Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Dogs Not Allowed

While riding on Monday, we spotted several signs like this one. Um ... what lawn?
This was a breakfast ride, up to Fairway to get muffins and scones and then back toward home with stops in some newly opened sections of the Hudson River Park.

Just North of the Cruise Ship terminal, we found this.

We also found some tables on which to enjoy these. Yum! Like our tablecloth?South of the terminal we got a good view of the sole Manhattan docked participant of Fleet Week. Not sure why there are not more ships but it may have something to do with the Intrepid being out of town for repairs. The rest were in Brooklyn.

Just south of the ship terminal we discovered this wonderful public area. Water toys to play with,

and fountains to frolic in. We see this one as a good cooling stop on our way home from a long ride.

We also discovered this, a prototype to a raft that is being built with the aim of sailing the Atlantic. Sharp-eyed (usually oblivious) Little Squid spotted this gargoyle in a small garden. We like gargoyles!


Next up, three concerts and a dance performance! And ... Mama Squid gets invited to the Prom!!!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

You Can't Buy Time

As the school year winds to a close I find myself being asked the eternal question: "Are you working summer school."

The answer, a simple "No."

The reason?

You can't buy time.

If I work during the summer, I earn more money but I don't see my husband

And I don't see my kids.

You Can't Buy Time

If I don't work I can take my kids to camp 5 days a week for 5 weeks.

Then I can spend the daytime hours with my spouse.

You Can't Buy Time

We can paint the apartment.

We can take long walks.

We can enjoy each others company.

You Can't Buy Time

In the evenings we can retrieve the kids and take long bike rides in everlasting summer days.

We can go for ice cream and listen to each other.

You Can't Buy Time

When camp is done we can travel and explore.

We can camp and we can visit.

We can be a family.

You Can't Buy Time

... And a Birthday

How do you make your Mom cry? Well first you get your baby brother married. Then you and your sibs surprise her with a birthday cake. Then the sibs revise a poem written by Dad for all of us and turn it into a Mom-specific poem. Finally, you put up sappy posts about your brother's wedding.
Happy Birthday Mom!

Monday, May 28, 2007

Bring on the Chupah

The following is a collection of pictures from the wedding. Only Squid and Squid siblings / parents are shown here to protect the innocent. There will be one more wedding related post and then you will be returned to your regularly scheduled knitting/family/biking blog. In future posts you can look forward to not one but two one skein wonders, an apartment in a bottle and the Hudson River Conservancy thinking that the river is a lawn.

Meanwhile I return you to my brother's wedding where you get to see how well the Squid clean up.
***

After a day of hard play, we all bathed and dressed and otherwise got ready.
Some of us had to repeat the process a few times. Little Squid was buttoned up for the pictures and as soon as we were done he unbuttoned the jacket ... and his shirt was untucked again. Like father, like son.Some of us found our toe nails being painted at the very last minute. Oops! Yet others needed a prenuptual drink. Or maybe some cereal.Look, all of my siblings at once! The man of the hour is in the middle. We are not, by the way, in age order. I'm not revealing where I fall in the mix but I am not the eldest.
Mother of the Groom. Doesn't Mom look great? Saw 5 kids through their teens and hasn't aged a bit. (We'll have some more on her tomorrow. Tee Hee!)

Got Little Squid on the dance floor ... his comment "o.k., you got me dancing but I still don't like it." Hence, no picture. Squidette on the other hand, discovered that she likes to dance ... and does it pretty well.Dancing with Daddy. Boy I hope someone got a picture of me dancing with my dad. These things don't happen that often.This is the third time they have danced at one of our weddings. Things just keep getting better and better, don't they. Yes, I got my husband tipsy enough that he not only danced with me but he enjoyed it!

May they be together for a long, long time.

Tomorrow, a belated birthday post for Mom and then a return to your regularly scheduled blog.

Festivities before the Festivities

My athletic brother and sister-in-law chose a site for their wedding where people could get outside and get physical.

Materials were provided for those who chose to kick and toss and hit.Wooded paths served the joggers and hikers. (Pictures of this are on Squidette's camera and have yet to be downloaded.)

A lovely lake placated those who needed to swim.Tennis and Lace anyone?Some softball.(Squidette at Bat ... she swings ... and she misses.)

Followed by Bride vs. Groom Kickball (the Groom's team won).

