Fall Festival

There were two fall festivals to attend yesterday. One at Hannah's school and one at Simon's preschool. So..we headed to Hannah's first and there was a little petting zoo.

Hannah saw a bunch of her friends and had a nice time seeing the animals too!
There was popcorn and lollipops to be had as well as a hug from Dad after they got their glow in the dark necklaces.
A little fishing in the fish pond and we were ready to head out to the next festival........except...some idiot boxed us in with their van! There was no way on God's green earth we were getting out. I even had the Principal made an announcement but they never came out. Thankfully, the truck in front of us came out after about 10 minutes and we were able to get out!
At the preschool, there were a lot of different activities like face painting, temporary tatoos, gummy fangs....
and sunglasses from the fish pond!
It was a good evening had by all!

On the knitting front, I have a recipient for the shawl. A friend lost her Mother unexpectedly last week so...I guess there was a reason I started it over the weekend.

Off the Vine

David & I went to the Hospice of the Valley, Off the Vine Event last night. It was held outside at the Royal Palms Hotel.

You walked past this really pretty pool & fountain before you stepped down into a sunken courtyard where they had different food stations and a whole lot of wine to taste.

Here is a photo of the backdrop of the event in the courtyard.
And then....I saw these 3 ladies with the $160+ knitted bags that I mentioned about a year ago. We ended up sitting next to them for a few minutes and I asked if I could take a photo of the bags for my blog. Obviously, they said yes.
We were talking and David told them I knit and knit similar bags....one of them suggested I should start carrying my own bags and selling them but.....I have in the past, and when someone asks the price, they are really scared off! However, there were 5 ladies (all friends) who were carrying these bags last night. I guess it is a society thing.
After the dinner snacks there was a live auction of wine and some trips inside the Estrella Room.
And finally, here is a photo of David & I with me wearing a jacket David bought for my birthday about 3 years ago. He is happy that he was able to buy me a piece of clothing that I actually like to wear and do so pretty often! Thanks Honey!

And here is my progress on my Clapotis. I am about 300 yards into it. I got about 15 rows knitted in the car on the way to the Royal Palms last night. I am going to have to supplement the colors I have with a lighter color of turquoise to get about 1000 yards of yarn to finish this prayer shawl. You know me, I rarely keep anything I knit....it is the process which relaxes me and I need an outlet for my knitting because I can't keep it all!

Laser Printers

I have been drooling over a laser printer for quite some time.  In my head, they are quite expensive and maybe not a needed business expense.  So….I am a big lover of Slick Deals and they showed a color Laser Printer for $200 after rebates ($599 regular).  I thought, this is what I have been waiting for so I ordered it last Thursday and it arrived on Friday.  

Hmmm….the page is full of magenta toner.  I call tech support and the guy tells me I need a new toner and a new drum.  Great, it arrives on Tuesday.  Open the bag of the toner, and it is full of magenta powder.  I call tech support again and they said, no, the toner is not supposed to be all over the bag, we’ll send you another one.  

By this time, I tell the guy, this is not boding well for a $600 printer if the darned thing doesn’t work.  I get the new toner on Wed. and put it in…..get a FATAL ERROR, needs service call.

I call tech support again and the guy tells me the printer has a faulty fuse which messes up the print quality and I need to return it.  Office Max came and picked it up today.  Sometimes there are just omens telling me I did not need such a fancy laser printer.

By this time I had talked to my sister who told me she had bought a black laser printer for $119 with a $30 off rebate at Staples.  Needless to say, I went to Staples and bought the $119 one with an additional $10 discount so including the rebate, it will be $79.  

So…off I go and my hubby can’t figure out why I need ANOTHER printer because I bought a fancy all in one to upgrade from the last one earlier this year.  Today, he is in my office and I print something on the laser printer and it becomes crystal clear.

On top of that, I also scanned in my signature into the computer and have been printing it directly onto a bunch of work documents that required a signature.  Why the heck didn’t I think of that last week…about Wednesday????????  Better late than never but…still, it would have saved so much time.  Oh well, I guess I will make up for it with the new laser printer!

On the knitting front, I am in the straight part of the Clapotis.  It is now turquoise for the middle section and will be green again on the decrease.  I’ll take a photo tomorrow.

