Half Way Around the World in 30 Days

Our trip to California was SOOOOOOOOO great! We flew space available so we had to be flexible and go with the flow, but that worked out perfectly for me and mine. Our first flight to Cali was dropped because of too much cargo (so they weren't taking any passengers), but two days later we caught the next flight to Cali and it took us exactly where we wanted to be.... San Diego. We had a great time at my Dad's. Everyday was fun and there were so many places to see. We went out just about everyday and got to walk around on hiking trails and the like. There was a playground close that was great for the kids to go to. My dad is a lot of fun on a daily basis. He's always doing something that makes me smile and laugh. My youngest sister is the same and my kids loved hanging with their aunt. My younger sister was also able to come down and see us (she's a college goer and is graduating!!!) and we had a lot of fun together. I got my youngest sister hooked on Firefly.

We hit the zoo, Wild Animal Park, Disneyland, California Adventures, and got to see some really pretty vistas in La Jolla. It was over WAYYYYYYYYY too fast. Getting home was a little trickier and we had to drive north to Fairfield (seven hour drive) and we were there three days trying to get a flight out to Hawaii before we gave up and went to Japan instead (there was a couple that was a category above us and they had been there two weeks trying to get a flight out to Hawaii so I knew we weren't going ot make it out any time soon). We got the flight to Yokoto and spent three days there as well, which was fun. We couldn't rent a car so we got to walk everywhere (which I enjoyed..... everything was close together). We didn't get a chance to go out into Japan and look around because we spent most of our time at the passenger terminal trying to get a flight out, but there was a children's lounge there where the kids could play and I spent my time finishing some knits.
From Japan we went to Okinawa and got to see Mt Fuji from the air. I wish I had gotten a picture because it was so awesomely impressive. From there we stopped for about an hour before continuing home. I will definitely do it again as soon as I get enough money saved. It cost us about $2000 for everything which is much cheaper then the $4500 just for plane tickets that we would have spent. Maybe next time I'll try to go all the way to the east coast. Next time I want a nice vacation I definitely will be going to visit my dad. We're hoping to get San Diego as our next station which would be great because then I could maybe work for my dad.

Cali or Bust

I'm gearing up for a trip back to the states. I'll be flying Space available with two young kids, but I'm hoping that the timing of my travel will work out to my advantage. This week is Spring Break for all the kids, but I can't put in for travel until after my hubby gets home so it'll be in the middle of the break that we'll be trying to fly out and I'm hoping that most people will have already gone where they are going or that no one will be going anywhere at all. On our way back no one should be traveling for vacation so we should get a flight quickly. Especially if it's a straight shot to Guam. Either way I expect to get stuck in Hawaii for a few days there and a few days back. I know. Stuck in Hawaii. How horrible! I'm hoping to have some nice pics by the time I get back. The final destination is California to visit family and I'm really excited about it. My dad and sisters really haven't gotten to meet and spend much time with my kids. We're also planning plenty of trips to zoos and Disney and I'm hoping to do some sailing and camping while there. On my list is also a trip to Olive Garden one night for dinner. We don't have an Olive Garden here and I miss the soup, salad and breadsticks. It's torture when you can't get something that was normally available to you. Especially when they run the torture commercials! They know we don't have one here, why can't they put a local commercial over the Olive Garden one? Anyways, I can't wait to spend a few weeks with my dad and show my kids California. I'm also looking forward to the travel because it'll be a break from the everyday grind. I'll be sure to get a travel neck pillow this time so that I can nap on the plane.

In Memory of......

Remy. My four month old nephew who passed away on Thursday. I'm sorry I never got to meet you. You look so much like my daughter and son when they were babies. Your aunt K told us that you love to smile and laugh. Such a beautiful baby boy. The blanket that I knit for you is sitting here next to me along with your hat. I was waiting for a sewing machine so I could sew a back liner onto it so that it would look nicer. I should have just sent it. It would have kept you warm either way. I think that if you had it then maybe it would have kept your little body from going cold and that you would know that there are people who have never met you that love you very much. You are happier and safer in God's arms and someone will answer for what happened to you. Even if it was inevitable your momma should have been there to hold you and love you, but she was too busy ruining her life. Now she can't ruin yours anymore. We love you always.
I should have sent the blanket.

