52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: If I could have one superpower...

If I could have one super power it would be the power to heal. It would be amazing to be able to use my hands and words to heal people of their illness but also of their hurts emotionally and not just physically.

Having lost my mother to cancer so young, I often thought about how I wish someone could have touched her and taken away the cancer.  I wish that she would not have had to suffer and go though all that she did.  I know others that have been sick and needed healing and I wish I could have been the one to do it.

So many people walk around with pain that's not physical.  Pain from hurts that they have experienced along their path.  Sometimes it's right on the surface and you can see this pain like its a physical feature. It makes me sad when you see this pain in young kids that shouldn't have to carry it.  I just want to take away all their sadness...not by giving them material things but by being able to heal the pain that they have had to go through.  Tell them they didn't do anything wrong and they didn't deserve it.  I would like to be able to say what they need to hear to let the past go and to heal...and forgive. 

Not sure exactly how my super power would work but I think it would be a miracle to have the power to heal those I love and those that I come across.

What would your superpower be?

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: If I could be anything in the world...

This topic was another hard one for me...I think this is a running theme with this linkup.  I like that it's pushing me to think about things.  I struggled with this one because I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it.  This is what came out when I began writing.

When I look inside and ask myself what I would like to be, my first thought is I am already a mom.  I've always wanted to be a mom and I have 2 precious girls, who make me a mommy.  Growing up, I always wanted to be in a mother/daughter relationship.  I would look at my friends and see them with their moms and wanted that relationship.  I knew that while I love my father and we have a good relationship, it's not the same as I would have had with my mom. My mom would have understood a lot of what I was going through and she would have been there for me like no one else could have.  She would have been mine...my mother and many people take that relationship for granted.

For those of you who don't know, my mother Carmen Delia Martinez passed away January 7th, 1987 of breast cancer.  I was 6 and a half years old and I miss her everyday!  It's hard to describe growing up without a mom.  I had a step-mom but she had her own kids and it's not the same.  I had older sisters, who have been like mothers to me throughout my life, however, they had their own lives and their own children to mother.  I feel I turned out fine but it wasn't always easy.  I pray often that I will be there for my girls for all those moments that I missed having my mother there for me...like my wedding and the birth of both my girls.  When they do have their babies someday, I plan to take a month plus vacation and spend the time helping them learn to be a mom themselves.  They might be ready for me to head home after that but I plan to be there for them through it and for as long as they will let me. 

I always knew if/when I had a child I'd have a girl...I picked out her name when I was young and was very thankful none of my sister took my girl name.  Naming my first daughter after my mother was the easiest decision I ever made.  It's funny that she looks SO much like my husband's mother yet she is named after my mom.   She has a bit of both her grandmas in her forever!

Back to the topic, if I could be anything in the world...I would be what I am and I would be a mom to my 2 dearest blessings Carmen and Maria.

What would you be?  Is there something you already are that you always wanted to be?

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: What I live for

1 my daughters...they are my life, my air, my everything!  Love these two girls with all my heart.

2 my hubby...I wouldn't have my girls without him, our house would be lost without him.  We have our disagreements but even when I am mad at him I still want him around.

3 my family...I am not sure what I would do without my sisters, brothers, father, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and the rest of my family.  I couldn't possibly ask for a more support group of people!  They are always there to do what they can in time of need!

4 my friends...I may not always have time for them and we don't always get a chance to talk or hang out as much as I'd like, I am so grateful to have such good friends in my life that I have met over the years.

5 Jackjack and Abigail Grace...these 2 pups, who found me when they needed a home and love, are my furbabies!  It started out just me and ole Jackjack, who was so skinny and was on his last couple days at the pound.  He has taught me so much and has always been happy to see me.  Abbygirl had a rough start to life but she found Jackjack and me and we taught her about being a family.  Their lives have changes over the years as our family grew but I live for them.

6 yarn...as a knitter, you need yarn and I love my stash and in an emergency I would probably grab some as I ran out of the house.  After making sure my girls and dogs are safe first!

7 wool fiber...I love the smell of wool...yes I said it...I like the smell of sheep!  I like to spin it and play with it and generally spend time with fiber!

8 beach/pool...I have always lived close to the beach.  Even in San Fran where it was way too cold to go in...I enjoyed being around the water.  I like to hang out and listen to the waves and now that I am older watch my girl play in the sand.

9 vacation time...how could anyone not live for vacations!  A maternity leave is no vacation even though you don't have to work it is a lot of work!  I live for having time off with my family and traveling! 

