I think I'm going to start doing this every Monday since I have a backlog of new music that I've wanted to blog about. You know.. when I'm absent knitting, family, or food fodder.

So onward...

We rarely buy music, and rely on listening to Pandora mostly. But every once in a while we find something we have. to. buy. With that said, I've put off buying this one for a while now. My hand has hovered over the buy now button in iTunes so many times.. I finally shared it with Richard this weekend, and he agreed. We needed it.

We actually bought both.. One and Two

The track that made me need it?

Whats not to love? Its perfect thrashy cleaning music for me... and its nostalgic. I love it - I can't stop listening.

Since I'm totally stuck on "The Seeker" by The Who on hard, which is I think the second level (Oh my aching hands!) The kids have been playing. Cassidy is nearly done with the easy level, but Alex is really just starting out...

Connor can't play the game very well, but he could spend hours playing air guitar along with every song.

Whoops, I forgot to do the random number generator last night! But I did first thing this morning, and Beth's number was the lucky one! Congrats Beth! I wish I had one for all of you, but I'm happy to lend my copy out when I'm finished with it (Paige? Kris? Loren?) So Beth, I'll bring along the book this weekend when I'll be seeing you!

Additionally, I wanted to apologize to everyone who has commented for the past few weeks. A) I've been really busy and not replying to email as I should be and B) complicating this, is that my spam filter has not been working right. "Real" emails have been going in my spam filter, and tons of spam has been landing in my main inbox. Since I get so much spam, weeding through and sorting it out can be overwhelming to the point where I quickly scan for "real" mail and delete the whole lot of them in frustration.  I think I have it fixed now, so hopefully my former comment etiquette will return.

My baby turned FOUR today. I can hardly believe it. And since Daddy has to teach a class tonight, we let Connor open his "big present" last night, therefor giving him an opportunity to actually play with Daddy.

That would be MarioKart for Wii. So, yes, we finally got the Wii... the story about how the kids saved up and paid for approximately one third of it themselves is one I'll tell another day.

A Guitar Hero prodigy? Umm, no. He does like to try to play with Mama's guitar though. Now I'm off to challenge my big boy to a game of tennis.

Even with the older three kids back in school this week, I've been soooo busy.

With all this great weather, I've started spring cleaning in earnest. Opening windows to air out - Cleaning out drawers and closets - Consolidating items left out of season in the kid's cubby - And hopefully before the weekend I can start on the yearly "thinning of the toys". I swear, Cassidy's Barbies and the boys action figures have been hooking up after the lights go out, purely to reproduce and stage a coup.

Connor also had his special ed and psychological re-eval on Monday, which is was nearly a whole day event seeing as how I got terribly lost trying to find where we needed to go. Picture me driving around East Syracuse looking for a road that seemingly didn't exist (no sign!) and a gas station that had a phone book. All of this because I rushed out the door so quickly, leaving the address on the dining room table, and my cell phone on the kitchen counter.

The evaluations went well though. We'll wrap them up today with a home visit later this afternoon with the special education evaluator. But in the end, he scored lower than I think any of us expected him to. Its a very weird feeling as a mother, hearing his scores. In that, I wanted him to evaluate poorly enough that the CPSE would have fewer arguments at the next meeting to negotiate him out of attending an integrated classroom, as they did last year. But I also wanted my baby to score well because he is so smart! I know other moms with special needs kids will understand my personal conflict.. and know just how terribly difficult to verbalize.

The crochet project? It grows. No pictorial updates however, because it hasn't grown that much. I did get quite a lot done last night while watching There Will Be Blood with Richard. We didn't like it. Incredible acting.. Incredible. But the movie itself? Ehhhh. Mostly, I've gotten so little done because there was this thing called the Pennsylvania Democratic primary going on. Between watching cable news, reading my favorite political blogs, and spending some time making calls for Obama - crafting took a back seat.

And now we get to the part where you say, "I was told there'd be a giveaway?" after reading my rambling update which clearly doesn't match the title of my post..

I'm reading I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I love essays, particularly ones that make me laugh out loud. But additionally interesting, is that Sloane creates dioramas capturing the scenes in many of her essays.

