• Honor woke up with his second ever asthma attack yesterday. Because it’s been 4 years since the last one, we didn’t have any medication so I had to take him to the ER to get a nebulizer treatment. I’m very thankful that we have access to great medicine!

• This week is a crazy week for me. Friday (black Friday) is always super busy for Tangle so I’m going crazy doing the rest of the holiday decor and getting ready for our sale. (PS, did I mention that we now have Offhand Design’s bags? I want this one SO bad. And yes, I do need another bag – it’s important!)

• I’ve just about given up on knitting this jacket. The shaping is totally screwy and the fit is going to be completely off. And I’ve knit the whole thing except the second half of the sleeves. I’m beyond words with excitement at the thought of ripping the whole damn thing out. I think I may try to knit it once more with no shaping at all. I find that straight knit things hug my curves much better than garments with obvious hip and waist shaping. I’m totally frustrated but it has such potential… BTW, I’m also just about to swear off knitting anything in pieces ever again. There is something to be said for a top down raglan. Fo Sho.

• Tomorrow at noon I’m going to be talking about Tangle on our local radio station KAFM. If you’re in the area and listen to me, you’re not allowed to laugh at my chipmunk voice!

• At my friend Brooke’s suggestion I just finished reading The Shack. To say that it was just what I needed would be an understatement, but I’m still processing the effects it’s had on me, so for now I’ll say that I really enjoyed it.

• Yesterday we drove to the top of the Rockies to meet our niece’s dad halfway and give her back to him for awhile. It’s always a mixture of emotions when we hand her off. There’s the selfish, busy woman in me who is very happy to have one less kid to corral. And this is the only way of life she’s ever known, so it all seems very normal to her. But the mommy in me worries about her. And the part of me that very much wants the world to be as it should (this is a very big part of me) has a hard time wrapping her head around dealing with the world as it shouldn’t be.

[I suppose this might be one of the biggest emotional struggles of my life thus far because it’s very difficult for me to handle things being wrong when they so desperately need to be right. I don’t really know how to reconcile myself to the fact that things aren’t the way they need to be and that lots of times I’m powerless to effect any change – to bring things into the “right”. I don’t like being helpless. I usually make my own path and get what I want, so I don’t like helplessly watching lives headed for destruction and/or pain whilst I sit there not being able to change it… if only by my sheer will. I don’t like any of it. At all.]

• I think that I’ve also discovered that my head doesn’t like the altitude change very much – this is the second time on such a trip that I’ve come down with a migraine. Such fun!

• This week for me is going to be about getting ahold of my life. It will be my second week that I’ve stuck to my house cleaning schedule. And the second week that I’ve stuck to my menu too (just as soon as I plan it!). We’re into the groove of working out pretty well, so the rest of it should come easier too, right?

• Moving Tangle to Main Street is proving to be a very good decision. We are SO busy down here! The amount of yarn pouring through the door is amazing and the amount of yarn pouring out of the door is equally amazing! Have I ever mentioned how much I love yarn?

• There has been a significant amount of family drama happening over the past weeks and I’m very frustrated with the fact that this blog has become so public that I can’t write about any of it. That’s actually why I’ve been so silent lately. I’m afraid of my blog… or rather, afraid of the backlash I’ll receive when I write what I’m ACTUALLY thinking, feeling and experiencing (voting for too!) :) I miss my most precious outlet! And therapy is SO much more expensive than blogging.

• Due to our family drama, we spent last week moving my SIL out of her house and our niece is living with us temporarily. I swear, with all three kids in my house right now, they are intent on my extreme torture. But they are enjoying each other a lot. Jim and I often marvel at how much sheer joy our children derive from such small things. I want to be like them SO badly. Plus it makes me feel like we’re doing something right because they are so dern happy.

• Because of our trip to Vegas and the drama that ensued afterwards, Jim and I had to restart our workout program last week. Today was the start of week two and I am proud to say that I’m already lifting more weight. The pain is getting to be something like a constant companion, but that’s just par for the course.

• Somedays I want to sell everything I own and move up to a little cabin in the mountains where I can knit constantly and live off of food I forage for. Just sayin.

