KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Not only I have morbid humor - my friends have morbid humor, too. One of my dear friends in California, who was actually programming Java software with Irwin at Sun Microsystems, sent me this YouTube video today which he recorded for me yesterday.

His totally cute daughter is a rock star and dances to a German heavy metal song. Poor girl - what a crazy dad! I looked up the lyrics. This is one of the refrains - how true:

Wir werden alle sterben, haltet euch bereit.
Die Zeichen sind eindeutig; bald ist es soweit.
Vielleicht schon heute Abend, vielleicht in einem Jahr;
Doch alle werden sterben, traurig aber wahr.

Here is your translation:

We are all going to die, be ready.
The signs are clear; it is going to be soon.
Maybe tonight, maybe in one year.
But we are all going to die, sad but true.

I still don't like heavy metal but I like those lyrics - well done with choosing the song. After all, my "high-time" was in the 80s and I like that happy disco music much more.

When our friend emailed me today with the link, he brought back some wonderful memories from the time I met Irwin. We were all out in California for a sales training and Irwin and our friend shared a room. And one night, Irwin didn't show up after an evening at the hotel bar... I guess he spent the night somewhere else... Gee, those loose European women... ;-) And how could I forget that??? That was the beginning of a very fabulous time in my life.

It is nice to remember these "little" things and go down memory lane. Here is a picture from that time.

We went to Alcatraz that day. Somehow I always end up organizing stuff and hanging out with the boys. And that is what I looked liked in 2000. What a change...

The last couple of days have been very productive and healing. Little steps at a time.

I wrote about 120 announcement cards (so far) and I cancelled about a dozen credit cards and made names changes on phone services etc. And I am very proud because I only had one major melt-down while being on the phone. I literally had to speak with 12 different people for each credit card or service. It is no fun to tell each one the same thing... I am calling because my husband passed away, blablabla... So, losing it only once is pretty good in my book.

I have been at the office every day for a few hours this week. That is good because it gets me out of the house and I also get a little routine in my life and the pooches' life. I know it is no fun for them being gated in the kitchen, but hey, that’s as good as it gets at the moment. All our lifes are upside down. But, as I said, we are doing pretty good. We go for a walk every night when I get home. I enjoy that because they are soooo fun to walk.

And because they are good puppies, they got a treat last night.

Those of you have been reading my blog for a while, know that Irwin was a tremendously generous man and that he would shower me with gifts for every occasion. My sister-in-law told me that he told her that he had been buying gifts for me for my birthday (coming up next week) and that they are hidden all over the house. I guess I'll be finding stuff for a long time. Which is kind of nice and heart breaking at the same time. One of my friends told me yesterday that sounds like the movie “PS, I love you.”, but she also advised me not to watch it now. Maybe I’ll get the book from the library at some point.

So, here is what I found when I got home last week. Irwin ordered me plastic displays for my socks. I always complained that even tho’ I have beautiful wooden sock blockers, they don’t work well to take 3-D pictures. He was such a sweetie. Gosh, I miss him…

Last night I took a few knitting pictures – remember, this was a knitting blog at some point…

Bayerische Socks – nope that is not me posing on the mantel…

Tigris Wyvern Socks

La Digitessa Sock

Tomorrow I’ll have to go to the bank to close out Irwin’s accounts and peek in his safety deposit box. I have no clue about what I’ll find there. I will keep you posted.

A bunch of aggrevating things happened today:

1. I found out that the guy I dealt with over the phone to have Irwin's cars insured for the time being - until I decide what to do - gave me totally wrong information and I basically paid 1000 $ for the cars not being insured and not driveable by anyone. But, no worries, another coworker from the same insurance company fixed everything this morning and now I am all set.

2. When I cancelled all the credit cards yesterday, I was told that the only thing left was to go to the bank and deal with the checking account and the safety deposit box in person. So, I went to the bank this morning before work and waited over 45 minutes until somebody was able to see me. And then I found out that I need two pieces of paper for the bank to actually close the account and for me to get to the safety deposit box. Those two documents are the death certificate and a so called "letter of testamentary", issued by the probate court which indicates that I am the person that has been appointed as executor or administrator of the estate. I could have saved myself the trouble of going there if I would have known.

3. When I asked my attorney who handles the filings for court etc., what the status is on the death certificate he said that he spoke to the medical examiner who told him that he hadn't issued the death certificate yet because he ordered medical records from Irwin's physician. Now, here is my question... When I talked to the MD when he found Irwin, he said Irwin had a heart attack and that the MD wouldn't even do an autopsy. I wonder what this is about with the medical records... Well, I will have to wait until Monday to call the MD and ask him myself.

4. The laptop is not working from home as it should. I had a problem yesterday and took it to work today. At work the connection and the logon worked fine. Back home again, not working anymore, arggggg... Oh well, I am too tired to check it out some more.

BUT - All my anger went away when I went to Knitch this afternoon for a couple of hours of knitting. I so love the store and my knitting friends. It was so nice to see everyone. I cried a bunch of times but that happens quite frequently these days. I am mascara-free for 10 days now. It is really not worth it... But I left around 7pm before the usually big knitting crowd showed up. Just enough time to meet some people and not get too overwhelmed. And the doggies were waiting at home to get fed and walked anyway.

And I had to buy yarn - of course:

Saucy Supersoft Superwash Merino - named after Famous Steve - Famous Chocolate Fondue by numma numma. Aren't these colors yummy? Makes me almost have an appetite...

And some yarn to make baby booties:

And I drove Irwin's toy to work today - the pimp car (a bright red Toyota Supra). I love that car and I love that Irwin loved it so much. The parking garage at work has a car wash and I treated the car to a hand wash and interior cleaning. Plus, it is so much fun to drive. I just have to watch my speed because it can go 180 miles/hour... And there is no autobahn anywhere around Atlanta...

I am going to be busy this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

HAVE A GREAT FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!

PS: Did you know that there is a cow appreciation day? Yeap - July 11:

I took the picture on my way home tonight from Knitch.

I have seen this on several blogs now and I was wondering what my name would mean.

What Claudia Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it. You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

It is really interesting how a lot of this is true. Even the part with "a very lucky person". After Irwin passed away, I was immediately surrounded by so many wonderful helpful people. I still can't believe that he is gone. Yesterday, while out shopping, I say a guy who looked just like him from behind. Red curly long hair in a pony-tail and grey polo shirt. And when the guy turned around, he even had wire-rimmed glasses. My heart just stopped beating for a moment.

