Been awhile since I've posted anything of substance, but hey, I've been busy! Had family in for Mother's Day and we went to Bear Country USA in the Black Hills of South Dakota. So much fun! The baby bears have been born and they look so cute. Wouldn't want to hug on one of the mama's though! They're huge!!! And the claws are frightening! We did see one bear try to eat the car in front of us. Must have needed salt or something because the bear didn't take a real bite.

Have been doing a lot of geocaching now that the weather is warming up. Have found some tough ones. I tried to plant one the other day, but it was STOLEN! Before I could even publish it!!! Can you believe it??? I was so upset! I'm not sure I'll ever plant another one.

Have I been writing? Yes. I did two more short stories and have been working on the mystery novel.

As for crafting, I've been knitting and crocheting some. This washcloths has a peace sign in the middle (got the pattern off the 'net). I've also taken up two new hobbies: soap and candle making. Love both! I am doing melt and pour soap, which I know that some believe it's not "real" soap making, but I don't have the time, the space, or the desire to do the cold process stuff. My sister, though, does it all the time.

So that's been my month or so. I'll try to post more regularly!

OK, so I like the Washing Well Wenches at the Ren. Fest!!!

You are Petunia! Congratulations! You are a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch... a sweet delicate flower, sweetening the air around you. Being a Petunia means that you love life, laundry and the pursuit of cleanliness! You don't just love your laundry, you roll around in it, sleep in piles of it and have vivid, epic dreams about YOUR LAUNDRY. You care deeeply about the public's hygiene. Which Wench Are YOU? Find out at http://www.washingwellwenches.com

PLEASE VOTE!!!

OK, so I entered a short story contest under my pen name. Please go and read it and vote for it!!!! Here's the link
http://www.donardpublishing.com/page81.html
Thanks!!!

This could be a little disturbing!

What Type of Homeschooler Are You?

Mr. Potato Head You have your ideal of how things should look, but youre flexible enough to allow for change. You are not bothered by changing methods, mid-course if necessary. You use an eclectic combination of curriculum sources. Visit my blog: http://www.GuiltFreeHomeschooling.blogspot.com
Take this quiz!








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What kind of yarn are you?

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered.
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So much for the summer-like weather! Winter hasn't ended just yet. Today towns up in the hills got more than TWO FEET of snow!!! Yep, 24 inches of wet, nasty, snow. Gotta love that..... I did get some more geocaching done before winter made it's return. A new (and more accurate!) GPS makes that more fun!!

Did a creative project this week. This Monkey iPod cover is found in the latest "Stitch N Bitch" book -- "Happy Hooker." Finally a book with fun, funky patterns for crocheting as well! Other projects still in the works include the Weasley sweater (yep, still!) and a pair of socks (one is finished). I'm also doing the choker exchange still and that's fun. Did the dishcloth exchange this month as well.

I'm also finishing up the school year here. Finishing books and ending courses. Writing finals and grading a few final papers. One of the things I really love about home educating is being able to FINISH the subjects. We go all the way to the end of the book before the subject is considered over. Of course, I also need to start looking for books for next year. Have much of the year planned, I just need to get the texts ordered.

At least it's not boring, right? ;)

Been a busy week, but the weather is BEAUTIFUL!! My loving hubby got me a barrel planter and this is what I've done so far. I'm thinking I'll plant some more of those English Daisies (don't they look like pretty dandilions?) when I'm sure there won't be a frost. I also planted some "Dragon's Blood" and some Phylox near our driveway.

The house is finally sided. I'm so glad not to have to paint ever again. I won't be so glad to pay the loan, but it wasn't that bad and it did need to be done, so what can you say?

With the great weather, I have gotten some geocaching done. Although, getting a new GPS was a great reason to go out and test it!!!

Am working on chapter 7 of the mystery novel I did for NaNoWriMo. This is total re-write mode. Some of what I wrote is really good, but some is just .... well, you get the picture. I don't know what I'd do without my critique group. They really help me turn the crap into something I can use. This dream of being an author might actually come true one of these days!

Made an awesome choker the other day. I really like the colors of this one. Didn't think I'd ever be able to crochet wire! How cool is that?

