My baby is growing up. We’ve found four six of his teeth now. That makes him about 8 in human years. He’s a little boy now, and growing older every day. I love him more than I ever thought possible.

Zero graduated from puppy school with perfect attendence. He did me proud by learning “paw” in just a day or two, since “roll over” turned out to be too tough for him. (He doesn’t really like us trying to get him to lay on his back, mostly because he associates it with the EVIL nail trimming.) Now he’s learning “up”, which is to stand a little for a treat.

I have to admit I feel a little guilty thinking about him right now. He’s in his bed because I’m just in too much pain to play with him right now. My back sucks. So I feel like I’m neglecting him. Even though I’ve taken him on a long walk every day for at least a week. (Maybe more like two weeks.) We walk down to the karate school most nights, about 1.5 miles. We will often meet Andrew there and he’ll give us a ride home. Some days I take him on other walks, to the library or just around town. This is part of why my back hurts, actually.

Sometimes I look at him and my heart almost breaks a little. My puppy is gone. He’s not the near-helpless baby that he was. Honestly, as much as I grumbled about that, it’s really my favorite phase of child/puppy development. I just love babies. Maybe it’s insecurity and I just need to feel needed. Whatever it is, it has left me wanting to foster puppies.

In the past month, Zero has done so many exciting things! We took him to a beach in Santa Cruz. He got to play a little, but we still aren’t confident we can let him off-leash. He’s still too distracted by other dogs. I think I need to get him some better treats. And then bring them with me on our walks. I try to, but I end up carrying so much. There are the ubiquitous poop bags, a bottle of water and a little cup, my Zune, cell phone, keys, and a bag of treats. I feel so ladened down, especially in this heat.

This last photo is Zero in Bonnie’s (Andrew’s mother) garden. It’s really worth clicking it to see it larger. Andrew managed to take this photo *right* as Zero jumped up into her tomato beds. And he managed to catch my reaction to that, too!

All in all, life with Zero is good.

Wow, has it really been a month? I guess so. I kept meaning to write, but I’m having difficulty doing anything lately. Maybe it’s depression.

So what have I been up to?

Well, the first thing I felt guilty about not blogging was a strawberry-rhubarb pie. That was about a month ago. Then I made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp. Then fresh mint ice cream with chocolate chips. Then raspberry frozen yogurt and strawberry frozen yogurt. And a coconut cream pie.

I actually make strawberry frozen yogurt pretty frequently. I buy a large container (pint?) of nonfat plain yogurt (Trader Joe’s brand, usually), add some fresh (or frozen) strawberries, a little sugar, then mash it all together with a potato masher. It comes together in about 5 minutes, and since all the ingredients are chilled to begin with, I just throw it into my ice cream maker after mixing. 30 minutes later I’m eating frozen yogurt. It’s quite tart and tastes like yogurt that has been frozen, as opposed to the yogurt that is like McDonald’s ice cream.

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting. I bought some Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 from Beehive Wool Shop to make Tempest, a surprise from the Spring Knitty. The ladies from Beehive are super nice; I met them at Stitches West this year and was lamenting that I didn’t live in Victoria so I could shop there. They helped me pick a color; it’s an eggplant monochrome. I’m not doing stripes.

In addition to that, I made a baby sweater for my boyfriend’s coworker. (Ravelry link.) His wife recently had a baby, Adam, and I wanted to give them a little sweater. I used a Debbie Bliss pattern from her book Family Knits. It went very quickly. I was a little scared about sewing in the zipper, but I did ok. I could have done a better job, but it was for a baby, so it was important to finish it before the baby was too big to wear it.

Throughout all this I’m still working on Top Secret Knitting Project. It’s a wool sweater, which isn’t fun to knit in this 90+ F weather. Well, actually it’s fine. It’s just not fun to knit a large men’s sweater that I won’t get to wear or keep.

Oh, and I sewed up some little project bags using some fat quarters. Fat quarters that I had to buy to make the bags. I’m still looking for some good ribbon to use as handles/drawstrings. I used this organza(? maybe?) ribbon for one of them. Ribbon that I got tied around some fat quarters I bought from Piecemakers, down in Costa Mesa.

Man this post is really too long with not enough photos. I will scrounge some up right now, and insert them retroactively. Then you will reach this part of the post and say “What is she talking about? There are tons of photos.” But I’ll know.

Oh, recent obsession: the Stash and Burn podcast. (Is it still a podcast when I’m listening to it on my Microsoft Zune?) I’ve been listening to them all week. I fall asleep hearing discussions about yarn. I walk to the karate school to talks about gauge. And througout it all, always the theme of IK vs. Vogue. (IK all the way, baybee. Even if I don’t like their styles as much lately, they’re just more practical.) Jenny and Nicole finally convinced me to catalog my stash, too! It’s all on Flickr now, as well as Ravelry. Well. Not ALL of it. No one wants a photo of that Tahki Cotton Classic in black that I have a sweater’s worth of. Right? ~_^

This post is now long enough. So I’ll have to write about Zero tomorrow. (Or maybe the next day.)

