A good Christmas...

I had a really good Christmas this year!  On Christmas eve I was able to hang out with the kids and open presents and play, and on Christmas day we went to Sandy's sister's house to spend the day and have dinner with her family.  I did score some excellent presents this year!  Sandy bought me a replacement pair of snowshoes (my old ones were thrashed and the bindings broke last year), and a beverage container for trips into the back country.  From her family, I got a cool multi-tool (similar to a Leatherman but lighter and cooler!), slippers, flannel pants for lounging around the house, two sweaters, a new set of Addi Turbo's, and a flashlight!  We had a great dinner, and then watched the second of the Narnia movies.

As this year comes to a close, I have been enjoying taking account of the blessings in my life.  I feel a sense of calm and peace knowing that God is working in my life.  This year will be filled with lots of smiles and adventures, I am sure!  I hope yours is too :)

Done!

Well, almost done, I just have some assembly to do on one gift, should take about an hour, wrap another, and finish a hat (which Sandy is designing as I knit).  Here is a photo of the hat I knit for William.  He likes silver and black, so I hope he likes this one OK.

Pictures from the coast

This past weekend, a group of friends and I went out to the coast to camp a couple of nights at Shi Shi beach.    We had the most perfect weather you could ask for considering it was December!  I got a slight sunburn even :)  Temps got down to below freezing at night, and up to the mid-40's during the day.  I was able to finish knitting Elizabeth's scarf, and while I was out there, I taught myself how to darn a pair of socks.  Turned out to be a good repair, and now I can go to work on the pile of "holy" socks I have in my drawer.  Yesterday, I got the photo's from Mike.  Lots of great pictures for sure!  This one is of the coals of the campfire.  They turn purple because of the minerals that are soaked up from the ocean water.

 Here is the group!  L to R Mike, Merritt, Matt, Keith (Matt's dad) and myself...

 Mike and I on the way out...

 This is a picture of the Milky Way...it turned out sort of a purple in the picture...no way to show it, but talk about an awe inspiring night sky out there...phenomenal!

 Point of Arches from the log pile in front of our camp...

 Sunset...

 Evening sky...

 Sun is almost down...

Nothing like it!

A three day weekend at the beach, even in December!

Wednesday, the morning after...

John Butler Trio with my baby!  Flew down under the radar and back in 11 hours.  Nice!  I am feeling sorry for Sandy because she had to go in to work, on little sleep for sure.  Got back at 3:30 this morning.  I am brain dead, but trying to be productive, I promise.  The show itself was no less than amazing!  Sandy had the perch too, standing on the bench in the back a head above everyone.  I did my best not to sing loudly the whole time, but it's hard not to, and belted out a line or two more than a few times.  Near the finale, JB had the crowd singing a love song to anyone they could think of that they loved.  Parents, children, partners, brothers and sisters, cousins, soldiers, teachers, mentors, ...the list goes on and on doesn't it, it was cool.  Then he played peaches and cream, a song about how children are so adorable that you just want to eat them up!  Its not really a song about eating children, but they can be that sweet.  He played One Way Road, after that which Sandy called perfectly, saying that she could tell because of the way he sitting on the chair but I think it was some sort of clairvoyance!   Ended with Get Funky Tonight which made me want to dance but Sandy wouldn't come down from her perch...I don't blame her, I dance like I am trying to keep the music out of my eyes.

Listening to Matisyahu this morning, and getting busy...we come into this world, we are sent here, for one reason and one reason only, to bring light to the darkness...I love you...

My knitting needles are hot!

Only a few more things left to knit for Christmas!  These are the latest three, for Skylar on the left, and Elizabeth (purple with pink hearts) and Megan (pink with purple hearts).  Pretty simple Fair Isle hearts that turned out really well I think! 

I am going to knit the girls a matching scarf with the leftovers from the skeins.  I might knit the scarfs on size 32's, which are about the size of a broomstick!  Manly sized needles, that's right!

The Thanksgiving weekend turned out ok after all.  Sandy and I went down to Portland to my brother's surprise birthday party Friday and stayed in a hotel in the Rose Quarter.  Got up Saturday morning and shopped a bit at some of Sandy's favorite places.  She bought some pretty cool things downtown and then we went to Alberta Street for more shopping then headed north to have dinner at her sisters.  Today was a kid day and I had a nice visit with the kids.  Megan was ready with a Christmas wish list, the other two are not quite so organized! 



Thanksgiving delayed...

I know I have a lot to be thankful for, and a lot coming that I am already thankful for.  Today a staged miscommunication and the weather keeps me from celebrating, but I am not without thanks.  I am thankful that I will not give away my hopes for a better future.  I am thankful for the drive to make it a better future. 

