UGH!!!

I was very upset when I recently tried to seam a sweater for my nephew. I had it 90% seamed when I realized that the front was wrong. I couldn't even salvage yarn. Bummer.

So I am making him a hat that he can wear to play outside in.

I also decided that I want to use up some baby yarn so I am going to make baby hats. I started on Saturday and I am going to see how many I can make by December 8, 2008. (well, that is the plan if I can remember.)

I find it so hard to believe that Christmas is in 14 days. Yikes!! I am not ready. I still have to finish my scarf for my best friend, my nephew's hat, felt a tea cosy, and shop for my daughter. Wow!!! So much to do and so little time.

Santa Claus is coming to town...

39 knitting days left!!! Yikes!! (40 to Christmas)

So last night I was plugging away on Princess Ivi's mock rib scarf made with Lion Brand Landscapes and I had an epiphany. I had used almost three skeins and it seemed to me that this scarf was awfully short and I wouldn't have enough yarn. But I realized this yarn curls and twists to much that the scarf which looked to be about three feet long was actually almost six feet long. I am going to do about 10 more rows just for good measure and then block it which will bring it back to shape.

Next to go on the needles is a pair of fingerless mittens for Princess Ivi made with Moda Dea Fashionista.

I am also looking for a felted tea cosy pattern (free, of course). If I can find one, I will get that on the needles too.

I saw a UFO....

So I hope everyone survived Halloween. I did. I met my sister, nephew and daughter at the mall for trick-or-treating and then I dropped my daughter off with her best friend. She came home with a huge bag of candy.

I am now on Ravelry. If you want to stop by I am SoccerMomKnits. I absolutely love Ravelry.

As for knitting, I have several projects going on ...
1. a scarf for daughter made with Lion Brand Landscapes (which cost $2 per ball at Ocean State Job Lot);
2. a scarf for sister made with Bernat Solo (which cost $1.50 per ball at Ocean State);
3. mittens for sister made with Jiffy Thick & Quick (these worry me because i put the yarn and pattern down somewhere at home and now can't locate them);
4. two secret projects for knitty pals (which I must finish ASAP and mail);
5. chunky scarf for myself made with Moda Dea Tweedle Dee (from Knit Scarves!);
6. Lion Brand spring shrug made with Romance ($5 per ball at Ocean State);
7. Prayer Shawl (started in January of 2005);
8. Striped blanket for daughter (started over 2 years ago);
9. Washcloth (which is destined to be frogged);
10. Nephew's sweater (Yankee Knitter roll raglan - needs to be blocked and seamed); and
11. Nephew sweater (back is done).

I feel like I am forgetting some projects but I can't think of any more. That is a lot to finish. Some needs to be done before Christmas and others will be done by March (self-imposed deadline).

Condensed catch-up

I have been so bad about blogging since the 10th. So let me try to catch you up with the highlights…

Saturday, October 13, 2007
Princess Ivi had a soccer game. They lost. Again. Poor things, I am sure it is hard to stay motivated to play when you keep losing.

She then had a Halloween birthday party. She was a vampires and she had lots of fun. The birthday girl’s mother amazed me. She did a party for a 12 year old and a 6 year old at the same time plus cooked all the food and made the cake. Wow! Superwoman.

Sunday, October 14, 2007
Took a trip to Ocean State Job Lots and found Lion Brand Landscapes for $2 a ball. Bought 4.

Monday, October 15, 2007
Finished one swap item. Shhh…it is a secret. I will post more about it when I know the receiver has gotten the item.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
After soccer practice, we went to the knitting group at Barnes & Noble and finished the other swap item.

Friday, October 19, 2007
Was able to leave work at 3:15 p.m. Took Princess Ivi to pick up her glasses. She looks amazing in them. Very smart looking.

Soccer practice was canceled due to rain.

My sister (whom I live with) made caramel popcorn with the bag of Kraft Caramel Bits (caramels with no plastic to unwrap) I bought. They were supposed to be for caramel apples but the popcorn was great. I could have eaten a whole lot more though.

Saturday, October 20, 2007
Had a total spaz moment on the way to the soccer game and couldn’t find the soccer field. (It was our first time playing there.) So we skipped the game. Shame on us!

Stopped by a new yarn shop on the way home. Karen carries lots of quilt fabric and Valley Yarns (WEBS brand of yarn). She also offers classes and is very, very nice.

