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x posted to: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) yarny_bits, diy_fluff, clothdiaperingAs a trade, someone gave me some Custom PUL that they wanted me to dye yarn to match with so they could knit up some longsies with it. In the process, I ended up dying swatches of yarn 10 different Wilton Cake Dye Colors. The process, if you're interested: In 2 cups of HOT WATER, I put in about 1/16th of a tsp of each dye, and let it dissolve in the water. Then I added 2/3rd cup vinegar and added about 1/2 oz of prepared Lion Brand Natural Fisherman's Yarn (soaked in a vinegar bath for at least 30 min). On the stove, I let each pot cook for about 10-20 minutes - basically when the water was clear. Then I cooled the yarn. The pictures below were taken on my cell phone's camera because my 8 yr old camera decided it didn't want to take pictures. All crayon's listed below are Crayola Brand Crayons, out of a 96 crayon box ( Black )( Brown )( Red )( Double Red )( Royal Blue )( Yellow )( Leaf Green )( Kelly Green )( Orange )( Violet )( Pink )( Group Shot )Maeve, my 11 yr old DD is excited, because she gets to learn to knit with these, LOL If you were wondering if I got my matches, I did ( and here they are )I had fun doing this. But doing this around a holiday wasn't the best idea.. LOL
Electra and I had Thanksgiving last Saturday at the American Consul General’s house in Sapporo. It was fantastic. And it turns out she’s really rad. It’s nice to know that people like her are representing us in those kinds of diplomatic positions.
Also, she has real ovens. In her house! Such luxury!!
Originally published at Roy Huggins Says Stuff. You can comment here or there.
Alex ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) oniugnip and I are in Phoenix, Arizona, apropos of nothing except that my grandpa Joe and his wife of thirteen years Joy live here and invited us to come visit for Thanksgiving. There are lots of cacti and twisty desert plants -- surprise! -- and it's hot during the day and really rather cool at night. This morning, we got out two dusty old road bikes that had been Joy's and her late husband Harry's many years ago, pumped up the tires, and took them for a spin through the neighborhood. Oranges, lemons, and limes are hanging voluptuously off the trees, and there's a giant copper statue of Barry Goldwater.
My grandpa is doing okay. He was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease a few years ago, and I knew that he had good days and bad days, but I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when we came here. Happily, he's mostly the same old Grandpa Joe, although he's not as energetic as he used to be. Earlier today, the four of us went for a stroll around their neighborhood -- about two-thirds of a mile -- and Joy told us later that it was the longest walk she'd gotten him to go on in three years. He also has trouble remembering to drink enough water. I was having some last night and told him he should do the same. "I get told that eight times a day," he said to me. "Well," I shot back, "I'm telling you for the ninth time." It's pretty odd to be in this position of telling my grandfather what to do, but Joy approved. I really like Joy; she's keenly observant of people and relationships, and she has a unique perspective on my family. Yesterday, I happened to mention to her that Alex communicates with his mom a lot more often than I do with mine, and I wondered whether I was doing something wrong. "Well, you know, Lindsey," Joy said, "it's impossible to have a short conversation with your mom." I burst out laughing, but of course, it's entirely true; my mom and I only talk once every several weeks or so, but we're typically on the phone for hours when we do, whereas Alex and his mom have a short conversation a couple of times a week. It all evens out -- but it took Joy's pointing it out for me to realize that.
We had Thanksgiving dinner with some friends of Joe and Joy's who live down the street. Their son works for the Department of State and travels all over the world, particularly to China. Alex asked him if it was hard to learn Mandarin, and his answer was an unqualified "Yes." He took intense courses six hours a day for a year and a half and has continued to work at it for the past five years. He's now married to a native speaker whose English is not so great, and he spent dinner alternating languages to converse either with her or with the rest of the table. Dinner was fantastic. People keep worrying about there not being anything for Alex and me to eat because *stage whisper* they're vegetarians, but the fact is, it just ain't that difficult.
