A trip to the “big city”

Gracie and I made the trip to Chattanooga this morning for a day of shopping fun. Both of the girls needed new clothes, and Gap is the only place that I can get pants that fit Gracie right. We dropped Arien off at my brother’s house around 9, and off we went.

Our first stop – Genuine Purl. I’ve been wanting to go there for about a year, but this was the first chance I’ve had. I oohed and aahed over all the yarn for a good half hour before Gracie started getting bored. I bought a set of 5″ size 2 Brittany dpn’s and a pair of 16″ size 7 Addi Turbos, which came to $24.03. I can’t believe I only spent $24 in there! Of course, they didn’t have a good selection of sock yarn(that I was aware of anyway. I was busy trying to keep Gracie from touching stuff), and that’s just about the only thing I’m interested in at the moment. They did have quite a bit of Regia, but none of the colors looked appealing to me.

I was planning on going to Great Balls of Yarn next (I didn’t even know it existed until last night!), but I left the directions lying on my desk and couldn’t remember how to get there. I knew I had to go down Market and turn somewhere, but for some reason I thought it was Main St. I looked and looked and never did find it. Turns out I should’ve turned on 14th St. I was so close!

After that we headed to Hamilton Place and the surrounding area. We shopped for about 4 hours, and now the girls have new wardrobes. We bought a couple of fun things, too. Gracie got a sketchbook and a set of colored pencils at A.C. Moore (I resisted the yarn in there, too!). She’s my little artist, and that just had her tickled pink.

She also got very excited about all of the books in Barnes & Noble. I had to practically drag her out of there. Just a couple of months ago I was worried that she’d be like her dad and hate reading, but after that I think she’s going to be just fine. A love of reading is something that I want for both of my girls.

We finally got back home at about 4:00. We were gone for 7 hours, and Gracie was dead tired. I expected her to get whiney, but she never did. She behaved so well today, and I’m so proud. I have to spend so much time with Arien – making sure that she isn’t destroying something or doing something dangerous (that girl is WILD) – that Gracie and I don’t get a lot of alone time. So this girls’ day out was something that we both needed.

Goodbye, Gary

As I lay in bed last night, I had a post forming in my mind about how the our cat, Gary, killed my mouse (the tiny one that goes with my laptop), and how he knocked a pair of scissors off the top of the fridge yesterday and only missed hitting me with them by about 3 inches. I was all set to post it after I got Gracie off to school.

I just happened to look out the door this morning as we were about to leave. I noticed our dog, Herman, lying in the yard. That’s nothing unusual, but there was something beside him – it was Gary, and he wasn’t moving. I made Gracie go to her bedroom, and I went to get my dad. I was trying to keep her from seeing him, but she looked outside anyway. She was devastated. She loved that cat so much.

I’m not sure what happened to him. He was inside when I went to bed at 1 AM, but my stepmom said she didn’t see him when she left for work. He usually attacks her as she’s trying to go out the door, but not this morning. Dad said he looked like he’d been dead for quite a while, so he must have gone out after I went to bed. But how? The only rational explanation I can think of is that my sister came by really early this morning, and he got out then.

I don’t think Herman killed him. He more than likely just brought him home. He’s really a very gentle dog. I’ve never even heard him growl until this morning. Our neighbor let his dog out, and he came over to our house. The neighbor’s dog is a pit bull, and I’m pretty sure that Herman is a chow mix, but Herman whipped that dog all the way back across the street. They’ve never had problems with eachother before, so that leads to me believe that the other dog killed Gary.

I’m so worried about Gracie. I went ahead and took her to school, and now I’m wondering if I should’ve let her stay home. She wanted a cat for such a long time, and was on cloud 9 when we finally got her one. He was with us for 4 months, and she was so attached to him. She still hasn’t gotten over my mom’s death, and now her cat is dead. I just hope she’s okay.

Gary was a crazy cat. He loved to be chased. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be on the kitchen table, but he would jump up there just to get someone to come after him. He would hide behind the curtains and jump out whenever someone walked by. He liked to sit on top of the fridge and watch me cook. We kept his food and water in the laundry room, but he wouldn’t eat unless someone was in the room with him.

I’ve never been a cat person, but Gary stole my heart. He would lie in bed with me every night and just purr. There’s something comforting about a cat’s purr. He was my little buddy, and I sure am going to miss him.

Goodbye, Gary.

Crafty the blues away

I guess it isn’t really the blues. It’s more like, well, I don’t really know how to describe it. I’ve been debating on posting the details, but if I do it won’t be right now. Right now we’re going to talk about my favorite subject – Crafty!

I finally decided on a pattern for my sockpal’s socks. I was originally going to make a pair of elfines, and I actually started twice. The first attempt was too small, so I switched to 2.5 mm needles. That made it too big. So, I just went with my original plan – the rib & cable socks from the Winter 05/06 IK.

I’m just past the gusset decreases on my first sock. I thought the heel was a little strange at first, but I just went along with the pattern, and I think it turned out nicely. I may just have to make another pair for myself. That is, if I’m not totally sick of the pattern by the time I finish this pair!

Here’s a close-up of the cabling: