Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I?ll start with the bad news to get it out of the way: I got a $46 jay walking ticket yesterday. Apparently, pedestrians are not supposed to enter a crosswalk when the light is blinking. The funny thing is, there were many people on the crosswalk at the same time. Why I got singled out, I don?t know. It was very humiliating though. I?ve never had any sort of ticket before. Ptuie. Luckily, it won?t go on my record.

The good news is our insurance will cover the entire plumbing bill. All we?ll have to fork over is the deductible and that?s quite reasonable. Phew.

More good news: our heating ducts will be cleaned on Monday and the new furnace will be installed. Hopefully we can kiss some of our respiratory problems good bye (there?s a possibility of mold/mildew in the ducts) and welcome much more efficient and even heating in our home. Since it?s such a highly rated system, we?re getting all sorts of ?rewards? for having the system installed?a big rebate from our power company and a nice gift certificate to Bon/Macy?s. The gift certificate isn?t just nice, it?s rather stupendous. We?re going to use it to replace our horrible couch! Yay! And all I asked Robert for was permission to buy a slipcover. At last, we?ll have something pretty and comfortable in our living room.

I?ve got a lot on my ?to do? list this weekend. We?re going to pick out a tree and I?ll decorate that?most likely with Sam?s generous ?help.? I also have to start wrapping some of the Christmas gifts. I?ve got cookies to make and batches of soup to prepare, which I?ll freeze in anticipation of my mother-in-law?s visit. I?m supposed to be knitting a hat for my father, but haven?t felt motivated to do that at all. It?s also been suggested to me that I knit my mother-in-law some of the fabulous Fiber Trends felted clogs. I don?t know that I have enough time to do that. The thought of trying out something I?m not confident about with a looming deadline makes me freeze like a deer caught in headlights. Maybe I can convince Robert to just buy a nice pair and I can work on them when there?s more time?

Robert was accepted into the University of Washington for the spring term! He had applied earlier this year, but neither of us thought he’d get in because his GPA isn’t all that great. So, it was a complete surprise to us that they called him up today to discuss his application and to let him know that he has been accepted. I’m very proud of him! He’s flying as high as a kite right now.

We’re a little bit worried about where the funds for the tuition are going to come from considering we’ll also have two kids in daycare soon–but we’ll see how it works out. I’m also a little anxious because his classes start right around the time Claire is due. Robert assures me that it will work out all right because he’ll only be taking one class to start (he’ll attend classes at night and work during the day).

I’m feeling better about things in general, though. The plumbing has been fixed and the insurance adjuster will come to our home tomorrow to take a look at things. It turns out that tree roots had invaded our pipes and were causing the back up. The plumber and Robert cut a hole in our deck to get at the pipes and managed to use the snake to remove a lot of the roots. N.B. Must start pouring copper sulfate into plumbing every six months…it will kill the roots but not harm the trees…

I managed to re-knit the left front of the baby cardigan. Here are the completed pieces so far:

I’m a little worried that my knitting has become tighter as I progress, but the pieces seem to fit together okay. I expect blocking will help even things out even more

I thought Sam had done something really bad when I saw the long note written on his daily sheet yesterday. It?s not that I think he doesn?t behave well in general, but he is two years old and occasionally demonstrates the ?terrible? aspect of that age.

Anyway, the note didn?t start out in a very promising manner. The teacher said Sam had been playing with his favorite toy truck and then discarded it to look at something else. A little girl ran over to the truck, picked it up and declared that it was hers. When Sam saw this, he became very upset. The teacher wasn?t sure how to intervene, since she couldn?t tell the little girl to give the truck to Sam since he had put it down. Sam took matters into his own hands.
At this point, I was expecting to find out that he had thrown a temper tantrum or tried to grab the truck. He didn?t resort to either of these typical strategies for two-year olds. Instead, he looked around the room, found the little girl?s favorite doll, picked it up and looked at her triumphantly. In a smug tone of voice, he declared that the doll was now HIS.

This wouldn?t be a remarkable story if it were about an older child or one who had older siblings from whom he could learn strategies like these for getting his own way. It?s kind of amazing that he figured out how to do something like this on his own at such an early age! Boy, have I got trouble on my hands. We have had a good chuckle over this anecdote.

In Knitting News:

I finished the first sleeve on the baby cardigan. What would have been a moment of triumph was destroyed by my discovery that I had made some major mistakes on the two front panels of the cardigan…so I had to unravel them and start over. For something so small and “easy” to knit, it sure is taking me a long time! Argh.