We are off to a Hospice of the Valley Wine tasting tonight in Scottsdale.

And, for anyone with a Costco Membership, will you pick me up a 2006 Knitting Pattern A Day calendar?  I will pay you for it!  My sister, Naomi, told me that they  have them for $7.99 (regular retail $13.99).  Email me (sbridger3 at cox dot net) if you are part of my SnB and can pick up one for me!!!! (Because if I have to pay shipping then I haven’t saved anything because that calendar is HEAVY!)  Thanks!

YUMA

Dang was it a long day! I left the house at 6 am and got home 9:15 pm. I tell you, the drive back was LONG. I was tempted to stop and stay overnight somewhere....but, other than Gila Bend, there is nothing.

Look at how gorgeous the sky looked about 10 minutes after I left the house. Sorry for the blurry photo but, what are you going to do when driving? It is just point & shoot! The colors were gorgeous!

And then, the weather changed to this.........
And then, there was some idiot in the Jeep Wrangler with some huge item covered in cardboard bungee corded on to the top of the darned car.

Things went pretty well in Yuma. We will see what happens!

We are DONE with Diapers!

Simon is potty trained!

We bit the bullet last night and sent him to bed in underwear.   He has been waking up dry for the last 4-5 days and this morning was no different!

He woke up dry, albeit that it was at 5:20 am and I took him to the bathroom and sent him back to bed.  It was still DARK!!!!  

Anyway, #2 is no longer a problem because he just goes when he has to go.  Of course, he announces in a VERY LOUD voice “I have to go potty!” and starts to run for the bathroom but that is ok!

WAHOOO…no more diapers for us.

I am off on a road trip to Yuma, AZ tomorrow for a job interview/potential client.   I have to give a power point presentation about moi.  What the heck???

Anyways, it is done and ready to go on my jump drive.

So, no posting tomorrow.  Will leave the house at 5:45 am and get back around 8 – 9 pm.

Have a good one. Tonight is a bit of knitting and watching Footballer’s Wives (a UK version of Desperate Housewives) then Desperate Housewives and off to bed!

Saturday Night

Before we went to dinner at Chili's the kids convinced David he needed to push them on the swing together.

Here they are swinging like "2 year old", just a little baby swing.

Here they are swinging a like a 5 year old.

And finally like an 8 year old! See? Kids need Mom's to keep the house together but they need their Dad's to make up crazy games and do all kinds of silly things! At least it works that way in our house.

Then, we went out for dinner at Chili's. Thankfully, we got there before the mad rush around 5:15 pm. The kids were so well behaved....it is tempting us to start going out for dinner more often in the future.

David & I ordered the Presidente margaritas that came in this cool shaker, which you could purchase for $2. We have enough alcohol gear at our house so we declined. They were pretty good and not too badly priced considering the volume you got. A bit light on the tequila but, it is to be expected based on the price.

The Princess with her purse! Nothing in it but some change but....must now carry a purse. Lord help me when puberty hits. My niece, Cwen, in California was at her first Junior High dance with a boy in her computer class...how can she be that old???????
Finally, some knitting content. I have been a bit stressed, hence very little knitting going on in Chez HB. However, this yarn floated to the top of my stash and the Clapotis pattern was tempting me because it is just interesting enough without being totally tough plus. Linda...I am trying to finish that shawl for you but...there is a motivation issue because I have done it so recently. I will try to get it done one of these days.

I am using Cotton Ease on size 10.5 needles. Plus, I don't use stitch markers but instead purl the stitches that are going to be dropped. How do you determine which one to purl on the right side??? Well, when you are purling the wrong side after doing the yo, you knit that stitch on the wrong side and purl it on the right side. It drops just the same as a knit stitch and no stitch markers to deal with or find that many to use on a shawl sized Clapotis!!!

We went out for dinner last night at Chili's.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me!!!

Can you guess what Simon is going to be for Halloween????????

Lately he has been obsessed with pirates....probably since June and we bought him a "hook" at Legoland earlier this year. Now the costume is complete. This is the only shot in which he wasn't looking in the mirror at himself!

And now for something completely different (OMG, I am quoting Monty Python!!!).

"Choose your weapon wisely." A direct quote from my husband when he showed me these sausage on Wednesday night!!!

