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The Kia Soul is a compact, mini MPV  produced in South Korea.
I have to admit it was a bit of an impulse purchase., but I love it.  When I confessed that to my oldest daughter, she said “why didn’t you just get a new pocketbook!”.

I’ve had a pretty busy two weeks.  I went with my girlfriend to visit her mom in Mount Desert Island, ME .  EIGHT hours drive from here where it rained the whole 4 days!

When I returned home AJ was here to visit and I took my grandson and my nephew to Lake Compounce for a 6 hour visit.

Yesterday my brother came down from Pittsfield, MA to pick up two queen sized mattresses from a neighbor who is cleaning out her daughters condo and I had to schlep mattresses with him from the second floor of the unairconditioned condo.  Then we bought her 9 bags of mulch as a thank-you because the place where he works stopped making mulch. 

All the while my smallest grandchildren were there begging me to take them to the Kid Museum in Middletown or to Lake Compounce.  Time has no meaning to them. I compromised and took Jake and Ryan to see ICE AGE #3 in 3-D.   Ryan left extracting a promise to take her to Lake Compounce next week.  We had grinders from the pizza place for dinner. I’m tired just writing about it.

I’m busy these days on face book, so I haven’t even been reading my blogs, but that’s because Amy, Paula, and Cynthia are slackers when it comes to blogging.   What?  Just because they have new babies?

 Also the the baby sweater knitted with the mystery yarn?   Remember that.  I lost it in the test drive of my new car only to find it when I came back to pick up the purchased car. I took it to Maine and forgot it there.  At least it’s all done.  Well almost.  I attached 3 i-cords and need to make the 4th to finish.   Hopefully I can get Louise to mail it back.

I just wrote a whole post and moved away without saving to get a picture and lost it all uggg

 This weekend I went to my grandson’s playoff baseball game.  The were seeded number  8 and played the number 1 team and lost 12 to 9 in the last inning.   The pitching was great.   My grandson the Pitcher !

 After the game we went out to dinner - his choice of places - any restaurant on the Berlin Turnpike or in Wethersfield or Rocky Hill (I was hoping for Saybrook Fishhouse).   We went to Taco Bell and then to UP in 3-d.   What a great movie. 

Later we walked Beckette and he dodged another “bag pick up”.

My granddaughter, while I”m on the subject of grandchildren went to visit her Uncle Chris and Aunt Beth this weekend.  I think they spoiled her, which is not hard to do.  Her is Ryan and also my unnamed Granddaughter

And let’s not forget my youngest grandson, Jake, who will perform Yankee Doodle Dandy at Miss Joni’s pre-k graduation on Wednesday!

Here he is, Mr. Blueberry Eyes himself: 

I didn’t mention that I forgot to make button holes in the sweater mentioned in the last post.  I bought some ribbon and used snaps instead.  I think I’m going to take off the front snaps and put ribbon on that side too.  Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

I just need to weave in the ends on the baby blanket and I can go back to my “Helen’s custom fit sideways sweater” on Tuesday, and knit in public at Sit N Knit Too in honor of Knit in public day.

Well now it’s 12:16 and all I’ve done today is blog, manage email and pictures and read the morning paper.   Off to be highly effective.   ciao

We’re getting our taxes ready to do the taxes, what this means is (I do the bills in our relationship) and my husband says get me this and get me that (because he does the taxes).

I have been knitting and reading and staying in.  In addition, unbeknown to me, I’ve been growing my hair.  I am in desperate need for a hair cut.  This is what happens when I don’t make an appointment when I leave the shop after a haircut.  Then I start thinking maybe I should grow it longer or maybe cut it really short.  Thinking like that always makes me sorry.

I’ve read Home to Holly Springs, and a book about a father talking about his son’s drug addiction.  I also read a novelette by John Grisham  called The Bleachers.  I’m going to gather the info and put it on the reading page on the blog.  Now I’m reading a Kellerman mystery.

On the knitting front I am working on my Pea-pod baby sweater-set. This is my first time using a knitting chart and I’ve frogged a few times. I thought I was finished and realized that I didn’t make the armholes big enough when I went to put on the sleeves. So I had to frog again.   This is the yarn that I bought when Martine and we snuck up to the Webb’s sale.  The other yarn, grey, is waiting for the perfect men’s sweater pattern.  But the hat’s done (but no picture of the hat). If I don’t put in the stash on Ravelry, does it count?

I also ordered some things from Knit Picks.  I had to…  I stepped on my number 5 interchangeable harmony wood needle and had to reorder another one.  Here’s the catch.  If you order $50 or more they ship it to you free!  Who doesn’t like free?  I bought a few knitting accessories and some sock yarn and the Mason Dixon Knitting Book.  Hey if was 40% off.

At the end of next month my grand-dog is coming to stay a week with us.  I can’t wait.  He is so calm and good.  He even gets along with Miss Princess Fluffy. 

Speaking of Miss fluffy, she is getting to be a hairy beast.  I try to brush her while we are watching Television, but she is impatient with me.  I tell her that she is going to have to get groomed, but she just gives me that stare.  As a parting note, always remember to save before you publish

Christmas was the best time I’ve had for a while, all my children,  grandchildren,  brother and grand-dog, Murphy, were together.  If you know me then you know that I could wish for no more than that! 

