March Sticky Notes

Dear Bank Lady (4th St Location):
Clearly, although you are a manager here, you do not have children. I know that you were doing this with the best of intentions, but if a toddler is happily eating a fruit bar, PLEASE DON'T OFFER THE TODDLER CHOCOLATE EGGS. I mean, I do let Am have chocolate - but only as a treat, or as a reward. Am (of course) didn't want to eat the fruit bar, in favor of the egg. I swooped in & commandeered the chocolate egg, insisting that she finish her fruit bar before shiny foil-covered egg consumption. It would have served you right, Bank Lady, if Am would have had a full-scale fit over it. Instead, the fates were merciful, and Am powered through that fruit bar faster than I've ever seen. A happy ending, although it was a little tense for a moment there.

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Dear Cat:
I love you too, but srsly. NEED SUM SPACE, PLEEZ MOVE BACK A STEP.

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Dear Post-Partum Depression:
I'm going to get you yet. If positive friends, loving family, funny children, holidays, exercise, eating right, & lengthening days don't get you, the anti-depressants I've just started will. Pack your bags, you sad, sticky little puddle of misery & self doubt that's been tracking yourself all over the inside of my head. I'm tired of trying to pretend that you're not there. Go away.

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Dear T___:

I've never met you, but you are clearly an idiot. Stupid dork. I'd unfriend you on Facebook, but I'm still debating stalking you malevolently.

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Dear Laundry:
Of course I'm joking about stalking. You & I have too much time committed together, laundry, for me to ever think about taking up another hobby*.

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Dear Knitting:

You know that you're important. Maybe it's only a row every day, but you know, two of my three projects (the grey(t) cardi & the mobius cowl) are in that perilous 'finishing' stage, where they aren't small enough to be portable or easily tossed to the side whilst parenting. (The other one, my mistake shawl, is my portable purse knitting. I know if I take it out to work on at home that I will regret it because I'll forget it on a big 'waiting time' errand day.) It's dangerous, but I think I need a new project. Maybe the Big Merino I just scooped from TKR...

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Dear Everyone:
Did you know that there are some truly hideous things that you can do with super bulky yarn? It's like the super bulky has a high enough specific gravity that it attracts extra stupid ideas. Actually, a lot of the super bulky yarns I saw were spectacularly ugly enough that it's possible they snuck into our world from an alternate dimension. I think I read a Stephen King short story about that...

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Dear Bank Lady (At Crowfoot):
I fully applaud your effort with the mouse stamp - but the toddler was not going to be appeased by anything today. On the other hand (my right hand, actually), I am enjoying my mouse stamp immensely. (Several hours later, Am is admiring my stamp, & maybe a little jealous.)

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Dear Knitting Muse:
I know I've been having a hard time with creativity & focus lately. It's the depression. I hope the pills won't affect either my libido OR creative drive. It's a while yet before they kick in. Until then, yeah, it's probably best if I don't invest too much energy into a new super-bulky project - because the world already has enough hideous giant variegated ponchos, it's true. Too bad I don't have enough for a mother/daughter/daughter project...

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Dear Paint Cans:
I'm very excited to see you too. It will be intersting trying to paint with the kids, the man's travel schedule, and, um. That's actually enough to make it interesting.

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Dear Laundry & Knitting:
Yes, we're painting. Rather a lot of the house, actually. It'll be fine.

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And most of all...

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Dear Amoryn & Eleni:
You were both so beautiful today, in the afternoon sunlight. I am so glad that we were all in a happy mood together in Am's room, reading books as the light & warmth poured in. This is what I want more of. Love, Mama/Mommy/MOMMMM!

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*I was stalked - briefly & unpleasantly - so I feel quite fine about making stalker jokes. PS: Canada's anti-stalking laws SUCKED about ten years ago; I hope they've improved since then. Thankfully, I have had no reason to know.

I Am Not Feeling Better.

