Yeah, I'm a Bad Blogger

So it seems that the last time I updated this blog was on Becs' 14th birthday last year. And today is Izzy's 11th birthday. Apparently, I can only get my blog-act together on someone's birthday.

Anyway, today is indeed Izzy's birthday and in honour of that I should post some "before" and "after" pictures. Here we go...

This is my absolute favourite photograph of Izzy. It's the one I'll humiliate her with when she brings her boyfriends/girlfriends/whatevers home. There are others, but this is the best. She was about one when this was taken, and it's the perfect representation of her personality--both then and now.

Anyway, that's her "before" shot, here's the "after"...

Actually, this picture was taken yesterday morning. She had her birthday party on Friday night (more about that later) and one of her friends bought her this ridiculous hat which is, I suspect, destined to become the family birthday hat. Izzy has plans to wear it out to lunch today as it will earn her a free piece of pie at Ramsey's, her chosen birthday lunch spot.

Her party was a huge success. We hired these guys and they brought this:


Best money ever spent on a birthday party. Seriously. Take a pile of 11 year olds, sprinkle with a couple of 14 year olds, insert into video truck and leave for two hours. Patrick, our game coach (who just happens to be the boyfriend of one of my knitting friends, Kate) was an absolute star. He told us post-party that he was pretty sure this was the first ever all-girls party they'd done and that when he realized it was all girls he was a little unsure how it would work out. Becs put that particular concern to rest when she announced that she wanted to play a zombie game. A serious zombie game. Something called "Left for Dead" (I think) was the eventual offering and by the end of the party most of the party-goers had eschewed their "Michael Jackson Experience" (I kid you not) and "Super Mario Bros" in favour of a little zombie apocalypse.





Okay, before I finish my party ramblings I have to show you the cake. It's a long-standing family tradition that I always make the girls' cakes. In fact, I don't think either of them have ever had a shop-bought cake yet. This year, Izzy is seriously into Bone, a series of graphic novels. So, a Bone cake it was. I had some unexpected issues with the fondant that really made me mad. I've been working with fondant for 14 years now and have never had a problem so I'm not sure what went wrong. Anyway, I decided to work with the mess and make it look like some kind of rock, it was sort of in keeping with the Bone theme anyway. Not my best work, but here it is.


Yes, that is a Bone character (apparently it's Fone Bone) made from modelling chocolate at the base of the cake.

Becs made cupcakes all by herself. I made suggestions about the decorations but the work was all hers. She is, apparently, her mother's daughter.



Snakes on logs and sheep. She worked hard.

So, what else? Well, I'm working at the Writing Center over the summer which is great because we need the money. Susan is working really hard to keep us in the manner to which we're not-quite accustomed. In fact, as I fritter away my day with blogging and knitting she's downstairs in the study working on her classes. Did I mention she's wonderful?

I'm waiting for Sallie Mae to put the final approval on my student loan so that I can register for classes next semester. This is causing me no small amount of stress. They've had all the paperwork for over a week now and according to the website, their process is still in exactly the same place. I think a phone call will be in order on Monday morning.

I've been knitting up a storm over the summer, although that will probably slow down now that I'm working again. Currently working on a pair of ridiculous socks inspired by Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. I hate colourwork. I'm not very good at it. And these socks have a short row heel which, while incredibly easy and mindless to knit, is not very good for someone like me with fat feet and ankles. Izzy will probably be the recipient of these because she's probably the only one they'll fit!



I've been working on tons of other stuff too--just cast on a scarf for Hannah's birthday (I know, it's not until December but I'm trying to get organized) and I'll post a picture of that next time I blog or when I can be bothered to find the camera cable and upload the pictures, whichever comes sooner. There's no point me even attempting to upload pictures of the other things I've knitted this summer, I'm knitting at a rate of 2 finished items a week so you'd be looking through pictures forever. If you're really interested, check out my Ravelry projects page.

And on that note, it's time for breakfast.