Lani's household consists of Steve, the long-suffering coding genius and computer security guru; Jim, Lani's tall, red-headed and handsome son, currently finishing his second year of college; Hunter, Jasmine, Himari, Chenault, the miraculous Onyx and the even more miraculous Resk, undisputed feline rulers of the house; and Jesse, the man-hating green-cheeked conure.
Ann's household consists of Don, who is not just a computer genius but a pilot, a builder, and a damn good father; their son Steve, the marathon-running, college-bound, funniest teenager I know; and wonder dog Tater.
Other family members are Laurie, Lani's beautiful daughter who teaches at elementary levels; her handsome son Alex, aka Alexander the Great; Mary and Bo, a/k/a Mom and Dad, and Bud and Ann, Steve's patient and wonderful parents.
I have to admit, as I looked at those pictures and read the story I kept wondering one thing. Well, two things. The first thing was, how the hell can one kid eat that much pasta, much less come back for seconds? Of course then I remembered Jim, and how he ate at that age, and I scratched that question. The important one, though, was: Who cleaned up? 76 kids, some adults, enough pasta to feed a small country ... who cleaned up? Because if it was you, you deserve waaaay more than a stinkin' t-shirt.
While you were slaving away over hot pots and pans of pasta, I was off to Kentucky for a quick visit with Jim. He looks great, doesn't he? A visit to Jim of course also entails a visit to Boo; I'm tickled that he still seems to remember me, he was very cuddly and affectionate. We spent a lot of time talking, we went out to eat at the restaurant (Woody's) where Jim is working now, we talked some more. Friday evening Ethan and I went out to eat with my dear friend Josh and his lovely friend Jessie, since Jim had to work; we went to Acres of Land for a very enjoyable dinner and some surprisingly good wine.
Saturday we all went out for sushi, poked around at some neat places in Lexington, and then I headed back home. The visit was far too short. However, I did manage to shoehorn in time to discover a very neat yarn shop in Lexington, ReBelle, and somea small a considerable stash enhancement may possibly have occurred. Also Ethan had brought back some yarn from his grandmother's estate, not the least of which was 8 or 10 balls of spectacular Italian mohair. Steve just sighed when I walked back into the house with a suitcase full of yarn, bless his heart. I am rapidly approaching SABLE here, and that's AFTER I sent two boxes of wool that I knew I'd never use off to an internet friend. I console myself that (a) I have some fabulous stuff, and (b) I AM being productive, even if I'm not the world's fastest knitter. Maybe next post or so I'll show you just how I'm being productive!
When I looked back at the amount of pasta I said I was going to cook, I laughed. Steve reminded me that they had run out of pasta at several previous parties, so I made a few adjustments. I doubled the penne pasta with meat sauce, doubled the tortellini, doubled the pasta primavera, and bought extra as reserve.
The grand total was 4 pans of lasagna, 12 lbs. of penne with various sauces, and 10 lbs. of cheese tortellini with marinara sauce. It's all gone. No leftovers.
I think this picture will tell you why. I don't know how you could get that much pasta on one plate, much less into that skinny body. And he came back for seconds - they all did!
Here's what they all looked like stuffed into the basement.
And the foyer, with all those shoes and book bags. This is only part of it, the pile spread into the living room and down the hall. It was truly impressive - at one point it was totally covered, there was no floor showing at all.
Then on Saturday we went to the Palatine Invite, so today is a recovery day, which means I'm doing as little as possible other than putting my house back together, grocery shopping, and all the normal weekend stuff.
You're The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! by Douglas Adams
Considered by many to be one of the funniest people around, you are quite an entertainer. You've also traveled to the far reaches of what you deem possible, often confused and unsure of yourself. Life continues to jostle you around like a marble, but it's shown you so much of the world that you don't care. Wacky adventures continue to lie ahead. Your favorite number is 42. Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.
I think it's absolutely hysterical that this is supposedly the book that describes me. I'm not sure I'm "one of the funniest people around" or "quite an entertainer", but the rest of this is pretty spot on. And I do hope that wacky adventures continue to lie ahead, they make for great stories. Just so long as no one wants to build an intergalactic overpass through our neighborhood ...
I've been a bad, bad sister/blogger lately, and I really am sorry. Between real life, work, and something I'll go into more detail about in just a bit here, I've just not taken the time to blog. Nothing wrong other than laziness! I have, however, read your posts with great interest and also with great concern. Steve's been doing really great with the running, and I'm just blown away with how much he's grown up and how mature he's looking. I HAVE to get up to Chicago to see ya'll at some point soon, I feel like I don't even know him any more. As for the concern? You're having 76 teenagers, plus assorted parents, IN YOUR HOUSE. Have you totally lost your everloving mind? Honestly, I'm not sure whether to nominate you for sainthood or have you committed as a danger to yourself. On the up side it does sound as though you're prepared, or at least as prepared as it's possible to be for that type of natural disaster. Take pictures and let me know how it goes -- I'm rooting for you here.
