Surviving a Toddler for 24 Hours

The Girls had a date in Wisconsin - something that was planned before the arrival of The Babies.  I was chosen to care for Baby Girl from Saturday noon 'till Sunday noon.  

She seemed a little suspicious when she was dropped off:

But we got settled in the condo with Duplos and other assorted things, and we fell into a rhythm pretty quickly.

Who says bar chairs don't come in handy with children?  The low setting worked perfectly as a high chair - and it's made of easy-to-clean plastic.  Hooray!

We went shopping and got new tennis shoes.  Who knew but that there are baby Toms and chucks and all manner of fun stuff for toddler feet.

The Girls thought I would have tons of photos, but really I was too busy chasing after Lulu to be snapping many shots.  First thing I did after they picked her up was take a nap ;)

Transformation Done :D

The transformation of the condo is done; the old people who originally lived here have been pretty much wiped out.

Bathroom when I looked at the condo:

Bathroom now:

Kitchen when I looked at the condo:

Kitchen now (don't those cheap cabinets look better now?):

The jellyfish socks progress more than anything else:

DIL's Christmas socks progress at a snail's pace:

The floor in the laundry "room" (it's really a closet) contains the only remains of the old flooring:

Boy-child's room has decent bookshelves now ... all the major stuff is done.  Whew!

Endless thanks to "Rose the Gypsy" for all the help last weekend.  We did have some good lubricant to keep us working:

Decisions, decisions ...

I'm changing stuff up all over in the condo these days. Since Boy-child opted out of college and it seems unlikely he'll be coming back for any significant period of time, I'm turning the condo into mine - a bachelorette's place :)  

The floors are done - thanks for the comments. The kitchen countertops have been replaced (photos coming).  And since Girl-child took Boy-child's bed I've gotten a futon for Boy-child's room ... seemed like a good idea as he can easily take it with him later and in the meantime I'll have a presentable guest/craft room.

The cover fabric is called "hypnotic" (see below).   Perhaps the pattern will help with sleep.  A number of people have told me that sleeping on futons is dreadful.  Based on various comments and the sources of the comments, I have decided that any house guest older than I am will have my room, and I will sleep on the futon. Any house guest who is younger can sleep on the futon and I'll keep my room.   In the case of multiple house guests I will sleep on the fold-out in the living room and distribute the guests in the bedrooms as best suits my needs.

I do have to decide on rugs. I have to get one more.  I was thinking it would be good if they were all interchangeable between the living room, dining room and guest room.  This is what the fish bowl looks like in the living room:

The hypnotic pattern on the futon will probably require a very plain rug.  No rush though.  In the meantime I'll just keep moving the fishbowl back and forth until I've tired of it :D

Odds and Ends

A knit-tag I made ages ago has finally found a home :-D

The Family continues to thrive:

I have been knitting, but not a lot and not very well.  These Christmas socks turned out ok though:

And this is a new pair I started for myself, because I need vanilla socks on the needles.  Yarn: Miss Babs in Deep Sea Jellyfish, purchased at Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia.

And a note on talismans and good-luck charms, or "signaling" if you prefer.  I usually wear this when I am flying Delta.  It's a 15-year "pin" from Northwest Airlines.  Sometimes the crew recognize it.  Good things sometimes happen when they do:

This was our gift for the 25th Yarnover; it's a needle gauge.  When I was at Fibre Space it was noticed and jealously admired:

This is a good-luck symbol that I purchased in Istanbul.  I tried to use it for good luck today when I went to American Rug Laundry, but alas, I did not find anything I liked.  I'm in the process of redecorating Boy-child's room.  Since I'm in no rush I find no need to purchase anything unless I love it.

Which reminds me.  Last time I went to American Rug Laundry I found a very unusual round rug.

I call it the fish bowl.  For obvious reasons.

That's it for today.  I have new countertops going in this week.  Wish me luck!