Welcome Salty Dog...... arrrrrrrh!

I got my yarn from PurlSoho! Yea for me! The Collinette sock yarn (Salty Dog) is a little darker then the picture, but I still like it and can't wait to have a pair of my own socks. I am also knitting the Jess Gansey using the Rowan cashsoft that I also got. I did a few gauge swatches using the recommended size needles, but it just didn't feel right so I went up one size.
It measured out 30 sts for 4" instead of 27 sts so I decided to go up one more needle size (US #4). Then after I finally got 280 sts onto a US #3 16 inch circular and got the edging done and ready for the US #4, I realized that I had knit all my gauge swatches flat instead of in the round. I wonder if that's going to make a difference? I know that it does, but I'm going to knit anyways and then measure (to make sure that it's not too far off).
The size that I'm knitting leaves zero to negative ease, but the next size up has a positive ease of more then five inches so hopefully a few extra stitches will help give the sweater the perfect ease. We shall see....... once I get about four inches into the sweater........ five years from now (so.....many....stitches).

Perfection

I finished the baby blanket for my nephew a few months ago (in time for Christmas, in fact), but have waited sending it because my hubby said he wanted to buy something else and send it along with the blanket. I have decided to send it anyways (before the boy is too old for a blankie) and spent the weekend readying it for gifting. It needs a back because my weave ins are showing and I don't like that, so I bought a piece of fabric to back it with and washed both the blanket and the backing (seperately). I knew there was a chance that the colors would run and I was right.
I pulled it from the wash to find fuzz all over the inside of my washer and strewn all over the blanket, as well as greyish blocks where there were once white ones. I was almost ready to cry. Instead I sat down and hand picked all the fuzz off the blanket and found that most of the discoloration came from the halo of multicolor fuzz that was covering the blanket and that once all the fuzz was (mostly) gone that the blanket had a very soft, comfy, favorite broken in shirt kind of feel and now I love it more then before. 

While washing the blanket I decided to use the remaining yarn that I had left from it to make a hat for the boy. It came out near perfect (I was squealing with delight as my son tried it on and it fit perfectly). I'm thinking of washing it before sending it so that it'll be just as soft as the blankie. I might take another day and make little booties as well, but I think there has been enough of a delay in sending. I'm waiting to see if I can borrow a friend's sewing machine so I can sew the backing onto it, otherwise it mike take another day or so to get it sewn together.
I went back to the gym for the first time since before Thanksgiving. They now have a Mommy and Me gym where I can workout during the day (instead of having to wait for hubby to get home or try to find a babysitter) and he can play. It's really great. The play area for him is covered with gym mats and foam blocks and different shapes for them to stack and jump or slide off of. There's also a climbing wall and I can't wait until he realizes it and tries it out for the first time. Once he does I won't be able to keep him off of it. He had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave, but after no exercise for several months I was ready to fall off the back of the treadmill after only thirty minutes (really I was grateful that I was able to go that long for my first time back). I don't think I'll go tomorrow, but Friday I'll be back in there. I'll need a day to rest because I'm sure that I'm going to be hurting tomorrow. Or maybe I will and just take it easy to stretch things out and keep it from cramping up. I don't know yet, I'll have to see how I feel. Right now I feel great which means I did just enough at the right intensity. In the last five minutes I really thought I was going to lose my legs and go flying off the back of the treadmill (LMAO just thinking about it). Right now I feel just about perfect :-)
top left: blanket before washing; top right: blanket after washing; bottom left: hat before construction; bottom right: finished hat on cutie model