Watching the snow

Easy to do from here!  With all the warnings on tv about staying inside, stocking up on food, not driving the car I felt really good about my regular monday, which is to work in the home office, maybe walk to go grocery shopping, do some laundry...I figured it was just a matter of time before the rest of the world caught on with my idea, even if the only excuse they have to live right is a weather anomily. 

I did travel out for a meeting this morning.  It's always nice to sit down with people of shared vision and moving forward is a nice characterstic of any venture.  Speaking of ventures,  looking out at the weather this week, I am still hopeful that the weekend of the beach trip is mild weather...I know the chances are slim, but I have a good feeling about it, ya know? 

The knitting is going well.  I want to go back and get skeins of silver and black, William likes those colors these days.  Yesterday us kids got out to play in the snow, so I am pretty sure that I will be spending a good part of this day knitting.  Isn't that what you are supposed to do when it snows?

Mmm, heimgemacht!

Am I really...

up at 5:30 on Sunday morning?  I guess that is the price I am paying for having an over-active mind.  Friday I met with some people who are months, possibly only weeks ahead of me on the curve of this new venture I am wanting to undertake.  It was really disappointing to talk with them and find out that they had same idea that I did.  They also have a large group of people already on board.  I am meeting with them as a group on Wednesday of next week and am hoping for an offer to collaborate.  Also, yesterday didn't go as well as I would have liked either.  One step forward and two steps back is a good summation of my life right now.  I don't want to tell God how to run his business, so I will just say that I would have taken care of things differently. 

Shells of men

A worn shell
one of many on the streets
hard empty husks
discarded into anonimity
by industry, or drink, or guilt
or whatever else might rip the meat out
before tossing it aside

Banging out hats!

Just finished blocking out a couple of hats for Nathan and Bre, to keep they heads warm this winter in China...They turned out nice I think.  Straight knit, easy stuff.  The bottom (black with verigated stripes) hat in this photo is one I knit for myself.  Actually, it is one of two that I had knit for myself.  The first one was a verigated red which I ended up not liking, so I banged out another one for me before knitting the other two. It is now time to start on hats for the kids for Christmas. 

I am glad it's Friday today.  I am home working on "this side thing" that I have going on.  A couple of months ago I had an innovative idea, did a lot of research and put a lot of thought into it, and last week I took it to a few business owners that I thought might be interested.  Turns out, they were very interested and they are on board.  Since then, I have been working on it hot and heavy.  Still though, I can't tell you what it is, because I want it to be a surprise!  My plan is to go public in January, so stay tuned! 



A nice weekend :)

I had a great birthday weekend!  Friday night we stayed home, and I was able to get started opening presents :)  I got a new rain cover for my backpack, concert tickets, twelve socks, coffee money, and a very cool handmade card from my sweetheart! 

On Saturday, we went to SAM, and since we were getting free tickets we lolly-gagged and got there kind of late (hey, I don't have to get up early on my birthday!), so late in fact that we decided to pick up tickets for Sunday instead and headed to the yarn store for some inspiration and a skein on bulky wieght for kid hats.  From there we headed to Maritime Brewery in Ballard and had a dinner of apetizers of Deep Fried Pickles, Deep Fried Bacon (yeah thats right!), and a "spread platter" with various types of bread, then we came home and hung out.  Pretty chill.   I worked on and finished a hat that had been in the works for some time by crocheting a bit on the edges, and adding tassles to keep the flaps down.

Sandy worked on some cards she is making for a craft bazaar.  Sunday we got up and went to the Picasso exhibit and by the time we were done it was time to go see the kids.  Weekends just don't last long enough!  



Friday! WOOT!

And tomorrow is my birthday!  45 years old doesn't seem like all that old to me anymore!  Bob, one of the guys here at work said, "won't be long until 45 seems young!"  Well, to me, at the moment it seems young and I feel young, so I am just going to play along and act young too.

This whole running thing...

I finished another hat for me a couple days ago.  The first one I knitted for me I ended up not liking.  The second one I knitted for me I like a lot!  I had to felt it a little to get the fit right, but it is more plain than the first and that suits me.  I am currently working on hats for Nathan and Bre, per their request for winter hats while in China.  I found some verigated Lana Grossa yarn at Weaving Works that I really like for Bre and some natural color for Nathan.  They should be in the mail in a week or so! 

For a week or so now I have been getting up and running along with my regular exercises...I don't like it, running just plain and simple sucks!!  I can see some improvement in my cardio health already which is good to report.  My goal is to be able to run all the way up the hill, currently, I can almost make it to the hill! 

