Lent Project

Just wanted to take a moment to mention my Lent Project.  I can never figure out what I should "give up" for lent  so this year I decided to do something rather than not doing something.  So my project this year is to make a granny square a day with a few extras on the weekends so that by Easter I hope to have 48 squares completed. Once the squares are completed I will send them on to a member of one of my charity groups to have them put together into an afghan(s) and shipped off to those who need them.  I am using some leftover baby yarn that I have because there are babies out there that need blankets too.   I hope during this season that you take time to think about those around you and those who may need your help and support.

OMG Snow!

Well I am sure you all have heard about the back to back snow storms that hit the east coast.  Well I can tell you that I was in it first hand.  First snow over the weekend left us with 2 feet and the current storm that is beating us now is going to leave the same amount if not more in its wake.  See my Snapfish pictures.  I haven't seen snow like this since I moved from Connecticut the last time.  I counted it out and I have shoveled snow in five different states.  Thankfully today, clearly the worst storm of the two, my company is closed and so is the proving ground where Brian works.  My coworker thinks that our company will still be closed tomorrow.  Which I hope is true because I haven't seen a plow since last night.  My commute home last night was a white knuckle ride.  I had the CR-V and even left early from work and it still took me 3 hours to get home.  I slid in several places which is doubly terrifying when your toddler is in the car with you.  I did think ahead before I left the house in the morning and made sure we both had heavy coats, hats, scarfs, gloves and good shoes.  I also put a heavy blanket in the car in case of emergency.  I tell you I was really thankful for the Garmin because there were times when I could not see very far ahead to make out exits off of 83.  There was only about 1 or 2 inches on the ground when I left the daycare but by the time I got home, 3 hours later, there was 5 on the ground.  According to the weather we were only supposed to get about 2 before 9 p.m..  Guess that didn't work out.  Last forecast I heard today said 24-36 inches when all is said and done.  That does not count the 24 already on the ground from 2 days ago.  So much for global warming.  Luckily the neighbor across the street has a snow blower and helped Brian finish clearing the driveway this morning.  Brian has already shoveled half and then Brad came over to help finish.  With him taking care of the driveway it gave us a chance to work on the front walk and stoop.  It hadn't been touch at all.  We didn't do anything to it after the first storm.  Brian keeps talking about having to go back out and shovel again but with the wind whipping like it is we just can't find the motivation to go out.

Charity

As I have written before, I am in the process of crocheting baby caps for the local hospital. We I have also found a few other crafty causes to. One is Bridge and Beyond (see their Blog Badge to the side). Their mission is to warm the homeless by knitting and crocheting hats, mittens, and scarves for men living under a bridge in Central Ohio. They also make hats, mittens, scarves appropriate for women and children who are cared for in 2 free clinics in that area.  Another group taking crafted donations is Crafting for a Cause they have a Yahoo group which I joined to understand the program better.  The take lots of granny squares and other small items which is a great way to use up left over yarn and to put it to a good use.  Granny squares work up so fast that you can develop quite the collection in no time fast.  Makes people like me who like instant gratification feel like they are getting somewhere.  So I urge you all to put your skill to good use and help others in your each unique ways.

Way to start the year....

Holly Cow its cold! I know most of the country is in the deep freeze right now too but I just got to comment on it. When did 32 degrees start feeling like a heat wave? To start our new year out the CR-V that I drive decided it was too cold out to start on Monday. It made the “rurring” noise and sounded like it wanted to start when I turned the key but no luck. So I have to unbuckle Josie out of her car seat, grab the stuff out of the car and head back inside. Josie thought we were getting another snow day and headed to the couch for some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and made herself comfortable by taking her shoes off and flinging her coat aside. I on the other hand dug out the AAA card and called the emergency roadside assistance number. About 45 minutes and about a dozen calls to friends looking for a ride for Josie to daycare later the AAA guy showed up. He was able to get the car started just be cranking the key several times and told me it needed a “tune up.” So I thanked him and loaded Josie and I back into the car and we headed on our way. Tuesday I took the CR-V over to the Honda place and one expensive bill later the car was working like it should.

Happy New Year!

