Cary over at Serenity Farms tagged me for this meme.  I don’t usually do these things, but thought I would give it a shot….so here goes.

The meme is Six Quirky Things About Yourself and here are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged me (Serenity Farms)
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring things about yourself
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog to let them know they have been tagged!

Six quirky yet boring things about me:

1)  I am left handed but can write a mirror image of any word using both hands simultaneously (I can write backwards with my left while writing the same word forwards with my right hand)

2) I have to make lists for everything.  I have even made lists about the lists I need to make.

3) I am an orderly person.  If things aren’t orderly, I just can’t seem to function.

4) I do not like to shop.  In fact, I hate it. 

5) I like big “squishy” pens.

6) Much to my children’s dislike, I tend to dance through the commissary (grocery) singing “oldie songs”  (you know…those golden oldies from the 80’s and 90’s)

I am supposed to tag 6 people, but alas, today is Jim’s last day with us and I can’t think of 6 people to tag, so please feel free to do this meme if you choose let me know.

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Tomorrow Jim leaves to go back to the land of his orders.  But at least this time it’s only for 3 months.  It’s gonna be a long 3 months, but way better then when we first started this mess back in November.  We will spend tomorrow morning going through all our school stuff and getting ready to hit the books and get back on schedule starting on Monday.  I figure if we hit the books pretty hard for the next 3 months, that will help time fly a bit faster.

More later.

Ok, so the title is totally lame, but that’s all I could think of today.  I’ve been doing a lot of spinning lately both my “for pay” job and for fun.  Thought I would show off a bit what i have been spinning up for fun.

This is alpaca/silk/wool and reminds me of looking at ocean waves.  I love it.

100% silk that I kept as singles and will not ply.  I plan to weave with this soon.  (make note to get back to loom in August)

What is currently on (but soon to be off) the Joy.  Just a “domestic wool”.

Following that will be a merino/tencil blend.

Some knitting is happening here.  Not much, but some.  I bought a few patterns from The Felted Hat Workshop the other day.  While waiting for Jim to come home from his unit here (you know check in, see the folks, say hi thing) I worked on the basic beret.  I just used scrap yarns since I was sort of playing and getting a feel for the pattern (which was very simple and easy to read).  Here’s the hat in it’s unfelted state.

Had some towels that needed washing, so I threw the hat in (front loading machine) and it zipped right into place.

This one is intended for the charity box but my girlies like it so much I see a few more in the knitting for Christmas presents (yes, it’s truly time to start working on those things)

We had thought and started to prepare to go camping yesterday.  Brought out the camper and started to prep it.  Then realized it’s just WAY too hot (expected temps this weekend of over 105 without the humidity factored in).  So we decided to just camp at home.  The boys slept (or tried to….too hot and too buggy they sid) outside in a tent last night and the girls want to try tonight.

Some spinning going on.  Finished spinning a 100% silk bobbin and finished spinning a blend of alpaca, silk, and merino.  Once they are both dry I will post them.

Now it’s off to spend another day doing “stuff” together.

Catch ya later.

I am a little behind…oops…let me catch up.

#4  What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”? 

I would like some Noro for felting a bag or hat.  Not that my stash is ever complete, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried Noro before.

Last week, our friends, “C” and “S” along with their family took us out to the lake on their boat.  They graciously spent the day with us even though “S” was getting ready to leave his family again after his R/R was coming to an end.  “C” and “S” really blessed us that day as the kids and Jim had a great time tubing and skiing and knee boarding.  They blessed us again, by allowing us to take out their boat by ourselves yesterday.  The kids had a blast.  We were cruel parents, though, and only let them tube since we just didn’t know enough about the skiing and knee boarding.  But alas, they told us they had a great time doing the tubing so I guess we weren’t so horrid afterall.

Being a weekday and most people were probably at work, we had the lake pretty much to ourselves (probably a really good thing for semi-novice boat drivers as well).

Jac and Chris got on first.  Too much fun for them.

Jess and Cass came next.  Jess didn’t like that daddy didn’t take it easy on her.

So, off came Jess and on went Josh.  Cass wasn’t too thrilled with Josh moving the tube all over the place.

Then it was mom’s turn.  I really didn’t want to get on, but after cries of “please” and perhaps a few “chickens” thrown in there, I got on with Jess.

Daddy took it easy on us for a bit, then picked up speed.  Jess wanted off again but I said to just hold on.  It was actually getting kind of fun.

