Forward Motion

Can I use up all that soy sauce in 2 months?

Because I can't move anything liquid.  So no buying any economy size anything.

Short Timer's Attitude.  Is there anything comparable in the civilian world?  In the military, that's when you know you are leaving for a new assignment soon and you start to hate everything about where you are and become totally unmotivated. 

DH and I both have a really bad case of it right now.  Like, I'm doing only the bare minimum of house cleaning, because hey, they're going to pack it all up in 2 months. The kids have mere pages left in some of their schoolbooks.  I've told them once they finish a subject they'll be done with it until fall.  DH is so, so tired of classrooms and lectures and papers.  He's not a school type guy anyway and a year of this has been tough on him. 

We're all pretty much ready to go and at the same time anxious because we're not ready to go.

Since I don't anything more interesting to post about right now, I thought I'd share some photos taken during my first time in Europe.  To review, I was in the Army and my first duty station was two years in Vicenza, Italy.  I met DH in the USO lounge at the airport while we were both waiting to get on that plane to Italy.  We started dating right after we arrived in country and got married about 4 months before we came back to the States.

Here's where our married life began, in this small room on the 4th floor..  We later obtained another single bed and shoved them together and tied them with parachute cord.   

No air conditioning there, but we had this lovely balcony. 

My bangs practically had their own zip code.  Current Vicenza residents, I understand that gate that is visible in the left side of the photo is now the main gate going into post.  Back then it was only during duty hours, so it was nice and quiet on the weekends.

Okay, so here's a tip.  If you are learning to ski, maybe the top of the Italian Alps is NOT the place to start. 

But my fearless skiing husband insisted I'd be fine.  After numerous falls and me yelling, "I AM keeping my knees bent/back straight/skis turned", I took off my skis and slid down on my butt.  I stayed on the bunny slopes for the rest of the day, then warmed up with cafe correcto (espresso with a shot of liquor) at the lodge.

We went to Venica several times since it was less than an hour by train.  Here are the pigeons and me in St. Mark's square.

And here is the not-yet-DH with the St. Mark's Cathedral behind him.  I still tease DH about those shorts overalls.

Looking through the photos albums, I have vowed that I'm going to come home with many more pictures this tour.  Of course, I did spend most of my time working and doing stuff like this:

So I didn't get to travel and do touristy things as much.  This is actually in Grafenwohr, Germany, about a mile from the detonation site.  We blew up huge piles of landmines that were past their expiration date (yeah, did you know they expire?) day in and day out.  It's really boring after the first couple of hours.  It's also very tricky to get a photo at just the right moment. 

I've made a short list of the places I'd really like to see while we're in Europe.  #1 on the list is London.  I want to ride the London Eye and see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.  And I will of course be compelled to say, "Hey kids, look!  Big Ben!" as a Griswold homage.  #2 is Salzburg, Austria for the Sound of Music experience.  Remember, I have the SoM commemorative plates from eBay the Bradford Exchange.  #3 is Paris, because it's Paris.

Those are the top 3.  After that, in no particular order, it's Milan, Athens, Rome, Venice (again), Barcelona, the French Riviera, Prague, and Holland (I know it's not a city, but anywhere in Holland will do.)

What would your top 3 be?

From scraps to a swab*

We have official military orders today!  They have lots and lots and lots of words on them, but most importantly they still say Schweinfurt, Germany.  Very exciting.  Tomorrow we have our passport appointments, which meant I spent quite a while tonight filling out forms and trying to remember where my mother was born.  As of the moment, we'll be packing up our stuff in two and a half months.

Sing it with me now, "Holy crap!!"  (Use the tune for the Hallelujah Chorus.)

Yeah, so mentally I've dropped a few stitches and am well on my way to coming unraveled.  I was verrrrrry tired today.  I have been sleeping so poorly lately and I adore my sleep, so this really sends me over the edge.  One thing I will NOT miss about El Paso is the wind.  It is so windy here.  I never knew how loud wind could be until I moved here.  Louder than thunder, I tell you.

Also, our bed is squeaking.  DH has taken it very apart and done handyman things to it and still it squeaks.  I have a theory that it is because it is so dry here.  If it were more humid, the wood would swell and whatever is rubbing would not rub and therefore not squeak. 

So my nights have sounded something like "Whooooshywhooshwheeewhooosh! SquEEEak! SqueeakysqueeakWHOOOSH!"

Anyhow.  This week I started and finished a project that I'd had in mind for a while.  When I first started ordering Wollmeise sock yarn, Claudia used to include these mini-skeins of worsted wool.  I had about 10 of them collected and then she couldn't get the base yarn anymore and stopped dyeing worsted yarn.  As cute as all the little skeins were, I wanted to use them for something other than decoration.

