Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a great holiday. We're heading out this morning to my parents' house in South Carolina. It's about an eight-hour drive, so I hope to show some FOs upon my return. I only have about 15 row left on my second Jaywalker sock and I've started a Jaywalker (chevron) scarf, too. Maybe I'll finally get my tweedy vest finished!

I'm thankful to have a warm house to come home to everyday, two kids who make me laugh with their crazy dancing, a job that's pretty secure, and a husband who is always on top of things. Lots of people in town are losing their jobs shortly after Christmas because one of our main employers has decided to move out of state. Things are not good here for many people right now. One man who's losing his job has a six-year-old little girl who has been diagnosed with a tumor on her brain stem. My prayers go out to them. Please send your good thoughts along, too...

Go Bucks!

We had a big Ohio State vs. Michigan party yesterday. One of our friends always gets a big screen tv to watch the game. It's a whole weekend of festivities because today we all get back together to watch the NASCAR race. Dumb me, I always forget to bring the camera. I'm still not the greatest at blogging. Even though I'm not crazy about watching sports on tv, I was very pleased to get a lot done on my 2nd Jaywalker sock. I finished the cuff, turned the heel, and started the gusset. Only 55 more rows to go until I start the toe. The 2nd sock always seems to go faster anyway. I don't know why that is.


In other news, I saw this on Dana Huff's blog and had to try it out. It's a check your blog's reading level website. I always feel like I have nothing to say on my blog. I'm not a big talker in real life and it carries over to this blog. I'm also hesitant to say much about school here just in case a parent/my principal or superintendent should happen to see it. So I was really surprised to find...















We're celebrating Christmas next weekend with my family in South Carolina. I haven't seen them since September. We'll be having Thanksgiving/Christmas. So I'm skipping the NASCAR party and I'm off for a day of shopping....

I don't mind, even though I have a ton of papers to grade. I hope to get caught up over Thanksgiving break. However, I kind of would rather not have a holiday right now. Both of my classes are in the middle of books that they almost all like--To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Outsiders." Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorites and I knew my General English kids would love "The Outsiders." One boy, who REALLY doesn't like English, came into class Friday and said, "I love this book." That made me very happy.

I'm really glad I made the switch from 11th grade British Lit last year to 10th grade American Lit this year. Although I have the OGT, our standardized graduation test, to worry about, everything else is great!

The end of getting ANYTHING done...

I have finally caught the Ravelry bug. I got all my projects put on, have joined groups, made friends, and NOW have become part of the obsession called the Ravelry Games forum. I played games before I went to bed last night and I played this morning before work and I'm still playing!! AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH. I have kids who need attention. I have lots and lots of papers to grade. I have a house to clean up. Help! I already need a 12-step program for this.

Happy Halloween

It's finally here. My favorite holiday. I love Halloween and I love autumn. I love watching the leaves fall from the trees (not raking them up, though). I love hearing the leaves crunch under my feet. I love listening to cold rain hit the roof while I'm warm and cozy in the house. I love having cool air but warm sunshine. I love the colors of orange, brown, gold, and rust. I love playing outside and coming in to have warm apple cider. I love caramel apples. I love pumpkins. I love passing treats out to kids.

Craft Pirate had a Halloween meme on her blog and I'm borrowing it from her.

1. Do you believe in ghosts? I'd like to say yes, but I just don't.

2. Have you ever seen a ghost? No. I've experienced deja vu, but I've never experienced any paranormal activity.

3. Have you ever experienced something that is best described by the word "paranormal"? see #2

4. Do you watch any ghost or haunting themed shows? I am a sucker for anything "haunted," "scariest," "ghost," etc. My DVR is set to record every episode of Ghost Hunters. I have always been interested in ghost stories. I've watched all the Scariest Places on Earth, Celebrity Fear (or whatever that show was where the participants wore cameras pointed up to their faces). I don't even know the names of all the shows.

5. If so, do you sometimes sleep with the lights on or wake up your partner because the show scared you a whole lot and you can't sleep and don't want to be awake alone? I haven't ever been THAT scared. However, after reading some scary books or watching some scary movies, I won't go outside with the dog at night or go into the basement.

6. Have you ever been to a supposedly haunted place? If so, did you experience anything spooky? I've been to houses that have been rumored to be haunted. Famous places I've been are Athens, Ohio, where I went to college at Ohio University. See the link for more about that. My husband and I went to San Francisco for our honeymoon and I insisted we see the Winchester Mystery House. I've also been to the Mansfield Reformatory (see Summer 2007 posts). I experienced nothing. Maybe if I went at night, though, it would be different.

7. How much do you love Halloween? see the top of the post!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Return to Knitting Group

I'm back with my knitting group finally. I haven't seen Hilde or Becky since we went to The Yarn Loft in Somerset back in July. It's been over 3 months. That seems like forever! Here they are knitting their dog sweaters. Too bad Molly couldn't make it tonight. We had a lot of catching up to do.

I was able to get quite a bit done on my Jaywalker sock. I'm ready to start the heel flap. I know, I know. I started it like a week ago. I can only dream of knitting socks like Wendy. That'll never happen!

These other two pictures are the two G's at Cub Scouts last night. We had our Halloween costume party pack meeting. There were some really cute costumes. One boy made his own Frankenstein costume. My boys are Emile from Ratatouille and a crazy Buckeye Fan. Can't wait for Beggar's Night tomorrow!!

Back in the swing

I've started knitting again. I'm working on a pair of Jaywalker socks. I couldn't decide which picture looked better-with or without the flash-so I used both. I love this pattern and started a pair of socks about a year ago, but after I turned the heel and tried them on, they were way too small. I couldn't even get them over my heel. I am definitely not a swatcher. I took it apart and didn't try again. Until now. I sorta remember how many I had cast on last time and I added a few more stitches. I keep trying it on after every couple of rows. So far so good.
















On Monday night we had a cookout at MVSR in place of our regular Cub Scout meeting. The kids got to roast their own hot dogs and marshmallows. We had a potluck dinner. In the first picture below, G2 is roasting his hot dog. In the second, G1 is the one in the middle playing games. The third picture is all three of us on the hayride.

A New Scout

This is G2 on his first night of Cub Scouts. We've been waiting for this for a long time after watching G1 and all of his Scout activities. G2 was so excited about this. At the meeting the boys got to decorate Halloween treat bags and play a cool game of unwinding themselves from each other. G2 had lots of fun and gave it a big thumbs up! Plus, he looks really cute in his uniform.