Springy, Colorful Mittens

Kim, the Knitting Wonder Woman, and I are doing a KAL for the Crystal Palace Mini Mochi Springy Ring Mittens. I got my yarn here.

I think that I am ahead of her. Of course, the fact that I am doing the smallest child size and she is doing and adult size has nothing to do with it. She will probably think to be more specific with me next time.

I'm almost finished with the thumb gusset on the right one. Then I will switch to the other mitten and do the gusset on it.

Crystal Palace said that it is impossible to make identical twins with this yarn, so I decided that I could enjoy bright fraternal twins.

High School

The T-man started high school yesterday.

Houston Days 3 - 6

We did not do any more sightseeing. The T-man was satisfied to get to swim each night. The hotel had an indoor pool on the 23rd floor. There also was terrace with a view of the skyline. Of course, I stayed away from the windows near the pool and would not go out on the terrace. The T-man got these shots.

Houston -- Day 2

The geek in me was totally thrilled. We had time on Sunday to visit the Houston Space Center. T-man was a bit disappointed that the place was designed to cater to tourists. He wanted something more educational. So, we strayed from the tour guide's directions of what we should see and made our own choices. I only had my camera phone with me, so I did not take many pictures, but I could not pass up these two:

Traveling with the T-man

Need I say more?

On the Road Again

This time I am traveling with my boss and the T-man. Sometimes I wonder about my sanity.

I'm at a conference that has some free time, so I decided to bring the T-man along. He loves staying at hotels.

Day one we got here early enough to visit the Houston Downtown Aquarium. As far as aquariums go, it was not very exciting, but we still had fun. Mr. T is always interested in learning about things. I did make him pose for a picture. We only have cell phone cameras with us, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Without further ado, I give you Deep Sea Diver T-man:

Male Logic

While catching up on my blog reading, I mentioned to the T-man about my sister's post on my parents' wedding anniversary. I said we rushed off Saturday without saying anything about the anniversary.

T-man said "Why didn't you tell me? It makes it look like I forgot. You made me look like I didn't care."

July Without Central Air Conditioning?

As a Georgia native and almost life-long resident, I would have never dreamed that I could go without central air conditioning in July and not be miserable. However, I have discovered that it is possible in Vermont. I was only really hot once, but that was in a yarn shop, so I made myself deal with it. The yarn fumes helped. We were traveling with carry on luggage only, so I restricted myself to just a little yarn and some patterns.

The T-man and I used some "Delta Dollars" from when I got bumped from a flight home from a conference and went to see M (blogless). She has been my friend since June of 1979. One of the best friends that anyone could ever have! The last time we saw each other was November of 1994 - shortly after the T-man was born - but we have always stayed in touch.

She is Aunt M to Mr. T. Once when he was a cute little fellow (as opposed to the dashingly handsome young man that he is now), the T-man asked if Aunt M was a fake aunt or a real aunt. Clever boy.

The only thing I forgot to take was a camera. Vermont is beautiful. I really loved how the river wound through the town.

The T-man and M spent a good bit of time in the various worlds of Zoo Tycoon. It was funny to watch them let the dinosaur out and see them laugh as the dinosaur chased people. Should I be worried about them?

It was also wonderful to travel with my teenage son and enjoy spending time with him. When we got back to the car at the airport, he said "I had fun. Thanks Mom for taking me."

No trip of mine would not be complete without some sort of crazy experience. In the JFK airport I got locked in a stall in the ladies room. No matter which way I turned the lock, it would not open. I had visions of having to beat on the door and scream "Hold my plane!" But I finally hit the lock hard enough that it opened.

Next I am taking the T-man with me on a business trip -- with my boss. I must be insane.

Savoring the Moment

Yesterday the T-man and I were discussing something, I don't even remember what, but I was wrong about something. He carried on and on. I told him to get over it. He said, "Mom, you are almost never wrong. Let me savor the moment."

I Can't Believe I Said That

Recently, the T-man asked if he could start driving on the country roads since he is almost 15.

I said no.

He then told me that all of his friends were doing that.

I actually said -- drum roll -- I am not their mom.

Siblings, you can stop laughing now.

We Survived Another Math Project

The T-man and I are usually a good team. But that is not the case when it comes to math. There was great wailing and nashing of teeth from both of us during the last math project. I even put myself in time-out for a while. This project was vastly different. It actually was pretty cool doing it together.

We had to create a problem that required solving a system of equations to find the solution. We had to include graphs and show how to solve the system several different ways. We even had to interpret the results. I know that if my 8th grade son can do this, I will have less sympathy for my college students this summer. Here is one of his graphs:

We used the Create A Graph website.

My Little Boy is Growing Up

All the paperwork was finally completed and it was time to put the tag on my new car.

The T-man did it all by himself. He even put up the screw driver when he was finished.

I'm Not at Work

The T-man is in Washington DC on a class trip. Since I don't have to get him to school, I decided to take the week off.





I did end up having to work a half day Monday, but it was not bad. The rest of Monday was spent recovering from a bout of insomnia. I finally got some sleep and feel like a real person again. I was getting so grumpy from the lack of sleep that even my boss was being nice to me.

I picked up some light reading for this week. Jules and Kim -- you can borrow it when I am finished. You know you want to read it!!

On the schedule for today is lunch with Niece K. I am picking her up from school and we are going to Chick fil a. She picked Chick fil a because Aunt Sally lets her play a looooooooooong time. I have packed a book and knitting.

Tomorrow is lunch with Niece A. She picked McDonalds because her parents will never take her there.

Zip Up Hoodies

Niece K wanted a purple and a red zip up hoodie for her Bitty Twins Melissa and Jack. I finished these just in the nick of time this morning and the only picture I could get was taken inside with phone camera on a purple table cloth. I tweaked the file in Photo Shop to get the pictures closer to right. But, at least I have a post with a picture of some completed knitting.

The yarns are Plymouth Encore Colorspun. The pattern is my own.

Happy Square Root Day

Today is Square Root Day. Go here for more information.

More Than I Could Handle

Kim sent an e-mail saying that she had done math all on her own (and it was right!) and at the same time I looked up to see my son holding hands with a girl.

146

Thanks to a clearance sale at Wal-Mart, I was able to give each niece a play cookware set and a pretend food set. When you add it all up, they each got 146 items. One SIL asked where was she going to put it all. I said, "That's not my problem, I'm the aunt." I love being an aunt. We get to make our own rules.

Settling Down for Some Light Reading

One of my favorite things to do when it is cold outside is to wrap up in a warm blanket and read a good book. Tonight's selection is A Graphical Approach to Precalculus with Limits: A Unit Circle Approach by Hornsby, Lial, and Rockswold. No, I'm not totally sick. I'm reading this because I get to teach this quarter!

Yes, I Am A Math Geek

This was so funny to me.

I was demonstrating our new course management software to my colleagues. One of them noticed that I had posted an announcement for my students that we would be using the Math XL program. He could not figure out what Math 40 was.