I have a case of the Wednesdays. It’s the worst day in the week. Andrew has a meeting early in the morning, so I don’t get to spend much time with him at all.

I’m feeling a little bit down, lethargic. I have a lot of things I should be doing, but I’m not doing them. I’m lame.

I was meaning to write about the last week, but I’m feeling lazy. How about some photos, instead?

More on these later. Probably tomorrow.

OMG I was TAGGED! I feel so special.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

It was almost exactly ten years ago that my boyfriend and I started hanging out. We weren’t dating then; I was dating his best friend, and he was dating a tall redhead. We spent the summer going rollerblading late at night. I remember one hot night when the redhead and I stripped to our unmentionables and ran through the sprinklers at a nearby school. (My boyfriend still remembers that, too.)

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

Well it’s Sunday, so I’m not big on to-do lists.

• Read. (Today it’s The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.)
• Knit on the sweater for Malabrigo.
• Spend quality time with boyfriend and puppy.
• Finally finish sewing the cover for Zero’s crate.
• Eat dinner.

So far, the fourth and fifth items have been neglected. After posting this, perhaps I will rectify that. (At the very least, I’ll eat.)

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Popcorn. Air-popped, with melted butter and salt. Maybe that’s what I’ll have for dinner. I also really LOVE fruit. Bluberries and strawberries and apples, mmm, and pineapple. Chips, especially with “Salsa Especial” from Trader Joe’s. Chocolate, in almost any form.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Pay off all of my debt, my boyfriend’s debt, and maybe my mom’s.
• Buy a house. Preferably with four bedrooms.
• Buy a new car. Probably a hybrid Camry or Accord.
• Take a trip to Europe with Andrew.

6. Peeps I want to know more about:

I think I would feel awkward passing this on to anyone else. I feel like I’m too new. But if there is anyone reading this other than Leslie, I want to know more about you! So answer!

And now it’s time for me to put up the computer and get some food. I have some penne carbonara left over from last night’s dinner (at the Los Gatos Brewing Company).

Zero went to his first puppy class last night and we had a great time. He’s the only boy in the class, and he’s one of the youngest, too! (The other 12-week-old was a cute Boston Terrier named Zoe. The two are great friends now.) There’s a puppy social tonight that I thought about taking him to, but it’s in half an hour, and he’s sleeping. He’s such a smart puppy; I think he was one of the most trained dogs at the class. Many of them couldn’t Sit or Down yet. Today I bought him some freeze-dried liver treats. And a bone stuffed with brown goo. And a Greenies treat. And a chew toy. I think if I have children I will be a mother that spoils her kids.

This photo of Zero is supposed to be similar to an earlier one I took. He’s in a different car, and he’s not in Andrew’s arms this time, but I think you can still see how much larger he is. He’s not a baby any more. He’s more like a pre-schooler.

Life is good. I might get to go to the Maker Faire tomorrow, and see the Yarn Harlot speak. I might not, and that’s ok too. I have plenty to do: I’m making a cover for Zero’s crate (almost done), knitting a super-secret project, and reading (always reading). Plus, Ravelry. Andrew is tired today because he had to get up super early for work. Tonight is his early night, so he’s home around 8:00. I’d really love to go out to eat, but we’re invited to play cards with one of the Masters (who would maybe laugh if he saw me refer to him as such) and Zero is invited too! So maybe I’ll make a quick dinner and we’ll all go over. I doubt I’ll play with anything other than Zero, though.

I’ve been very lazy lately, not even mustering up the strength/wherewithal to do things I want to do. I suppose it’s probably a mild depression. How do you overcome it? I force myself to do things.

Right now I’ve got my laptop on the kitchen counter. The KitchenAid is standing ready, with gelatin, water, and strawberry purée in its bowl. There’s a sugar syrup boiling away on the stove, waiting to hit the soft ball stage. (And there’s a burning smell, that I must hope is coming from something that fell on the stove and not my syrup.)

Just paused to take some photos of this process. What am I making? Marshmallows. I’ve not made strawberry-flavored ones before, so this is a bit of an experiment. I think that marshmallows are amazing; you start with such strange ingredients and end up with the lightest pillows of deliciousness. (I must admit, the heated gelatin smells awful.)

So aside from my rigorous marshmallow-making schedule, what have I got planned? I think I shall do some laundry today. (Yay.) And then I can reward myself with a trip to the library! (Woohoo!) I’ve just finished (re-)reading Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers. Such a great book. I wish I could find a contemporary (aka living) author that I like as much as her. Except for Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde (a recent discovery), all of my favorite authors are dead. The problem with this is that they will never write a new book. I used to avoid re-reading books. Maybe I should get back into that habit.

