Today has been an interesting day.

First of all, I find myself returning to Jared Flood’s website to look at this shawl.  I’ve been back several times today.  I am going to make it.  I don’t know how, but I am thinking my encouraging friend Susan is going to be integral part of this.  The shawl has garter stitch.  Yay.  It also has “intricate Shetland lace motifs”.  That frightens me, but I am going to give it a whirl.  It seems that many have fallen in love with the shawl as the yarn is sold out.  And part of the attraction is the beautiful color, so I really want that yarn.  It would be best for me if it stayed sold out for a little while so that I could finish my first real attempt at a lace shawl.

I worked on my shawl for a little while last night.  I started a row kind of late.  I had a bad feeling as I began, and I kept warning myself that I really should not be doing this, but for some reason I continued.  And I messed up the row, and fixing it was going to be tough.  After some unknitting and muttering, I was able to get the shawl back on track. However, I was left with a couple of small lace holes (of the type that should be there) which are a little askew.   I am going to live with this.  That’s been one of my problems with lace.  I invariably messed up and then tried to rip it back then it really got all messed up and then bam it was all over.  So I am going to go forward having salvaged this I believe, in the hopes that I will go forth and it will all be perfect. (mostly. maybe not.)

I got a chance to knit on some fingerless gloves today quite abit.  Davey and I spent quite abit of time just lounging around.  Which as busy as we have been was probably not a bad thing at all. The three of us have some kind of what I thought was a minor stomach bug.  David is feeling better already.  Davey and I were kinda puny all day today.  No real stomach issues, we just felt kinda blech.  So this afternoon, Davey seemed to have perked up.  I decided to make a quick trip to the grocery store as we are getting pretty low around here.

So off we went.

I guess my first mistake was putting him in the car cart.  The one with the video player inside.  I noticed that after a few minutes he was kind of sprawled out on the seat.  Then the next thing I know, he is climbing out of the car cart looking rather green.  And then he threw up.  It was a small amount though and I was able to clean us up.

So now I have a cart almost completely full of groceries.  A big honking car cart.  Davey feels lousy and I am carrying him –  so I am toting a limp 37 pound Davey and trying to push a car cart – which also has a lousy wheel which wants to go whatever way it wants to go.

I decide to grab a couple more things on my way to the front of the store.   So we are also in the back of what is the biggest grocery store I have ever been in in my entire life.  It is an enormous King Soopers.  Huge.  So I start working my way to the front pausing to shift Davey from side to side.  I am trying to hurry – thinking kinda that well – he’s thrown up once, usually that makes a person feel ok at least for a little bit.  Long enough hopefully for me to get him back home.

We make it to the front of the store.  We are in front of the floral section.  All of a sudden Davey throws up again.  If you are squeamish about “spitting food” as Davey calls it, then I apologize.  But this was projectile majorly liquid.  He soaked me.  A minute passed as I was kind of in shock. (It was one of those time slowed down moments.) He did it again.  Big time.  Now I am scurrying.  To where I don’t know.  Now a third time.  At this point, we are both seriously soaking wet.  My shirt is soaked, half of my hair is wet.  Davey is wet from head to toe.  He is pointing at his wet shoes.  This upset him:  “Mommy!  My shoes!”

I looked around for help.  I really think the floral ladies were trying to avoid my eyes.  I can’t blame them at all.  We were standing in a large puddle of liquid.  I said, “can you help?”  Quickly they brought us a bag in case he had to “Spit food” again – I don’t know where anymore quantity could have come from.  Then they brought us some paper towels.  We were beyond paper towels.

I apologized profusely.  They were very kind and understanding.  I had to leave the full buggy behind.  They were nice about that as well.  I am sure they just wanted us out of there.  I said, “you guys are probably not going to want to eat for a week after this.”

So I got us out of there.  Poor sweet miserable boy. We took our soaking wet selves home and got cleaned up.  Davey has not thrown up again.  He’s not had much in the way of food and just a little drink, but we are hoping he’s past it.