We had a pretty low key new year's this time around.  Josie and I spent some time with the Gauldin Family, however Brian was not with us.  Since he is still getting over the worst of his bronchitis we felt that it would be best if he stayed home and away from the pregnant Danielle.  I returned home in time to watch the ball drop with Brian.  Soon after we were all fast asleep.

We spent New Year's Day just going with the flow.  We ran over to A.C. Moore and got some crafty stuff with my 20% off your entire purchase coupon as well as $20 in reward bucks.   Ate lunch at Sonic and then while Josie was napping Brian and I did some hobby stuff.  He is working on a clock kit and I did some repotting of my African Violets.  I lost a lot of plants in the move due to the cold weather and being left in the car for several hours.  So I am working on rebuilding my violet collection.  My mom has a lot of violets that were offshoots of mine so she has been rooting cuttings for me to help me get back what I lost.

Once Josie woke up she was in a much better mood and we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden.  She behaved really well and we all enjoyed our dinner.  After that we hit Target for some stuff and a Starbucks.  Since Josie was so good at dinner she was allowed to have some chocolate for her dessert.

Snow Day

Today we woke up to about a half inch of snow on the ground with more falling.  Brian is the first to get out in the mornings and he normally reports how the roads are.  So I got up and got dressed for work and got Josie up and dressed.  We came downstairs and then the phone rings.  It is Brian reporting on the road conditions.  His report was that the roads really sucked.  And he advised against me driving in it especially with Josie in the car.  So on the last day of the year I used my last sick day so Josie and I could take a snow day.

Here she is eating cereal and watching Imagination Movers.  I am thinking that we might make some Cheerio necklaces later or maybe some bird feeding crafts.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Christmas Day and Weekend

Christmas was great this year, well most of it anyway. Brian and I were both sick and still are sick. I had/have bronchitis and pink eye and on antibiotics for both. Brian had/has an upper respiratory infection. So we spent the whole time coughing, hacking and blowing our noses. I told Mom that we were sick and if they still wanted us to come and she did. So we went and worked hard to keep our germs to ourselves.

On Christmas Eve Josie was keyed up and I don’t think she had any idea why. I feel bad for Josie because when the parents are sick a lot of holiday traditions go out the window. We didn’t get any cookies put out and didn’t read “The Night Before Christmas.” Josie opened her Eve gift early so she could wear her PJ’s and go to bed before it was too late. Brian had already gone to bed so I opened his PJ Eve gift for him. I helped Mom finish wrapping some gifts before heading to bed myself.

Christmas morning Josie didn’t get up until close to 7:30 which was nice for us to get some sleep. I told Mom the night before that I would only be able to hold her off until 8. So at 8 we went upstairs and woke up Grandma and Grandpa. Great Grandma was already up, dressed and eating breakfast. I kept Josie out in the kitchen until everyone was ready before I let her see the tree. I called her in and she came running in and kind of stopped. She didn’t know what to do. She pointed at the presents and looked at me with that look of “can I touch it?” Our tradition is we open stockings first while the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls are baking. Then we eat our rolls and open the rest of the gifts. Josie has really figured out the opening of presents now. Santa wrapped a few of hers a little too well and she needed some adult help. But for the most part she got it all done by herself. My Dad hands out the gifts under the tree so everyone is opening a gift at relatively the same time. Josie got a pile up. She wanted to play with everything before opening another gift. So we let her do her thing and I would open some (the ones I could tell were clothes) and left the others for when she was ready.

Josie’s big hit gift was the play kitchen that Grandma and Grandpa got her. For Brian it was the solar charger he got that can charge/power all his gadgets. For me it was a Pandora Christmas! I got a new Pandora necklace and several beads. Although, I was very fond of the humidifier that I got because I was able to put it straight to use in our room at my mom’s house. It helped us all sleep better with our colds.

The day after Christmas my mom and I baked gingerbread men cookies, banana bread and sugar cookie dough (we didn’t get to make the actual cookies; Mom baked them after I left).

All in all we had a great time and we are feeling better, seems like one of us is sick around the holidays. That is one tradition I can do without. Now the countdown starts toward 2010!