Princess Ivi had another Halloween birthday party. She had fun but called me about 2 hours into the party to come pick her up.

Went back out to Ocean State Job Lots with my sister. Bought more yarn…shame on me! On the way home, we saw two beautiful rainbows right beside each other.

Watched Happy Feet. I love the line where the little penguin says, “This guy is so accidentally cool.” Princess Ivi informed me that I am accidentally cool.

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Since everything had finally dried out, we went to the park to collect leaves and walked around the duck pond. It was a nice hour spent outside.

Then we went to the Laundromat. There was the cutest guy there and he kept smiling at me but I didn’t quite know what to do about since I am such a dating dork. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.

Monday, October 22, 2007
Back to work. Yuck!!

So that is a very condensed version of the past two weeks. I am going to try to do better about this blogging thing and I am working on some pictures.

I'm such a slacker!

I am so bad at this blogging thing. It has been days and days since I last posted anything. And I have the feeling that I am just talking to myself anyway. Oh well though, nothing new there.

So this weekend Princess Ivi earned $50 by going to the reptile show with my brother-in-law. My sister, the baby, and I met up with them for lunch and to relieve her of her duties. There were some absolutely disgusting snakes at this thing and cockroaches (who in their right mind would want to buy a cockroach), worms, frogs, turtles, etc. But worse than the animals, were the people. Lots of piercing, tattoos, strange t-shirts, weird hair, lots of shock factor.

I did see one funny thing though...I saw an old woman who had to be in her 70s walking through the show in her nightgown, pushing her walker, checking out all the snakes. It was definitely not something you would expect to see there.

I haven't gotten much knitting done lately. I did finish my homeless mitten and cast on for my sister's mittens but that is it. My arthritis is making it so I can barely move my thumbs. I think it is because fall has finally hit New England. No more hot weather and it has been raining for several days now. I am hoping that it doesn't last too long so I can get back to the knitting.

Well, back to work.

Happy Birthday, Dan!!

The 6th was my big brother's birthday. He is 32. Happy Birthday Dan!!!

Where exactly did my week go? For that matter, where did September go?

Well, it has been a few days since I last posted anything…

Let’s see on Saturday, Princess Ivi had a soccer game. They lost…again. I think the whole team is getting disappointed that they have the record they do. But the team they played on Friday was so tough and they played very dirty. I was very proud of our girls though. They kept on playing and didn’t resort to playing dirty like the other team.

We spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out, knitting, watching movies (Harry Potter), and organizing paperwork.

Today is already Wednesday which is good because I am ready for the weekend already.

Yesterday my sister went to the doctor. They thought she had a bladder prolapse but it was just a large polyp on her cervix. They were able to cut it off and cauterize it. I am very glad that it wasn’t worse.

So Princess Ivi is tossing around the idea of starting a manga/anime club. I think with Fitchburg State College close by, maybe an art student there would help out. I have told her to think about what she would like the club to do and take some notes and then I will help her get it started.

I am still trying to finish up the last mitten. I am about halfway there. I will finish it by this weekend. I have received a request from my sister for a pair too. I had purchased two skeins of Jiffy Thick and Quick for a project specifically for her but couldn’t think of anything to make. Now I will use one skein for the mittens.

My mom got a new job. She works on an exotic bird farm in Florida. The job comes with a house too. The only bad thing is that it is very far away from anything. Her town has a produce stand, one gas station, and a post office. That is it. The closest grocery store is 15 miles away. I am going to try really hard to write to her more often and send her goodies so she won’t be lonely.

While Princess Ivi and I waited for the school bus this morning, we talked about going to the park this weekend to gather rocks and leaves. We will turn the rocks into message rocks and we will iron the leaves with wax paper and do some craft with them.

It is definitely time to start thinking about Christmas… but write now I have to start thinking about getting back to work.

Friday!!!!!

It is finally Friday! I love Fridays. Especially payday Fridays.

Last night was Princess Ivi's open house. I met all of her teachers and was able to see her classrooms. It was nice. We were there for almost 2 hours which was not what I had planned.

When I got home and after dinner, I sat in front of the TV with my other mitten to watch the premieres of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy (while clicking back to CSI), and ER (while clicking back to Without A Trace). I was so disappointed because when one show had commercials the other one did too.

