Sharing a name

So I have had a pretty interesting week. My mom called on Tuesday to let me know that a cousin of mine had her baby. While on the phone I ranted to her a little about a fight that my husband and I had got into. My husbands father had passed away a few weeks ago and the arduous task of tying up loose ends has begun. His financial advisor had called us to let us know that one of Dads accounts had beneficiaries listed and so it would not have to go through probate and could be dispersed immediately. He gave us for options, but didn't tell us how much money we were talking. I think this is kind of important when trying to decide what you want done with the money. Anyhow, when we called him back he started asking for all kinds of information like my husbands work info and gross income, and my social security number. Well I refused to give it to my husband. As a side note I think this is both funny and sad. I know his social and he doesn't know mine, so I had the option of refusing and he wouldn't. Then again, I wouldn't just give it out without a logical explanation. Anyhow, I ask why it was needed and the answer was I don't know, he says he needs to open an account for us to get the money. This all may be true, but that was not what was initially told to us, and seemed a little hokey. My thought is he is legally bound to give us this money no matter what. So when my husband got off the phone he was a little upset with me and said you know he can get that information just about anywhere. Now I know that I am not the only person who holds the key to that info, but he would have to work pretty hard to get it.
So as I am telling all this to my mom, she disagreed that it could be found. And I told her that you can get just about anything online anymore if you use the right programs and take the time. Which, by the way I don't think he will do. So as my mom and I are chatting about this, she decides to google my name. I bet you were wondering when I was getting to the topic huh? Anyhow, apparently she had never done this before and was rather surprised to get 4 pages of hits. I had done this before and was not surprised. Now some of you may be confused as to her surprise, and others may be saying 4 pages big deal, I get 40. But here is the kicker. My mom made up my name and I have never seen it anywhere before. It is spelled Mikalan, and pronounced Michael Ann. So 4 pages is a lot. The most surprising thing though was that they were not all in reference to me. There were some for a real estate agent in Lake Oswego, OR. Now I had seen these before when I had google myself and just figured that it was an ethnic name that sounded very different. But on Tuesday I decided to email her and ask. Much to my surprise she pronounces it the same way. She is 4 years older than me, so I am no longer the original, or unique. It is a strange feeling to say or type your name in reference to someone else, if you never have before.
I have given all my kids names that are not very common, but are by far unique. I wanted them to have a name that was theirs. My sister was a Sarah, along with 5 other little girls in her first grade class and I never wanted that for my kids. But, I have never heard or seen my name before. Sure I have heard things close like Mikayla Ann, but that is still different. So now I share a name with someone else. For me it is a strange feeling, and yet I imagine I am not too likely to run into her so it wont really be a problem. My mom said that the next thing we know it will be on the top 10 baby names, and all because I moved to the East coast and have spread the contact that was once limited to the West coast. I don't suppose that year in Minnesota hurt things either. Of course I don't think my name will ever make the top ten, or even become common, but I guess I need to prepare for the eventuality of hearing it more. TTFN, Miki

More about the Ugly Necklace

Well, I was so excited about the contest, that I forgot to mention which one was theirs. It is the one by Lisa Matthews. Lisa and Angie worked on the necklace together and Angie wrote the poem. TTFN, Miki

Ugly Necklace Contest

Hey guys my friend Angie, (bubba to all her friends) entered an Ugly Necklace Contest with a friend. They were one of the top ten finalist. You can go to the link and vote and maybe they will win. Angie wrote the poem which I love. Check it out at ugly necklace

Flowers

Ihave been busy finishing up my nieces birthday gift and some simple gifts for my mother and grandmother for Mothers Day. Now I have put it off much to long, and will need to send them express to get them there on time. But I think it will be worth the extra money. I had decided to give my niece the felted hat her sister hadnt chosen. She had fallen in love with it when she saw it it January, and I almost gave it to her then, but my sister said she already had a felt hat from me. Well, too bad, now she is getting another! ;) Anyhow, I decided to jazz it up a bit and at the same time use some of my leftover wool from making hats. I bought the flower pattern from Kangamooknits, and away we went. I made a rose and a bachelor button, and a picot flower. The bachelor button is on the hat right now. The rose for her is the pale pink and the picot is the aqua flower. I then decided to make mom and grandma rose corsages for Mothers Day. They are red,and hot pinkish. They all turned out great. I think the picot is my least favortie, as you cant see the edge detail. I have glued and sewn pin backs on all of them, so they can wear them on anything they want. Also my niece can mix and match on her hat. I think the bachelor button looks best though. TTFN, Miki