The Things that I Think of

Still working on my finger callouses, but I won't be able to take my first lesson until after the start of March. I've been trying to tune my ukulele, but it just doesn't sound quite right. I might just be too much of a perfectionist, but the sound that I'm trying to get seems to be inbetween where it is and where it goes when I tweak the tension just a smidge tighter. It's maddening. What I need is an actual ukulele that's already tuned to be played so I can hear the notes and then tune mine. I can only find small tracks online of the notes and they don't sound like anything that I can make with my strings. I even tried using the piano on Garageband and playing the same C note over and over again to get the third string tuned, but it never sounds right. It always sounds a bit too high or a bit too low. Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
I bought a few skeins of yarn this week that I'm really excited about. One is a Colinette fingering weight in Salty Dog ( a medium blue that is just so gorgeous I knew I had to make a pair of socks for myself and hopefully have enough left to knit a pair for my boy). I love the color and the name was so great I had to buy it. Just HAD to. I also picked up 12 balls of Rowan Cashsoft for the Jess Gansey pattern featured in Interweave Knits (the actual pattern is found on their website for free). It's a really nice pattern using a fingering weight on really tiny needles. I'll be done with it in about ten years and then I'll give it to my mom (ha ha ha). Hope it doesn't take that long to finish. I also have to look and find yarn to start my Buffyknits project. I was going to start with the hot pink mock boat neck sweater that Buffy sports in one episode (I'll look through my DVD's and find the actual episode so you can see the one that I'm talking about), but with everything else that I'm trying to get done I'm thinking a chunky knit would be a better jumping off point. There are several to choose from from the fourth and fifth seasons. There's a beautiful brown sweater knit in chunky stockinette and a grey tweed with shots of garter stitch worked intermittently though a stockinette. The choices are limitless and with me starting with a size small enough to fit a six year old will make it all go faster (although with a chunky knit I might just go ahead and size for an adult.....my skinny friend comes to mind.....she'll need sweaters once she moves back to Michigan or Washington).
Where to go next has been a topic of conversation as of late. We've been here in Guam for over a year now and have two more to go. I would stay here if I could import all of my family that I miss or if it was easier (and cheaper) to go and visit all my family. The weather here beats out every place that I've ever been. It gets hot some days, but the percentage of beautiful days can't be beat (unless you live in Hawaii). We're thinking of San Diego, but talk has also drifted to Spain, Italy or Florida. When I think of a place to live, ultimately the first thing that I think of is " What is the probability that someone will nuke this place?"
I don't know why, maybe too much Jericho and Sarah Conner Chronicles (although it was something I though of before then). The second thing I think of are all the natural disasters that can occur and the probability of them. Once a place has been deemed safe (ish) then it's given the thumbs up. San Diego is the first place I think of when thinking of the first place an enemy would nuke, but the weather is nice and I have family that I want to spend time with there AND if given a choice I want to be incenerated immediately (at Disneyland while riding the Haunted Mansion, ha ha ha!) as opposed to trying to survive in the aftermath or getting radiation poisoning and dying a slow painful death. Besides, there are so many things to do around there that you can get in a lifetime of living in just a few years and that outweighs the nuclear halocaust that may be. These are the things that flit through my mind at odd times of the day. It's weird and quirky and my brain is always very matter of fact about it.

Do U Ukulele too?

Another Valentine's gift was bestowed on me today. Actually I don't know if it's really a Valentine's gift or just one of those things that he's been wanting to get me for awhile now and just got around to it today because we were in the store. Anyways, it's a little ukulele from JB's Ukulele Hut. I got the smallest (and I think cheapest) one that they had. The premise here being that I can learn on a little one and then upgrade to a bigger one if it proves to be a genuine interest and then pass the little one onto my daughter who seems keen (at this moment in time) to learn how to play as well. If not then I'm not out as much money as I would have been and I can still pass it on to my little ones. You get a free hour lesson with your purchase and then you can buy more lessons (three months worth for $60 a month/ once a week for 30 minutes each). Right now I'm getting my fingers conditioned by holding down the strings as if I am playing and I'm trying out strumming to a rhythm although all my "songs" sound like crud because I can't seem to get the darn thing tuned. I'm sure that I'll learn, but for right now it is the bane of my existence. I have a guitar as well (one that is a bit on the big side for me) and I'm hoping that learning the ukulele will spark a reinterest in learning the guitar. The interest has always been there, there was just the lack of lessons and the frustration of not having someone to show me how. I can't seem to pick it up from a book like I can other things (namely knitting and other crafts).
I really like my little ukulele and I'm hoping to learn how to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow on it. You know the song that I'm talking about, done Hawaiian style by the guy whose name I could never hope to pronounce, much less actually try to spell right now. The hubby seemed excited about the purchase as well and already has tales of me cutting a CD a year from now after I get my more expensive ukulele upgrade. He has our daughter living in Hawaii, playing to millions, and inviting us to vacation with her for months out of the year. It's nice to have dreams ;-)