Need a Name!

Looks like our little knitting circle is going to expand soon! Yippee! I love knowing these ladies want to get together, knit, socialize and drink tea :) Now that we've gone from just a couple staunch attendees, to an actual circle maybe it's time we elected a name for ourselves. I'm currently at a blank but I think it would be pretty cool to have tee-shirts and be able to display our name and some kind of crazy slogan! It is my goal, after all, to make this a permanent group. I feel like I've connected with all of these ladies and I would feel very sad if we couldn't continue our little gatherings. That and I love to cook and who, BTW, give me the motivation to clean the house! It'll never be Martha perfect but at least the floors will be vacuumed and the toilets cleaned!! LOL!

Serious progress is happening on the beanie for my little man. I've decided to amp it up a little and add some knit embellishments to it. Can't explain it - will have to snap a pic and post it so you can see what I mean. I'll have to finish it and get the wild man to pose with it on so you can get the full effect!

Had a really wonderful Bible study this morning. The message was powerful and even though I didn't feel like I had connected with with weeks written work as much, the video was spot on. Beth Moore is very inspirational and simply riveting to listen to. You can see and hear just how much she truly believes what she is saying and that kind of genuineness is so rare to find. I know I respond to her earnestness and her passion. She makes me want to learn more every time I hear her speak. I want that surety in my spiritual life. I think I've done everything I could to fill my life up with {{stuff}} - you know what I mean - instead of what I've really needed. I don't know how to let go and move that knowledge from my head to my heart. I feel like I should know what to do and it's so frustrating to feel that I can't. It's like dealing with my anxiety. I pretty much KNOW what the causes for it are, and what most of the triggers are, I just can't seem to let go enough to find the solution. It's not like I enjoy having excruciating pain when I experience a panic attack, right? I certainly don't ask for it. But, there it is...and I can't seem to do anything about it. The point is, for both my spiritual life and my anxiety, I'm fighting something. There is some springy resistance to my efforts and I don't know how to get past it. I want to truly let go and feel the Holy Spirit filling me with peace and I want to be able to handle the anxiety with out the medication. That's it in a nutshell.

On the book front, I have several on the bedside table. Along with the Bible and the Bible study work, I have The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, a slightly disturbing mystery revolving around a woman battling her own mental health demons, The Willful Child by James Dobson, a hopefully insightful guide to raising a willful and stubborn child, and The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson, an incredibly detailed (mathematically speaking) and intense murder mystery about a Swedish hacker and her friend, a famous news-journalist. As you can see, I enjoy a wide variety of subjects :)

Time to roust the wild man! He actually napped today - first time in a week, I think! Then it's time for a turkey dinner, mmm!

Blessings to all!

Yikes!

I've really been slack this year! Blame it all on Facebook!! LOL!! Anyway, I've started knitting again and even though it feels like I'm knitting for everyone else I'm determined to finish some of these outstanding projects. I've picked up that dreaded hubby sweater again and have made significant progress on the first sleeve. I'm aiming for finishing the whole thing by the end of this year. Will this be my one and only attempt at a "real" sweater? Quite possibly! I think I've knit several miles of stockinette UGH! Anyway, it will look smashing on my good looking hubby. I'm also making a cotton tassel hat for my little wild man. Reminds me of how much I dislike knitting with cotton - no give and hard on the hands!

Also on the short list, the very lovely cloche from Boutique Knits. I'm using Manos Silk Blend, which is a lovely soft mix of merino and silk, in a gorgeous coral colorway. This will be a Christmas present for a lovely woman I'm very blessed to know. I have another friend I need to think of something for, too! I'm also making a palindrome scarf out of leftover Peace Fleece worsted in Khrushchev Corn colorway - though, I'm rethinking the scarf bit. I'm leaning toward using it as a neck warmer, securing it with a couple of nice buttons. The only problem with the yarn is the scratchiness. One would need a turtleneck under it - or, I could line it with fleece! Oh, that is ingenious! See, the ideas are just flowing! Anyway, this is slated as a Christmas gift for my MIL. She won't be wearing it long though! She's moving to FL for six months after Christmas! The final thing on my immediate list is another hat for my beautiful boy. This will be the Inca Snowflake Hat from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan Anderson. I'm going to use a lovely dark blue Cascade 220 instead of the Noro Kureyon suggested. Not that the Noro isn't lovely but I think it'll get more wear in the blue. I'll still do the snowflake and trims in white :)

Projects just laying around include several pairs of socks that I swear I'll finish soon. One has a lace pattern and is written as a chart which, for the life of me, I am apparently unable to comprehend. The other is a simple pair of men's 3x1 ribbed socks for my hubby. I figure I'll finish the pair for him LONG before I get back to the lace socks. I also have my crocheted hexie afghan that for some reason I have abandoned. I think it was taking me far longer than I anticipated. I also need to order more in the colors I have and since I'm flat broke I can't restock to finish it. Which is a darned shame because I LOVE that thing and would really like to finish it!

On the back burner are more felted purses and a felted tote. I'd also like to start a gift cabinet and do some really cute baby and toddler stuff. Stock up on some good things for any up coming baby showers.

Wild man is doing great! He's growing up so fast I can hardly believe it. We've been potty training and he's responding well to it. I hope I can convince him to poop as well as pee on the pot. He did try to poop today. So I think he's got the hang of it - he just needs to keep recognizing what his little body is telling him. So far so good and I don't want to jinx it!

Hubby's doing well. Work stinks for him but he's soldiering on. We're just grateful he has a job to go to when so many don't these days. So he's trying to keep his head above water and not let work get too personal.

I've been involved in my mom's group again. Mousam Valley Moms - check us out! We're on facebook and our schedule is (should be) on the Curtis Lake website. We've got a great group of moms this year and we're packing our months full of activities. I'm on the steering team and that seems to be working out ok - though what they feel I have to contribute is still beyond me! In addition to the mom's group, I've joined a woman's bible study on Wednesday mornings. I'm finding it very fulfilling and eye opening. Right now we're in the middle of an awesome Beth Moore study called Breaking Free. Perfect for me at this point in my life! Hubby and I are also doing an evening study once a week that is mostly for fellowship and little for study! We enjoy it though and make sure we do the homework together. In the nearly 20 years we've been together we've never done anything like this together. Now if I can overcome my obstacles to prayer...

All in all, we've been busy and for once, it's a nice kind of busy. We just found out my brother bought a house in Wichita and is excited to close and move in. We also found out my MIL is buying us tickets to FL so we can go down to visit her and my SIL! I'm SO excited about that! I've never been to FL and if my SIL will have me (well, the wild man and me) I'd like to stay for several weeks. Hubby would go down for a week then come back here for work. We'd miss him terribly but he only has so much time for vacation and I think wild man and I would have an awesome time! We would be going down with the whole family, too, which is incredible! Talk about the wild man having most of his aunties in one place!! He won't know what to do!

Anyway, that's pretty much it in a nutshell! Lots going on and lots more happening. I'll try not to be such a stranger :)

Blessings to all!

Denise Gets a Kiss from McDreamy!

From the Sanford News:

Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME

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Dempsey Challenge

My girls are in this video of the Dempsey Challenge! Look for the woman in orange in the wheelchair! She even got a hug and kiss from Patrick Dempsey! Yippee!!