Open Letter to 2014

Dear 2014,

I'm sorry I haven't written more, but as you, no doubt, know yourself, this year has sped by. Mostly 2014 has been good to my family. I have a lot more to be thankful for than I can complain about.

Mom's cancer treatments went well. She's on the mend. She has her hair back (though it's much shorter and a different colour than it was this time last year).

Michael's career, while he has just made another change (which we're absolutely thrilled about), is going great. We are no longer renting a house in Saskatoon and he's going to be home more often again. It's wonderful! And I got my car back.

It has been a year full of fun family adventures.

This year is the year we started karate. First Ethan, in April, and then in May, it was my turn. Michael followed in the trend sometime around the end of September. It is one of those things I cannot see not having in my life, so I'm going to keep doing it until I'm no longer capable.

We bought a boat in the Spring and had so much fun with it. I can't wait until the weather warms up again and we can get back out on the water.

Owen started taking guitar in March. He loves playing, loves learning music theory, loves it all. And he's good. This is the year my first born became a teenager. It's hard to believe I've been a mom for 13 years.

Lily is such a bright light. She has done so much good for the school and community. She has donated much time and effort into helping those who need it. She donated clothes and toys throughout the year to people in need. She even grew out her hair and donated it to be used in a wig.

My running 'career' has been better than ever. In November I ran a half marathon with BRF Jenny in a time of just a little more than 2 hours and 17 minutes. I've got no big plans for any races in 2015, but I plan to keep running and keep loving it.

In November Michael surprised me with a weekend away to Niagara Falls. Kid free. It was so much fun. He's such a wonderful husband. I can't imagine a world without him.

There has been knitting, of course, there has been knitting.

True, 2014 had given us some tough moments, but that's all they were ... moments. Some of them harder than others, but we will carry on.

We lost our beloved kitty, Otis, in October. She was 16 years old. We were all with her in her final moments at the vet. She knew she was loved.

I'm not making any promises, but I'm hoping to make more time to blog in 2015. I have high hopes for a spectacular 2015.

Thanks again 2014, it's been swell.

From, Me.

PS. Happy New Year!

May

It's May already. I cannot believe how quickly this year is flying by.

Between Michael's travels for work, the running races and mom's chemo treatments it seems as though 2014 is a blur.

On top of all that, Owen started guitar classes in March (I think I mentioned that), Ethan started Karate at the beginning of April and Lily started Zumba classes in April as well. Next week I'm beginning Karate classes as well. I've always wanted to learn martial arts, so I'm doing it.

I have two races in May ... one is this weekend. The Starbucks Hazel 5km in Mississauga. Like last year I'm spending the day with Valerie. She's picking me up and we'll head out for an early dinner and then to the start line for 6pm. Last year my time was 28:11, which was a new all time personal best. This year, however, at Around the Bay 5km I blew that out of the water with a time of 26:31 and just did the Brantford Classic with Owen to get him a new PB. I wasn't pushing it but my time was 27:21 ... lots of steam left to give. So my plan is to kick ass at the Hazel 5km on Saturday. No pressure. HA. I never run with pressure, but this time I am and it kind of makes me nervous.

The race after that is the Sulphur Springs Trail Run on May 24th. Michael is running the 50mi race (80km) and I'm doing the 10km. I have no illusions that I'll rock that race. It's trails with a massive hill in it. I can run 10km easily, but I'm not going to fool myself into thinking this particular 10km is going to be an easy one for me. It's my longest distance (since my injury last year) and I'm not into killing myself. Run easy, run another day. Michael's race freaks me out. 80km is just CRAZY.

So ... May. It's busy.

Tumbling Bunny

Hey hey!

I feel good today. I got my new Spring hair-do and I'm feeling pumped for the upcoming Around the Bay Road Race this weekend. I'm running the 5km with my BRF Jenny, my sister and BRF's hubby. Michael is running the 30km race (crazy!) for the 2nd year in a row. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so I'm really stoked. I might even wear capri pants! YAY!

I knit a bunny.

This was my first time using safety eyes on a stuffie. Very cute. I like them. :)

He doesn't have a name, and although his socks are purple and pink I still think he's definitely a HE. He feels he-ish to me.

HE-Bunny is for my mom. I'm going to try to sneak it into her backpack as a surprise during her next chemo treatment. She calls me Bunny (or she did when I was growing up -- I'm Bunny, my sister is Mouse -- Bunnies are way cooler) so I figured since I can't be with her, a bunny I knit for her is the next best thing.

Pattern: Tumbling Bunnies
Yarn: Bernat Satin
Needles 3.5mm

So yeah, I haven't mentioned my mom's cancer here before because she's been very private about it ... and because she's very private about it, I'm not going to get into any great detail. She was diagnosed in December 2013, had surgery in January 2014 and started chemotherapy in February 2014. She's upbeat and positive and has a fantastic support system, myself and HE-Bunny included. GO TEAM!

