So, besides the whining - what's up? I finished William's Lopi sweater (blue, red and black on medium blue), and I've started Nikki's. I finished the entire yoke and then decided that I didn't like it. FROG FROG FROG! (as in I ripped it out - rippit rippit is the sound a frog makes).

So, now it light and dark purple lines, increasing into a white band. Light purple pattern on the white band, then I'll do hearts or something Nikki-ish. It has to be a LARGE sweater, and the yoke patterns that I have are for kid's sweaters -- so there will be ALOT of design work here. (Now, I really want to put up pictures, so I can just SHOW the result. Wish I'd taken a picture before I ripped it out).

I feel like I should have some sort of introduction, but those who know me, know me. Those who know the site, they know me. And those who are just now meeting me are getting a horrid first impression. But, they can go read my "almost blog" and get to know me in mine own format. It's not a blog like it's meant now, but it's definately a record of where we've been and what we've done.

Now, it's getting on that time when kid don't want so much Mom, and Mom is clueless about where to go from here. I mean, I've sacrificed my early start to raise ungrateful morons - do I start over at minimum wage someplace or parlay all this research and big mouth into something? Do I sell my knitting or write? I'd like to write, but I keep going down bunny trails about personal life and feelings - and does anyone really want to hear me WHINE! I do it really well, I've had TONS of practice!

Should I immediately just hare off into homeschooling and autism and chin deep in double teenage angst, knowing that the third is coming up on his last innocent hug? (GAD, that's a horrid feeling - Which one will be his last hug? What night will be the last time that he tries to stay up and get Mom Time?) Nah - that's all too depressing. He's a sweet little 10 year old and I'm just going to pretend that I don't know that he'll turn 11, 12, 13 and testosterone poisoning. (Hey, this thing doesn't spell check! SH*T That's NOT FAIR!)

I still think I should start Camp LOCKEMINTHEBASEMENT. Parents like me would pay good money for a break from testosterone (is that spelled right? What a crock! I want my spell check! ah well, best guess will have to do) I mean - when they're bigger than you - how can you really ground them from the phone. Sneaky little bastages anyway. I've put passwords on the computer, but I really need to know how to unplug the hub without blowing stuff up. (Been there, done that - thank goodness it was only a fuse that blew!)

If they ever read this - I'm KIDDING!! Ok, I'm not. I already hid all the sharpies and the really ugly pants and sweatshirt. Parents of goth teens know the sharpie thing, but for the childless or clueless - the teens use sharpies for tattoos. They draw all over their skin and have "marker wars". Markers should really be banned in school until the teachers can reestablish some semblence of control. Cripe - if they did that in my homeschool, they'd be scrubbing walls until the house sparkled. I'm sure any reader will hear my bias and jump to defend teachers, but I'm coming around to what a job they really have. I know I couldn't handle a classroom! But, I'm getting my arm twisted to run for school board, so maybe I can make some changes from there.

Politics is a whole new thing that I never had the courage to do before. I still don't feel like I'm qualified or that I can do such a great job - but my arm is being twisted. The Green Party wants an in that isn't all about the nepotism. My friends just want my homeschooling, kid friendly voice in the decisions that come down. I think they also want me to do the work so they have a voice on the board. I don't mind that so much even tho the thought is annoying. Plus, the district has to pick a new superintendent, and I'd like to listen in on how that all is done. (Plus, I'd like to make sure that the major moron isn't the one chosen even tho he's politically popular. Yes, I have an axe to grind, but it's just one, and he is a major political hack with a proven record of ignoring children's needs. I know better than to say his name out loud - but I will say that it's the person that did enough psychological damage to kids to make 2 of them leave baseball for good.)

Hmm, is this enough rambling? Have I procrastinated the chores long enough? Ironing and dishwasher - what a thrill. If I get really ambitious, I might even boot the babies out. The babies? You want to hear about the babies? Well, we have a small, mostly organic flock of spoiled pet chickens. (Ok, exotic jungle fowl - they're still CHICKENS!) The 2 roosters had troubles, so we had a harem without a master. A friend from PaperDragon Farms sent us some of their boys - What a GREAT GIFT! I grok that they had to go so they wouldn't breed with their sisters, but still, when someone steps in and solves 2 problems via the US Postal Service - it's brilliant! So, in the middle of MN winter, I got a shipment of baby roosters. They had to live in the back room, and did many unspeakable things to my carpet - but they are still in the adorable stage. Getting less and less adorable as the poop piles get larger and larger.. But, it's fun. You can't imagine the feeling of seeing an animal, assuming it's a cat, but then it's a chicken looking for dropped food like the dog would. Now, if only the little buggers could be paper trained, it'd be just cute and not something that makes you jump and run to get them back onto cedar chips! *L* So, eventually, when we figure out how to breed and get some bird to sit long enough - we'll have more green eggs! Maybe even green eggs with brown speckles!! I think we agreed to name them Dragon Eggs, but that's counting eggs before their mom's even hatch out. The local natural food co-op sells certified organice eggs for over $2 a dozen - but i don't think we are certifiable until we can control the winter feed. So, it's to be semi-organic, and not a way to get rich. But, it's still very cute that the kids do stupid pet tricks and when the chickens come stampeding to get treats. Definately more fun than a compost pile for kitchen scraps, and they carry their nitrogen all over the yard, eating bugs.

Ok, I've definately procrastinated long enough. We'll see if I can get pictures to work and if I can remember to write every day. Nice to meet ya'll!