St Patty recap

The last thing I learned from Disney World is that if you and a 10 year old come barrelling out of an Irish themed pub singing "Wild Rover," you will get looks. Now, how does Little Clover know the words to "Wild Rover"? Because we've been listening to Irish tunes in preparation for St. Patty's.

Last year, I tried my hand at making fish and chips. Other than making way too much food, the experience went pretty well. This year, I added Nigella Lawson's Guiness Chocolate Cake to the menu.

From St Patricks Day 2010

I definitely could have done a better job with the fish. I whisked the batter way too much and I only had wheat flour on hand. I'm going to work on improving my fish recipe and will probably make an Irish Stew instead for next year. The cake, though, is a keeper! Not only does it look great posing with the Black and Tans (the grocer was out of Harp, so we reverted to B&Ts instead of our usual Half and Halfs), but the cake was moist and delicious. It makes a great breakfast, too.

From St Patricks Day 2010

We did have one mishap when I tried to take a photo of the entire meal:

From St Patricks Day 2010

I spilt Italian's nearly full B&T. Thankfully, he's skilled at making another.

From St Patricks Day 2010

We danced to Irish tunes as we cooked, we danced after we ate, and then we danced some more later in the evening. Although we missed Xavier Guy who couldn't be with us, we had a grand time. Next year, I think we need a bigger party.

Things I learned at Disney World

1. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has an incredible view.

From Disney March 2010

2. Zebras, elands, ostriches, and giraffes love to hang out by the hotel rooms, and you will end up naming the ones you see every day.

From Disney March 2010

3. Sometimes, ostriches follow a car for no other reason than to see where you are going.

4. Ten year old boys walk with a swagger when dressed in full pirate regalia.

From Disney March 2010

5. A ten year old boy will still walk holding his mother's hand when not dressed in full pirate regalia.

6. If you tell your server at the restaurant in France (at Epcot) that your horse just had a foal, not only will he ask if you own a ranch and dress as a cowboy, but he will now be fully confirmed in his belief that all Americans own horses and dress as cowboys.

7. While speaking in Korean to a Disney employee, it is perfectly fine to tell her that you meant to say "Thank you" (in Korean) instead of just blurting out "I love you" (in Korean). She will nod and say "Ah, ok" (in English).

8. Korean employees at Disney World are shocked and amused when a ten year old Irish complexioned boy with an Irish name and Irish freckles say "hello" in Korean. Then they look with surprised happiness at the Asian looking mom of said Irish boy.

9. When you speak German in Germany (at Epcot), you will totally make their day.

10. You beam with pride when you are told in France (at Epcot) that your son has a wonderful French accent, and you are equally amazed that he can hold a conversation in French. You wonder what he just said.

Spring Break

The snow has finally melted and spring is definitely nearing. While we were holed up in the house with a lovely fire glowing in out living room, I've been knitting up a storm to match the icy weather outside.

There's the February Lady Sweater that will hopefully be wearable at Maryland Sheep and Wool:

From WIPs

The Bohus Sweater, Wild Apple, is coming along nicely, and it is lovely, quite lovely. I'm taking my time so it can last longer.

From WIPs

Let's look at it again, just because:

From WIPs

Spring also isn't spring without babies. Two little babies will have their first pair of hand knit socks. If they are lucky, these little socks will be the first of many:

From 2010 Finished Objects

I've also had a nice alpaca lace stole resting on my lap.

From WIPs

Since this is my second Print o' the Wave stole, I have a bit more confidence and it's knitting up quickly.

Speaking of alpaca, I visited a local alpaca farm, just to start getting an idea of what it is like raising alpaca. I learned they are friendly, relatively low maintenance, and darn cute.

From Irish Clover

Our horse had it's baby and our local zoo welcomed a new giraffe.

From Irish Clover

Finally, Little Clover had his Spring Break, and we decided to have one more trip to Disney World, while he was still a little guy in many ways. To be honest, I am very glad we went. In many ways, he was still a little boy inside and Disney still was magical. We rode the big kid roller coasters, but we also rode the less intense rides. No trip to Disney is complete without riding "It's a Small World." We saw spectacular fireworks, including watching fireworks while riding Big Thunder Mountain, danced on Main Street to music from "High School Musical" and we wore our mouse ears with pride and gusto. The best part of the trip though was seeing my little boy on the cusp of big kiddom transformed into a swaggering pirate.