10 holidays especially CHRISTmas...along with vacations comes holidays!  I love them!  Time celebrating together with family!  I love that!  I especially love all the CHRISTmas festivities and decorations, songs, food, and the meaning of the season!

What do you live for? What could you not live without?

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: Who I am

One of my favorite bloggers is starting a blogging journal topic for her Show and Tell Link Up that is 52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose.  This hit me as something that was exactly what I needed to get back to sharing my thoughts on this blog.  I'm joining it a week late so I'm going to post the first week's topic today to catch up.  Hope you enjoy!

Who I Am:

a daughter...I am a daughter to a very important man in my life.  My dad has helped define who I am in so many ways.  His decisions in his life effected me as I grew up and I learned from them and grew into the person I am today.  He has always had good advice for me in his way of saying things but growing up with him I've learned how to understand his words.  He is dear to me and I'm so thankful I'm his daughter.  Being my mother's daughter, even though she passed away when I was 6 years old, defined who I am.  Her memory is strong even though I was only 6 when she passed...she lives in me and my sisters and the stories people share about her life and who she was.  I feel her guiding me as I was growing up and become the woman I am today.  Her spirit is still guiding me and with me today.

a sister...I am a sister to 5 sisters and 2 brothers.  Being a sister to so many has taught me so much about my life and having them in my life is so important.  I'm the youngest so I often times am being mothered by them but that is ok...as I know they love me.  I am not sure who I would be without my sisters and brothers.  They are the best gifts my parents could have ever given me!

a wife...I am a wife to an amazing man.  He is my rock and my home.  We are both stubborn and our marriage is work...like Ben Afleck said in his recent Oscar acceptance speech...marriage is a lot of work...but that work is so rewarding and so worth every ounce of effort.  I often tell him how happy I am that he is my husband and that we have the most amazing 2 girls in the world together.  I'm thankful that we found each other and are doing our best to love, honor, and cherish each other.

a mother...Becoming a mom for the first and now the 2nd time, changed me in so many ways I don't even know where to begin. I think this is the biggest part of who I am today.  It's the most rewarding and hardest thing about who I am.  Someone once said that having children is like taking a part of your heart and letting it out in the world and I never understood this until the day I had Carmen.  It's amazing how much love you can feel instantly for this little person that spent 9 months in you and now is in your arms.  As this little person grows into a toddler, it's amazing how every day they learn something new and your heart just grows even more.  Having my toddler squeal with happiness and call me Mommy when she sees me and my newborn smile a big smile at me...melts my heart into mush.  I am blessed that they chose me to be their mom and I just hope that I do the best I can for them.

and lastly...a knitter/spinner...My knitting is always close by me and something that helps me balance my mind.  I may live in a warm climate but the craft of knitting and playing with fiber is such a big part of who I am as a person too.

How would you define who you are?

Currently: moving, changes, love

Today's blog post was inspired by a post on one of my new favorite blogs Rags to Stitches.  Head over there to read her Currently post.

I'm OVERWHELMED with the thought that we are starting our move in 10 days!  10 days people!  I have packed 2 boxes!  Yes, I have sold, donated, and toss a TON of stuff but there is still so much to pack.  We are supposed to be out of our current house by the 31st and if you look around...it doesn't look like it.

I'm ever THANKFUL of my husband's patience and hard work.  My husband isn't the most patient of men but he has so much patience for me.  I wish I could say I was great at keeping up with house chores and cleaning our house but alas I am not.  Given the choice to sit on the couch and knit in a dirty house or get up and clean it....let's just say...you can answer that one.   I know it's very frustrating for my husband.  He is amazing though and he usually cooks dinner and cleans most the house.  I am the one who takes responsibility for Carmen.  I make sure she eats her dinner, I give her a bath, read books, and put her to bed every night but Tuesday night(my knit night). I also do the dishes most night when he cooks and since our house needs vacuumed EVERY day I will vacuum a couple times a week.  I do laundry but Special K does most of it...mind you he usually needs to do laundry more often than I do.  He also has only cleaned the bathroom once...hmm...I do more cleaning that I give myself credit for.   Anyway...there you go...if it wasn't for my husband...we would live in a dirty house until someone mentioned they were stopping by...when I would quickly clean as much as possible.  I am still holding out hope for a trustworthy cleaning service to show up to clean our house once a week...and there is no bill!

I'm EXCITED to see all the painting my hardworking hubby and his dad have been doing in the new house!  They are painting the bedrooms as those are the only rooms that we really aren't going to be doing anything to that needed a fresh coat of paint.  I helped pick the colors but I haven't been able to go see the process.  He wants me to see it when it's finished and be surprised!  The hardwood floors are getting re-finished next week and I really can't wait to see how they turn out!