I have these moments when I think that he’ll come back and all this is just a freaky nightmare and eventually I’ll wake up and life is back to normal. But that “normal” will never come back, I know.

Jen and Melissa took me to IKEA yesterday. It was so nice to get out and go shopping. I need a new sofa and a new bed. There is no hurry for that but I wanted to look and get ideas. And I bought a bunch of stuff that’ll make the house look and feel a little different. Since I only brought 8 moving boxes and 5 suitcases to the US in 2000, not a lot of things in the house say “Claudia”. Irwin had a complete household with (for a guy) very nice china and glasses, great furniture and electronics etc. And his standards were always very high, so he didn’t buy just some cheap crap. Which also means, that I have a bed that is over 20 years old and a TV that old. So, I am surrounded mostly by his things which is nice because they remind me of him and at the same time so sad because they remind me that he is gone forever.

So, when we were at IKEA, I found a section sofa that I really liked. It had a chaise and a two-seater sofa attached to it. The chaise would be perfect for knitting, we all thought. But of course, you know how it is – what I wanted was nowhere to be found at the store. And so I went home without any new furniture but two blue IKEA bags full of new linens, towels, rugs and little things like napkins etc.

After IKEA I was actually feeling hungry and we went to dinner at Copeland Cheesecake Bistro at Atlantic Station. Here is a picture of the girls which I snapped on the way to the restaurant.

The food was yummy. I took half of my salad home and ordered garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli with parmesan cheese to go. So, I was a good girl and thinking about food for home. I know you all have been worried about me not eating, but most of the time I just can’t. Somehow the body fuels itself somehow. And it’s not that I don’t have a few pounds to spare.

And I had dessert – here is proof:

I love key lime pie – the girls had cheesecake, of course. ;-)

AAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDDDDDDDD… I got beautiful handspun from Melissa and a cow that moos. :-)

Isn’t it wonderful? And it is Navajo plied. One could just hate her for being such a talented spinner… I am kidding, of course!!!

I was pretty exhausted when I finally got home and I the only thing I could manage was to unpack the IKEA bags, feed the pooches and talk to my SIL who is this weekend in Michigan with her dad. I am glad that she is there because she and my father-in-law have to sign some stupid legal document that states that I am going to be Irwin’s estate executor and that they are OK with it. It’s like there is not already enough heartache over this…

The doggies didn’t get a walk last night and I am feeling guilty about it but all I could do was crash on the sofa with “Six Feet Under” and I must have fallen asleep instantly. But I woke up really early this morning and I was thinking about the sofa and the bed I saw yesterday at IKEA. And I thought, let’s go online and see what they have on their webpage. And bingo – they were willing to sell me what I wanted online. And I don’t have to schlep it home – it’s being delivered and the shipping charges were OK, too.

Meet the Karlstads – the chaise (for knitting) and the love seat. If I can’t connect them (the webpage wasn’t 100% clear about that), I am also happy to set them up separately. That way I will probably have more room to maneuver.

And I ordered Lillesand.

Delivery should be sometime within the next couple of weeks. YAY!

It’s getting light out and I think I am going to walk my furry rugs now.

I was pretty busy this weekend. Somehow I feel - even tho' it was three days long - that it just zoomed by.

After ordering the IKEA furniture yesterday morning, I took the dogs for a walk and then I called Just Brakes which should be called Just Sucks.

When the girls and I took the Previa minivan to IKEA on Friday, we noticed that the breaks were squeaking. Well, usually Irwin took care of our cars and I am guessing that he didn't get around to get the brakes looked at. So, me being a big girl and all, took the matter in her hands and got an 8:30am appointment. Heavily armed with two knitting projects and a book, I drove to Just Brakes. I was checked in and told that it takes about 20 minutes for the assessment and then they could tell me how long it would take to get whatever would have to be repaired done. I wore on purpose a South Park t-shirt with Cartman saying "You're pissing me off over here." One of Irwin's many funny t-shirts (which I am all going to keep and wear). I figured - single female at a repair place equals easy prey and a high bill. The mechanic was actually pretty cool and explained very well what was wrong with the brakes. I know a lot more about how the brakes work now. And I was told that the job should be done within two hours. That was OK for me because I had a hair and massage appointment in-town in the afternoon. They promised to call me as soon as the car was ready and lucky me was picked by Jacquie for knitting and breakfast at her house until the car was done.

Well, time passed (I finished a baby bootie) and no call. I finally called and was told that one of the parts they needed was on the way but not delivered yet. I told the guy again that I needed to be in-town by 3:30pm and he said no problem. In the meantime Jacquie gave me her car to go home and shower and take care of the pooches. An hour later there was still no feedback from Just Sucks and I called again. The guy then said that the part was on its way and that they would not get it done before 6pm. And then I got pissed off (and you don't want to piss me off these days) - I guess the guy didn't notice my t-shirt… I don't mind if it takes all day to get car fixed, I just need to know to make arrangements. What I mind is that the guy in the front office told me a bunch of BS. And because I laid into the front office guy a bit too much, he connected me to the mechanic who apologized for the other idiot and told me the same - not done before 6pm. Oh well, what can I do, nothing… But in the end Jacquie got her car back and I picked up the Previa and now the brakes are just dandy.

So, in the afternoon I got my hair cut and a massage and then I had dinner with an old friend who is also an ex-colleague. My hairdresser and I decided that it would be good if I color my hair again. Don't get me wrong, I love my silver streaks but ever since I stopped dying my hair, it has gotten really limp.

Here is a picture with just the new haircut and then also the new color:

Boy, I look exhausted… I didn't realize until I saw the picture. Oh well, nothing I can do about that at the moment. I don't feel like make-up or eating or sleeping. It's 12:48am and I am blogging… Go figure… I guess I need to take another picture outside sometime because you can't really see the new color. It is shinny jetblack. If I'd start wearing black, I'd be the perfect Italian widow…

I had a nice visit with my hairdresser and his lovely wife who is a massage therapist. After the haircut I had a 1-hour massage and fell asleep. I love them - they are such a cute couple and we had a very good talk about everything that had happened with Irwin. Everyone I talk to is just so shocked that he is gone. And I am thinking - yeah, me too. Now what?

