It's happening again, I think.

Mr. S is only 14 months old, and it looks like we're looking for yet another daycare setting.  I've vented about this plenty, but it lurks in the back of my mind all day long.  It's similar to dating,  you have to call, set up a mutually convenient time to met,  make pleasantries and small talk, than either hope that they love you and want you (or rather your child), or you have to break up with them.  It's freaking exhausting.  Never mind the fact that it has to be fit in after a full day of work/play, when the small boy is so tired he's ready to fight anyone who comes near him, which as can be imagined makes a fantastic first impression.

It's little (or rather huge, depending on how much sleep I'm gotten) things like this that I never could have imagined prior to having a child.  These are conversations I might have listened in on and nodded my head and felt minor sympathy with before.  Now I'm consumed with it.   Oh, I do know that there are people with real problems and this is small in comparison, but it's getting to me.  The problem with situations like this is that you can't just jump up and fix it, it takes times.  Plus what if I make another bad decision?  I didn't know the last situations would turn out like they have.  Maybe I should throw all of my reasons for choosing where he's at now out the window and try to find a new criteria.  Man, I'd love to out source this to India right now.

Oh and I did find the perfect place,  it's also $105.00 more than we pay now.  Let see, great daycare but live on ramen noodles for life?  I know money's not suppose to be the final say, but that is a lot of money per week, never mind per month.  It's actually two thousand less dollars than my entire undergraduate college tuition.  Oh did you know that I went to grad school?  :)

If I have to go to work,

then the preschool's a pretty good place to have to go.  That's how I'll sum up my first week back at school after a fantastic summer vacation.  Since I have to go somewhere,  I might as well go there.  It might sound like a put down, but I can't think of a higher compliment for a job really.  If I can't be on vacation, then I'll go there.

Someone else is enjoying his "school" too.  So much so that he's needed continual bathing when he gets home.  I'm fine with that, I'll take a happy filthy baby boy over a clean sad one any day.

I'm in love!!

I have no idea who actually reads this besides Mr. Romance.  Sometimes people will comment to me in person about reading it, and other times my wonderful knitting sisters will post a comment.  All are appreciated, though I really just use it for myself.  Its a great place to just be proud of a project or capture Puddin for a brief second and be able to look back on the moment since they go by so quickly.  But right now I feel close to bursting so I'm going to let it spill here.  I've had a wonderful summer and here are some reasons why:

I have found time to knit again, it's feels like coming home to a house with bread baking.  Even before you eat it you feel warm and satisfied!

Grampie and Grammie have been able to spend a good portion of time with us, which is great seeing as they live 5 hours away, and someone really likes his Grampie!

Honestly we had a very low key birthday celebration (hence the Thanksgiving bib) but we had to have a hat picture!  

I was able to have an excuse to go to playgrounds on my days off.

Hiking with my favorite boys.

He doesn't nap, but he sure is cute!

I can't believe that in eleven days it's over again for another year.  I live a charmed life indeed, if for no other reason than how happy it can be with the little things.  Now I'm off to go squeeze some beautiful red/pink merino cashmere sitting on the coffee table!  I'm thinking lace ribbon scarf by Veronick Avery.  

Camping........

On a resent trip to Acadia National Park last weekend, our first introduction to family camping was a bit of a change for me.  I think Mr. Romance would be happy to report back that he enjoyed the more lax, less militant camping style, from my previous conservationist, NO impact expectations of years past.  Let's face it, when you travel with disposable diapers and a huge red wagon, you let the backpacker in you relax a bit and actually use the dumpster at the campground.  I think J might have filed for divorce if I'd insisted on packing out the dirty diapers......I might have divorced myself for that matter.

Someone found out about headlamps!!  That was just too much fun.

It's a tough call on who's more excited to go back, mommy, daddy or Puddin'.

The wagon was better entertainment then expected.

Obsessions

As a person with an addictive personality,  any chemical more potent than tequila or those silly cigarettes was not an option during my college years.  Knowing that fact about myself might have saved my life, or just made things harder for myself,  I probably should have shied away from the tequila.  That would have made things simpler as well.
So now here I am in my late 30's.  That's the first time I've written that down.  Yikes!  37 is closer to 40 than 30 isn't it?  Oh well, for anyone who is about to comment on that,  the 30's have been so much better than the 20's, so I'm almost excited for the 40's.  Plus I'm already grey so who cares.  Anyway, off the tangent,  I'm in my...(we just covered that, move on) and the addictions have just changed that's all,  it's yarn, and my it's all consuming.  Here I sit with 20 minutes to myself and I just want to go through my stash.  The house is literally falling into itself it's so cluttered and dirty, but it's the bins of yarn I want, the pattern potentials, the possibilities.  There are empty needles that need to be filled.  I will never get a FO out of any of the things cast on at the current moment, so who cares.  Let's just keep at it.  It's the potential that is exciting!

Happy Birthday Big Baby!!!

It's Big Pud's birthday.  He's a year old, a whole year old.  Man, the things he has learned in only one year. To bad there isn't a way to bottle that and and keep that going for years.  I knew that he'd be fun, but I had no idea that it would be this much fun.  Honestly if I'd known, I might have done this a bit early.  That being said, it's a good thing I waited because I was able to get a lot of things done and it's been a year since I had decent sleep!

I don't remember a lot of last summer but I'm pretty excited for the rest of them!

Summer vacation..............

As a child, summer vacation meant the lake.  That was pretty much it.  Before moving to Maine,  our family vacations were at the lake, then when we actually lived there, as soon as school was out we'd move to the camp and live there until school went back in.  In college though, life kicked in.  There were summer jobs away,  friends to visit, other parts of the country to see, tourist towns to live and work in.  I can say that I've had the opportunity to live in some of the most beautiful places in Maine and New Hampshire, and because of this over the past 15 years I've spent very little time at the lake.  Funny how as you get older you begin to appreciate quiet and solitude.  I feel like I've had the first REAL summer vacation in years thanks to the lake.  And as you can tell from the picture,  everybody relaxes at camp :)

In knitting related news,  summer vacation has meant some quality knitting time.  I'll post pictures when I small man isn't crying.