 

I used the Turn a Square hat pattern, although I didn't do the striping pattern suggested.  I like the neat four-way decreases.

 

I'm really not a person that wears hats.  Something about my straight hair or my big face or something just makes hats, especially hats like this, not very flattering for me.  However, I am very much a person who does not like being cold and this is a cuddly, toasty, cheerful hat.

 

Look!  I'm a colorful QTip!  I know it's not that bad, and maybe if you squint is even kind of cute.  Really, I think even Heidi Klum would not really be able to pull off a hat like this.  But Heidi is German and knows the value of a warm head, so she'd wear it too.

* I REALLLLY hate thinking up titles for these posts.

A Thursday. A Bag. A lack of creativity for a title.

My kids can be so weird.  We went to The Bad Place yesterday (begins with a W and ends with a Mart and has oh please get me out of here without killing anyone in the middle) and I bought something they'd been asking for:

 

Drinking glasses made of glass, not plastic.  They were so pleased.  I'd gotten in the habit of plastic glasses early on in my adult life after breaking all the glass ones.  We'll see how long these last.

Stuff does break around me quite a lot.

 

The Bugga! Sock is on hold after breaking yet another size 2.5 mm needle.  Now I have to wait for the replacements to arrive from KnitPicks before I can continue with that project.  And so I found myself working more and more on the Monteagle Bag.  In spite of the icky hemp yarn and the redonkulously aggravating stitches, this bag has charmed me. 

Once I realized that this was not going to be like other knitting projects, I made fast progress.  Gauge?  So what, it's a bag and just keep the stitches loose, not tight.  It's going to look like a tangle of hemp until you finish it, and then! 

Okay, still possibly a tangle of hemp.  But I love it.  It's so hempy and stringy and baggy!! 

Pattern: Monteagle Bag from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

Yarn:  Hemp for Knitting AllHemp

Needles:  Size 10, 6.0mm

Modifications:  I made the strap a few inches longer than called for.  I used the Magic cast on for the bottom so that I wouldn't have to go back and sew up the base.  I may also have improvised in several places on the stitches and the stitch count, but who cares.

Sadly, I did not have a fresh baked baguette handy for a photo shoot, so I made do with cans of soup.

I had to sit on the floor as the bag hung on the doorknob and carefully undo all the wraps of the veil stitch.  That's the stitch near the top of the bag that makes the long loops.  You wrap 4 times around both needles, then knit the whole mess.  The directions say to place heavy stuff in the bag and it will all stretch out, but I did not have the patience for that.  And the hemp is so grabby that I doubt gravity alone would have done the work.

The worst thing I can say about this bag is heaven help me, I think I want to make another.

Above average in so many ways

Hey, it turns out this week is Spring Break around here.  I didn't really know until DH told me.  As homeschoolers, the calendar (and the alarm clock) means little to us.  My kids sure knew though, and they are aghast that I am still making them do schoolwork.  I have a feeling that our summer break will begin early and go late, so I definitely want them to finish their math and science in the next few weeks.  I did consent to letting them ditch the other subjects for the week, so they can finish early.  And maybe I'll give them (and me) a day or two off.

We got the results back from the standardized testing.  It took only a few days after I mailed them off to get the scores!  We have used Seton Home School for our CAT tests and they have great service, even for moms who mail off the packet while the test score sheet is still in the copy machine.  Not that I know anyone who would do that.  Both kids had all score either average or above average, so I'm delighted.  Both did better in math that I had expected.  If they'd done poorly I might have blamed the test or the moon phases or something, but since they did well, I'm patting myself and them on the back.

I finally took some photos of me with the Zenzi Clapotis scarf.  I'm not particularly delighted with any of the pictures, but I can't blame the scarf.

I do love that my new camera has a remote, which you can see me holding in most of the pics.  No more photos of my butt as I walk back to my spot while the shutter clicks.  I can sense your thankfulness.

 

I don't wear turtleneck sweaters because I think they make my head look like a potato sitting on my shoulders.  A scarf worn like this isn't much of an improvement.

I like wrapping the scarf like this, though:

 

Here's my pin-up pose while I try to display how long the scarf is.  Also, it was getting windy.

 

Worn unwrapped, it's pretty long.  I didn't mean to make it this long.

 

Note to self:  You know those umpteen zillion types of lip color cluttering up the bathroom?  Wear some.

 

This is really the best of all the photos anyway.

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

Needles: US Size 5, 3.75mm

Yarn:  Wollmeise 100% superwash sock, colorway Zenzi

Modifications:  Knit as a scarf, rather than a shawl.  I think I did only 4 repeats of the increase sections, but I can't remember.  I had 8 grams of yarn left, so it's a good thing I ended when I did.  This pattern is much more fun to knit as a scarf, because the rows go more quickly and you get to do the fun thing - dropping the stitches on purpose - more often.

