The Waiting Game

[foot tapping annoyingly]

At our humble abode, we are waiting for 3 rather important (to us) pieces of news:

1. Will creepy ex-friend "movie producer" pay us the money he owes us? Ever? This week? Shall I link (decision to be made after asking DH) to creepy ex-friend "movie producer?"

2. Will our screenplay make the Finals??????

3. What will my results be at the L.A. County Fair????

I will elaborate on creepy ex-friend "movie producer" some other time but suffice it to say these descriptions are an understatement and made with a very contemptuous face.

Screenplay Contest results will come out on Monday. This is making my hands shake as I type. Prayers (if you do that), good thoughts (if not) would be welcome!

My Ravelry bud Diane will be attending the Fair on Saturday the 6th (unless it rains) and will let me know. I'm not going till the 13th and they don't post the results online any more, ho hum. To recap my entries:

I think this is truly the nicest yarn I've ever made and undyed fiber is supposed to do better with the judges. We shall see...

More wool sock yarn. Yes, I'm competing with myself. But I didn't do a big push to make yarns just for the Fair this year and these were the best I had to go with. I was in the middle of Sock Madness and such.

Speaking of Sock Madness, however, these are my last entry: I was planning originally to finish Pomatomus but ended up using the handspun socks from Sock Madness that came out the best. Pomatomus is seriously under way, however, and will be used for the Sock Contest on the 13th. I will post a finished picture when they really are done.

So as you can see, bated breath is what we've got.

Please wish us luck!

Peace.

Vacation Post, Part I

No fiber content in this post, but next time, the Ravelympics!

We had a lovely time with family this summer, a nice long 23 day trip (although a bit too long for my daughter, who loses some of her ability to have fun at about 17 days, it seems).

We started out with my in-laws in Pennsylvania. We went swimming A LOT.




We had fun playing games with our cousins.


Especially Lord of the Rings Monopoly!

We got to hang out wiht Uncle M and Grandpa C.



We got to see the old family homestead, which was beautiful and I am very jealous!

And DS got to stir the old family recipe Chicken Corn Soup at the Poet family reunion!

On our last day, we got to ride a horse on the farm.



All in all, our first nine days were relaxing and fun. Great thanks to everyone in DH's family for a truly lovely time! Next vacation post, New Jersey!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

Real post tomorrow with pictures! But we are here, whew!

What? Oh, the blog...

Seriously in vacation mode, as in dropped the ball on everything not absolutely necessary. Too busy shopping! Thanks, Mom!

Big news of August, OUR SCREENPLAY MADE THE SEMI-FINALS!!! Just about lost my mind after checking the email all day with my cell phone and then seeing our title on the list! Congratulations, sweetie!

Real life looms (in a good way). DD has decided she can't wait for 4th grade to begin and I rather agree with her. Of course, in a couple of weeks, when we are back to our fall season plethora of activities (theirs and mine), I will long for the lazy days of summer. But I do (as usual) have a plan (and apparently a surplus of parentheses).

I also have a new calendar, that's always fun!

Plan:

1. Write everything down in said calendar AS SOON AS I HEAR ABOUT IT. To stave off nightmares about nonexistent projects/presentations/snack responsibilities/crafts.

2. Take one hour each day, regardless of other responsibilities, to slow down and do something creative. This should help in various ways: slowing down helps with the mad growing of the children; creative pursuits help with the lack of mad growing of the mommy; finishing creative projects helps to mark the year with memories, rather than letting it go by willy-nilly; should make mommy happier and more relaxed.

3. Continue to compartmentalize responsibilities in three-week-or-less chunks. Thinking, making lists, research, all fine. Worrying, shopping, bad dreams, not fine. This has been helping for a couple of years and I will make more of a point this year not to worry about things that are farther down the line before I have to. The writing them all down should help with that. It's the vague feeling of having missed something important that torments me.

4. Monday morning is cleaning day. All 7 Flylady things will get done plus the litter box. Sets me up for a good week and leaves MORE time free for other things. Am I old enough to have learned this? Apparently not.

Anyway, I will report back on how well I do.

Fiber content:

Spinning away on my Ravelympics yarn and am one skein from the podium!
My goal was 4 ounces of BFL sock yarn spun on my Cascade Little Si spindle, which again is a multi-rewarding goal. Gets me back into spindle spinning, more sock yarn, medal, orange yarn for the Tibet project, uses stash fiber, all good. Bad: 4 ounces of this fiber won't be enough on its own for a pair of socks. Nice to know that less than a week of spinning when I get home will remedy this problem. I have 4 more ounces of this colorway that I didn't bring with me. I'm getting an average of 65 yards per ounce (I know, I know, that's not sock yarn, but it is!). When I wash it, it might fluff up to sport, I suppose. Will make gorgeous Marigolds, though.

Knitting Hypnosis, but it goes slowly as I'm spinning and trying to follow a chart while watching kids and such. I'm not sure about these. They will look great, though, so perhaps more of an art project? Or for the Sock Contest? Still don't know what to enter in that. Should finish Pomatomus by September 13th, those are unbelievable:
But I can only work on them when I am alone with no distractions. And I might need more yarn for the toes. I have another ounce of this colorway still unspun, though, if necessary.

I have shot lots of pictures of kids this trip, but haven't uploaded so I will save them for next time. Miss you, J and J! Home soon! Coffee the first day of school, yes?

Yes We Can!

Go Team USA!

Peace.