I knew Jason was on his way home so I went ahead and opened the door to welcome him home. One by one the dogs went to the door to wait for Jason's arrival.

And finally...Jason's home!!!

Today the dogs were lying down in an unusual configuration and I was able to snap a quick picture. It's not unusual to see Murphy and Hutch snuggled together but I've never seen all 3 of them in a little doggy train. :-) Pretty cute!

Sleep Well!

Go Lady Tarheels!

Jason and I had a great Easter! We got up early and went to the 8:30 church service in Newport News. We usually go to the 10 am service but UNC played basketball at noon so that didn't give us enough time to get there. The earlier service worked out great though because afterwards we went to the Silver Diner for breakfast and then on to the game in Norfolk.

The night before I made a sign so that ESPN might put us on tv. Unfortunately I don't think we made our television debut :-) But here's the sign! (Sylvia is the coach for the Lady Tarheels)

UNC won against Bucknell on Easter Sunday and then again last night against Georgia. Last night was a late game though. It was supposed to start at 9 but the game before went into overtime so UNC didn't start until 10:10! Even though it was a late night we had a great time!

Hair today, gone tomorrow :-)

Me and Charlie and my new 'do!

Another beautiful day here in Chesapeake! I got my hair cut today. I've been itching to do something with it but didn't know what to do. So when I went to the salon I told the girl to just take off a few inches and give me some layers around the face. So we talked about it and I agreed to take off 4 inches. I was fine with that because my hair is pretty long and 4 inches really isn't much in comparison. So she cut about 4 inches off while my hair was dry. Then she washed it, usually a very pleasant experience, but this time I felt like she was pulling my hair out. Then, I sat down in the chair for her to brush out the tangles and cut the layers around my face. She said she was going to just straighten it up and cut just a little more. Before I knew it, a 3 inch strand was dropping on my lap. So, I just sat there while she finished doing whatever it was she was going to do. Turns out, she was layering all my hair and not so much around my face. All in all I think she cut 7 inches off.

The good news is that I actually like how it turned out despite it not being what I asked for. I was ready for a change. The real test will be when I try to style it myself. We'll see if I still like it then :-)

The whole thing reminded me of when I was about 12 years old and went to a hairdresser, picture of Kelly McGillis in hand, and requested he cut my hair like hers. (She's the girl from Top Gun). What I ended up with was what I call the 'mushroom' cut. Instead of being just above the shoulders it was cut just below the ears! And because I have thick hair it all just mushroomed out. Thankfully, today went better than that! :-)

Below is how long my hair was not so long ago. This picture makes me miss it!

Lean on Me

It's been a beautiful day here today!  Even now at 7:45 pm, we have the windows open.  It's 73 degrees!  It's so nice to get some fresh air in the house.  The temperature was up to 79 earlier.

There seems to be a theme to the next two pictures.  Murphy does make a great pillow! :-)

In the next 2 pictures you can see our new plants.  I wish you could smell the hyacinth. It smells sooooo good!

We have to keep an eye on these little plants because the dogs like to pull them out.  Even while we were planting them, Charlie came over and pulled one right out of the pot!

MARCH MADNESS!!!

It's almost that time of the year again! I can't wait! Kansas plays on Thursday and UNC plays on Friday. I love this time of year! I filled out 10 brackets on ESPN.com. Apparently that's the maximum # you can fill out :-)
Also, Jason and I just got tickets to the 1st 2 rounds of the NCAA women's tournament in Norfolk. UNC women are playing on Sunday at noon. Hopefully they'll win and we'll also see them play on Tuesday. I think it's pretty cool that even though we didn't make it to Chapel Hill to see some games, the Tarheels are coming to us! Unfortunately the KU women's team didn't make it to the big dance. If you happen to watch the NCAA women's tournament on tv look for me and Jason. Maybe we'll make a big sign so we'll be easier to find :-) First I'll make sure it's televised!

One Finished Sock!

Yes!!! One sock down! For my first sock, I'm pretty happy with it. Jason seems happy with it too! Now, he just needs one more to go with it. :-)

And now for some pictures of the family:

Here's Murphy with 2 small tennis balls in his mouth. Have I mentioned he likes to cram as many toys as possible into his mouth?

Here's Hutch relaxing. He loves sleeping in this postion!
And here's Charlie. For some reason he was using this black folder as a pillow. It didn't look comfortable to us either.
And here are Jason and Murphy. It looks like Jason is telling him a secret and Murphy is listening intently.

I wonder if he told him to do this:

A new project and Bee Movie

Below is the bag I just started working on. It's called the "Floral Felted Bag" designed by Nicky Epstein. It was in the Holiday 2006 issue of Interweave Knits.

This is the yarn I'm using. I really like it. I don't know if you can see all the subtle colors on the computer but there are hues of red and green and yellow.
In other news, Jason and I watched Bee Movie the other day. It's very funny and I highly recommend it!!!

