I feel like I'm forgetting something

What could it be, what could it be...

It's right on the tip of my tongue...





Oh yeah. Little Brewer #1 and I went to LONDON!

We saw the usual sights,

Pardon me, is this the queue for the toilet?

played hide and seek with the locals,


Eight, nine, ten! Ready or not, here I come!

sampled local haute cuisine,

Tea and scones. Oh my gosh, that made me sooo happy. My HDL, not so much.

saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace...

with 10,000 of our closest friends

and made it out before Iceland's volcano exploded in Viking fury.

Also we visited Paris. But that's a blogpost for a future date!

I remember when this used to be a blog about knitting and crocheting.


Not to worry! Observe Bertha:

She is modeling a scarf I made in December. This was a yarn experiment. I have been trying to find a replacement for JoAnn's Dolcetta. Like most TV shows, the minute I start to really like a particular yarn it is discontinued. So, dear readers, if you have a favorite yarn, hide it from me lest I take a liking to it and cause it to vanish.


This yarn has a similar fiber content to Dolcetta- wool blend (did I write down the name of the yarn? did I save the ball band? of course not!).


It has a nice soft hand, works up well and is comfortable to wear (no itching). This is a variation of the pattern I used for the Sunset Scarf. However, even with a K1 edge, it rolls. I am not sure if it is a function of the K5*, P2 pattern or the yarn itself. So I wouldn't count this scarf a complete success.

*edited because I apparently cannot tell the difference between 3 and 5 on the keyboard. Sheesh.

Stuff kids say

Little Brewer #1 (to her brother): Do you know what a hyperbole is?
Little Brewer #2: Yes, it's a flower.
LB#1: A flower? What kind?
LB#2: A purple flower.
LB#1: Purple?
LB #2: Yeah. Hy-purple-y.

Work Rants

In which Brewgal rants about recent events at work in a totally non-specific way that will not get her fired.

1. When you send me proposed legislation for comment, please try to give me enough time to think about it. I am much more likely to produce coherent, thoughtful comments if I have more than 2 hours to respond.

1a. Related: Do not sit on said request for comment for three weeks and then send it to me at 3pm with a 5pm turnaround. I can see how long you’ve had it from the date stamp on the email trail. Believe it or not, I have other projects to work on and am not sitting around waiting for your sudden emergency.

2. Please do not hit the “reply to all” button if the email is addressed to the entire Center distribution list. More importantly, do not “reply to all” asking the sender not to reply to all. We’ve all been using email for more than a decade. You should know this rule by now.

3. Sending an email message saying “Outlook is down” is uninformative if my Outlook is down.

And a kudo:
Thank you for putting in hand sanitizer dispensers. I am now much less tempted to push the elevator button with my foot.

It is truly amazing how quicky they go from this...


to this.


Happy 7th Birthday to my big boy!

Introducing...

Oliver Coldren Aikin, born March 17, 2010. My first and only nephew.


Eight pounds, 10 ounces, 22 inches long. We grow 'em long in our family.

Hey, what's that? And what's that over there? Can I get a sweater here?

It makes me remember when my own children were babies. This is me and Little Brewer #2. He's only a few days old here.


There are few things better than a new baby sleeping on you.

The end of the renovation is finally within sight.

The granite guy came back, installed the soap dispenser and bolted down the dishwasher. I still need to decide on a pendant light above the sink.



The big furniture pieces are back from the shed.

That is a carved figure my grandfather bought in Gatlinburg, Tennesee. I inherited it when he passed away. I've always liked the faraway meloncholy look it has. And of course, martini shakers. I've never actually had a martini. I just like the mid-century ambiance they convey.


Brewguy has repainted the foyer. This is a slightly more red color than the previous one and I have to admit it is a little better with the color of the floor and light. Now that he has figured out he likes painting, he is painting everything. I'm not complaining, mind you.

And of course, the wine rack is stocked so I am happy.

Stuff kids say...

Little Brewer #2: What's "after dark?"

Brewgal: It's after the sun goes down.

Little Brewer #2: Oh. You mean, after light.

Contents

I've been emptying out old conference bags lately. I usually end up with one for each conference. With two-three per year, stuff accumulates. To wit, this is what I pulled out of one bag today:

Photos of Little Brewer #1 hugging other kids in preschool = 2. Hugging is big in our house. Start 'em young.