Sorry about the mess

Now I am truly embarrassed. When I took the quilt pictures...I was focused on the quilt, not the mess my husband made when he unpacked. Sorry that you all had to see that. -miki

Quilt pictures

Here are some pictures of the quilts my husband brought home. The crazy quilt is mostly satin. The patchwork is mostly 60's polyester.

Genealogy Happy Dance

So my husband has returned from Oregon. His father has not passed, but is in a comatose state, and expected to die soon. So, the kids have begun the process of setteling the estate. They started by going through his personal belongings. Surprisingly there were no fights. Each child got what they wanted. What a peaceful way to deal with stressful circumstances. Anyhow, Tuesday morning after he got back to Virginia, he unpacked everything in the living room. He had told me very little about what he had brought home. Boy was I in for a surprise. He started by handing me two letter size boxes. I opened the first and was surprised to find his fathers high school diploma. The second held his mothers diploma, and their wedding invitation, and marriage license. I was so happy, and he knew I would be. He then told me that his brother and sister had wanted to throw them away. What? I am so glad they didn't. Before he had left I had mentioned that I didnt want any paperwork thrown away. No letters or anything because you just never know what "innocent" information it may contain that can give me a key to getting new information. A name, a date, and address, anything. I think he got a little sick of me mentioning it everytime we spoke, but at least he got the idea. Thinking that was all he had brought home, I was very pleased. Then he handed me this strange little white leather apron with a triangular flap on the front. ??? I had no idea what this was. I lifted the flap and there was his grandfathers name and initiation dates and such for the Masonic lodge he was a part of. I had no idea which lodge it was until now. More info. YEAH! Then he handed me a ziploc freezer bag with some yellowed papers in it. When I pulled the papers out, I saw it was his grandmothers highschool memory book, or senior year journal. It was well worn, with lots of newspaper clippings and photos. Most of it is unimportant to me, but our high school commencement program was in it, as was her wedding announcement. That contained some info for me. He then handed me a large stack of photos most of which I had seen when I put his fathers scrapbook together. However in this stack was his fathers draft card. Yeah! Then he started unpacking odds and end stuff, mainly knick knacks. In the odds and ends was a medallion locket. It was his grandmothers and has her initials on the back. It is flat like a coin. When I opened it, it had a picture of her mother and father. I had never seen these pictures so this was exciting. All in all, I got lots more stuff, and stuff that most genealogist would love to have, and I now know that I have trained my husband well in the art of family archiving. Oh yeah he also brought home a cool crazy quilt done with mainly satins that were his grandmothers gowns from when she performed. We have always loved this quilt and when we were home in August he almost packed it in our bag, but thought twice and decided not to. As it turned out, we got it anyway, so it didnt matter. TTFN, Miki

Shout Out to BoneZmama designs

Okay so one of my best friends in the whole wide world has taken a GIANT leap of faith, and started her own business. Us girls have been encourageing her to do this for years, and now the time is right. She does customizable painting from the funky to the fun to the whatever you are looking for. She is great fun to work with, and does some AMAZING stuff. I have already posted pictures of a few of her creations ( finger puppets and skater hat). Please check out her website. You can get there from the link on my sidebar. boneZmama desgins. TTFN,miki

Answers to questions about the UFO

So, Mary wanted to know if it was needlepoint. It is actually cross stitch. A few years ago, my SIL was purging her craft stuff. She called me up knowing that I have done cross stitch in the past as she had boxes of patterns and cloth and baby blankets and much more. I didnt take a whole lot of what she had as we have very dissimilar tastes. She leans more to the country look, which I think is nice in some things, but not everywhere. Anyhow she had a pattern book that had lots of breadclothes and napkins, placemats, and dish towel patterns. I figured there were a few in there that I could do. She also had the precut, and edged placemat fabric. She then told me that she had bought it intending to do the sunflower placemats, but that her tendonitis got so bad (sound familiar) that she was unable to do them. At that moment a light bulb went off. She is hard for me to buy for and she had a birthday coming up. I could make these for her! Well I got right to it, and soon found my hands would not let me complete them quickly. On her birthday I wrapped the one I had finished for her and told her I would finish the rest. She was very pleased. Unfortunately that was about 2 years ago. I have since purchased cute blue and white gingham napkins to go with them, and have looked to no avail for sunflower napkin rings. I think she has probably forgotten about the gift and will be surprised to get it. I will continue to look for napkin rings, and may be make some myself as a last resort. But, that will have to be a gift for another time.