We have a soccer game in Gardner. Gardner was the closest "city" to my hometown so I spent a lot of time there cruising or just walking around (looking for boys). I really hope I don't run into anyone from those days. I am probably protected since I don't look anything like I used to. But I still feel like I should be trying to live down things I did as a kid. I think we all feel like that though.

Well, I should get to work back to the land of divorces and custody battles.

Charity Knitting

Two weeks ago, I won a knitting basket from Warmer Winters, a local organization that provides knitting/crocheted items to needy people in North Central Massachusetts.

The basket contained some light up knitting needles, size 11 (they remind me of a Harry Potter wand), a pack of crochet hooks (which is great because I can never seem to find my lone crochet hook when I need it), a skein of red Jiffy Thick and Quick (or Chunky, I always get them confused), and a book - "Wendy Knits".

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the yarn. I did know that I wanted to use it for some sort of charity knitting - fitting since I received it from a charitable group - but didn't know which one. Since the yarn is a beautiful shade of red, I thought of the Red Scarf Project whcih donates red scarfs to orphans (adults who have now left the system to go out into the world). But that project didn't feel right to me.

So after racking my brain for a few days, I decided on mittens. A big feat since I have never made mittens before. I used Lion Brand's pattern for the 2 needle mittens for this yarn. I finished my first one last night and cast on for the second one. Yeah!! It looks good although the thumb gusset looks odd to me. After I do the second mitten, I may reinforce the thumb with a simple seam so that it protects better.

I am going to be bringing the mittens and a big stack of hats with me to the Knit-A-Thon sponsored by Warmer Winters. It is on October 20. I love knitting events of all kinds!!!

So this weekend we went to the Bolton Fair. I was happy because I was able to spend some quality time with my daughter, some sheep and two beautiful alpacas.

My mission to accomplish before October 20, should I choose to accept it, is to help Princess Ivi find a Halloween costume. A very tough feat for a kid as tall as she is. Too tall for kids, not quite curvy enough in some places for an adult costume. And of course, I have ZERO sewing ability. She was invited to a birthday party. I would love to be able to knit up a quick scarf to go with the Claire's gift card we will pick up. Hmmm...I should have brought some knitting to work with me.

Well, TTFN as Tigger would say.

Stop saying retard!!!!

So if there is one word in the English language our family hates, it is the word "retard". Well, I guess we don't hate the word itself but the way people use it.

My sister, brother and I grew up constantly exposed to mentally disabled people. Both my mom and step-father worked at a home for mentally disabled adult men and from the time I was three or four, we spent a lot of time with them. We would go on camping trips, play games, work at the annual fair with them, whatever. This taught all of us that the mentally disabled are just like us. They can do things we can do, they can feel and laugh, and love. We have used these lessons our whole lives when presented with people who are different than we are.

I have always tried to instill these lessons in Princess Ivi as well. When I was a paralegal at a large home (institution) for mentally disabled adults in Florida, Princess Ivi attended the on-campus daycare. Her best friends were a blind girl, a little girl with cerebral palsy, and a little boy with Down Syndrome.

When we learned my sister's baby (now 2 1/2 years old) would be born with Down Syndrome, those lessons we learned were invaluable. We knew he would be able to love us and we knew we would love him. We knew he would be able to learn things like tying his shoes, riding a bike, playing soccer, everything we could take the time to teach him. He is the reason we moved to Massachusetts from Florida. Because we wanted to be with him as much as possible.

I remember shortly after he was born Princess Ivi was at the Boys and Girls Club and they had gone to the local pool to swim. There was a group of kids at the pool all of whom had Down Syndrome. The other girls from the B&GC started teasing them and making jokes about them. Of course, Princess Ivi wouldn't stand for it and quickly put them in their place.

Since moving to New England, we hear the hated word (see above) used on a regular basis. Here it is used as an adjective, i.e., "this ret**ded computer", and as a derogatory remark, when one person calls another a ret***. The latter is especially common in Princess Ivi's middle school. According to her, all the students say this. The teachers don't stop them. This to me is very sad. Is it a northern thing? Is it just slang? Are those really good excuses for such inexcusable behavior?

I don't think they are. I think this word should not be used and it is our job as parents to make sure we teach our kids how inappropriate the word is. Here is a link to a speech given by Soeren Palumbo to his high school student body regarding this issue. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoqaNG0Ozqc) He also gave a speech to the Illinois State Senate about the use of the word "retarded".

