I Love Him

After my last post, I realized that some might question my devotion to my loving husband, abandoning him for roller coasters and friends the night before his birthday last week. Right here is where I tell you the story of how I did not abandon him for that trip to the park, but gave him the night off. We all need a break once in awhile...lol! I was confident that giving him an evening to himself was good, until he texted me a picture of a motorized vehicle with this message: "For my birthday?"

I did not look at the photo closely, and I thought it was a full-blown motorcycle when I first saw it, which explains my fairly-flip "Lol!" response, but then he texted, "Serious." So, I seriously thought about it, and on Thursday, we went to see the thing...you know what that means?

Yep, soon he will be the proud owner of a summertime "second car"...Happy Birthday to Sweetie!  After all, if I'm going to take the real car to Cedar Point without him, at least he won't be stranded, assuming the weather is not icky...which it should not be if I am in an amusement park for the day. I do love him!

As a matter of fact, that song (made popular 5 years before I was even born) has kindof become my theme song when it's my turn to take a back seat for something he wants. Whether it's a hot dinner, or an expensive toy (that we can afford), I sometimes feel a little put out. Then I remember that I have loved him since I was 16 years old. For those of you counting, that's more than a few years, isn't it? 

I've learned that I love him more when we laugh and play together...which we do not always do. But we did on the way to see a motor scooter, and we do when we are around our grandkids, 

and I hope we have many more years to laugh and play together, even though sometimes we are just getting through the everyday ups and downs (yesterday we needed a plumber, and we were both working, and there were some tense, texting moments...lol...plumbing is fixed, BTW). 

In the meantime, you'll find us solving the NYT Spelling Bee over dinner while comparing notes on how we each did on Connections, or playing with and watching our grandkids play. (The girls are coming this summer, so we will soon have pics of them, too!)

You'll find me knitting ducks (a story for later)...

...meeting up with faraway friends who happen to be driving through Cleveland on a Friday night (Hi, Julie!)...

...or at Cedar Point, which happens frequently nowadays...and you'll likely find him riding a new scooter to the park for a walk or just a ride. It's been a good ride, it IS a good ride, and yes, I love him, I love him, I love him, and where he goes I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow...

For those of you who are newly married, I wish you all the joy, now and forever. Please remember that happiness will be sprinkled among the mundane and even the really icky parts of life, and you will find it when you are looking. Remember to make good choices, friends, and enjoy the moments you can!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Celebrate Good Times, come on!

To kick off the celebration of my favorite guy's birthday (which is today) I met friends at Cedar Point yesterday and let him have some time to himself! (Fair warning to future friends: If you leave early, you will be photoshopped in...perhaps poorly...and it will be hilarious!)

That's right, Sweetie was not there. He's not a big Cedar Point fan, so his gift was that I did not invite him. Because yesterday was his birthday eve, I did kindof ask if he minded that I go right after work. I don't remember his answer, but I wore jeans, good walking shoes, and my fanny pack (with glasses strap inside) ya know, just in case. When Amanda texted that a bunch of friends were going, I was powerless to resist!

I didn't ride much, and took fewer pictures. I'm kindof smacking myself for not taking any night photos, since we closed down the park waiting in line for TT2! But I did take pics in line, 

and I pilferred photos of funpix...

Gosh! My friends are way cooler in these photos than I am...I've got my hands in the air and a full, toothy grin the whole time. I love being on roller coasters!

Oh, and Amanda got this video of that last ride, at 10:37pm! You can't really see us, but it's a pretty cool 11 seconds either way! 

Psst...don't tell my family. I'm not sure they support my coaster habit...but the doc said no restrictions after 3 months, and it's been nearly 6...and I've been doing a little at a time, adding in coasters that don't seem too intense, and staying away from the ones that are most likely to dislodge something...I'm looking at you Blue Streak and Steve! Millie's pretty gentle though...and last week, I didn't ride any coasters at all, but I still had a ton of fun with some of my favorite riders and smilers!

Today has already been a little lower key, spending time with the birthday boy, finally moving my daffodils to their proper place...which you can't see, because the bushes are too big with their summer growth...lol!

Knitting on my next pair of socks and summer decor for my office...

and our grandson's baseball game this afternoon! Is there anything as entertaining as first and second graders playing baseball? 

Photo Cred: Tom Apathy Photography (aka Pappy)

Later, we may head to one of our favorite, not Cedar Point, parks for a walk. Last week, we saw a great blue heron,

tons of tiny toadlets,

a pretty good sized snapping turtle,

and dozens of ducklings and other birds of many varieties!

I wonder how many of them would have enjoyed this worm for their dinner?

