I'm Really Sad

That's what Tristram says when he strikes this pose. By "sad," though, he mainly seems to mean bored. In the last couple of weeks, he's dropped that one; now the emotion of choice that he's exploring is fear. He loves to pretend to be scared of things, and in the last few days has proclaimed everything from a squirrel to our refrigerator to be a "really scary monster."

Today is an exciting day for me--I get to start wearing contacts instead of glasses again! My lenses got stolen in the theft on the move out here, and I couldn't get an optometry appointment till today. So I will go get air puffed in my eyes and so forth, and come out with a shiny new prescription and corrective lenses that can't be grabbed off my face by grubby toddler hands, won't bounce around in that infuriating manner if I try to run, don't have wire frames that try to freeze my ears when I go outside, and don't get blurred up with eyebrow sweat. In short, life will be more comfortable and convenient, and it might even be the tipping point to get me to start working out again (see the no bouncing vision and no eyebrow-sweat-obscured vision, above).

My other new obsession is that I want a house. Namely, this one. 4-bedroom split-level ranch on 10 acres, close to work, just gorgeous and an unbelievable deal. However good of a deal it may be, though, it's just not something we can afford at the moment. It seems like the steal of a lifetime ($289,000), and like someplace we could actually be happy living for as long as I can foresee--I mean, it achieves Jonathan's goal of no visible neighbors in one fell swoop and puts me close to work, while also giving Tristram both all the woods he could want to play in and membership in one of the best school districts in the Midwest. But alas. I'm trying to take stumbling on this one as a good sign that, when we are ready to buy (i.e., have two incomes), we will be able to find other great deals around here. But I suspect I may still be sighing over this one in twenty years. Oh, and did I mention the built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcases?

In the Fort

Tristram LOVES this fort. Most every night, as soon as I get home, he demands that I play in his fort with him. It's been up so long that it's going through a bit of a lull at the moment, and we might put it away today, but if we do he's guaranteed to be panting to get his fort out again in two or three days.

He has several new feats. He can count to twelve, though he usually chooses not to. He also can recite the alphabet up through F, though he then gets frustrated and shouts, "This is not a really great song!" He also is much closer to making friends with the cats--at least, he and Belial clearly both want to be friends with each other. Sadly, they have largely incompatible ideas of how that is to be accomplished.

I have getting lots of work done, and it is fun to be doing actual work. I finished my certification for one more small application, and am waiting on test results for another small certification. But it is so, so nice to be surrounded by smart, competent, interesting people, and eat good food, and be on a beautiful campus. I'm learning some of the frustrating things about writing based on developers' notes. They vary widely in their completeness and clarity. But then, if they could do their own writing more reliably I probably wouldn't have a job, and so far they are all happy to explain if you call and ask a question. Oh, and how cool is this: We all got a little box of handmade chocolates from a local artisan for Valentine's Day!

At home, I have been knitting a lot. I finished the whole back of my jacket, and am mostly done with one side of the front. That leaves the more complicated side of the front (with the pattern on it) and the sleeves, but big huge yarn is really fun to knit with, because it goes so fast that you feel like you're a superhero of knitting. Plus it's easier not to mess up because you can see every stitch so much more clearly. Pictures, and a design poll, to follow.

Pictures also to follow of my new hair color, which is conceptually based on the patina that develops on old copper. And more pictures of the embroidered vest I finally finished, only to discover that 1) it is more beautiful than I had hoped and 2) it doesn't fit AT ALL. I need to find either someone who wears a size 4 or smaller or a friendly child to give it to.

Birthday Party Crasher

Tristram did love having so many kids, with so many birthdays, close at hand in Tustin. He got alarmingly good at heading straight for a cake and grabbing a handful of frosting before anyone realized it. Fortunately since those kids' parents, by definition, also had kids, they were pretty understanding. On this particular occasion, he was invited to come have a cupcake. I believe that was also on Halloween.

We have finally finished off this year's round of birthday cakes. Or, as Tristram calls them, "ice cream with cake on it." He will have to wait almost eleven long months to get another.

I went shopping! I got authorization from insurance to spend a reasonable amount to replace my stolen wardrobe, so I went with a couple of friends from work. We hit a good sale at one resale store, and the other was Goodwill (which is fantastic in Madison, speaking of gazelles), so I got basically all I could carry and still only spent half the money. For the other half, I got some stuff from my cousin April's Etsy shop, landof1000dresses. Everyone should know that store--she has the most amazing clothes. And, while vintage is always pricey, she charges much more reasonable rates than any other online seller of same-era clothes. Plus the clothes are really high-quality--none of them are "surprise! it's too worn to wear" and none are damaged. I now own the softest shirt I've ever had.

I have also been sewing, now that I have my table & machine set up. It's a really nice machine. It even has a needle threader and to raise the needle to its highest position, all you have to do is press a button. It is much more difficult than I ever realized, though, to sew a lining in smoothly! I think some judicious ironing will help, but still, this first vest is likely to come off the machine looking pretty sloppy. Hopefully, even if my seams are not as smooth as I'd like, I'll at least get the darts in the lining & the facing fabric to line up reasonably well. And now to my pre-work knitting.