Easter Bunny Name My Easter Bunny Name is Cuddles Hucklebunny Get Your Easter Bunny Name at Quizopolis.com

One more knitting project finished. This is the "Easy-Care Cactus" from a book called "Funky Knits." I used leftover yarn from the armwarmers I finished last week. Knitted up super fast!!! Now I need to make another as a moving gift for a relative!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

One more knitting project finished -- Armwarmers! These are the "Hurry Up Spring" Armwarmers from S&B Nation. The yarn is "Freedom" by Twilleys of Stamford that I got in Omaha. Since I wasn't sure how much to get, I still have a ball and half left.

This was the first time I'd ever used a cable needle, so that was an adventure until I got the hang of it. The little one is happy with them, though!!!

Next project? I think I'm going to knit a couple of cactus for someone I know who is moving. She won't have to worry about transporting them -- or killing them, either!

FINALLY! It took years, but it's done!!! The braces are finally off!!!

Honestly, I wasn't ever sure this kid would have straight teeth. She's had orthodontic work for the past three or four years -- a pallet expander and then braces on the top and bottom. Now there they are.... Straight teeth!!!!

Other things going on around here? Not much. I'm knitting some arm warmers for the kid and have one finished. The second is about a quarter of the way done. The HP sweater? Oh please! I'm still not done with the back of it!!! I do have one "fuzzy sock" almost finished and am ready to start the second, but she wanted the arm warmers first. Hopefully, they will be done by Friday (they're green!) and she can wear them for St. Patty's Day.

Haven't been geocaching because we now have a FOOT OF SNOW! YUCK!

Our Eastern Star official visit is finally over. Thank goodness!!! So much practicing for one day. I guess I think we should do well all the time and not just for someone else, but maybe I'm in the minority there.

Some news from my Daughters of the Nile group, though. I was elected to go up the line there. I really enjoy the idea of working for the Shriner's kids! As my daughter would say "that makes me warm and fuzzy!"

My home is too quiet. That's all there is to it.... My daughter is off visiting grandparents -- homeschooling lets you take "spring break" whenever -- and I knew I would miss her. That was pretty much a given, right?

What I didn't expect was the silence I'd find in my home. There's no giggling. There's no crazy rambling about American Idol or some other TV show I don't pay much attention to. There's no loud music coming from her room or having to yell "turn it down" three or four times, either.

Her absence has reminded me of how short the past dozen years really have been. As much of a cliche as it is, it really does seem like yesterday when she was so small she needed a step-stool to brush her teeth. Now the braces will come off in less than two weeks. Just yesterday, she would "measure" her hands against mine and I could bend my fingers down to touch the tops of hers. Now she's almost as tall as I am.

In the next four or five years, we'll be looking at colleges (currently, she is looking at an art degree somewhere) and I wonder if I'm doing the right thing for her. I pray that she will be happy and healthy. I pray that she'll do God's will. I pray that I will be able to guide her as she makes some of these huge decisions in her life. I pray that her dad and I have given her a good set of role models for parenting and adulthood and all that.

Also this week, a beautiful 9 year old little girl stopped fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She has gone to be with the Lord. This little angel and her brother have been homeschooled their entire lives. (See more on her fight at http://www.hannahbearski.blogspot.com/ ) I met this little girl. Her mom used to watch my little one when I was finishing my college degree. Life moved them across the state and I wasn't able to comfort the family in the way I wanted. I couldn't even hug my little one as I had to tell her that her friend Hannah had died. Sometimes life just sucks.

So hug your kids. Love them. Be a part of their lives no matter where your kids are in life. You only get one shot at being the parent. Make the most of it.

Better late than never, right? This is the choker I knitted for the exchange I mentioned in earlier posts. I made this one out of Yarn Bee yarn found at Hobby Lobby with a button I already had. Great for Valentine's Day!

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

YOU ARE CATNIP


What herb are you?
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Could explain why my cats love me!

Did this choker "just because" and then found a little "mouse" who liked it. Glad to give her something that she thinks is cool as my daughter is a little sick of me making stuff for her.... Gotta love teens!!!

Got a few projects going on. Still working on that Weasley sweater. I just don't seem to be motivated to do it. And I'm working on a choker exchange. I've never done anything like that before, so I'm a little nervous. What if my partner is WAY better than I am and what I send is junk compaired to what she sends? I know, that's not what the exchange is about, but still, I worry!

