A Weekend with the Boyfriend's Parentals, DPN hat

Listening to "Forgive Me," Missy Higgins (I'm really, really into her music right now! Amazing voice, and all her songs have a different sound...)

I'm back! I have internet!

Ok... I really wasn't gone that long. But still!

Updates:

The Visit with Matt's Parents

I think it went well.

I always worry... do they really like me? They seem to... but I'm a worrier and I'm never really sure.

Well, there was a really fun breakthrough this weekend. Matt's Dad made a really funny joke at my expense!! I know, I know... you're thinking He made fun of you? That's a good thing? YES.

Mark Twain once said, "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place."

Eisenhower said, "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

I really believe that the minute people are comfortable enough to make jokes at each other's expense, that there is a profound understanding, a sweet level of comfort, even a leveling idea of respect.

In my family, we're always joking with each other, telling funny-yet-embarrassing anecdotes, etc. It's what we do. That act of humor, when used benevolently, can be a very powerful tool. It's like saying... I respect you enough to make this joke, because I know that you're a strong person and that you'll think it's funny instead of taking offense. I love you and your mistakes/differences/humorous personality traits. I'll joke, You'll laugh, I'll laugh, and we'll be all the closer because of it.

So what was this joke?

Well, Snickers (Matt's parent's dog) was staying at our apartment while the parentals did a little shopping around Raleigh. When Matt's parents dropped him off they were giving me the run down (He probably won't eat too much food... he'll let you know if he needs to go out...) and Matt's dad said:

"If Snickers gets riled up, turn on Fox News. It really quiets him down."

My heart kind of sunk a little, but I shook my head and said "Ok, no problem." Then a quick look at Matt's father's face let me know that he was kidding. He was just saying that 'cause he knows I don't like Fox News. We all laughed.

You see, Matt's parents are very conservative. Now, they've never really engaged me in serious political discussion, but I'm... well... not very conservative. I think they've just come to understand this over the years (I can't believe Matt and I will have been dating for 3 years this August!!)... and they made a joke about it.

And I am taking that joke as "We accept you, even though you're different from us."

:)

Disclaimer: (Unnecessary? Maybe.) Now, I am a very open person. I don't judge others based on their political or religious affiliations, and this post was not designed to argue that there is a correct political affiliation. I have mine, you have yours, this is the Internet and here all ideas and types and partisanship meld together. So please don't think that I was attacking a way of thinking. I just really enjoyed the little laugh that Matt's parents and I shared.

Bad News:

Matt is still at his parents.

Matt is a Financial Planner, and a lot of his clients live on his parent's lake or around the lake. Now is definitely the time to be talking to your financial planner, so he ended up lining up a lot of appointments in that area. He's going to stay at the lake and meet with a lot of his clients...

A lot as in-- he won't be home until WEDNESDAY.

Wednesday?!?! What am I going to do until Wednesday?!?!

I know, I know, this isn't really bad news. In fact, it's just wimpy news. My dad is in the Army, so I know 3 days is no long stretch to be missing the Matt... in fact, we used to be in a long distance relationship where I would see him once every one-to-two weeks!! So what am I complaining about?

The apartment is just more fun when he's here. Sigh. I wish we had a dog. Well, at least I can watch some of my Sex and the City DVDs...

Cooking Update:

1. New Recipe Idea: Matt's Mom made homemade pizza! IT WAS SOO GOOD!! She promised to give me the recipe for the dough, which was delish. I talked her ear off while she was making it, and it didn't look too hard!! Can't wait to try (and share!) the recipe!
   
   
2. Recipe Blogroll Sidebar: I have finally added the sidebar affiliate to my "recipe blogroll." This was inspired by Tamela's Goal list that she has in the sidebar of her blog. What a great idea!
   
   
3. Recipe Goal for this week: Mom on the Run's Shrimp Scampi!
   

Knitting Update:

Knitting lessons:

Matt's Mom always shows me some new knitting trick. This time it was with DPNs.

I learned how to knit with DPNs from my mom and from a video I found on Knitting Help. But both taught me to knit in the INSIDE of the double pointed needle. When you knit on the inside, you're holding your work so that your "knitting space" is in the inside, between the DPNs.

This picture kind of
demonstrates what I'm saying
(Ignore the "english style"
note, it's just to show how the
"inside" DPNs hold their work):

Matt's Mom taught me how to knit on the OUTSIDE of the double pointed needles. It went much faster! I did find this video that also shows the DPN technique that way.

When you knit this way, your
work is facing you like so:

Much easier! More space to work in.

After her lesson, I quickly finished my DPN baby hat!

Lamby is modeling my DPN baby knit
because... well, I don't have a baby!
Plus, Lamby is so cute!!!

Now I'm still working on the little green jacket for Abby... and no, I haven't finished the lining for my Cable-stitch purse. I really want to but I need some down time with my Mom to figure that one out.

I think I've thought of a way to easily knit a little flower that I can attach to Bria's bag. I already gave it to her, but she asked if she could paint a flower on the knitted bag and that's just probably not a good idea.

Blog Update:

A BIG thanks to Tamela for this new blog award!

I really like this award. A Superwoman who does it all? Sheesh... Thanks! I must say... I definitely don't do it all, there's a million more things I wish I had time for, but the secret to what I can get done: Coffee.

Who can I pass the award to? That's almost too easy! I'm a nanny, so I'm going to give it to all the followers of this blog who are MOMS!!

YAY Moms!

I only nanny for 8 hours at a time and I'm EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. So here is YOUR award, mom followers: Mom on the Run, Ace, Donna-FFW, Hogan Family's April, Sarah Says (you're almost a Mom!), Knitting Knoobie, I'm Busy Knitting ... I think that's all but if I missed a Mom follower let me know and feel free to take the award!

[Post-Post Note:I did miss a Mom follower-- two, actually!
Tales of a Teacher's Mary &
Forever, Wherever's Kim
-- you're Superwomen, too! ]

Congrats on being a Super Woman! You know you are!

Here's the code for your award:
<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v9olpeRf0oU/Sd6nToyfdAI/AAAAAAAAAJc/TzV_ZupnRfI/s320/Image3.jpg" width="152" height="152" alt="Super Woman Award!" />

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That's all for now, hope you all had a GREAT weekend!

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Your ousted-liberal,
knit-loving, coffee-slurping
New Girl Blogger