The shared driveway

We have a shared driveway. We share it with a couple who's lived in their house for nearly 30 years (and the woman still can't back out down the driveway without having near collisions with the side of our house). Their children are grown and living elsewhere. I would guess they're in their 50's. They seem to have all their faculties about them, you know, physically capable....of shoveling the driveway should it snow! Which it did. Yesterday.

You may recall last year, they didn't shovel the driveway when it snowed. In fact, Charles didn't come out until I finished the ENTIRE length of it by MYSELF.

I figure he owes me one. So, yesterday I went out and I shoveled the sidewalk. I shoveled the walkway to the front door. I shoveled the walkway to the back door. I even shoveled a path from the back to the front door along the driveway. But come hell or high water I was NOT shoveling the driveway.

Hours go by and I happen to see my buddy Chuck cleaning off his car. So I peered out the window wondering .... did he shovel the driveway? He shoveled the sidewalk. He shoveled his walkway. But he did NOT shovel the driveway. Fucker!

It's going to warm up, Jeff says. It'll melt away anyway so don't worry about it. I say, that's not the point! Chuck owes me one shoveled driveway! The day goes on. It rains. It puddles. It floods! It does not entirely melt. Guess what I had this morning? A treacherously frozen fucking driveway. Fucking Chuck! That fucker!

I knitted.

Well, I did it. I learned to knit. Every spare moment I had this weekend I found myself grabbing the needles and ball of yarn. I did get off to a rough start. Just getting my yarn into a ball became a tangled mess, but I was not going to give up.

The book alone wasn't enough, I needed to see someone in action. YouTube has a great selection of knitting videos so I was able to fine tune my technique after watching a few of those. I'm still working on my practice piece, but I have nailed down casting on and the knitting and purling stitch. I did a garter stitch as well as a stockinette stitch. I'm going to practice a little bit more before I learn how to cast off. Ella and Kyra are clamoring for a knitted wallet and purse which are two of the projects in the book. I'll post some pictures later.

I will learn to knit.

In my neverending quest to do something creative, I've had sewing, crocheting and knitting on my mind. For no particular reason other than I want to learn how. I recently got a catalog in the mail for local courses only to find the sewing and knitting classes didn't work with my schedule.
But then, today, I came across this kit at the bookstore and promptly snatched it. Nevermind that it was in the Young Adult section. I need dumbed-down directions to master this because I will learn to knit.

And after seeing all the fabulous things I can make with a ball of yarn, I'm even more excited to get started. Look at all the cute stuff I can make for the girls and as gifts.

I don't know if you realize what a big deal this will be. I can't sew a button on a sweater. I am completely without sewing ability of any kind. And this is really quite embarassing since I come from a line of sewing women. My mother sewed (is that a word?) Ella's entire nursery bedding - crib bumper, crib skirt, curtains, rocking chair cushion covers. She made clothes for me and my sister when we were babies. She quilts too! And my grandmother sewed and embroidered clothing, and crocheted (or knitted. I don't know the difference) tons and tons of blankets. Plus, I've been told I have a great aunt who invented a sewing method. She wrote a damn book about it!

I'm a little unsure about learning how to knit from a book of illustrations. I mean there's all kinds of knots and loops and needles. I'm sure it'll end up being a tangled mess. But, I'm willing to give it a try. Tonight, I begin. Wish me luck!

A winter sunrise

It's hard enough to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready for work, let alone at 5:15 (in the pitch black of a winter morning) to work out, but every once in a while, the view out of my third floor bathroom window...
...makes it worthwhile.

Take a bite?

Fantastic Photoshop skills, but it left me feeling horribly disturbed. There's a message here. Do you know what it is?

Red

The only spot of color on a snowy day. Other Wordless Wednesdays here.

New dessert

I stole this. The recipe from another blog because it looked so darn good and seemed so darn easy. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies. Yum.I usually make brownies from the box, but not usually chocolate chip cookies. I've bought cookie dough when in dire need to save time, but certainly never prepackaged mix. This was a first...and a last. All you add is butter and an egg. Not easy to mix, and the consistency was weird. Anyway, on to more important things...Mix the brownie batter. Pour into pan. Mix the cookie mix, drop into brownie batter.

Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
And here's the gratuitous part...add chocolate icing.
Cut 'em up and savor the goodness. (Hint: Must ignore New Year's resolution to truly enjoy.) They were a hit. We'll see a repeat performance, with premade cookie dough, of course.

The new Please Touch Museum

If you have kids under seven years old in the Philadelphia area than you probably already know the Please Touch Museum moved from Center City to Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. It's a massive space, with parking to boot! The Hall was empty for a long time until the Museum was able to raise the $80 million needed for the renovation and move. You can read about the Hall's history here. The building is gorgeous, dating back to the Victorian era, and did I mention massive?

The museum introduced some new exhibits and displays including a 40-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch.

A refurbished carousel from 1908 costs an additional $3 per child.There's a new Colonial Village to walk through with near-lifesize and animated characters.The museum's original exhibits, which are expanded, also made the move, including the waterways. It now has an entire room all it's own. The grocery store is also larger.
Alice in Wonderland.
There's also a cafe with seating which makes dining much easier than at the original spot. There are two floors and two wings. Although bigger isn't always better. The space is a little overwhelming and the ultra high ceilings lack warmth. I went with two other mom's and their kids thinking we'd get some chat time in while the kids played. That didn't happen until we sat down for lunch. We were too busy running after the kids. So my recommendation, go alone or with kids that stick together.

Already

Two things slightly alarming have happened this morning.

1. It was so cold during my walk to train, like 7 degrees cold, that my breath turned to frost on my scarf.
2. I just added a Kelly Clarkson to my playlist.