I'm NERVOUS about all the changes that are going on.  How will Carmen react to the move?  Will she be able to sleep in her new room?  When do we switch her to her big girl bed? When do we finally get rid of her bobo aka pacifier?  Carmen isn't a fan of changes.  She likes to know what to expect and likes routines.  She has gotten used to her summer routine and with the school year starting and the move happening, I worry how she will react.  I'm sure it will be fine as I tend to worry so much and then it's nothing.  I know we are not ready for the switch to no bobo and big girl bed but I know those things are coming this fall and I just sort of dread them.  I also dread potty training....ugh!  I know that if I can get a positive attitude about these things then I have a feeling they will go much smoother than if Carmen senses my dread.

I'm so PROUD of all the new things Carmen learns every day.  I feel every day there is a new word that she starts saying or a new skill she picks up.  Lately she has been practicing our names a lot.  I'll catch her just randomly saying Mama, Dada, and if she has her baby with her Baby.  She also has started to sing to herself a lot.  She sometimes will look to see if you are watching her as she sings but she mainly wants to sing by herself.  She will let me sing "The Wheels on the Bus..." with her and we both do the motions.  She is so loving with her baby dolls and her other stuffed animals.  Her Aunt Felicia taught her how to burp them and it's the cutest thing because she even makes the fake burp sound!  She also has learned how to make circles and her fine motor skills are improving a lot!  She will still opt to use her hands to eat sometimes but I don't mind...you can only eat applesauce with your hands for so long...so let her be young!

I'm APPRECIATIVE of all the help we have gotten from family.  Our family is amazingly helpful!  One of my sisters(not always the same one they switch it up) picks up Carmen every day, so we can keep Carmen at the daycare we love most.  They have helped us in so many ways, not even sure where to start.  Both my family and Special K's family have been amazing and are always there to help us and I couldn't be more thankful of them all!

I'm FAITHFUL that God has a bigger plan and knows what he is doing in my life and those around me.  Sometimes it's hard to see his plan and sometimes his timing isn't ours but in the end his plan is greater and bigger than we could have ever imagined.  Just takes faith and prayer.

I'm HAPPY with my life.   Even with all the nervousness, worry, and overwhelmed feelings, I am so very excited about my life and where it's headed.   My husband is amazing and I love him more every day.  I am so proud to be his wife.  My daughter is someone I love to be with, am so proud of, and who's kisses and hugs melt my heart.  Jackjack and Abigail are two of the most crazy dogs but I love them and their welcome when we come home has always been one of my favorite parts of my day.

Happy Living!

What are you feeling currently?  Share 3 current feelings with me!

Blogger 411: All you need to know about Me and my life.

I recently came across the blog "From Mrs. to Mama." It's a great mom blog that I have enjoyed catching up with. She posted this link up last Tuesday but I just found it and wanted to join up before it closes!

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?
I have been blogging for over 5 years.  My first post went up on April 2, 2007.  I've written about this recently in this post, however, it started out as a place to write thoughts/online journal and no one really read it and then became a knitting/dog blog and now it's this mash up of all things me.  It's changed so much as I have changed in the last 5 years and I have a feeling I'm not done changing so this blog will change as I do.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
I started my college career at the University of South Florida and spent 2 years there.  I then took a leap and went to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and got a B.F.A. in Computer Arts, specializing in 3D Character Animation.  Not sure I really thought that degree through all the way but it's what I saw myself doing until it was actually time to do it and now I haven't animated in so long I wouldn't even be sure where to start.

3. Where have you traveled?
I grew up in Panama and traveled throughout the country, however, there are still places I would love to go back and see.  I have mostly traveled throughout the US.

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
A house! Pay off my student loans! A minivan! (Yes, that's three)

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?
Lying, being mean to children/pets, and neglectfulness

6. What is your favorite movie?
Shawshank Redemption

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?
I mostly drink water and at least one cup of coffee in the morning.  For a treat, I love me some Cranberry Ginger Ale or some Maracuya aka Passion Fruit juice.  My alcoholic drink of choice is beer then wine...specifically either a Blue Moon or Stella Artois but I've been getting more into stouts as well.  And I like both red and white wines depending on my mood.  Summer time a light white wine is nice but I love good red wine too...on a cold day a glass of red wine warms you right up!