Afterwards I went to see a very dear friend and former coworker. We talked forever. She lost her husband several years ago and had to raise 4 kids by herself and she is also a doggie mommy. We have a lot in common and I feel bad that we lost touch a little bit ever since I left to work again for my German boss. Well, she and I will go to dinner on my birthday on Thursday. I am grateful for that because I didn't want to spend my first birthday without Irwin by myself at home with a bottle of wine.

When I came home yesterday evening, I was very restless and I needed something to do. I cleared out Irwin's closet and drawers and now all the clothes that I am not going to keep are neatly packed for pick-up. I'll keep his tie collection, his tux and all his funny t-shirts. Mostly there were gifts from me and since he was such a skinny guy, they all fit me. :-)

So, that was Saturday.

This morning I got up REALLY early. And I started with Irwin's office. I have to get to his paperwork and create an overview for the estate attorney. I have to say, his office looks like a big mess because of all the unpacked boxes, but all his paperwork is in perfect order. Mine is not… But that is another project for another time.

Here are some impressions before the clean-up:

I am sure Hermione was wondering what was going on. At least she looks at me with a questionmark on her face…

In the afternoon, I went to Jessica (Jacquie’s daughter) for a cook-out. I made another batch of banana bread and now all the bananas are gone. Thank goodness! The smell of ripe bananas is so disgusting to me. When Jessica was at my house a week ago, she got totally inspired by Irwin’s jigsaw puzzle collection. She told me that she went online to look for puzzles. I told her I would be very mad if she would buy a single puzzle. I am very glad that I can give her some of Irwin’s puzzles. I love for them to go to someone who cares and who knew him and his love for jigsaw puzzles.

So, I took a bunch over to her house and the girls sat down and started one. That made me very happy.

And we have a new knitter – Jacquie taught her son Paul and he is already knitting his first project, a beautiful scarf for his boss.

He is so into knitting that he made us all wait for dinner because he needed to finish his row. Jacquie and I will bring him to Knitch one Sunday, so he can knit with the guys. ;-)

And I started a new project with Melissa’s handspun.

But I am not sure that this simple scarf does the beautiful yarn justice. I need to think about it.

Jacquie’s family is just wonderful. I think I got adopted. Tomorrow I am invited for Fondue and on Tuesday they invited me to a BBQ. And I don’t have an appetite. Shoot…

And this is the office, after I started packing and cleaning today.

The boxes are still in the office – but that is another story for another day. But now I have room to work and take care of the paperwork.

AND THESE ARE MY FURRY HEROES (besides all my human ones!!!) – MY LITTLE SUNSHINES…

OH – and do you know what this is?

I brushed the dogs today and noticed that Hermione had gigantic dreadlocks on her flanks. I tried to brush them out but no luck. I felt like Mommy Dearest… Poor thing. But you can’t really see that I cut all this fur off. I guess more frequent brushing is in order.

Have a good night – I’ll am planning to get up early to go to the office for a few hours.

I am sitting here crying my eyes out because of a very sweet email I got today from a very dear friend way back from when I lived in Germany and Irwin and I met in California. I wanted to share this with you because it is so loving and so true.

Dearest Claudia

With much love and hugs
Helen, Ian, James & Alice xxxx

I just can't stop crying over this. Irwin and I were so fond of Helen and she truly did play a part in introducing us because she knew me from the European Sun Microsystems software team and Irwin from the US team.

Gosh, we had so much fun together.

And I just knitted a baby kimono for baby Alice a few months ago. Here is a picture of Helen I found in Irwin's archives from when she visited Stonehenge with him in September 2000.

Hugs to you Helen - you brought some very lovely memories back! Thank you!

Finally... I had trouble getting my laptop to work for a few days which made me very, very unhappy. I was planning on working from home to have some more time for myself and the dogs and take care of things. The IT company my firm works with finally figured out what the problem was and now I can work from my laptop (from anywhere) or from Irwin's PC. Thank goodness. I don't think I would be able to go back to work full days yet. Granted, I need a few hours at work every day for my routine. But 8 hours and more are not doable right now.

So, I am sitting here blogging and having lunch. Thanks to Regan I still have homemade frozen Eggplant Parmesan and it is wonderful. And then I'll drive to work this afternoon. Hermione is giving me dirty looks because I am either on the phone or on the computer... And not throwing the ball for her...

Speaking of Hermione, she started to worry me a few days ago because she wouldn't eat. Not that she is sick or anything. I just think she just misses Irwin as much as I do and I can't really blame her for not having an appetite. And she is also a very polite and social dog and she doesn't like to eat by herself. So, she usually eats when I am in the kitchen as well. But of course, with all the things going on right now, I haven't spent much time in the kitchen.

So, I was wondering what to do and I actually outsmarted my very smart dog... HAH! Noah has been getting green beans mixed in with his kibbles because he had gotten a bit chubby between the last two vet visits. And he totally loves the green beans. And Hermione would always give Irwin and me nasty looks because obviously Noah got something much better to eat in his bowl.

So, yesterday morning, after Hermione's food from the day before was still sitting in her bowl (meaning she did not eat breakfast or dinner), I just added green beans to her food. And oh boy... She didn't empty her bowl as fast as Noah, but she was not very far behind. I have also been giving the dogs more treats then when Irwin was arrounded. He is probably getting all huffy in his box now because he always thought playing and petting the dogs are better treats than food treats. And I totally agree. But sometimes you just need a treat to feel comfortated.

They are munching on some raw hide that was hidden in their Christmas stockings last year…

I also uploaded a bunch more pictures of Irwin. I looked through several boxes last night and this morning because I want to put a wall of framed pictures together and also a photo album that I will take to the gatherings for people to look at. I found a ton more pictures and here are some of my favorites. Thank goodness for scanners - these were all prints.

Irwin as a toddler

Irwin and his mom and grandparents

Daniel and Irwin on a rollercoaster in California in 2000

Irwin, the crazy puzzler

Hey handsome - wearing a tux!
(I had to cut his ex-wife out, sorry…)

And as a handsome pirate!

Irwin and his beautiful sister - back in 1980

And this last one is my very favorite - he always reminded me of Frank Zappa in red (whom Irwin totally loved and owned all his CDs, movies and books). Irwin's sister told me that at some point Irwin actually grew his hair and beard the same way Frank Zappa did and looked even more like him. Too bad I don't have a picture of him then.

