Life Among The Savages: Archive

I don’t understand how people can sign up to do something and then not do it. Oh wait. Because I end up having to do it. Hey, we don’t need to sign up to be cookie manager. We’ll just leave that for Tempe. We don’t need to sign up for camp certification. We’ll just leave that for Tempe. Nevermind that I ask other people to do these things and say that I...

Mar 19th

+6 miles 106 miles no change

Feb 7th

+2 100 miles Day 6 Leave Tom’s house and climb zig-zag path to brow of hill on west side of Barrow-downs (ca. 9 a.m.). On ponies go up steep slopes and down long limbs. No trees or water. Turn more east than they intend and enter the Barrow-downs, a place of great dread: inhabited by evil Barrow-wights from Angmar (R. Foster)

Jun 28th

I haven’t added in any of my miles from Fit Club. Shame on me. It’s easily 20, probably more like 30, but I will use the 20 to be on the safe side. +20 98 miles Reach Tom Bombadil’s house. Stars are out (ca. 7 p.m.). I rather like the running. I should try to do a better job of sticking with it. It’s just so hot out!

Jun 24th

+1.5 78 miles The Bonfire Glade - clear path beyond. Sunny, but not yet in clearing (ca. 8 a.m.).

Apr 20th

+1 76.5 miles No change

Apr 16th

+5 miles 75.5 miles Day 4 Enter tunnel under Hedge to reach The Old Forest. Path disappears (ca. 7:15 a.m.).

Feb 6th

+ 3 miles 70.5 Taking the main road north from the Ferry, Buck Hill is on the left and Buckleberry on the right. They take a lane to the right, and climb up and down into the country. Finally made it past the ferry.

Jan 17th

+ 2.5 67.5 miles No change

Jan 1st

+ 2.5 65 miles Farmer Maggot’s lane meets the Causeway to Buckleberry Ferry. Ride in wagon. Leaving Farmer Maggot’s for Buckleberry Ferry.

Dec 31st

+2.5 62.5 miles After a turnip field there is a stout gate to a rutted lane, edged by hedges. I am in the fields of Farmer Maggot. A mere 10.5 miles until I reach Crickhollow. I haven’t even left the Shire! Drat these sturdy, fast hobbits.

Dec 31st

+ 2 miles 60 miles No change

Dec 29th

Holiday Lists

Tempe’s Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/117WBUTEBYCDG/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go Rebecca’s Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1ZSOLUARGFOXO/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go Magnus’s Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1PJEOZ5MU5QMW/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go Douglas’s Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/AF2AWOJWWU5V/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go Tempe ...

Nov 15th

+7 miles 58 miles Reach area of the Marish with fields, meadows, hedges, gates, and drainage dikes.

Nov 14th

Plus 14 51 miles Day 3 They reach a belt of trees, mostly oaks with a few elms and ash. Drops of rain fall.

Sep 8th

Plus 12.5 37 miles Day 2. Road splits. Road to Stock bends left and goes down into the lowlands. They take a lane which branches to the right, winding through a wood of ancient Oaks. Sun down and evening coming on. (ca 6:30 pm) Quite close to the road-meeting they climb inside a huge tree. Eat and rest.

Aug 25th

plus 2 24.5 miles same as before

Jul 30th

6 more miles 22.5 miles I’ve made it to Day 2 Road rolls up and down. This lasts for 8 miles so don’t expect much of a change anytime soon.

Jul 30th

I'm very slow

16.5 miles Begin to sing. Walk through a deeply cloven track between tall trees.

Jul 15th

Events have conspired to keep my progress slow. 2 more miles. 14.5 total Reach Stock Road A mere 3.5 miles to get me out of the first day. And it’s only a total of 485 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell. I should be there in a couple of years.

May 4th

Another 2 miles. That makes 12.5 Stop in a birch grove. Eat a frugal supper.

Apr 29th

me again

Add on another 1.5 miles. I have been active with other things as well. And I have had some very tired nights. So that makes for 10.5 miles. I need another half mile for the next way point. I will get that and a bit more tomorrow. I have been in a bit of a knitting funk. I know! Say it isn’t so! But yes. Sadly enough. I keep thinking about all the lovely lace patterns out there. ...

Apr 28th

Call me Riley

I am the owner of a treadmill. It tracks the distance I have traveled. Do you see where this is going? Walk to Rivendell resurected! I am 9 miles in, starting fresh. That puts me at, let me see now, Hobbiton hidden as slopes rise and fall. It will be a bit slow, seeing as how Frodo and the crew made 18 miles in the first day. And, right on the heels of that purchase, my washer dumped a...