Please listen to these speeches and then work to stop this word from being used to describe, ridicule, or joke about the mentally disabled. Work to stop this word from being used to pick on a so-called normal student by comparing them to a so-called abnormal, stupid, different, special or "SPED" student (another term I dislike).

People with mental disabilities are just like us in many ways. However, they aren't just like us because most of them can't defend themselves when words like these are used. It is up to us to defend them. Please do your part and involve your friends and family in this as well.

Okay, I am stepping down from my soapbox now.

***Edited on 9/5/08: There seems to be some confusion by some people who read this post. For clarification, I am not criticizing people who refer to someone who is mentally retarded but I am criticizing people who use "retard" as an insult or people who say something is "F-ing retarded".

What ever happened to customer service?

I am very concerned about the lack of customer service at businesses now. Here is an example, yesterday I rearranged my whole day to take Princess Ivi to the doctor. I left work early, picked her up and got to the doctor for a 12:30 appointment. Of course, when I got there I was told that the appointment had been canceled and they left a message for me. After learning that the message was left on my cell phone, I pulled out my phone and listened to the messages at the office and was able to tell them that no message had been left. The girl's response was "oh well, Beth will be calling you tomorrow to reschedule". No apology for the inconvenience, no concern that my day was arranged around this appointment, nothing. Grrrr!

So anyway, between that and being stressed out and slightly irritated by my job, I was feeling really anxious all day yesterday. I wasn't sure if I wanted to strangle someone or cry for a while.

It must be something in the air. My sister went to the ER last night because she has some weird ear infection that was causing too much pressure in her head. The doctor at the ER thought she was having an aneurysm. She isn't. It is just the ear and then adding her anxiety on top of it.

While she was gone, I got to watch my nephew. He is 2 and 1/2. He is a super sweet guy and I love hanging out with him.

I guess I have to get back to work since I still have an hour to go and have to hit my 4 hours of billable hours today. I will post more tonight. I am also still searching for pics to post.

Almost Monday Already

This weekend flew by so fast. Too fast. Saturday was spent at a soccer game and at the Johnny Appleseed Festival. The girls lost but played really well.

The festival was really good. And so were the caramel apples. Yum!

I started a new scarf as my easy soccer game project. It is worked with chunky yarn and a faux rib stitch. I am not sure about the yarn. It is one of those that change color. Kind of hard to get used to.

At the festival, I hooked up with a local group that collects knitted/crocheted items for the needy people in our community. They are having a Knit A Thon on October 20. Their goal is to collect 8,000 items this year. Of course, I will be there.

Today was spent at the laundromat. Yuck! Although we did learn that we can't put laundy off to every two weeks. By then, we have nothing to wear and it takes forever to finish.

Well, I have to get ready for the week ahead.

It's Finally Fall

It is fall in New England. This is my favorite time of the year and my favorite place to spend it. The weather cools down, there is a crispness in the air that refreshes and revitalizes you, there are apples, fall festivals, Halloween, and of course, it means we are closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

There are several fall fairs we plan on attending this fall. We want to go to the Big E which is a huge event taking place in Springfield for like 16 days. It is so big that we plan on what we want to see before we go. This year, we want to see the crafts, the animals, and go through the state buildings. You can get the best baked potato in the Maine building. Yum!

We also want to go to the Bolton fair which is at the end of the month. It is always fairly big and very enjoyable. This is the fair that I will let Ivi go on the rides so that we don't have to stand in the incredibly long lines at the Big E.

There is also Kids Fest at Wachusett Mountain which is September 22 and 23 and the Apple Fest (sponsored by The Red Apple Farm which is in my hometown) on October 13,14, 20 & 21.

We also have the Fall Harvest Festival in Fitchburg in October. Ivi is very excited about this one because they have a pumpkin carving contest. We are already brainstorming on patterns for our pumpkins.

This morning was wonderful. It was cool (which meant my makeup wouldn't melt off before I left the house) and we were super organized. The only frustrating thing is Ivi's bus came early. Yesterday it came at 8:07, today at 7:37. There is no consistency with that thing.

The best thing about this morning is, I was able to knit for 15 minutes. I worked on Ivi's scarf. It is made with the scratchiest Red Heart ever in this variegated brown and blue which is pretty ugly on its own. I am holding it with a strand of beautiful fun fur to make it soft and it helps so much with the colors. I should be able to finish it in about 2 days. Then it is back to the nephew's sweater.

