A new blow dryer

If you are thinking of buying a new blow dryer, go for one of those ion things. I have very dry , loosely curly hair and it always looks a little frizzy. After using my girlfriend ,Terri's, blow dryer in the states. I realised that mine just wasn't doing for me. Her's does not have the ion thing but did have a cold shot thingy and was just better than mine. So off I went shopping, and as long as I was spending that much money on a blow dryer, decided to try one with ion drying- one use and I am a convert- my hair both looks and feels better.

On the "handarbeits" front I have finished one "Lorna's Laces" sock . It turned out really nice . I love the colorway and the yarn and finished sock have a nice soft cushy feel. The second sock is cast on ,but will have to wait and be worked on in "between" times as I am commited to Annemarie's Neighborhood RR at the moment. It is my priority until it is finished and sent on it's way.

On the personal side I have had a tough week. Aside from all the usual business, Patrick got sick and had to be taken to the Dr. , medicated and pandered too. Plus the dog kept throwing up. One night I got up about 16 times between Patrick and Nala- I am not sure why I kept bothering to go back to bed ! Patrick is still home from school but should be able to go back on Monday and I think I figured what was making the dog sick- just as I was about to break down and take her to the Vet , she got better. The only thing I can figure out is that we had been feeding her the last of a bag of dog food from before we went on vacation and perhaps in the heat it had gone rancid. As soon as we started feeding her from a new bag - she quit throwing up. has this ever happened to anyone else? Or their dog? I also had to take the car to get an inspection - everything was fine except I need new brake pads in the front. They had to order them but I assume they will be here in a couple of days. It feels good to know the car has fresh oil and filters etc...
Wednesday evening I had to go to 2 parent teacher evenings. One in each of the kid' schools. Contrary to my intentions but definitly forseeable , I volunteered/ let my self be voted into some office in both classes. Neither of them horrible or a lot of work and just someone volunteering makes the whole evening be over so much quicker. Wednesday wasn't a complete loss though, while the car was at the inspection I had a pedicure. Makes it all worth it!

A vacation tidbit for thoes who are still interested. We did not manage to do some things that we typicly do on every trip- visit the Jelly Belly Factory or Marine World but we did visit the Bay Model - which I loved and the kids found BORING!!! It is a scale model of th eSan Francisco Bay and all of the water ways atatched to it. With it they can study the effects that almost anything might have on the water and it's surroundings. For instance a new bridge or digging a channel deeper. Very cool.
The picture is of my Dad and the kids at the San Francisco Bay Model in Sausalito CA.

The Birthday Boy

Alexander is the one with the sunburned shoulders ;-) The others are from left to right. Danell - a school friend of mine, who just became a step grandma. Alice,my stepdad's,brothers, ex wife who I hadn't seen since I was 9 years old. One of my Mom's best friend's Sharon and her daughter- the sweet Emily.

Sunday update.

Thank you for the "welcome homes" . It is nice to feel like someone noticesd when one has gone "missing"
The daily grind has set in. My big project for today was to vaccume and clean out the car. I thought I might not be able to do it as it has been raining (in August!) off and on since yesterday afternoon, but there was a break and I trundled my new "dustsucker" outside and cleaned up the car. It feels good to have it done- I have to admitt that:
1. The car is 2 years old and has never been vaccumed before.
2. It has to go in for an overdue inspection on Wednesday.
3. Michael and the kids took the two back seats out to take stuff to the dump - so it was easy to do the back.

Just so that no one gets the mistaken idea that I am a clever and tidy person who ,like my neighbor, cleans her car every weekend! It always impresses me but I just can't get into it.

I have rearranged my teaching schedual to better fit my needs and my least favorite student quit- I was obviously his least favorite tutor- so I am pretty happy with that situation.

We don't know when Michael will be home from the Congo so I am not thrillled with that situation ,but I can't change it so I am doing my best to ignore it.

I am going to try and write a little bit about our vacation in each of my mails for a while as I didn't manage to write much while I was away. Alexander turned 16 on July 3rd and my Mom threw a pool party for him. It was a great day with cake, swimming, presents, and a BBQ. These partys are always fun and interesting as my Mom invites peple that we havent seen in a while. I have a picture of Alexander blowing out his candles for this post but I can't find it so I am going to post this with picture to follow!

I am still alive

Hi all. Yes, I still alive. I am not quite back with the program ,but almost. I have my dog back and Michael was here and is gone again. School has started and I am working again. I am stitching and knitting and not cleaning enough as usual. I hope to get back to reading writing and commenting on blogs soon. I hope everyone had and is having a lovely sunny summer.