Oh, yeah...Knitting.

Yeah. So. I didn't really mean to just drop you all like that. I had a small work-related crisis that sort of took my attention away for a little while there. Not to get into too many details, I decided to open a new area of practice, and while I thought I was mostly ready to go, my advertising came out before I was quite set up and...dude. Who'd have thought there were so many people who so desperately needed that particular service right this minute?

And there were a few little details I had sort of overlooked, like it helps to actually be licensed in the court where you intend to practice, and--oh, yes--you need to be certified to use that court's electronic filing system (which requires approximately one billion hours of mind-numbing online training--and didn't you know you needed to arrange to take in-person training as well?). Oh, and there is a whole set of new laws that apply to that field, including at least a thousand new regulations relating to client communications and disclosures and if you fail to comply with any one of them in the first three and a half seconds of conversation with a new client, you will go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

So I've been a little...distracted.

This is the sum total of my knitting for the past week:

That's about six inches of sleeve--the first sleeve--for the Gathered Pullover. It's a tube. A white tube. A plain, stockinette, white tube.

If anyone is still reading, please allow me to distract you with this.


This is a much better, nipple-free picture of mom and baby (who is now four weeks old). Any of you who have had kids will not hold that look of utter exhaustion against the mom, and will accept that she is really much, much prettier than this picture would indicate.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to curl up in a corner and suck my thumb for a little while.

Wild

Yesterday was one crazy day. (Also known as "The Day of Bad Pictures.") First, it was the day of Older Son's fifth grade promotion. As one of those responsible for organizing and pulling off this little event, I was there at 7:00 am to set up. There were the usual minor glitches--not enough sun shades, missing extension cords, my son's name inadvertently left off the academic achievement roster--but on the whole, the event went smoothly. Funny what two months of planning will do for you.


Congratulations, Boo! Middle school, ho!

By 11:30 the clean up was done and we headed home to drop off our stuff. Minutes after we walked in, my best friend called to tell me she had her baby! This wasn't a surprise, since she went in to be induced on Tuesday (a week after her due date, with the baby already weighing nine pounds--and she's tiny). After 20 hours of hard labor, the baby got stuck and became distressed, so she ended up having a c-section, but mom and baby are both fine.

We took the kids out to lunch and a movie to celebrate Older Son's promotion. Ironman. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's really fun and entertaining and Robert Downey Jr. is great in the role. There is some violence, but I didn't think it was too much for most kids. I covered my younger son's eyes three or four times. (I'd say it was about on par with the Indiana Jones movies, and not as bad as the Spiderman movies, the last Star Wars movie, or Transformers, if that helps. We pre-screened it last week and decided it was okay for our 8- and 10-year old boys.)

By the time we got home, it was dinner time, and then I raced across town to visit my friend and her new baby at the hospital before visiting hours ended. And so I can present to you:

(Yes, it may well be the worst baby picture of all time, but it is the only one I managed to take without visible nipple, so bear with me.)

Nicholas Andrew
Born June 11, 2008 at 5:33 am
9 pounds, 1 ounce

Welcome to the world, baby boy!

Now I have to run: I've got to cut up watermelon and deliver pizza for 30 fifth graders before I serve donuts and juice to 20 second graders. And then I have to go order a birthday cake and buy 20 squirt guns for Saturday's birthday party. And we're out of dog food, live crickets, and dead mice (don't ask). It must be summer!