Tearin' It Up In Amenia

We know how to party here in Amenia. We spent yesterday engaged in some long overdue house cleaning, which was, again, no fun for anyone. The dust bunnies threatened to grow into Easter bunnies, and much of our yard had moved indoors. I was questioning whether the bathroom was sanitary enough for my child. Everything is clean and lemony now.

Furthermore, high on our success with purging Duncan's space, I gathered the fortitude to deal with our own book avalanche. Again, I neglected to document visually the state of our books, but it much resembled Duncan's pile of 12 month clothes and the book overflow under the coffee table. There were stacks and stacks of books posted around our bedroom - Christmas and birthday books I hadn't had the time to make space for. This kind of situation is fine if you're single, or even if you're married to someone who can overlook your quirks; a toddler, however, finds towers of books to be excellent climbing material. Many have been the falls and near misses, not to mention my annoyance at having to stack the books AGAIN. It finally occurred to me that: a) we will not be buying any more bookcases until we buy a house - there is literally nowhere else to put them; b) no one in our house will be reading Aristotle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or the 20 year old copy of Gleitman's Introduction to Psychology that launched me into fame and fortune; so c) something had to give. It was amazing how much bookshelf space was freed simply by filling a small U-Haul moving box with books we literally never open. I'm sure the movers will be taking that box to our next house, but for now, THE BOOKS HAVE BREATHING ROOM! Everything is on the shelf. It's like a breath of fresh air, which is a good thing, because...

Today is spring! Even though it was dreary, cold, and windy, and we had to wait until 4:15 p.m. to see the sun, it is unequivocally spring. I have faith, which is probably why Easter tends to arrive with spring. Even if you don't believe in the whole Christian tradition, how can you not believe in the power of spring to bring rebirth?

As for the knitting...could I be more of a novice? First, there is nothing more painful than ripping out 1/2 inch of knitting because you weren't paying attention and went too far. Then, not once, not twice, but three times I knit and ripped out the three rows involving the first button hole. I keep losing a stitch. Either I don't remember how to knit the yarn over, or I am supposed to lose the stitch (somehow, I suspect the former). How much will it matter if I lose that stitch twice on the right and left sides? Perhaps the Yarn Harlot can live with such ambiguity, but I cannot. I can, however, read so I guess I'll research the yarn over before I try again. The Yarn Harlot probably knit at my level when she was 2. Can you be more novice than novice? On the bright side, I'm incredibly proud of my sister Lorna who ALSO set out to knit something other than scarves and was FINISHING (I know - it's a word foreign to me these days) a bag when I saw her this weekend. I'm jealous. The only things I have finished in ages are the gauge swatches for this sage green thing without button holes.

But it's spring! Breathe it, think it, feel it (even in Amenia).

Worse Before Better, II: The Overflow

Duncan's second birthday wasn't all about cake and tractors.  Duncan's second birthday also necessitated a ritual that I am hoping will now become annual instead of semi-annual: purging.  We spent yesterday folding and packing his 12 - 18 month clothes, some 9 - 12 month clothes that still fit into last April or May, and a smattering of his 6 - 9 month clothes that just happened to be kicking around.  Now, we just moved in August, so you would think we might have taken care of some of this (no tittering from the peanut gallery who moved all this stuff from CT to NY), but if you think that, you just don't know us.  It was not just the clothes that had outgrown their storage units but also his toys.  His baby toys had to make way for the stockpile of new art supplies, train sets, and stuffed animals he received for his birthday.  (Did we just do this at Christmas?  I think so, but I wouldn't swear to it).  I busied myself with the clothes; I couldn't watch as my toddler's babyhood disappeared into cardboard boxes relegated to the attic.  

His books had achieved critical mass as well.  (Un)fortunately, my husband had the living room books taken care of before I could take a picture of Mount Book, which had overtaken the overflow book basket under the coffee table.  The overflow of the overflow basket was a pretty good indication that his bookcase was also overflowing.  Although I missed the photo opportunity, same loving husband also reminded me that if you scroll down to the tractor picture, you can get a pretty good view of life under the coffee table.  With most of the board books packed away, we discovered that the "big boy" books actually take up less space!  There is breathing room in Duncan's bookcase so feel free to send us books at your leisure.

A good time was had by no one, but the result is well worth a day of vacation.  His closet is outfitted with stacking bins for whatever new toys didn't fit in his toy boxes, and we fit his diaper accouterments into the closet as well; we managed to clear a nice piece of real estate where we will eventually put a toddler table and chairs.  On Friday, we head to the mall to outfit Duncan with his spring and summer wardrobe; one more quick box to fill with 18-24 month clothes (and an entire spring and summer wardrobe to wash and fold), and we're off.