I have a few more UFO's to complete, but the weather is soooo nice (alergies aside) and I still need to finish planting my garden. I also have a growing list of new projects to start as I have two cousins and a neighbor who are expecting very soon. I still need to finish the felted flowers I am making for my niece. She really loved the hat her sister didnt choose, so she will be getting it for her birthday in May. I decided to add a couple of felted flower pins to it, that she can wear on it, or take off, or put on something else. I am not totally please with how they have turned out so far. Again, I am beginning to think it is my washing machine. Don't get me wrong. I love the washer, but I haven't mastered felting in it yet.

Now, a question for Mary. Did you ever knit anything with that watercolor yarn you liked so well in my nieces poncho? TTFN, Miki

One UFO done!!!

Yeah! I finally got the placemats done. I had given these as a gift to my SIL two years ago for her birthday. I had hoped to have them done for her birthday, but then I started having some very serious tendonitis problems with my hands, and was only able to work on them for about 5 minutes without pain. So, now my hands are better, which I attribut to my knitting, and they are finally done. I had hoped to have them finished to send back with my husband today, but I didn't I am just glad they are finished. They still need to be washed and pressed, but at least I dont have to stitch them any more, and I have a UFO dont. Horray for me. TTFN

Keeping too busy to blog

Well there goes the writing at least once a week. I have been trying to work out more so I can drop a few pounds that I gained since moving to Virginia. I have been trying to get a garden planted between rain showers. I have been ferrying two of my children from baseball and softball practices and games. I have been consumed by birthday parites that my children are attending. And to top it all off, my father in law has been in the hospital for a little over two weeks. So, we have been trying to stay close to home so that if need be we can jump on a plane to go home. Well, on Monday evening, they gave him less than three hours to live. He is still with us, but is very touch and go. My husband is flying home today. I am beginning to feel like he is waiting for him to get there. For his sake, I hope he goes quickly and painlessly. This has been a long roller coaster of a few weeks for us, and has to be a little uncomfortable for him also. The doctors have him on morphine to make him comfortable until he passes. My kids are greiving and this has been very hard on all of us. Not to mention that at night we are only sleeping half way, waiting to hear the phone ring. I love my father in law, and wish that it wasnt playing out this way, but I am ready for it to be over. He is sick, weak and confused, and has no quality of life. Just Sunday he was asking where mom was and when she was coming to visit. Mom died a little over 9 years ago. My kids and I believe in spirits. We think that in one of his more critical moments she came to him, and now he is confused and wonders where she is. The kids know that Grandma is waiting for him, and this has made this whole process easier. TTFN, miki

How do you appease the travel gods?

So I was thinking the whole trip to New York was just a strange mishap. But, now I am wondering what we have done to upset the travel gods. Yesterday we drove the about 1 1/2 hours to Montpellier to pick up my husbands sister to visit and see the sites in DC(another about 1 1/2 hrs. away). She flew in the day before from Vancouver, WA from a Constitutional Connects symposium. We figured she was close enough and we would at least get some quality time and a good meal out of the trip. Well that was not to be the case. For those of you who have never been to Montpellier, it is in the middle of nowhere. It is a beautiful estate, but as my husband said, both Jefferson and Washington had better views. And Washington was closer to DC, and Jefferson closer to Charlottsville. Anyhow, my husband made a wrong turn leaving and added an extra hour onto the trip. But that was not the worst part. We had picked the kids up early and they had been doing homework in the car and the two older ones said they werent feeling well. Logically we thought they must be car sick as they had been looking down and we were on a pretty curvy road. Now mind you we have always traveled a lot in the car and they have never been carsick before. Well, we were wrong. They spent the rest of the evening puking. But they didnt start until we were on our way to DC, so my poor sister in law was stuck. Then we modified our siteseeing for them and their younger sister got sick. So here we are in the middle of DC, with three kids puking. There goes the nice dinner. So, it was crazy. Of course the batteries in my digital camera died and I couldnt find anyplace open to replace them. I had told my sister in law I would burn her a disc on the drive back. Well with the camera dead, I said I will just use what I already have on the computer. Of course there will be no cherry blossoms, but I will do my best. Well the darn computer was refusing the disc. So, no pictures either. I will burn it and send it to her later. So, what do I need to do to make our trips less faterul in the future? TTFN, miki