I was on the Bride's team with Mom and my nephew while the Squidlings were on the Groom's team with their grandfather. (Papa Squid was the official Kickball Photographer.)We will not talk about the fact that I missed this kick. Oops!And then there were strange faces.
And the view from our room.
When we arrived on Friday we were immediately instructed to put on our bathing suits and join my Dad and older sister at the lake. Being a good girl, I did just that. (Mike took a nap and hooked up his computer.) The kids frolicked with each other and then with their older cousin while my younger nephew hung out with us on the beach.

Swim time was followed by a bar-b-que where we spent quality time reconnecting with friends and relatives. The bar-b-que ended in a camp fire and s'mores. Yum!

Saturday dawned initially bright and clear and perfect for kickball and other outdoor activities. We all ran around in the morning and then we four took off to REI and my cousin's house so the second cousins could play for a while. (The visit to REI netted new bike shoes which work well with my handknit socks. They are also more comfortable to walk in.)

We hustled back to the Inn to shower and change for pictures and then the wedding. Tales and photographic evidence will follow in my next post. Consider this a cliff hanger ...








Sunday, May 27, 2007

An Ode to a Wedding Weekend

An Ode to a Wedding Weekend

Balls flew, marshmallows toasted, hugs given and received.

Dances danced, tears shed and two became one.

Stories exchanged, children complimented and daughters danced with fathers.

How you've grown, how you've changed, how you've remained the same.

My they're grown up, gee how nice, boy they're so smart.

Families grow and change and yet,

They always remain the same.Josh and Jaye, may your years together be many and full of joy!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Try to

amuse yourselves while I go off line for a couple of days. I expect to be spending too much time with family to blog for a few days. If you need some help on the amusement front, we have readjusted the TurtleCam for your enjoyment.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Pretty Silk!

For the curious, this is the roving that the yarn for the silk stole is being spun from. The roving is from Interlacements and totals 4 ounces. I suspect that less than half of it will wind up in the stole.
The spindle is from the Bosworths. I do not remember the type of wood but I love it!
And, just for the heck of it ... proof that if you wait for Morning Glories to sprout, you could be waiting a long time. These were planted at least 2 years ago, maybe more. I suspect my basil will not make it with the competition from the vines.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Last Tooth

Yet one more sign that my little girl is growing up. (as if being only 8 inches shorter then me isn't a sign) The Last Tooth got yanked yesterday by yours truly. Only 2, maybe 3 of Squidette's teeth have come out without motherly intervention. I have no idea why, that's just the way it has been. I am very glad to not have to poke my fingers in her mouth again. Yick! What mothers do out of love.

Our family is starting to converge on the wedding site. Watch out Massachusetts! The Squid relatives are coming! (Oh wait, some of them live there ...) Between now and tomorrow night I have to figure out some things to do both on the way and once we are there. I don't see too much "free" time on Friday since I fear the worst traffic-wise but Saturday should be wide open until an hour or so before the wedding. No, my yarn hasn't arrived yet but I was not expecting it before this evening so it still has time. My hair sticks haven't arrived yet, either. They were sent Express Mail yesterday. I have no faith that they will actually arrive in time. (The yarn, however, I have faith in. It's a Murphy's Law kind of thing.)

Look! Knitting! I have actually made measurable progress. As in, you can measure it now!

Monday, May 21, 2007

Presents and Memories

When I came home today I found this package sitting on the table. Inside was the sweetest note from Susan and this fiber. The green says that it is Bamboo Silk and the Blue doesn't say but feels like silk.
Soft, fibery love. Thank you so much, Susan!

There was a request for the story of the Lobster earrings. So, being ever the obedient blogger, here goes. Way back when, oh, about 21 years ago this May, I started hanging out with this really great guy that I knew from high school. We had reconnected a few months earlier and were well on the way to becoming best friends. During that first summer we frequented cartoon night at the Thalia (now a part of Symphony Space), attended Concerts in the Park and drank wine under the stars. On July 4 we watched the fireworks while sitting together on the Brooklyn Bridge. At the end of the evening, he kissed me lightly on the lips.

Sometime during that summer, while we were hanging with a great group of friends after waiting hours to get our tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, we wandered over to a store on the West Side and he bought me my very first present.
Lobster Earrings. Then...