You know, scanning all these pictures and seeing him smile and having fun, makes me fall in love with him all over... I truly miss him!

Ok, this is it for now. I put a link to the online photo album on the sidebar of my blog. If you are one of Irwin's friends and you find yourself in one of the pictures or if you have other pictures, please leave me a comment and I will email you back. I would love to hear from you. I am compiling stories about Irwin from different people for the photo album to share with everyone.

Well, first of all - this not why I feel guilty today...

Mom & Dad at the Oktoberfest 2002

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!

Today is my parents' 44th wedding anniversary! Somehow they managed to get married on July 10 and have me on the same date three years later. Such German planning… ;-) And the other great thing - they are still head over heels in love!

I love my parents to death - they are and were always the best thing in my life. No matter what happens to me, they are always there when I am in trouble (which I was quite a bit…) and they helped me through some very tough times in my life, like now.

Mom has called me almost every day since Irwin passed away. And she had been suggesting quite a few times that she would just catch a plane to be with me. I keep telling my mom that right now is not really a good time because I am in such turmoil of things and when she comes over I want her to help me with stuff. But that stuff is not in order yet or better I don't want to deal with it yet. So, I am walking a fine line between making her understand that I want her to be here with me and at the same time not offending her by telling her not to come now. Also, I don't want her to travel alone. That would scare the crap out of me. Not that she wouldn't manage to get here, my mom can be very determined. I guess, like mother, like daughter. But I want her to be safe and comfortable and I know from traveling a lot that so many things can happen and she wouldn't know how to communicate because she doesn't speak English. So, I suggested that she could come with my brother who is planning a trip sometime early next year. But of course that is not soon enough for her.

When she called me yesterday, she started again with coming to visit. And we went through the usual routine of discussion until she said that she talked to my dad about coming with her. Which I knew didn't go over well with my dad and I tell you why. If I wouldn't live in the US at the moment, my dad would probably move in with my mom to help me out. But he HATES to travel with a plane. His favorite vacation is to take my mom, their bicycles and drive with their car to Austria or some place in Germany. Meaning Dad has to be in charge. Which he is obviously not when traveling on a big plane for 10 freakin' hours.

My parents came to visit Irwin and me once in 2004, just after we bought the house and we had a great vacation. We took them everywhere in Atlanta and made lots of hiking trips to waterfalls and lakes. And they loved that vacation, but my dad told me at the end that he will probably not come back because it is just too much for him to travel like that and that he would rather pay my air fares to come visit them. That way I could also see the rest of the family. It is really funny because Irwin hated to travel as well. He loved to be in different places but he hated to get there. Just like my dad - I have noticed many times how alike these two guys where. I guess having their birthdays only one day apart helps. ;-)

Anyways, my dad is very honest and straight forward and I knew at that point that he would not come back. Even Hermione couldn't convince my dad…

She fell in love with him the minute she laid eyes on him (who wouldn't…) and she would lie in front of my parents' bedroom until he got up. It was so cute. Well, Hermione, we might get lucky after all…

As I said, my mom talked to my dad about coming here to help me. I can just picture him getting all grumpy about having to have that discussion again. But my mom said that while they would be here, my dad could paint the house. My dad loves to work around the house and at the moment he is helping my brother to renovate his house. I don't know what my dad can't do. You name it - laying down wooden floors and tiles, hanging ceilings lower, painting, putting up wallpaper, etc. Pretty cool for someone who is a professional tailor!

So, when my mom mentioned the trip and renovating the house, he did not say "no" right away. Which means that when Mom will work on him some more, they'll probably come. But I will not push my dad because I know he will do anything in the world for me but at his own pace.

When he told him about Irwin's death, he actually offered to fly back with me to the US the very next day. That's my dad and it meant so much to me.

And I know why my mom really wants to come… She wants to meet all my knitting friends I have been raving about and she wants to go to Knitch. ;-)

But back to why I am feeling guilty… I know this will all sound stupid but I feel guilty to be alive and having to go on with my live without Irwin. I guess this hit me yesterday pretty hard when I drove home from a very nice dinner with a dear friend whose birthday was yesterday. If I wouldn't have taken her out to dinner, she would have been celebrating by herself. And I told her no way that would happen. We had dinner at Tamarind Seed, a very good Thai place in Midtown, exchanged birthday gifts and went for a drink after dinner to celebrate some more.

And here kicks my guilt in - I keep thinking I shouldn't celebrate. He can't either. But then I can hear Irwin's voice telling me "Honey, I am happy when you are happy." and this is killing me inside. Ever since we got together, he made my birthday so special. My very first birthday in the US was already super-special because we had to celebrate it before the actual date. I had to go back to Germany at the beginning of July because I was in the process of getting a working visa and you can't be in the country while the paperwork is being processed.

Here is a picture of us from 7 years - July 2001

I miss him so much and I miss how he made me feel special. He would always buy really cool gifts and a lot of them, too, for every occasion. I remember that at one Christmas I unpacked presents for several hours. Irwin always paid attention to what I was doing and what I liked. He even bought me DVDs that he found utterly stupid like several sets of Dallas. He was a big shopper on eBay and at some point I gave him a list of very rare knitting books and told him, if he ever came across one of these books, I would love to have it. You can guess, I have them all now. Out of print books like The Principles of Knitting and a bunch of Alice Starmore books among them.

Irwin's sister told me last week that he was already ready for my birthday and that he told her just before he died that he had presents hidden all over the house for me. I haven't been looking actively because I decided that I am going to find whatever I find when I get to it. And so far I already found a few things.

A very cute mug with a cow inside

Cow magnets

Lenox crystal turtles

It is really nice to find his gifts but I would trade them for him in a nano second.

I got home pretty late last night - shortly before midnight. That is way past my bedtime. And I thought I should have a glass of wine, say cheers to myself for making it to 41 and go to bed. Well, there was only one single wine bottle around. A very expensive red wine from 1997 which Irwin bought a long time ago for a special occasion and I was debating what to do and I thought - what the hell - this is the occasion now.

So I cheered to Valentino, the turtle I knitted Irwin for last Valentine's Day. I have to say, it is really some very good red wine. Of course, I had more than one glass and got all emotional. But I am going with the flow, if it has to be emotional, it's going to be emotional. Only the dogs have to watch me…

And they actually didn't care. Hermione wanted to play ball and Noah was very happy to function as a foot rest.

