Happy Spring!  It is snowing here.  Not so spring-like really…

Friday – Quick Shrimp Broil

Saturday – Baked Eggs in Tomato Parmesean Sauce

Sunday – Takeout (yet another birthday celebration for Mr. 7)

Monday – Chicken in a TJ Simmer Sauce, Garlic Naan

Tuesday -Spicy Black Bean and Corn Casserole (crockpot)

Wednesday – Broccoli, Tomato and Mozzarella Stromboli

Thursday – Leftovers

A Warmer Republic neck warmer.  This was knit up in that mystery green cashmere yarn.  I didn’t love the yarn, and I need to move the buttons in a bit, but it IS warm.  The pattern is super easy as well, I knit it on the plane ride to my sister’s over MLK weekend.

A Snappy Hat.  And it was indeed Snappy, I started it and finished it during one of the American Idol two hour audition shows.

Just Enough Ruffles Scarf (the picture does not do this one justice, the colors are much brighter and prettier in real life!)

Yes, yes, I know.  I could figure out what week it is, but seems like WAY too much trouble.  It’s been that kind of a week

Friday – Parmesan Baked Scallops, honey glazed baby carrots, brown rice

Saturday – Vietnamese Flank Steak, Rosemary Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes, green beans with ginger and garlic

Sunday – Feta Stuffed Lamb burgers and sweet potato fries

Monday – Angel Hair Pasta with Walnuts and Peas

Tuesday -Quick and Easy Quiche, spinach salad

Wednesday – Birthday Boy’s Choice (probably pizza)

Thursday – Leftovers

I got the first email of the season from C’s baseball coach today, apparently this is the year that the sport ramps up, in preparation for “travel baseball” next year.  I am choosing not to tell my son about said ramp up, as he tends to freak out about such things.  I’m just going to see if he notices that he is spending many more hours a week on the baseball field than he did last year; it could go either way really.

A, however, has been out in the backyard practicing up the wazoo in preparation for her baseball debut (in JULY).  While softball doesn’t start until kindergarten, baseball allows kids to start the summer they turn five.  So she thought for about 30 seconds, and then declared that she would play baseball for a season, and “get ahead” of all the other girls.  Gee, she’s not my competitive one, is she?

Many moons ago I wrote something about counting down the years until my children could play team sports so it was someone else’s job to run them ragged.  Silly, silly me.  I failed to account for the hours of my life that would get spent sitting on the grass (because I never remember my chair), trying to drown out the pleas of the child not participating in the sport du jour for “snack/ice cream/dinner/bed/something to do.”  It’s going to be a long, long season.

• I’m trying to get back into the habit of posting here folks, so bullets it will be for a while because that’s how I tend to think these days.  Thoughts come and go rather quickly, and are generally unrelated.
• Today is one of my least favorite days of the year, the spring time change.  Not quite as bad as the fall time change, which takes us MONTHS to recover from sleep-wise, but this one is annoying because not only am I trying to put the kids to bed an hour early, BUT it is also still light when I am doing so, a lose-lose situation if I ever saw one.
• I have a spring cold, which makes me all the more more grumpy.  It has not been our year illness-wise.
• A new pubby-type of place opened up walking distance from our house.  I tried to go with my bookfair co-chair on Thursday night, and there was a LINE.  On a THURSDAY NIGHT.  We weren’t waiting to get in, so we went to the dive bar/pizza joint across the street.  But M and I got a sitter last night and met Rebecca and Paul there and it was lovely.  A bit loud, and we weren’t waiting an hour for a table, but still, nice to have a local place to grab a bite and a drink.
• Now that it is nice, I am staring at my mess of a yard and realizing that four years of neglect has not been good for our landscaping.  I have a feeling I am going to need to rip the majority of it out and start again, which is both terrifying and expensive.  But the beds are not even weedy at this point, just moss and mud.  Anyone with a green thumb have any shady ground cover suggestions?  Cause our yard is pretty much all shade thanks to the gargantuan trees all around us.
• I re-cast on the socks yesterday afternoon and it went much better with a little sleep under my belt.  I totally get the concept now, but of course I was so focused on the concept that I totally ignored the pattern and messed up the ribbing so I need to start over again.  Ulgh.  I have had serious issues recently with getting projects going.
• Now I am off to have some more coffee and contemplate my yard a bit more.

• It was book fair week at C’s school this week.  I spent 5-6 hours a day hanging out in the school library trying to do math in my head.  My head hurts.  And clearly, I didn’t learn my 7′s addition facts.
• I am not going to admit the number of times I was corrected by a third or fourth grader and replied “Ha!  I was testing you!  Good job!  You passed!”  They looked at me rather skeptically when I said that.
• On Thursday I started a sock knitting class to try and learn how to do two socks on two circular needles.  My brain was so fried by that point that I spent most of the class just staring at my yarn and needles thinking “I know I have done this wrong, but I can’t even remember how to purl, so maybe I should just go grab some coffee instead.”
• But!  I have found some real!  live!  people! with whom to speak yarn and knitting and such (not that y’all aren’t real! live! people!, but you know what I mean).  They read the same knitting blogs I do!  And spend gobs of time trolling through Ravelry, queuing projects and drooling over yarn.  That alone was worth the $50 or whatever it was I spent to stare at my needles and whimper.
• I tried to cast the socks on again last night, but had already had my glass of wine, and therefore just sat and stared at the yarn for a bit, shrugged, and decided to watch another episode of Arrested Development instead.  Today, after my coffee, I will try try again.
• I finished my Bella Mittens, pictures on Ravelry but for those of you who don’t actually knit, here is a not very good shot for you.
• Recently I have also finished Mike’s holiday sweater, which is in need of a good block, my Just Enough Ruffles Scarf, and a Snappy Hat.  But, I can’t find my camera so no pictures as of yet.  Today I have to clean the house, so hopefully the camera will turn up.
• I am now done with my coffee, so I am off to take a preventative asprin and start my socks.  Wish me luck.