Hoppy Easter!

Hmm...I am wondering where my little pal Brown Bunny is. A few weeks ago I started wondering if I ever sent or took him back home last year. He wasn't in our Easter decoration box, and my mom sent me a package but I didn't see the little guy in there (although he could be in the bag, it's all taped up and David's making me wait until Sunday!) I hope he's not hiding around here somewhere. I'd hate for him to miss Easter.
David ruined my Easter Brunch plans by planning a ...erm, traditional...Easter Barbecue. You know, Easter hot dogs and Easter burgers. They're not even bunny shaped. And he was not at all interested in me making a bunny cake. I'm beginning to think that David is the Grinch who stole Easter. He even told me that there were no more egg dyeing kits left at the commissary. I think he's a total rabbit-hater. I asked him to pick up a bag of cole slaw mix and he brought home 2 jars of "slaw dressing" instead. I thought that at least if we didn't have any colored eggs for the Bunny to hide, at least we'd be able to feed him some cabbage. I don't know that the Easter Bunny would be interested in eating 2 jars of mayo, which is what I have discerned the slaw dressing to be.

Ahh, Easter. I am almost more excited about Easter coming than I was about Christmas. After Easter, I'll be able to buy more yarn! For the 40 days before Easter, I gave up buying yarn. I typically give up something big--all meat, desserts/sugary snacks, eating at restaurants, even shopping once. This year's was probably the hardest one ever! I've been trying to occupy my mind (and my online yarn store searching fingers) by working on my Gathered Pullover. I'm very pleased with the body, but I'm finding it very difficult to make it through the sleeves. So boring, and I can't manage the dpns while holding the yarn in my left hand, so I'm having to use it in my right.

Still, even though I'm in the middle of two projects right now, and I don't actually need any yarn, but I've been drooling over yarn for days. Ravelry has definitely increased my yarn-awareness. Oh Ravelry, you devil! The other day I noticed an ad at the bottom of the screen that said "Yarn Marathon". Of course I was intrigued by that! As I waited for the new window to load, I thought of all the things a "Yarn Marathon" could possibly be. You know, really sensible things, like a real running marathon with knitting stops instead of water stops. Or medals made of yarn. It turns out that the Yarn Marathon is put on by a store, Eat.Sleep.Knit (love that name because it totally reminds me of my old summer camp t-shirt, Eat. Sleep. Swim. Camp Dick Runyan) The store will track all the yarn you buy (from them) and give you little (and big) prizes at the "water stops". Fun, right? I have my shopping cart full and I'm ready to click "checkout" first thing tomorrow, Easter Sunday! Then I'll be about 2 miles into the marathon. And what will I do with 2 miles of yarn? I'm thinking of doing a laceweight sweater, a scarf for a friend that's moving to a cool climate, perfecting my magic loop sock-ing technique, and maybe getting a head start on some Christmas gifts!

Adventures in Babysitting

On Friday, my friend called and asked me if I thought she should take her baby Whale Watching. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea, and that I could babysit so she and her husband could go. David and I went whale watching the first winter we were here and it was fantastic! Even though I spent most of the trip "in the head" throwing up in a bucket. I didn't want Stacy to miss it, but I didn't really think it was baby-appropriate, even though Stacy claims that her baby "really likes animals"! The whales don't look a thing like puppies.
So Stacy and her husband drop Grace off before 1:00. Pete brings the baby in and she smiles at me right away. Then he walked out of the house to grab her baby paraphernalia and she immediately started crying! What's this? I've known Grace since the day she was born...over 11 months ago...and I've only seen her happy. I began to have 2nd thoughts about volunteering to babysit. Stacy then explained to me that Grace has some separation anxiety...but only for Pete. She could care less when Stacy leaves.
Stacy is very easy to babysit for, since she's not one of these, "You must feed the baby 3 ounces of formula at exactly 5:03 p.m." mothers. And while she was here debating about whether or not she should wear her turtleneck sweater instead of, say, giving us a briefing on how to buckle her in the stroller, David came in with our takeout Chili's lunch. Stacy & Pete left and Grace cried for about 2 seconds when Pete left, just until David picked her up and started feeding her cheese from his salad. We could not eat our Chili's lunch. Grace had been here for 20 minutes, and already our lifestyle had completely changed. David just loves Grace, and Grace just loves David. I mean it, she just loves him, as in she only loves him. I walked out of the room to get the camera and she didn't even notice. David walked out of the room to get his laundry and she totally freaked.
Here is Grace when David is in the room:

