Absence makes the heart grow fonder

What have I been up to since I made that mermaid? Um . . . good question. I made some doll clothes!

Beebie modeled the sweater for me, but is much to small to show off the dress. You can see the skirt lying across her lap.
Pattern: February Doll Sweater from Petite Purls.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino - took almost the entire skein.

I've been working on yet another Sock Monster for Shall We Knit?
I love the colour! Koigu makes some really beautiful yarns.

I have some really crazy finishing ideas for this one, but it needs to go to the Knitter's Frolic with them very soon, so I need to get on it!

I'm working on another doll from a pattern I created - looks really good so far. It just needs a little tweaking to make the whole thing match better.


In case you were wondering, I went with the green on the right for the eye colour.

But my main focus has been finishing this:


Because I really want to wear it this year!
So far, it's coming along well - I'm working on the bottom edging right now, actually. That means less than 5 rows left in the body, then I think 6 rows for each 'sleeve' and the neck edging. I could get this finished today or tomorrow if I apply myself!
Pattern: Buttercup
Yarn: Classic Elite cotton Bam Boo - should have unbelievable drape.

Doll #8

This fine mermaid is currently in the post . . . on her way to Alabama.

She is the first doll I sold - and is fully custom made. I think she's awesome, and I'll definitely make more mermaids!

Why? Why? WHY?!

Can I be the whiny toddler for a few minutes here?

We're sick. AGAIN! It's obscene the number of illnesses we've had in the household for the last 6 months. I can honestly only think of about 15 healthy days I've had. I'm so tired of being sick!

We've gone through 12-15 boxes of facial tissue, 3 boxes of sudafed, and I can't even tell you how many bottles of children's pain reliever and fever reducer. Since January.

About a month ago, Sweet Pea had an ear infection.


She went on antibiotics for the first time in her life. They worked quickly, and she felt better in short order, but the cold that caused her ear infection did a number on me. I just got better from it week before last.
Then last week, on Thursday, we started over again. There's a long, aggravating story here - to sum up though, she was in a bad, bad way. Because of the kind of doctor situation we're involved in, we are asked not to go to walk-in clinics or ERs unless we absolutely have to. I would have liked to take Sweet Pea to the ER on Saturday, but I was talked out of it. She had a fever of 38.9 (103) for three days, ate nothing for five days, and drank very little for 2 days. I was very worried. She spent Saturday sleeping on my chest, crying and being lethargic. Sunday she seemed to be coming around, until the afternoon. She laid on the floor all afternoon and whined. Monday she seemed to be on the rebound, but developed a really scary, wet, choking cough. We called the Dr's office and made an appointment. Tuesday we arrive for our appointment at 5:27 - they tell us we've missed it - we're 10 minutes late. We weren't, but the receptionist refused to admit us. I made a scene at the office, and spent 90 minutes last night drafting an email letting them know just how I feel about this whole thing. I spent much of the night last night listening to my daughter choking and coughing in her sleep. Today we took Sweet Pea to a walk-in clinic. She has another ear infection, and possibly something going on with her lungs, although the dr said they sound pretty clear. He thought something might be brewing based on her cough and prescribed a heavy duty antibiotic. Hopefully she'll be much better very soon.

But me? I have another crap-tastic cold. And I'm getting tired of being on cold meds, and not being able to taste, or smell or anything. I just want to be healthy! I can only hope with spring and summer on the horizon we can shake all this illness BS for a few months.

Some vacations are better than others.

Today was only day 3 of my vacation, and I'm all vacationed out. From this point on, it's all gravy.
Is it because it's the first vacation I've really had since going back to work? Probably. And so far, it rocks.

Yesterday, I had the best day EVER with Sweet Pea. We did lots of snuggling, and singing, and playing. We went swimming (!!). We went to the park (!!).



We went grocery shopping. It was awesome! If every day were like yesterday, I would already have a slew of children. Days like yesterday make me sincerely yearn for more babies to share more love and fun with.

Today, I took Sweet Pea to daycare, and spent much of the day at the LYS fondling, sniffing, and finally purchasing some really great stuff. I have purples for a wee girl cardi. I have black for a mystery project. I have pinks for another sock monster (store sample - yay!!). I bought 2 new books. I am in a state of complete bliss.

I filled the mommy jones. I filled the me jones. Tomorrow Mr. Wonderful will be home, and I will hopefully fill the family jones. Ah, yes . . . life is good.

Sneak Peek.

Making dolls = fun!

A month late and $167 short.