I tell stories that I want to remember in my blog;  however,  I am pretty sure this day has been indelibly etched into my memory bank.

Thursday evening.  I’m a little tired.   I need to write my final for my English classes.  I also need to grade papers.   I actually enjoy it once I get going; I am just feeling tired.  So I feel like stalling a little.  I also really enjoy my blogging time so here I go.

We unpacked quite abit today.  Lots of books.  We had to drive down to Lakewood and back twice.  It’s just about 17 miles but the traffic will wear a person out.

Ok this post is getting wearisomely whiny.

I got going on sock number two of the Make up Sock last night.  It’s still slow going but not quite as slow as sock number one.

I think I have most of my yarn unpacked.  Need to organize it now.

Today Davey said, “Mommy, can we go to Africa?”

I asked, “why do you want to go to Africa?”

Davey answered,  “I want to see elephants, lions and peacocks.”

He mentioned it again later in the day and added, “Mommy, bats live in Africa.”

Then he proceeded to question me for about 15 minutes on the topic of snakes.   More specifically, he questioned me about my fear of snakes.

“Mommy, why are you so scared of snakes?”  (I really try not to make a big deal about my irrational fear of snakes, but I guess I don’t hide it so well.)

“Mommy.  you don’t need to be afraid of snakes.”

I reassured him that I knew there was nothing to be scared of and that we just needed to be careful around them.

“Mommy, you need to hold a snake.”

At that point, it was all I could do to keep from shivering right out of the driver’s seat.

I guess he noticed.  “Mommy.  There is nothing to be scared of.”

I tried to explain the idea of “irrational” fear, but he was having none of it.

Here he is preparing for his safari.  I guess we will have to head to Asia too to see the tigers.

Just a little rambling today I think.

We’ve not had a chance to unpack much this week.  The kitchen and Davey’s room are pretty much done,  and we’ve located almost all of our clothes, so we can make it for awhile.  Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.

Everything is starting to get green.  One thing fun about moving into a new house which is not actually new is that there are all kinds of springtime surprises.  Little bulbs are coming up all around the yard.  Daffodils, tulips, and Oh!

Ok, I just ran outside to take a picture.  It’s kind of chilly outside.  And not really raining.  It’s more like dripping.  Anyway, this plant started emerging out of the ground the other day.  At first it looked very mutant weirdish.  Today when I took the picture, I saw that it might actually be not so mutant as there is a leaf forming.  Can anyone tell me what this is? (or is going to be?)

I am very curious to see what emerges.

Today David and Davey went to pick up a couple of lights we’d left at the apartment, and they did a little cleaning.  Davey said, “Daddy!  We forgot the balcony.”  He then went on to explain to David that yes, it could indeed be taken apart and re-assembled at our house.

I worked on my lace shawlette last night.  I am still a little inept.  I thought I was short a stitch, so I tinked out the row.  (yuck.  Although at least I am a little better at unknitting now at least for this pattern.)  Turns out though, that I was not short a stitch.  A yarnover had gotten caught on a stitch marker and was showing up on the wrong side of the marker.  So then I’d already re-knit the row thinking that an adjustment was needed at the beginning of the row.  Turns out that that adjustment was not needed at all.  So back I went to take that adjustment out.  What a pain.   After that I proceeded slowly and cautiously and all went well.

Ok back to supper preparation.  I’m making beef and barley soup.  Should be nice for a rainy evening!

So this is our first Colorado spring.  It’s been pretty cool.  The trees are starting to get green.  In the parts of the world where we formerly lived (except Seattle), temps have already hit at least 80.  So on Saturday when it hit 84 here, we thought – yep Spring is here.  (and practically Summer really in most places we lived.)

Time to break out the shorts!  Davey is already asking at least once a day when we will go to the waterpark.  “Mommy?  Can we go to the pool today?”

Here’s how things looked Saturday in Boulder:

But things were changing by Sunday morning.

We were fascinated by the whole possibility of snow.

As soon as it began, Davey was outside with his umbrella. Not much happening here, but he was ready.