Ready for the weekend!

Lots happened today!  I went to court this morning and as it turns out, I owe no back alimony and won't have to pay anymore from here on out!  WOOT!  I got out of court, went to work for a bit and watched the kidlings from the daycare downstairs parade through, came home, put on a suit and went to a job interview.  The interview went pretty well, but I didn't walk out of there thinking I had nailed it.  It's hard to say though.  I will definitely need to bone up on my technical network and troubleshooting skills in case I get called for a second interview.  This weekend is just going to be a chill weekend, but I am very ready for it for sure!

Nice day for a jog...

I decided that I would work from home today and that afforded me the opportunity to take a run this morning.  I didn't run very far, but I did run some, and thats a start!    

News from Nathan

Nathan and Bre are doing well in China.  They have gotten a language tutor and are making their way around pretty well he says.  Eating in restaraunts is tricky he says, but picture menus help!  The teaching is also going well and they are enjoying it.  The did put in an order for hats as winter is coming on over there...



A hat for me...

Today I started a hat for me.  I have had some really nice verigated yarn that Sandy got for me and today I started a simple, straight knit hat for myself with it.  No colorwork, which is unusual for one of my hats, no ribbing, no texture, just a straight knit hat with some slubby yarn! Here is the Fractal Hat (a Mandelbrot Set) that I knit and ended up with Rory.

Ping Pong?

Over the past year, my ping pong game has improved, well not quite dramatically, but it has improved!  I beat Sandy 2 out of 10 games on Saturday!  Now that may not seem like a huge deal but trust me, playing her in ping pong is like playing a ninja!  Holy smokes!  I have to say too that in those games I did lose, I lost by not very much!  After ping pong on Saturday, we walked around Discovery Park for a while which was nice.  A pretty chill weekend overall. 

poem

A tired hag

peddling possessions

for scraps

aggrandizing

forcing a toothless smile

against rejection

from a hermit. clw

True confessions of a knitter...

Ahhh, its finally Friday!  This has been a wierd week and I am glad it is over.  Gonna start a new hat...last night I gave Rory his "fractal hat"...the most complicated hat I have ever knit, as the pattern was self-made and every row was different...not like most where you get to zone out and knit!  The pattern on the hat repeated itself every 17 stiches to make a mandelbrot set 5 times around the hat.  The confession?   I actually gave it to Sandy a while back (hey she's got pull!), and knitted him another less complicated hat, but when she saw that one she wanted it instead so I washed and blocked the fractal hat and presented it as new...I know, I know...but it's not like he will ever know...point is, I wanted him to have something from me before he left town, and it worked out well for everyone. WOOT!  It's Friday!

Patience

You know, its easy for negative thoughts to creep in, for self-deprecation to win out, and to get to feeling down because things didn't work out the way I thought they should or as fast as I thought they would.  Truth be told, I didn't start out today feeling very positive, but as I look around today, and I see all of the positive things going on around me, I have to smile and I have to think that God is looking out for me, and that he wants me to be happy.  I am healthy, I have a great partner in Sandy, and I have opportunities.  I have people praying for me, I have people that love me.  I have great kids.  Things will eventually turn around for me, I will have the things I want, I just have to be patient.  And stay happy and not let the thief take whats mine. 

sometimes...

things don't work out the way you planned, you know?  On Friday, my hiking partner for the weekend couldn't get it together and we ended up not going to the backcountry and yesterday at court, things didn't move forward at all.  They didn't move backwards, either, so its not as frustrating as it could have been I suppose.  I shaved my beard off and everything, so I souldn't look like a thug in court, and now I look funny!  Oh well, it grows back quick...

Indian Heaven

This past weekend my brother Patrick, Richard, and myself went hiking into Indian Heaven Wilderness Area, a perennial favorite of mine and definitely one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  We arrived in the afternoon on Friday and were set up in no time. 

Patrick and Richard were all about survival skills, but I myself (having suffered before) chose to camp the way I do and was pretty cozy.  They proceeded to build a "self-feeding" fire, which worked really well.  Instead of starting small, and adding logs to the fire, you pile the large fuel wood, and build the fire on top of it.  As the fire burns down, it ignites the larger logs and just keeps burning.  When I went swimming the following morning, it was still smoldering, and could have been restarted quite easily.

Instead of relighting the fire, I took them for a walk into the berry fields.  We were there at the perfect time of year and collected about two quarts of berries in no time.  Talk about a grubbin breakfast!