Then it was daddy’s turn.  Everyone wanted to ride with dad, but he took Jac with him since he missed out on some turns last week due to an open sore on his leg.  Since mom was driving, we didn’t get nearly as fast or ummm crazy as when dad did, but still they had a good time back there.

I think Jim was trying to flip the tube here on purpose but I am not quite sure.  He denies it of course.

(and I think Chris did a great job of taking the photos of the parents on the tube)

Then we headed for the cove to anchor off a bit and enjoy lunch, sand building, and some quiet swimming.

We headed back out to the main portion of the lake for more tubing and stuff.  Jim had each child go individually this time and a few tried to pull stunts like standing up and being thrown off and stuff like that.  Finally it was time to head in when Jim noticed the engine making a “new” noise.  We pulled into the marina area when the engine died and we ran out of gas.  Out came the paddle and Jim showed the boys the joys of canoeing a large boat to the dock.  Took a little bit of doing and other boaters offered us tows but we didn’t have far to go and hey…it was a work out for some boys, ya know?  “C” showed back up to the ramp, helped to show us how to get the boat back on the trailer and away we went to drop the boat off, pick up some fast food, get some showers, and a quiet movie to spend the evening.

This morning we are sunburned, tired, and a few of us are feeling the pain of trying to act like we were kids again.  But we had a great day together.

This picture says it all.  If you nap in my house, you might wake surrounded by critters that crawl out of the woodwork and from beneath the beds.

We are loving having him home!

Knitting is coming along slowly.  I think it will pick up again next month.

Saturday morning dawned bright and the girls and I pampered ourselves to a facial and playing with make up to keep busy.  Here were the final results:

Then grandpa came to take over with the kiddos and I headed to the airport.  It took me awhile to get there and it was so nice to just take my time and enjoy the radio station with no one fighting.  I kept looking the interior mirror to check to see if I really did have no children with me.  After checking into the hotel, a storm rolled in which caused Jim’s flight to be “slightly” delayed.  After arriving at the airport, I found that “slight” delay was nearly 2 hours.  But as I explained to a another family not so patiently waiting for their daughter that after 8 months, another 30 minutes was a piece of cake.  That really calmed the very anxious mother down who hadn’t seen her daughter in 3 days.  (but I admit, it was a younger daughter and if my kids were flying and were delayed I’d probably feel the same way).  Finally Jim’s plane arrived and it was so incredible seeing him walk down the concourse and into my arms.

Sunday we returned home to the children and as they came running into the house to see daddy, there were shouts and hugs and smiles and tears.

After belated birthday presents and welcome home gifts (to and from) daddy were opened:

the 2 hour marathon wrestling match started.  There were a few times, they had daddy down (he was, after all, out of practice) but after he regained his footing, he took no prisoners. 

After dinner and some down time, all retired to bed sleepy and very happy that daddy is home.

Today’s the day!  Sometime today my hubby will be home. Wee haaaa.

What am I doing to stay sane?  Well, I woke at 4:00 this morning singing “this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.  I spun a bit and then decided I needed to cast on for a new sweater.  This will be another diagonal sweater like the one I made last October

Except this one looks like it will be in browns and rust colors.  That’s what jumped out of the stash box this morning so we shall see.  Hopefully starting a new project will keep me sane.  I have my “to go” knitting already packed to knit while I wait at the airport to keep my hands busy.

Other then that, a few chores this morning making sure everything is tidy and neat.

Yes, tomorrow is the day he’s due home.  One more day to get through before I go to the airport to fetch him and bring him back to where he belongs. 

And really I am excited.  While this picture may not SHOW it (hey I was walking down the hall trying to get everyone and everything together for a trip to the pool yesterday) but inside I am excited.  Just not quite believing he’s coming home yet.

We did a bunch of house cleaning chores yesterday morning including the monthly bathing of the cat ritual.  Then I cleaned the living and dining room carpets fully expecting the cats to throw up hair balls all over the newly cleaned carpets to get me back.  So far…so good.  Today a trip to the dentist, a few more house cleaning chores, off to the grocery to stock up on food for awhile, and then an afternoon spent poolside.

Tomorrow is another busy day packed with activities to keep us busy until I leave for the airport.  ONE MORE DAY!!!!!

Well, since the cats got a turn yesterday, then the dog can get a turn today.  Yes, the dog is patiently waiting for his daddy to come home.  Caleb is a daddy’s boy and can’t wait to play and rough house with him just like the kids.  He has missed his daddy for 8 months now and can’t wait til he is home.

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I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

Mark 9:24 (NIV)