Did get some geocaching done. Didn't find the cache, but I think I know where it is. I'm planning to go back this week and find it for sure.

Haven't done a lot of writing. I'm still working on my NaNoWriMo story. Yeah, I got the 50,000 words, but the story still needs some work. I am also working on a western that needs to be fleshed out a bit.

Add to that the "Official Visit" craziness that goes with Eastern Star and elections coming up in Daughters of the Nile and I've been one busy woman. I think the man and I need a little vacation!

The shawl is done! Finally!

The dress here is our "Star Dress" this year. As "Electa" I opted to do this in red and black to match the dress. I doubt our Masonic Center will ever get really cold (I must still be young, the "pasts" all seem to think it gets mighty chilly!) but it is nice to have!

Made a shirt for my loving husband, the coin collector. He got me a new embroidery maching for CHRISTmas, so I wanted to make sure he got something for it. This was the first one I "designed" from scratch, so I really like the shirt. And he agreed with the "AKA: The Nerd" line, so I don't even feel bad about that!

Am working on a shawl now... I must be old. I never thought I would own, let alone MAKE a shawl, but I am. I'm making it out of some ribbon yarn in red and black. My other current project is the "Weasley Sweater" for the One-Armed Bandit (see post 12/23/05). I hope to get SOMETHING done this week to post, but it's not looking hopeful!

OK, I'm a bad mom. My daughter will spend CHRISTmas in a cast, but that's not why I'm a bad mom. See, the kid was playing basketball last week and fell, putting her hands out to stop herself. Yeah, that didn't work so well! She cracked one of the little bones in her wrist. This particular little bone is attached to the same tendon that is attached to the elbow, so she's now in a cast up to her shoulder....

Still, that's not what makes me the bad mom of the day. It was waiting 3 days to take her to the doctor!!! The kid never got swollen, never bruised. I really thought it was just a "good" sprain (if there is such a thing).

But don't worry! She's milking it for all it's worth!!

I still feel bad, though!!!

Finished the lovely HP scarf my daughter wanted. OK, so I really hated making this one. First, did she have to pick green and gray (silver)? Slitherin colors....

The second thing that got me on this scarf was that it was plain boring!!! Knit One, Purl One for more than 6 feet!! Change colors every 24 rows... Not the most exciting pattern, but she likes it, so it's all good!

Made some really cute hats for Christmas gifts.

My daughter is a Job's Daughter (www.sdjd.org) and one of the ladies made all the girls hard candy. She put them all in babyfood jars and I made some little stocking caps to go over them. This was the first project I ever did without a pattern!!! May sound silly, but I'm pretty excited!!!

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
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I did it!!! I got to 50,000 words in 30 days! Now back to my regularly scheduled life....

OK, so I've done a lot more than write my 50,000 words this month.

I'm giving this set for a Christmas exchange. The rules were $5 or homemade so I decided to do the soap saver and washcloths that I found on the Internet. I actually made these for my mom last mother's day, too, so it was really easy for me to whip them out. To be honest, these are probably my favorite things to crochet just because they come together so dang quickly!

Would you believe I decided to start ANOTHER project? This time I pulled out my embroidery machine and made some holiday placemat and napkins. I bought the ornament pattern and loaded it in. My machine has 2 fonts already loaded, so that part was easy. The whole thing was done on some old tablecloths that I was given with batting stuck in the middle. Then I surged the edges. And I STILL am less than 5,000 words away from completing NaNoWriMo! So I know that's good. I am hoping to finish by Tuesday at the latest.....

Time to go back and add a few hundred more words!

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? It seems like just yesterday my daughter was so little. She actually let me pick out her clothes. Now she has purple-ish hair and bell-bottom jeans. (Of course, my own mother says I have little room to talk, but what does she know? *smile* )

Time rushes by and November seems to be the worst of it. Obviously, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo (see previous posts!) and that makes for a bit of a time strap this month. I must have been crazy to think I could write 50,000 words in a month!!! But I'm still plugging away at that and have more than 34,000 words written and nine days to go. Notice I didn't say they were GOOD words, but they are on the page, so to speak.

Add to that the holiday hype -- yes, I've started CHRISTmas shopping already -- and November seems to be almost over before the Halloween candy is gone!

