A Little Bit of Crocheting...

Thank you everyone for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers about my niece. Hopefully she'll get to come home this week, but it waits to be seen.

I don't have any finished crochet projects to show yet. I'm still working on my mom's poncho, hoping to have it done in time for her February birthday. I haven't gotten much done on it lately though, because my right hand and wrist have been totally stiff and sore the past few days. I've had occasional bouts of wrist pain since I broke my wrist last year, and really cold or rainy weather seems to bring it on, strange as that may seem. I'm also trying to finish up my daughter Bethany's cupcake pillow before her birthday on January 29th. She'll be 10. My son Dominic will be turning 5 on January 20th. That sure makes me feel old, to think that I have a daughter who will be a teenager in no time, and a son who will be starting kindergarten in the fall. I'm already getting emotional thinking about him starting kindergarten! Technicially it won't be much different, as he's been in daycare pretty much full-time since he was a baby (except for a few short periods of time), but it's just the idea that he's growing up. Dominic loves his daycare - it's a child development center run by our local school district (although they charge tuition), and it's a wonderful place, but he says he wants to "go to the big kid school with my sister". LOL! He'll still get go back to his daycare for summer camp with his "Sissy" every summer though.

I do have some cool crochet books I got this weekend to show though! My friend Janette invited my husband and kids and I to her son's birthday party at Chuck E' Cheese last Saturday. I "met" Janette online through a group for Cleveland-area interracial families, and the group dissolved, but Janette and I kept in touch through email. I finally got to meet her and her husband and kids in person on Saturday. She turned out to be just as nice as she is online, and her kids are adorable, especially her 6 month old daughter - sometimes I miss my daughter being that little, back before she started thinking she knows everything!

Anyway, the shopping plaza where Chuck E' Cheese is located has a Half-Price Books store, so I talked my husband into stopping in there with me. They actually had a pretty decent selection of crochet books. I bought a book called "Cozy Crochet" and one called "The Cool Girls' Guide to Crochet". I really love the Cozy Crochet book. It has a lot of cute patterns for advanced beginner crocheters, which is what I consider myself to be. The Cool Girls' Guide is a bit overdone - the author tries too hard to sound hip, but I bought it anyway because it has some cute patterns too. I also got a few crochet pattern books from eBay - a Red Heart Strata pattern book, and "Total Crochet Fashions". Now I just need to get some more yarn for all the projects I want to make from the books (just an excuse to buy more yarn), LOL! You get a bonus picture of my black & white cat Stormy, who was lying on the floor when I was taking the picture of the books. I also got a new Lion Brand catalog in the mail, with some super-cute new patterns for baby blankets and clothes - I love their catalogs!

I'm hoping to have some finished crochet projects to show soon, but it might be a while. I just started a new semester of grad school this week (I'm enrolled in an online MPA program with the University of Texas at Arlington), and I'm only taking one class, but it looks like it's going be a killer. The class is "Personnel and Human Resources in the Public Sector". My mouth dropped open when I saw the list of assignments:

·Discussion questions (DQ’s). Students will provide the answers to the DQs based on the readings for each topic. DQ’s and are due each Tuesday and are to be posted in the appropriate topic discussion area so all course participants can read your responses. Use outside scholarly resources and provide the citation and reference using APA 5th edition format. DQs and all written assignments are found at the end of the lectures.
· Several mini-papers/reports or case studies and two group project papers are scheduled and required. These written assignments are generally due each Thursday.
· Reviews. Three written reviews are included that support your final paper requirement (listed below).
· Participation. You are required to respond to their fellow student answers just as you would in an on campus classroom, posting a minimum of 3 separate days in a 7-day period.
· Final Human Resource Organizational Analysis written paper. Each student will also be required to prepare an analysis of a personnel management or human resource department in a public organization.

On top of grad school, and my regular job (which is super busy from mid-January through mid-April), I also serve as a Community Investment Committee volunteer with the United Way of Greater Cleveland. Last year I served on the Early Childhood cluster of the Learning & Earning for Life Initiative, but they've since revamped the committees, so this year I'll be on the Basic Needs & Self-Sufficiency committee. My position is starting back up next week. I'm also in the midst of planning a bridal shower for my youngest sister, who's getting married in May, and dealing with all the preparations for being a maid of honor, my daughter being a junior bridesmaid, and my son being the ringbearer.

Aaack!!! Did I mention that I think I might barely have time to breathe over the next few months, let alone get any crocheting done??? If I go AWOL with my blogging for awhile, at least you'll know where I am!

My daughter is going to Girl Scout camp this weekend (yes, winter camping here in snowy, frigid Cleveland!) - she leaves on Friday evening, and gets back Sunday morning, so hopefully that will give me some extra time for homework and to get some crochet projects finished. She's just thrilled about going to camp, because she'll get to spend time with her best friend Madison. They've known each other since they were babies, but they go to different schools, so they only see each other regularly at Girl Scouts activities/camp, summer camp, birthday parties, and the occasional play date, so Bethany really misses her. Here's a picture of my daughter and Madison (my daugher is the one on the right) from this past October when they went to "horse camp" in rural Ashtabula County, Ohio (about an hour and a half drive from Cleveland). I have an adorable picture of my daughter with a horse at camp, and if I can get my scanner to work, I'll scan it and post it.