It's strange, poking our heads out of the grad school cocoon to discover that it's the Holiday Season™. On Saturday, we'll return to Indiana for -- oh god -- just two more weeks of classes and one week of finals before the semester ends. At the moment, Aarthi kasuchi is graciously house- and cat-sitting for us and, I can only hope, engaging in extreme media consumption with the help of the fancy 32" LCD TV that we broke down and bought a few days ago. (I know, I know. But it's flat, so we can put it on the wall over the fireplace like we would a piece of art, meaning that the living room no longer has to contain a shrine to the TV.) Anyone want an old, heavy tube TV that Alex got for $40 on craigslist several years ago? ...Yeah, I didn't think so.
Yesterday, my housemate asked if Thanksgiving is a holiday all over the world, or mainly just here? We all knew that Canada has a Thanksgiving in October, but she had no idea if it's widespread in the rest of the world. I thought it was probably just here, and couldn't think of any other country that has it, but didn't know whether maybe a few others might... so I went searching the net. Apparently, one other country in the world has a national Thanksgiving holiday. It's on October 25th, in between the Canadian (2nd Monday of October) and American (4th Thursday of November). Do you know which country, and what the holiday is commemorating? Think of your answer. Then click here to check. Then come back and vote in my poll, and also leave a comment with your initial reaction once you found out (preferably before reading anyone else's comments). Poll #1490935 theotherthanksgiving
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 59 Do you know what other country has a national Thanksgiving holiday?
Lindsey and Alex: *brush teeth in bathroom*
Alex: *happens to glance up through skylight window*
Plane with giant 'GEICO' advertising banner: *flies directly overhead*
Lindsey: *continues brushing teeth*
Alex: *stiffens*
Lindsey: ...
Alex: AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGH! THEY KNOW WE HAVE A SKYLIGHT!
So we were originally going to get the kids a little wood barn and start them off with a few Ostheimer animals. But now Jake seems not as enthusiastic about it, so I'm trying to regroup. I thought I had done all the thinking for this, now have to start all over. I want to get them each an easel from IKEA because they're so simple and cheap. But I'm also torn about the tabletop easels here. http://www.magiccabin.com/product.asp?pcode=724 More expensive, but more portable and maybe more practical? I haven't decided. Pros and cons to each. Thoughts? I want to get Jake a little toy toolbench, but Jake thinks he's too young. I don't know, I spend half my day watching Philip take things apart and put them back together. http://www.magiccabin.com/product.asp?section_id=2003&department=1101&search_type=category&search_value=2101&cm_val=&cm_pos=&cur_index=&cm_type=bandept&pcode=132 http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=3148&f=4811http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=10082&f=617JAKE!!! look at this one. http://www.carlandme.com/bau30810.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/EverEarth-32600-Workbench-Toddlers-Maxim/dp/B002CYEOKE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1259439569&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q2SXY2/ref=asc_df_B000Q2SXY2973090?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=dealt1-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B000Q2SXY2I really want to get them both some dress up clothes. But high quality ones made of nice materials. Where should I be looking? Tell me where you get your favorite dress up clothes! http://www.treehollowtoys.com/sarah-s-silks-costume.htmlhttp://www.atoygarden.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1102http://www.atoygarden.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=525http://www.blueberryforest.com/play_silks_costumes/play_silks_costumes.htmAlso, I'm totally counting on you guys to share coupon codes as you get them, and I'll be posting all the ones I get. I would love to get them a big building set, like the Haba Little Amsterdam city blocks-- http://www.oliebollen.com/detail.aspx?ID=8803&cc=go http://www.magiccabin.com/product.asp?section_id=0&department=0&search_type=normal&search_value=stencils&cur_index=&pcode=1886And just in case, the barns we were thinking of... http://www.rosiehippo.com/p-906-crechelittle-barn-wdoor-gate.aspx#http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32497673&ref=sr_gallery_9&&ga_search_query=toy+barn&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=3&includes[]=tags&includes[]=titlehttp://www.rosiehippo.com/p-1783-horse-stable.aspxMaybe Topie will wear tights if they're these? http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_item.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524445985152&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306252966&bmUID=1259355828798&productSizeSelected=0http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_item.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524445984129&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306231096&bmUID=1259355904362&productSizeSelected=0http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/CrewCutBrowse/Girl_Shop_By_Category/everydaydresses/knitsweaterdresses/PRDOVR~20594/20594.jspFor Philip, a little backpack like the one we got Topie for her birthday--they have boy colors too. http://store.imaginechildhood.com/organiccottonbackpack.aspxhttp://WillowTreeToys.com/Blue-Swirl-Princess-Costume-Extra-Small/M/B000W3SXRW.htm
I need nursing pads for the spring, but i'm having a hard time trying to figure out how many layers i need, what i want to make them out of... etc. do i need a waterproof layer? i have a bucket load of pul that i'm using for covers, i'll probably have enough scraps for a few pads. if i use wool, how thick do i need it to be? [at a total loss] Thanks!