By the time we got back to camp, the sun had warmed us up and they started in making small traps for animals and building fires using a bow-string and spindle.  Quite impressive fire building I must say, and I was glad to have learned how to do it.

Like I said before, I camped the way I usually do, so I was well fed.  Unfortunately, Patrick and Richard didn't eat so well!  The only thing they were able to trap was a large frog, which, split between the two of them didn't really go as far as they would have liked.  I had checked my "trap" and found tortellini with marinara sauce :)

All in all, it was a great weekend to be out!  The weather couldn't have been better, and those two guys are fun as hell to hang out and chill with.    Hopefully we will be getting out again soon.  That said, I was glad to get home to my baby! 









Zip-zang!

hey ya! we are back from Whistler where we took a vacation all of last week.  Vacation really started out on Saturday morning of last week when we drove down to dad's and picked up his 1963 Aloha Camp Trailer and brought it back to Seattle to load up before continuing North.  This took until Sunday morning, but hey, we are on vacation!

By Sunday evening we had accomplished the 6 hours trip (at speeds greater than 50 mph at times) to Whistler and set up camp, made dinner, and settled in for a well deserved nap!  We woke up in the late evening to pounding rain and decided that, hey, since we had seen rain before we had no obligation to see more of it and were compelled to stay warm and snug inside the trailer.

By morning, the place had been overrun by Germans in rental RV's!  Unbelieveable, but there was an almost 100% turnover rate (minus our pleasant hut) at the RV park every night and when we would wake up in the morning, the place would be nearly empty...of course, we didn't strive to be the first out of bed in the morning, so we don't know exactly when they were leaving, but them folks were all about the migration for sure.

After a few "home repairs" on Monday, and heading to the hardware store to purchase an electric cord that I still haven't copped to anyone that I forgot, we decided that we should probably take a nap. Which we did, and so we were well rested for an evening of dinner at an Irish Pub (two for one fish and chips) and relaxation before heading to bed!  No sense getting all worked up for Tuesday before Tuesday we figured :) 

Tuesday morning we gave the migrant Germanic Peoples their space and after a leisurely morning we headed into town on our bikes to see if we could talk our way into a deal on lift tickets for the peak to peak gondola ride.  We couldn't.  We were able to pay full price though, and get onto the gondola headed uphill to Whistler Peak.  The fall colors were amazing! (Crummy picture because the windows inside the gondola are all scratched up)

Once at the top of the first gondola on Whistler Peak (about a 25 minute ride) we headed over to the "Peak to Peak" gondola...

headed to Blackcomb.  Impressive to say the least...even saw a critter or two up there...

After some intestine wrenching chili at the lodge on Blackcomb, we waited for the glass bottom gondola to arrive (comes every 15 mins) and headed back across to Whistler Peak,



snapped a shot with an Inukshuk,

and headed back to camp to hold down our pillows before dinner.  We didn't want to get all worked up about Wednesday, well, until Wednesday so an early bedtime seemed to be the best bet. 

Waking up early, yes when on vacation 8 AM is early, we headed into town and geared up for a zip-line tour.  For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a series of high cables strung through the tree tops that one connects to and "zips" from place to place, taking off and landing on cleverly constructed decks and walkways through the forest canopy.  Funnest thing you can do with your clothes on! 

Now, Sandy and I have been talking about a zip line tour since we met and it was special to me to be with her as she checked something off her bucket list.  When the instructor asked, "who's first?"  She stepped right up, got hooked in, and bailed off the steps!  Talk about heart!



 

It wasn't too long before she was flying across upside down!

We all were for that matter...

Yeah, thats me on the way to lunch...

Hmmm, then what happened?  I think we went back to camp after deciding that hey, maybe we should take a nap...oh yeah, thats what we did!  We rode our bikes back to camp, all downhill...and held down our pillows...that evening saw the diurnal migratory pattern, and we woke up Thursday to a less sunny day...but decidedly not worried about the weather as well, we are way chill folk.  

Thursday saw the Olympic Park... 

Some more critters...

and a burger at http://www.splitzgrill.com/ (which was totally, totally grubbin, along with our slurpies that we carried from across the street :)) and by then were pretty sure it was nap time, but we weren't all that tired since we had been on vacation all that week and chose to hang out and play cards and...what else? Chill...

Friday morning, we actually got an early start, really, we did.  We were up, put away and on the road to Tim Hortons and fuel for the way back by 10 AM.  Uneventful border crossing, the state department computer system was down and Rodriguez had gone to lunch so we sailed through...no people, no drugs, and no firearms on board.  And apparently no time for Americans just tryin to get back into America, God bless it.