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?
Me time consists of all things fibery, be that knitting or spinning.  A comfortable spot with a nice view or TV show/Movie and my knitting or spinning and I'm a happy camper.  I love being able to spin or knit outside but in the FL heat...that is NOT possible most the year.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
Oh this is so hard!  Right now I think it would be Home Depot or Lowes because well...not really ready to go into details why but soon.  Otherwise, I would think Target would be nice because we'd be set on diapers and living for a while.  I know this all sounds so practical!  I should say some store to buy new clothes or fun stuff...but honestly I can't think that way right now.  I'm in the land of saving and being practical so this is the answer I have now.  Some day it may change. :)
 
10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.
 Oh I am sure there are many many many of these but right now I just can't pin point one to share.  Let's just say I have a tendency to shove my foot right into my mouth. 
 
11. What day would you love to relive again?
I'm not sure I can answer this.  I started by thinking my wedding day but then Carmen wasn't there and so that's out.  Then I thought about her birth...umm...really not sure I want to relive actually giving birth to her when I already got through that...not that I'm not up to giving birth again but I already gave birth to Carmen.  Check that off my list and move on.   Then I thought about those first days with her...but I was SO tired and learning so much that it's not the best option either.  I would love to be able to experience all the firsts with her again and be "awake."  There you go...the best answer I can give.

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?
America Ferrera

Photo Source

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
My first job was the first summer after high school and I worked for a temp agency doing computer jobs.  In college, I worked for the computer lab in the library at USF.  When I got to San Fran, I worked at a Fitness Club as the front desk person and got a free membership!  SCORE!  I also worked at the Children's Museum, and for a short time I worked for a small indie coffee shop that was right down the street from where I lived.  Oh and I worked at Border's downtown San Fran in the coffee shop there.  That's where I first started drinking coffee...I knew I could get it to taste as good as it smelled.
 
14. Show us a picture from high school or college. 
High School Volleyball days.  I'm on the far left.

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?
I would love to go to Italy! 

16. Show us the most current picture of you or you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you. 
Here are just a couple from the last month of our little family...I'm sure those who read this blog see LOTS of pictures of my family. :)

 

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?
In 5 years, I see myself as a mother of 2 or 3 kids(don't tell my hubby as he only wants 2), our 2 pups getting older but hopefully still around, and still happily married to Special K.  I see us owning a house and finally having finished any major renovation I'm sure any house we get will need.  I'd also like to have taught more people how to knit and spin!  I've only taught several people how to knit but really want to spread the spinning love!

Happy Linking!

This link up closes 7/24/12 at night...so if you want to join...get on it!

Was there something I shared in this link up that surprised you?  Something that didn't? Let me know if you join so I can read your answers too!

A Series of Thoughts: blogging...

Every once in a while I got back through old posts on this blog, especially when I'm trying to figure out where I want it to go.  I've been writing this blog since April 2nd, 2007...that's over 5 years!  It's interesting to go back and to catch glimpses of my thoughts and life that I have shared with my blog readers.  I know that I've had more readers and less readers than I do now but over time they, as I, have changed and so has this blog.

It started out as just somewhere to write my thoughts and I knew very few read it so I shared a lot more of myself then I do now.  For example, if you go back to this and this post you will notice I shared a lot of details about my early relationship with Special K with my blog readers.  I read these posts and I realize how I was so insecure in our early relationship and thankfully he is who he is and loved me the same.  It also pointed out to me how little I share now.  I think it's interesting people say I put myself out there more than most and when I was blogging more and podcasting I think I really did.  It didn't bother me as much as my family but I understood some of their concerns.  Now, with Facebook, I share more on there with my friends and family than I do with my blog, and my podcast has all but died.  I keep saying it's on hiatus but I just am having a hard time getting back to it.  That's another story all together.

The trouble with blogging for me is, what do I re-share on here that I already shared on Facebook.  I think I need to find a balance as I know I have a lot more Facebook friends than I do blog readers at the moment.  I also know more of my family read and check out my Facebook wall than this blog.  Now, do I want all my family reading my blog? I don't know. :)  I would like to revive this blog because I love going back and reading my old posts and if I don't post then I'm losing out on being able to do that later. 

This blog has also gone through huge transitions as has my life.  In 5 years, it has gone from a online journal to a knitting/spinning blog to now an update here and there on life or crafting.  And in those 5 years, I went from being a girlfriend to fiance to wife to mother and became a knitter/spinner/blogger/podcaster.  I am all of these things and I want my blog to reflect that.  I would like to share my thoughts on motherhood, being a wife, knitting, spinning, being a doggie mommy, and more.  I'm sure many of you are thinking then just share what you want and that is kind of what this post is trying to say.  Just trying to remind myself in a way that this is my space!  I need to share whatever I feel like sharing that day.

