Monday, December 31, 2007

happiness of the year

(photo by Max Fisher, 2007 !!!)

I was lying down with Emma for bed-time a couple of nights ago. She was nuzzling and I was kissing her forehead when I asked her:

Me: Did you have a nice day today, Em?

Emma: -With you I did, mami.

(not paraphrasing, i promise)

<<<<<SPEECHLESS, SILENT, AND MOST JOYFUL FLOOD OF INCREDIBLE LOVE INSIDE ME>>>>>>

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Unberable Lightness of [E-]Being...

I keep wondering what this space is about (kinda like i did when I read Kundera's book, for which I titled this post, at a pretty young age, i guess around 15. thankfully, i read it again. i just love MK. but my favorite is El libro de los amores ridiculos or Laughable Loves - I put it in Spanish because it sounds so much prettier. No offense English speakers, such is the case with other words in English or even French). Literally, from Spanish to English, it's The Book of Ridiculous Love. See? Isn't that nicer? I know, I'm such a nerd and possibly even a bad translator, LMAO).

Anyway, sorry, but I wanted to let those who didn't know Kundera, hopefully, be happily enlightened. I love him!

I began this blog with the thought of emptying my mind of my thoughts. Yes, that way at least I'd leave my brain with different ones.

But at some point, right before my journey into blog-world, someone made me paranoid. Justifiably so, I keep thinking, for at least two reasons in my head. Or at least, it's had me oscillate between that and the fact that who the hell cares what I write or don't write.

But then the thought of my mother finding my innermost parenting thoughts just blows my mind with utter laziness to deal with the consequences. Only because I assume, from past experience that is, that she and I not always -or rather almost never- can communicate our feelings and opinions in a civilized manner at best. And at worst, the outcome will be hurting each other's feelings -even if involuntarily. This would absolutely kill me because that would never ever be my intention, and that's why we don't have parenting discussions often. To give us credit where it's due (and not to toot our own horn, lol), we have managed to stop the conversation before it gets where we clearly will differ (sometimes more gracefully than others, but wth -this is still progress considering our history).

The other paranoid reason I had to not pour out such innermost feelings and thoughts is a prospective employer. Not because I'd be afraid of say, not being hired (well, certainly it would have a percentage in the paranoia, who would I be kidding), but the plain principle of my employer knowing me so well (and most likely not a depth I'd like to share of myself in a relationship with such entity, I don't think) is the main reason I'd be hesitant for them to see. But I'm not as paranoically (is that a word? i take it it's not by the red line the SC'er just made. oh well, i tried) affected by this one as I am with the former one, probably because most of my philosophical mind journeys involve mostly my children and myself growing together.

And lastly, but ever so freaky, are well, the e-freaks. Someone just plain getting off on my kids in a fucked up way. That would truly freak me out. Hmm, denial might be a good venue for this one right about NOW.

I wonder how this post itself will manifest to my [not] being or [not] e-being.

Whew, just had to ramble this off my chest.

But to leave this post with a warmer thought :P, I am sooooooooooooo excited my Dad will be coming to visit this Saturday. Oh how I love him. I am sure it's not an easy task as my parent, but holy shit, he manages to keep his cool when I do approach my parental/existential and newly-adapted philosophies. Hell, he'll listen with a complete open mind AND heart. We also manage to talk about those other possible nasty feelings so that they do not materialize. He truly inspires me to be the parent I want to be.

OMG so here we go - not that my mother isn't/wasn't the best parent I could have had. She completely is, we just go about it in a more belligerent way. That's all. :)

Ok, but what was the ending supposed to be? LMAO. Yes, can't wait to finish cleaning up 7 years of shit (at least) for this upcoming lovely Saturday night.

(whomever it is that happens to read this: wow. thanks for your time! :) )




Friday, October 05, 2007

crayon cupcakes

Hi! (i always wonder who it is i greet, lmao. one of my 16 personalities, probably!?)

