Catching up

This has been a very busy and mentally exhausting week for me. I can't really way what the problem has been. It hasn't been just one thing. I remember an old bumper sticker that said,

I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once.

That's about how I feel. When I sit down to blog, my mind is just too tired to even try to be coherent. So, I want to do a catch up post, but I'm not quite sure how to word it so that it doesn't sound like I'm filling out a daily log or weekly report. I guess I'll just jump right in to it.

We'll start with my Saturday Sky:



This was looking off to the West. Behind me was blue skies and sunshine. The day started off cloudless blue, and I was afraid I'd have to post one of those solid blue rectangles again. However, along about 2:00 PM some clouds moved in. We never got any rain, and the clouds quickly moved back out, so I'm lucky to have gotten this picture. I like the way the sun is trying to break through there in that one spot.

This is Tim, Brian, and Brian. They were all promoted last Thursday night--Tim and Brian to two green stripes, and Brian to his purple belt.


We got another new student in the adult class. His name is Brad, and he is a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. I don't know what his rank is. He had a black belt with one gold stripe on it. Sensei let him line up with the black belts, but made him get at the end of the line. I didn't really get to talk to him that much, so I don't know how long he's been training or anything. Sensei said he'd been going all the way to Memphis to train. I don't know why. I guess he wasn't that impressed with the dojo--or dojang they say in Korean--in Greenville. He'd heard about our dojo and decided to give Isshinryu a try. I heard him tell sensei after class that he liked what he'd seen so far. I was paired with him for 3-step kicks, and I noticed that he set up really far back. Isshinryu is a very close in style of fighting, so we set up close to each other. I kept moving in, and he kept moving back. It was quite comical.

Speaking of black belts, Joshua is back from his month long vacation. Barrett and I were talking about that Monday. "It must be nice to be young," Barrett said. "And have no responsibilities and able to do something like that, " I added. Anyway, it was Joshua's first time in the new dojo. I showed him around a bit, and he was really impressed. Sensei has gotten it a bit better organized since I posted the first pictures. I need to take some more. The place is really looking good. Our commercial started airing Wednesday. Hopefully, between that and school starting we'll get a bunch of new students.

Now, on to fiber arts--Not much has been going on in the way of knitting. I am knitting all right, but I frequently have to put said knitting down to remove something from a certain puppy's mouth that doesn't belong in the aforementioned puppy's aforementioned mouth. Still, I have made some progress. The Jaywalker socks are back to where they were before I discovered my error a couple of days ago. I've gotten almost caught up with the monthly dishcloth rows, and have made good progress on the Football-along charity project. I'll post progress pictures soon.

Rylea is making progress as well. She's gotten a lot better about letting me know when she needs to go outside, but she still hasn't grown out of that chewy stage. Still, she's only three months old, and she's very smart. She's already learned to sit for me to put on her leash and take it off again. We don't have a fenced in yard, and we don't live far enough out that I can just let her run loose, but the last couple of days, I've let her off the leash under supervision.

Katie spent some time today showing her how to patrol the yard.

I suppose this could qualify as fine art:

I don't know what it is, but I like 'em. I almost missed out. I've been meaning to take pictures of these, but I never got around to it until today. This was one of the few bunches of blossoms left.

VAJoe.com will be donating $2,000 to military charities. People come to VAJoe and vote for their favorite military charities. They can nominate charities, also. The charities with the most votes and one randomly selected charity share the $2,000. You can vote here.

And finally...see what I have to look forward to? Yippee...

Cute Puppy Picture

Because it's one of those days when I can't think of a thing to say.

Saturday Is For

socks and skies! But first things first. Cody is back from his trip, and he has a tan! I think he grew a foot as well. I almost didn't recognize him.

Now, on to business.

It's time for my weekly Summer of Socks update. I decided that I would do a weekly summary of all my sock knitting activity each Saturday while SOS is going on. Of course, if I finish anything during the week, I'll post about it then, also.

First off, my BBS:

They've gotten a little longer since last week. The leg now measures 10", so I only have 2 1/2" to go before I start the heel. Since they will be my KAL Within A KAL for July, I hope to get some progress on them over then next few weeks. Still, 2 x 2 ribbing in black yarn can get tedious.

The bubble wrap socks:

They are coming along nicely. I've got the first one finished, and am on the gusset decreases of the second sock. These are going really fast.

Finally, the Jaywalker:

Also known as the Fiesta sock--thanks to Sus. I haven't worked too much on it. This is my first official SOS sock. The others I had started previously, but I've seen other knitters who are using previously begun socks for SOS. I don't suppose it matters in my case. I'm a lot slower than many other knitters who are involved. A lot of them have already completed a pair or even two. I haven't finished a sock yet!

Not to sound braggadocious, but I rather like the way this picture turned out. I love that you can see the sunbeams shining down through the higher cloud on the left. Not long after I took this picture, the sky clouded over and it began to rain. It's been overcast since then.

Gratuitous puppy picture:

It seems Rylea would rather eat Katie's food than her own.

