Author: tabitha

Acronyms

Kids are fond of secret languages and weird ways to say things that stubbornly avoid actually saying what they mean. SmallFry’s latest kick is acronyms. He no longer speaks in words but in strings of unrelated and often undecodable letters.

Now, I am no stranger to acronyms having worked in a career that dealt with the EPA, DOT and OSHA on a daily basis. The government is riddled with acronyms which is why no one ever knows what exactly knows what they are doing. Don’t believe me – have you noticed that the 17 Billion dollar (or whatever outrageous sum they finally decided on) bail out plan in no longer called the bailout plan but the TART fund. Sounds like something to pay for the senators extracurricular activities to me. The internet is filled with acronyms. Knitters use acronyms too. EZ = Elizabeth Zimmerman; FLS = February Lady Sweater; CPH = Central Park Hoodie. But I digress.

The problem arises when I attempt to communicate with my children. When I ask the kids what movie they want to watch, Small Fry can no longer say Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but instead says CATCF; Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back becomes SWTESB. He has gotten especially creative when asking for lunch. He will hand me a note that says “For lunch, I want CNSWPBJ” – which translated means chicken noodle soup with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sometimes gets quite inventive with his lunch choices particularly the sandwich choices. He likes to combine odd things. For example, PBM would be peanut butter with marshmallow, TWCOL means turkey with cheese, olives and lettuce. I get quite a mental work out trying to decode his lunch requests. So last week, I decided to fully embrace his acronym lunches (and give him a dose of his own medicine at the same time) and I served him PBRMPCC. SmallFry couldn’t guess that one. You probably can’t guess what I served him either.

So how about a contest. I will give a free download for two of my designs (the Raindrops on Roses bath set and my latest and soon to be published sock) to the person who correctly guesses what I served SmallFry for lunch. If there is more than one correct answer, I will have SmallFry draw a name out of a hat. If no one gets the correct answer, I will choose a winner with a random number generator or have SmallFry draw a name out of a hat.

I will tell you that he ate what I served him (only after peaking inside to make sure it wasn’t toxic)and he lived to tell about it, so everything on his sandwich was entirely edible. Have fun decoding.

Life with Kids

Conversation in my house this morning after breaking up fight among siblings over what to have for breakfast. I will spare you the parental remarks and pick up where the conversation gets interesting.

Me: So what do you want for breakfast this morning?

SmallFry: Something with hot tea.

Me: Can you be a little more specific?

SmallFry: Biscuits

Preteena: NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! We just had thooooosssssse!!!! (in her best teenage whine)

Me: (to Preteena) Could you let me handle this, please?
(to SmallFry) We did have biscuits yesterday, and as I recall you did not eat yours.

SmallFry: Not biscuits, scones.

Me: Scones??

SmallFry: Scones!

Me: (stopping Preteena before she could interject opinion and thereby restart previous fight) Seriously???

SmallFry: Scones.

Me: Son, do you even know what a scone is?

SmallFry: Yes. I like scones.

Me: (stopping Preteena before she could interject opinion and thereby restart previous fight) When do you remember having scones??

Me: Can we have blueberry scones?

At this point, I am wondering how he could possibly remember having scones since I don’t remember the last time I made them. It has probably been several years. And I don’t ever remember making blueberry scones.

Me: Blueberry scones?

SmallFry: Yes, blueberry scones. Shaped like triangles.

Here is where I realized that the battle was lost and that I had better get to the kitchen quick before the triangular blueberry scones became diamond encrusted, glow in the dark, technicolor, triangular blueberry scones or something.

So after a thorough search of the cookbooks, I came to the realization that I did not have a recipe for blueberry scones. Being the adventurous type, I took a recipe for cream scones and made a change here and there, accidentally added too much sugar, spilled flour all over the kitchen floor and generally created mess. But now my children are happily having tea and triangle-shaped blueberry scones for breakfast.

And they don’t taste half bad either.

Revelations and Resolutions

I know it is traditional for bloggers to do a retrospect of all they knit in the previous year but I am rather untraditional and frankly, I am not sure I can remember everything I knit this year, even with the help of my Ravelry notebook. I do want to share a couple of revelations from 2008. Some little tidbits that I learned during the year.

It is not possible for a knitter to pack lightly. As proof, let me show you the yarn I took with me for a three day trip to visit the in-laws. Grant it, the stress level of in-law visits does necessitate a higher than average yarn quota.