Don't worry about me today, I am going to dinner with a bunch of girlfriends tonight and I promise to get over myself and try not to feel too guilty.

PS: Just in time for my birthday, my Knitpicks book order arrived yesterday:

OOPS - blurry... I guess taking pictures and drinking wine at the same time is not such a good idea after all...

PPS: Yes, you see a crochet book. I want to make some of these Japanese toys for my niece.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person..

Thank you for being a part of my life...
...whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Jacquie sent me this message yesterday and I love it so much that I wanted to share it here.

Yesterday was pretty emotional and in parts very draining and I am kind of glad the day is over. I went to dinner with a bunch of friends. The restaurant was at Atlantic Station and it took me over freakin' 30 minutes to find my car. I got totally turned around and I think I walked the whole parking lot with a gazillion bags, sweating and in desperate need of a bathroom. At some point I truly thought someone stole Irwin's sports car. But eventually I found it, whew. And I felt like a complete idiot...

I am pretty exhausted today and I working from home. YAY for that.

While I was looking through boxes the other day to find pictures, I found something that Irwin looked for ever since we moved into the house in 2003.

Irwin looked all over for this binder. It contains treasured leaflets and information about his very favorite jigsaw puzzle brand. It is so bizarre that the binder was sitting in a box in a corner of his office. Sorry honey - found it too late for you, but I'll treasure it just as much.

I am going to clear out more boxes from his office today and hang a bunch of pictures in the hallway and then I'll be heading to Knitch this afternoon.

Dear Rob -

Mom brought us some wonderful treats home today:

She told us that you sent a gift card for us with a card to Mom. That's so cool!

Again, thank you for our treats!!!

WOOF, WOOF!!! And say hi to your doggies from us!!!
Hermione and Noah

Rob, it was so wonderful of you to think about my dogs. I went to PetsMart today and bought some goodies - the gift card is not used up yet. ;-) That was so very sweet!!! I got a pouch for myself - called a Biscuit Buddy - when I walk them to have something to put my keys, the cell phone and poop bags in. ;-)

The two balls - the soccer ball and the basketball - squeak which I didn't notice at the store. When I gave them to the dogs, Hermione run off with her toys and poor Noah is scared out his pants by the sqeaking. I actually had to take the the toy away from Hermione because he would try to get in my lap or hide between my chair and a plant (and there is no room for dog...). Poor Noah, I am hoping that he'll ge over that eventually. I am going to try and play with those toys outside tomorrow.

By the way - if you haven't heard of Pandora Radio, you should check out their site. I always listen to their music when I am at the computer. You can create your own radio stations. Very cool - currently I have created the following:

Amy Winehouse
The Beatles
Bobby Darin
Supertramp
Cher

They not only play the music of the bands you pick, but songs from similar bands as well. So, I am just listening to the Bobby Darin station and they played Can't take my eyes off you. Irwin and I didn't have A SONG but this one is as close as you can get to "our" song. We actally danced to the song once at a wedding which is pretty remarkable because Irwin hated to dance and I remember that I didn't even have to nag him but he asked me for the dance. So sweet... And of course I found a live version from 1967 (funny that it is from that year - as old as I am...) on YouTube...

If you listen to the lyrics, that is exactly how I felt when I met Irwin 8 years ago and I still feel the same.

Thank you for such a wonderful birthday party. What would I do without that wonderful group of people who are just there for me in times like these? I have no idea how I got so lucky but I am very thankful.

So, my real birthday day was quite terrible. All the memories of birthdays with Irwin came flooding back and I had a serious melt-down in the morning. Poor Brett was on the phone with me and had to take care of me then. And then the whole day was very draining for me, even tho' I went shopping for clothes and had dinner with a bunch of girlfriends. Nothing can replace such a wonderful hubby, but I tried very hard that day to keep busy and not turn into a puddle...

BUT - Sunday rolled around and I invited a bunch of close friends to make up for the shitty birthday day. And that sure worked. Of course, the weather totally sucked and instead of being outside with knitting, spinning and dying yarn, we spent all afternoon inside because of a big rain storm. Oh well, what can you do, right?

What the knitters and spinners did, they just crowded in my living and dining room instead and boy, was it crowded. I love that they are so low maintenance. No chairs needed, if not available, as long as if there is enough room to knit and good lighting.

Here are some party pix for you:

Knitting and spinning

Puzzling

Lots of gifts and cards

You can find the whole set here. And hey, I know a bunch of you took pictures as well. Please share!

The dogs were amazing. I left them in the bathroom until everyone arrived and we had eaten and I had opened my gifts. There was just too much going on before that and I didn't want any dramas. Even tho' my dogs are usually pretty well behaved, I never had that many people at my home before and you never know...

When I let them out, they were so funny. You couldn't find two more different dog characters. Hermione worked the crowd like the queen holding court and went from person to person to sit down and get petted. Noah on the other hand is a shy and skittish little fella and he had to warm up to the excitement and all these tall people. But eventually he got used to the masses who wanted to say to him and pet him.

I showed everyone Irwin's puzzle collection in the basement. I guess, my friends finally realized what it means when I say "Irwin has a lot of puzzles". I also had a stack of puzzles sitting by the door and everyone who wanted to take one or more did so. I am so glad the puzzles stay with friends now. I used to joke with Irwin what I will do with all these puzzles when he is gone. And he always said that I would have to come with what to do, not his to decide. Well, I am spreading your legacy around, babe. It also amazed me how many of my friends are into puzzling or have re-discovered a childhood past-time. I love it!!! I know there are some puzzles that I will never give up because they were special Irwin but that is only a small fraction of the 8,000+ puzzles.

Hermione made a new special friend - Jared, Jen's hubby. He threw the ball for her a bunch of times after a lot of people had left (which in her book is the best thing evaaaaaaaaaa...) and then she schmoozed with him big time. Well, it paid off. We will go see Jen and Jared sometime at the farm and Hermione can herd some sheep. That'll be interesting because she never had any training and I am not sure how much of border collie behavior is in the breed genes. I know for sure that she does not know any of the BoCo commands like "That'll do!" when she is supposed to stop whatever she is doing that minute. I guess I could read up on that and train her a little bit. She is extremely smart. At some point she could distinguish a bunch of toys by name. But that takes a lot of practice and Hermione and I have better things to do with our spare time. Here is a picture of the schmoozers. ;-)

I think she is actually smiling, very unusual for such a serious doggie. ;-)

And here I am with my furry kids - truly my lifesavers when I come to an empty house without Irwin.