And then the snow really began to come down.  Big wet Spring flakes.

Davey and Koko soon went back out to check it out.

Davey made snow angels! (He’s not dressed adequately for real snow play.  I love how he has his hand carefully held just above the deck.)

Fascinating stuff!

The snow fell heavily for an hour or so.  It didn’t last for long.

Fun Spring.

I am pretty tired, and I can’t find my camera to computer cable yet so I can’t download pictures to post a few here.

But it’s April 1st, and I felt like I should post on April 1st.  I don’t know why.  I have never been a fan of April Fool’s Day.  I never much liked the idea much of playing jokes on someone – even though I know it’s mostly just in fun.  But I felt compelled to write a short post anyway – new month and all.

(Edited to say that I do find google’s April Fool’s Day jokes just pretty darn hilarious.  Google Motion?  Good one and if you googled Helvetica today, the results came up in Comic Sans.  David would love that one!)

So we are in our house.  Second night in fact.  We are very happy to be in a house again!  So much to unpack still, but we’ll get there.

I even knitted abit tonight.  I was too tired to take on sock number 2, so I just did some plain knitting on another “Jiffy Mitt”.  Such a fun quick pattern.   Great project to carry in my purse, or when I am pooped from packing.

Pooped.  We checked out our new library today, and Davey found Everybody Poops.  Oh he loves it.  We looked at it several times today.  It is a cute book if poop can be cute.

And on that note – Happy beginning of April!

It’s still “Big Day Eve”, but I thought I’d quickly post before bed since I may not have internet yet set up tomorrow.  It’s supposed to be ready to go, but we shall see.

Just a couple of things.  First, whenever Davey and I are in the store lately, he is always telling me to “Scroll” back.   For example, we were in Target today.   He was in the cart, and I went by something he wanted to look at.

“Scroll back!  Mommy!”

I guess this is the language of a child who is already expert at wielding a mouse.

Then the other thing.  It’s totally non-related.  I’ve been reading some knitting blogs tonight.  I always notice this, but I always forget to mention it to anyone.  Everyone is asleep so I am mentioning it in my blog now.  Whenever I see pictures of people knitting, they always look like they are holding these dainty delicate needles and working with this small piece of string.  The knitting always looks so small in their hands.

But when I hold the yarn and needles in my hand, I don’t see it that way at all.  They feel very substantial and large to me.

I don’t know.  Maybe that’s just my perception.  Just thought I’d share.

Now I better go sleep.  Big Day is almost here!

Tomorrow is the big day.  All our boxes are packed – we’re ready to go.  One thing about having moved 8 million times over the last 20 years is that we’ve become adept movers.  This really has just finally happened for us in the last couple of moves though.

Everything is packed.   It took me probably 18 moves to realize that “the few things I am leaving until last” really really add up quickly.   So everything is packed.  Even most of my knitting.  David was kind enough to draw a big huge star on that box and label it “knitting” in nice big letters.  He knows I’ll panic quickly if I can’t locate the box.  I do have my sock out to work on though.  Gotta have something.

Davey and I went to buy a bed today.  The testing of bed comfort was great fun for little Davey.  “This bed is too jiggly.”  “This bed is too shaky.”  “This bed is too hard.”  Finally we settled on one that was just right.  We needed a guest room bed for all the guests we hope will be visiting!  We also needed an extra bed for the off chance that I might occasionally possibly rarely snore.  Sometimes Davey might have crawled in with us in the middle of the night, and I think we both might snore and drive David the light sleeper away.

It was only in the last move that I was not scrambling for paper with which to wrap.  Big $8.00 box of white wrapping paper from U-Haul is the only way to go.  Just for future reference!

I just watched Koko walk to the back bedroom bathroom in search of water.  No, she doesn’t drink out of the toilet.  I am afraid that the boxes have the poor girl so befuddled that she can’t find her water bowl in the kitchen.  She did finally locate it.  She’s going to be ready for a nice sunny nap in our backyard.

Moving.   Ugh.  But we can’t wait!