From Disney March 2010

He even had the piraty glower down.

From Disney March 2010

The grown ups on the trip got into the fun as well by posing with Tigger.

From Disney March 2010

The sock enjoyed the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular:

From Disney March 2010

All in all, it was a magical trip.

From Disney March 2010

I thought this was the South

From 2010 Finished Objects

As you may have noticed from the picture of the finished socks with the heart stopping blue stripe, there was snow in dem dar hills. We had our annual day of snow last Monday. The four inches was ample fodder for the annual Clover snowball fight, which was complete with knitted hat:

From Buzz

And snow stained clothing:

From Buzz

We built the annual snowman and off course, had the obligatory cup of hot chocolate by a roaring fire. These are the types of obligations I love. To top it all off, the snow came back today with a slight dusting and beautifully lovely large flakes. There's something to be said about watching the Winter Olympics while knitting and seeing snow drift down from the skies. Happy Winter!

Move over Chicken Little

I finished the sock and continued to loved the blue. Having some completely mindless stockinette was a god sent this past week. Things have been a little hectic. Little Clover received a lot of big kid accessories for his room and it was time to make the conversion. I called a painter to get some quotes, we set a date, and then completely packed up the contents of his room and shoved it in a disorganized state into our spare room. He had a lot of stuff.

The painters were supposed to come last Friday. I'd arranged to work from home and the remainder of that weekend would be spent in putting Little Clover's room back together, and I would beginning transitioning him on the blog from "Little Clover" to something else. Then, the sky fell, literally and figuratively.

We have textured ceilings in our house. The painters were to remove the textured ceiling in Little Clover's room, then in a few weeks, make their way into the master bathroom. I think the master bathroom got jealous because the textured ceiling began to fall in chunks last Wednesday night, while Little Clover was taking a shower. It was messy. We (actually, Italian, I stayed out of the way) scraped away at the ceiling late into the night and I packed up the master bath. Now, we had serious clutter and our lives were scattered around the four corners of our home, but that was going to be ok, the painters were coming Friday and our lives would be restored by Sunday.

I bet you can guess things didn't pan out that way. That Friday brought our first ice storm in about 10 years, which in turn, pretty much closed the city. The painters reschedule for Sunday, which only threw off my plan by two days. I could adjust. We enjoyed the ice, marveling at how pretty the trees and the grass looked encase in glimmering frozen water.

From Irish Clover

Then, the painters cancelled for Sunday. Work is a little too hectic for me to try and arrange another work from home day, and I really needed to be able to get to my toothbrush without moving a fish tank, Little Clovers assortment of rocks and toys, and dancing around the shelves that were once in his room. I decided the painting needed to be done now. In an effort to preserve our sanity, Italian volunteered to handle the messiness that is removing a textured ceiling.

I bought painting supplies. Xavier Guy came over to help and Little Clover joined in the mix.

From Irish Clover

We scrapped and scrapped, and prepped, and scrapped some more. My new goal was to have the painting done, and the rooms somewhat back in order before the big game Sunday. At a bare minimum, I want my toothbrush back in it's old corner of our bathroom.

We made the goal, and if there is any question as to where our loyalties lie, I'll let Little Clover's room answer that.

From Irish Clover

Let's go Colts!

