Not nice

So DS puked this early-morning. (2:40am) There's been a virus going on in my family. First DD had it about a week ago. Then DH, MIL, and SIL got it. Eek. They just came back from a trip together and Gro has it too. He puked up as well and went to the doctors yesterday morning. Welp, now DS has it too! I'm worried as he's only 3-months old. I called the advice nurse early this morning and she let me know that I needn't rush to the hospital and since I know of this virus circulating around the family just watch over him.

Speaking of sicknesses, um, Kaiser has a TB scare. Not nice. I get a call 3-days ago from my children's pediatrician telling me that DH, DS and I need to go in for a TB test. What?! Turns out that some nurse had active TB while working at the maternity ward from March thru August and anyone that stayed overnight could've possibly contracted it. Grrr. Not nice. My BIL and sis were worried for their son, as he's 3yo, because they visited us late in the hours. I was reassured by the Doc that they're fine and that the sick nurse began work at 11pm and if the TB lingered around the hospital it would've been for a couple or few hours after the nurse left, which is plenty far from when they came to visit. Though, if they wanted to get checked up Kaiser would do it for free. So far DH, DS and I have gotten a TB shot and it seems that all looks fine to us by the naked eye. We're going back to the hospital this morning to get it checked. In addition, DS had to get a chest exam too. Grrr. Again, not nice. He's young so he had to do the extra test. All the newborns did. They strapped him into this contraption that he had to be sitting up-right for and then encased in a shield. I was not happy. He was crying the entire time. There were other babies waiting too and I heard that the Radiology dept was quite busy the day before. Oh man. Kaiser's in for some real poo poo. Whether or not the TB nurse knew or didn't know she had active TB, Kaiser didn't do a good job of finding out. At least they're acting quick and getting everyone checked. Doc said that all appts had to be canceled to see everyone about this TB issue. She was probably bracing herself for many unhappy, and possibly angry, parents. On the bright side, DS gained another lb w/i a month! heh. Big baby. He's got the rolls to prove it. To date he's about 15-1/2 lbs.

Deleted "SIL on crack"

We ended up reconciling and all is well now. Turns out, as often, there was a miscommunication. This situation was nothing compared to what it opened up. heh. Whoops. Sorry for DH 'cuz it seems it was more about him than me. Or so I was lead to believe. I don't want to get into details. 'Just want to say that things are well w/ me and SIL again and she's back to being one of the best SILs eva! Eek. 'Embarrassed that in a flash one can be on my sh*t list one day then the next day later you're back to being the greatest. Is it normal for others to have drastic emotions one day then completely regret it later?

Itchin' for new knittin'

I love receiving pkgs at home! This time it's more yarn. :D I bought some alpaca yarn from Alpaca Direct to knit some hats for my sister. I promised her I would. I'm just itching to use it but I should really finish at least one of my WIPs before I go to another one.

Updates on baking, beading, and knitting

And so goes the banana bread craze. I made the Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Banana Bread again and have concluded that it really isn't that great.

I've gone back to making the Maple Banana Bread one, which is so far the fav of the bunches I've made. For some reason it didn't work out either. Ahh! knitty nay has sent me her mom's banana bread recipe and I suspect it will be the last time in a long time that I will make banana bread again. Haven't made it yet.

Two nights ago I couldn't sleep and I finished off the other earring that I have been trying to have made for over a month now. Surprisingly, I made this second one in an hour. Geez. That was quick. I was showing off the earrings to my sis while in the car and clumsy me dropped one of 'em. It fell in the cracks between the seat and the center of the front two seats. I tried to get it out by hand but it didn't work. I moved the seat back and forth and I couldn't find it. It's gone! I don't know how I'm gonna be able to retrieve it back. I'll try to examine it again later. MIL had mentioned that she wanted me make one for her too so I'll need to get cracking on that.

I've also gotten quite some progress on the knitted dress for DD. All thanks to Addi Turbos. I was initially working on my Denise Interchangables but they were way too sticky for the stockinette part. It's great for projects where you don't want your stitches to fall off so easily, but for this project I need to work in stockinette for 16-1/2 inches w/ 300 sts/row. If I didn't purposely go out to my LYS for these Turbos I may've gotten carpal tunnel by now. Of which, Cottage Yarns gave me 10% off just by mentioning the knitting group. Wahoo!

