I'm Back

In more ways than one.....I'm back!

We got back from our awesome "getaway" the 18th. Ten wonderful days out in the motorhome! Picture taking was spotty at best. I have gotten so bad about dragging the camera along then forgetting to take pictures...something I am determined to improve on. I was really mad at myself for leaving it in the rv the day we took Savy for her first horse-back ride!!! We took her with us the first couple days of the trip then had to take her back home for school. She loved horse-back riding!! The place we went was great for little kids. They tethered Savy's horse to Ron's and made sure she got a really docile one. It was great! I had forgotten how much I like riding too.

After we dropped her home we took off for Grande Lake. The park we stayed at was really beautiful! The rv sites were amazing. It did have drawbacks.....no public restrooms and no bill changer in the laundry facility. The restroom thing is a big deal to us....the shower in the rv is really tiny and the water pressure is terrible....so we prefer staying at parks that have those facilities....but the view and park itself sort of made up for that shortcoming.
Each parking site had it's own private deck overlooking the lake, a barbecue pit and cable hook-ups.

From there we headed south and spent one night at a really charming little state park! We found it sort of by accident. We were heading for Beaver's Bend and it dawned on us we weren't going to make it there before dark so we decided to stop a night on the way. We found a little state park icon on the road map we were using and just decided to go there. It is Brushy Creek State Park........really nice!! It's on a little peninsula totally surrounded by a lake, had a playground, public facilities and a fishing dock. DH even got a little fishing in and caught something! The dogs just loved it! We did have one mis-hap with Cricket....we were walking them out on the fishing dock and some ducks starting quacking and splashing around.....he was so busy looking at them he walked right off the dock and into the lake!! Poor little guy! It really scared him, but fortunately it hadn't turned cold yet on the trip and he didn't get too chilled. Needless to say we couldn't get him to agree to any more walks on the dock...lol!

The rest of the trip we stayed at Beaver's Bend. It was beautiful there too. Our fair State has some really gorgeous places! We started out in a really pretty section of the park right by the river, but ended up moving because there was zero....and I do mean zero cell phone reception! We walked for over 3/4 of a mile and still couldn't get a signal! I don't like being totally un-reachable these days so we moved to another spot....equally as pretty but not near the water. There was no tv reception either but we had rented a few movies and also had a Scrabble tournament...lol! I proudly proclaim myself as the champion!!!
This shot is off the the balcony of the Lodge at Beaver's Bend. We took about a mile and a half walk up there one of the days we were there.

It was a wonderful, relaxing trip! I did get quite a bit of knitting done despite the Scrabble Tournament...lol! I didn't take pics of it yet but will soon. I am about 3/4 done on the bodice of the Mr. Greenjeans sweater and finished one sock and got down to the heel on a second. I haven't been working on them since we returned because I have to get another stocking done for the latest grandbaby.........AND we just found out we are having another one next May/June!!! AND two other kids are "trying"! If those take we will have 3 more by next Christmas!!!! Nine grandkids...whew!! Kind of reminds me of that old saying....be careful what you ask for....cuz you just might get it...lol! I love it though...the more the merrier! I sure didn't anticipate it when I started this beaded felt Christmas stocking thing though! The one I am working on now will be number 18!!!.....and I may have to do 3 more by next year!

The "other" way I am back is here...online....with a working computer! Right after we got home my computer crashed! Fortunately I borrowed an old antiquated laptop and was, at least, able to pick up email....but that is about it! Turned out my hard-drive fried! Thank goodness I have a great computer place....they were able to restore most of my data on the new hard drive....then I had to re-install all my software to open it. So far I have been able to retrieve most things. I did lose all my addresses in my email address book....and the worst part....I can't seem to get to the database I had in Act with everyone's home addresses!!! I re-installed the software but I can't figure out how to access the data that is in the back-up file! And the story doesn't end there, of course.....I had the computer back for a whole day.......THEN.....my monitor died!!! If I had known that was going to happen I would have just bought a whole new computer....and gotten a laptop to take with us when we travel.....oh well! At least I am back now! Amazing how addicted, dependent - or whatever you want to call it on these darn computers, isn't it? I almost felt "lost" without it!

On The Road Again!

Yea!!! We are heading out in the motorhome again on Friday!! This time for 10 days...the longest we have ever stayed out in it. I can't wait! We are going to actually move around this time and stay in more than one place. We are taking Miss Savy with us and staying Friday and Saturday somewhere relatively close to the Metro, taking her home on Sunday since she has school on Monday, then heading out a little further for the remainder of the time. I've already started pondering which knitting projects I'm going to need to take. A girl has to have plenty of options, you know :-).

It's going to be interesting seeing how much email we have when we get back...I think we need to break down and get a lap top so we can keep up when we are gone. Pretty much all the rv parks have wi-fi available these days and it would be nice to be able to get online to check out local attractions in the places we stay.....like yarn shops...lol!

Have tons to get done before we head out so it's going to be really hectic the next couple of days, but it will be worth it to have all that time to get some R & R! This will also be the first trip out in it when the weather is cooler......hope the heater works.....we haven't had to use it yet. I'm thinking I'll take a space heater and a couple extra quilts just in case!

