Midwest Reststop

I'm so happy The Tall Guy and I planned a week stop over at his parents house in the Detroit suburbs before continuing West. We've been adventuring around and visiting lots of people while we've been here. It has been so nice to take a breath in the midst of all of the chaos of the last few months!
A few pictures!
Lunch with Grandma, Aaron eating a Jersey Giant sub, Silas meeting Aaron's long-time friend James.

Fond farewell

Today we left our little rowhouse on Draper Lane to start our new adventure.
Our "compound crew" was there to help get us on our way, assist as we had to switch gears on the fly and bid us adieu as we headed out and it once again reminded me of what a different world we live in at this point in our lives compared to our parents. We know we'll stay in touch with these people. They'll read this post, we'll look at each others pictures on Facebook and end up in each others cities for work conferences and vacations. FaceTime and Skype are tools used all over now (I had a Skype interview the other day!) and the world is a much smaller place these days when you can write a blog post from the backseat of a car in Ohio (ahem).
Anyway, this is all to say that this blog will likely be making a resurrection as we travel cross country and I feel the need to document in a way that Facebook and Twitter don't really allow.
I'll leave you with two photos from the day. Both make me sad, but it's gonna be okay. I've left dear friends before and know they're all there, even when spread all over.

Dear DC, We're Over.

It's me, not you. Really, I swear. After ten (almost to the day) years together I'm finally biting the bullet and leaving you.
It's been a roller coaster these 10 years and I've always loved to hate you. The fast paced life, the insane career drive you foster, the terrible drivers,  people asking if I'm worried about a terrorist attack and, of course annoying tourists on the Metro. I've loved to complain and lasting ten years is really somewhat of a badge of honor.
Along with the negatives, you've also been pretty awesome. My career has flourished. I've made life-long friends. I  met and married my Tall Guy. We  picked up Annie along the way and of course had our amazing and perfect son.
As we pack our bags for Colorado, I hope you know that I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for you, dear city and will always defend the same things I complained about when I hear others speaking badly about you. I'll miss seeing random "talking heads" picking up take out at our favorite spot in Takoma Park. I'll miss using the Capital, Lincoln Memorial or other famous landmark as a point of reference in giving directions. I'll miss being an hour flight from our families. I'll miss the neighborhood we've lived in for the last 4+ years and having neighbors that you could borrow a cup of sugar or a pencil from and know that they would happily let out your dog when you were stuck late at work. I'll miss my knitting friends, who it took me years to find. I'll miss adventures to Annapolis and last minute trips to Baltimore. I'll miss it all.
This may be the hardest break-up I've had to do, Washington. When all is said and done however, we had to make a decision that feels right for our family.
DC, I'm going to the Denver area unemployed. Something I've never done in my life. For the interim, I'll be a mom and get us settled and will be looking for a job in the Denver/Golden area. I can't imagine what it will be like not working in the Nation's capital, but I'm sure I'll be fine.

The picture I'm leaving you with is of the Tall Guy's new office ( the building in the bottom corner). Can you really compete with that?

Striking a balance (where I overuse the word time)

I've been thinking a lot about balance lately. Work, baby, "me time", friend time, time with my Tall Guy, making sure said Tall Guy gets "his time" now that he's home with Silas for the summer, time to possibly exercise, being an active team member in keeping the house going... The list goes on!The one thing I think is clear is there just isn't enough time! My question is- how do you make it all work?
I'd like to get back to some exercise but, I'm having a hard time fitting it in. I'm at work full time now, which ends up being close to 10 hours away from home a day. This makes it really hard for me to justify taking a yoga class after work or spending that much more time away from my family in one day. Do I get up early? Forgo exercise for awhile? I'd love to know how other people and moms make it work once there are a lot more competing priorities in your life. I suspect the answer may be "sleep less", but it would be nice to know I'm not alone in trying to do it all!

Growing!

Silas is growing before my eyes. I can't believe how fast he has gone from a floppy little newborn to a wee boy. Pretty sure I'm going to blink and he'll be in high school!

I return to the office this week with a heavy heart, knowing I was lucky to be off 4 months. It's still going to be
hard leaving this schmoo!

Let's be honest...

Is there anything more cute than a baby in handknits?

The quilt that Twitter built

About  5 years ago, I started this blog as a way to keep my family abreast of my adventures and to track my new-found knitting projects. As time went on, I made a few "friends"- people who found the blog and we'd comment back and forth etc. Jessie and I bravely had a blind-date and I had a new knitter friend!  Then, there was Ravelry. And then, Twitter. I always sort of joke that I "Tweet for Joe". Joe is my brother-in-law and has worked with/for Twitter for a few years now and when I started exploring it, I thought it was neat, but didn't quite "get it". And then, one day a few months later, I realized I was bringing up conversations I had with people on Twitter to the Tall Guy, thinking about what I would tell my friends on there and slowly, but surely started actually meeting some of these people in person. It's sort of amazing how much the knitting/craft community embraced Twitter and I wonder if it's because our hobbies are sort of solitary unless we seek other people out, either via Knit nights or the internet. Anyway...

