In the mornings, Mr. Deplume is up and is gone for work before the kids and I awake. Our routine is such that he brews a whole pot of coffee, drinks some, fills up his brewed-but-cold moving sauce for my mornings. It works for me, because I am not a morning person and brewing coffee is pretty taxing on my barely awake brain.

Just to illustrate how very mushy my brain is in the mornings, I'll share with you an anecdote:
I just went to refill my coffee, but it was cold (obviously) so I headed through the kitchen to heat it up. I walked straight to the refrigerator, opened it, and started to put my cup in. At that point I got a breath of the cold air and thought "hey, that's not gonna heat up my coffee". So I felt silently embarrassed, walked back across the kitchen and heated the drink in the microwave.

I of course had to immediately share this via IM with Mr. Deplume, who is at work, and he replied thusly:
I was getting ready to brew the coffee here, filled up the carafe to pour into the Bunn... instead of doing that I walked into my office and poured cold water into my coffee cup. Guess we are on the same level of awareness this morning.

That is proof that we're soulmates, right?

Lots of stuff (I wish I had a better title, but it just ain't gonna happen)

It's been a busy few weeks in the Deplume household. There has been a garden planted, school year ended, kitchen cabinets painted, miles run, and anniversaries celebrated (our parents, not us-- ours is next month). I have taken pictures of a lot of it, but will only share a little here.

First off, a couple of weeks ago my mom and sister had a garage sale. I put some things out too, but I only made $12, so I don't think it really counts as my sale. My mother had this for sale. She got it at an auction with some other things, and didn't immediately notice anything other than the cute bunnies. I brought it home of course, thinking that I'd tuck it away for a risque gift-giving occasion. There are a few of my fellow yarnies on Ravelry who I think would particularly enjoy it.

There's a problem, however. Our son saw it and promptly claimed it as his cup. He wants to drink out of it all the time. He would be crestfallen if I took it away from him. This is another one of those situations that makes me wonder about this parenting gig. How am I supposed to explain why he cannot keep his beloved bunny mug? If I don't take it away, how long until he or his older sister figures it out? This is one of those things that will have us all in stitches as we reminisce around the Thanksgiving table in 2038, isn't it?

In other news, I finished the shawl that I thought would never end. In all honesty, it probably should be another inch or two bigger, but I just couldn't bear to knit anymore. It had been with me for 13 months now, and it was time to get those needles back. I think I'll make a sweater next-- with hopes that it would be done before fall sweater season, 2009. I don't hold out much hope on that, though. I do love the colors and the yarn is very soft, I hope that despite its petite-ness (petite-i-tude? petition?) I'll manage to use it lots.
Ravelry Link




There is more news (and pictures) to share, but it's now 6:52 PM and I'm the only member of the family not in my jammies yet, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. See you then!

I've got Bats in my Boudoir!

At 1:30 am, my husband tapped me on the shoulder (at first I thought he was looking for some lovin’, lol). He said “we have a bat.”
I said “huh?”
"We have a bat." This time he stated it more slowly.
The slowness didn't help, "Wha??"
"We have a bat. In the house."
"What kind of bat?" I was still holding out hope that he was making a joke about our son's bear with the Batman suit.
"A bat bat."
"How do you know?"
"I was trampled by a cat while she chased it."
"Where is it now?"
"I assume over there where the cats are staring."
"Oh." It took a bit for it all to sink in.

Once I fully woke up and saw both cats sitting on the dresser, staring at the bat at the window, I fetched a small bucket from the kitchen, and turned on the light. This made the bat fly in circle for what seemed to be 12 minutes (I’m sure it was under a minute, though.) Mr. Deplume was still lying on the bed, not quite sure what to make of the situation.

I realized he could keep this up for an hour or more (the bat, not my husband), so I started trying to hit it with a Captain America comic (first thing I saw on the floor). As it turns out, it is very hard to hit a bat with a rolled up comic.

After a couple of minutes of watching me flail about, he snaps out of his stupor and stations himself on the other side of the bed with his pillow. After a couple of tries, he bonked the bat with the pillow, knocking it to the floor, half under the dresser. I grab the bucket, scoop him up with a magazine (full-sized this time), and we deposit the little guy back outside. I am happy to report that he hopped right up, and he flew off toward the neighbor’s house.

Note: it is very hard to go back to sleep at 2AM after chasing a bat out of the house. Also, when you wake up again at 3 AM, you'll be intently listening, to see if the bat had brought a friend who was still indoors. I like them better outdoors. Much better out there, eating skeeters. I hate skeeters, regardless of location.

Name that contraption

Hey you-- with your mind in the gutter-- it's not what you think. That's a Banana Bunker. It'll keep your lunch nanner from getting all bruised in transit. Pretty cool, eh?

We're all healthy now in the Deplume household, although I'm still not totally unpacked. Life is just as busy as before we left, with dentist appointments, t-ball games, story time at the library, and on and on and on. Once stuff settles, I promise a few more vacation pictures.

And by the way, I crocheted a hat while on vacation. Right now it looks really ugly. I'm hoping that blocking will prove itself a miracle once again. Cross your fingers for me!

If ever you're feeling down

Watch this. My 6-year-old gave it a thumbs up, "Just seeing him laugh makes me laugh." Plus, babies in footie pajamas are among the cutest things on Earth.

I've run out of gratitude

This is what- day 7? And I've run out of things to blog about being grateful for. It's not that I'm not grateful for many things, it's mostly that I feel stupid blathering on about being glad I have a Tivo so I can avoid commercials, enough blankets so I can watch TV without catching a chill in my old and drafty house, or kids who are funny even when they are being naughty.