There was a time, I used to have themed days on this blog.  Do any of you remember Wedding Wednesdays?  I absolutely love going back and reading those!  I tried to transition that to Marriage Wednesdays but that sort of faded as I'm pretty sure Special K wanted me to share less about our relationship with my readers. :)  I'd like to share some of it though as I love my relationship with Special K.  It's by no means perfect but it's a perfect relationship for us.  Same goes for our parenting.  We are not perfect parents but we do the best we can and love CGR with all our hearts.  I want to share that with you.

Essentially, I'm just putting this out there for you readers who have stuck with me through thick and thin.  I just want to let you know that I'm making you a promise to try to share more of what this blog started out as being.  To share me with you...hopefully we'll get some thick times in.

Happy Blogging!

Baby Coma...and the birth of Mama Barknknit

I've talked a little about what I now call my baby coma before but when Carmen was born, I swear it took all my brain power to just take care of her and heal that I feel now that I was in a daze most of those first couple weeks.  We were nursing around the clock, changing diapers I felt every hour but I'm sure it wasn't, rarely getting more than 15-30 mins of sleep at a stretch an hour or two were amazing times and also getting to know this little girl who had joined our life...as well as letting others get to know her.  This took up a lot of time and mental energy.  I look back on this time, which was most of my maternity leave and was like why wasn't I doing this or this...but in the end I just know I was learning to be a mom and that was the most important thing I could have been doing with my time. 

Now, almost 7 months later, I've been regaining my identity and it has also forever changed as well.  Sadly, I have lost friends in my journey to motherhood and I've come to grips with that.  I realized that I am who I am and I happen to like myself.  I know not everyone will like me and life is too short to worry about those who just don't get me.  There are plenty of people out there for them to be friends with as well as plenty of others for me to be friends with as well.   I've said sorry for anything I did that was unintentionally mean and slowly working on righting my "wrongs" but I not going to say sorry for being me and for putting myself and my family first and why should I.  They are not saying sorry for being intentionally or unintentionally mean to me.  If they can be who they want to be and be rude, mean, sneaky, and just plan unfriendly, then why should I have to say sorry for being myself.  Anyway...I'm getting WAY off topic here. I didn't plan this post to go into this but anyway...it's there and I'm not deleting it.  This is my space...if you don't like it as I say about my podcast...there are other blogs you can read.

So...as I've been getting back to: Knitting: which I've managed to do a lot of lately; Podcasting, which I've gotten 3 episodes up in the month of June! Dog training/walking: which I never really stopped doing but have started trying to run with Abby and generally doing the things that I enjoy.  I haven't given my wheel Pilar much love lately but hoping that the Tour de Fleece fixes that.  You can also join me and other podcasters and podcast listeners in the Team Sasquatch group on Raverly for Tour de Fleece!  My goal this year is to spin a min of 5 mins a day during the Tour.  Wish me luck!  I just hope I can finish some of the project on the needles before the start of it.

Back to the topic at hand, as I begin to plan out this blog and my podcast and figure out what I want to do, I realize that Barknknit doesn't really cover everything anymore.  I used to be all dogs and knitting.  Then I started spinning but that still fits and now I'm a mom.  A mom who just wants to be the best mom I can be.  I also want to be more of a natural momma than I thought I would be.  I am into breastfeeding, babywearing, and I'm not against co-sleeping and now I'm diving into the cloth diapering world.  As I learn more, I want to share more and so where does that fit in.  I'm really not sure who all reads the blog, I know tons of people listen to the podcast and I've gotten good feedback about adding the Carmen's Corner, but I think I need to add more.  I haven't decided exactly what that will look like but you will find out when I figure it out.  In the meanwhile, my name went from just plain ole Barknknit to Mama Barknknit as being a mom is a huge part of who I am now.  I was always a mom to my furbabies but that role has grown and I'm very excited about what life still has in store for me.

Hope you enjoy my thoughts as I really do plan to use this blog space for more than just pictures and incorporate more of my thoughts and ramblings that exist in my head, which is a bit crazy and I'm ok with that!  I love who I am.  I hope that you love who you are!  How can you expect others to like you when you don't like yourself?

Happy Day!

Deleted a blog...