Summer is really shaping up here, and we are certainly celebrating these good times! I hope you are as well.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

A Little Fishy?

Sometimes I plan well for birthdays and other occasions. Other times, I wake up on the morning of the party thinking (with my pointer finger lightly tapping my pursed lips and my eyes searching way up into my own brain), “I know what I can make before 5:30!” I’m not sure where my reality check is during these moments, but it certainly is NOT in my brain, and its failure to provide that check often leaves me scrambling to finish a gift as I walk out the door! Something's fishy there, for sure...

Enter this little shark, knit for a friend who LOVES shark socks, shark movies, shark jokes, shark week, and…well, you get the picture. As I sat on the sofa, the morning of the party that I had agreed to attend at least 7 days earlier, I searched available patterns for sharks on Ravelry, and I found a little one I thought I could finish in time. So, I started to knit…and I finished my shark just before the party, true to form.

Also true to form, I amended the pattern as I went, because I cannot ever leave well enough alone (especially not on a deadline)! As I amended, I realized that this had become a new pattern, so I published it. No testers, no editors, and only one prototype, so be warned. I'm sure it is not a perfect pattern, and I am also sure that you will have something fishy if you follow it...lol. If you would like to give it a try, you can knit a cute, little Teensy Great White of your own. Here's the free pattern on Ravelry: Shark Pattern HERE

Not on Ravelry? It's free to join, and if you make a lot of things with yarn, it's a great way to keep track of them! (Not a sponsor, just a member with roughly 1220 projects logged there since 2007.)

By the way, it was a really fun, shark-themed party last night! Thank you for having a birthday (with Karaoke) Ann...and thanks to Erin, Amanda, Nicole, Marcie, Jill and Jason (otherwise known as "Moms of Grace, and Jason" for the trivia game) for letting me join your table for a super fun evening! (We won! Yeah! Woo! Hoo!) It was so good to see everyone and have fun together!

Thanks also for some extra photos on my phone, Erin, which was left unattended for a bit...lol!

If you have friends, treasure them. If you have yarn, knit fun things. If you're invited to a party, start thinking about what you might knit for the guest of honor...preferably well before you are on your way to the party! Or not, I mean, who am I to judge? There's really nothing fishy about last minute knits...I think we all do it from time to time, and there are far worse things to procrastinate about. After all, I am sure most of us have bigger fish to fry on a day-to-day basis, so don't sweat the small stuff (or the small knits).

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

PS, if your mom is still around, wish her a happy day tomorrow. If she's not, I'm sorry, and I hope that you have fond memories of her to treasure. If you do not, I'm sorry, and I hope your Sunday does not stink. Mine won't because my grown kids have given me this shirt. Yes, I DID do a great job...YOU are both awesome! Wait...something seems fishy about that sentiment...hahahahahahaha...!

Party People

Today, we are party people, because this well- balanced boy turns 4!

Peppa's friends are ready to party, too...

Though they were not enthusiastic about jumping into the gift bag for the drive over, I know they'll be excited when they see this spread! 

Mommy lets the boys pick their party theme, so this one's a combo: Peppa Pig and Danny Go!

It's going to be a fun day, but that doesn't leave much time for a thoughtful blog, so this post will be short...and sweet!

Maybe you don't have something this fun planned for this weekend, but I'm here to remind you that are only three weeks left until we can all have fun weekends at Cedar Point!

Until then, thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Decisions, Decisions...Birthday Edition

Our youngest grandchild will turn 4 very soon, and my daughter has requested a certain character knit for this fine, young Peppa Pig loving kid! I bought a book of patterns online,

went through all my worsted-weight, acrylic yarn

and determined I did not have exactly the right colors for "Candy Cat," so I went shopping...and now I do. 

In fact, I have a nearly completed Candy Cat in my bag right now!

Trouble with that is that the kid may have a new favorite character now. By our best estimation, that would be either Rebecca Rabbit or Pedro Pony. Referencing the photo above, I certainly have the patterns for both...and I may even have the yarn. Of course, there is the distinct possibility that I'll need to go shopping again, which (let's be honest here) is no tragedy for me! But gosh...I do have some yarn here.

Still, if I can't find the right colors, there will be shopping, and decisions! After all, the party is coming, and I do NOT have time to knit ALL of the characters! (After all, I've "wasted" significant portions of my spring break playing with these hooligans...lol!) 

So, it seems that it is time to make a decision! I wonder what I will choose for this kid...?

Whatever the choice, I am sure that the toy will be well loved, and that will be a birthday-edition WIN, so I'll take it! I hope you are also having some wins where you can, and if it's your birthday soon, I hope you have cake!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!