From Irish Clover

Love, true love, has brought us together today

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I finished Committed, and am at an understanding with the book. I would say this book is worth a read, but as a reader, one must be committed to the book. A reader has to go into this book with an open mind (a few of Gilbert's views may be too liberal for some) and a reader absolutely must finish the book. This is not the type of book one can pick up, read a few chapters of and then put down. You'll walk away with an incomplete viewpoint and it isn't fair to you nor is it fair to Gilbert to not finish this book once you start it. In this way, the book itself is an excellent metaphor to marriage and relationships.So, why did I read the book? There were no imminent questions about marriage in my life requiring reflection. Italian and I are happy in our marriage and have really grown up together, supporting each other along the way. Honestly, I picked up the book because I wanted to know if Elizabeth got married. Why did I care? Because it seemed obvious to me they were in love at the end of Eat, Pray, Love. That was it. The book, then, was a surprise in its discourse on the institute of marriage, and I realized while reading it that I have also separated the concepts of being bound by love to another person and the social construct of legally binding two people into a specialized contract. I've viewed the contractual arrangement of marriage and the aspects of love and intimacy as two distinct parts of being married, and they happen at different times. Sometimes, one is even missing.Overall, without "giving away" the book and without betraying the intimate aspects of my marriage, I would say Gilbert's book is a modern look at marriage and her reflection on the topic is at a level often missing in today's world. Just like a good marriage, if you start it, you do have to invest time into it, hearing out her arguments, and seeing how she finds peace. For those getting married, it's a good read to spark discussion. For those married, it's a good read to spark discussion. For those contemplating if they ever want to get married, I think this book will be especially poignant. Getting married is a very public display of an extremely personally decision, and Gilbert's public display of her struggle with the decision may be relevant or insightful.

View all my reviews >>

In love

From WIPs

I am in love with this blue and the contrast it presents in this sock. I hope to still be in love with it by the time I knit the second sock, but for right now, my fickle yarn love is in love with this blue, and it is a contrast, not a juxtaposition. I see the dark mauve as a juxtaposition. It is an opposite to the olive, brown, and yellow main theme of the yarn. It is even opposite these colors on the color wheel. The mauvy maroon brings a smile to my face when it appears on the needles. The blue, though, it stops my heart. It is an exhilarating shock when it appears, moving the color scheme in the opposite direction of the color wheel, causing a wonderful contrast to the olive, yellow, and brown. It's like a piece of deliciously wonderful dark chocolate melting in ones mouth. I love this blue.

In addition to knitting this brillant blue, I'm still listening to Committed. Gilbert does mention how some of her friends and family thoroughly enjoy motherhood, but she also mentions others she knows who doesn't recommend it. I found this disheartening. She does go on to extoll the joys of being part of the "Auntie Brigade," one of many childless women who go on to be the generous benificiaries of nieces and nephews. I personally have benefited from childless aunts and do agree they are vitally important to families and society as a whole.

I still struggle with the books negative tone on sacrifice, within parenthood and marriage. I think I'm struggling with it because while I'm reading her statements, my mind is repeated saying, "Well, yes, there is sacrifice involved in being a parent and/or married." I'm having a hard time with her having a hard with it. Whenever, and I really mean whenever, one engages with another human being, sacrifices are being made.

To me, that is the nature of living in a society. If one doesn't want to make sacrifices for the sake of another individual, then one must become a hermit. Seriously. The act of going to the grocery store involves sacrifice. I would love to not have to wait in line to check out, but I do. I would love to be able to push that person trying to find the perfect apple out of my way so I can buy an orange, any orange, but I don't. Instead, I sacrifice my time for the sake of maintaining harmony.

Granted, sacrifices within a marriage and within parenthood can be much larger sacrifices, but the rewards are also much larger rewards. In business terms, the ROI trends greater the more intimate the relationship. For instance, last night, I ordered in Chinese take out, opened a lovely bottle of Savignon Blanc to compliment the spice, knitted to my hearts content, but watched whatever my little guy wanted on television. In return, I got a ton of snuggles, excellent quality time with my little guy, and a vast amount of information on the venmous snake response team in Florida and a lion named Christian who was bought by two Aussies in a British department store. All in all, an excellent evening of sacrifice and compromise.

From Irish Clover

In defense of motherhood

Confession, this will probably be a rambling post, so I will apologize in advance. The post is sparked by listening to Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. She wrote Eat, Pray, Love which I enjoyed reading immensely about a year long personal journey she took to sort out certain things in her life. In this journey, she left a failing marriage and hedonistically devoted a year to doing what she wanted to do, traveling to Italy indulging in food and language, traveling to India, indulging in prayer and meditation, and indulging in paradise where she learned to love again. It was truly a great book.