Ah well, I suppose that's the way it has always been and no amount of complaining will change it.

But since time is so short, I must go and hug the daughter (she does still allow that, although not where her friends might see!) and get back to writing. I'll be glad when November is over!

OK, so I haven't been JUST writing for NaNoWriMo. (Although the current word count is clost to 17,000 and I hope to hit 20,000 today, although I don't think that will really happen.... it's nice to have goals!)

I did finish my crochet bag, though. I'm really liking this! It took awhile, and I'm pretty sure I messed up the bottom of it, since it didn't mesh quite the way I had planned on. But this will be really cute to carry library books or even as a shower bag next time we go camping.

It was made with 5 balls of Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn in the "denim blue" color. You can't tell very well in the picture, but it is a tan colored yarn with flecks of blue.

NaNoWriMo goal to date: 10,002 words
NaNoWriMo words written: 10,006 words

NaNoWriMo goal to date: 6,668 words
NaNoWriMo words written: 6,693

NaNoWriMo goal to date: 5,001 words
NaNoWriMo words written: 5,075

Not sure I totally agree with this one either, but the quizes are fun!

Your Element is Earth

Your power color: yellow Your energy: balancing Your season: changing of seasons Dedicated and responsible, you are a rock to your friends. You are skilled at working out even the most difficult problems. Low key and calm, you are happiest when you are around loved ones. Ambitious and goal oriented, you have long term plans to be successful.

What Element Are You?

NaNoWriMo goal of the day: 1,667 words
NaNoWriMo words written: 1,682

Interesting week. I've been fighing a migrane all week, and it doesn't look like it will be much better tomorrow. I'm on deadline with one web site (that's my "real job") and a directory that I still don't have all the ads for. Yeah, like that will be ready for print a week from now!

The little one went to a theatrical make-up class. She was the only one there!! I think that's just crazy! But she had a good time. Can you tell?

Tuesday NaNoWriMo kicks off, so I'll be writing my 50,000 words -- I hope! This is the first year I'll be participating. Hope to do it. I've been doing research on my characters and at least one set of problems that I know she's going to face. I plan to post my word totals here at least once a week.

Finished the Magic Stripes socks last night. Now on to the HP scarf. The scarf is a K1, P1 pattern for the ENTIRE THING! I just hope I don't lose count!

I really think I want to crochet some slippers at the same time. Or maybe the bag I saw the other day. I also want to try the Getaway satchel from the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits magazine. A knitting list I'm on is doing that as an exchange, but I don't think I'll participate. Too much other stuff going on to knit on a deadline right now.

Trucked the little out in some really yucky weather to do a few geocaches today. One of the best things about home schooling is going all year long, I think. Then I don't feel bad about taking a "slack day" like today. Although, we did get a work out! We did a ton of walking to find the 2 caches. And the weather STUNK. It was cold and rainy in the Black Hills. Welcome to October in South Dakota.

On the knitting front, I'm finishing my magic stripes socks (See October 9 post). One is totally done and I've turned the heel on the other. I'll probably have it finished this weekend. I guess I'll do that scraf next.

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo next month. I'll keep a tab of word count on here if anyone is interested.

Next knitting project? A scarf for my daughter. She wants it in "Slytherin" colors. Why? Because she wants a HP scarf that is different from everyone else's and that you have to KNOW is a Harry Potter one. She decided that only those who KNOW the books or movies would get the color scheme. Odd child! ;)

Well, I'm back! Spent the week at the state OES Grand Chapter. Very interesting. Did manage to finish one sock and got a really good start on the other one. Didn't get much "real work" done, though.

Spent most of yesterday morning adding old home school stuff to e-bay. It took most of the morning. I have 3 auctions going right now and 11 more starting on Saturday. Man, that took a long time! Almost every one has a picture of the book I'm selling, which I know took more time, but wow!!! Anyway, you can check out my auctions. My e-bay ID is "jenbin822".

Hey, I thought this was pretty interesting! I'm not sure I would call myself a "Guru" though. I still think of myself as a beginner, but the rest of it may be true!


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
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Thought I'd share this cool yarn with you. It's called "Magic Stripes" by Lion Brand. Very thin, but it knits up beautifully, as you can see in the second picture. I'm doing a pair of socks for myself. It amazes me that the yarn can look like that to start with and honestly knit up in rows!