A lot of my family/friends like to make fun of me for my tweeting and online activities. My Tall Guy refers to me as the Queen of Social Media (which, I'm sorry, but at least 85% of you reading this beat me hands down) and I know it seems like these connections are just people that live inside my computer/iPad/Phone...but. (I'm getting to a point here), it's so much more than that and this photo explains a lot, if not all of it (as well as the other awesome gifts that follow!)

This amazing, gorgeous quilt is the "Quilt that Twitter" built for Silas. (More on him in a moment) I have never met in person 6 of the 12 women that had a hand in creating this quilt for Silas. The ones I know and have met in person? I only met because of the internet. And they are all awesomely talented, supportive and amazing women who while often only living inside my iPad have been such a source of inspiration, support and humor as I went through pregnancy and these early days of having a baby that I'm starting to think that all new moms should be handed an iPad upon discharge from the hospital. As for the creators, in no particular order, thank you to Jessie (Jessspress), Ann (AnnMT), Rachel (Rachellake), Chawne (cauchy09), Elspeth (AgentElspeth), Sarah (onestitchshort), Paula (woolarina), Cathy (Runnergirl713), Carrie (carrieoke), Carolyn (Duff), Autumn (AutumninDC) and Amanda (theotheramanda). I only have so much brain power at the moment, so here's a link to Jessie's flickr photo with each square credited.

In addition to the quilt, other goodies came in the package.  An Aviatrix hat and little bag (which matches the quilt Jessie had made me earlier this year for Silas!) came from RachelLake, this amazing cabel-y sweater is from Monica (mnappe) 

This tag blankie is from Danielle (aswiminknits) and  from Blair (trimblair) an offset wraplan!

And, for my own Finished Object.. (hehe), Silas Arthur.. joined us March 14th at 7pm. So far, we're just trying to keep our head above water. Thank you all for the handmade love, well wishes and baby smooshes. We are so lucky to have you all in our life, whether you're right down the street or across the country. Now, off to change a diaper. 

So many words for a universal occurrence....

Life's about to change a lot!

Yarn Shop Politics

Over on Ravelry this week, our local board blew up over a local yarn shop (lys) starting a new policy. Long story short, the shop has said that it will start charging knitters a $10 fee to come to "Open Stitch" (Knit Night, Stitch and Bitch etc.) if you weren't knitting with yarn you had at some point purchased there. This has cause a flurry of comments to the point where the Mod. decided to shut down the thread. It's an interesting issue- on one hand, it's a business and they need to make income. On the other, I've found that more often than not, with the shop I tend to frequent, while I don't buy something all the time, I do buy a lot from them and it's often when I'm there to sit and knit with friends. I see this with all of my friends as well.
It seems the knitting community is also drawn down the middle on this one. Personally, with the shop in question, I've had 2 occasions when I've been there in the last year and felt a definite chill in the air. In one instance, there was a group knitting at the community table, talking about a particular yarn that none of them were familiar with and I, while browsing nearby casually commented as I had knit with it/had it in my stash. Even though I commented at a totally appropriate time, didn't interrupt anyone and didn't say anything weird, instead of a response, I received frosty stares and no comments. It was so unnerving! Another time was also similar. I guess my point is that was the last time I was there and implementing a fee for me to come back is not going to help foster good will in a community that puts a great deal of stock into a shops "personality", "style" and general vibe.

Anyway, now that I'm done thinking out loud about that, I'll share a recent finished object... This is for a dear friend's new little one.

Pattern: Maile (Free!)  

Yarn: Scout's sock yarn, in June's Semi Solid Sock club colorway-Yellow Submarine 

Buttons from Looped Yarn Works in Downtown DC

Thanks ,Dad

I tell him all the time how great he is, but just in case I don't say it enough...

My Dad is amazing, awesome, compassionate, kind and what my Mom once called a Gentle Soul.

He's always the first person I've turned to when I sought solid, honest advice, a hug and support or simply needed someone to kick me in the pants and tell me to "pull it together".

He's been a Mom when I've needed one and every day, I am grateful to have such a great Father. I'm so excited that he and my Step-Mom are coming to visit in a few weeks, even though we did just see them last weekend!

Happy Father's Day, Dad...even if your card is still sitting in my purse, you're still my faves!