I've created a monster

Well, as most of you have learned I love to crochet. My latest projects have been gifts for a friend and her brother who both had birthdays earlier this week. I finished the scarf for SD and I wanted to take a picture to add here and also to my folder of my finished projects. Since SD arrived late last evening and I have not had a chance to see him to give him his present I asked my younger son to model it for my pictures. He did not know what model meant, but he sure worked the camera. This was the first picture I took. This was his idea of modeling the scarf! Where did my son learn that to model a piece of clothing he had to look like an ultra cool dude? I was half expecting him to give me a slight nod and say, "Hey, baby. What'cha doing?"

Pinewood Derby results

After dealing with the overly obsessed Joe with regards to the Pinewood Derby this year, I could not wait for this day to be over. I enjoyed the race and I had a blast! I guess I was just so tired of the whole fierce determination that Joe had for our boys to win. All that aside, it was a great race! Our elder son's car was created to be a speeding monster, while the younger seemed more a looker. Well, our happiness was great when the results were given and both boys were in the top five for speed and can now compete in the District race April 1st. First place went to "The Amazing Teardrop" and fifth place was the Americana car (or Washington, DC car, which ever you prefer). I was happy that both boys placed and that we did not have the problem of what if one did and the other did not.

Mirror Twins

I was watching the neatest show tonight on the Discovery Health Channel called " America's Most Identical Twins Test". On this show they brought on sets of identical twins to see which are the most alike through the same tests. I saw the clothes shopping, eating, and dating segments. It was amazing to see how similar some were. After each commercial break they would come back on with a twin fact. The most interesting one was about mirror twins. It gave a percentage of identical mirror twins where one also has what is called situs inversus, where the bodies organs are flipped or mirrored from normal organ placement. Most mirror twins have opposite features (i.e.: one will be left handed while the other is right handed, mirror dental x-rays, hair parts or grows mirrored). If you would like to see this show it will air again on Sunday, March 19th at 12pm.

That Crazy Woman in the Store...That's me!

Now that I have mentioned a few of Joe's oddities I thought I should admit a few of my own to help him feel a little better. So prepare yourselves for a small glimpse inside the mind of a confessed fanatic!

First off we will start with books. When I was a child and more so in middle and high school you would be lucky to find me reading a book. I had a few favorites, but not much peaked my interest. Then about a year after I graduated from high school I was introduced to Jane Austen (see Janeite Clarification). Since then my list of favorite authors has grown. Some of my favorite books are from the Regency period of English literature. Jane Austen is of course first on my list. Some of my other favorites are Charlotte Bronte, Janette Oke, Gilbert Morris and Jane Peart. Reading is a great thing, but I took it to another level. I then started collecting books. It all started when a local library had a book sale. After that I was a goner! I do have an accomplice aka my best friend, JoJo. She has also picked up this obsession, though I must admit she has more self-restraint than me. Joe was making fun of me while I was planning for another book sale fix with JoJo last Friday. On the computer I opened the list of books I have to see which ones I wanted to find. I then explained to Joe that my list was a good thing so that I do not go out and buy duplicate books. After this explanation he conceded and was very proud of me.

Second is the yarn thing. I have wanted to learn to crochet for a long time, but I finally learned a little over a year ago. Since then I have gone a little overboard. It all started out pretty harmless. I only bought yarn when I was starting a specific project. When that changed I cannot remember. So far in the 16(ish) months since I started crocheting I have completed 21 projects. If I continue at this rate I currently have enough yarn for 2-3 years of work. Now you would think that would keep me from buying more, but alas (and to my poor husband's dismay) no. I still continue to buy even more yarn. I have two projects in progress right now, three waiting and many more in mind. This has become a relaxing hobby, which I greatly enjoy. Then my yarn monster comes out. YARN, YARN!! MUST HAVE MORE YARN!! All I can do is just go along with it! ;)

Further Loss of a Great Mind

As if we needed any more evidence of Joe losing his mind, here is another example! He and I were discussing something this evening and he refused to answer the question I asked based on the fourth amendment of the Constitution. I was confused and asked what was the fourth amendment. He said that it was about incriminating oneself. Guess I learned the wrong amendment for that one! Sorry honey!

The Loss of a Great Mind

We were on our way home after stopping by my parents' house when our eldest son made one of the funniest comments. Joe commented on a bush that is on the side of my parents' driveway. It is in the corner of where you park and the area to turn around. It was once, over 11 years ago, a beautiful miniature wisteria vine. Then Joe and I started dating and that was the poor plant's downfall. For some reason Joe could not keep from constantly running over this poor wisteria vine, even though it is at least four feet from the edge of the driveway (and the vine is 3-4' high and 2-3' wide). Well, our eldest son was informed tonight of his father's inability to avoid trying to kill this plant when he would back up. This started the discussion on who was the best driver, Joe or myself, between our boys. They began to over exaggerate how many wrecks he had by saying thousands or millions compared to my one. Joe tried to correct them by telling them how many he has had. He had counted three times and that is when our son said, "You're old Dad. You're over thirty and when you're over thirty you start slowly losing your mind, so I want to talk to somebody younger!" He then proceeded to ask me how many wrecks his father had been in!