Now, I'm listening to her latest, Committed, where she finds peace with marriage. I'm on chapter 5. So far, the book has been a great exploration of Western marriage history and I've enjoyed it, but, and this is a very big but, I've just hit the part where she discusses the "Marriage Imbalance." To illustrate this point, she draws upon her's mother's choice to leave her career when her husband refuses to stay at home for 2 days with his chicken pox infested children so she could attend a conference. I'm sure Gilbert's tone is not intentional (and I tried to find her email address to email her personally, but was unable to find it), but it comes across as condemning motherhood. She speaks of the "cost" of motherhood, but she doesn't (at least not yet) talk about the rewards and dividends of motherhood. Yes, being a mother can be a huge sacrifice. There have been plenty of days when I wanted badly to do nothing but order in Chinese take-out, kick back with a lovely Savignon Blanc to compliment the spice, and watch whatever the heck I wanted on TV while I knitted to my heart's content.

Instead, I did homework with my child, drove him to sports practice, played Raffi yet one more time for him, while I read once more the tired picture book I just read five minutes ago. I've turned down opportunities for traveling with my job and exciting projects and maybe some interesting career opportunities, not because I choose my family, but because the opportunity to see my baby boy step onto a stage to sing a solo to a roomful of strangers while his voice carried forth on the radio was way more exhilarating and incredible and memorable than a 7% increase in salary and a chance to sit on a plane for 3 hours to fly somewhere and sleep in a hotel. I get paid daily in gratitude that arrives in the form of a hug every morning, a kiss on the cheek every night, and remarkable insights into the development of another human being. I'm given the chance to be a guiding force in someone else's life and I have the gift of knowing I truly matter in someone's existence. My impact on the world is tangible. I see it daily in the development of my child.

I understand parenthood isn't for everyone. For a while, I wondered if I was cut out for the job. What I ask for in this post is that if you choose not to be a parent, don't belittle the choice of others to be one. Respect their decision and respect that you will never understand the joys and rewards of parenthood, just as we, the ones who choose to be parents, will never understand your personal joys of childlessness. If we are to preach and live a life of Feminism and equality, that includes accepting that some women want to be mothers and strive to be great at it. This choice of motherhood is just as valid as the choice to not be mothers and focus on one's careers. Feminism is about equality and choice, even if that choice is to be a mom.

Socks anyone?

I have been a stash bustin' fool, in as much as one can be a stash bustin' fool while only knitting socks.

From 2010 Finished Objects

My primary knitting goal for 2010 is to knit down my stash and only buy yarn for a specific project and only if I love it. Now that I've been knitting for five years, I have a better understanding of the yarns and colors I like. Unfortunately, I have not been graced with frugal tastes. I'm dealing with that, but that is another resolution for another year.

I'm using spinning as my motivation for knitting from my stash. Some wonderful fibers have made their way into my home and they are languishing, unspun, feeling sad, in my stash bin. I trying to reduce the yarn in my bins before I make more yarn. I miss spinning terribly, so I've been focusing on speed knitting, working to get through as much of my stash in as short of an amount of time as I can.

From WIPs

Wish me luck!

Answering a prayer

I was going to blog about my knitting and post pictures of my recently finished projects, then I had an encounter today that made it all seem frivolous. For those who follow me on Twitter, you know I saw a homeless man today. Italian had told me the night before about how he spied a homeless man wrapped in a sleeping bag yesterday, and then today, I saw one. I was driving to work when out of the corner of my eye I saw him, huddled in a bus stop, sleeping wrapped in a sleeping bag given out by a local charity this time of year. I muttered a hurried prayer under my breathe that God would show him mercy and provide for him. Then I kept on driving. I dropped Little Clover off at school, drove through the parking lot towards the school exit when the idea to drive to Chik-Fil-A and buy a breakfast sandwich popped into my head.

