DC Day 4 - Last but not least

We got home safely last night. All 34 of us, 29 kids and 5 chaperones. I was too tired to post last night but here's a quick one. We are heading to St. Augustine in about 2 hrs and I'm doing laundry, re-packing, and getting my house and dogs ready for my step-sister. :)

Ok...so quickly...We started off the day, packing the bus with all the luggage and picking up the tour guide. Then we headed to the Jefferson Monument. I love the building, which I didn't get a good picture of and I just think he looks so regal and big. I did a lot of walking and knitting this day so the sock does grow a bit between pictures. :)

See...he's big. He's 19 feet tall, the 2nd tallest statue in DC, with the Liberty statute on the Capital being the biggest at 19.5 feet.
He's got a great view as well. I wish all the Cherry Blossoms had been in bloom.

Next stop another one of my favorites, Roosevelt Park. He's one of my favorite presidents. I love all the water features of this park, which I didn't get a picture of. Oh well.
Had to get a picture of his puppy with my sock. :)

And of course his wife.
Next stop was the Vietnam, which I didn't get a picture of the wall because I didn't feel it was respectful to place my sock on it and one of our kids was placing a picture of her cousin who was on the wall, and doing a rubbing so we were helping her. She cried a little even though she had never met him. It was moving. I do love the statutes around the wall as well.

Next up was the WWII Memorial. I got some pictures of my sock with places on the wall. First was Florida of course, since that is where I live.Then Ohio for Special K and Sharimom.
The Pacific side which I grew up on. And I wanted to get some water in there. :)
And last was Puerto Rico for my mother.
Well, from there we headed to lunch at the Old Post Office Building and then to the Spy Museum which is awesome. We can't take pictures in there so none to show. After that we swung by the Peterson House and the Einstein Statue and then off to the airport. I didn't get any more pictures from those. I was exhausted at the point and I knit a little more but honestly I spent most the time getting the kids organized and then relaxing with my ipod and fellow podcasters voices. I caught up on some good ones.

Ok...welll...I better jump in the shower and get ready to go. Special K is getting off today at noon, and hopefully we'll be on the road by 12:30. My friend, who I'm test knitting for should be here around then to drop of the supplies so I can get started.

I've also got to pick up a cake that I ordered for Special K from Publix. He loves their cake so I called this morning and had them rush me a 1 year old cake for him. It's a surprise!!

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'm not brining my laptop so I won't be able to talk much until Sunday. I miss you all!!

Happy Knitting and Traveling!!

DC Day 3 - Sunny as can be.

Another quick post. Day started at Mt. Vernon...the house of George Washington. I love this property.

Look at the little lamp. Oh so cute!!
and check out the fiber. heheh no, I mean sheep. I asked around about where all the fiber goes and was hoping that they would sell a little or even have yarn for sale but we knitters haven't reached them yet. :) They did say they keep it and during the winter, when the local kids come for colonial day, they have demonstrations on how to spin, weave, and knit. I thought that was awesome and satisfied my lack of ability to purchase any. ;)
We then headed to lunch at Pentagon mall. After all the walking at Mt. Vernon, I needed some food. The sock and I needed a little pick-me-up.
From there we swung by the Iwo Jima memorial. I love this statue and it has Panama on it. It's a memorial for all the marines that have fought in wars. They were in the Panama invasion in 1988-1990. I lived in Panama that whole time. I have stories about bombs going over our house into the city the night of the major invasion on Dec 19, 1989, the marines coming to inspect our house and make sure that we were American the next day, my father taking us downtown a couple days later and seeing whole city blocks leveled and looters everywhere. I can go on but that's all I'm going to say. So, you can imagine that it was nice to see Panama on there.

I got my sister, who was in Houston, TX during the invasion to pose with me. I guess she's lived in Panama so it works. That's Fleas by the way. :)
Can't forget the sock pictures. :) Oh and notice I'm at the heel!! YEAH!!

Florida Indian Wars

Then we headed to the Newseum, the brand new museum about the News that opened about 2 weeks ago. It's amazing. I could have spend HOURS and HOURS there. There are 15 movies and 16 galleries and we only had 2 hours and so we had to pick and choose. They have the largest hydraulic glass elevator in world. The view from the top of the capital is beautiful! Check it out!!


They have actual sections of the Berlin Wall which is awesome and the one of the watch/death towers. It's amazing!! Have I said how much I liked this museum. I found this picture of the Peruvian Yarn. I wish I could share the story line but I don't know if I can read it. It's a pretty pretty picture though. My sock and bag looks great next to it.The Newseum also had a great section on 911 and the videos made me cry. You must visit it if you ever go to DC.

I thought this wax figure of J. Edgar Hoover was pretty neat to. The section on him isn't open yet but the sculpture was very real. He looks great with my sock. :)From there we headed to get some pictures of the White House. It's such a pretty house.

Well, I ended up writing more than I thought. :) Hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow we'll be heading home. I'll probably post Friday or at the airport tomorrow if I get a chance. I'm going to be test knitting some socks for my friend so I'll be putting these socks down until I finish those. I think my April socks are going to be finished during May. Especially since I have 2 pairs of socks for April. :) I'll tell you about my test knitting when I'm done and I can.