Backup harddrive CDs from 2007-2008 = 4.

Copies of packing list from office move TWO YEARS AGO= 2.

Small bottles of Tabasco = 1. For spicy emergencies.

Rocks = 1. From Ireland.

Printout of Amtrak reservation from BWI-Newark Airport (EWR) with notes from last Ireland trip on back= 1. Some fun stuff in there, including a Haiku that starts, "So full of tea, me." Must scan for posterity.

Spare change = .03. So I can give more than my .02 cents worth.

Spoons = 1.

Pens = 5. Two of which promote branded prescription drugs.

Research study questionnaires = 1.

Printouts of slides = 1. Not my slides.

Handsfree headsets = 1. So that's where it went! I must have hidden it after it developed the tendency to call people on its own.

USB cables = 1. Possibly belonged to PDA#1.

Crochet hooks = 1. Of course. No bag is complete without at least one.

Tiny purple plastic play jewels = 1. Because I am a Mom.

Fibery goodness

Believe it or not, crafting is still taking place at Chez Casa de Brewgal. Observe!

A baby surprise jacket for Kendra.

One for El Jefe Jr. I'm going to be an aunt in about a week! So exciting.

Closeup of the buttons. Little Scottie dogs. The cuteness!

I've attended four baby showers (three at work, one for El Jefe Jr.) in the last two months.


I am really enjoying the crochet block pattern. It's a great way to use up stray skeins. In addition to the one seen here, I've got another almost finished. In advance. I know! Crazy! Acela. Awesome for crocheting.

I'm also starting a scarf for a dear friend who has somehow managed to live in New York without a handknit scarf. The knitting will find you. Oh yes, it will.

At the rate I knit, it should be ready by next winter. Hopefully he'll still want it by then.

Action shot of Brewgal in the Sunset scarf.

The 5AM Haiku

I love sleeping. It’s the only place I can really let my mind go and while sleeping it comes up with some cool wacky shit in dreams. Which makes my occasional bouts of insomnia all the more frustrating. I hate going to bed at 10 only to wake up a few hours later at 2 or 3. Then my mind starts going round and round.

Life’s problems always seems more serious in the middle of the night.

Anyway, I had sleeping problems while I was in NYC, no doubt due to the fact that my hotel room was situated right next to housekeeping and geez, are they LOUD and no, I don’t want to hear what you overheard in room whatever.

So this time when I woke up in the middle of the night after a grand total of 2 hours sleep, I started thinking Haiku.

Long lost friends come back
But when the heart sees them, they
Never went away

Yeah, yeah, sappy. More impressively, I could read my handwriting in the morning.

Quickly now,

I'm off to New York City for my yearly February conference. I realized how far I've come anxiety-wise when my thoughts are all about where I'm going to eat and not at all about how nervous I am to give the presentation. I'm also taking the opportunity to catch up with some old friends from high school/college. I hope they like Belgian beer, 'cause the chance to have Karmeleit on tap is not negotiable.

Last week I promised more kitchen photos. Here they are!


The wall 'o glass cabinetry properly furnished. Is that Roseville? Why, yes it is! This cabinet better not fall off the wall, dammit.


The backsplash is in. These are polychrome and field tiles from Motawi Tiles in Michigan.

Here you can see it over the range. I created the design myself, much to the consternation of the tile specialist. I'll post the saga of the backsplash later.


I just had to throw this in. This was the weather map before storm #2. Apparently the folks over at NBC4 were SO excited about another 10-12" of snow that they forgot how to spell. See how helpfully they circled the error?

Kitchen update

I will not mention the snow. I will not mention the snow. I will not mention the snow.

Blizzard conditions? In Maryland? I'm having PA/OH flashbacks.

And not the good ones.

Let's talk renovation!

The flooring finally arrived and was installed. This is reclaimed oak barn wood from Elmwood Reclaimed Timber. They have a great product. Their communication is a bit laissez-faire, but if you're laid back it shouldn't be a problem. Just look at the gorgeousness that is my living room! The Little Brewers have been scanning the floor, looking for their favorite planks. We've discovered one that has some initials carved in it.