I don't like it when my child shrieks in my face. Today, I walked away and left her to scream it out, by herself, in her bedroom.
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It's better than screaming at her.
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It was such a fun & promising morning, and now feels like such a crap day.

Wainapanapa

Copy of Maui10 1125, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

A black sand beach. (More like black pebbles, really.) Amoryn was having so much fun 'coloring' in the sand; she almost snapped a biscuit when we had to go.
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"But sweetie, the tide is coming in."
"NOOOOOOOOO!"

The Top Of The World

Copy of Maui10 902, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

Or at least the top of Maui. Haleakala, to be exact.

Yes Virginia, You Can Get A Time Out On The Beach

Copy of Maui10 1636, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

As Amoryn learned.

(Although it's a time-out rock, not a time-out chair.)

Beach Family Robinson

Copy of Maui10 1421, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

At Honokowai (aka "Baby Beach"), right next to our condo. One of the few photos of the four of us.

Their Just Desserts

Copy of Mom 1082, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

Everyone got dessert - Amoryn got ice cream & a cookie with her grilled cheese sandwich.
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I got the dairy free mango sorbet. (Man, dessert menus are pretty desserted when you take out the dairy ingredients...)

Mama's

Copy of Mom 1081, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

This was taken on our last day in Maui - we'd gone to Mama's Fishhouse for lunch. It was marvellous, and we got exactly the table I'd admired as we walked in.
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Side note: I love things like shrugs & 3/4 length sleeves & capris on babies. Too awesome.

And Then They Left!

Copy of Mom 1030, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

Amoryn, looking woeful as her dad & I snorkel off into the near distance. Apparently, at first she was calling "Mom! Mommy! Mom!". Then she really tried to get my attention by calling "Kourtney R_______... Kourtney R_______". Funny.
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(Mom said Am wasn't upset, it was like she was trying to get my attention. I was occupied learning to snorkel, which involves paddling & breathing, and carefully not thinking about my fear of fish, which involved admiring the dancing patterns the light through the water made on the sand.)

A rainbow!

Copy of Maui10 1696, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

There were just tons of rainbows our last week in Maui. Am become a pro at spotting them.
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(I can't seem to find time this week for a proper blog post, so there will be some random pics & snippets from our holiday.)

What I Did On My Winter Vacation

Well, the unpacking/reorganization continues. Overall, I'm pleased with what I packed for clothing - I wore everything but one dress, and I didn't wear it because every time I thought I would, Amoryn was wearing the matching dress. Also, I had to wear a bra with it. (I only wore one once the whole holiday, for date night. Otherwise, it was all bikinis or shelf-bra nursing tanks.)
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I ended up packing too much knitting - not that I packed a lot. It's just that my knitting muse appeared to be on holiday as well. I'd also like to note at this juncture that AGH!, zauberball crazy may be a pleasing ball to look at, but it sucks as either beach or tsunami knitting. Imagine the ball rolling away into either the sand or the ditch. Then imagine me grinding my teeth, recovering the ball, picking all the whatever out of it, and continuing. I shelved it about halfway through the holiday, as I didn't like how it was working out, apart from the sand business. Time to rebrowse patterns.
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There was even one day I didn't knit at all - although I'm giving myself a pass as I spun & plyed 32 yards of yarn out of 9 grams of a silk hankie I'd gotten from Spinknit. I learned that while silk hankies are much nicer in humid climates, I'm still not too fond of them. I did make good friends with my new little Jenkins though.
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Isn't it wee? Don't you love it? I had it delivered to the condo in Maui as I knew that if it got sent to the house, I'd never vacation pack, let alone all the bureaucratic stuff. Here, it's modelling a teeny little bit of bombyx. I love it. It spins like a little dream, and Ed & Wanda are super.
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Speaking of teeny, here is the smallest skein I've ever made. I plyed the singles, and I believe that a two ply will give me a nice lace weight, and a three ply will give me something good for socks. Not that I really knit socks, but you know the weight of yarn that I mean.
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I'd chucked the one silk hankie in, just because I thought 9 grams of fiber on a 10gram spindle should work well. Mostly, I was correct. You can see in the above shot that there's quite a bit of variation in the weight of the single; partially new spindle, mostly that the hankies weren't drafting the way I wanted them too. (IE: evenly.)
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This spindle makes the most endearing wee copps - I can't even tell you.
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I managed to ply all 32 yards onto the spindle at once - although let me let you, that spindle is not really meant for plying. Anything in a pinch, though; a coconut/kukui contraption might have worked better, but then I'd have to have invested time in macguyvering a spindle.


