Kaleidoscope done; Laker Ripple progress [crochet]

It grew and grew, and finally finished (?) at 65 motifs.  Kaleidoscope Afghan.

And Candace approves :)  The final tail was weaved in at 9AM. 

I then had complete intentions of spending the rest of my Sunday downstairs in the sewing room in order to prepare and tidy for the up-coming Bonnie Mystery, but....

nah.  

I wasn't feeling it.

Instead, 

I pulled out the Laker Ripple in hopes to make some serious progress on it SO THAT when Bonnie's mystery does finally arrive, I can devote all my time/attention to it :)

Oh...and....

the Hallmark channel played ALL DAY Sunday.  7AM until 9PM.

{{I only needed a few kleenexes!}}

Back in the saddle

Due to a request from dear friend, I needed to get back to my quilting life!  My friend and his wife have just been given full custody of a sweet 'lil girl, and as a way to welcome her to her new (permanent?) home, they have asked me to make a quilt for her.

It truly didn't take me too long to find some fun girl colors, although finding a pattern was a different story.  (See that stack of magazines in the back?)  I wanted the pattern to be an easier one in order to have a quick finish, but yet be super adorable and "girly."

I'm pretty sure this will be perfect.

And, OH how I wish I had more energy to keep working away on it.  I'm sure if I was working at 100% health, I could actually have the entire quilt finished today, specially with the extra hour from Day Light's Savings.  However, I am now into day #8 of a "bug"... and I dare say that it has now turned bronchial (my non-professional diagnosis).  I'm tired of coughing.  

So, I'm going to sit for the next few hours with my crochet hook.  I should at least make progress on SOMETHING.  :)  I finished up the 32 additional motifs last night, and started attaching them together this morning.  Now that I see the layout in pictures, I think I'm simply going to have to make 5 more motifs in order to have the right-side finish off like the left side -- symmetrical that way.

Oh that Bonnie; Friends; and SCHOOL SPIRIT.

AGAIN!  The classic moment of "trying to fit it all in!!!!"

The lastest news happened Thursday night!  Our volleyball team is advancing to the Regional Finals after a SUPER CAH-RAZY GYM-EXPLODING match against a number 2 seeded team (we were seeded 7th).  As a former coach of STILL some of these girls, we were simply mis-seeded.  Sadly, it happens every year.  BUT... it is what it is.  Thursday night was an AMAZING night of volleyball between two very equally matched teams.  IN-TENSE action!  The match went all the way to the final 5th game.... with a final score of 15-10.  The evening was DEFINITELY worth the cost of the ticket.  AND the gas!  LOL.  The town was 2 hours 45 minutes away----so thankfully, not having school on Friday (students) was perfect timing in order to send as many fans over to the game as possible.  I still had Teacher Inservice meetings yesterday, but it was tolerable; even with little sleep.

Upon leaving for the Thursday night match, some big ol' crocodile tears were rolling down Candace's cheek.  "It's NOT FAIR, Mom!  Why can Cassie go but not us???"

Yes, yes....Cassie travelled the distance with me, but not Candace and Caitlyn.  Oh dear.  The world came to an end.  LOL.  Yet, whenever those two are with me at local games, the lovely words, "Mom, I'm bored" pop out all too soon.  And too frequent.  LOL.  So, they weren't given a choice.

But I'm a sucker.

SO, .....

"Alright Candace.  I'll take you guys to Skate City tomorrow night (Friday night).  And you can invite a friend along."

Candace, my lovely lovely child, knows me allll too well.  She knows that sometimes...I don't always follow through, even though I have excellent intentions of doing so.

So....

she brought out...... the PINKY!

"Pinky promise, Mom?!"

So, Skate City last night happened, with a Pizza Hut trip ahead of time to boot!  And friend.

Caitlyn's friend, sadly, could not make the evening festivities.  Instead, we set up a short play date for the two of them TODAY, 10-2.  

Which brings me to the current moment.

I've been working on some new motifs for the Kaleidoscope afghan when time allows.

My first priority, this morning at 5:30AM (after a cup of coffee), was to make up a couple of blue-n-gold scarves for the game tonight!  

And, OF COURSE, the other latest news:  BONNIE'S NEW MYSTERY!!!!!

Q: "So, Amy.  Are you doing Bonnie's newest mystery?"

Bah!  What a foolish, foolish question!

A true Bonnie fan would NEVER....E-VAH... miss out on a Bonnie mystery!

Therefore, in order to prepare a BIT for the mystery coming out in November, I suppose I needed to spend a little time tidying up my sewing room AND try to (at least) turn her last mystery (via Quiltmaker magazine) into a flimsy with the few hours I have today!!!!

I pulled out the units around 10:00 and displayed them on the floor.

Then I spent an hour cutting up the last of the required units for the sashing.

But that's it for now.  LOTS and LOTS to do in the next couple of hours before needing to hit the road for the Volleyball match tonight.   And, yet again, the match is over 2 1/2 hours away!!! 

BUT, thankfully, the Farm is within an hour's drive of the competiton's school, so the girls and I will be heading out a bit earlier to visit a bit, then head to the game.

HAPPPPPPY Saturday everyone.

Oh my! 2 weeks gone by...

I don't think it'll surprise anyone that this has been the picture of my kitchen table on most evenings and every Sunday for the past few weeks.  I do wish I would get better at doing a quick, little check-in on a day-to-day basis, though :)

Cassie's volleyball season concluded with an all-day tournament last Saturday.  That alone is a symbol of how fast this school year is zooming by already!

BUT LAST SUNDAY..... I crocheted the day away!  

((and sadly paid for my lack of AP-Statistics prepping throughout the week!)) :p

The "hexagon flower" units were wrapped up late Sunday evening, and then I started connecting the motifs together a little bit on most evenings this past week.

Today, I finished connecting 28 motifs; the recommended amount for the Kaleidoscope Challenge given out by Mikey from the Crochet Crowd.  HOWEVER, now that it is together (with loose ends still needing my attention), I will make another 22 motifs (2 more rows each of 5 and 6 motifs) in order to make this closer to a throw-size.  Even Candace said "it's too small;  even for ME, mom!"  :)

Ah yes..... and one day this week while walking through Shopko, I came upon this lovely sight!

I didn't dare take a picture of my cart after the damage I did to this bin.   And in all honesty, I hit up the store twice that day;  the first time Paul was with me, so I only did a little damage.  But later on that evening, I brought the girls with me.  I couldn't BELIEVE how empty the bin became from my afternoon visit to my early evening visit!  I guess I wasn't the only one who loaded up.  This picture was taken after my 2nd dig.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5...

That would be then number of months that have gone by since the last of the "white stuff" disappeared for us in Northern Wisconsin.  Even though we all enjoyed the excitement of the first snow fall today, it's still waaaaaay too fresh in my memory about the OVERLY LONNNNNNNG winter we had last season!  *sigh*

And darn!!!!!!  I'm kicking myself for having my lazy night a couple of days ago!  I SHOULD have gotten my bum outside to pick the last of our tomatoes in order to give them to MIL.   We had our first hard frost over night for the past two evenings, so...... they're done/gone/damaged.  I suppose they still COULD have made up some great sauce/juice, had I picked them yesterday, or evening today.  But..... I guess it is what it is.  I have plenty of juice and whole-tomatoes stored away for my family AND for the inlaws.  It's still easy to kick yourself about letting anything go to waste, though :\