When's the Last Time I Blogged?

I think it is obvious that there is a lot going on in my life that's keeping me away from the blog. Do I need to repeat again that work is busy and family life (aka life with a busy teenager) is also busy? I didn't think so!

Here's what's going on in my world...

Kat has reminded me that she's patiently waiting to see a picture of husband's birthday present. Here you go!

I met husband in August 1983, and I think that's about the time I first heard him say that one day he'd own a baby grand piano. Well, almost 25 years later, he has one. It is beautiful to look at and even more beautiful when he plays it. Ladies, it was on sale, clearance sale, so how could we resist??

I'm still doing Weight Watchers, still enjoying it, and last time I weighed, I was down 8 pounds. That's pretty good! My jeans are fitting so much better these days. In fact, once again, I have fat pants and they are pretty darned baggy on me. I have zero time to get out to an exercise class, so the exercise has been brought to me. One of these now lives in my sun room.. We opted for the E-95 model. I love it!! It's so much easier to take 15 minutes out of the day here and there than it is to try to fit in a trip to the gym.

A few weeks back, I was desperately searching for somehing to knit with some Cotton Ease. I decided on Green Gable by the Zephyr girls, but I need a bust size larger than the 40 inches that the pattern I had went up to. I looked on their site and saw that the pattern had been changed to add more sizes. A quick e-mail to them asking if I should buy a new pattern resulted in them just e-mailing me the revised pattern. How's that for customer service? I didn't expect them to just give me the pattern at no charge, but their doing so has certainly won my customer loyalty 1000%! I was already a fan, but this was just such a pleasant bonus.

My top is in taupe colored Cotton Ease, and it's coming out pretty well. I'm up to the waist shaping now, so if I really put my mind to it, I could finish this off over the weekend. That probably won't happen because I also have a couple more projects in the works.

For example, I'm working on this cardigan by Knitting Pure and Simple. The pattern was making me nuts for a couple of days--I couldn't get past row one. I posted for help on the KP&S group on Ravelry and got help directly from the pattern designer. How cool is that?? I'm making my cardigan out of rose colored Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran that was in my stash. So far, I seem to be getting gauge, so this should be a successful project.

I am also knitting lace, The Maple Leaves Lace Scarf by HeartStrings Fiberarts. The pattern is nice and fairly simple. It's not charted, which I would prefer, and I've just not taken the time to chart it. It's still working up pretty quickly. I'm using some Knitpicks laceweight yarn that has been in my stash forever--KP Shimmer (70% alpaca/30% silk) in the Stained Glass colorway.

Yes, I'm aware there are no photos of any of these works in progress, but do you really want to see pictures of blobs? That's about what all these things look like at the moment.

For daughter, drama practice continues with a vengeance. The show opens on March 27 and runs through March 29. They are expecting sell out crowds which is not an unusual thing for spring musicals at our school. We have an amazing drama teacher who puts heart and soul into the productions. He has a way with the kids that gets them just as excited as he is, and it pays off. He also has a great coreographer, musicians, and a professional lighting tech who work with him. We have to go this weekend to find more costumes for daughter. I'm heading for the big Goodwill in search of 80s clothes.

Driving practice is ongoing. I will not yet turn daughter loose on the interstate--it scares me sometimes--but I let her drive around town which just thrills her to no end. I'm not quite as terrified of her driving anymore. She is improving, and practice will just make her better.