Since we were driving and space was limited, unless I wanted to sell one of the kids, I told my hubby that I would limit it to one bag. And then he brought in this cute little plastic box that was the perfect lap size so I had no choice but to fill it with yarn for the trip.

It made a great travel knitting tray.
All in all, I transported one sweater, one skirt, two socks and a pair of fingerless gloves all in progress plus yarn for a shrug, a scarf, and two more pairs of socks across three states. In my defense, I did complete the fingerless gloves, the body of the sweater and most of the cuff of one of the socks (even though, I found a mistake and had to rip out all the sock progress). The other yarn just came along for the ride. But somehow, knowing that the yarn was there – in case of emergency – made the relatives a little easier to tolerate.
Sometimes, it is best not to ask questions.This is especially applicable to relatives dividing the estate items of other relatives. Asking questions, or speaking at all, can be downright dangerous in these situations. Just nod and smile and stay out of the way.This rule is also applicable to fast food advertising. For example,

You probably do not want to know what this restaurant uses for cooking its valve fries. Needless to say, we ate elsewhere.
Don’t be afraid to try new things.In my effort to be a Fearless Knitter in 2008, I have spent a great deal of time learning from my mistakes (aka, frogging stuff I hopelessly ruined). But in these fearless moments, I have also accomplished some great things.I designed my first pair of socks

Climbing Lace Socks

I designed my first sweater

Darth Sweater

I managed to complete two designs -from concept to test knitting -in the 17 days of the Ravelympics.

Emerald’s Lace Bath Set plus previously mentioned Darth Sweater.

I sold my first pattern

Raindrops on Roses
add to cart

All in all a pretty fearless year. Not bad for my second year of knitting.

So what do I have in store for 2009. I don’t like to make New Year’s Resolutions because I usually break them – before the end of January. I like to keep my list short and simple.

I intend to continue daily Bible reading and study. This has richly blessed me in the two years that I have consistently read the Bible daily.

I intend to continue knitting. I have several new designs in my head and a number of techniques I would like to try. I plan to be fearless in 2009 just like in 2008.

I intend to enjoy my family, my friends, and my life.

So there you have it. The obligatory New Year’s Day blog post.

Christmas Music

The thing that I am most happy about this Christmas season is that soon radio stations and stores everywhere will stop playing Christmas music. I would be quite happy if Christmas music were limited to the week before Christmas. There are some songs that are particularly irritation. My kids and I have come up with a list of the most annoying songs of the season.

Top 10 Most Annoying Christmas Songs

10. I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (particularly the Michael Jackson version)
9. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (this one happens to be my hubby’s favorite which is probably why the kids hate it.)
8. All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth (the whistling version is worst)
7. Twelve Days of Christmas. There are only so many types of poultry that should be put in a single song. This goes double for any of the variations like the Redneck version, the Canadian version, etc.
6. Christmas Shoes. I don’t particularly like tear jerker songs but this one is just too sappy. What else could go wrong for this poor kid – he gets struck by lightning on the way to the hospital with the shoes. Seriously, the only kid with worse luck is Harry Potter.
5. Do they Know It’s Christmas, Happy Christmas (War is Over) or any Christmas song with a political agenda. Save the politics for the other 364 days of the year, please.
4. Jingle Bells – Barking Dogs version. Root canal is more pleasant
3. Little Drummer Boy – especially the version by the Vienna Boys Choir
2. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer Grandmothers everywhere should boycott the advertisers for every radio station that plays it.
1. My Favorite Things – Because it’s NOT EVEN a Christmas Song

Any Christmas song sung my Madonna should also be included in this group. Hope you have enjoyed our little countdown.

Next post. Christmas Knitting.

“Knock Your Teeth Out” Good

SmallFry has had a loose tooth that is driving him crazy. He has tried everything. I even caught him trying to tie things to the tooth to toss down the stairs (like Scott Calvin did with the toaster in Santa Clause 2). This morning I baked some blueberry muffins for breakfast and that stubborn tooth finally decided to fall out. The kids decided that the muffins were “Knock Your Teeth Out” good. (For the record, no rocks were added to this recipe to facilitate tooth removal.)

From Blog Photos

Knock your Teeth Out Good Blueberry Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup milk
Colored sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping (optional)

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in blueberries and pecans. In separate bowl, beat egg, oil and milk. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Do not over mix. Spoon into lined muffin tins, filling about three-fourths full. Sprinkle tops with colored sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake at 350^o for 20 minutes or until golden brown.