Speaking of food, we had a minor tragedy a couple of days ago. B and J's upright freezer went out. That's where I was storing all my snakes' food. Now my little bitty freezer on top of my refrigerator is stuffed with rats and mice. Most of my snakes don't eat but once every two weeks, so it'll be a while before I buy any more frozen pizzas.

Friday

I finally received my watermelon yarn! Woo Hoo! It is destined to be knit into a pair of leisure socks for a soldier. I'll be casting it on soon, and will keep you updated on its progress.

Stashalong will be starting the July KAL within a KAL on the first. For this month, the goal is to complete gift or charity knitting. I've chosen for mine my Big Black Socks. This is as far as I've gotten. Yes, this is still the first sock, but come Sunday, they will be my priority.

When I got home this afternoon, I gave my feet a treat they haven't had in years--a mini-pedicure. I don't have any nail polish, but my feet surely enjoyed soaking in the warm bath. They think we need to do this more often.

Finally, an attempt at a puppy picture.

I'm afraid this is about the best I can do. She is seldom still, except when she is asleep. She is growing like a weed, and I think she's doubled in weight since I've had her.

I think I waited a little too late in the evening to post this. I'll go to bed now, and hopefully will be more coherent tomorrow.

Goodnight
*
*

Tuesday

All day long it has felt like a Wednesday to me. I almost forgot to go to karate.

We had a visitor in class tonight. He was visiting a class to decide if he wanted to join. You know what that means. That means sensei worked the bajeebers out of us. We went through the basics, then some basic drills, then we took a water break. I pointed out to sensei that he'd worked us so hard that even my glasses were sweating. After break, we came back onto the floor and did kata--up through wansu. (I did the rest of my kata after class.) I led the class through kata while sensei was working with the two white belts. After that, we did some simple self defense drills and then some bag work. It was a good, hard workout. If we did that every class, I'd be in great shape, and might even lose a bit of weight.

A quick bit of good news--my soldier sock leg only has to be 12.5 inches, not the 14 I'd originally thought.

They call these day lilies, supposedly because each bloom only lasts one day. They open as the sun comes up, and die as the sun sets. I caught this one just as it was beginning to wilt.

The puppy finally has a name: Rylea--pronounced like Riley. It seems to fit, but until it is written onto her vet record, it still isn't set in stone.

Miscellaneous Stuff

This new puppy is running me ragged! How in the world can any living thing have so much energy???? I wish I started the day with what she has left over. Whew!! But then, it's been 9 years since I've had a puppy in the house. She still doesn't have a name, though Maggie and Emmie are both being considered. Neither seems quite right, though.

Last week when I took her to the vet, he said to her, "You don't know it, but your life just got a whole lot better!" She's driving me nuts, but she's such a sweetie pie.

The skies here have been absolutely fantabulous lately. This was the scene when I walked the puppy this evening.

Unfortunately for you, my camera just doesn't capture the intensity and variety of the colors that were really there.

This yarn works a whole lot better for my Jaywalkers:

The first bubble wrap sock is finished and the second has been cast on. It looks like I might actually finish a pair of socks for a change!

Karate...I've been going to class, though I missed a few due to being sick. There just isn't much to talk about. I did start teaching Sunsu to Josh tonight in Black belt class. We've mostly been working on finding new ways to use our basics. That's our homework for the week. To come up with a practical self defense application from our basics.

I'd better get to thinking...

Good News and Better News

You know how you wake up some days and think, "boy I really don't want to go to work today?" (Not you Buck.) Well, today I was thinking just that. I got up and got ready, but when I got to the plant, the security guard was turning everybody back. "No work today," he said. "No production."

Yesterday during the flooding, the water had gotten into the air compressor. That's why they sent us home early. Apparently, the compressor is still messed up. Most of our machines run of pneumatic pressure, so they can't run them until the compressor is fixed. SOOOO, I got a free day off.

Cody is leaving Friday to go on the youth trip with the church. We went into town this afternoon to buy him a new swimsuit, since he's outgrown his old one. On the way, we ran into Joshua (from the dojo) and his girlfriend Megan with a couple of boxes full of puppies, and some kittens. Megan said they were from the animal shelter, and were scheduled to be killed tomorrow, so she was trying to find homes for them.

How could I resist?

She is tiny. They don't know her exact age, but the vet is guessing about 6 to 7 weeks. So counting backwards, I'm going to appoint May 5 as her birthday. We've no notion of her breeding. Megan said she thought they had some kind of hound in them. She's got good sized feet, but not too huge, so I'm guessing she'll end up being about as big as Katie is.

I asked Megan if they'd had their shots yet, and she said no, so we went straight to the vet before going home. The last two puppies I've brought home had died of parvo, and I want this one to have the best chance she can. I told Dr. A how we'd gotten her--a lady in the Wal-mart parking lot, I said--and he replied, "My guess is that would be Megan." Yep. He said that she used to work for them, and she is a good kid. He also said that she is going to veterinary school, and she will do well if she can keep from taking all the animals home with her. Yep, that's Megan all right!

Katie checked out the new puppy, and has declared her part of the family. She's shown no sign of jealousy, but then Katie should be used to this by now. She's outlasted three (now four) puppies, and about 5 kittens.

She doesn't have a name yet, but I'm open to suggestions.