I also want to make a lapghan for wounded soldiers if I have time. I have until the beginning of December and then I need to mail it. Oh, I do hope I can get to it this year.

Well, I hope everyone has a great day.

Where have I been.....

So it has been a while since I have posted anything. A lot of nothing has been happening.

My sister had a picnic on Labor Day. It was nice. All of her friends have little kids. There was one little girl (younger than 2) who did nothing but cry and whine for four hours straight. About halfway through the day, I wanted to start crying. I have no patience for children who are like that. I think it is because I was so spoiled with my daughter (who has chosen the name Ivi for her cyber name, by the way). She was such a good baby. She didn't cry for no reason, she didn't whine, she didn't throw temper tantrums, she never went through the "terrible two's". Like I said, I was spoiled.

At the picnic, I was sneezing like crazy. I thought it was just allergies but nope, it was a cold. I stayed home from work for two days. Just in time for me to go back to work, Ivi complained of a bad stomach. So on Thursday, I wound up taking her into the office with me for a few hours. I knew she was sick when she took two of my office chairs and stuck them together so she could lay on them and then she slept for three hours.

I was a mean mommy though and I made her go to school on Friday. I did the typical "if you don't go to school, you can't go to soccer practice, and then you can't play in the game on Saturday". But she went and she was fine. She even got a new locker since the first one they assigned wouldn't open (Yeah!!!).

She had her first soccer game on Saturday. They lost but I think every girl should feel proud of themselves. They only had 8 girls (7 on the field since one was goalie) so they had no subs. It was over 90 degrees and it was their first game. They all played as hard as they could given the circumstances. The people who should be ashamed of themselves are the girls who come to practice but don't come to the game for their teammates. We have 13 girls on the team, 3 of whom have never been to a single practice. Two of the girls who come to practice just didn't show up. I think it is rude and hard for the girls who do show up.

When Ivi was complaining that they lost, I pointed out to her that sometimes you can lose the game but as long as you try, you still win.

After the game, it was so hot that we (my sister, her baby, Ivi and I) decided to drive to the knitting shop to be in AC in the car and the store. Actually, this was more mine and my sister's idea and the kids just got dragged along.

So we went to The Woolpack in Littleton. I love this store. The people there are so nice and helpful. They have a big yarn selection. But I didn't buy any yarn. I bought 5 stitch holders (since all of my others are on the other sweater I need to seam together), a Creative Knitting magazine because I loved the sweater on the cover, and some yarn bobbins.

A few months ago, we (same cast as above) took a trip to Northampton for the Scottish Games and we went to WEBS. After seeing the great prices at WEBS, I can't bring myself to buy yarn anywhere else (unless it is simple acrylic). So I am planning a trip back out there in November with a big list of yarns I want.

Saturday night we watched The Last Mimzy. It was payment for a bribe. I had told Ivi that if she read for 45 minutes, I would buy the movie on PPV. It was good but I feel like I need to watch it again so I can piece it all together.

Yesterday was spent grocery shopping and preparing for the week ahead. It was a cold rainy day (which is okay since it is so dry a lot of wells in the area are going dry) so I spent a lot of time knitting and doing soduko puzzles.

And here it is Monday morning and I am back at work. Ughh.

So, I am still working on the sweater for my nephew. It is a Black Sheep pullover with basketweave type patterning on the chest to neck. I am working on the back and am ready to start decreasing for the neck.

At the soccer game and driving to the yarn shop, I worked on a simple acrylic/fun fur scarf.

I feel pretty guilty because I worked on more sodukos than knitting this weekend. I will have to make up for it this week.

Anyway, I have weight watchers tonight. (My goal is to lose 55 pounds. Keep your fingers crossed for me.) Then I have the PTO meeting tomorrow night (I am hoping in a few months to suggest that next year we fundraise for new lockers), soccer Wednesday and Friday and then another game on Saturday.

Well, have a great day everyone.

Song Dedicated to My Daughter

Every time I hear this song. I always think of my daughter and say a little prayer for her.

My Wish By Rascal Flatts

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
and each road leads you where you wanna go,
and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile.
But more than anything, more than anything...

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but you never forget,
all the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
and you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
and always give more than you take.
But More than anything, yeah, more than anything...

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish. Yeah.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

Online Dating Disaster

So I was recently conned into the whole eharmony site. During an especially lonely moment, I set up a profile and took their “test”.