Surprise Anniversary gifts

My husband is such a romantic. All of my friends are jealous and their husbands now hate him. Oh well...they will get over it. We just celebrated out 14th wedding anniversary. To surprise me, he bought tickets to New York, made reservations at Sardi's, and then tickets to see Rent on Broadway. We flew in for just the day and night and then flew back the next morning. What a fun trip. However after much planning and such, his trip did not go as he had envisioned. The airline lost our luggage, and instead of sight seeing and going to dinner, we spent the first few hours in New York getting me clothes and shoes suitable for dinner. Then when we checked into the hotel room, it was FLITHY. I complained and they upgraded us, but still a bummer. So then we went to will call to pick up our tickets and while we were charged for Orchestra we were given rear mezzanine(the back row). That was still ok because it was a small theater. But we still have to deal with the ticket agency about a credit. Then my husband tells me that he had first purchased ticket to see Spamalot, but that the company he purchased them from as appartanly gone out of business and last minute Rent was all he could get.

Well, needless to say I thought the trip, was wonderful. But he didnt. It wasnt what he planned and sometimes it his hard to get past that vision. Rent was awesome! What amazing vocal talent these people have. The airlines did find our bag. Yeah! But did not want to compensate us in any way for the inconvience. They finally gave us 2 twenty five dollar vouchers for our next flight. Not much considering I had to spend 117 for clothes and shoes, and I will never wear the shoes again, because they hurt my feet. I will write the airline over this one.

Also we missed our reservation at Sardi's, but were able to go there after the musical, but the airline doesnt need to know that. Dinner was good. The company was excellent, and the first time in a long time, we were away from our kids overnight. Hey this could be a Visa commerical. Didnt I see somewhere that they were doing a contest for the best written priceless commerical. I'd say one night a s grown ups is priceless, even with all the mix ups. I think I will work on that idea. I guess it doesnt hurt to try right? TTFN, miki

Socks!

So, I FINALLY finished the socks I have been working on. They were knit in Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn, color Jelly bean. When I first chose the yarn, I thought I would like it. However, I dont know how often I will wear these socks. I am not real confident with the colors. I also am less than thrilled with the pattern I chose to knit. This is the second time I used this pattern(the one that came with the socks), and I really dont like the fit. The first ones I knit actually fit a little better. Hmm. Oh well. So, while looking for some more Moda Dea yarn, I came accross a color of Magic Stripes I didn't have. It was Stonewashed Blue. I bought some and decided to use the Moda Dea sock pattern with it. First off, I love this yarn. I love the colors!!! Second, I think I will like this pattern better. It is a 2x2 rib for the entire upper part. The Lion Brand sock is only about 10 rows of 1x1 rib. I think this makes the sock to loose. I cant wait to see how these socks turn out. I am making them in a size medium. I hope they fit me. Of course, if they dont, I have two girls who both ask me to give them to them...so they might end up with this first pair, and I will have to make another pair for me.

I have also been kicking around the idea of dyeing my own yarn. There is a gentleman I became accquainted with online via the sweater machine group on yahoo. He lives in New Orelans, and has decided to quit his job and start his own business. As part of his business he is designing colorways for wool yarn. I love some that he has shared pictures with on his blog, www.raywhiting.com/MyLife/. His pictures and experiences have inspired me to try this. I have also thought about letting my girl scouts dye some cotton, like some Cream and Sugar, and then have them knit it into a small purse. I think this could be a fun experience.