Speaking of macguyvering, and having neglected to pack my niddy-noddy, I wound the skein around a book, and set the twist using the above set-up. My holiday fiction reading is in that bag, the leis are from the luau we went to; and I used Eleni's baby shampoo for the yarn soak.)
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And ta-dah! To the eye, it seems a much darker purple, but in the flash or direct sunlight you get the blue/violet tones. I've knit it into a wee rectangle, that will become a wee baggie to put some odds & ends into. I'd have a photo of that too, but it needs to be blocked, then sewn.
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Oh. Photos of my adorable children, frolicking in the surf? Other holiday type stuff, for the non-knitting, non-spinning crowd? Tomorrow, dudes.
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PS: My displeasure with hankies is exactly that - it's the hankie. Spinknit's colors are gorgeous, and possibly the only thing that will get me to spin up that last hankie (in orange & browns with a little red). Now that I know I don't like to spin with hankies; no more hankies for me! (A little like how I feel about regular tip Addis. Maybe for you, but not for me.)

Ah, Home Again

Yes, we're home safe & sound. I'm currently mired in the post-vacation laundry & unpacking festival. There's always a point where I wonder if going on holiday was really worth it, what with having to wash & reorganize what seems like the entire universe... then I remind myself that this is a great chance to really look at everything, cull what doesn't need to be around, and cleanse & reorganize the important stuff. It's amazing what you can find in the oddest places, and what you lose that's out in plain sight.

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For example, anyone seen the baby lately? I know she's around here somewhere...

What A Day

Eleni laughed for the first time today.

Like her first smile, it was a gift she gave to me. This holiday has been incredible - sunshine, beaches, whales, turtles, rainbows, more beaches. I can't imagine a more aloha moment than a baby's first laugh.

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I remember Amoryn's first laugh (I was making a fake telephone noise - anyone remember the aliens from Sesame Street tyring to talk to the phone?). I was so surprised, and delighted. She giggled a lot for us that evening.

We've been giggling a lot this trip - she's taken to making a dun-Dun-DUN sound effect, but her intonation makes it more "Ton-Ton-Ton". Which is hilarious.

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Off to bed; I need lots of rest to keep up with the giggles & everything else we've got planned for tomorrow.

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PS: Amoryn says she is happy. She also says her mommy never smiles, not never, but that's when she's talking to her 'husband' on the phone.

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PPS: If I'm ever having a hard day with the girls, remind me about that wonderful day on Maui where we went to the beach & Am & I saw a real, live, humuhumunukanukapua'a & El laughed for the first time.

Aloha, Aloha, Aloha

Oh, we've been busy.

(Wainapanapa Beach)

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The posts are infrequent because a) travelling with two babies leaves less spare time & b) travelling with one laptop, not two, results in a real computer time issue. And it's the man's computer, so I don't want to enable the whatever so that I can upload to Flickr & Facebook. So. Dribs & drabs.

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(Haleakala Crater.)

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Spectacular dribs & drabs, true!

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It's all so splendid, even with this week being a little windy & rainy.

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The rain meant that there were some awesome waterfalls to see today from the helicopter, and the scattered clouds make the beach easier.

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Not that the beach is so hard, eh?
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PS: Still mentally writing the knitting post, expanded to include spinning. Still learning things; post may be delayed until I'm home.