Wollmeise yarn is immensely popular in no small part because of the amazing, rich colors.  I think Zenzi is one of the most underrated colors of her yarns.  The browns and black are like expensive chocolate and strong espresso, with a touch of cream.  The scarf is soft and I kept it around my neck after taking the photos until I started to overheat.  I am so looking forward to wearing it in the cold European winters.  And Zenzi is the name of the type of brown & white cows in the German countryside, so I'll blend right in.

Paperwork and progress. More of one than the other.

My brain is quite full and I'm not sure where to begin.  DH had the levy briefing today and brought home a cornucopia of information.  Picture one of those Thanksgiving horns o' plenty with paperwork just flowing out.  The tentative plan for now is to get packed up, clear Ft. Bliss, drive to Dallas, drop the van off for shipping, and fly to Germany by the 9th of June.  We can't make flight arrangements until we are 30 days out, so we're just marking the calendar in pencil for now.

We've been making appointments with a frenzy.  Me, the kids, the dog, we've all got physicals and checkups and screenings.  DH and I working together have already managed to double book ourselves for one day, so I've got to call back and reschedule, which will be fun.  The guy at Central Appointments for the hospital told me, "Hold on, I gotta type all this stuff in.  Man, all this typing!  I didn't know I was going to have to type so much when I took this job!  They told me just answering the phones."  Sadly, this cracked me right up.

Over in the knitting realm, I still don't have photos of the Zenzi scarf.  I think it needs to be shown with me wearing it and frankly, I haven't looked presentable in 2 days.  Maybe tomorrow, since I have to leave the house and will thus be motivated to put on a decent outfit.  But I do have some photos that don't include my scraggly self.

'Member the project that I said I was getting ready to rip out?

 

This is the beginning of the Monteagle Bag (freebie pattern link) from the Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book.  I loved going to the outdoor markets in Europe and I decided I totally need some string bags to take now.  Obviously, I will be carrying fresh flowers and one of those long baguettes in my string bag as I stroll the cobblestone streets. 

I'm using AllHemp 6 and hemp is just a hateful fiber to knit with.  I like that it is sturdy and useful and makes a good project in the end, but it feels like knitting with thick, waxy butcher string.  But really, it's the pattern causing problems.  This is a string bag, not a lace shawl or some other work of art type project.  Just a bag.  Useful and practical, much like a dishcloth.  I shouldn't have to go online and watch videos to figure out the stitches before I get to row 10. 

At this point that I took the picture, I thought my stitch count was messed up and I was absolutely in no mood to try and figure out how to fix it.  Just before I pulled it off the needles, I counted again and it had magically corrected itself, so I kept going a little further.  Now I've kind of gotten the hang of things (and also lowered my expectations, I plan to increase/decrease at whim if the stitch count is off again) and I'm cautiously continuing.  The next set of stitches look even nuttier, so I'll probably be looking at videos again.  I'm certainly not going to be knocking out an assortment of these bags.  I'll just be glad to finish this one.

In more pleasant progress, this is another sock that I began last month, knit in Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! yarn:

 

The colorway is Giant Night Moth and it's a delicious cashmere blend.  I wanted a bold pattern for the dark colors (slightly darker than this sunny photo) and I'll give you a guess where the stitch pattern came from.  Uh-huh, the Japanese stitch directories.  I just love those books.

THE blog post.

I was going to show you photos of the Zenzi scarf today, but something very strange happened.  It rained all day.  I had almost forgotten what that windshield wiper thingy was for in the van.  So it was gloomy and wet and not good photo taking weather. 

I was also going to show you a project that I started on Saturday that is about to get ripped out.  I figured we didn't really need terrific lighting for that.  But then DH started watching a movie and even though I KNEW I shouldn't watch it, I got caught up and sat through the whole thing.  Then I took a shower and sobbed crazily where no one could hear me.

It was a very good movie, calling Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon as the Marine officer who escorts home the remains of a young Marine killed in Iraq.  Yeah, you'd think I could have known it might make me a bit emotional.  I avoid movies with kids dying, spouses dying, military people dying, animals dying, war, natural disasters, and pretty much anything else that is unfortunate.  It really drains me to get so sad about a movie.  Anyway, before I got all teary I did notice that Kevin Bacon is even hotter now than he was in his Footloose era.  Nice, Kevin, very nice.

We went to Las Cruces on Saturday to go to the Farmer's Market.  We hadn't been since the end of December and it's a good way to hang out on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, the guy who sells the most delicious pecan trail mix wasn't there, so I was denied my ziploc baggie full of yum. 