OOH! Sugar is 235 F now. Almost time to whisk it into the waiting gelatin mixture. Will update more with photos.

I love the way boiling sugar syrup looks.

I got to sleep in today! Then Andrew and I took Zero over to Andrew’s mom’s house. Zero got to play around in the back yard and frolic in the grass without a leash.

Then I made a cake. It’s cooling** right now. I can’t wait to dig into it later, when Andrew gets home. Maybe I’ll even make dinner tonight! I have chicken in the fridge. Oooh, and iced tea.

Being unemployed sucks. There’s some yarn I really want to buy right now. Limited edition stuff. Won’t be around for long. I grabbed my purse to buy some anyway. But then I stopped myself. Oh but I really want it! Honestly, it’s ridiculous that I’m even thinking of buying sock yarn. I must have at least 10 skeins of it. Maybe even enough to make 15 pairs of socks. Hm. Maybe I can keep myself from buying this yarn (yes, I re-opened the window) by casting on for a new sock. That seems like a great idea.

Ok. That’s enough for now. Maybe I’ll update later to let you know if I’m poorer or if there is a new sock in the works. LOL

* I can’t title a post Pretty Good Day without listening to Tori Amos’s Pretty Good Year.
** Two Tori references in one post? Goodness, and I’m not even trying.

I made dinner last night! Hurrah! Oh wait. No, that was the night before. Last night we went to this great little Italian place. The night before I made it out to the store and cooked dinner! I even have proof. It didn’t turn out as well as it could have, but that’s what I get for messing with a recipe in a foolish manner. (Note: balsamic vinegar probably doesn’t belong in Indian food.)

On the knitting front, I’m working on a little sweater for a baby. It’s slightly tough going, because it’s cotton on metal needles. (That combination always wreaks havoc on my poor wrists.) It’s fun watching this project grow, and it makes a nice break from my other knitting project. I can’t really talk about that, though, as it’s a sample for an as-yet-unpublished pattern. It’s pretty awesome.

My day so far has been rather relaxed. It would have been better if I could have slept in, but I won’t complain about that. I’ll just hope for a day when little Zero decides that he’d like to sleep a little later. (Yeah right?) At least I have a bucket o’ Red Vines to keep me happy. I LOVE Red Vines. Now Andrew is home from work, and I think I have a chance to shower without having to worry about puppy, so I’d better go do that.

It’s been about a week since we got our little Zero, and he is already noticeably larger! I have photos, but I’m feeling a little lazy about uploading them now. (Also, I’d rather get all the photos up at one time, and I need to take some knitting photos too.) His coloring is starting to change too. He’s got a little stripe of white up his nose, and his back is getting darker.

Life has settled down considerably. We are working out a schedule, Zero and I. He’s letting us sleep a little later every day, which we appreciate. I don’t like being an early riser; it makese me grumpy and lethargic all day. I found a flea on Zero and had a little freak-out, then we put him on Advantix. Now I feel better. Fleas and ticks suck. We’re going to have to take him to puppy socialization classes soon!

Today my goal is to make it out to the store to buy some food, and to use that food to make dinner. I have been lax in that department. But it’s tough to get that sort of thing done when you’re trying to care for a puppy all day, and get your other work done too. Cooking and cleaning have fallen by the wayside.

Friday is one of my favorite days of the week. Andrew works a shorter day (gets home around 8:00), so I get to see him sooner. And this week it’s even better, because that means he takes over puppy duties for a little while. (Don’t get me wrong—I love little Zero. But I need a break to clean and such.)

Right now Zero is sleeping in his bed. I’m sitting on the couch, reading random blogs and listening to Yoav’s Club Thing on YouTube. I actually own the CD, but it’s all the way across the room and the floor is creaky and I don’t want to wake Zero. By the way, if you haven’t heard of Yoav, you should fix that. He’s amazing. We saw him open for Tori Amos and I fell in love. He has a page on that horrible networking site that I can’t stand (M_S____) and a few videos on YouTube. The one where he’s building the loop for Adore Adore is great.

Anyway. Right now my landlady is outside talking to a neighbor. Not quietly. I can hear Zero stirring. She calls to her kitties, “Come on! You wanna go outside? You wanna come in?” She is sweet, and has offered to puppysit if I need her to. Sadly, her relaxed attitude just doesn’t work with Zero. Yes, it’s cute when a little puppy jumps up on you and nips at you. It’s not cute when a full-grown husky does this. Do I fault her for the door-closing and cat-calling? Not for a moment. But it did remind me to turn on some music. The music seems to help Zero sleep through it all.