Speaking of Girls Scouts, we are right in the heat of cookie sales, and my house is full of cookies. It is SO hard to not eat them!

A good friend of mine sent me a link to a blog that I now want to share. It was VERY funny. You too can laugh till you cry at www.thesneeze.com. I particularly like steve dont eat it. You can find it on the side bar under first time here this is a good place to start, or something like that.

Anyhow, enjoy the links and the pictures. TTFN, Miki

new hat

So, i got my new carriage a day or so ago, and it seems to be not jamming on the needle butts. Yeah!! I wasnt really in the mood to start any new project, but wanted to try out the new carriage. So, I made the March free pattern from Kangamooknits.com. I made it in a purple, Iris I think. I still need to seam the back, but it was quick and easy, and will hopefully fit my girls. If not, my sister in law told me her aunt had breast cancer and as a result of treatment would soon be losing her hair. She had decided not to go the wig route and was thinking of just wearing hats. She ask if I could make a felted one. I said yes, but would probably have to line it as it may be a little itchy on her head. She said she would get back to me. I also offered the skater beanie style chemo cap. This one may be a little cuter than that. It almost reminds me of a bonnet for an adult. We'll see how it looks when seemed. TTFN, Miki

My Rant about the DMV

Let me just start by saying that I know most of these people work hard, and try to do their job right. Today I went to the DMV to get my Virginia License and to get plates for my car. This is something we did a month or so for my husbands, but we hadn't done mine yet. Now getting a title and registration in Minnesota was easy. Getting a license there was a whole other fiasco. Needles to say in Minnesota I went to the DMV twice and still didn't leave with a license. In Minnesota they mail your license to you. It took me over two months and several phone calls for it to finally arrive in my mailbox. Their reason for not giving it to you the day you pay for it, well it is this special new security feature. Frankly I couldn't find it. It had micro printing and a bar code and a hologram just like my Oregon license. Oh well! Anyhow in Minnesota they wanted my birth certificate and my official registrar stamped marriage license, not the fancy one. I of course didn't have it, and when I mentioned it to my friends and family none of them had theirs either. I ask if they would take my Social Security card as I had to have a copy of my marriage license to get it. They said no as it isn't a form of ID(what?) and doesn't show the progression of my name. Whatever! Anyone so now here we are in Virginia. The first time we went to the DMV to register my husbands car we didn't plan on getting our license so we didn't have our birth certificates. We expected to have to take a written test. This was not the case. They told us, after we ask what we would need, we needed birth certificate, proof of our address, and the marriage license for me. So when we went back to do our license, that is what we brought,.....But no we needed our social security card or at least something official that shows our number and name, like a W2. Well fortunately we had my husbands W-2's in the car, but as I don't work outside the home, I was outa luck. How strange we weren't told we needed them, and stranger still, I was told at one point not to carry my card as it wasn't ID. Hmmm..., well then what is it? So here we are at today. I got everything together. Had some trouble finding the marriage license, but left for the DMV. Waited about an hour and when we got to the desk, I had forgotten the title to the car. I was told it couldn't be registered without. Well why not, we didn't have the title to my husband, just the registration and they registered it. I was told they shouldn't have because it is hard to get a title in VA if you have lost it. What? All you have to do is a lost title search with the VIN. How stupid do these people think I am? Anyhow now I have to go back with the title tomorrow as my Minnesota plates expire tomorrow. So now on to the license. She takes the paperwork I give her, doesn't even look at the marriage license and gives me a new license. Now I am really irritated. Why have rules and regulations, and policies if you can pick and choose which ones you are going to follow? My husband said I pissed the lady off and she was going to put me to the bottom of the picture taking pile. Maybe she did, we were there a while longer. I guess having lived in 3 states in 3 years and having to jump through each states hoops, makes me wish that we could all decide on what is needed and then follow through with it. And if a Social Security card isn't ID, stop asking me for my number on every little form I fill out. That's all for now, Miki