Remember the neat-o idea for those little pieces of crayon one finds everywhere? (especially at your heel, where they hurt so much? :P) This is the cool site where I found the idea, and we tried it out! :)

Here they are on their way to become a different kind of crayon! I am not sure why i wanted to post about this, i think it's that i really enjoyed looking at the colors. Lots of colors! Crayons and cup thingies together.





And find them here after their transformation. Ok, so not great, but it was a good start! More crayons and probably the fat kind would be better, I think. Maybe baked at different intervals? Also, they mixed in a funny way.







Some colors went to the bottom, period. so they look like half-dipped reese's cups :P


E&M were so fun about them. BTW they had a great time peeling the pieces and putting them in the cups! Then they pretended to eat them, and Emma made shapes and she finally called it a caterpillar and at some other final point, train track. (ok, those are the 2 last ones that i remembered!)

I think they'd work fine for party favors, I'm just not quite there yet! :P

Sunday, September 30, 2007

my freecycle find!



Holy cow! I know I'm insane, but what's new. I received this via our -small but growing -Freecycle in my town. Some kind person was getting rid of 'old sewing machine.' I contacted her and when we finally met up, she showed me the thing and I fell in love. yup, oldie but goody! then she told me how she sewed all kinds of stuff on it, and it was well kept (and now that I've opened and seen its 'inside' she wasn't exaggerating!) "She's dusty,and a good oilin' should do her good!' she said.






Then she says, oh, and my grandma kept this too. And shows me the intact manual (in fact 2 copies of them, one in excellent condition, the other one dirty, lol) and the RECEIPT! Note the date (last 5 numbers)!! :D




Oh did I mention I'm in love???? But dude, most incredible is how easy the manual is!!!! I think for the first time I'll really know what I'm sorta doing on the machine, maybe?! Everything is explained simply and with awesome diagrams!!! also coo, the cabinet where it hides down and closes and looks like a little table. Door with a "basket" attached to the door, I'm hello? AVOCADO/MINT green (and now that it's cleaner -thx bacout- you can really see it much better!) I'm oiling it myself!! And will try getting a couple of parts that it looks like Sears might still be the ones to supply, I' hoping! a little light bulb, and a couple of belts. the rubber is pretty dry and old and funky) Those cool diagrams really are screaming at me! :) Wheeeew I'm excited...

I told Bill it reminded me, somewhat, of printmaking. Equipment, process and the edition or mono-type...!


Oh and what a pedal! I mean, talk about pedal to the metal.. or how does that one go?

I hope you enjoy looking :P now, hopefully, I get to sew (read play) on it one of these days! :)


Saturday, September 22, 2007

My first pair of longies!

Weeeeee! They are DONE! Sorry Brandy, I was going for the stripes, but the orange came out waaaayyyy different than the previous so I stuck to green! :P

Soooo, I 'fixed' the gaps from the kitchener part, but hey, I still can't believe I managed to do it! There are still little gaps [barely noticeable] from the short rows. And, I went one more round and didn't notice until I bound off on the cuffs. Oh well! I am sooo happy I actually finished them.



And here is the proud model! Such a sweet guy! He kept trying to show them off and posing. Then, daddy put him in another set of pants and he came to me and asked to wear the knitted ones again.

Man, I never knew how amazing that would feel. Sorry, mom, for all the times I didn't like what you made.

Now, I am off to make a few hats and mittens for X-mas gifts. Well, a couple of those are not for such. One is for a 'welcome' to a different land gift and the other is another type of 'welcome' (to the world). I am excited, but I hope I manage one of them in time, b/c the other one has been there a while now and I'm not done yet. Wow, lots of code, no matter. *I* know what I mean, LMAO!

The pattern was the Aubrey Doodle Pants - I found it great! The wool was Knit Picks Bare, hand-dyed with Kool Aid (orange and lime). Lots of fun!

I can't say enough about that yarn. It is sooooo soft and it's not even Merino and such a nice neutral bone color (that I left some when I dyed it). Max has not complained at all about it being scratchy or anything. And so easy to knit. (Update> the sweet kid asks for them as the 'pants you makes mami. wear zose' -can you hear my heart shattering?!)

Anyway, enough rambling. Just wanted to share I'm glad I'm done! :) Thanks for looking/reading whoever does, lol!