Courtesy of Perle Stellar

1. What time did you get up this morning? about 7am
2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Iron Man
4. What is your favorite TV show? Um...I like many. Too many I like but none that I can't live w/o.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? jook 粥 (a.k.a. rice congee)
6. What is your middle name? Maria
7. What food do you dislike? Anything w/ mint in it. Yuck.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I don't really listen to whole CDs anymore. I listen to my playlists on my iPod. My fav playlist is My Highest Rated music.
9. What kind of car do you drive? Audi Q7
10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey w/ cranberry sauce, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a croissant.
11. What characteristic do you despise? stupidity (not ignorance), arrogance, know-it-alls...especially the ones that don't know it all, fakes and liars/white-liars.
12. Favorite item of clothing? Currenty, my maternity top that covers my fat, looks decent, and makes it quick and easy for me to feed.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? My first two thoughts were Thailand and France. But there's just so many places I'd love to vacation at. If we didn't have to worry about safety and friendliness I'd like to see the Middle East and Egypt too.
14. Where would you retire to? So far the Bay Area. I like it here. But you never know. Maybe I'll retire on a cruise ship and just sail w/ them for months at a time like so many of the previous generations are doing now.
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Oh dear. I believe my most recent memorable bday was my 20th or was it my 21st bday when life was still simple amongst a group of friends and we were all happy and practically care free. No drama.
17. Person you expect to send it back first? What's it? This questionnaire? I don't like to send forwards to ppl 'cuz I don't like to bug ppl w/ spam.
18. When is your birthday? September 12
19. Morning person or night person? Morning
20. What is your shoe size? Ughh. Do I have to tell? On avg it's an 8. Sometimes 7-1/2.
21. Pets? None. I'm too lazy to take care of them. Even fish.
22. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? Nothing new and exciting that I could think of.
23. What did you want to be when you were little? I had never had a yearning to be anything. I just liked candy. And I guess I had thought it'd be cool to own a candy shop. So I guess I wanted to be a candy shop owner?? Heh.
24. How are you today? I'm alright. A lot on my mind. Very disorganized about it. Internally I'm feeling rushed 'cuz I have things to do but am so good at procrastination and lagging.
25. What is your favorite flower? Sometimes stargazer lilies, sometimes gerber daisies, and currently cherry blossom and plum blossom branches.
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Not really a specific day but towards November and December. There's just so many holidays being celebrated around this time and that means more reason to hang out w/ friends and family. Since everyone's always so busy nowadays this is a reason it pushes everyone to get out of the house, out of work, and out of their monitors.
27. What are you listening to right now? Nothing. It's quiet and I hear the sounds of my computer.
28. What was the last thing you ate? Heh. Kellogg's Honey Smacks w/ chocolate milk.
29. Do you wish on stars? Sometimes. Haven't done it in a while though.
30. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red. I just like red now. Or some variation of a warm yet bright red.
31. How is the weather right now? Bright, beautiful and sunny. I think it may be warm outside.
32. Last person you spoke to on the phone? DH
33. Favorite soft drink? Currently, I like drinking Vitasoy Malt Soymilk. Is this a soft drink? If you're asking about a soda then I say Orangina.
34. Favorite restaurant? So far I'm thinking Ti Couz. The best crepes I've ever had! I've even been to France to have crepes. Ughh, what a disappointment. I'll have to go to the south of France next time to see if it's made better.
35. Hair color? My hair color is black.
36. What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved Legos!
37. Summer or winter? I prefer Fall, but if I had to choose between those two I'd choose Summer.
38. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate
39. Coffee or tea? coffee
40. Do you want your friends to email you back? yeah
41. When was the last time you cried? Um. I dont' remember. A few weeks ago? A month or two ago? Prolly 'cuz I was so tired and overwhelmed w/ things to do.
42. What is under your bed? clothes, bedding and a diaper bag
43. What did you do last night? took care of the kids, watched TV, cooked, slept
44. What are you afraid of? I'm afraid of my kids getting kidnapped or being hurt by anyone.
45. Salty or sweet? Sweet, of course!
46. How many keys on your key ring? five
47. How many years at your current job? four
48. Favorite day of the week? Thursday. 'Cuz next it's Friday and that means the weekend is coming soon. Not Friday 'cuz the weekend will end soon.
49. Do you make friends easily? No. I do a really bad job of keeping in touch. I guess the real question is do I keep friends easily. heh.
50. How many people will you send this to? 0
51. How many will respond? n/a
52. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Oh yes, definitely. I like to know that I've been paying attention to little things about my friends and I like to know more about them.

Many Updates

So a few things to update. I got a new car, didn't make banana bread, finished one pair of the earrings, and knitted up the bodice of a dress. Pictures to post later.

DH is cool and the best! It was the last day of the month and he pit two sales reps against each other. (Separate dealerships, of course.) In the end he got the car for $12k under ticket. Woo. It includes the winter pkg, towing pkg, and moon roof. I think that's it. I don't know how much mpg it takes. I look at how comfy it will fit as a family car and let DH know what features I would like in it and he thinks about the guy stuff in the car. So why a new car? DH wants to trade in the current car for an M3. Hm. He coaxed me into getting the family car so he could get his M3. Can you say pre-mid-life crisis?

The bananas that I was supposed to wait to ripen to make banana bread has turned black. Completely black. Not one single yellow spot. DH tossed it last night. heh. I've already bought more bananas that currently have quite a few black spots so hopefully I'll make them today.

I've beaded up one of the pair of earrings I'm making for a friend. It turned out nice. I showed it to MIL and she asked if I could make a pair for her. Cool.

On the knitting front, I've finished the bodice of the dress I'm making for DD. It knits from top down so I was able to pull it over her head to try it on for size. So far it's kinda loose. Good thing is that kids grow fast and this dress will last her for a while. Another thing is that when DD wears dresses the ILs like to put tops underneath that have long sleeves and are often times thick. So it'll be loose for now but still fitted because she'll have clothes underneath. I'm also supposed to put elastic bands into the bodice. Maybe that'll make the top tighter. Then I can take it off as her torso grows.

Another cool thing is that my knitting group has set together a field trip next weekend. Wahoo! It'll be fun. We're going to Petaluma for some yarn shopping and wine. Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay for the wine. I can't stay out for that long as I have to be back to watch over the kids. Bummer.

So I'm thinking about hinting to DH that I want a sewing machine for my bday. The thing is...I have no clue as to what type of sewing machine to get. What features do I look for? What else is there to understand about sewings machines that I should be aware of? I've posed these questions onto a friend who I find has great enthusiasm for sewing and she's given me some great advice, suggestions, and links to look at. If anyone else has some more suggestions, advice and such please give me some input. I am a complete newbie and have not even used a sewing machine to sew up a hole in garments.