Birthday Week

Whew! My week of birthdays and parties is OVER! Thank goodness. I am not sure how much more I could take. My twins' birthday was on Tuesday. They turned ten. We had their party with about 20 4th graders on Sat.. My youngest daughters birthday was Thursday. She turned 6. So, on Sat. we had a party for her friends. So, needless to say no knitting has been accomplished this week other than the hat for my cousin. Which I still need to send. This week is scheduled to be another crazy week so, I dont know how much I am going to get done as far as knitting goes this week. The older girls are still cheering for basketball, my son starts baseball practice. My youngest starts Karate lessons, and then their is girl scouts. I will be doing a lot of driving just to get them where they need to go. Someone on the sweater machine group on Yahoo has inspired me to knit some summer tops. I am not sure however I have a yarn and can/want to use. I will also need to adapt a pattern from handknitting. There are lots of really cool patterns in the recent knitting mags. Also, after getting no response back from the group about the problems I was having with the machine, I called Bond-America, the suppliers, manufacturers, whatever. Anyhow Laurie, the women I spoke with said that it sounded like the carriage was funky and she would send me a new one. I sure hope this fixes the problem. What great customer support!!! I have only heard one bad thing about their customer support and it really surprised me, because I have never had any difficulties. This person eventually had their problem dealt with, but had to send her machine into them, and I dont think she has gotten it back yet. Well, I need to get the kids moving a little faster or they will miss the bus. TTFN

Hooded Poncho Yarn

Mary, the yarn I used in the hooded poncho is Red Heart Yarn, color water color. I also did a blanket in a variegated purple and green and tan that patterned up into an argyle. Unfortunatley that is before I had a digital camera, so I didnt get a picture of it. I hope this helps, and have fun knitting something spectaular with this yarn.

So, here it is another hat, which I guess in my group of friends and family I have become notorious for. When I was back in Oregon, and I gave my sister all the cool stuff I made for her new baby, my Aunt Kathy ask if I was still making hats. Of course I still make them. She said she wanted one for her daughter Bonnie who is a Junior or Senior, I dont remember which at the University of Oregon. She was hoping I could do it in Green and Yellow. Now dont get me wrong, I am one of the biggest Duck fans ever. You have to root for your school right. And I have my share of green and yellow attire, but a hat I dont know. I had a great dark green one I wore to cold games and loved it, but the yellow is soooo bright, I dont think I could pull it off, but maybe for a game. Anyhow, I came home, my sister suggested I try the Patons Merino Classic Wool. They had just started carring it at her Joannes and she wanted to know how it felted. She also knew that I hadnt found a Brown Sheep distributor locally and knew I wouldnt have time to buy direct. So I went to my local Ben Franklin, which has a great selection of yarn for a craft store and they had the perfect color in it, Bottle Green. I then found a bright yellow fun fur, not sure of its name as I cant find the label, but it is the only bright yellow. I then knit the fur with some Lambs Pride in Lemon Drop, and had this green and yellow hat. The green felted great, the yellow could have felted better, but when coupled with the fast felting green, I had to stop felting it. I hope she likes and wears the hat. I still think it would be a game day only hat, but she may think differently. I knit the hat from the Kangamooknits pattern, and did it on my USM.
I am beginning to have problems with my USM, it seems like the carriage is sitting lower on the bed. The carriage keeps catching on the needle butts. It is VERY frustrating. I think I remem

The hooded poncho

I had a comment on one of my entries....Yeah someone is looking at my blog. I dont know why this excites me so, but it does. I responded to the comment in the comment section. I am not sure the person who wrote it will see it, so I will also respond here. This seems a tad more efficient to me anyhow.

So the answer to the comment is yes, I did knit the hooded poncho. I knit it on my machine, from a kangamooknits.com pattern. The yarn used was a varigated one from Red Heart. I dont know the color off the top of my head, but saved the label for when I finally get around to making my knitting journal. I love the way it self patterned into a pseudo intarsia. The ponchos were gifts for all my nieces last Christmas. I have also given them as gifts to most of the little girl friends of my daughters on their birthday. For me this is a inexpensive gift, that is quick to do. One poncho takes about 2 hours, and when using Red Heart, or Simply Soft, my preferred yarn, costs me only about 10 dollars.

Also I must apoligize for the picture being sideways. I had recently taken it on my trip home and hadnt even gotten to the point of turning all the pictures when I started to add them. I was just finally happy to get the pictures to add. The strange thing is I didnt do anything different and this time they showed up. Oh well live and learn. TTFN, Miki