A "Real" Post

Looking at my recent history of blog posts, I see that I have been very lazy by only doing my Grace in Small Things posts and not really giving any "meat" so my blog, so today I'm going to correct that. Not to say I don't love participating in GiST, I think it's a fantastic idea to remind myself daily that there are wonderful things surrounding me if I just stop long enough to look at them, but it does seem to be the further "Facebooking" of my life, where my life and writing become just a series of status updates. I often through the day think of things that I want to tell you guys, but by the time I sit down to my computer, I usually only have enough energy to read your blogs, post my GiST and then either go to bed or knit. You remember that I'm a knitter, right? Seems like I haven't really shared too much of what I've been doing lately. I'm going to correct that today, too. So, hunker down and grab yourself something to drink and a snack, this post may get a bit long today. In fact, I'm planning on doing this in two sessions today, although you'll just get it all at once. Can't sit still too long with a two-year-old in the house, ya know!

To begin with, I am super tired today. For some reason, I woke up around 1:30 this morning and didn't get to sleep until a little bit before Baby Girl woke up at 6:30. It's only 8:30 and I'm already on my second Coke Zero. I rarely drink caffeine anymore (kicked the addiction during my pregnancy, and never really picked it back up), but today, I'm in desperate need and am finally feeling my brain cells start to wake up. I think it helps that I've opted for serving the Coke in a Waterford goblet. My best friend's step-mom always says that everything tastes better out of a crystal wineglass, and I think she's definitely right, but I needed a goblet today! These glasses never get used, what a waste! I also fixed myself a "real" breakfast of eggs and bacon, which I never do. I hate cooking in the morning, but again, desperate times...

There are certain things I have to get done this morning, so I figure by laying out the goals in writing to you guys, maybe it will force me into actually getting them done rather than face the humiliation of publicly failing. I know what you're thinking, since I'm not posting this until later today, what's going to stop me from just deleting this part or adjusting the goals accordingly? Pride, my friends, pride!

Hubby's BFF is coming down from New York tomorrow to ride in the parade with us on Friday so I definitely want to have the house clean before he gets here, so here's what has to happen:

The house has to be vacuumed and mopped. The beds need to be changed and made up. The bathrooms need to be cleaned.

Also, I have some things that need to be picked up that are Mardi Gras related:

We need hooks for the float to organize and hang our beads on. I need a football helmet, with facemask, for Baby Girl, because we are taking her to her first parade tomorrow and the krewe that we are going to see throws ALOT of stuff. It would freak the poor kid out if she got hit in the face! I don't think she would get hurt, but that being said, I did break my nose freshman year when a large string of pearls hit me....

When I open up this computer next, I will let you know how I've done! And then hopefully I will also share some more interesting things with you! (8:43am)

10:26 - House vacuumed, beds made, still need to mop and clean the toilets. Jeez, am I ever tired. Think I'll take a little break and watch Little Einsteins with Baby Girl.

10:57 - Einsteins over, back to work.

11:37 - Floors mopped, toilets clean! That wasn't so bad! Off to get the Mardi Gras stuff!

1:32 - Back home, got everything we needed and lunch. Baby Girl is in bed napping and I'm on the couch, finished for the day other than some writing. I really think I need to put my daily goals down in writing more often. It really motivated me to get things done!

So, what else do I have going on in my world? I did recently get one of the coolest gifts ever! Two of my friends went to India for a month and since they were practically backpacking their way around the country, I certainly didn't expect them to bring me a present. But they did! The night of the Eros ball, Julia called me to let me know she would be bringing me something. I do love presents, so I was pretty excited. I've never been to India and I had no idea what it could be. How could I have known that they would bring me the most perfect and thoughtful gift possible. YARN! It's a big hank of red wool and it is Beautiful! And mysterious...there's no ball band, no needle recommendations or care instructions. Just the white paper bag from India with the name of the store. I love that they brought it back in that bag! Oh, and to make it even more perfect, it wasn't Julia that bought it, it was Bill, her boyfriend! How cool is it that they both know me well enough to know exactly the perfect thing to bring me! So, now I just have to figure out what it wants to be. Hubby laughed at me when I told him I was waiting for it to talk to me, but I am. Until it does, it will be in my stash tempting me with it's loveliness!

On other knit-news, I've been pretty obsessed with socks lately. I learned how to work them from the toe up, which I love because I don't have to graft at the end, plus, if they're for me, I can try them on as I go to see how they're going to fit. I recently finished some really pretty knee socks that I love! They are made with Paton's Stretch Sock Yarn. Baby Girl likes them too! I think they qualify as tights on her!

I also just finished my Mardi Gras socks to wear on the float this Friday. I used Panda Cotton's Mardi Gras sock yarn. Unfortunately, the yarn has been discontinued, but I've been hunting it down online and building up a stash.

I had so much other stuff I was going to tell you, but I'm exhausted right now, so it's going to have to wait for another time.

5:48 - OK, so I didn't hit publish since I needed to take some pictures. Baby Girl and LBND just got done playing outside, so I had to stick this picture up too! I love little kids with balloons!