Rainbows!!

Crazy. Ten years ago I got my email address and today I'm getting a new one. It's almost as much as moving to make sure everyone who needs it gets my new one. Almost. You know, without the packing ... and its certainly as much as changing a phone number (which we did a few years ago -- pain in the arse).

I've been knitting my Stray Cat shawl. It's turning out so nice. I'm using KnitPicks Chroma fingering in black and rollerskate.

Soon I'm going to be onto the lace section. I may need to order more black yarn, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see. 

Stuff and Things

As you know I've been posting a photo for every day of the year. It started as an Instagram project, but I decided to swing it over here too. It has become too difficult (read: time consuming) to post the pictures in both places and keep track of which one goes for which day when I'm not posting here every day. So, I will still be posting some of them here, but if you want to see all of them you can check them out on Instagram: http://instagram.com/r5samantha

What I will still be sharing here are my dogs, knitting, family and other moments of my life. You know, the usual.

Last Friday I was dog sitting for my parents for the day again. Really just dog walking, because Bessie didn't have a sleepover here again. I went to their house and spent some time with her; walking, chillaxin' ... dog stuff. :)

Miss Bessie is such a pretty girl.

My dog walkin' outfit. It was COLD out.

The Walk

So aside from being such an extraordinary dog walker I'm also a really wicked cool daughter for other reasons. You might remember I spoiled my Mom by knitting her Pagona Too (no, it's not blocked yet, yes I'm lazy, but I'm going to do that tomorrow -- I swear!) ... well over the weekend I knit her a hat and some fingerless mittens. Spoiled rotten I say!!

Mitt

Basic Fingerless Mitt
3.75mm needles
Wandering Cat Yarns Stray Cat (Empress)

Owen was kind enough to be my model.

Cables That Don't Cable Hat
3.75mm needles
Wandering Cat Yarns Stray Cat (Empress)

You Wouldn't Know It

You wouldn't know it, but I've got startitis ... this phenomenon doesn't appear because I haven't actually started anything. I'm just itching to start something. Maybe I just have Patternitis because I can't stop looking at Ravelry. So, once again I have no knitting for you to look at. Just daily photos.

Life has not been hectic, per say, but there's been a lot going on that has occupied my time and my mind, but hopefully soon I'll get back into the groove and get some knitting done.

Today is the last day of my February Run Streak. I've run every single day of February (and Jan 31st). I'm starting a March fitness challenge for myself too. I think it's a great way to keep myself motivated. It's going to be fun. :)

Dozer is a pretzel
A Photo A Day #56

Michael flew back to work on Wednesday. It's always a loooong day when he flies out at 6am.

Highway 403 @ 5:30am
A Photo A Day #57

Poor Moose is being ignored ... another picture of Dozer ...

I think he was trying to prevent Ethan from going to school
A Photo A Day #58

I visited with Miss Bessie today.

A Photo A Day #59

More to come. I've got some yarn coming in the mail (yay!!) and some skeins I need to wind into balls (yay!!) and then I'm going to REALLY start something.

Hush

Sorry for the quiet around here, I've been quite busy.

And these are in the wrong order ... and blogger is being a pain so they'll stay that way.

Wine time!
A Photo A Day #55

Owen got a new guitar!
A Photo A Day #52

I thought this comic was funny.
A Photo A Day #53

My BRF brought me a low cal tasty treat.
A Photo A Day #54

Canada for the WIN!

Woohoo! Canada's women won gold in both curling and hockey yesterday. The hockey game was AMAZING. I felt bad for the Americans at first because they played damned hard (and I still feel some empathy for their hockey team), but after reading online some of the comments American citizens were making about Canada I'm ABSOLUTELY disgusted about their reaction. They're horrible sore losers. The hashtag #FuckCanada is TRENDING on Twitter because the Americans are using it to diminish our awesome win. I know not ALL Americans are doing it and some have even congratulated the Canadians on the win (it really was a good game) but it just goes with the stereo types of the USA being ignorant and catty.

Anyway, we won and anyone who doesn't appreciate how hard those women (on both teams) fought can take a long walk off a short pier.

A huge icicle on the side of my house (has since come down)
A Photo A Day #49

Ethan wore his "Tuxstedo" to school. No reason.
He's just cool like that. :) Snazzy.
A Photo A Day #50

Moose!
A Photo A Day #51

Have a good one folks.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Good morning and Happy Family Day! Today is also the start of Tim Horton's annual Roll up the Rim to Win. If you're anything like me you rolled the r's in roll and rim. I don't drink Timmies coffee often, but when I do and it's Roll up the Rim time it's very likely I will win a donut (which I won't eat).