When I went to starbucks  in Newington, I saw this wreath:    It’s yarn and Glass balls, pretty cool.

 The day after Christmas I went furniture shopping with my daughter’s boyfriend.  He bought a leather sectional and I bought some glass topped coffee and end tables.  I also applied for some more reasonably priced health insurance, and hope I’m accepted.

 My hubby and I went and saw Doubt,   and boy, MS and PHS are great actors.  My hubby said it was just like being back in middle school.  That night my hubby who has officially listed himself as a professional poker player (to the naive it means he’s made more than he’s lost!) and was playing on  www.pokerstarz.com and won a seat to play in a Poker Tour event at Paradise Island.  The package includes one week at the Atlantis and some spending money.  We’re taking Jet Blue 1/4/09!  Good by snow.

Had a big scare with my daughter, who has been out of work - hence no health insurance - even after I harped all those years on the importance of it — and she thought she’d have to have surgery on her L5 disk.  Wedding / Surgery?  It turned out to be a flase alarm after a second opinion.  The best news is that she starts her new job on 1/6/09.

 On Monday my friend from Canada, Martine, and I went to the blow out sale at Webs.  Since I’m on a yarn diet I only bought some baby yarn for a sweater and couldn’t resist 20 skeins for $60.00, that could be a nice sweater for hubby.

 Then on Tuesday, Martine and I went to Sit N Knit Too hoping that Helen would be there and we’d be able to start on the custom sideways sweater.  Unfortunately Helen was taking some time off.

While I’m sitting here writing I can see  our bird feeder and I wish I’d taken out the  screens so I could see them better.  

I’ve got my shopping done, but have to wrap and send out the Christmas cards.  I always wish I had thought ahead at Thanksgiving when everyone was here to take a Christmas picture.  Then I waste time looking through the years pictures to see if I have one, but I never do.

My grandchildren helped me get out all the Christmas Decorations and decorate the tree last weekend.  Then I got sick.  My first sinus infection of 2008.  Feeling better but tired.  I finished a book about WWII and the internment of Japanese Americans entitled When The Emperor Was Divine.  Now I’m reading a John Connelly book, White Road, about the character Charlie Parker. It’s a sad commentary on the early (or as late at the 60’s) southern folks inhumanity to man.  I also finished the Truman Capote book Summer Crossings.  I think the material was Capote all the way. 

Today I am on the Tyra Banks show and if my son-in-law has recorded it I hope to embed it here!  My loot is starting to come in.  I went back to New York on 12/9 and took Ryan with me.  My daughter, Kate, got tickets to see “Shrek the Musical” and it was wonderful.  We got into the city via Metro North (using Stationstops, my son-in-law’s blog) to navigate the schedule and had time to visit the top of the Empire State Building and American Girl to check out the Doll stuff before the show.  One of the fun things was take a train, pedi-cab, taxi and ferry, all things that you don’t find in Farmington, CT.

I finished the February Lady’s sweater class but not the sweater.  Arms are in order..  I also snuck a class in a Celtic cable neck warmer and am fascinated by it.  I have startitis with 4 projects going.

I am going to do one thing on my to-do list and then go to Radio shack to see of I can get some printer to USB converters.

I LOVE TYRA BANKS

 TYRA, TYRA, TYRA, TYRA, TYRA

On Tuesday I took a train to Grand Central, a bus to the Jersey Ferry to visit my daughter.  The purpose of the visit was to appear in the Great Giveaway Audience on the Tyra Banks Show featuring an entire audience of unemployed people and we all had to wear red t-shirts that said “unemployed”.

Wow, what a day!  I added the list quickly in line for the “loot” and it was about $4000.00 worth of stuff including a laptop.  She said she knew we didn’t have much money for gifts and wanted to help us this Christmas.  Here’s a picture of the stuff, some of in the form of Gift Certificates/vouchers that have to be redeemed.  I don’t know if you noticed or not, but there is  $100 bill from Western Union folded like a shirt on the lower right!.

In addition everything was packed in this bag:

and we got a rolling Reebok bag to take it all home in.

My daughter and I walked down 42nd street and I hopped a bike cab and headed to the train she took the bus to the ferry.  I cannot believe how lucky I am.  Now if only my daughter get the job on Friday, life would be bliss.

It seems kind of mundane to report on my WIPs, but I have assembled that wool sweater and am currently working on the shawl collar.  I ran out of the yarn and had to buy 3 skeins of Mission Falls wool to finish.  I made it 22″ long and if I had made it only 16″ I would have had enough, but, live and learn.

The February Lady’s sweater has been handing on the closet door since before Thanksgiving as I haven’t had enough “quiet time” to do the rest of the lace.  I’m taking it to Turning Stone Casino this weekend and should get quite a bit done.

 I brought my socks that are on the needles to Hoboken and worked on them - maybe 3 inches to go. 

I’m itching to cast on an ear flap hat.