As Cassidy is recently obsessed with creating dioramas, we love to look at Sloane's flickr album where you can see them take shape a piece at a time. Plastic spoons as subway seats and a hazelnut as a turd. Maybe I'm odd in that craft geek sort of way, but find it very interesting.

And now for the giveaway.. I have an extra copy of the book, sitting here on the desk, ready to ship out. Getting it is as easy as leaving a comment here. Nothing else. Just leave a comment by Wednesday April 30th, 2008. I'll use the handy number randomizer to pick a comment and send the book along for your reading enjoyment.

Good luck!

While Richard has the kids out for lunch and some errands, and I'm home alone, in a blissfully quiet house, I should really be doing something productive, right? A shower? A nap? Basking in the warm sun knitting something? Naaah.

But I have missed blogging this week. And taking pictures.. so I have a few to share now that I finally bought a new battery.

We are slightly addicted to this amazingly easy recipe in my Moosewood Simple Suppers book, roasted ratatouille. We've enjoyed it two weekends in a row with fresh crusty bread on the side. Its a really good thing the kids don't like it.. all the more for myself and Richard!

I learned to crochet. Or rather, I taught myself to crochet.

I fell, completely in love with this one image on flickr, and knew I needed to learn as soon as possible. I spent a day with scraps and a hook and learned. Then I spent another day figuring out the pattern. Now I've gone and bought a boatload of acrylic yarn to make a throw for my knitting chair.  While I'm not a big fan on the acrylic yarn.. I needed something inexpensive, and that can withstand the abuse of small children, not to mention able to be subjected to multiple washings because of said abuse by children.  I'm loving the colors and the rhythm, though I'm not very fast at this. I guess that comes with time?   And before anyone asks, no, I haven't given up knitting. I still prefer it. But I cannot fathom the amount of time it would take to knit a throw unless at a super bulky gauge.

Now, I'm going to go out and crochet in the sun for a bit while the house is still so calm.

I'm not sure why I waited so long to file, but I finally did ours this morning. Truthfully I completed them on Sunday, but I didn't click the "file now" button until this morning. I'm not one of those people who bitches about paying taxes, because lets be honest.. they do have a purpose. I am sickened by how tax dollars are used however. Faith based programs? Corporate welfare? War? Rendition and torture?

I'm not going to go into a political rant here. Its tax day, I felt like hearing some Beatles, and as you know - When I have nothing to post, I rely on youtube.

P.S. George W? That silly rebate we'll be getting soon? Its a lot of money. And surely my kids would love a Wii. But we, like most American families, are up to our eyeballs in debt. Heat, gasoline and food costs are way up. Just about every industry's jobs are at risk. No, my kids will live without the Wii.. or rather we're saving our pennies for one. On principle, that "rebate" is paying off debt.

P.P.S. It still blows my mind that despite you being a total failure at every thing in your life, people still voted for you. Hell, at least 27% of Americans still think you've done a good job. If you ask me, they're all on crack - or they just don't care, because dontcha know.. the rapture is coming any day now. Pfffft!

OK.. mini rant over (sorry!).. I did finish the Hedgerow socks on Saturday. ONE WEEK! I haven't taken pictures though, since the battery in my camera is dead, and the crappy rechargeable one I use as a backup is now charging. I started another pair, just 4x2 rib in some bright cheery Kroy Socks yarn. I'm just about to the heel now, but I don't see this pair going too fast. The kids are on Spring Break this week and I'm one busy mama.

I'm in a crappy mood today. Lack of sleep. Allergies. And to top it off, its raining.

I did want to share this little bit though, even though 90% of those who read my blog are knitters, and thusly are likely to have listened to Brenda Dayne's most recent podcast and know about Ingrid Michaelson. Honestly I was hooked in the first thirty seconds. Knit Hat? Binghamton? Must. Learn. More. And I'm happy that I love the rest of her music too.. even the Grey's Anatomy stuff.

But this song? It just makes me happy, despite its moderately sad theme. It makes me want to dance.. and smile. Even on a cold rainy day - So things are looking up!

It was shot in Ithaca just a few weeks ago. Its a bummer that I didn't learn of Ingrid until after she toured through here.

In any case.. Upstate Represent!