I've started taking tae kwon do with my kids the last few months. Yesterday was the belt test. They let me skip from no belt past white belt, so I tested for gold belt right along with Son the Younger. Even though testing is about much more than just breaking a board, you can't help but see it as a major milestone. StY is not quite big enough yet to break a board yet, but he gave it a good try. Son the Elder was testing for red belt, at a much more advanced level. It's actually quite impressive what he can do at a mere eight years of age. He wasn't quite able to break the board, but it cracked pretty audibly. They give the grown-ups wider and thicker boards than the kids, but I still gave a nice strong stepping side kick and broke it on my first try. It was much more satisfying than I expected it to be. DH isn't doing tae kwon do, but I had bought a large blue Hubbard squash that I was having difficulty cutting up. He grabbed the big cleaver and hacked away at it, yelling and everything, and now there are bits of squash all over the kitchen. Good thing it's his job to sweep the kitchen floor.
Jake: Philip, I will buy everyone ICE CREAM if you pee in the potty. Philip: pees on floor Topie, later: Daddy! Philip peed in the potty a tiny bit when you weren't looking, I SAW him. Me: Jake, is there any pee in the potty? Jake: No. --insert chastising Topie for lying, etc etc.--- Me: Philip, time is running out tonight! Topie, chasing Philip: Baby, baby, drink some water!
Athena Rose Bateman-Brown
Born 11/21/2009 at 2:04 AM
Weighed 5 lbs 11 ounces, 18 inches long
Mother and daughter are both exhausted, but otherwise well
Though they probably won't stay, the little girl was born with grey eyes.
So far, I've cried more than she has.
At some point when Scott was in town last month, we were discussing the importance of sleep and the effects of psychoactive stimulants, and he had some clever turn of phrase about how coffee is good for "paving over the cognitive potholes" of the afternoon. Since then, my friends and I have been grinning knowingly at each other and saying "potholes" whenever we pass each other in the stairwell clutching steaming to-go cups from Sugar and Spice.
The trouble is that I've been paving over a pothole that has now become four days wide. Each of the last three days has been an important due date for some assignment or project, and I've been sleeping about four hours per night. But finally, finally, it's all done and I can actually sleep, and I have no major deadlines for a week and a half.
Of course, there's always more to do. But I'm not going to do any of it tomorrow. I'm going to go to class and rehearsal, and then I'm going to come home and read Algorithms in a Nutshell, a book that should probably have the alternate title You Have A Job Interview In Two Days, Don't You, You Poor Sucker.
In the hallowed tradition of stealing the low-res versions of one's race photos from the professional sports photographer's website rather than shelling out for the high-res ones, here are some pictures from the marathon that Alex oniugnip and I ran a couple of weeks ago!
Because I didn't post these quickly enough (if photos exist of any given event, I typically post them with a delay of two weeks to, oh, several years1), Alex also whipped up a page of all of them.
- For instance, I recently finished titling, tagging, and posting the photos from our trip to Japan that took place in March freaking 2008. I still intend to actually write about the latter five days of the trip. Yep, look for that any day now!
DH insisted that my last post needed a follow-up, so here you go. NSF grant proposals were due yesterday. So, Sunday night, I stayed up working until 5:30am. DH, an incorrigible early-riser, had the nerve to say, "good morning" when I got into bed. I slept for about 2.5 hours. I got in to work and worked pretty much non-stop until about 3:30pm, when I finally turned in my proposal and had my lunch. Then I went and auditioned for a play. And I would have crashed as soon as I got home, but DH was laundering the bed sheets. I couldn't stay grumpy at him, though, because the new mattress pad and warm, clean sheets were too cozy for me to even stay awake to be grumpy. On a completely different note, is there anyone out there who knows how to get google to unlock my blog on blogspot that's been labeled as spam? They've been taking their sweet time about reviewing it. |
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