There's No Place Like Gnome

G, in his infinite wisdom, decided that we needed our very own garden gnome. And to make sure that the gnome, named Winklebottom, made it home safely from the store, the gnome took a ride in Bug's carseat. Bug was at school at the time, so she wasn't displaced.

Then there was research to determine the proper placement of said garden gnome. He currently lives under a rose bush in our backyard.

Bug thinks he's quite fabulous and regularly asks to go outside to see Winklebottom. They have bonded. Last week, she made sure to introduce him to the gardener.

In other news, there really isn't much to report. I am making more of an effort to knit these days and just completed my first decrease section of my Clapotis, which is by far the largest thing I have ever knit. After that, it will be back to small projects.

And while I am obsessed with the Olympics, I am more obsessed with slee p, so I have been watching things well after they air in their first run live for the east coast, tape delayed for the west coast showings on NBC.

And I'm already going through withdrawal from So You Think You Can Dance. At least we still have Project Runway.

Spaghetti

This was Bug after dinner last night:

I think she ate as much as she wore, but one can never really know.

Bug's Thoughts on Kobe Bryant

We filmed this last summer, but G just posted it to youtube. Go Celtics!

In other news, Uncle Jeff has joined our household, Doof has decided to go to public school for high school, and I need to start going to the gym and eating better. Ben and Jerry have found me. And so has Haagen Dazs.

The cupcake taste test was great fun. My boss had cupcakes from Teacake, Creekside (a bakery near the office), and Safeway. She also made Pillsbury from a box. She made the store-bought cupcakes look less pretty, cut them up, and served them to about 25 people, who all voted for their favorites. Pillsbury won. Teacake only got one vote. While not very popular with the office set, it is very popular with my Thursday night knitting group. I definitely need to go on a Sunday for the raspberry buttercream frosting. Yum!

The Child Is Strange

Tonight's chosen item for bedtime snuggles: a bottle of bubbles. Not something snuggly like a puppy or a bear. No, bubbles. That started to leak. She's odd. She must have gotten that from her father.

The cable for the camera is missing. I'm sure it would turn up if I bothered to actually look for it. But free time is at such a premium these days, that I seem to find other things to do (read: sack out on the sofa and watch various recorded programs).

What else to tell? I had done an amazing job with watching what I ate and lost 11 pounds since the beginning of the year. Alas, life has gone rather topsy turvy and I seem to be self-medicating with snacks. So some of the 11 have come back. But they will go away again. I just need to buckle down and eat properly again. But it will have to wait until after tomorrow's cupcake taste test at work.

Bug Is 3

I am at a loss. Last night, we watched video of the first time we fed her "solid" food. She was so tiny.

Where did the time go?

Nothing in Particular

Bug turns 3 next week and it's killing me. We have tickets to see the Wiggles and her party is at this place next weekend. I promise there will be pictures (assuming I can find the camera). It should all be fun, but it's making me kind of sad to realize that my little girl isn't so little anymore. Her vocabulary is growing daily, she does engage in a bit of creative counting (... 15, 17, 18, 19, 100), and she has mastered the alphabet. It won't be long before she's a teenager and decides that her parents are idiots. It's all just happening way too fast.

But she does provide fodder for great stories:

Last week, we took her to song and story time at a bookstore in our old town. There, the guy broke into a song that went something like this -

Alligator pie, alligator pie

If I don't get some, I think I'll cry

Take away the green grass, take away the sky

But don't take away my alligator pie

He then took requests for other types of pie and sang about lamby pie and bunny pie and dolly pie. Then, my not shy Bug chimed in with "A COWWWWWWWWWWWWWW." Yep, that's my kid, asking for cow pie. I'm so proud.

To totally change the subject, riddle me this - While reading Crazy Aunt Purl's blog I saw a picture of someone I thought looked familiar. So I clicked over to her blog and read and read (she's looks to be an incredibly fabulous person), it turns out I was right. We knew each other back in elementary school and junior high, but went to different high schools and lost touch. So do I pop on over and say howdy, remember me? Or do I just let it all go? Suggestions?

How Did it Get to Be December So Fast?

Halloween

This pretty much sums her up

How to make mommy's shoes look large

Really, it boggles the mind. In any event, there really hasn't been much to report lately.

I survived yet another birthday. Ice cream cake really helps. I strongly recommend it.

I somehow ended up hosting Thanksgiving for G's family this year. Having never really thrown a dinner party of any kind, making turkey for 18 was a bit overwhelming. I was responsible for the turkey (thank you, Alton Brown), the stuffing (Ham on the Street - cornbread and Italian stuffing), and the vegetables. And no one got sick. And I had more than a little to drink. It all seemed to turn out ok and I had more than a little stuffing left over. As one friend would say, that's a high quality problem to have.

And now we are in the holidays, which is terrible for my waistline, what with all the snacks that seem to show up at work, a place where I spend far too much time seated and eating. Bad, bad Jen. Last night was the Christmas concert at Doof's school (she goes to parochial school by her mom's choice). They were most emphatic about saying it was a Christmas concert and not a holiday concert. Why people get their panties in a twist over being wished "happy holidays" I'll never know. I was so tempted to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah. In any event, I knit through most of it, so I could tune out the prayer stuff. And we left right after her part of the program (one measly song), which meant we missed the sermon. Woo hoo!

Bug amazes me with what she says these days. She's getting pretty good at telling us what she wants, often loudly if we don't get it the first time or don't jump to respond to her demands. She knows her colors, her letters, and her numbers, adores Curious George, shares my love of bacon, bleu cheese, potatoes, and mint chip ice cream, still refuses vegetables, will watch Blue's Clues all day long, and positively melts my heart every time she comes over and demands "a snuggles".

The most exciting thing going on for me, other than my Bug constantly keeping me on my toes, is that I got my Ravelry invitation and I can spend hours looking at what other people are knitting. I tried my first fingerless glove (Fetching from Knitty) and, while it turned out pretty well, I think the Cascade 220 I used was a bit itchy. So I'll try something else.