I dismissed the thought. It was out of my way, I needed to go to work. I didn't want breakfast, why would I go and grab something? It was too much effort to drive and wait in the drive through. Chik-Fil-A will be crowded. Then, I stopped, waiting at the school exit for the street to clear. Here I had just asked God to show the man mercy and I was finding excuses for why I wouldn't be the one to fulfill my prayer. How could I, in my warm car complain about the inconvenience of getting breakfast for someone who needed it? I changed directions and found myself waiting in the drive through line scripting what I would say. As I left the restaurant with protein and carbs to fill his belly and juice to nourish him, I hoped he would still be asleep and I wouldn't have to recite my script. I was ashamed at my selfishness and embarrassed by my car and warm coat. I left the breakfast by his sleeping side, hopped back into my car and wept.

As I drove to work, I remembered something Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide Anne Frank, said. Despite the accolades and awards she won, she always maintained she was no hero and no one special. She believed "People should never think that you have to be a very special person to help those who need you." I hope my small action honors her memory in some small way.

Boundaries

This past year, I found my boundaries. We all have limits, and my limits hit me square across the face in a not to gentle smackdown. The flossing incident was only one small incident. Granted, lots of very happy memories will be stored as an outcome of crashing into my limits. I had the joy of watching Little Clover score three amazing touchdowns in one single football game. I've watched him start to manage his own school workload and the bumps that have come along the way as he learns that the best way to study for a test is not to memorize the answers on the study sheet in the order as they appear on the study sheet. We've attended school functions, watched him sing a stellar solo, and whisked away for a few out of town trips.

I discovered I love writing when I participated in NaNoWriMo, and although I didn't win, I wrote more words than I ever had and loved it. It proved that I did have the capacity to write and although I wrote 30,000 words of utter crap, I wrote at least 100 words (not necessarily consecutively) that are brillant! Our little family got into it together with Little Clover beginning his own novel and Italian throwing writing challenges my way. I also discovered my natural Korean accent coming back. When I say "hello," other native Korean speakers answer me back and continue talking! One day, I will know what they are saying to me and not run away in dead panic.

And I knitted. I can knit Christmas gifts in a time crunch, but I can't mail out Christmas cards at the same time. I can knit for other people solely for three months, but you can be darn sure that the first thing I knit for myself again will come off my needles still smoking from the heat of my fast needles. I'm still a little worn out from the collison with the boundaries in my life, but slowly, I'm refueling, and lots of yarn is involved (but no floss).

News Flash

We interrupt the blog silence with this breaking news story!

Woman injures herself while flossing
The Clover family Thanksgiving vacation was cut prematurely short when Irish Clover suffered a horrific flossing accident. While in the process of flossing her back tooth after enjoying deliciously cooked ribs, the Super Floss she was using broke off in between her teeth. Irish Clover, being a bit slow on the uptake, took another piece of floss to remove the still lodged food item and the newly added lodged piece of floss. Much to her dismay, the second piece of floss snapped and wedged itself with the other.

"Ow!" was her primary response.

The family rallied to her aid, providing a wooden toothpick, which also broke. The toothpick was removed, but was also followed by an additional piece of floss which also broke and stuck. At this point, her family put her to bed. The next morning, they left the relaxing seclusion of the woods and headed back into the city for an emergency dental visit.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me!" were the words of comfort Italian gave Irish Clover when she bemoaned, "Who injures herself while flossing!"

After a few minutes in the dental office, Papa Clover was successful in removing the lodged pieces of floss. Irish Clover returned to the house with a smile, a mildly aching mouth, and a bruise above her lip.

We now return to our regular blogging broadcast schedule.

Beauty of knitters

Every knitter needs a knitting group. Whether the group revolves around an LYS, a guild, a virtual meeting space, or a local non fiber location, the knitting group really is essential. Mine is a compilation of people who knit and happen to live close by. I love this group, and more importantly, I love the people who are in the group. We've been fortunate and have a pretty solid core of people. Some of us have been knitting together for almost five years now. This week, this eclectic group of people became remarkable.

One of our knitters lost her daughter last Wednesday, in the wee hours of the morning. Our knitter was able to hold her daughter as she passed from this existence to the next, a true blessing at a time of loss. To celebrate the life her daughter had and to show our love for our knitter, our group knitted flowers. The flowers are as varied and different as the people in our group. Some knitted tulips, some knitted lilies. There were bright colored yarns and muted colors, sock weight and worsted weight. These flowers were as different and as varied as the life of our knitter and her beautiful daughter. Yet, when put together and viewed with the eye of someone who can see beyond the differences, one can see the beauty and it is lovely.