• I’m knitting this. It’s going to be beautiful. I can’t wait to finish it.

• Today Jim and I started a 12 week, hardcore workout program. Counting the 20 pounds that I’ve already lost, you probably won’t recognize me when we’re done with it! I’m excited about the prospect of being buff. And slightly sad about the loss of all my cute clothes. But I’ll just have to buy more right?

• Yesterday we booked our flights to Las Vegas for our anniversary. We got an amazing deal on a 4 night stay at the MGM Grand. It will be good to take an actual vacation that doesn’t involve dogs, campers, children or moving other people. It’ll be our first. Listen people, don’t wait 9 years before you go on an actual vacation with your husband!
If we win money in vegas, I’m going to march myself right over to anthropologie and buy myself this purse. Then I will be purchasing expensive shoes. It’s good to have a goal right?

• The move to Main Street is proving to be great for Tangle. The downside to all this fantastic business? I haven’t got any of my day-to-day work done, and once in a great while (or all at once like today) we get the pleasure of dealing with meanies. Such is the life of a retail business…

• Yesterday I turned 27 years old. I’ve been dreading this birthday because 27 seems significantly older than 26. But so far, it’s not seeming too bad. Maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet?

• For my birthday my friend Carrie and my sister surprised me with a white Hobo wallet that I’ve been lusting after. I am quite excited about this.

• Friday we went fishing up in the mountains. We had fun, but I didn’t catch any fish. In fact, for all the fishing we’ve done this summer, I’ve only caught one fish the whole time. I think it’s official, I suck. And that makes for one expensive fish considering the cost of fishing licenses. I shouldn’t have thrown him back, but eww, I so don’t like trout!

• Things at Tangle are going quite well. I’m really happy to be in our new space, we’re already filling it up! Yesterday a nice order of Malabrigo arrived. It’s so nice to have it in stock again. We also have amy butler wrapping paper! (I have a lot of web updates to do. eeep!)

• So the wedding is 2 days away. Most everything is done and I feel pretty calm about the whole thing. I have a feeling that my mom and sister aren’t quite as calm, but that’s pretty indicative of our personalities. The flowers arrived today and tomorrow we do all the decorating. Friday all we will have to do is arrange flowers, so we should be all set to go for the wedding at 5. My future BIL was born here but raised in Mexico and his family is preparing all the food for the wedding. I’m so excited about authentic Mexican foody goodness!

• I have been having some big stomach problems, so I am hoping that I will actually get to eat the food! The upside is that I’ve lost 10lbs in all of this.

• I’ve been really enjoying my new phone that arrived last week. I totally didn’t need it, but I wanted it so I bought it. (What a spoiled brat, eh?) My hope is that I can sell my old phone on ebay for almost enough to cover the cost of the new one. The auction is up to $99 already, so it looks like so far so good.

• Eden has a dentist appointment today. Her second bottom tooth never fell out and the adult tooth grew up behind it. We kept missing the dentist between our vacation and his, so I’ve let the adult tooth grow in more than I had wanted. With the thousands and thousands that my parents and I have spent on my mouth and the thousands that we need to spend on Jim’s mouth, I’m not having much hope for kids with straight teeth. But I’m hoping that we can catch a lot of it early and at least make it a little better. Poor kiddo, I don’t envy her the annoyance of having her teeth worked on.

I’m off, but I’ll try to post photos of our decorating progress and the wedding, even if it’s just cell phone pics!

• Sunday we head out on a 12 day camping trip. This will be the first vacation we’ve ever taken. (Yes we went to Germany our first year of marriage, but it was not purely for vacation purposes – we also helped move my SIL and family home.) This whole week I’m busy shopping and preparing for our trip. It’s a lot to plan!

• I’m also preparing all my sisters wedding invitations to mail out this week. Jim planned to design them himself, but we found these print-your-own at Michaels and they were perfect. Her lingerie shower is also this week. Whew!

