gauntlets for our Violin teacher. I made a pair for her last year and then discovered that her eczema is aggravated by wool so she got a pretty scarf instead and sister-the-younger (of the no leafy greens) got the gauntlets. This year I am using a silk blend so hopefully dear violin teacher can wear them.

In Which Mama Squid Apologizies and Takes a Stand on Age

What I meant to say yesterday was that I clean up what is left after Papa Squid cooks. This usually includes a pot or pan if there were leftovers and the counters and sink. Papa Squid would like those out in blogland to understand that he cleans as he cooks. I must admit that he does do this. The kitchen takes from 5 to 15 minutes to clean up each evening and I rarely have to spend time scouring pots and pans. My sincerest apologies oh dear Papa Squid. Do I still get my birthday pie?

For those interested, this is Squidette's latest quilting project as of last night.(As of this writing one of the 16 small square is now complete.)

And these pictures show the vast amount of food that came in to the apartment yesterday.
Lots of yummy fresh foods from the Greenmarket and plenty of other basics to feed us for the coming week including, Thanksgiving. We are hosting this year with my sisters and parents coming to our apartment. The youngest nephew will be present and with 9 years separating him and his next youngest cousin, there will be plenty of adorable photo-ops.

(No dear younger sister, the green leafies are not for Thanksgiving -- promise.) The Turkeys (yes, plural) are buried in the bottom of the refrigerator and the potatoes (both sweet and white) are now in a dark cabinet awaiting their fate. (Again, dear family, the white potatoes are destined for mashing ala' a "normal" Thanksgiving feast.) Apparently a long past Thanksgiving has scared my dear family for life. No Pumpkin soup this year, promise.

Right now Squidette and Papa Squid are making apple pies. Yum! They are not destined for my Birthday Pie -- that will be Maple Cream and not available for consumption until the actual day that I leave my thirties. The Pecan and Pumpkin pies are already in the freezer.

Regarding my birthday, I must let all know, far and wide, that I am embracing it with arms wide open. I feel that I will finally be the age I am meant to be. After a long time spent figuring out who I am and what is "right" for me, I think I have finally reached a place in my life that is as close to right as it will ever be and it is damn good! Move over world -- 40 here I come!

Two Squid Went for a Walk ...

And found lots of neat stuff while managing not to buy any yarn despite stopping in two yarn stores. We did, however, get lots of chocolate for gifts ... and for eating. Also obtained were a neat octopus/squid stamp and a new stamp pad for Squidifying outgoing packages. The stamp came in to our possession as we wandered down Eighth Avenue looking for a place to buy a pen so we could log a geocache. We did get a pen with the stamping supplies but never found the cache. (We think another cacher was retrieving it when we approached.)

Continuing our wanderings we secured a cute present for the elder sibling and supplies for making dinner as well as for setting out before the Thanksgiving feast. While ambling down Sullivan Street we found a store with yummy savory pastries and munched on chicken pies before hitting Purl and Purl Quilts where Squidette saw the quilt she wanted to make. She is busy cutting away as I type this.

My "can't do anything right" phase seems to be over and I have successfully installed some of my more difficult-to-get-working applications on my new computer. I still have the GPS software to install so I may have just jinxed it. Printers, however, are still not accessible but I am leaving that issue to the Master since they are networked and he is the network admin and all around computer guru. (Who doesn't do Windows and hence despises my machine which must run Windows for work purposes.)

Yes, Squidette and I are supposed to cook dinner. Do I hear the sounds of laughter from far and wide? We are making chicken parmigania and she is leading since I have never cooked this. My intent was to make Chicken with a Mustard Shallot sauce but it seems that the cookbook with this recipe is at my sister-in-laws following the Great Apartment Purge of ’06. I, of course, am too chicken to wing it.

[Somewhat later due to Blogger issues ... The dinner was edible but was not quite as good as what Mike makes. (We all admit this.) Good man that he is, he did some of the clean up. Usually when I cook I have to clean as well while when he cooks ... I clean. I accept this inequity in the interest of edible and yummy food on my plate.]

Mess? What Mess?

I should not be allowed in the kitchen. There it is, plain and simple.

All I had to do tonight was to reheat some leftovers so that the kids would not starve. Repackaging the chili would be considered bonus.

How then, did I manage to create a huge mess?

How did I manage to get pasta sauce all over the immersion blender (and cord) while not actually using this device?

How did chili wind up all over the counter?

How did flakes of frozen pizza wind up all over the floor?

How is it that the only person who was really in the kitchen was me and yet the place still took as long to clean as if Mike had cooked?