Dozer says "yawn, stretch"
A Photo A Day #47

So I won! I finished my Ravellenic Winter Games knit, ahead of schedule. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I got it finished, but I'm sort of disappointed too, because now I feel kind of naked and need to find a new project to cast on ... naked and idle. Never a good thing for a knitter.

It's finished!
A Photo A Day #48

I used four skeins of Wandering Cat Yarns Big Cat. The colour is a custom order called Sprout. The pictures don't do the colour justice. Maybe later I will get ambitious and go outside (in the freezing cold - 16C temps) to see if I can get a better picture of the colour.

The big picture. :)

Finished dimensions are 38" x 30" so it's a really good sized blanket. The pattern called for 158 stitches to be cast on and to use 5mm needles, but I cast on 122 stitches and used 5.5mm needles. I think the 5.5mm needles worked well with the yarn. I love how it turned out. There were variations in the skeins, two skiens were brighter and two were slightly darker. I started with the brighter one, did two darker ones and ended with the final brighter one. It gives it sort of a gradual look. I had thought about switching skiens every two rows to make it blend better but, honestly, couldn't be bothered. The difference in the yarns is so slight.

Waffle Blanket - Ta Da!

I think I may have to make another one of these ... perhaps a larger one for myself. I'm thinking 8 skeins of Big Cat would do it ... Hmmm.  Maybe a colour graduation from cream to dark blue or oooh crimson and back to cream again.  Hmmm.

Family Day Weekend

It's a long weekend for us; Family Day is Monday.

I love long weekends (and holidays from school and work). A lot of parents I know are anxious to have their kids go back to school during the summer or winter vacations. Not me. I love having them home. There will be a time, in the not too distant future, where their time off will be spent with Michael and I, and I am going to cherish every single moment now when they are home. 

Friday was Valentine's Day, so it was only suiting that my photo for Friday be one of my greatest four loves.

My funny Valentine
A Photo A Day #45

Today Ethan had a play date with his friend who recently moved to a new school. This kid has smart parents, they gave all his friends his new phone number before they moved. They had a great time. 

Ethan (left bent knees) and his friend (plaid shirt) and Dozer
A Photo A Day #46

I hope you all have a great weekend. Cheers!

Thursday Photos

Enjoy!

Team Canada Wins against the USA 3-2
A Photo A Day #43

Lily can get away with anything when it comes to Otis.

Otis likes her new hat.

Oh Moose. #facepalm

"I got stuck"

Clearly Dozer needs something ...

"Pay attention to ME!"

Apparently he likes speed skating too.

GO CANADA GO!
A Photo A Day #44

Have a great day! It's BFR run day today. YAY! Can't wait. I've been doing a run streak this month (run at least 2km every day) so today is day 13 for me. I've run 14 days in a row (counting today) because I ran on Jan 31st with Michael. Woohoo!

Mr. Mooser

I thought I'd treat you with an adorable picture of Moose as my photo for the day, however he is near impossible to photograph if he knows there's a camera out.

A blurry Mr. Mooser
A Photo A Day #42

Remember this? 

Everybody "awww" ...

Baby Mr. Mooser

There, that should suffice as a cute enough Moose picture to keep you satisfied ... I will try for something more later. :)

Plugging Along

Hello and happy Monday!! Yay!

Right now I'm watching hockey. Team Canada's Women ... it's a TOUGH game. We're in the 3rd period against Finland and the score is 0-0 ... TOUGH. COME ON LADIES! It's intense. Lucky my dogs are used to hearing me shout at the TV so it's not bothering their nap time at all.

My Ravellenic knit is coming along well. Today I have to wind two skeins into balls. I should have done it beforehand, but I didn't. It's not going to put me behind schedule at least. :)

Yesterday I couldn't find Moose ANYWHERE. I walked by Dozer laying on their bed 3 or 4 times ... yeah, I know. I think I need to get them a different coloured bed.

Moose is blendy.
A Photo A Day #40

Today is laundry day ... well, I started yesterday but got distracted by knitting. So today I'm getting it all finished up. Dozer is helping.

Laundry Helper
A Photo A Day #41

I never did get a picture of Owen's hat up. Today I finally took a picture of it. It's not a great picture, but it's a picture. LOL

Owen's Gryffindor Hat

I have more to say, but this hockey game is super distracting, so you're going to have to wait. :)

Cheers!

GO TEAM CANADA!

Early Morning Hockey

This morning I was up bright and early. I had no alarm going off, yet I was was awake at the same time my alarm normally would go off. Why? Because there was a tweenaged girl sleepover here last night and Lily and her friend were awake early, as was Ethan due to the result of the tweenaged chatter.