Off to help get the kids to sleep and to get ready for bed myself. Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Happy Knitting!!

DC Day 2 - Shady Sun

This is going to be quick with little detail because I'm exhausted. Just be happy there's pictures. :) Some are taken from my cellphone and some are from my friend Zred's camera.

Day started at the Washington Monument.

The statue at the bottom of the monument

The view of the White House from the top.

The next stop was the National Cathedral...oh so beautiful!!

Next we stopped for lunch at the National Zoo.

The pandas are so cute!! I wish I got a better picture of the baby. He was sleepy.

Lions n Tigers and Prairie dogs...oh my!!

We went to the Holocaust Memorial/Museum which you can not take camera's into and honestly I get so mesmerized that I wouldn't even have thought of pictures. We watched a movie and had a couple tears. If you've never been it is a very moving museum and many of the kids said it was their favorite part so far.

Lincoln Memorial is one of my favorites!! He's so huge and amazing.
He's got a great view as well.
Last stop was the Korean Memorial.

The sock didn't grow much today because we were busy and tired. I'm off to get some knitting in before I need to be asleep. Hope everyone is having a great week.

Happy Knitting!!

DC Day 2 - Sprinkles

Today was much better.  The weather was better but it still rained on and off all day.  We stayed mostly dry.  We woke up early, hit the breakfast buffet, picked up the tour guide then headed over to start our day.  I was told I could not bring my knitting needles into the Capitol so I had to leave my knitting in the bus for the beginning of the part of the day.  First stop was the Library of Congress, which has the most amazing architecture and art.  They had a new exhibit of Jefferson's original library that they have recovered.  The documents were amazing to see.  I thought it was interesting to see the original letter telling Washington that he was elected unanimously as the president and the first inaugural speech.  

From there we headed to the lunch and then the Capital building for our tour.  I love the sculptures and of course the architecture.  After our tour, we stopped at the Natural Museum.  I brought my sock along and snapped a shot of my sock hanging out with the elephant that is in the entrance.

The Natural Museum is interesting.  The kids went off, and the chaperone's sat and had some gelato. :)  We checked out the shops and a little bit of the museum.  Last year, I checked every square out and saw the Hope Diamond.  I figured now that I have a diamond on my finger and I've seen it before I was ok with not seeing it this year.

From here we got back on the bus and off to Arlington Cementary.  This is an amazing place.  We saw Kennedy's grave and the view that he has.  Check it out. :)  My sock is the main focus but you can see the skyline a little bit.

Well, from there we saw the Lee House, or as my sister likes to call it the Martha Washington Custis House.  We then realized we were running a bit late for our appointment with the changing of the guards for the laying our wreath ceremony.  We booked it and all the kids got a chance to see the changing of the guards and then our four kids that we had selected got a chance to lay the wreath.  It was very special. 

The last stop after Arlington was a mall for some dinner and then back to the hotel...where I'm exhausted and ready to sleep.  

Hope everyone is doing well.  Hopefully tomorrow the sun will come out. :)

Happy Knitting!!

DC Day 1- Soaking wet!

Today has been an interesting day.  We all got to the airport on time and checked in.  We said good-bye to the parents and headed to the gate.  I was nervous going through security, even though so many of you had said that needles were fine.  Thank you for all your comments.  They never even said anything or opened any of my bags. :)  I was happy.  So, we sat down and the kids got drinks, mostly caffeinated ones. :)  I cast on while sitting there Our plane was delayed a bit but we all got seated and took off.  I sat with my sister and co-teacher.  Fleas worked on the yearbook, D listened to my podcast and music on my ipod, and I knit.   I got some good progress in a short time....the joys of knitting one sock at time.  You "see" progress.Our flight was really bumpy and the landing was very scary but we got to DC safe and sound.  We headed to the Reagan building for some lunch.  Our favorite turkey dinner place was not serving that today because it was sunday....it was sad.  We were all hungry at this point because it had been a while since we had breakfast.  All the kids ate and then we headed over to the Washington Monument for our ticket appointment.  It had been rainy here and there so far but as soon as we got all the kids off the bus and walking up to the monument it started to POUR on us.  The wind was chilly and strong and the whipping rain was incredible.  We left hurricane country to experience hurricane weather. :)  

When we reached the monument it was closed due to weather conditions.  The kids huddled by the monument for a while and then we sent them back to get cover underneath the shelter and the bottom of the hill.  The security guard came out and told D and me that it was unsafe to be here and we should head down.  We waited until someone told us that they would try to open at 3 or they would try to honor our tickets tomorrow.  Ugh.  We headed down to the shelter to wet, grumpy kids, who wanted nothing else but to head to the hotel.  We held them there for a bit to see if the monument would reopen.  We don't really have much time tomorrow to fit it in because we have a ton of appointments.  We sent Fleas up to check if it would open at 3 and the answer was no.  Disappointed and cold we rejoiced to be back on the bus.  From there we swung by Target to get drinks and snacks, then to the hotel to check in and get into clean clothes.  We've had pizza, showers, social time and now it's quiet time and ready for bed.   I've been knitting.  I had to unknit a couple rows because I messed up the pattern but I think I'm doing pretty good.  This pattern is great!!  What do  you think??