From 2009 Finished Objects

Football season has arrived

From Family

I wouldn't call Little Clover and I super fans, but we sure do love watching the games, and unlike other Southerners, we restrict ourselves to pro ball only. It is a bit of a shocker, but it works for us. College ball is just a bit too political for my liking. Besides, the politics of little people football is enough for me. Little Clover had a game on Monday, where I was flabbergasted by the horrid behavior of some of the parents. On the drive home, I composed a scathingly nasty blog post chastizing the parents of fifth and sixth graders for their poor sportsmanship and embarassing behavior. I felt much better after the mental post was made. Words may do the most damage to a person, but only if they are let loose on the world.

In knitting news, I finished my rainbow socks a while ago, but never got around to posting the picture.

From 2009 Finished Objects

They are comfy and the Show-Off Stranded pattern was easy to knit. The sock is rather stretchy, yet hugs in all the places a good sock should. This was my first experience with Koigu and oh my, I understand the love people have for this brand. It is squishy. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Socks That Rock. I wonder if they use the same base yarn.

The pink cotton sweater, Stella, is still coming along. This is a very quick knit and I'm sad I'm coming to the end. With some luck, the weather will stay warm enough for me to get one wear out it before the fall comes. We've had a mild summer in the Delta and the Farmer's Almanac warns of a cold winter ahead. That makes me think of hats and mittens.

To my son

Today, my baby boy, turns 10.

From Family

He's left the relm of single digits and has joined the double digit masses.

From Family

He is thrilled and in the last 10 years, he has accomplished much.

From Family

He converted two rather hopeless and hapless 20-somethings into somewhat successful adults.

From Family

He has made homes out of mere houses.

From Family

He has managed to fill our days with laughter, joy, and love.

From Family

He's proven himself as a successful student, a leader among his peers, a gifted performer, and a stellar athlete.

From Pictures

He has wiped away the grieving tears of others.

From Family

He's shared his compassion by volunteering in his community.

From Family

He has perfected the hug, the snuggle, and the bedtime lullaby.

From Family

He has helped the two somewhat successful adults become better parents each day by gentling correcting the errors of our inexperienced ways.

From Family

He has trained his dog to crawl under and jump over obstacles.

From Family

He has begun laying out big dreams and large plans for the next 10 years and beyond.

From Family

I see him now as he starts crossing the bridge from childhood into adulthood and am amazed how someone who was once so small is becoming quite an incredible person.

To my child, who is now quite big, I'd like to say "thank you." Thank you for all that you are and for all the joy you bring. May this first of your decade birthdays be the first of many more happy ones to come. I can't wait to see what you do with your next 10 years.

I love you,
Mama

Back up plan

I recently had the following conversation with Little Clover after yet another stressful day at work:

LC: Mom, why did you want to do this job when you grew up?
Me: I didn't.
LC (with complete shock on his face): Then, what did you want to be?
Me: A microbiologist, specializing in viruses.
LC: So why didn't you do that?
Me: Because I didn't want to go to school for another 12 years after college.
LC (after a slight pause): Didn't you have a back-up plan?
Me (amazed by his logic): No.
LC (amazed by his mother's lack of foresight): I've got a back-up plan.
Me (curious of what a nine year old's back up plan is): Really? What is it?
LC (matter of factly): Well, if I don't become a zookeeper, then I'm going to be a baseball player. If that doesn't work out, then I'll play in the NFL, and if that doesn't work, then I'll be a professional hockey player.
Me: Wow, that's a good plan.
LC: Yes, I think so.

There you go. All the stress in my life is because I didn't have a back up plan. So, when I picked out the next pair of socks to knit with the Regia Kaffe Fassett yarn Italian gifted me, I not only picked out a back-up pattern, but I also picked out a back-up yarn, and boy, am I glad I did!