Mc Griddle Sandwich

I went to McDonald’s to pick up breakfast this morning and ordered a Bacon Egg & Cheese biscuit.

I got home, opened the bag and found a BEC MC GRIDDLE!  Ick! I don’t like syrup with savory things….make me want to puke.  So…..I just ate the insides.  I could have driven back but with gas being almost $3, it just wasn’t worth it.  Besides, I had a hashbrown to make up for the discarded Mc Griddle muffin.  

I used to work at Mc D’s……it shouldn’t be that hard to get the order right….I went inside, didn’t go through the crowded drive through but, of course, I should have checked my order before I left.

Ah well…….better luck next time.

SnB Tuesday

We met at Coffee Rush on Tuesday night. It was the usual crowd....Mary (with her hair down) & Sabudra.

Kelli & Berniece.

Heather's foot in the almost finished 1st sock on two circulars.
Melanie to the bottom of the V on her argyle sweater vest.

The big surprise of the evening????? Those are Pam's (the crocheter of the bunch) hands KNITING!!!! Who knew?????? She is running into the "I am a beginner knitter that knits REALLY REALLY tight problem" but things will loosen up with practice. Welcome to the other side Pam.

Secret Pal Saturday!!!

Look what I got in the mail today!!!!!

A package from my secret pal in Mesa! I gotta tell you, she kicks some butt!

She sent more in this first package than I got all the way around in the last Secret Pal exchange (oh that's right, my last pal went MIA after a couple weeks)....this even came in one of my favorite shades of green!

Here are some photos of the goodies.

Peppermint bath stuff from Cost Plus...the fizzy stuff and other pepperminty bath floaters. MMMM...now if only I could get a bath without one, or both, of the kids jumping in!

Kitchen Cotton for knitting some washcloths plus a pretty one she knit herself, attached to the top of the kitchen cotton with a green bow! She enclosed a cd of "Stitchin Sounds" and jelly belly's. Smart gal...knows they won't melt in my mailbox!

And, knowing my love for all things felted, she included a skein of Noro Kureyon and a pattern for a tiny felted tote that uses only 1 skein!!! I am going to start that this weekend!
Speaking of felted bags, I am sure many of you got the Lion Brand email newsletter with the felted "trick or treat" bag with the most idiotic handles known to man (some piddly ribbons sewn onto the bag after felting..yeah, that's going to hold 10 lbs of candy), but I digress...well, anyway, my sister was hinting that I should knit it for her. Hello Naomi, you can totally do it yourself and I will felt it for you! Good luck and just drop the knitted bag in the mail! :)

David & I took the kids to Fiesta Mall today to run some errands....get David a new watch band for his Asprey watch (no AfriKelli, it isn't fake, just English and old!!!), drop off my earring to get a diamond replaced (who knew they had a lifetime diamond guarantee??) and check out some items for the upcoming holiday/birthday season in late December. My poor hubby gets my birthday and Christmas within 7 days of each other.

We ran our errands I went into Children's Place to check out their clearance stuff. I got a denim skirt & a couple of cute t's for Hannah and a couple of shirts & couple pairs of pull on thick knit cargo pants for Simon (that he can get on and off easy as a potty trained 3 yo). I get to the register and the cargo pants ring up at $0.49!!!! Yes, you read that right! Plus I had a 15% plus another 10% discount so they cost me $0.37!! I bought the only ones they had in 4T for next year too! What a bargain!!!!!

After the mall, we went to Fuddrucker's for lunch. The kids were so well behaved, it was an absolute joy to take them out. This is such a HUGE thing....we have been staying close to home for the last couple of years because it really was not relaxing at all to take Simon out to a restaurant without having to inhale our meal in 10 minutes flat. Oh the joy of having a toddler!

All in all, it has been a good day. Simon even went potty at the mall! Still some accidents but doing really well...if only he would let go of the #2 again....ah, but this too will pass (no pun intended. Ok, maybe a little!).

Simon & Poo Poo

As I am waiting here for my printer to start working faster…..I will relay a good thing that happened at our house this morning.

Simon conquered the wonderful hurdle of going poo poo in the potty!  This is a huge milestone in the whole potty training thing.

He is doing so well.  It has really only been 3 days and only 1 accident.

