Wife, Mom, Slave to my Craft

The one where we need to find simpler ways to do things.

This is how we get on the patio.

 

Please note the gate to the left of the photo. It works fine.

 

The one where we deliver empty promises. Again.

In January, Michelle Obama was on Oprah and talked about military families and how brave we are and that she wanted to help us (no, seriously). This is a far cry from when she was on the campaign trail with her husband and claimed to not know anyone serving.

While a few news outlets picked up on what she said, it was all forgotten fairly quickly and, unsurprisingly, no one ever delivered.  Lots of people like to promise things to the military and never deliver, but we always hope this one delivers.

Fast-forward to last week and the threatened government shut-down. On Friday, April 8th, our paystub for the next week came out and showed that we would only be paid for work through April 8th because, more than likely, the government shut-down was going to happen and we would not be paid. The government has shut down in the past. Each time, presidents have ensured that the military would be paid. Obama, in a bid to force Congress' hand, stated over and over that the military would. not. be. paid.

Late in the day on April 8th, when it looked as if the shutdown was inevitable, Mike's unit (and many other units) held a briefing on what this means for the soldiers. Mike had E-2s and E-3s panicking (I can't blame them, I married Mike when he was an E-3 and we barely fed ourselves, much less us and kids). Because military housing has been privatized and is now owned by a private company, people could be kicked out of their homes. Military treatment facilities refused to make appointments for the coming week. The commissary would close. Basically, in much of the military community, panic ensued.

In the end, of course, we all know they pulled it out of their behinds at the eleventh hour (literally) and all expected to be patted on the head and told what good children they were. I was irritated. Then a friend of mine showed me this article: First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will launch a national initiative tomorrow that will call on all sectors of society to support and honor America’s service members and their families. Excuse me? A week ago, they used military familes to force congress to $h!t or get off the pot, now they're promoting your benevolence plan for military families again. And we're supposed to be what? Touched? Honored? Pardon me if I'm not buying what you're selling. Anyone else feeling a bit used?

10 points if you can identify where this came from.

I voted for Obama. At the time, he was the lesser of two evils for what I was looking for in a president. I do not regret my vote, I do not regret my choice. If I was in the same situation, I'd do it all over again. However, rather than touting empty promises and using families in your game of political chess, how about we actually do something useful? Stop scaring people and give us the support you promise. People complain that Obama gave us a pathetic raise, but, honestly, we don't really *need* a raise. I'm grateful right now my husband has a job and we get by on what we make. A raise would be lovely, but so would a cold beer, a new car, a pony, a massage, and a steak dinner. I don't particularly *NEED* any of that, either.

The one where I call you names...romantic, bodice-ripping names.

I have a whole family full of odd names. None of our names are entirely unheard of, they're just not very popular. Mikhail, Shanna, Seamus. However, they all came out of reading material. Read on to find out where.

Mike was named after a bodice-ripping romance novel called "Seized by Love" by Susan Johnson. Now, I haven't read this book yet, (however, if you would like to read it, Google books has a free preview of the book) but Prince Mikhail seems to be the older brother of flighty Prince Nikolai, who is dared by a friend to seduce a woman blahblahblah. The bits I read that featured Prince Mikhail had him yelling at people and banging his fist on the table. That doesn't really fit my Mike. My Mike is more the "when the going gets tough, the tough go take a nap" kind of guy.

The cover art of this book irritates the devil out of me. If you look at the girl, she appears to be about 4 feet tall with a DD chest and 50" hips. Her right boob also seems to have been absorbed by her armpit. While I'm at it, could he look less interested in the chick on top of him? His face looks downright annoyed. Unless that's supposed to be Prince Mikhail. In which case, this totally fits Mike, who doesn't care for gingers.

Now, I was named after the book "Shanna" by Katherine Woodwiss. I've been trying to read this book for the past week and it is so not happening. I hate the character. Shanna is a spoiled, selfish brat, who can't do anything for herself. I'd like to hit her. I'd like to believe I'm not a selfish, spoiled brat, but I know I'm fairly self-sufficient. She's just the kind of woman I hate.

The cover art of this book isn't TOO bad, but I have no clue what is going on with her hands-especially her left arm. They look downright skeletal. Maybe I haven't reached the part of the book where she gets some terrible degenerative hand disease.

Way back when I was pregnant in 2004/2005, I was incredibly sick. I threw up my entire pregnancy and only ended up gaining a whopping 10 lbs at the very end...thanks to blood pressure and swelling. I basically spent 9 months making trips to go hug the toilet (and people wonder why I hesitate to do it all over again, lol). Anyway, while I was pregnant, I read a lot of webcomics. They're (generally) free, they're fun, and you can read them between the 20 trips you make to the bathroom to barf every day. Before I even knew what I was having, I read this strip of Queen of Wands (no longer in production) and fell in love with the name Seamus (it also didn't hurt that the character of Seamus was a med student ;) ).

What were you named after?

 

The one where you have no clue what to do with your kid.

My child is not a sports kid. We've tried a few different group sports now and as much as he proclaims to want to do it, he fizzles out after a few weeks.

When he played soccer, it was fine, but not great. He enjoyed the first couple of games, he would rather sit on the side of the field and pick bugs out of the grass. In fact, during his last game, he stopped and picked a clover blossom in the middle of running down the field, chasing the ball.