I started off knitting the Regia in the column stitch which uses the knit below technique. After knitting three inches of sock, I realized it was too big. I frogged, reduced the number of stitches I casted on, and tried again. While knitting again, I kept eyeing the sock. The sucker just looked big. I tried it on, and it was huge. Then I actually looked at the sock. The knit one below (K1B) technique results in a very different gauge than stockinette. My normal gauge is 9 stitches to the inch with fingering weight yarn. When I measured this sock, I got 6 stitches to the inch. The K1B stitch makes the stitch much wider than the plain knit counterpart.

From WIPs

I frogged again, put the Regia aside, and pulled out some three year old Koigu. This time, I cast on for the Show off stranded pattern and haven't looked back - sorta. I did have to frog this one too after completing the leg. It was also too big. I reduced the number of stitches, again, and finally found the right fit.

From WIPs

Teacher

Yesterday was the 10 anniversary of my mom's passing, and I did ok. I had one real breakdown, but it was relatively minor, and all in all, not that bad. Granted, I still miss her and it still hurts. The pain and longing has dulled a bit and I find I try to honor her memory in small ways now. Little Clover and I will talk about her and I'll tell him stories about her, like the time she decided to give me a hair cut. She took my long braid and just snipped the sucker off. I don't think I new what hit me. I tell him about how we went camping every weekend when we lived in Colorado and Mom would wear high heeled sandals. I smile when I see clovers and rainbows, and, I have seriously started relearning Korean.

For Christmas, I received Rosetta Stone's Korean Level 1 and it rocks. The software was sitting on my desk for the longest time, and for some reason, last week seemed like the right time to start it. Maybe it was the upcoming anniversary or the back to school bug, I'm not sure, but it has been the best learning tool I've tried. For starters, there is no Romanization. You are dropped straight into the Hangul alphabet and the Korean language. By the time I was 15 "slides" into the first lesson of the first of 4 units, I was already comprehending. I couldn't read nor speak to save my life, but I could understand. The instruction is intuitive and the lessons build upon each other. You are provided with immediate feedback, unlike books and cds, and you can move at your own pace. Repeating lessons is a snap as well. In the Korean language, pronouns are not heavily used. Instead, nouns or formal names are used and when people meet someone for the first time without introduction, they greet each other as "teacher." I like this. I think a language, the foundation for a culture, that bases interactions on the belief we can all learn from one another is a beautiful thing.

The software must be improving my pronounciation. This year, when we went to the Korean restaurant to celebrate my mom, I greeted the host in Korean, just as I do ever year, but this time, they started talking to me in Korean. I paniced! I threw up my hands and quickly blurted, "I just know how to say 'hello!'" The server smiled and changed to English, much to the amusement of Italian and Little Clover, and I think my mom was smiling too.

Halfway

For the last seven years, around the third week of August, I've been taking a "First Day of School" picture.

From Family

I wish I could say it gets easier, instead, seeing how much Little Clover has grown and matured over the years only brings home the fact that if I do my job as a parent correctly, he'll continue to mature and grow into a responsible successful adult and will leave the nest. I'm sadly aware that I only have seven more first day of school pictures left. We are at the halfway mark.

From Family

If I'm lucky, he'll let me take a "Dropping my kid off at college" picture, giving me one more photo for the stack. In any case, dropping him off at school after the photo is taken is not getting any easier. I'm thrilled at his accomplishments in school. I'm thrilled with the person he is becoming. I wonder though, is there any way to slow it down and make the next seven pictures last a tad bit longer?

From Family

In knitting news, I've finished the Leyburn Socks.

From 2009 Finished Objects

They are a bit tight when getting them on over my heel. Generally, my socks loosen up when washed, so they should be a perfect fit. I did change the pattern to a gusset and heel flap which I like better. I use Widdershins as the reference for the gusset and heel flap. The yarn is Trekking XXL, which I still love. Although the colorway doesn't have the long color repeats I associate with Trekking, it works well with the Leyburn pattern.

Besides Leyburn, I've been knitting away on Stella's Blouse.

From WIPs

I'm knitting with Class (in more ways than one) and love the yarn. It is a beautiful cotton viscose blend with a lovely drape and sheen. Did I mention the yardage? At over 200 yards per skein, I can knit all the way to the armhole before I run out of yarn.