So here I sit, looking for profound gratitude, and it's just not coming to me. (And I've picked up neither knitting needles nor crochet hook in two days.) So, instead, I'll tell you all a funny story (funny to me, and worth remembering, but you may disagree. That's okay-- I don't expect you to giggle).

Back story: Many people, Mr Deplume's dad especially, really rely on their GPS units to get them from point A to point B. Sometimes, even with the GPS units working for him, he still makes makes errors in his travels. I've heard others mention that they simply could not live without them.

Today: We are getting ready to travel to Chicago soon. DH walks into the kitchen tonight, holding three pages of printed Google map/directions. He looks at me and says, "I've got the TomTom here for us."

I said, "Good. I don't think we could make it there without one."

"I just need one thing. While we're driving, you need to read these to me in an Australian accent."

"Sorry, the only accent I can do is Indian." I wondered even how good my Indian accent was, and tried a 'turrn right herr at de next corner' for him.

"You'll also have to say 'Tank you, come again' a lot." He replies.

I pondered that for a minute. "I think I only need to go with 'come again' if I'm doing an Apu impression. I don't think most Indians say that any more than anyone else."

"Okay. Just work on the accent before tomorrow, okay? I just don't think I can get there with the directions in Midwestern English."

"Fair Enough, Schmoopy."

And I went back to cooking dinner. I love my guy. And I love that all my hours of solitarily (is that a word?) watching Bollywood films has finally paid off.

Sunny and cold with a side of Awesome

It was 4.8 degrees (Farenheit) out this morning. I drove the girl to school. As militant as I am about walking the three blocks to school in the morning instead of wasting gasoline and polluting the air, 5 is really really cold. I'm happy that our trusty little car started this morning and got us to school sans frostbite. We'll probably walk to story time at the Library this afternoon, though. It's only a block-and-a-half away and the temp should have risen to a balmy 15 by then. And it's sunny. A good dose of Vitamin D and fresh air is good for the soul.

You know what else is good for the soul? Laughter. And Mr. Deplume and I have had no shortage of laughter in our lives since I found this:


Yes, there is a whole line of Awesome products at Cub Foods. I snickered when I found it in the grocery aisle, and it causes a little giddy glee each time I take the box from the drawer and pull out a length of its awesome shiny film. Who thought up the brand name "Awesome"? Whoever it is, I'm like to thank him or her. Or them. Do you suppose it was a whole committee at the household products company that came up with it? Or is there a company named "Awesome Products"? However it was named, it is like, totally genius.

Now onto the non-genius stuff; the shawl that I made for my girl. It is fraught with mistakes, including a general misunderstanding of how how crochet. But I learned a lot while making it, and it is soft and purple and Miss Nora likes it.



Pattern: Half-Moon Shawl
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in "Grape"
Hook: H/5.0 mm

Early morning.

The boy woke up at 4:30 this morning. He needed a "guy" to snuggle with. He wanted his Rudolph, so I trudged downstairs, located the red-nosed reindeer and delivered him. By the time I got there, Señor Wakeypants was already back to sleep. I sighed and went back to bed. It took a bit for me to settle in, but finally managed to doze a little, with a Lenten song* from last night's choir practice stuck in my head. It was 5:12 AM.

MMOOOOOMMMMYYYY!!! YOU FORGOT ABOUT MEEEE!!!! WHERE ARRRE YOUUU???


Crap.

The boy was expecting me to be there for him, and was upset that I had gone back to my own bed. I got in there to find that he is thirsty. And hungry. And cranky. So up we get, and head downstairs for a "snack" of mini wheats and water. It is now 6:48, I've had 3 cups of coffee, he's seen too much Max & Ruby (his new favorite show), and I am ready to start my day. Methinks it's going to be a long one.





* If, by chance, you are currently considering joining your church's choir, I suggest waiting until after March 21. Songs for Lent are not. fun. to sing. Talk about a downer!

You people really hate homework, huh?

here are just a few of the search terms entered to find my humble little blog so far this month:
homework is wrong
homework is very bad
what's wrong with homework?
homework oy
pictures resembling homework
down with homework wallpapers

Y'all have me laughing here. From British Columbia to Florida to Finland, no one likes doing homework. I understand, I really do. It's why I never went to grad school.

This just in...

News flash from my three-year-old: Eating too many cookies makes you flat.

Happy Friday to all, and to all a good wine.

What's wrong with this picture?

I found some great new reusable shopping bags at the entry of the grocery today, so I picked up 5 of them. I've had a couple of nylon ones for awhile now, which are nice, but they run $5-7 a piece, and these new ones were $.99 each. I'm really happy to have the option now in my tiny burg. Since I was only picking up a few things, I only needed one of the bags. I had the kids and a gallon of milk plus the groceries to deal with, so the checker bagged the extra bags for me. I almost told her to take the plastic bag back and just let me carry the others (or let Rapunzel carry them), but the sight was so funny, I just let it ride.

Is it sad that my first thought was "I cannot wait to put this in the blog"??


In bigger news, I finished the girl's Halloween costume. last night. That's like 12 hours to spare! See? proof positive that I am not a procrastinator (a fibber, though, I seem to be). I made the flannel dress, hat, and hair, and my mama made the satin shrug and overskirt. I'm particularly proud of the wig. It started out a crocheted beanie, then I latch-hooked 100 pieces of "hair" to it. It is my very first successful attempt at crochet, as well as my triumphant return to latch hooking, a skill which I mastered as a kid, then laid to the side until now. Thank goodness I made all those odd rug kits in the 1970's, eh?

There are more pictures here. And of course at Ravelry.

My mama made the "Dooperman" costume. The boy is in love. He's worn it nearly every day since he got it last week.