And the day ended with a beautiful sky.

Again, thanks everyone for coming. I had a great day and I am very very very happy to have such wonderful friends. Love y'all!

More later - I need to try and get some sleep now.

OK, I have a few gifts I want to show you, which doesn't mean I don't like the others or think less of them. Got it? No judging here - I just want to show off a few…

First - three knitted gifts:

A beautiful scarf from Pixie - knitted with Sheep no. 3 Yarn from the Sheep Shop Yarn Company

Jacquie's first lace project - knitted with Handmaiden Sea Silk

Janice's Shawl - knitted with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino

Janice also wrote a poem in my birthday card which is so beautiful that I want to share it with you.

Life isn't one solid thing.
As we move through our lives,
we gain some things
and we lose some things.
Sometimes what we lose
leaves a big hole in our lives.
But life goes on, and those holes
are surrounded by new experiences.
And sometimes, through those holes,
we're embraced by the people who love us.

I can't fill the holes, but I can surround them with love and caring.

Janice, that is so beautiful - where is my tissue box when I need it?

There were also a bunch of sewed gifts:

A magnetic board from Jen

A cute sock bag from Katey

Another sock bag with tons of extra pockets from Diana

And some very creative gifts:

A bead bracelet from Doug (I first did not realize that he made the bracelet - this guy is way too talented!)

A mystery ball of yarn from Jane which holds surprises inside - how cool is that???

And great cards:

Diana wrote: Claudia, Wishing you a lot of "sheep" thrills in the year to come.

That one just made me laugh so hard - Doug, you always pick such funny cards!

Karen wrote: …and if they do, they have other wild women to love them.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR GIFTS!!!

Not only for the ones I have mentioned in this post - I sure hope y'all know how much I feel loved and cared for by you gals and guys!

There really is... I can't believe it either. At the very beginning after Irwin passed away, I couldn't sit still for a longer while and was too scatterbrained to pick up a knitting project. What was really horrifying to me, how you mentally shut down and something as appealing to me as knitting almost turns into something appalling. When I was on my way back from Germany the day after Irwin died, I had the knitting bag on my lap on the plane for 10 hours but I just couldn't knit. It was almost like I was paralyzed.

Well, things have changed a little bit since. I am trying to get to a better place taking a day at a time. Irwin always used to say: "Do whatever you like to do. Don't worry about me. I am happy when you are happy." That's why I always went to so many groups and outings, because it made him happy, too. So, I am trying to find my new happy place thinking that it'll make him happy wherever he hangs out these days. But it's hard. I don't think there is anything that does not remind me of him or that does not have some connection with him.

I finally got all the paperwork together for the estate attorney and he is going to file the court documents now. Everything just takes so freakin' long. This week, I called the phone company for the fourth time to have the name changed on the display. It is still not right. So, when I call someone from the home phone, people get a call from Irwin (when they have caller ID). That's freaky.

I was also told this week that I will have to be back at work full-time on Monday. This came to me a bit fast and therefore as a little surprise, but oh well. I thought I could split my time some more between working from home and working at the office. There are so many things I have to take care of and I just don't feel like making all these calls from work. But someone else calls the shots on this decision and life is never going to be what you want it to be, right. So, you gotta make the best of it. The fiber dogs and I will manage; I have no doubt about that. And I'll have to see how much knitting in public I can do in the future because I truly want to spend enough time with the dogs. Plus, I have noticed that I need more Claudia-time to take care of myself and things around the house.

Speaking of the fiber dogs - they are so funny and entertaining. We just came back from a walk and now I have two panting rugs under my desk. I took a bunch of cute pictures yesterday.

Playing doggies

Sleeping doggies

And while the dogs were in bed with me, I also had dessert at 11:30pm. A couple of things I have learned to appreciate so far when you live by yourself. Nobody will tell - that's not a good thing… So, I have two dogs laying in my bed and I ate dessert in the middle of the night, HAH!

Yes, I have coasters with mosaic knitting patterns… I know I am dork…

And while Noah snuggles with me, Hermione would like to play ball and is so not happy about her two lazy roommates. Poor little girl… It is a tough life…

Also, remember, I was wondering how long I could trick Hermione with the addition of green beans to her food? Well, that little brat showed me the other night. I heard her eat for a little bit and she came trotting over to me and I was wondering what was going on. I got up to check her bowl and this is what I looked at.

All the green beans where gone and she left most of her kibbles , darnit… And then I snapped that picture of her.

Doesn't she look like she would say: "But moooommm, I ated all my veggies." That dog… So this morning I cut her green beans in tiny teeny pieces, so she would have a hard time just picking out the green beans. I'll show you, young lady!

I mentioned earlier that I am back into knitting. I knitted a baby bib - inspired by a couple of patterns.

Which brings me to the old question? Can I write up the pattern and put it on my blog and Ravelry?

Anyways, it turned out cute and I am in the process of making a second one with a few changes. Different yarn and the sheep a bit off center to make it look more centered… Sounds weird, I know.

I made tons of progress on Brett's sweater. The back is almost done.

And the lace shawl is growing as well. I added 6 repeats of the first pattern and now I am on the second pattern and I will add also more repeats to that one.

And since Jane gave that mystery ball, I had to start a project to find all the surprises in the ball while knitting with it. I am sure you can guess what I started. Yup, yet another multi-directional scarf. But they are so much fun and so easy schmeazy to knit…

And there is the first surprise - stitch markers! YAY!

And last but not least - a new pair of socks for a very special person. I was debating if I should post about the socks because they are a birthday gift for Bob, my brother-in-law, in Vermont, who reads my blog. But Bob is a big boy and I am actually going to Vermont for his birthday in September and so I decided he can watch the progress on the blog. Go, take a peak, Bob! ;-)

I am knitting a very plain pattern because the yarn itself is very busy with the different colors and stripes. It is a ribbed sock with a cable running down over the inside and the outside of the ankle.

It is so good to knit again. But I have heard that from other knitters too, that if a situation is too distressing, you kind of loose your knitting mojo for a while. But thankfully, it came back.

I had one. Hope you had one, too.

Saturday I hung out with my colleague Jenny. I like her a lot. She is a fabulous coworker and a great friend. I truly wouldn't know what to do without her at work.