I give up. Its the couch with a book for the rest of the night. Hopefully I can't get in to too much trouble there!

[Thanks for all the nice wishes about my wrist. It is healing amazingly fast and I might even knit a bit tonight. I swear that I will never lift weights in anger again.]

Ouch!

Lesson learned ... do not lift weights while angry. The result of trying to channel my anger ... a very sore "wrist." (It is actually a different part of my hand but in the same basic area.) I know I did not seriously damage it but I does hurt and certain actions are painful. I was good and really babied it yesterday -- lots of aleve and ice and very little of anything else, including knitting and spinning. Knitting is not one of the activities that hurts but I am trying to be smart here so it will heal faster. I am even typing one handed. Worst ... it is my right hand and I am a rightie. Blah.

At least it gets me some sympathy at work. I had to meet with the contractors yesterday and I am rather miffed with them so ... I let them think it was their fault. (It wasn't, I was angry at something else at the time ... the contractors have never made me so made that I needed to work off energy.)

This means that my dear new-niece's blankie is sitting waiting for its edging and the violin teacher's gauntlets are still rather gaunt.

On a positive note, on Sunday Squidette's knitting needles (circs that were her grandmother's) and knitting disappeared. Yesterday the needles were returned with a note saying that they had been turned in to the Synagogue with two completed blanket blocks! Very cool.

Now off to work where I will hopefully contain my frustration without injuring myself!

Add 10 to the Fold

For weeks I have been swearing that I would restart the knitting club at school but something always got in the way. Finally I made up a flyer and made sure that the club was announced every morning for a week (this was easy as I do the morning announcements). For the last few days kids kept coming up to me to ask when the knitting was happening.

Within minutes of the final bell, two young ladies were at my door. They were quickly joined by three more and then somehow another 5 squeezed in to my miniscule office. Within half an hour they had all mastered casting on (long tail over 2 needles) and were knitting away. The Principal came over and plyed them with donuts and candy. Somehow the entire box of M & Ms disappeared. I think her ploy of getting the youngen's to eat the chocolate worked a little too well and she and I will regret it when we need our chocolate fix tomorrow. I usually hold off with the candy until the club is well established and the kids come in in smaller groups. If they know you have candy they are around all the time ... *grin*

With 10 to start with, I expect a steady trickle during lunch and after school for the next few weeks. Way cool! I really get a kick from watching them learn and then listening to them talk while the knit away in my office. The last year was difficult for me as Mike and I adjusted to not having child care and the club never really got off the ground as my hours were somewhat limited after school. Now I am committed to Tuesday afternoons and this year to Warm Up America. First, however, I have to make more needles! (That or start teaching with thinner yarns and smaller needles of which I have a plethora.)

This morning I filled a pretzel jar with yarns in assorted colored it and labeled the jar "Warm Up America! Take a ball -- leave a "square." (Count on the teacher to have a problem with the word square when applied to a 7 X 9 blanket block.) The young ladies all got the lecture "if you like this and use the school supplies you must make at least one item for charity." As expected they all jumped at the opportunity.

I can't wait to see their progress tomorrow! While the club meets officially on Tuesday, I know from experience that they will be in and out of my office all day tomorrow and will be dragging their friends along with them. Just thinking about it makes me squirm with excitement! Squee!!!

Giving Up

I decided that it is time to give up on trying to keep Squidette small. The smushing does not seem to be working so well , she keeps growing out of her clothes ... and now she is doing as much growing "out" as she is growing "up." So instead, Papa Squid and I have decided to concentrate our efforts on keeping Little Squid little. We figure that our efforts with Squidette were defeated because we were also working on Little Squid and so everything we did was diluted. Today starts the first day of this new campaign. I'll let you know how it works.

[Note: Papa Squid had already started a campaign of slow starvation as so far he has forgotten to make lunches twice in the last two weeks.] [As Squidette is pointing out, his campaign is doomed to failure since Little Squid is perfectly capable of slapping a few pieces of salami on some bread and Squidette wields a mean peanut butter knife.]

Yesterday was Parent Teacher conferences at Little's school. His teachers told me that he is a pain in the tush and should be kept at home ... oh wait, that's not right ... no, only good things came out of the conference. Why is it that teachers see your kid through much clearer eyes? Why is it that my kid is a different (just as good) person at school? I guess he isn't really different but it is interesting and nice to hear their take on him.

Papa Squid does the middle school today -- partly so that he can pop in on some of his old teachers. We expect to hear more wonderful things about Squidette.

Hope your day is full of good news!