At first I was moaning and groaning about not having a sleepover. Then I realised they did me a favour. The Canadian Olympic Women's Hockey team was going to be in their first game (starting at 8am Ontario time; I don't know what that is in Sochi) and because of the tweenaged chatter I wasn't going to miss any of it. The ladies of Team Canada won their game against Switzerland with a SHUT OUT score of 5-0. Go team!! :)

Knitting and Olympic Hockey
A Photo A Day #39

My knitting is coming along really well. I'm about 10% done. The pattern is easy to remember and it looks fabulous in the Big Cat yarn. The stitches really pop.

About 10% done!

I'm really liking this knit. It's simple yet on the pattern row I have to pay just enough attention that it keeps it interesting, but not so interesting that I have to give it more focus than what's happening in the Olympic events. It's perfect. :)

Sochi 2014

Today is the official start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. GO TEAM CANADA!! I'm so proud of our athletes. I LOVE the Olympics. It's a time where the world comes together in competition, in a positive way. It's a time where Canadians come together to cheer on our athletes. It's great! 

It's also the official start of the Ravellenic Winter Games! Officially at the start of the Opening Ceremonies -- which I heard was 11am (Ontario time) but it's actually 11:14 because it's 8:14pm in Russia (20:14) and the year is 2014 ... so I've got two minutes.

I'm ready to go!!

Ravellenic Winter Games 2014 Project
A Photo A Day #38

The Cutest Photo Bomb

Another snow storm, another dig out.

I've maintained a strict policy of "Do Not Complain About Winter" so far this season. It's been a tough winter so far and it's not even close to being over.

My strict policy is SO over.

I am SICK of winter, sick of snow, sick of it.

I was built for SUMMER; for heat and humidity.

This is me complaining. Officially.

Yesterday during the dig out I peeked out my window (well, it was technically before I started digging out) and saw that my neighbour and one of the work trucks from across the street had been involved in a slight fender bender. I didn't see what happened, but I'd wager the work truck was at fault. Those jackals think they own the road and zip and zoom like nobody's business. My nosey self got this as my first photo of the day (thus my photo #36).

Neighbours Boo Boo
A Photo A Day #36

Anyway ...

Remember the booties from my previous post. They didn't look like much, but I promise they turned out super cute.

While I was attempting to take a picture of them this morning I had a little helper. More like a little photo-bomber. Dozer thought, perhaps, he'd make a better picture and this is what I ended up with.

Cutest Photo Bomb
A Photo A Day #37

Once he was done helping I did manage to get another picture.

Biscotte Booties

The one on the right is upside down to show off the cute little bottom. I really like these booties and will probably make a couple more pairs for my stash of baby knits. I'm thinking bright colours stitched together with contrasting bright colours. So cute. :)

Biscotte Booties

I've been a slacker in the knitting department over the last week or so ... the actual knitting bit, I've been hanging out on Ravelry a lot ... and I've actually narrowed down my Ravellenic Winter Games project to ONE thing. That's right folks, I've decided.

I'm going to be knitting Waffle Blanket for the Ravellenic Games. I will be using Wandering Cat Yarns Big Cat in Sprout (which is as green as the name depicts). I got the yarn waaaay back when my sister was pregnant with her 2nd son and started knitting a leafy lace blanket for him. However, I saw something shiny, got distracted, totally forgot about it, lost my pattern (thus my place) and it had to be frogged. Now I have the opportunity to knit it into a blanket for another baby boy (he's due in April, coincidentally my nephew was born in April 2013).

I don't know the baby or the parents and in all likeliness won't meet them. The dad is Michael's co-worker in Saskatchewan. I just like knitting baby stuff. :)

Today I knit a little pair of booties. I just have to seam them up into shape. I think they're adorable. I will probably add these to my booty rotation. Too cute. The pattern is Biscotte Booties. I used Patons Decor on 4mm needles, the colours are Rich Grey Heather (dark) and Grey Heather (light).

Biscotte Booties
A Photo A Day #35

They don't look like much right now, but soon they will be super cute, I promise. :)

Speaking of super ... here's a picture of Jenny, Michael and I as we crossed the finish line at the race on January 26th. I bought this from the photographing company who was at the event ... I'm getting prints made. I especially love it because none of us is touching the ground, it looks like we were flying. :)

Robbie Burns 8km - Jan 26/14
Finish Line Photo

Michael headed off to Saskatchewan this morning. His flight left super early, so we had to be up and out of the house by 5:30am. It's been a long day. Thankfully I don't have much to do, so I watched the Season 6 finale of Sons of Anarchy and knitted booties. :)

Cheese!

I don't have much to say so I'm just going to post the photos I took for my Photo A Day Challenge. Enjoy!

The butcher shop we go to.
Family run for 100 years - 1914 to 2014
And going strong
A Photo A Day #32

The most fun part of the home gym.
A Photo A Day #33

Jack Frost drew a beautiful pattern on my windsheild.
A Photo A Day #34