• With all the camping and working outside, I am literally black and blue all over. The dog scratched my thigh really bad, I fell out of the camper, Wednesday I tried to test out my busted up knee and went on a short run during which I fell off the curb and screwed up my foot. I have been so frustrated with myself for being such a klutz! And also very worried about my knee. I’ve just about reached my running goal and now I’m at a standstill. I can’t stand the thought of losing all my hard work. I plan to baby it the rest of the week and hopefully during that time I can resist hurting myself again.

• What else? Christina and I are working on planning out all of our fall orders for Tangle. Buying yarn is SO fun. I also see more fabric in our future. (Which reminds me, I’ve got to take some sort of sewing class.)

• Honor is starting to do better in Mommy Boot Camp. We had a really rough day on Saturday, but overall he is improving. Thank God!!

• Yesterday Eden graduated from Kindergarten. I cannot begin to say how incredibly thankful I have been for her teacher this year and that she made it into her school. And I cannot begin to say how strange it is that she’s already finished with kindergarten! I feel like I’m going to turn around and my life will be over.

• Tuesday we hopped over to Denver to look at some campers that Jim found on craigslist tres cheap. We ended up buying the first one we looked at for just $175. It’s older with wood paneling and gold linoleum, but it’s structurally sound and it was SUCH a good price. I’m working today on sewing AB curtains. And hopefully will get in to paint tomorrow. I’ve got before pictures, I just left my camera at home today.

• Did we mention that we also bought a truck? It’s an older GMC in pristine shape. And it will mostly sit parked at our house. Gas is SO expensive! But we’re super happy to have a decent camping vehicle and it will come in handy for hauling things.

• What else? We have been SO busy with fixing up the yard and garden, working on the house and now our new camper project. But I always find it good to be busy… if only it afforded me more time to blog! Soon as I have time to sit down and figure it out, I’ll set up my cell phone so I can blog via text message. Until then, Twitter is a good substitute. I’ll have pictures up soon(ish) of the truck and camper and Eden’s graduation.

• Tonight I start a toe up, two-at-a-time sock class. I think I’m going to whip up a pair of socks with the class – I love knitting socks on 7’s – so fast!

• Speaking of knitting, there is so much I’ve finished that I haven’t taken pictures of! Here is the Frontier blues cardi from the current issue of Knitscene. I used Jo Sharp Desert Aran Cotton. It’s nice. And it’s not in my size! See what I get for knitting for Tangle?

• It was slow today at the store so I caught some of Martha. She was recovering a foot stool and gave me the idea to iron interfacing onto the back of my AB fabric for the dining room chairs. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to unstaple the 3 out of 4 chairs that I’ve already covered so the fabric will be more sturdy? Maybe I should just take home more fabric and save the interfacing idea for the next time I cover them? Lord knows with Honor, that will be soon despite the scotch guard (which I felt very environmentally guilty about using, btw).

• After our freakish snowfall on May 1st (I’ve never!), I finally think it’s safe to plant tomatoes. I’m also going to plant a bunch of impatiens in the front yard, which will be a first for my lazy self. Jim is installing a new sprinkler for me so I don’t have to water!

• All I want to do is be in the back yard, tidy up the house, bake yummy low-cal things, make my own everything soap related, run, and enjoy the outdoors. Here’s to more of all of that!

• Today is Jim’s 33rd birthday. Happy birthday Jim. I love you. I have a small list of things that I cannot stop being grateful for and you and our marriage is the first on the list.

• After over a week of being sick, I’m running at about 90% today. It’s good to feel somewhat normal again.

• Eden only has 15 school days left before summer break. I’m feeling really sad that she won’t be with her kindergarten teacher any more. I’m also amazed at how far she has come this year. She’s reading really well and is good at math too. I can’t believe that kindergarten is almost over…

• I do not think that Tucky Puppy’s little surgery did anything to mellow him out. If anything, he’s become more obstinate. I think I need to read the dog whisperer book.

• I finished these on Saturday. I don’t even remember when I started them but I think it’s been around a year ago.

The yarn is a discontinued color of Regia Crazy Color 6ply. I knit them toe up, two at a time, magic loop on size 2 addi turbos.