I've been trying VERY hard not to buy any more sock yarn.  There was something of a binge in the recent weeks and I'm overwhelmed by how many things I want to knit.  So I've kind of made a goal not to buy any more yarn, particularly sock yarn, until after we move.  Except I had a $25 credit at The Loopy Ewe tonight and there was a perfectly wonderful skein of nummanumma Toasty called Blue Cheese.  And I love blue (bleu?) cheese dressing, but I hardly ever eat it on salad anymore because it's mega-fattening.  So the credit paid for the skein and I really only paid for shipping, so that shouldn't count.  But now I'm done.

I mention this because I purposely did NOT go into the yarn store in Las Cruces.  Usually, after the 45 minute drive and my morning Diet Coke, I need to use a restroom quite badly.  Unravel is my first stop and of course, it would be rude just to use the bathroom and not at least peruse the shop, which often leads to standing at the cash register handing over my Visa.

Instead, we went to the COAS used bookstore to use their less attractive bathroom and it occurred to me look for travel books.  The place is an absolute warren of messy shelves and room after room of books.  I found the travel books but couldn't see the need for a book about Europe from 2001.  I asked if they had any German language books and whoaaaa....did they ever. 

I'm very fixated on learning German right now.  It's like a crazy complicated puzzle and I love puzzles.  The Rosetta Stone program I'm using is great in many ways, but there's no English written or spoken at all.  It's all photos and written/spoken German. Which works fine for learning "three dogs".  The voice says "drei Hunde" and I click on the photos with three pooches.  It's a little harder for things that aren't as concrete.  Is the kid pointing to the girl who looks like him saying, "This is my sister." or "Here is my sister." or "She is my sister."?  The grammar part is very confusing for me.

I found several German lesson books, not the kind just for tourists, but for language study.  My favorite is a volume published in 1979 called "German in 3 Months".  I appreciate the time frame there.  If they'd called it "German in 3 Weeks", the pressure would have been too much.  But we just happen to be moving in 3 months, so it's clearly meant to be.  It lists all the verb tenses and all kinds of grammary things.  In fact, I'm more hindered by not knowing what the English grammar means.  Past participle?  Auxillary verbs?  Pluperfect subjunctive?

Also, say what you will about the English language and it's wack-a-doo rules.  At least we only have one article for nouns.  THE.  (Okay, there's also A and AN, but you can use THE as a default nearly all the time.)  Everything is THE.  The yarn.  The whoopee cushion.  The cactus.  The Elvis impersonator.  None of this masculine, feminine, neuter nouns.  No das, der, dem, die.  Just THE.  Sure it's impossible to figure out how spelling works in English.  Sure we have all kinds of grammar issues, too.  But only one article.

For example, THE END.

Taking passive-aggressive to new levels

 

DH thought perhaps this was my subtle hint for him to sleep on the couch. 

What the Pod People would knit with

This yarn freaks me out.  It's called Cocoon and the close up of the yarn looks like this:

 

That's a little TOO much like real cocoons.  I get the heebie-jeebies imagining a scarf of this stuff draped around my neck.  I'd constantly be waiting for all of them to hatch.

We are doing our standardized testing this week and I'm having sympathetic test anxiety.  As homeschoolers, we don't even HAVE to do the testing this year.  Texas does not require it, unlike Georgia and North Carolina.  I am not sure why I'm bothering, because I feel like I have a very accurate picture of what they know and don't know.  If anything, it's a test on how well they take a test.  Which might be "not very well".

It's so hard not to hang over their shoulders and cough loudly when they start to mark the wrong answer.  I want to screech, "You KNOW that!  You learned it 3 months ago!"  Grace takes the tests too quickly, finishing a 10 minute section in 2.5 minutes.  I tell her to slow down and double check, but she's done and that's that.  Alex overthinks and doubts every answer and completes the sections with only seconds to spare.  I've tried to be very casual about the tests and tell them it's not a big deal at all.  No one will see the results but me.  I think they see their public school friends freaking out about yearly testing and have absorbed that.

The fact is, they are reaching an age where tests are going to be part of their life.  PSATs, SATs, driver's tests, heck - even income tax forms feel like a test to me.  I try to tell myself that I am preparing them and it's good for them to have practice with tests.  But that piece of paper with all those little bubbles waiting to be filled by a #2 pencil makes me feel like a 17 yr. old agonizing my way through the SAT again.

Oh, and this means next to nothing but today DH is "in the system".  His Army Knowledge Online account now says "On Assignment - Schweinfurt, Germany. Report date - 10July2009."  So as far as the people at branch are concerned, we're still going to Germany.  We'll give it another week or so for the assignment information to reach all the pertinent people, then make some more phone calls.  I'm getting my passport photo tomorrow.  Send good hair vibes and let's hope I don't have crazy eyes.