We met up at Mall of Georgia around 2pm, went shopping, caught a movie (Wanted with Angelina Jolie) and I took her to dinner for her birthday at P.F. Chang's. I wasn't here in June when she had her birthday and so I promised her a belated birthday dinner. I love that restaurant a lot and because we got there after 8:30pm, the wait for a table was 1 hour and 40 minutes. YES, you read correctly… But we didn't wait that long. I spotted a space at the bar and we ate dinner within 30 minutes plus we ordered drinks directly from the barkeeper would made a special cocktail for Jenny.

When I got home, I discovered something fun.

Look at the lining of my new shoes - jigsaw puzzle pieces. And I didn't even notice when I bought them… That made me very happy when I looked at the shoes more closely at home.

The plan for today was to met up with my friend Alys from Germany. She and I worked together at some point in our lives in Munich and we were very good friends back then. But you know how life sometimes lets people drift apart. I hadn't seen Alys in probably 3 years, but when she opened her hotel room door this morning for me to pick her up, it was like we had seen each other the last time the day before.

BUT - our plans changed because she was violently ill when I came to pick her up. She is highly allergic to shellfish and somehow last night at the company's outing, she must have eaten something that touched shellfish. We spent the morning in her hotel room instead of going out for brunch. I felt so bad for her. But all we wanted to do anyway was catch up and chat. And we did that perfectly content in the hotel room, plus, I brought my knitting. At some point I went to the pharmacy and got her some stuff which finally helped her stomach settle down. Poor thing - I was really worried because she had to back to Germany and a 10-hour flight laid ahead of her.

But shortly before we left for the airport, she started feeling better. Thank goodness! And a nice security guy at the airport took a picture of us.

Alys also gave me a birthday gift which she bought in Lisbon, Portugal, on my birthday. Look at the adorable cross-stitched cows. ;-)

Have a great week! For me it is back to work tomorrow full-time. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll keep you posted! And so I need to get some sleep now...

Well, thanks Atlanta! How could I forget the treacherous traffic on I-85... So, I sat on I-85 for a while this morning on my way to work because of a terrible accident and 6 lanes went down to 3 lanes… Thank goodness for knitting…

Work was OK. I only took a 30-minute lunch and therefore left at 4pm. The pooches were excited to see me and seemed OK for their first full day alone.

I was busy for a while around the house. Jacquie picked up Jessica's sofa during the day, because IKEA told me to expect my new furniture either tomorrow or on Wednesday. I called to find out when exactly and was told because I live in the boonies (thank you very much!) I have to give them a 12-hour time frame to deliver. This means I have to be at home between 8am and 8pm. That sucks, doesn't it? So, I could have had my delivery tomorrow but - a bunch of us from the office have tickets for Dark Knight at the IMAX tomorrow and the show starts at 7pm. And we have to get in line totally early to get good seats. So, I decided not to stress it and now I took Monday next week off to get my new furniture. In the meantime, this is my temporary living room furniture - fancy, no?

I think I should put one of the coolers next to one of the camping chairs and light the fireplace. Hey, I live in the North Georgia boonies… Any guitar players around? OK, let's not go there…

Here is a Hermione-tricks-Mommy-with-the-green-beans update for you...

7:52pm - Minced green beans (yes, I have a cutting board in the shape of Texas from the times when Irwin lived in Houston)

7:53pm - Dinner is served

7:57pm - All gone... HAH!

And I baked my first brownies tonight. Yes, from a package, but I added white chocolate morsels and from what I had to taste when I cut them to cool off, they seemed pretty tasty. The package came with a cut-out for the Batman sign.

The perfect dessert for the office tomorrow before we go see the movie! I can't wait - it'll be interesting to see Heath Ledger perform for the last time. He died way too young… I am also a big fan of Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. I'll let you know how I liked the movie.

Oh man, I haven't felt that crappy in a really long time. It all started shortly before we went to see Dark Night. And just one note on that - I SO LOVED THAT MOVIE. I want to see it again, especially without feeling sick. My stomach was all iffy Tuesday afternoon but I pretty much ignored that because I was too excited to see Dark Night.

I barely made it home from the theatre and I started to shiver and feel hot and cold and hot and cold. I went to bed straight away and woke up with a fever of 101.3. The fever went up during the day yesterday to 102 and before I went to bed yesterday is was at 103. I had terrible body aches and a big headache. Even the medication I took didn't help much.

I guess not eating right and not sleeping enough after Irwin died finally caught up with me and a bug that I might not have caught, hit me really hard.

This morning I felt a little better - the fever was down to 99. I slept through the night and I think all the sweating through the night helped to get rid of whatever hit me. I have been watching a lot of movies, well, mostly sleeping through them and the dogs have been furry pillows. Which was nice when I had one of the phases where I was cold. It's no fun tho' to have furry blankets when you have a fever and you can't even stand a regular blanket.

Don't worry, I'll be up and around again soon. Hopefully by tomorrow - I have a morning appointment at the probate court for Irwin's estate. Hopefully everything works out and I have my paperwork soon to execute his estate. I'll keep you posted.

Careful – long post and loads of pix.

First, thanks for all the concern. I feel much better. The fever went away on Thursday and my stomach is all better since the weekend. Thank goodness. I hate being sick. I am not a good patient and I am not patient. If I have to just lay around and sleep and feel all icky, I am not thrilled. But who is?

Let’s recap a bit.

I went to the probate court on Friday. Besides that my attorney screwed up a little bit and we had to redo the forms a little bit, everything went fine. Interestingly they want one of the witnesses to Irwin’s will to give a testimony that Irwin was of a sound mind, not pressured, knowing what he was signing etc. Which would not be a big deal, if the witnesses weren’t my bro in Germany and his wife. They were here on vacation in 2005 when Irwin and I signed our testaments and we used them to witness our signatures. So, thanks to modern technology, I emailed my bro the document, he signed and it’s already on its way back to me. I should get it back on Thursday and then I can run it by the probate court on Friday and hopefully the probate judge will rule quickly and I get the paperwork to execute Irwin’s estate.

Friday night I went to my favorite knitting group at Knitch. Stuart knitted a cute hat/scarf set for his mom. Meet Mrs. Stuart. ;-)

And I already had to go shopping for the Lucky Duck sale at Knitch which really didn’t start until Saturday… I got in trouble…

2 balls of Artyarns Silk Pearl for a scarf for Mom

Rowan handknit cotton for a baby blanket for a young gentleman called Nix ;-)
(wave at Megan!)