Here is Grace when David leaves the room:

We thought it would be such fun for Grace to play with our little grandneighbor Phoebe. Phoebe didn't really think so. Phoebe is a bit territorial of her parents. She even wanted ME to pick her up (which has never happened before) after she saw me loving another baby. We finally corralled them into a picture together, well... with careful angling of the camera, I was able to fit them both in the frame.

David had some homework to do and I wanted to knit, and Grace was getting a little cranky, so we decided it was nap time. Unfortunately, Grace wanted to be part of that decision, and Grace apparently does not believe in good old fashioned "two-against-one". So we wrangled her into the stroller and took her for a walk. *Note to self: all baby hats should have ties* After about 100 yards of walking, David and I decided it would be safe for him to head back to do homework, since she wouldn't see him walk away. Grace loved the walk, she was making these weird baby noises the whole time. Walking was my favorite thing to do with Bianca when I nannied her. Grace and I walked (well, I walked, Grace rolled) about 2 miles, and she slept for the last 1/2 mile. So I speed-walked for the last half-mile so I could get some knitting done while she slept. It's as if Grace has some sort of sensor... I fell asleep for about 10 minutes, and she woke up.

I had to change 2 diapers. One pee, and one disgusting poo. Well, David says it wasn't that disgusting, since it was just two little pellets of poo, but it smelled so terrible I was about to vomit. And if I wanted to vomit, I would've just gone whale watching!
That's when the baby-poo hit the fan. David got his 3rd call from people at work and decided he needed to go in and help them. So he LEFT. And Grace cried! I took her outside because Valerie and Phoebe and Maggie the beagle were outside and I thought that might cheer Grace up. It did, for a little while, until Phoebe got mad that Val was holding Grace and made this crying noise at Grace until she started to cry again! Guillermo came home as we were standing out there, he held Grace, and she stopped crying! Grace has a thing for men. Stacy thinks it's because her daddy spoils her and so she equates being around men with being spoiled. While we were out, Stacy & Pete came back. They made Grace nice & happy and took her home, which made me nice & happy. Grace is a very good girl, but I was exhausted when she left...and glad to get back to my own baby--- my newest sweater-to-be:

A week ago today...

I was doing this:



There are 6 pictures of me before, during, and after the marathon. There are 15 pictures of strangers in costume during the marathon. David is entertained by the darnedest things. These 2 pictures were taken close to the 20 mile mark. One is right by the sign which I believe marks the 30km point. See the yellow line on the ground? Only 12k...a little over 6.2 miles... to go!

So that was a week ago today. Today I filled in a calendar with all the runs I'll need to do to train for my next marathon. Like childbirth, I tell you! The minute my muscles were un-sore (Monday) and I was sure the pain in my left foot wasn't being caused by some stress fracture(Wednesday), I forgot all about the misery I had experienced just a few short days ago.

Misery loves company, you know? That's why I've recruited David to run the next marathon with me. Well, maybe not with me, but at the same time as me. He expressed quite a bit of interest (in fact, it was his idea) but I know that what sealed the deal is when I told him that he could go golfing on cross-training day. We can't register until April, but we're planning to do the Gold Coast Marathon on July 6...in AUSTRALIA! Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the USAF doesn't ruin our travel plans...again.

So a week ago tomorrow, I took the day off to recover from the marathon. Tomorrow, I start training for the next one! I think I've lost my marbles... maybe I'll find them scattered along the road during one of my long runs!