It could get crazy today!

Seen today...

It's one thing to give out samples of cheese, bread or a dessert. I am all for filling up at Harry & David's. But raw fish? Sketchy. I tried a new sushi place today and there it was, a woman handing out free tastings of sushi to any brave soul who walked by and took one. Now I'm a little nervous about the place. If they have to give out free samples to get people to eat there? Oh boy. I'll let you know if the food poisoning kicks in.

Wine Charms

Because pharma ad writing is minimally creative, I've been daydreaming about making candles again. It's been about two years, but I remember my house always smelled like the batch that was in the pot. On busy days you could even smell it before you walked in the door. This was from my Holiday collection, scented something Christmasy.These were from my "Spa" collection. No color and aromatherapy scents. I never get tired of white candles. They always have a pretty glow.This time I think I want to make something a little different. All natural soy wax, no color additives, aromatherapy fragrances in recycled jars that I've been collecting for such an endeavor. BUT, I have yet to unpack my supplies and get my workshop set up. This year, it will happen. With my luck, just in time for summer when no one buys candles.

So, because I'm hankering to create something - anything - I've decided to try my hand at making wine charms. They're so easy to make, I think the packaging is going to be the real challenge. I bought my first ever jewelry-making tool and all the necessary ingredients to play. I'll take a picture tonight and post it here. Then, I think I'll give them away. My first ever giveaway of my first handmade wine charms! Check back.

P.S. I have not forgotten about my giveaway. I made a bunch of charms and realized they only work if each of them is different. Mine were all the same! So I have to start over. So hang in there. There will be a giveaway.

The Castle

A relative gave one of my daughters a castle for Christmas. The kind that unfolds from a circle and pops open, never to be folded correctly again. We've had two other similar playhouses, but for some reason this one has sucked the girls in, literally. It is now the place from which they do just about everything. They moved in pillows, animals, snacks, and games. Here's Kyra watching TV. There's not a whole lot of room in there for two kids, a child-sized horse, two dozen stuffed animals and two pillows. The girls were crawling all over one another. I kept hearing, "Ella! You're squishing me!" Ella was annoyed that Kyra kept following her into the castle. I just can't win. But, at this point, Kyra might never come out.

The husband who cooked

I am very lucky that I have a husband who, without prompting, finds a recipe and cooks a meal for the two of us on his own. I wouldn't normally write about it, but it smelled so amazing that I had to document it. Chicken Sofrito from the latest issue of Food and Wine.
Be sure you have a skillet that can go into the broiler, or the grill as it was in our case. Definitely one to try.

Train wreck

I have a new addiction: The Real Housewives of Orange County. It's a reality tv show train wreck on Bravo. The amount of boobage makes you want to choke. Overaged, overtanned, overindulged cougars (except they have sugar daddies) and their spoiled rotten kids. I love it! Plus, there's The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Even more drama. And I caught one episode of The Real Housewives of NYC. What's most frightening is how hard this women try to look and act young and they're simply repulsive. You've got to see it to believe it!

Resolutions

I hate making resolutions. I never stick to them. They are torture. Not fun. They suck. But I'm doing it anyway because now it's like a tradition. So here they are:

• Lose 15 pounds (20 would be ideal) by June. That's reasonable, right?
• No wine during the week. Killer!
• No sweets. Death!
• Be more patient with my children, and others. Yeah right. I threw that last one in to include my husband. Love ya!
• Go to bed early enough so that I can wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:15 and workout. Ugh.
• Have a date night once a month with my loving hubby. Babysitters apply here.

I wanted to throw in a couple fun ones like:

• Go rockclimbing, again.
• Learn knitting.
• Take more pictures of things other than my children.
• Take a rowing class on the river.

But then I'd have to quit my job, win the lottery and add a few more hours to the day. Yep.

Overheard

I don't know why this struck me as funny. Maybe it's a generational thing. I overheard a snippet of a conversation between an older man and a cop this morning as I was walking to work. Old guy: "Can I issue a citizen's arrest?" Cop: "Uh, no." I'm sorry I missed the beginning of the conversation.

Teenagers

Saturday we visited some friends this weekend who live in a renovated farmhouse, complete with barn, three horses, three dogs, one cat, a bonfire pit and tennis court. Usually when we go we plan to spend the night because they start mixing drinks that taste so darn good, and we have so much fun hanging out that we can't tear ourselves away. But this time, it was going to be a quick stop in to say hello. Sunday was to be our last day of "vacation" at home and I wanted to enjoy every last second of it before heading back to work.

But before I knew it it was three hours later and we were sucked in. Light the bonfire. We're staying the night.

Our friends are very close with their two teenaged daughters, 14 and 16 years old. They are great girls, and they do well in school and are particularly excelled in their extracurricular activities. They actually like to hang out with their parents and their friends. When we showed up, they kept our kids occupied instead of running to their rooms.

We started talking about what it's like to have teenagers, and I found it intriquing that they let the older daughter have a party recently where the kids were drinking. The parents don't supply the alcohol, and they don't leave the house. They insist that everyone spends the night. Their thought is that if the kids are going to drink, they'd rather have them do it in their house, while they're home. Also, while we were there the older girl's boyfriend came over. It was 10 o'clock at night. He ended up spending the night. They slept next to each other on the floor in the TV room. I wasn't even allowed to have boys in my room when I was that age. I was just allowed to start to wear make-up by then!

I think there's a fine line here. If you restrict a child too much, than it can backfire. Like the forbidden fruit. If you give them some leeway, they may not overindulge. It doesn't become a forbidden fruit, and it's no big deal. What do you think?