Ok....so I'm down to two blogs... I had a conversation today with my brother and he said it's hard keeping up with my blogs so I should condense them. I said OK. So, I deleted the dog blog and now I'm sticking to this one which will have some stuff about my pups and my knitting blog, Bark n Knit which will also have dog stuff so I'm covered. :) I think it was a great suggestion and it might help people out if they do decide to read these. This one is mostly going to be about non-crafting stuff and of course the other one about crafting stuff. I can't guarantee that they won't be mixed a bit but I don't really want to put all of this on one because some people don't care about my crafts and I know they care about my life..hehehe and some don't really care about too much of my life and just want to see my crafts. :) yeah... a perfect world I'd just have one. :) I know. Thanks for the support.

This week....

This week has been CRAZY. First off I'm not used to working full 8 hours a day and then add a 40 minute commute to and from work and you got a frazzled, tired gnat.

Last night was pretty bad because I had taken on a tech task for the Parent Association at school. It was due this morning so last night was the time to do it. I got off work at around 5 and drove home, swinging by to pick up the last of the task and headed home. Was starving so I quickly walked the dogs, made scrambled eggs and toast for dinner. Worked on task. Went over and finished task at Fleas and then got home at almost 9pm. Special K was glad to see me home but when I ran down and got the laundry and proceeded to fold them while he was doing dishes, changed and climbed in bed exhausted he was a tad upset. We ended up staying up and talking instead of what I had wanted to do....SLEEP.

This morning was our running morning but as we woke up at 5:15 we both agreed we needed sleep. :) But promised tomorrow would be a running day.

Ok....so my job...it's boring and they don't really have much for me to do so I've been uber reading blogs(mostly knitting blogs because I'm OBSESSED) and yup you guessed it. Sneakily knitting behind my desk. :) I've gotten caught once but all that was said was "knit one, purl two" Can't beat that. :)

I've also decided to make a knitting blog. :) You knew it would happen. I can't help it. It's Bark n Knit. I haven't posted anything as of right now but I'm probably going to repost that post on here from yesterday. It would be a good start. :) I hope none of my three readers are disappointed that I'm making another blog...I actually deleted abb's training diary for this one...so I'll keep up with both. :) Enjoy. Hey just think if you don't really want to hear about my knitting you don't have to read that one. :)

My first knit!!

Ok...so I ventured into Michael's on my way home last night. I didn't have much time because I wanted to spend at least 15 minutes chilling with Special K before I had to babysit but I had to, just had to stop and buy needles and yarn.

So...I've been reading and wanting to learn for how long now...two months secretly. :) I get to the store and there are millions of different choices of yarn and I get a little over whelmed. I had read that I needed to get worsted weight yarn in a solid color to start and size 8, 9, or 10 needles. I started looking and with no help in sight I grabbed the size 10 1/2 Bamboo needles and then moved on to yarn. My first stop was the bargain bin and I found some Bernat Softee Chunky yarn in cool colors for only $1.99...of course not solid...the thoughts of solid color and worsted yarn quickly leaving my brain. I find two different ones I like that are for a size 10 needle. I am pleased with myself but I look around at the other ones but I had already sold myself on the two I had. Oh well...so I get home and then remember...what was I thinking. I'm learning to knit and should follow directions but oh well. I have the yarn now and I WANT to learn now. :) I don't have time to return the yarn and get what I needed. :) oh well.


This is what I got.(not the best lighting but oh well)




So, I spend about 30 minutes talking and showing off my purchase to Special K, who for the record could care less about what I got but was semi-interested because I was excited. Then off I went to babysit while he returned to work. As I got to babysitting with my new purchases with me, I start talking to my landlord and we get to the part where I'm starting to learn to knit...and guess what. The oldest of the girls I sit for, we'll call her Lil L, she happened to tell her mom the other day that she wanted to start learning to knit.. Yeah!!! a person to knit with!!! It's especially cool because I babysit often and hence we can knit together. First step need to learn to cast on and actually knit before I can show her how. :) She finds her stuff, the parental units head out for dinner, and I plop down in front of the computer and watch some tutorials(not for long and I still kept an eye on the girls). Within 15 minutes I catch on to casting on continental style and knitting english(I didn't get the continental and last time I learned knitting it was english) So..then I cook dinner and we eat burgers and cherries(healthy and a great combination).