I did manage to get the Hola Blankie done...and used it last night while knitting and watching tv! I'm so glad I did the smaller size....it's perfect! Just covers my feet and comes up to my waist. The other one I used to use is a full-sized blanket and so big and bulky.

Have also made a little progress on the Fiesta sweater. I love knitting with this stuff!! Hopefully I will get a good bit done on it while we are gone.

Ok...off to the races....I'm working all day today, need to get everything ready to load into the rv, go to the store, make sure Dad has everything he needs while we are gone, pay bills...the list goes on!

Birthday parties are such fun! Especially when they are a grand-kid's birthday. Savy turned 6 years old and her party was at The Jump Zone on Saturday afternoon. She had a house full and her Uncle B and Aunt Mel drove up from Dallas to come too. She was sooo excited about that.

I usually had my girl's parties "off-site" after they got a little older too. It is so much easier....no spending all day decorating and preparing for the party and no spending all evening cleaning up from it! All the kids (and quite a few of the adults...lol) had a good time jumping in all the huge blow-up toys.Of course Poppy (DH for those of you who don't know) made her cake again this year and it turned out awesome as usual! The theme she picked out this year was Barbie Princess and every princess needs a castle, right?
And of course a throne!

We did miss the Knit-In and even though I missed being there her party had to take precedence, you know :-).

I'm starting to have withdrawals from The Gourmet Yarn and crew, though!! I didn't get to work last Thursday....that crud I came home with last week-end just did me in for about a week! I didn't start feeling decent again until yesterday. Guess I'll have to run over there later this week to just say hi and see what they are up to!

I did give Savy her arm-warmers, headband and leg warmers for her birthday. She looked so cute in them!

As far as knitting goes I'm pretty much done with the Hola Blankie. I do have to get one more skein of the border color. It's weird. I got the called for number of skeins in the pattern and was right on gauge but I ran out of the magenta and had whole skeins of the Cosmo and Goldenrod left over! Oh, well...it's cotton and will make great wash cloths! I've been cranking away on the Mr. Greenjeans out of the Fiesta Boomerang and am almost ready to do the toe and heel on the sideways sock.

This sock pattern is really different! It's done flat in a sort of shadow knitting technique then it's grafted into a tube...and the toe and heel are picked up and done on double points. The row on bottom is waste yarn and that is where the tube will be grafted. Not sure if I'm going to like them or not....the pattern called for 2's and that is what I get gauge on....but the fabric is a little looser than I like for socks normally. The sole feels fairly soft though so they may be ok after they are washed and bloom a little. Time will tell, I guess.

Trick or Treat

Last night was so much fun! I just love doing the Trick or Treat thing with the grandbabies! Of course, Savy probably won't like me calling her that much longer.....she is going to be 6 tomorrow!!! I can't believe it! Seemed like my two grew up over-night, but the grand-kids are growing up even faster. In some ways I think it's the times we are in...they mature faster in some ways than we, or even our kids did, but in other ways they don't.

As you can see, we had a white, fuzzy kitty cat and a little pirate last night! I was so happy that Savy liked her costume. Couldn't help but worry about it a little...especially since I waited until the last minute to make it!! It would have been awful to make her wear it if she hadn't liked it and I'm sure there wouldn't have been much of a selection left out there that late! Fortunately she loved it and was excited to wear it.....especially when all her friends thought it was neat :-)

Amanda found Daxton's pirate costume at Old Navy and it is just the cutest thing ever!! Maybe I will make both of their costumes next year. I used to make all my girl's costumes years ago. If I do I'm sure not waiting until the last minute like I did this year! David has already put in his order for a dragon one for Dax next year.

I have so much that I need to get done today and I still feel like poo. The house is a tee-total disaster and driving me crazy, the laundry is a mountain and bills need to be paid....and I'm working tonight! I haven't done much sweepstake entering the past few months but I sure wish I could win maid service for a year....how nice would that be? I used to have a maid when I was working but it is hard for me to justify it when I'm semi-retired. Oh well....guess whatever mess there is will still be there when I get around to doing it!

On the knitting side of things.....I'm kind of bummed! I have been a member of a sock-of-the-month club since April. I have really loved the kits and up until September they always came right on time. From what the owner has posted on the web-site and on Ravelry she had an extensive travel schedule and a very sick relative which delayed the shipment. I finally got the September kit the first of October. She explained that the Oct kits would be delayed for the same reasons then the November kits would be back on schedule. Well, she posted last week that the October kits went out last Friday......then today I get an email saying they just now went out. And furthermore she is selling the business and the new owner would probably not do a sock club until sometime in 2008! It's not that I need any more sock yarn...lol...but I did so enjoy the surprise every month.....and I do love her kits....and they were reasonably priced compared to many other clubs out there, had wonderful yarn and neat patterns. It was upsetting to not get a kit and no communication about why though....and no....I haven't gotten the October one yet which was billed out on pay pal October 4. Hopefully it will be here in the next couple of days. I'm wondering if I should stop the pay pal just in case. Her email says all members will be automatically unsubscribed today and the November kit will be the last one from her.....but it makes me nervous. It bills the 4th of every month...guess I can cancel the pay-pal after that is done.....I would like to get the November kit.....but sort of worried about it billing then not getting it!