I mentioned earlier that I'd been knitting baby booties. Here are two teeny, tiny pairs of booties, which will soon - I hope - be winging their way to a pair of teeny tiny twin boys.

The pattern (link below) has directions for larger sizes, too. Difficulty: low. You need to know how to knit and purl on alternating rows (stockinette) and on the same row (1x1 rib). They're knit flat, then seamed (they are for babies, after all, so they won't be walking on the seam).

Specs
Pattern: (redacted)
Yarn: Madil Eden Print, 100% Bamboo. A gift/souvenir from fullfaun's trip to NYC.



In other news...

I have to give a great, big public thank you to J-dub and Anita, who gave up their Sunday (and skipped church!) to help me finish painting my Dad's kitchen. John had been working on it steadily for ages, but he's not been feeling well. Now, it's crunch time and it had to be done before the new flooring was laid (today). I worked all day Saturday, and John did what he could, but there was so much to do, and I was not 100% (I don't think I was 50%). I did something I don't do well: I asked for help. It turned out to be a very good thing, because John was very sick and wasn't able to do much of anything on Sunday. Not only did these lovely ladies help me get it all done, but they kept me GOING. I was in SO much pain (and still a little down), but having people there made it bearable. We talked, and laughed and ruined our clothes, but we got every cupboard door, drawer front and baseboard painted, plus finished the one section of wall John hadn't been able to do.

I can't begin to express how sore and tired I am. But I'm grateful, too.

I had to go to the grocery store to get food for the sick hubby at home, then the drugstore to get EVERYTHING for me. I don't usually buy all my hair & skin care products at once, but had to, because I ran out of EVERYTHING at once! Cleanser, moisturizer, shampoo & mousse, plus I'd lost my eye cream (so very desperately needed). Yikes. I had to buy some less expensive form of it all, because well, buying it all at once was still $50. But my usual moisturizer? $40 on it's own. I got either Oil of Olay or the CVS version for my skin and eye cream, the usual CVS version of Cetaphil for my cleanser (Why mess with a good thing? It works great and is darn cheap.) No more Philosophy or LUSH shampoo. I got Pantene (it was on sale, and they didn't have much in the way of Suave).

After crashing with John for a bit, and watching the DVD extras of 300, I took a long, hot bath in epsom salts and Melissa perfume oil (I have 2 drops left) to soak away the aches and the paint.

Speaking of movies, in addition to 300, in the last few days we also watched Hot Fuzz. That's it for the new movies. We watched Halloween H2O one evening, and part of Them! last night before we both passed out. Hot Fuzz is excellent, but not for everyone. If you liked Shaun of the Dead, then this will crack you up (no zombies, though). It is unexpectedly graphic, though. Gore is to be expected, it's just HOW it happens. The best example I could share would just give away the whole scene, so I can't use it.

My Moo Sticker Book arrived over the weekend. I'm sure it came on Saturday, but I didn't check the mail until last night. I'm really satisfied with the quality. At a little over a dime a piece, not counting shipping, it's not a terribly expensive way to get high-quality stickers of your own photos, in a little booklet that keeps them safe.

Along with the Moo envelope was a birthday card from my employer. I have never received anything from an employer for my birthday. Heck, it's been years since I've gotten anything for Christmas (in the last 6 years, I have received one candy cane). I work AT a large, global company, but I work FOR a small, fairly* excellent consulting placement firm. There are less than 100 employees, and they have 2 people whose full-time job is making sure we're all okay. I've been with them for 4 months, and have already been taken out to lunch 3 times, had someone stop in just to check in, and gotten a couple of cool gifts** (along with everyone else). Still, I did NOT expect a birthday card, signed by everyone at the office, or a $25 gift card.

*Seriously, it's great. Because only 1 of my meds has been around long enough to have generics available, the difference between generic ($10) and non ($40) is painful. If it were written as $40 for non-generic when generic is available. I'd be okay with that. Still, it could be worse.

**First week, a big jar of Jelly Bellies, then at the biannual employee dinner, a really nice long sleeved windbreaker/shell thing (that actually fit). In a couple of weeks, they're having Family Day at the Detroit Zoo (it's not in Detroit, it's in Royal Oak).