Apr 22nd

What do you get when you take a 5 year old, Star Wars Clone Wars and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)? Becca: If the Grinch really wants to stop Christmas from coming, he should just kill Santa.

Dec 12th

1 note

Kindergarten Boot camp

Tonight was kindergarten boot camp. The parents went up to the school for the teacher to explain the class curriculum and answer questions. One of the things the teacher was really pushing was reading to and reading with your child. Over two hours of the three hour day will be spent on literacy. After the winter holidays, books will be sent home weekly for the child to read. The parent writes...

Aug 13th

le sigh

Today is the day that Becca decided she is too old (at 5!) to call me Mommy. I am now Mom. When I expressed sadness at this I was told that it is okay. I can be grandma for her kids.

Jul 5th

Kindergarten question

I think parents have a hard time judging where their kids should be when it’s their first. Becca has started the school district’s ‘Jump Start to Kindergarten’ program. She has been bringing home school work for the first time. Today there was a sheet explaining what they had been learning this week. So here is my question. How many kids make it to 5 without knowing...

Jun 6th

Walk

Ben suggested we go for one of our walks in Queeny Park today. So the kids gave me an early birthday gift. A pedometer. So that I can measure my Walk to Rivendell. Due to Becca’s dance recital last night which meant kids went to sleep after 9:30 and them waking at their usual time, they were a tad cranky. Which meant that we only covered 4 miles. So I have not even made it to the...

Jun 1st

Heh

Do you know what occured to me? It’s been a bit since I have shared dorkiness with you! Please forgive me. Aaaaaaannnnnd the latest in the dork-o-drome……. Walk to Rivendell Yes! You too can track the distance that the fellowship covered! What fun! And for added benefit and enrichment, be sure to listen to the audiobooks as you go. Now I need a pedometer that measures...

May 14th

Complete happiness

As you might be aware, I knit. Last spring, I decided to try my hand at lace and laceweight with some lacey scarves as end-of-year gifts for Becca’s teachers. They were never acknowledged. Mind you, the mulling spices we gave at Christmas received thank you cards through the mail, but the hand-made lace scarves in a wool/silk blend laceweight? Nada. And I even chatted with one of the...

Apr 30th

Dorkdom revisited

The Fellowship has left the mines of Moria. For that matter, I am in Return of the King. Aragorn is on the paths of the dead. So one little problem. No way to bookmark my spot. So if I leave, I have to try and find it again, which could take some time. Or I could write it down on a dorky little piece of paper and lose the paper. So, no other music ever comes out of my ipod. What this...

Apr 17th

Selfish

I own a Bissell carpet cleaner. It is an amazing device. A device which has been seeing weekly use for the past six weeks. Because I have boys who are at the helpful but not potty-trained point. Which means that they try to change their poopy diapers themselves. And there is also drawing on the carpet with markers. And your standard spills and whatnot. I have long been of the opinion that...

Feb 5th

Who knew?

Innocently, I checked the forecast to see if the projected accumulations had changed. Much to my surprise, it appears that Saturday is ‘big pile of doody’ day. Carry your umbrella. I don’t know about you, but I think my Saturday is going to be crappy.

Jan 31st

Just a sip

For those who are curious, they are still at the Council of Elrond.

Jan 24th

ho hum

Let’s face it. I’m a boring person. I really don’t have anything interesting to talk about. Why? Because all I want to talk about is yarn and knitting. I was asked this morning how my weekend was and I responded with the status of every project I worked on. I rate my day by my knitting. This is bad. Maybe I should try to go back to the baby poo stories. Last night I...

Jan 15th

Gross little tidbit

I mentioned back in my pregnancy past that I am not really a puker. Five times total during two pregnancies. We will discount May, when four out of the five of us got a quick stomach bug. Dougie was unscathed. Because of my lack of pukage, I am not experienced much in the clean-up process. Magnus had a record seven in May, but at that point we had layers of towels draped over him and there...

Dec 20th

Someone might like me!

Back in February 1999, I took a very long lunch and went down to BJC for a bone marrow registry drive. I have been patiently waiting ever since. I carry the card they gave me in my wallet. When we moved, I called and gave them my new contact info. And more patient waiting. And now someone may like me! Woohoo! I’m going on Tuesday to get blood drawn and then I get to wait 1-4 weeks to...