Sneaky!

If you've been reading the blog you know I'm knitting my first pair of socks (for Jason). This little guy has been quite useful along the way. Isn't it cute!

It's a tape measure!

I had my trusty tape measure beside me as I was knitting this morning because I am getting close to the toe and need to know when to stop knitting the foot. Charlie was also beside me on the couch. Little did I know, he was eyeballing the lamb. I still didn't suspect anything as he nonchalantly got off the couch and walked over to the door, one of his favorite places to lie down. I just happened to look up and saw this:

That's right! He had the sheep by the tail!

This is what happened when I walked over to take it away from him.

Isn't he a sneak!?! He cracks me up!

It's growing!!!

It's growing! Slowly but surely the sock is progressing. I worked on it quite a bit today. I've still got about an inch and 1/2 before starting the toe. To keep things interesting I started another project last night. It's a felted bag. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. I don't have that much to show yet so I'll wait until I have a little more done. I planned on knitting more on the bag tonight but the sock has worn me out and I don't think I can stand to knit anymore for the rest of the evening.

Currently the dogs are being quite annoying. They are all fighting over a yellow flashing ball. Murphy is growling, Hutch is whining, and Charlie is just running around trying to get the ball (well, now he is being vocal too!) Hopefully they will calm down at bedtime, which is quickly approaching.


Jason allowed me to take yet another picture of his foot so I can show my progress. Thanks sweetie!

The 3 Amigos

We've been planning to post a video of the dogs but just now got around to it. Charlie is usually the instigator of the "fights" as you can probably see in the video above. Notice how Hutch goes to Jason when he realizes we're watching them. Charlie, however, goes after Murphy (the camera ran out of memory space after this).

In the 2nd video, taken last night, Charlie was trying to start something with Hutch but as soon as I started videotaping he played dumb :-)

Hutch gives me some of the funniest expressions sometimes. I couldn't resist taking his picture while he was looking at me like that today. And doesn't he fold up nice and compact! :-) He and Charlie are currently wrestling on the floor as they do many many times each day.

Below are the newest sock pictures. Jason tried it on this afternoon. I'm happy with how it's going and the way it fits. I enjoy working on it but it gets a little monotonous. I'm thinking of starting a new project to give me a break (maybe something on larger needles). :-)

Socks!!!

I've been knitting for a few years but until now had never made a sock. I did make Christmas stockings for Jason and myself to hang above the fireplace but that did not require tiny needles and tiny yarn. A couple of months ago (sometime before Christmas) I decided I would make a pair of socks for Jason. I guess it took me awhile to get the courage to tackle them but I finally started his socks. Below is a preview of how it's going. Basically it was really slow to start with (Jason keeps reminding me that he needs 2 socks, not just one) because for 6 1/2 inches you knit 2 purl 2. For you non-knitters out there that just means that it is VERY monotonous! However, as soon as I started the heel things got a lot more fun and moved a lot faster.


Below is a picture of Jason trying the sock on. I'm using 2 circular needles instead of double pointed needles to knit the socks so he can try them on as I knit them to make sure they fit. So far so good! :-)

This is the heel of the sock. I'm really pleased with how it's turning out.

And this is what the sock currently looks like. I've knit the leg,turned the heel and am now working on the gusset. I'm learning a lot about sock anatomy as I go! I'm planning on working on it more today and tonight so hopefully I'll have even more progress to show tomorrow!

Go Heels!!!

The UNC Tarheels just beat Duke!!! What a game! I enjoyed it thoroughly!!! Go Heels!!!
Kansas also won today. They beat Texas A&M. Basketball season is great! Especially when your team is doing well! :-)

Jason and I went to the NC mountains this past week. We had a great visit and enjoyed a week away from the hustle and bustle of the "big city." Jason had National Guard duty this weekend and so he didn't arrive until late Sunday night.

I've been a bit delayed in posting pics so here's one from Feb. 28th.

The dogs made themselves comfortable while I was taking a shower. They're so spoiled! :-)

We went to the NC mountains this week. I got there on Saturday and Jason came down on Sunday since he had National Guard drill this weekend. The dogs were really happy to see him!

Here are some pictures of our cuddly boys.

Hutch is lying on my lap in the picture on the left. My arm wasn't long enough to get a picture of all of us though.

Murphy and Charlie squished together so they could both lay on the doggie bed.

Charlie is soooooo CUTE!

Here I am with the small dogs, Sophie, Charlie and Keats (on my lap).

Here are Mom and Dad with their respective lap dogs.

Sophie and Charlie get pretty cozy on the couch.

Charlie and Keats were both trying to squeeze on Mom's lap.

Here's Charlie giving me another cute look.

Friday morning we awoke to lots and lots of rain. In fact, rained all 6 1/2 hours of our drive! I know we need the rain but it's not that much fun to drive in.