Spherey: Sumo Wrestler and Hugger extraordinaire

I sent another one of Jess Hutchinson's toys out into the wild today. Spherey is going to keep a sweetheart company while he goes through treatment for Leukemia. Four years old is too young...bloody hell.


Think good thoughts for the little dude.

Oh my god. The Laughter.

I know I know I'm not *old*. It was a poorly turned phrase. What I meant to say was: I don't remember life change being this uncomfortable when I was 22. The effect of the incredible amount of pot I smoked at university I suppose.

Onto a much more fun subject. My mom turned 60 this year. After raising me and my 3 siblings, we are all extremely excited that she made it for her surprise party for her last weekend.

In typical nerdy girl fashion, my sisters and I went north and whisked mom away to enjoy the ROM's Starlab exhibit at the Simcoe Museum. I suppose if any of us had read the information we wouldn't have been as surprised that we were the only "grown ups" there. It was worth it.

Mom taught my sisters and I all about the constellations when we lived in Manitouwadge - the perfect place for it what with being located in the middle of nowhere so she got to tell the ROM dude a couple of stories and even mention Cassiopeia (we just like saying it).

J and I put together a presentation of pictures of my mom through the years. We tried to get a representation of Mom in all her lives - as a friend, mayor, grandmother, wife and hottie. The common thread through all of the years was the laughter and the silliness. It was a ton of fun growing up with this lady.

My mom and dad making a bid for freedom after going legitmate.
It took me 32 years to come to terms with the fact my mom wasn't just here to be our mother. She is an amazing friend and partner in crime to my dad and all around Saucy Lady.

Word on the street: This is their honeymoon. Mom could have patented this "Come Hither" look. This could be Northern Quebec or BC...both were cold with big rocks and wind. Doesn't this picture make you want to have a cup of tea. My sister Charlotte really grabbed my mom's sense of independance and self-reliance so I love that this moment has caught them in a moment of desperate need to keep warm.

Or not. I'm not sure what the story is, that's what my imagination is for. She's such a goofball. There were a million of these pictures. Mom with ladies, laughing and hamming it up. There was no town name on this picture but judging by the size of the trees I'm guessing Matagami, Quebec. Ah, the life of a miners' family.

If you judged my mom's life on the pictures she just never stopped guffawing.

My mom was the first femail Reeve elected in one of our hometowns, Manitouwadge. It's a tough time to be Reeve of a town based on natural resources 2 years before one of the oldest mines shut down. It's devastating to everyone. She has balls of steel and started prepping the town to try and find other industry. Now I see commercials for Manitouwadge on the Outdoor Life Network - Extreme! Outdoors!

I'm not sure she'd approve of the focus of driving ski doos into the lake in August...but it's something right?

We've got your back Mom.

Eight days of First Job.

So this is my ninth day at my new job which is about 6 feet from my bed. It's thundering and lightening outside and I am in love with not having to leave the house for the first time.

Working from home is so weird in the lack of social contact, movement and sunlight that it's going to be a real adjustment for me. I've been going to the gym after work 3 times a week but I need to incorporate have some daytime outside time before I develop a fishbelly white complexion.

The job itself has really put me off balance. It's not that often that we make changes this drastic in our lives any more, the changes that put us in totally unfamiliar waters where we don't know the people, their approaches - we have to learn how to communicate with a whole new team. Luckily they are all really welcoming, patient and so funny.

Setting up a home office that facilitates IT tech support and creative writing has proven to be a challenge for me and thus Jason. We've upgraded our interweb, replaced the guest bed with a futon, got a new filing cabinet and are in the process of looking for a desk which will allow the two very different spaces to coexist. HAH!

My Aunt Martha says that the only time you're actually expected to not know anything for six months is when you get a new job. It's still uncomfortable but this helps. We love my Aunt Martha.

Anyway, if you've emailed me and haven't heard back (Sean Portier) it's because your email got deleted out of my junk mail filter...resend please. Otherwise it's just cause I'm in that first month of a new job and adapting gets harder and harder as I get on in years dontcha know.

Isn't it ironic

That the more newsworthy events that happen in life, the less time I have to write about them?
In knitting news: Swallowtail Shawl from a 2006 Interweave Knits in BLACK Misti Alpaca is finished but I can't upload the pictures due to fussy computer. It could be because I'm BLIND. I do believe knitting lace in black may have been the final frontier of novice knitter mistakes to make.
She says as she furiously knits for a deadline on Saturday morning.

The top down wrap around knit cardi. I finished it but then didn't like how short it was. Have undone the cast off and am adding a good 3 inches of garter stitch border - take THAT buddha belly! Hopefully, the extra 4 inches will lead to a better picture - cross your fingers.
Life adventure:

I start my new job tomorrow. I'm not sure how my first day of working from home is going to go. Am feeling a little uncomfortable with the unknown. I got my first work related hardware today. A Vonage phone.

I remember when I used to access my emails at school through Gopher - it was all in DOS font and colours. All of the nerds talked about how the internet would act as phone lines and we'd be able to create whole virtual worlds. Vonage really brings that home for me.

Off Colour:

In my quest to complete my image as one of the chosen people. I've joined the JCC gym. I figure if I'm going to be working from home, I'd better figure out a way to control the size of my ass or we'd all be in big trouble.

I love the JCC - I was a member there 9 years ago (my "six pack" years) when it was an armpit, they've gone through all sorts of reno and it's a dreamy dreamy gym with a great pool. I need to go a minimum of 7 times a month to cover the cost and I'm having no problems with that so far. More than that for some reason people are friendlier there than at the Goodlife.

Spinning:

Have lots of spinning that needs dyeing. I think that this will be my April fools day investment. Acid Dyes. I'd like to make a blanket for my family out of my handspun. have yet to decide if I'll take on a project a la Ms. SQ . Seriously, have you read the last issue? I think that she has a screw or two loose for that spectacular piece of art. You would have to lock me up in a padded room for that.

That's right Elle! I said it!

See! See! I have been knitting!

Holy moses. This catching up on real business is tuckering me out! I give you the most boring finished objects I have right now. Tomorrow is the cream - which is just blocking now.

I give you the Irish Hiking Scarf in four colours of Nashua from the stash. I now understand the true love of this pattern. My friend Jill seems to be knitting one of these every month or so from fall to spring. I thought I'd give it a go. Nice way to learn that you can cable without gawking at a pattern every row or so.

Another pair of Trekking XXL socks as a demonstration of my eternal love and dedication to Jason, The Fluffer (a few of you have asked about this video), these socks took forever.

A gloriously romantic night spent indoors knitting. J was out making funny so I just finished a pile of deadline writing and picture taking that had been nagging me.

Erin - I still haven't gotten my work email set up, as soon as I recover all of my addresses I'll be back in the game - I SWEARS IT! Hey, aren't you supposed to be in Mexico?