And so we knit!! So I show Lil L how to cast on and send her on her way to practice. I on the other hand, have cast on and knit a few rows, frogged the whole thing and started over about 10 times at this point. :) I attempt to actually continue to knit but I kept missing a stitch so I'd just frog and start again. I'm at the point where I've stopped frogging it just to let you know. :)

So...the yarn finish. I've decided to make two scarves out of the yarn I got and practice just knitting one all the way and the other one purl it the whole way. Then next week when I'm sitting again, I plan on taking Lil L out to the cool yarn shops I found and don't have time to visit yet and get a skein of yarn that is nice and pretty and worsted. :)

I've very excited to start my knitting!! I haven't decided yet whether to start a knitting blog or not. I don't want knitting to take this blog over but I'm not sure I'm at the knitting blog stage yet. I'll keep you posted. :)

It has become a full blown obsession....

I WANT TO LEARN TO KNIT!!! I can't stop reading and finding new knitting blogs to read about knitting which I can't start to learn yet. I have found patterns that I want to make, needles and yarn to buy. Arg!! I guess sitting at a temp job with not much to do but typing every once in a while has just about made this worse. :) I feel that I just need to knit. I can't explain it and yes I already know I'm crazy so you don't have to remind me but I just get obsessed with things. It's the way I've always been...I need to be doing something or researching something or just generally moving forward with things. :)

My two latest passions(sounds better than obsessions) are:

1. getting back in shape
2. learning to knit.

I've started the getting back in shape. After our softball game last night which was won in extra innings, I grabbed the dogs and went for a run/walk for about 30 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself at that alone but wait it gets better. When I was home stretching, Special K casually said that if I can get him out of bed in the mornings he will run/walk with me before work. I quickly agreed to three days a week and a bike ride during the weekend. Then at a little before 6am this morning ,I got up and dragged grumpy out for our run. It was easier that I thought to get him out of bed but let's see if that continues. Our only prob so far is that I walk to fast and he runs too fast...we agreed on a comprimise! We ran/walked for about 30 minutes then he jumped in the shower and I walked the dogs. After the shower he did make me breakfast in exchange for walking the dogs so I was happy. :) I took a shower too just for the record.

So...now the knitting part...I don't have needles or yarn and I agreed to not buy needles until I finish my quilt(which is on hold until Aug when I start house sitting for my landlords again, big house=lots of room to spread sewing stuff). So here I wait and read blogs about knitting that I can not do and just obsess that I can't get needles or yarn until late Aug when I'm back at school and have less time. While in August, we will be getting ready to move to a new house and will be spending most our free time packing. Oh well.


Just for reference on my previous passions as of late....My last two were making my t-shirt quilt and learning to play the guitar. T-shirt quilt is on hold until August but will be DONE!! I'll upload pictures of the work in progress. Both fronts of quilt look really cool!!! and learning to play the guitar is a slow process when you are teaching yourself but I'm still working on it.

Off to read more knitting blogs. :)

I am...

a wannabe Computer Animator that turned Technology Teacher.

Hears my story...hear me bark...

When I was a little girl I dreamed of being everything from a teacher to a doctor...like most little girls. When I was in Middle School, I actually hated art. I never thought I was very good even though most teachers and fellow students disagreed with me. I was always my hardest critic and still am. Going into High School, I discovered I loved computers with a passion and wanted to do whatever could get me to be on one. I researched all kinds of computer careers and even thought I wanted to go into Computer Programing. Then I met Mr. Dave Young. He was actually my sister and my brother's art teacher when they were in high school. My sister who went to art school actually got refereed to her college by him. I loved Mr. Young's classes. After my first one I just took everything he offered. (I also had a student teacher crush even though he's 20 yrs older than me) As I took more classes and learned more about art and how...check it out you could do art on the computer. COOL!!! I starting thinking I could combine the two.

As I was ending my junior year and starting my senior one I thought about which art schools to go to. I did a lot of research on the school my sister had gone to, Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. I also talked a lot with Mr. Young about this. He actually recommended this "great" school in San Francisco, CA, The Academy of Art College. At the time I was like no way am I going to move to SF. All I wanted was to be close to my sisters.

Well, when I started to talk to my father about this he said NO to going to art school. For those of you who know me, know that my father rarely if ever says the word NO. So, I resigned to going to the University of South Florida (GO BULLS) and proving to my father that I would still want to go to art school after two years. :) I started school and I had a great time and LOVED my art classes and my computer classes and actually my math classes. ;) That summer after my freshman year I was still interested in art school so I book a flight out to see my sis in San Diego and up to SF to see the school. I did a whirlwind of a trip. I left on Thursday night and flew into SD and flew to SF on Friday and toured the school on Saturday. Flew back to SD on Sunday and home on Monday. :) On the plane back all I could think about is...I LOVE San Fran!!!!!!! So...long story shorter, I convinced my dad that was the place I HAD TO BE!!