Saturday I met the girls for lunch – before going to the Peachtree Handspinners Guild meeting. I didn’t bring my spinning wheel, because of lacking spinning mojo at the moment. But that’s OK because you are allowed to knit at the meeting, too. ;-) The spinners are pretty generous. And they were really sweet. Lots of big hellos and a really nice talk with Annie. I love Annie – she is a very funny and fun to be with lady. Plus a great spinner and knitter. Jane and I decided we are to take a class with Annie at the John C. Campbell Folk School. I can’t wait – but I’ll have to until June 2009… Such a long wait. I always wanted to go and that is going to one of my treats for next year.

The class is spread out over a whole week and is called Appalachian Shawl: From the Pasture to the Pattern. Here is the class description:

The crafts of spinning and knitting were practiced in every mountain household. Join an incurable storyteller (ANNIE!!! – she said there will be a lot of language…) as she helps you see why many people now “want to”, when our ancestors “had to”. Take a sheep’s fleece and sort, wash, pick and card it, spin it on the great wheel, ply, reel, wind and knit it into a functional shawl like those worn by Appalachian women for generations. Students who can knit and purl will gain the most from this class.

So, that is going to be one of my highlights for 2009. Plus going there with Jane is fabulous!

I snapped Famous Steve spinning on his manly wheel.

It’s looking very good Mr. Steve! I also had to buy some hand-dyed roving from Gale's Art. That is what Gale's potluck dye looks like… Such wonderful colors – and she calls it potluck…

Hopefully the spinning mojo will be back soon and I feel like spinning again. On the other hand, I have so many knitting projects I need to finish… Maybe it’s a good thing that only the knitting mojo is back.

On Sunday I went to Knitch with Pixie, Jacquie and Jessica, Jacquie's lovely daughter. We had a great afternoon. I made another batch of Batman Brownies and shopped until my credit card caught fire…

A scarf ring for Mom to go with her silk scarf

Rowan 4 ply cotton for new pillow covers for the new sofa

And three grab bags with highly insane reduced prices on gorgeous yarn. The bags were so supposed to hide the yarn. So you wouldn’t know what was in your bag. But some people just peeked in the bags… People… I didn’t, but I tried to figure out by touching and squeezing… OK, that is questionable, too…

I scored grab bags with really great yarn - even without peeking:

A bunch of Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton

Alchemy Sanctuary – it is as soft as it looks! I swear!

And more Alchemy Sanctuary – still super yummy soft…

Today I stayed home to wait for strong Swedish men (wishfully thinking…) to deliver my IKEA sofas and bed. Remember, I had to be home from 08:00am to 08:00pm because I live on Mars… Well, it’s just north of Atlanta, but I guess for some people it is Mars.

So, to make my day go by faster and help with assembling the furniture, Jacquie and Jessica came by to keep me company. And a little later, Pixie and her baby girl came to visit and pick up my test knit. GUYS – YOU NEED TO BUY HER NEW PATTERN ONCE IT IS OUT!!! It is freakin’ adorable and super cool to knit!

Here are a few pix of Ms. Sydney modeling my next pattern to be published. I give you the Sheepish Bib.

Sydney and I had a lot of fun modeling. I just love babies. Pixie, sorry for showing off your beautiful girl! ;-) Usually you can find Sydney modeling over here.

The guys (not Swedish but good ole Southern boys) showed up at 4pm… It took Jessica, Jacquie, Greg and me until 6:30pm to put everything together. So, let’s continue with the modeling.

Meet the Karlstads – a perfect knitting sofa family.

Jacquie and I – the new love seat

Jessica on the knitting chaise – the face sure looks like a knitting problem…

And three knitters all tangled on the chaise…

Love you guys (including Greg who took the pictures) – you made my day with helping me with the furniture!!! What would I do without you?

And here is a peek into the bedroom. Meet Lillesand - I always wanted such a bed with a metal frame.

The bedroom is very bare besides the new bed. It got stripped of all the memories and desperately needs a new face. I am working on it. I have a bunch of ideas. I am going to sleep in my new bed tonight. The last time I slept in this room was in April before I left for Germany…

We’ll see how it goes. I bought Melatonin today to help me sleep. It is late and I going to try now. The laptop is coming with me for some sleeping aide. And I am hoping that the thunder outside will turn into a soothing rainstorm.

Have a good week – stay tuned for more…

Wow – yes, the time is not off. It is really just a little past 3am on Wednesday morning. I must have fallen asleep last night – almost like a coma – around 9pm and I slept until just now. 6 hours of sleep in a row and a very good sleep, too. No Melatonin, no wine. I am very surprised and happy about this fact. The new bed must be good for me. I am glad. Not getting enough sleep for weeks made me miserable and surely didn’t help last week when got that fever bug.

Now, let’s hope that is not just a one-time good night of sleep but just the first of many. And if I can get two more hours, I am going to be extremely happy.

Of course I won’t tell you that because of my comatose sleep, poor Noah and Hermione didn’t get to go out last night around 11pm, like they usually do. I wonder what I am doing to their bladders these days… Well, they just slept as well and just now went out. Just like it really doesn’t matter to them. Such good trooper poopers.

The active dog…

The inactive dog…

So, what is happening knitting-wise chez Claudia? Oh, alright I’ll give you a little update on two of the gazillion projects that fill my house.

Dr. Bob’s sock is looking good. I made it past the heel (I knitted a boomerang heel and yes, I know I have promised to translate the directions since forever… mea culpa).

I remembered to ask my SIL about Bob’s shoe size. Even tho’ I knitted socks for Bob before, I didn’t write down the size… It was before Ravelry and I am not my mom who keeps a little notebook with all the details on the socks she knits for everyone.

I also started a new baby blanket, based on Jen’s Wank It.

I really like her pattern, how it starts in the center and gets bigger and bigger. I am going to use three colors instead of two and I am going to have a different stitch pattern on each stripe. Stockinette, garter and seed stitch. And yes, I know what the name means. But it Jen’s fault – she named the blanket, not me. ;-)

Oh, yeah, cool stitch markers, I know. I got those skulls a while back from Melissa. Love them!

The second one reminds me of The Joker – same devilish grin.

OK, I made some tea. Maybe I can get a little bit more sleep…