And now. Yes, the same earrings, 21 years later. Want a better look at that perm I was sporting?
Remember that mini skirt I mentioned a few posts ago? Doesn't look nearly as short as I thought it was. (I had another picture of it but this one shows the aqua better.)

(A nicer "now" picture.)

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Good Friends, Good Knitting

We spent practically all day, yesterday, in the apartment while Squidette and her friends worked on their science fair project. Little Squid and I took a couple of short walks and accomplished a lot. Little Squid is leaving tomorrow for a three day- two night trip with his class. Luggage is packed and he is both excited and nervous. I'm just nervous because, hey, I'm his mom.

In the evening I ran out to hook up with an old college friend (the friendship is old, the friend is my age). She was leading her daughter's Girl Scout troupe on a tour of NYC. I joined up with them in Times Square and partly tagged along, partly played tour guide for a few hours with the party of four girls and three adults. It was great to reconnect after so many years. Neither of us had even met the other's kids even though we were at each other's weddings oh so many years ago. It is wonderful to find that we are still so compatible after so much time. Her daughter and friends are lovely young ladies and were a joy to meet. I will make an effort to get out to her place this summer and share my family with her.

In knitting news (this is a knitting blog, after all), I started my newest project.

A stole. 180 stitches of spindle spun, triple plied, cobweb weight silk on size zero needles. I have about an inch done. Pattern stitch is Old Shale with a 12 stitch repeat. Any guesses as to how long it will take if this is my main t.v. knitting and I only watch about an hour of t.v. a night? There is already about 2 hours worth of work in it and it is about an inch long. I promise that I have other projects to take on the trip to the wedding.

Today was the spring Mitzvah day at our synagogue. Squidette was once again my able assistant, winding yarn, knitting and teaching other tweens how to knit. Love that kid!
We brought home enough squares to complete a blanket and I will alternate my teeny-tiny lace knitting with crocheting the blanket together.

This will be a short work week due to the need to travel to the wedding. I try not to take the kids out of school but this is a special and once in a lifetime occassion. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. My brother is getting married!!! Go Josh and Jaye!!!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

7 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

MeMe MeMe Meeeee!

1. I cannot clap in time. Really!

2. My hair was permed for 2 years while I was in college.

3. The first gift Papa Squid ever bought for me was a pair of plastic Lobster Earrings. I still have them.

4. I'm not overly fond of air conditioning. Even as I am begging the contractors to return it to other offices I'm telling them that mine can wait.

5. I could never play poker -- my emotions always show on my face.

6. I'm a cat person at heart even though I am allergic.

7. If I ever get back into the classroom, I want to teach freshman biology again. I LOVE that course!

I'm not sure who has and has not been tagged at this point so, if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Moving Right Along

So I finally drowned my sorrows in yarn with an order from Halcyon. It's been years since I ordered from them but I really wanted blocking wires for this project (pictured below) and I know that they used to ship really quickly. Like, if I order today I can expect the package on or near Wednesday. In this case, hopefully before we leave for the wedding. With the wires I ordered enough of two different shiny black yarns to make a "one skein wonder" to wear to Friday night's bar-b-que. Think I'm being too ambitious? Or would expecting to knock out two one-skein wonders be too ambitious. The second one? For Squidette, of course! Got to cover those skimpy straps of her dress for the wedding. ;-)
The weather is supposed to be the pits tomorrow so it will be a stay-at-home day and I should finish this scarf. Also on the to do list is pack for Little Squid's three-day trip next week and maybe going to see Shrek 3. The last one is up in the air and will be dependent on the lines when we choose to go. Usually we go to the movies first thing in the morning when no one in their right mind would go but Squidette has to work on her science fair project so that is out.

Hope all your weekend plans work out for the best!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Look! A Monkey!

The title of this post is actually a distraction technique from "Give Me the Brain," a favorite game in the Squid household.

So ... Look! Some Knitting!Yes, my feet really are that big!

May this knitting, Crenellated Toe-Up Socks from "Cool Socks, Warm Feet" by Lucy Neatby, distract you from the fact that I am not going to explain why I was upset yesterday. After thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot explain my distress in such a public forum as this blog. I am, by the way, still upset and suspect that I will harbor some degree of this until school lets out. No one died but it kind of feels like it.

Meanwhile, this blog will focus on the happy things. Like ... Hey, my baby brother is getting married in 10 days. Woo Hoo!!! Now if I can only figure out what knitting to take with me ...