Monday, September 17, 2007

feliz cumple, abuela

Abuela... donde quiera que estes te mando muchos besos y abrazos. Pero de seguro el abuelo te esta sirviendo tu tequilita y uno para el y brindaran por ti. Sabe cuanto te quiero y extrano. Y cuanto hubiese querido que conocieras a mis hijos.

Te adoro. i.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

what's on your needles?

A friend posted on one of my groups asking about what we were all knitting...

- pair of shorties for Max, though i'm not sure what yarn i'll finish them with, as I only dyed one skein in my most recent kool-aid adventure! :P


i know, i'm a dumbass. we'll see how long i can get them or they shall remain a long cuffed soaker, rofl! or i might delve into dyeing a solid green and a solid orange skein and finish them up with stripes of both... wdyat?

- a pair of shorties/skirt/hat & mitts/one of these for my little 14 mo niece Natalia who might come visit and meet her cousins! :D -but not yet begun and I better get on it!

and that's it!!! :P it still takes me FOREVER to complete one thing! though i did finish the second mitten of Emma's, lol. i thought i was going to acquire the second sock syndrome :P

the other thing i want to start NOW is another pair of twinkle toes for emma that actually WILL fit her this time, lol. i got a $2 ball of some fuzzy veeery soft chenilly 'no boundaries' teal skein that i think she'll love! (or i will, since they won't be PINK? :P)

Friday, June 22, 2007

emma's summer mittens

Soooo.... this is the wool that was slated for Emma's hat (an actual blog post below or in the archives?!), which never happened b/c instead i decided to knit the skirt. Well, Emma keeps asking for mittens (yes, in Georgia and in June!!!!), so here's the first installment and no hat! :)
She was very happy with it!

But then got really, really shy!



The wool is truly beautiful. And it was part of a mystery bag I got from Marilyn, whom I know through WSG. Great stuff, thanks Marilyn! The pattern was also great and pretty easy. I realized if I just quickly skim the pattern but not really get into it enough to get scared, and follow word by word [literally! :P] I'm able to follow it and not be so scared to not even want to try it! So now I know what my nephew and niece are getting for Christmas!!! :D

Saturday, June 16, 2007

The model with skirt


Here she is!







Can you say GRIN?!

















This reminds me of the snake in the Little Prince, when it eats the elephant! :P

(Max taking a peek!)
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emma's *finished* skirt! :)

Here it is completed, Ladies & Gentlemen! (probably mostly ladies, lol)

f i n a l l y ! ! ! !
i cannot believe it's done (except now, i wanna put some grass and stars too. even though I suck at stitching/embroidering quite obviously, i guess i'll still have fun trying, lol!)

I'm sooooo happy I completed this. It takes me forever to complete things. I'm one of those people who get so excited and could start ten zillion things and finish a few, if any. I know, it's pretty horrible. I don't like that part of myself a whole lot, but anyway...

Here's a detail of the ribbing, which ended up being a casing for the elastic I put in. I used O'wool, in pumpkin (oh but I think I already said that)...



So, I crocheted the flower.


















I delved into the world of I-cord for the first time and I actually managed to attach it! :P Though not according to the instructions in knittinghelp as I couldn't quickly figure them out, so I got impatient. Yes, that's how I am, too!








So here it is FINISHED!!!!

:D








But the greatest part of it all is how much Emma liked it!!! Asked if she could put it on now?! And danced around and giggled. So sweet. (Because I can't figure out how to paste the pictures I thought I had included with these, the model will be the next post!)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

the survivors

Last year, we decided we'd have a wild flower garden. And we did. Later we decided we would not.