I did have to laugh this morning because he was walking around the house with his little legs clamped together or laying down on the floor trying not to look like he was in pain…cuz it has been 2 days since the last one.

So, I convinced him maybe he should try……he was a bit skeptical at this idea but gave it a try and kept saying, “I’m done” and get off the potty,  but then getting right back on the potty because he really did not feel well.

Ah, the joys of potty training!  Simon is doing so well…much better than the power struggle dramas we got from his sister!!!  She WOULD NOT DO IT…finally just “ran out of diapers” and she was almost 4!  Little bugger.

Her nose was out of joint this morning because her brother got candy for breakfast.  Hmm…seems she forgot she got to go to McDonald’s, have a happy meal, play and then have ice cream!  Boy did that girl throw a 3-4 hour fit over not going poo poo because I kept her home from daycare and would not let her watch cartoons until she did what she needed to do!

This too will pass.  Thankfully for Simon, peer pressure has won out at daycare and he wants to be like all the other kids!  So much easier on me.  

Changing Hands

Hubby got home relatively early so......I had more than enough time to go to the SnB at Changing Hands. Some of the usual crowd from Coffee Rush was there, Eva, Heather, Pam & Melanie along

With a good group of other knitters...some new to the SnB AZ meetings.


It was a nice to meet some new people and branch out from out to see what everyone was working knitting or crocheting.




And finally, some potty news.....Simon is doing a really good job with the whole potty training thing. I think we did everything wrong with Hannah and I have not really pushed it much with Simon. However, he is in a class at preschool where everyone is potty trained but him and they have this little kid potty's, which are very cool to him, so yesterday, he went at preschool and then wore his Thomas the Train underwear at home and this morning with no accidents.

Let's see how the day goes! Wouldn't you know I just cracked into a new case of diapers.....typical but worth it!

Saturday in Review....

We had a busy Saturday.....David had to work for a few hours at the Oktober Fest in Downtown Tempe so the kids and I went down before it got too busy with all the ASU football fans after the game.

Hannah & Simon both got their faces painted by the nice clown ladies.

Simon got a "scary spider" and Hannah got a pink cat.

Posing with their finished faces. They also took a few turns on the blow up rides but they were quickly getting too hot for the kids to play on them in the 90 degree heat.
So....they cooled off at the water area at the Tempe Town Lake Park. What a difference in Simon from last year...he was fearless this year and kept up with Hannah.
They even took turns hitting each other with the water guns!
Simon reclining under the waterfall. A good morning had by all!
Last night David & I went to the New Times "Best of Phoenix A'fare" down at a place called Bentley Projects in downtown Phoenix. This was a fundraiser to benefit the March of Dimes.

The Bentley Projects is a converted warehouse with an art gallery, bookstore & restaurant. It is very "artsy" for lack of a better word. It was an interesting venue but HOT. The A/C in the place was not made to keep it cool for 1200 people. Plus, there were not enough bathrooms either. Thankfully, we were not around when everyone was really drunk and needed the bathrooms!

Here is David with Jen Burgess before the event really got going. This event has stations with samplings from different restaurant, wine importers and the ubiquitous "Devil's Martini" bar.
Here they are trying to sell a day with some single firemen...and boy were they cute!!!
David & I with our flashing glasses from the Budweiser people that we brought home for the kids.
And some of David's co-workers.
It was a good evening, as always, and there was so much good food it was tough to choose!!!!

On the menu for today...laundry, relaxation, a little work and maybe a new knitting project. I have yarn and am thinking of giving the Charlotte's Web pattern a try. Probablywithout the fringe. I am not a huge fringe lover!

Hannah the Reader!

Hannah got a reading award at school assembly yesterday! This is her second award in reading. She got one in Kindergarten last year too!

Here is a photo of Hannah & her friend, Kathlyn, at the assembly and their class "Zoom into Reading" car.

With her award.
And with the principal, Dr. Even. We sure are proud of you Hannah! Keep up the good work at school!
I had the pleasure of meeting a colleague & his wife, who live in Canada, last night. They were nice enough to stay at the San Marcos in Chandler, instead of somewhere in Scottsdale, and we had dinner at El Zocala. We had a wonderful evening on the patio under the stars!

Here's to a new business partnership!