Monday Math and What I Did This Weekend

First, the Ugly. I got 6 new books this week from PBS. One of them I will not be counting in this total as it is a decor book and not something I would sit down to read. So, 5 new books added to the 32 for the year and I'm at 37 books in. I did not finish even ONE book. I'm still at 15 books read, bringing me to 22 books behind. This is the 12th week of the year though, so I'm a little ahead on the goal of 52 books this year.

This might lead you to ask: So what have you been doing with all your free time?



It was a very full weekend at our house. The Man of the House and I spent some quality time tearing down sections of fence and putting them back up. We had dinner out- TWICE! I picked up and put down a half-dozen books before settling on Rachel's Holidy and getting some reading done. His Monkeyness and I went to the park. I updated his blog.



Mostly, I crocheted in my free time. See, I joined The No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along. I've always been a bit of a crochet-snob. My grandmother knits and I always thought of knitting as the superior craft. I haven't got a lot of knitting done lately though, as the monkey likes to grab what I'm working on and run. I am not very skilled at ripping out knitting and starting over, so I only knit when he is asleep or otherwise absent. I've had it in my head that crochet might be a good alternative, as it's only one hook and one loop to keep track of, instead of two needles and all those stitches. The Ripple- Along caught my attention and I was off. As it turns out, crochet is MUCH more forgiving when handled by toddlers. I started a little afghan and have been working on it whenever I have a minute. This will put a serious damper on my reading time. I'm slow, but hey, I just learned. Here's what I've got so far:

Not so exciting to you maybe, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.

A Hobby That Isn't Reading

Shocking, isn't it? I like to be a little crafty when I have time, and since having a child I find that there just isn't the time to quilt that I used to have (sorry, Addie, one day I will finish your quilt, I swear) because quilting requires bigger blocks of time. So I've been trying my hand at knitting. I made a couple of scarves a few years ago, and put it aside. I was recently in the checkout line and saw a little magazine called "Knitting For Babies" that had some very cute things. I couldn't resist, and bought it.

Yes, unbelievably, I made the hat in this picture. Wow.

More books! Less Time!

Paperbackswap.com has been great lately for sending ourt books I desperately want- as well as books I desperately want at-the-time. Yesterday in the mail we got 5 books (I say "we" because one of them is Mike's.)

Something Blue by Emily Giffin (sequel to Something Borrowed)
Don't Say a Word by Barbara Freethy
American Girls About Town by Jennifer Weiner, et all. (chick lit anthology, what a great way to try out new authors. There are 17 stories in this one.)
How I Write by Janet Evanovich
The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian

Guess which one is Mike's?

On top of my over abundance of books, I've recently committed to several other small projects. I found a pattern for a little knitted cap that I decided I HAD to try to make for Tristan. It's very cute, but I won't be able to knit while he's awake, plus it is harder than anything else I've ever made. I also still needs to make a gift for Tristan's friend Brady, a couple of baby quilts, a ghost costume.... The days need to be longer.