We're actually alive & well, and I'm planning on making time for more random posts.

For example:   Friday's helpful tip:  If you're planning on trying on clothes after a blood donation, opt for a band-aid instead of a wrap.

Construction is done & we are pretty happy.  now for window coverings & re-planting in the front yard.

I seem to have developed a really mild case of psoriasis.  I'm hoping it never gets any worse that the occasional red spots in my face & arms.

The NwRSA conference went well & was a lot of fun - I'm eagerly anticipating being able to go & spend my nights there as well as my days.  Might happen next year, definitely will happen in 2 years.

I learned to crochet in order to make barefoot sandals for belly dance.

Everyone is basically healthy & doing well.

Construction is coming to a close (about 3 more weeks?) and things are looking good on the inside. 

The chaos is starting to get to me, so I'm spending much of my free time tackling problem spots, like all the important stuff on my desk that needs to be done [car tabs, proxy voting, summer camps for P, etc.]  Hopefully this attempt at organizing will last more than a few days.

I've starting actively trying to use my hand spun, as I'm starting to have trouble cramming new skeins into the large bin I store it in.

Two batches [about 8 skeins total] was this year's school auction donation.

The skeins I spun form the top Laura brought back from her trip to New Zealand are becoming Maine Morning Mitts.  I've made 4 so far [2 sets] and it looks like I can squeak a 3rd set out of the 4 oz. :)  I'm quite happy with them in terms of warmth, usefulness & prettiness.  I've tweaked the pattern slightly to add a 'short'-row near the top of the hand as the pinky side creeps up when I wear the first pair.  Short is in quotes as the short row is actually knit on close to 75% of the stitches.

Construction has begun!  We now have an increasing hole where our front steps & walk used to be.

In other news, I. finally figured out that clementines actually taste good if you bother to chew them.

I finally used a sweater shaver for the first time last week - i'd had one for years, but hadn't opened the package as I was worried it would eat my precious hand-knit sweaters.  Then I realized I wasn't wearing my favorite since it was SO pilly, and well, if I wasn't wearing it due to pills, the risk of ruining it by cutting holes in it didn't matter so much. 

And thanks to Kelly Petkun's knit picks podcast for reminding me I had one of these lurking in the bottom of the sweater drawer.

I wish I'd done it sooner, and I've now got several sweaters stacked up to shave.

FWIW, I have something called a Fuzz Wizard.  It's not super speedy [or perhaps that's because the 4 & 2 year old want to help me use it.... after making a hole in the sock he was wearing, the 2 year old is not allowed to use it any more.] but it does get the job done.

Anyone else use these, and have favorite techniques?  hard surface? soft surface? circular motion? back & forth?

We're remodeling our entry way, starting the beginning of next week.

We have a split level with the entry / stairs landing area being about 4ft x 8ft and having the double doors swing open into that area.  It's just about enough room for 1 person to enter with bags, take off coat & shoes etc.  Having more bodies than that, especially small kids who need help with coats, bags, shoes & hats has driven me to the point of starting a remodel.  We've hired a firm that will do all the work, as Dan & I've realized we aren't the type to finish typical DIY bits like paint, let alone do the whole thing.  Dan might have pictures as we go.  But for the next 2-3 months, it'll be a bit more chaotic here.

So last night, I was jonesing for a chocolaty, creamy dessert about 15 minuted before kid bedtime; we also had an opened pint of whipping cream in the fridge. Enter mock mousse:

1. Whip up some whipping or heavy cream in the mixer,
2. Add enough hot chocolate mix [we used Ovaltine as the other hot chocolate in the house was in fixed size packets] to make the mix look like chocolate soft-serve ice cream (color-wise).

It look about 10 minutes to make, serve & have both kids eat. :) Gourmet it isn't, but it did the trick. It's not super chocolaty - perhaps I should try adding more chocolate powder next time. It is super rich tasting, and holds up well the next day; making it a potential make-ahead dessert.

Generally I love puzzle-type computer games [Myst, pandora's box, .  Dan recently got one for Patrick, that he thought I'd really like too: Portal [the beginning levels, at least, are G-rated, if a bit sarcastic / non-enthusiastic.]  Turns out 1) I'm not enthralled. 2) in 2 minutes of trying to help Patrick on some early level, I managed to: A) make the companion box get stuck in a portal loop; B) get wedged into said portal loop, such that it was 1/2 in one portal & 1/2 out the other; and C) get the companion box stuck on my head. [only verified by looking at myself in other portals.]

Have I mentioned that I'm absolutely lousy at non-mouse-based game navigation?

While going through our digital pictures in the hopes of actually finishing this year's calendar [the 2008 model got stuck around October's page as it got triaged.] I discovered that:

1) I almost never take landscape pictures [the default was a camera is oriented]
2) I like ritzpix.com for the way I can customize the pictures, but it doesn't let me save work-in-progress.
3) I like the way kodakgallery.com lets me save work in progress [it still has our partially completed 2008 calendar], but I have to pick between 5 default lay-outs.
4) it's be nice to also have a calendar where I can specify 'personal holidays' - e.g. family birthdays, etc.

Anyone have a favorite calendar-making site?