 

When he did karate, it was slightly better, but not much. He stuck with it a bit longer than soccer, but really, he didn't enjoy it all that much. By the end, I had to drag him to classes kicking and screaming. Plus, it was expensive.

So, where do I go for my non-athletic math-loving kid? I know there are math clubs and such for older kids, but where do the younger nerds go? I'm open to any and all suggestions. I have a kid who needs to be forced out in the world at least a little bit (he'll happily sit at home forever) and I'm out of ideas. Help!

The one where you find out who your friends are.

It takes a crisis in your life to find out who really cares about you. I've made no secret that Mike is getting fired from his job in the military. Earlier this month, we finally found out that the end is drawing near. We have about a month before we are out of here. We knew this was coming, but considering this has dragged on for almost half a year now, it was still a shock. I'm stressed about it. We have a plan in place, I'm happy with the plan, and I'm eager to get the plan in motion. However, this is all very scary.

• I never thought I would be turning 30 and moving in with my parents.
• I never thought we would be starting all over again, from the bottom.
• I never thought I would feel unwelcome.
• But most of all, I never thought I would feel so alone throughout this.

What has amazed me throughout all this is some of the people I thought I could lean on who weren't there and some of the people I hadn't thought to lean on were some of my greatest allies. I'm not sure if it's that we aren't as close as *I* thought we were or they just don't know what to say to me.

The people who have reached out to me if for nothing more than to tell me they're thinking about me or praying for me or just ask how I'm doing mean so much to me. Having a friend I can "run away" to who will listen to me and keep me from killing people means so much to me.Having people I know care about me and how I'm doing means so much to me. When I talked about considering selling my spinning wheel to make money and save space, I had so many offers from people who would hold it for me until I could take it back. In the end, I'm keeping my spinning wheel. It folds up and if worse comes to worse, it can live under the bed.

While I'm doing much better than I was, I'm beginning to realize many people just don't know what to say or do with a friend in crisis- no matter if it is a marriage/relationship, a job, illness, or something else. However, your friends need to know you are there, even if it is just to let them know that you're thnking of them. Here are some excellent articles to read:

• 5 Ways to Help a Friend in Crisis
• Mostly Marital Advice, but all good
• Things to focus on
• For the Crunchy Crowd

So, for those of you who have gone out of your way to make me feel loved, thank you. I appreciate it more than you will ever know. I am lucky to have each and every one of you in my life.

 

The one with the best customer service email ever. Not even kidding.

Ok, I love Groupon-type sites, so I joined Zulilly. They have nice stuff, but it's just not for me. I don't have a baby and I like wearing Pajamajeans. I've been trying to unsubscribe from their emails for a couple of weeks now. I did it the proper way and still got them. I changed my email in their system to one that didn't exist, I STILL got them. I finally got fed up and sent an email.

They wrote me back later today:

The one with the results of the contest

CONGRATS TO ANDI :D

 

The one where I give it away for free for Valentine's day.

So, yesterday I did some spinning for the firt time in a while because I seem to be in a knitting funk. Nothing I've knitted hs turned out right and I just keep messing up. So, I dusted off the Sonata and had a grand old time.

(Repurposed Broken Pot)

Ghetto Lazy Kate

And 2 single-ply wool singles and 2 novelty yarns later, here's what we have:

My Funny (looking) Valentine

And, well, I don't know what to do with it. 156 yards of bulky-spun art yarn. Buuuuut, since I don't know what to do, I've decided to give it away. For free, even. All I ask is that you answer a trivia question and that you actually USE the yarn if you win it.

This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. I'll even cover the shipping. One entry per person. Void where prohibited, don't talk to vampires, eat your vegetables, use protection. Registration is open, well, now, just comment below with the answer to the trivia question. On Sunday, February 6th at noon (or thereabouts, I do have a life), I will close comments and pick a winner using random.org. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your mom. Spay and neuter your pets.

So, the aforementioned trivia question? Here it is:

How old was I when I met (and began dating) my husband?

(Hint: I wasn't legal, but I was legal enough)

That's it. Not hard. :) 

Good luck and have fun! :)

Edit:

Congrats to Andi!

The one where I rip it out and start something new.

Remember the obnoxious stitch I posted yesterday?

Well, sometimes, we just have to face the music and let go. I ripped it out. I don't possess the necessary amounts of patience for something like this. So, farewell, Jaquelin cardigan, consider yourself frogged. Now what can I do with 12 skeins of Bulky yarn (1300 yards)?

So, to console my knitting bug, I decided to finally get started on the throw kit that I received for Christmas from my parents. Nine(!) skeins of yarn, all intended to make a fan and feather throw. I can't wait to get started. They yarn is gorgeous and so, so me.

If you need me, I'll be lolling around in a pile of yarn.

The one where I think this stitch is stupid.

Meet the risotto stitch. Made by:

Over an even number of stitches:

• Row 1 [RS]: K all sts.
   
• Row 2 [WS]: [P2tog but do not drop sts from left needle; k2tog in front loops of same 2 sts, drop sts from left needle] to end of row.
   
• Row 3 [RS]: K all sts.
  
• Row 4 [WS]: P1, [p2tog but do not drop sts from left needle; k2tog in front loops of same 2 sts, drop sts from left needle] to last st, p1.
• Repeat Rows 1-4 for Risotto Pattern.

Very dense, reversible. Pretty.

Front:

Back:

Ohhh, ahh.

It looks just like crochet. It's taking forever to knit this and it looks just like crochet. Why am I killing myself to knit this again?