I applied and got accepted and in the Fall of 00' I was OFF to SF. Not that i didn't cry my eyes out the whole first plane ride and made the poor folks who had sat next to the unassuming young woman regret their seat choice. I was leaving my sisters and my nieces and nephews. As much as I was excited about going on my adventure I knew that they were going to grow while I was gone. The second flight was a blessing because I sat next to a young woman who had grown up in San Francisco and was living in San Diego. She told me as many exciting stories about SF as she could and got me very excited. :)

My college adventure in San Francisco was the greatest and hardest of my life. I missed my family and had some Bad Things happen while I was there but so much good came out of it (Mary, your one of these good things) and hey I got a Bachelors of Arts while I grew up and shaped a lot of who I am now. I'll have to add some stories of my San Fran experience in later posts.

Then I graduated.... UGH!! this was a hard part too. Everyone in my life expected that when you graduate you get a job and you live happily ever after. I disagreed even before I graduated. :) I tried to get a job in animation for about a year before i got my first gig, as I'll call them. I worked at a fitness club most the time I was actually in art school. (hey, I wanted free membership) So, I kept that job while I was looking for a job for a while. I was done with classes a semester before I actually graduated from art school.(long story) So, I graduated, turned 24 and decided to move to San Diego to live with my sister at about the same time. I'll leave this story for another date and time. But I moved there and got a job at an emergency vet and met new friends and had an OK time. Bad things happened while I was here too...which effected my friendship with my sister and her husband greatly and was a big reason why I wanted to GET OUT!!

After I had moved away from FL to Cali, I decided that I didn't want to go back. I loved California and I was a Cali girl through and through. That was until living in San Diego was not as fun as I had hoped and I missed my family more than I could handle. I started looking for animation jobs in Florida. And lo and behold there was One...count that O...N...E!!! I applied and I got the job. My dad flew out to San Diego and drove across country with me. (I'll have to post a blog about this adventure too...even though it was a while ago.) I started my job working the 2ND shift at a small and I mean tiny studio in Tampa, Florida. Maybe a week after I started I decided to adopt a dog...not that I hadn't been looking for about a month. :) Well. I went to the SPCA and met and fell quickly in love with Jackjack. (then BlackJack...ewe)

I met some pretty cool folks at the animation studio but within three months got laid off and then quickly found a job with two other guys from that studio who had quit. So, I packed up Jackjack and moved to Melbourne, FL. I loved this place...well I love the Blueberry Muffin..(brian you know you love it too)...the job part wasn't that great but I loved the town. (I'll have to add some stories from here as well at a later date)

Ok...if you are still following or trying to follow you can see that I was moving A LOT. From San Diego to Melbourne was less than a year. By this point I had moved 6 times and with my contract ending there was another move on the way. I was talking to my sister who teaches at a private school and she mentioned that they had a technology job available. I said whatever promises that I'll be staying somewhere for at least a year. :) She said you have to sign a year contract. I said sign me up.

So, I applied and got the job and started my teaching career. Let me say that by the time I got to high school I had decided that the last thing I EVER wanted to do was TEACH KIDS!!! Now I found myself in a job teaching MIDDLE SCHOOL ER!!!!! Not just kids but the most rambunctious age group of students out there. I have now been teaching for 2 yrs and am planning on a 3rd. :) I guess it hasn't really been as bad as I thought it was. NOT saying that it's not HARD and by 3pm I'm tired and ready to go spend time with my dogs who are obedient for the most part and cuddly.

So...I started this whole tirade to say that it's summer and I'm having to find a "summer job". At first I was going to work with a friend but two weeks into it I had had enough. I then went to a temp agency and two days later started my first temp job, which I am currently at writing this blog. It's a front desk position at a college, which they only need me for a week and a day.(working on staying for the rest of the summer) I have discovered that when I have a lot of free time at a computer that is not mine and that I am not busy...I have discovered BLOGS!!! I had already started my own blogging but have added a few more to my mix but I've discovered READING blogs. Who knew there were so many people out there who have wonderful blogs that keep me entertained for the 8 hrs that I sit in front of a computer and answer phones. My favorite two that I must make note of are http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/ and http://www.missdoxie.com/. If you have time you should check them both out. There are archives of funny stuff. Maybe some day someone out there in this world would read my blog and think it's entertaining but I can only hope. For now all I have is my family and friends who check my blog and those I have for my dogs. :)

Thanks for reading,

Gnat, also known as the Dog Lady.