We are in the final stages of packing this little apartment.  We’ve worked on it a little each day so it’s not been that bad.  There’s just not a ton of room in here, so it’s quickly become maze-like.

Davey is not thrilled about the process.  At least this time he knows where we are going, but he doesn’t like seeing his toys going into a box.  We’ve left a lot out, but we’ve done some packing in his room.  He eyes the boxes warily.  He is not 100% convinced, I don’t think, that he is going to see them again for awhile, although we keep reassuring him that everything will be unpacked in his new room in just a few days.

Davey is not the only wary one.  Koko is not thrilled about this either.  First she loses her furry best friend, and now she has to make her way around this maze of boxes.   I’ve tried to avoid it, but the boxes interfere with some of her favorite sleeping places. To top it all off, she has me trying to take her picture.

Trying.  Attempt 1:

No Koko.  For an old girl, she can scoot away pretty fast when she wants to.

This was the best I could do for today.  It’s terrible, but I figure I shouldn’t chase around a 15 year old dog and traumatize her further.

Davey wasn’t much more receptive to having his picture taken.

He kinda allowed me one.

And that was the end of that. He scrambled under his “slide-fort”.

So the packing is nearing completion.  Just a few more days here.

And now I thought I’d write a little about Timber.  (I had to kind of work into this by beginning with some packing discussion.)

First, here are some things that Timber ate over his lifetime.

1.  Grapes galore.  He loved to catch them in the air. One night he ate an entire bunch.  We woke up in the morning and there was a pile of stems on the floor.  We later learned (years later) that grapes are supposed to be very bad for dogs.

2.  An entire plate of poppyseed muffins.  We woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a plate crashing to the floor.  He could eat a muffin per gulp.

3.  An entire plate of chocolate cupcakes.  (See #2 for details.  #1 also applies in that chocolate = also not good for dogs.)

4.  A box of ant traps.  These were the little ones you set out for the ants to crawl into.  He threw them back up into a nice pile in the middle of the living room.  I rushed him to the vet.  He was fine.

5.  An entire bottle of Koko’s beef-flavored antibiotics.  Somehow he got the lid off.  We again rushed him to the vet although he looked fine.  He was.  The doctor just recommended we give him yogurt.

6.  Update to post –   David reminded me of the time that he ate an entire roasted chicken carcass from our trashbag.  He consumed it one big gulping swallow.  Again – chicken bones also very bad for dogs.  It’s amazing he lived as long as he did.

Timber loved being a dog.  He reveled in “dogness”.  For example, let me compare him to Koko the chow. She’s not a dog.  As a chow, She’s actually slightly higher in the pecking order than human.

Timber though was not just all dog. He was all goofy dog.  He went into what we called “psycho puppy” to some degree his entire life.  (This is where dogs just run around as fast as they can in a crazy dog joy. The word psycho doesn’t seem quite right actually.)  This picture is the best example I have of “psycho puppy”.

If Timber smelled something nice and dead and stinky, he collapsed into a happy heap to roll in whatever it was.  Timber was a connoisseur of all things poop.   He didn’t like dog poop, but instead preferred a nice horse or lately Canada goose poop.

Timber had a very endearing personality.  My dad gave him his name. Everyone had a nickname for him.  My brother-in-law, Kev, called him T-man.  We called him “The Woo”.  (“woo-woo” was one of the very first words my niece Mikayla learned.)  We called him Senor Woo.  We called him Woo-cious (like precious).  He was my little “mooshi mooshi”.  (I have a silly language for them.)

Timber was so gentle with Davey.  Davey and I had a game called  “the bear and the wolf”.  “Mommy,  the bear and the wolf are coming!  Let’s hide!”   So they’d walk into the room and wonder why we were squealing under a quilt.

Here’s Timber with his best friend Koko.  (So hard to get a picture of that dark brown Koko puff.)

Friends have said so many kind things to me about the loss of Timber.  One of my favorites was, “If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever!”

We are lucky to have so many happy memories of our happy woo.