This post is about Valentine's day.
Initially I didn't blog it because there was unresolved issues and I wanted to see how it all panned out first.
Then I didn't blog it because it was too late, and just weird.

But I feel like discussing.

Valentines day. Mr Wonderful and I always agree on not doing gifts for V-day. Then W goes and gets me a gift anyway. Every year I don't, so that he won't feel like a heel if he hasn't. You'd think I'd learn.
This year's gift, I'm still working on.


I am making that shit last! Oh Lush, how I love you. I take the bags out and sniff them every now and then. Sigh. It is pure happiness.

Generally, we make a big fancy V-day dinner at home. This year, we were invited to attend a friend's 30th birthday party at a ritzy, novelty-esque restaurant in Toronto. We went. Here is the letter I sent when we returned home:

*******************
My husband, daughter and I have just returned home from what we hoped would be a memorable and enjoyable Valentine's day. Unfortunately, our experience at *** was less than satisfactory, and certainly not even close to acceptable.

We knew going in that dinner was going to be expensive. We accepted that idea. We were meeting friends for a 30th birthday party and had arrived at the conclusion that certainly it would be well worth it. I asked the woman arranging the gathering to call and ensure that *** is a family friendly restaurant - our daughter is 1 and a half, as is their son. We were assured that toddlers would be most welcome, and high chairs provided. I asked her to call again and look into the children's menu - she did. We did everything we could to ensure that our children would not be a burden, or a bother.
Our party was split up over 2 tables - understandable in a small space. What I cannot understand is why the children and mothers at one table received our meals within minutes, while the remainder of our party waited one hour and forty five minutes between appetizers and entrees. No, I am not exaggerating. I wish I were.
Whoever you are reading this email - if you have children of your own, you can understand the difficulty in keeping a toddler engaged, quiet, well-behaved . . . for over 90 minutes. In a high chair. Eventually the children got restless. They started getting noisy. We let them out of the high chairs. This is where things really get aggravating for me. My daughter wanted to walk. There is nowhere to walk in this restaurant with the sole exception of the middle - the circle. So I took her up and let her walk. The wait staff and bus staff really need some lessons in manners. REALLY. Excuse me goes a long, long way. 'Watch it', 'behind you' etc is just plain rude. And when I was told that *** wasn't a safe place for my daughter to play, I had to really work to hold my tongue. I'm sure it isn't an optimal place for a child to walk - but she was tied down in a high chair for over 90 minutes while we sat and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited for her father's meal to arrive. (He was at the other table - lovely Valentines for us.) You could have avoided this. Fairly easily, I might add. See to it that your patrons are served in a timely fashion, and their children won't need to stretch their legs mid-way through their meals. Simple.
When I returned to my table I was shaking with rage. I took my daughter down to the observation level and told her father to call my cell phone when his food arrived. He did, and we returned to our table for dessert and our bill. The bill and payment took over half an hour as well.
Our dinner reservation was at 5. We were prompt and punctual. We didn't leave *** until 7:35. And that was after advising the staff that we were in a rush and couldn't wait any longer to pay for our meal. (To that, I got a 'yeah, yeah'. Pleasant, right?)
I'm writing to tell you about our experience because after paying $168 for our meals, $27 for our elevation tickets (yes, they would have been refunded IF we were willing to stand in a line that exceeded the stanchions, and didn't move in the 10 minutes we stood there) $23 for parking and $40 for gas, we feel extremely . . . well, ripped off. And I can tell you right now, none of us will ever be returning to ***, or recommending it to anyone. The view from *** was lovely. And I didn't need 2.5 hours to take it all in.

It was a colossal waste of time, money and energy.
Take your staff, and train them in customer service. Please.
************

I got an email apology the next day, asking for some further info. I provided it. A week later, I got a phone call. A week later, I got a cheque for the cost of our meals. Sometimes complaining is really worth it. We won't get the lovely Valentine's dinner we were hoping for - but at the very least, the compensation took the sting out of the whole thing. I still won't recommend the restaurant to others, but I certainly won't smack talk them either.

I shouldn't have!

I really shouldn't have. I have so much sewing on the go right now . . but when saw this pattern online, and it was free - well, I just had to make one for Sweet Pea.

And she seems genuinely happy with her. Glommed on before I had a chance to sew up her leg holes, or make her a skirt.


Look at that happy, happy girl!


Here is her new monkey pal's face. Oh hey, I didn't get the ears finished either. Huh.


Oh yeah, it's love.


Sweet Pea and her new monkey pal did all sorts of things together today. I hope it's a lasting friendship!