Anyway, the socks will be a bit thin, but that's OK. I still think they'll be pretty!

We had a game night at our house last week. We actually try to do that once a month. Hey, my daughter is already 12. She won't be in my home forever! I need -- and want -- to make the most of the little time we have now!

Anyway, we played the Harry Potter version of Scene It! The Scene It! games are so much fun! They are movie-based, DVD and board games. You answer questions related to movie clips (in this case, all Harry Potter movies) or about the sets, actors, directors... movie stuff. Now, reading the books doesn't help at all. As you can see, I got stomped. Yep, my daughter beat the socks off me!!!

I guess I'll have to watch the movies more often!

Well, after knitting that huge heavy sweater -- which got done just in time, it turns out! -- I wanted a quick project. So, I took the same pattern book ("Campus Knits" by Leisure Arts) and found this cell phone cover. It's made with Lion Brand's Homespun yarn and is so soft.

The most trouble I had with it was the buttons. I had to find some that looked good, but had holes large enough for the yarn needle to pass through. I guess that button collection my darling hubby has been eyeing suspiciously is good for something!

It came! There's snow on the ground. Looks pretty, except I have to drive in it today.... Oh well! Hey, at least there isn't a LOT of snow, just a mild dusting.

Hey, I finally finished my hoodie!!! I'm so glad. I think it came out really well. And we're supposed to have like 3 inches of snow by the time we wake up in the morning. One nice, WARM sweater will come in handy then! So here are a couple of pictures of my new sweater! Yeah!!

If you're interested, the pattern came from Leisure Arts "Campus Knits" book and was done in Lion Brand's Thick and Quick Wool Ease yarn. And yes, blue is my favorite color, followed by green -- hence the color choice for this one.

Ok, I'm still venting! Do you have any idea how many times I've been told "You? Got a tattoo?" Do these people really think they know me? Geez. To me, the funniest part is that these people who are telling me this really don't know me. They may know ONE part of my life, but these aren't the people who talk to me regularly. These aren't the people who ask about my life. They are the ones who talk to me once or twice a year because they must.

If you want to know someone, ASK about them! Find out what books they like. What kind of pizza do they prefer? How often do they change their hair color or the ring tones on their cell phones? Don't assume that because you share some DNA that you know them. Or because they married someone you share DNA with. Don't think that just because you send a birthday card once a year you can imagine what that person thinks.

I spent a long time being a mom. I'm not regreting a moment of it!! But I did put a lot of my own wants and desires aside to be the best mom I could. That included curbing some of my "party girl" ways so that I could be a good example for my daughter. Now that she's older, I'm able to do some of the things I often thought "what if"... like get a tattoo on my ankle.

And even more important then actually getting to know someone? Simple. If you can't be polite, just shut up.

Dang! What is with spammers??? Not even a blog is safe. Grrrrrrrrrr..........

Hmm... so my family of origin isn't sure if I'm kidding about my new body art or not. Interesting. I was told that I was more "Jesus Crunchy" than my sister. I think I'll take that as a compliment!

The tattoo was my big excitement for this weekend. I hope to get some more geocaching done this week. I have found most of the clues to a multi-cache on Dinosaur Hill in Rapid City and just have to go do the last one to find it. My daughter isn't excited about it, so either I'll have to drag her along or go alone. The problem is finding a TIME to go alone what with gas the price it is. We try to make as few trips as possible!

Oh, read a great book the other day. "The Kitchen Boy" was some fantastic historical fiction about the death of Russia's last czar. Very good reading!

Have finished the sleeves on my hoodie. Will start the "hood" tonight or tomorrow. I should have the thing done by next week if all goes well and I don't have to frog much.

Well, I did it.... I can't believe it, but I did. I went in for a price quote and left with 2 dolphins and a cross. I really like it. I'm a little nervous still. What if I regret it later? Oh well, not much I can do about that NOW, is there?

Writing update: only about 53,000 more words until my first novel is done!!! YIKES! (That will get me to about 65,000 words, which is an average-length novel.)

I am planning on writing a mystery for National Novel Writers Month. That's 50,000 words in the month of November. I think I have the gist of the mystery down. Now to decide how to write 1,667 words every day!