Nothing exciting happening with us in either real life or work; I've been flying, Steve's been working on the rollout of a major new project with all the attendant ripping-out-of-hair and gnashing-of-teeth. I had hoped to be in Arlington today to see the Yarn Harlot but that didn't pan out, so instead I'm going to go to Lexington in the morning and see Jim. It's a short visit and I've got a busy schedule once I arrive; on Friday lunch with Jim and Ethan and dinner with Ethan, Josh and Jessie (Jim's working), then on Saturday brunch with Jim and back home. I'm hoping to work in a trip to the Talbots outlet (because, as Steve points out, obviously the fact that the rod in my closet collapsed means that I don't have enough clothes) and also do a little sightseeing.
As to that mysterious something that's kept me busy ... have you heard about Ravelry, Ann? What is Ravelry, you ask? It's a crafter's website, but it's more than that. Much, much more. Ravelry lets you:
Use it as a planning journal. You can list the projects you're working on now, and create a queue of projects you want to do in the near future.
Use it as a database to list the yarn in your stash, your hooks/needles, even your books and patterns, so you know what you have.
Look around and see what other knitters or crocheters have in their current projects and stash (they can see yours, too).
Join groups with similar interests and interact, if you want to ... or don't, if you don't. You never have to make a single Ravelry post if you don't want to.
If you have a pattern you're considering you can see if others have made it, what yarn they used and how much, pictures of the finished object or the work in progress, how they liked knitting it, what changes or modifications they made to the pattern as written. This is probably my very favorite part; if a pattern is poorly written or the end result fits poorly, I can find out BEFORE I make it.
If you have a gorgeous yarn and you're wondering what to do with it, you can look up what other people have done with that yarn. This is another favorite for me.
Here is even more info. I suggest that you sign up while you're there. After all, it's free ;)
Oh yeah, and I've done a little knitting; a handful more dishcloths (they're quick and easy stress-relievers) and a couple of scarfs. I'm particularly fond of this dishcloth; it's so pretty it's almost a doily! And regarding scarfs, I discovered Malabrigo yarn. I'm in love. One day I shall have a room devoted entirely to my stash of Malabrigo, and I shall roll around naked in it just because I can. OK, so I won't do that, how unhygienic. Blech. But that's how soft and decadent and wonderful it is. Obligatory scarf pictures follow; the pink one that Onyx is modeling for us is the Malabrigo, and it's wonderful, both the pattern and the yarn. (The pattern is Becka's Touch of Whimsy Scarf, and I highly recommend it.) Jasmine prefers the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, a nifty, easy pattern that's fun to knit. Not the best yarn choice to show it off as it deserves, but it's what I had in stash.
Tomorrow is the pasta gig. I have four pans of lasagna, which are supposed to serve 12 but will probably serve 8 teenagers. I have meat sauce made that I will mix with four boxes of penne pasta. Each box serves 8, so count it as 6 teenager servings. I have four bags of cheese tortellini to cook with marinara sauce, and each of those says it serves 7 so maybe 5 teenagers. I'm also making a batch of pasta primavera, mostly because I want to watch the teenage boys avoid all vegetables. Steve tried the recipe this week, and really liked it, so I know he'll eat it but I wonder about all the rest.
That adds up to pasta for 76 teenagers, not counting the primavera. Whew.
I have other Moms coming with salad, bread, dessert, drinks, paper plates, plastic forks, and napkins.
I have a Dad coming to do traffic control.
I have taken everything breakable and moveable off the ground floor.
Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.
Steve ran a great race yesterday at the Argo Invite, and came in 5th in the Open Division. He was the first from Barrington in that race, and he beat one of the 12 shirt holders so he got the shirt - literally right off DJ's back. Here he is with his medal, shot from afar.
Steve refused to pose with the medal after the race, so instead you have his friend, Trip, who is always ready to pose for a goofy picture. He's wearing Steve's medal, and holding the ribbon he won.
I have more pictures, so if you are ready for more follow this links to last weekend's Invite.
We've been in Cross Country mode for two weeks now, and we're gearing up for a big weekend meet. I've been snack mom, and photography mom, and now I'm going to be tent mom. Whew!
I've been taking lots of pictures, and posting them out on Flickr. Here are a couple of links, and I'll post more later.
This one is for a meet with Palatine on September 5.
And if you've ever thought you had a bad hair day, this will put it in perspective.
for a quick visit with Jim. He looks great, doesn't he? A visit to Jim of course also entails a visit to Boo
; I'm tickled that he still seems to remember me, he was very cuddly and affectionate. We spent a lot of time talking, we went out to eat at the restaurant (Woody's) where Jim is working now, we talked some more. Friday evening Ethan and I went out to eat with my dear friend Josh and his lovely friend Jessie, since Jim had to work; we went to Acres of Land for a very enjoyable dinner and some surprisingly good wine. 