These are the several stubborn ones that won't go away, in spite of droughts, being stepped on, and grass attempted on top of them.... black-eyed susans are they? i don't care, I LOVE THEM!!!!
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Friday, June 08, 2007

emma's skirt

i am so excited about this! emma is all about skirts and dresses lately. so i decided instead of making my first pair of longies, I'd make her a skirt! I found the perfect (read easy!) pattern for it! I was going to use a contrast color, but instead i opted to try 'embroidering' (I only quote it because we'll see if i can even call it such, LOL!) It's been the first time I got to use Addi needles vs. Boye. WOW! I was really skeptical of there being a difference. Well, needless (oh! pun!) to say, I AM AMAZED! so much smoother, lighter, easier, gliding pleasure! I used o'wool in pumpkin and the flower is peace fleece, with needles size 8 (16" and 24")




the little flower, i made up! it's so funny. i know how to do the crochet stitches, as my grandma taught me. but i have no clue as to what they are or anything else. i just do them! :P



so i winged it. i think (without blocking it) it looks more like a spiral as opposed to a circle, I DON'T CARE! rofl! no, but really, i'm not sure if i joined it wrong or something else. i'm sure the ladies at WSG would know in an instant. it still managed to come out 'even'. whatever stitches i chose (from what i know), I tried to keep repeating evenly, so i think that's what save it. lmao.

i'm also learning i-cord, and we'll see if it can be used to embellish the skirt. :)

that's it! :P

off to to get the kids and to go to stupid walmart. though i'm excited. i'm getting a little kiddie pool for them. i had gotten an inflatable about a week ago...long story short, it's out! one week of use! soooo, i'm getting a little one that's made of hard plastic and there is no need to blow up (yes, you read that right. lol)

yay!



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bill's hat

i took my sweet time with billy's hat! well, as with anything. :P

it's probably more to remind myself of what i used (as much as I will!) to make it, but I'm pretty happy with it (considering i'm a very novice knitter).


It's a hat from one of the Yarn Girls' book. As soon as I find the pattern again, I could post which exactly. :P
I used Treliske Organic Wool and double-stranded it. I think I used size 8 needles. I finished it a while back, so God knows what I might truly remember!

The stripes are made with Peace Fleece (i had a few of those little 1.5 oz skeins) and a little left over Father's Grey...

Bill liked it a lot. Except... it's SUMMER, rofl!
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summer fun

Weee it's the summer, lol, and with that comes water. yayyy! it is a damn shame we have such a drought. it rained half a day, and things got sooo pretty and green. max helped a little with the flowers before that, though! emma had a blast making a painting for her abuela (or Grandma Morales, as she calls her if she's speaking English! lol)




Sunday, March 25, 2007

We had lots of fun in the water today! Yeah, don't mind the "pool"! :P But there's nothing better than seeing them laugh, hug & kiss each other. Wow.


A kiss and a... hug!

Weeeeeeeee!
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Saturday, March 10, 2007

L'artiste!

Emma drew today (well, everyday!) Here are some of the highlights!

(as titled by her!)


Emmaaaaa!



El sol, Mami!!




Max

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Mexico Day at the Preschool

Here's my Emma on the day her preschool talked about Mexico during their international week (which I'll admit I was impressed they'd even have one!)

But how about these people, oh oops, no offense anyone with what i'm about to say. But they had one of their missionaries give the talk on Mexico. Ummmm hellooooo??? Wouldn't you rather hear it from a MEXICAN? Ok, sorry about the ranty tangent!

Oh yes, please don't mind the wall and door Art displayed -they both went at it with sharpies. hmmm, whose fault is that!? LOL

Funny thing, I, actually and secretely, really like it there (and on the rest of the walls they've hit with crayons or the like, ROFL! But I swear I don't encourage it! There is ALWAYS paper available! :D
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mi abuelo

feliz cumpleanos abuelo! ya se que es manana. pero si no te digo ahorita, a la mejor se me olvida.

sabe cuanto te adora y extrana tu nieta. pero sabe tambien que yo se que me ves a mi y a mis ninos crecer.


(and yes, happy birthday to you too, Allyson!)

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Emma's future hat

Weeeee! My second kool-aid dyeing job! Emma is so excited about this one! She keeps saying "...this one is NOT cousin Sam's hat! She just saw me finish a hat for him, the poor deprived child! :)

So off I go to venture into knitting in the round with circular needles.

Wow, so I'll just go ahead and jump into this blogging thing! Posted by Picasa