The ribbing seems a bit long but it's 2 inches.  It might be because there's not enough pattern to counterbalance it.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some sock pictures that actually have DC in them.  It's been fun so far. 

Special K had a good day fishing with his dad, step-mom, and step-cousin.  They caught some Kingfish and that makes them happy.  Jackjack and Abigail had some afternoon visiting from my sisters, nephew, and brother-in-law while Special K was fishing.  Jackjack and Special K headed over to his dad's for some dinner.  Poor Abby had to stay home. :)  It's too many dogs and people over there.

Well...hope everyone is well.  I'm sorry that I won't really have much time to read many blogs but I'll catch up when I get back.  

Happy Knitting!!

Off on my DC trip!!

From here on out I'll be posting from DC until next week. I'll be missing Special K, Jackjack, and Abigail. We spent the afternoon at the beach at it was nice but too many dogs. Jackjack is no fun when there are too many un-neutered dogs. I'm tired, packed and grumpy. I'm really not sure why. I will try to post pictures of my travels with my 9-5 socks. We have a jam packed week ahead of us. Hope everyone is doing good. :)

Happy Knitting!!

Email problems.

If you email me normally at gnat(at)barknknit(dot)com, it's not working at the moment. I'm changing my website and my email got disabled. It should be back up soon. You can email me at gnatchat(at)gmail(dot)com. Thank you!

Lapdog Creations' Contest

Nichole over at LapdogCreations is having an awesome contest in honor of ASPCA day. Everyone needs to go over and spread the word on the ASPCA!! Also check out her puppies they are just so cute and she gets the best pictures of them.

I was slow this month and totally missed taking pictures of wearing orange. Hope I'll make it next year.

Dogs on Thursday!!

I have been a horrible Blogger lately. A lot has been going on and I will probably be really busy in the next couple weeks. Please forgive me and I hope you don't forget me. :)

First big news is that I got a new job. My last day teaching is May 28th and my new job starts on June 2nd. Even though, I've already started training for my new job. I'm so excited about this new job and I can't wait to start. I didn't even think this job existed, especially in St. Pete, FL but it does and I got the job!! For now, I'll just tell you that I'll be working at a web company creating online communities for schools, alumni groups, and companies. I will be launching my own site in the next couple weeks and if you want you can join in. I'll tell you more about it when I do. :)

So, that's been a big part of what's been keeping me busy lately. The next thing is that I'll be in DC next week so I've been preparing for that and we've been having meetings and a lot of planning. My planning has been my travel knitting...no but I have been planning for it. I decided not to take the two things I was going to take but am planning on casting on for a new sock after I get through security. I got yarn in my DOT package that will be perfect to make a pair of 9-5 socks. Since I'm going to be actually working a 9-5ish job and ending my 8:15-3:15 job I figured it's time to knit them. I also want a pair of socks to be my DC socks.

Speaking of my DOT package...it was the GREATEST. GMarie spoiled me!! She was great. She posted on her blog about the package but I took pictures too...so here they are.

Where do I start with this package?? She sent me all of this. Abigail LOVES the teddy bear. She sleeps on it and is so darn cute. I have those on a different camera so will have to post them later. Jackjack is fond of this little squeaky toy. For some reason that has been his. He likes to play with us on the handmade pull toy though. :)She also made these towels for them. They are so adorable. One for each of them with their names on it.
She sent some Pet shampoo, a bucket, and some dryer sheets, which in my house have multiple uses.
My treats were this wonderful chocolate which Special K has been enjoying. :) The treats on the side, Abigail can't have but that's ok...Jackjack will enjoy every single one. :)
The sock yarn...oh yes...the sock yarn. Pretty Shuibuiknits in the color Breeze. These will hopefully by the end of next week be the 9-5 socks. She also sent two mugs that Special K has already decided which one is his and which one is mine. He's silly. :) The bad that she sent is also awesome. It's very pretty.

So, that is my Dogs on Thursday Swap Package. I love it all. I've been trying desperately to finish up mine this week. I finished the sewing this weekend but just still need to pick of some stuff.

I hope everyone is doing well. There has been so much going on lately that I've missed a lot of regularly scheduled posts. I had a Thankful Tuesday all planned to thank God for helping me fine and get my new job. Wedding Wednesday was going to be about our wedding plans, which aren't much right now with all the job finding and trip planning. So...I guess DOT post was it this week. I put up a podcast this weekend and am hoping to get another one up before I go but we'll see. Laundry, house cleaning, dog bathing, packing, package sending, and knitting...have kept and will keep me busy.

Happy Knitting and Dogs on Thursday!!

PS...I borrowed a ball winder from my friend Sheryl last night and had to make due with what I had.