Sep 28th

Ramblings

I am looking forward to Christmas. And no, I’m not early. I’m running behind this year. I generally start getting excited on July 5. Yes, yes, I have made plans on things to knit for people and started on some of them. But that’s not what I am excited about. My boys actually have interests. Specific toys. That they sit and play with for extended periods of time. And they...

Sep 9th

Potty talk

Magnus is still tinkling like a champ. Anytime you take him into the bathroom and stick him on the potty he will go, even if it is only three drops. His routine is sort of funny. Magnus is convinced that there is a correlation between the toilet flushing and him peeing. He must turn around and flush first. Maybe the water noise helps him, who knows? Anywho, you could sit there reading a...

Aug 20th

ER again

So Magnus while playing instead of lying down to go to sleep last night fell onto his bed. Not a big deal. But he managed to fall funky on his arm and started crying. We gave him Motrin and he went to sleep. After the second time of him waking up crying in pain and not really using his arm Ben called the exchange who told him to take Magnus to the ER. Nursemaid’s elbow. All fixed and...

Aug 13th

Stitches!

I am back from Stitches Midwest! Fun, fun, fun. Saturday morning Angie and her mom came to pick me up at 4:35 am. Yes, they were 5 minutes late. Well, that just ruined the whole trip right there. hahaha! I am SO funny! (Can you tell I am still giddy?) Angie did all the driving on this trip. She is a master driver. And woohoo! can she ever toss change in a toll thingy! Luckily, you...

Aug 13th

Gold!

Magnus has spent the past several weeks pulling off his pull-up, climbing onto the big potty (he refuses the insert seat), flushing the toilet while he is sitting there and climbing back off to start playing in the sink. Nothing has come out of him into the potty. He wants to play with the soap at the sink for hours with the water running full blast so he can reach it. This is not something...

Aug 9th

Jokes are good

Dougie told his first knock-knock joke yesterday. Becca and I were exchanging some new Backyardigans jokes and he decided to join in. D: Knock, knock me: Who’s there? D: eh me: eh who? D: blank pause for a bit and then dissolving into peals of laughter and falling on the floor. About 10 minutes later he tried out another one on Ben. D: Knock, knock B: Who’s there?...

May 23rd

My boys

Their birthday is this Thursday. The big 0-2. And they are a heck of a lot of fun. Even if they drive me batty at times. It’s funny, because there are days where I will say out loud, ‘You kids are driving me batty!’ and Becca will correct me. ‘No we’re not. We’re driving you crazy!’ So Dougie. A biting fool. And strong. He will put a hand on a...

May 22nd

Lookee

Check out what my mom is getting me for my birthday. This sweater kit. In these colors. You will note that the sweater is shapeless and boxy. I think this is probably for the best for my first colorwork sweater. Besides, a nice big bulky sweater is a comfy thing. I should be able to show you pictures of my work in about three years. Because I spend my days stalking knitting prey across the...

May 16th

Miniscule things to ponder

What kind of weird, sick, demented person doesn’t watch Heroes? I harassed Ben into putting some of my pictures into flickr tonight so that I can put them on Ravelry. He had the unmitigated gall to try and show me how to do it myself for the future. I mean, really! If he was a surgeon, would I operate on myself? Just because he could show me how to do it in the future?

May 15th

Week in review

Monday Ben picked Becca up from preschool and brought her home. Ben and I were in the kitchen eating lunch when Becca walks in weepy. ‘There’s a box in my nose!’ Someone shoved something up her nose. It could not be blown out. I got the tweezers and she started screaming about how we aren’t supposed to put those up our noses. I could just barely see wet cardboard WAY...

May 12th

Not so random thoughts

When someone dies, there will always be regrets. The things you could have said or done for them. And then I start to think about how I could do that for all the people around me who are still here. But how do you do that? If you know that a specific person’s time is limited, you can give them the time and part of yourself. How would you spread that around to everyone? How would you...

May 6th

Sock sorrow

I purchased sock yarn last week to make Mother’s Day socks for the women in my family. I already have sock yarn and have started on the socks for Ben’s mom. Her feet get hot so I went with the no-wool option of Panda Cotton. Bamboo, cotton and elastic. My mom’s feet don’t get so hot and she was intrigued by the yarn I was telling her about, so I purchased Seacoast Panda...

May 4th

Sock love

Ben and I counted up the pairs of socks I have knit so far. He does not count the pedicure socks that were a Christmas gift. Without those, my tally is 9 pairs. I also have four singles waiting for mates. Really, this should make me an expert, right? First up for your viewing pleasure this evening. Garter Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. Austermann Step yarn. Let’s pretend...

May 1st