My Craftsman style columns have been installed. I looooove the columns.

Here's a view looking down the entryway toward the front door. Will I be replacing the front door in the future? Yes I will. Note the lack of ceiling light. I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect light to complement the columns.

Actually, I had found the perfect light a year ago but couldn't convince Mr. Brewguy to spend the money.

Did you see the hint of cabinets? Patience, patience.

Perhaps some good karma came home to roost because the light I had been lusting over for a year was available at reduced cost.
Is this not the most beautiful light ever? This is work by James Mattson Coppercraft.

Here is the light making my entryway all fancy-like.

More photos later!

Snowdiculus

Named for the Roman Emporer Snowdiculum (23BC-23BC), the Snowdiculus is a weather event so outrageous it calls for extreme hilarity.

Before the recent snow event. Notice the snow still around from the last snowstorm.

We are approaching Snowdiculous.

We got 27" of snow Friday-Saturday and lost power for 14 hours. Let me tell you, cold and tired makes me cranky. We are expecting another 10"-20" tomorrow-Wednesday. Perhaps not such a big deal in Buffalo, but not so good for Maryland (number of plows=3).

During the event, about 5:30pm.

Saturday morning.

I have shoveled our driveway and that of three neighbors. Ow. The good part is that all the neighbors are now friendly and the shoveling goes much faster with five people.

The blue tape is 28".

My parents called today from Fort Lauderdale to see how things were going. I told them to stay in Florida and not attempt to approach the Mid Atlantic.

They did not argue.

Around this time of year I typically write a New Year's Resolutions post. This year, instead of writing about what I resolve to do, I decided to do it.

My resolution for 2010: less stuff.

Living in the family room during the kitchen renovation (more later!) has made me realize I have a lot of stuff. It's nice stuff, but there's a lot of it.

But it was not just living in the family room that motivated this mini-epiphany. It was my new favorite TV show.- Hoarders. These are people with serious stuff problems. Fortunately I don't have a problem with cats or overflowing toilets, but I have a way more stuff than I can possibly organize.

So I attacked 1) the TV area and 2) the Stash of Doom. The TV area wasn't so hard (once I accepted the fact that I didn't need to save all those episodes of X-Files I'd taped back in the '90s). I Freecycled three bags of videotapes and a bunch of cassettes.

Neat! Organized! Happy!

The Stash of Doom was harder. I love my stash. I had squirreled away nearly every knitting and crochet tool imaginable in that room, along with enough yarn to supply three or four of me. It was so cluttered I used it to hide Christmas presents. Who would be able to see them?

Bertha gazes disapprovingly at the clutter.

The problem was that I could no longer find anything. There was just too much yarn. *gasp* Did I really say that?

Freecycle to the rescue. I put out the call and found four worthy knitters who could take my mismatched balls of acrylic blend. I also freecycled the fun fur and fizz. I think I'm past that now.

Bertha is happy.


Best of all, I can see all my pretty yarn.

The weeks are flying by here at Chez Casa de Brewgal.

My birthday came and went, and I was visited by the cake fairy.

I LOVE the cake fairy!

The knee walls were cut in the living room. Greg the carpenter made beautiful caps and is supposedly making me my tapered columns in his shop.

The drywall is up.

And we had a bit of snow.

I've given up on Christmas knitting this year. With the packing and the renovating, there was not enough time. The teachers will be getting dark chocolate truffles.

The renovation contines apace.

Here is the view from our foyer, looking toward the living room. Knee walls will be cut here, opening up the space.


Almost there...

Knee walls! Eventually there will be Arts and Crafts style tapered columns on the knee walls. You can see all the way from the living room down into the family room.

You can also see paint test #1. We had the most amazing foyer in our Gettysburg house. It was a square room right off the entryway with two tall windows on one side. The light during the day was just incredible. We painted it a similar color to the test shown above. The room just glowed. Did I save notes on the paint color from Gettysburg? No, of course not. I've been trying to recreate that color ever since.




Because the flooring has been delayed (apparently due to the installation of new milling equipment at the manufacturer), we won't have time to put up a tree. I couldn't stand the thought of no decorations whatsoever, so I made a Christmas corner over the fireplace mantle. I think it fits the bill and it makes me happy to look at it.