Within days, I had over 60 “matches”. However, after reading just a few profiles, I realized there was no way I could date through this site. The questions they ask you when filling out the profile aren’t geared toward fishing out the bad apples of the bunch. I think I should submit questions to these sites so. My questions would be:

· Are you a serial cheater?
· How do honestly feel about accepting your match’s child from a previous relationship?
· If you were to become a step-parent would you be comfortable being just a friend to your step-children and not a “parent” or a “disciplinarian”?
· Are you just looking for someone to clean your house, cook for you, and do your laundry?
· Do you have any sanity issues that we should be aware of?
· How do you get along with your mother? (if they respond that their mother is the most important person in their lives, it wouldn’t be a good sign)

I actually met my second ex-husband online. Yup, I said second. He was someone I should have asked the above questions. I probably would have learned a lot about him early on and saved myself and my daughter a lot of heartache.

No honestly, it wasn’t quite that bad. He didn’t cheat, he seemed able to accept my daughter and compromise on his position in her life, he did his own laundry and he even did the dishes, he seemed pretty sane until he got back from Iraq, but the mother issue was always there.

He deployed to Iraq for a year with his Army Reserve unit and when he came back, he couldn’t deal with our life, the house, my daughter, his job, and he started drinking a lot. My poor baby turned herself into someone else just to try to win his approval. It became pretty apparent that he was never going to give it to her. I had to ask myself if it was worth it. Was being with him worth what our marriage was doing to my daughter? The answer was pretty clear to me. Of course, it wasn’t worth it. So we said goodbye and started over again on our own.

I met my first husband when I was 17 so of course, there were really no important questions asked. It wasn’t until we were married with a three month old that reality intruded and I started kicking myself for not asking more questions. But to borrow a quote from my friend from college I was “young and dumb and looking for a place to land”.

I can honestly say now that I think I used my first husband more than he used me. I used him for a way to get out of my mother’s house. Having unprotected sex means that at some point you are going to get pregnant. I can say now that I didn’t think it would happen to me but secretly I wanted it to happen because it would force the issue and I would be able to leave with no guilt. (He used me for many, many things that I won’t get into now.)

So anyway, I sort of rambled off the subject here…what was I talking about?

Oh right, online dating. So it took me about three days and the weekend before I realized that this was a bad idea. After my last experience with online dating, what could I have been thinking?

My only defense was that I was conned by the commercials. You know the ones I mean. The ones with the happy couples talking all about how they met online and they felt so safe and secure with the process and then they met and knew they were right for each other, blah, blah, blah. Those commercials and the sappy romance books that I love to read are not a good combination at this point in my life. I have been divorced for 2 and 1/2 years. I haven’t had a conversation with a man who I was involved with since November of 2004. (Yes, we lived with each other for three months and didn’t speak.) So of course, I was feeling lonely and blue and thought for half a second that online was the way to go.

But honestly, I don’t feel safe with the process. In fact, I feel more scared of meeting some strange psycho online than being set up on a blind date or something. I plan on calling this weekend to cancel my membership and get a refund. No more online dating for me.

I don't really feel like I need to date. I feel pretty whole being a single-mom. It isn't like I am looking for my soul mate. I do have to admit though that having someone to lean on and talk to would be nice. Companionship. That is what is missing.

You know what, I am actually embarrassed to admit this, but I am not sure I even remember how to date?

First Post

Well, this is my first post here. I have wanted to do this for a while now but wasn't sure it was such a good idea. I have now decided that it is.

So my daughter (who is thinking of her own cyber alias to use here) started 6th grade yesterday. Yikes. Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday she was still a baby.

Anyway, she is pleased with her teacher. There are 10 girls and 11 boys in her class. She is pleased with her specials (art, music, tech ed, computers, and health). The only things she is not pleased with is her locker (it wouldn't open - same thing happened last year) and the fact that she doesn't have a lot of friends (like last year).

So today at lunch, I spent some time looking for pen pals for kids her age and I am going to get her some. That way she will at least have someone to talk to her own age.

On the needles right now are:

-Nothing special sweater for my nephew

-Striped scarf for daughter with Jiffy

Plus those never-to-be-finished projects that I have been "working" on for years like:

-Striped blanket for daughter which by the time I am finished will not even come close to covering her.

-Prayer shawl (started almost 5 years ago when my sister had a miscarriage - she now has a 2 1/2 year old son)

-Baby blanket blocks which need to be seamed

-An assortment of scarfs.