Poffertjes!!!

I'm so happy, it's the little things in life. Little like 'poffertjes'! They are kinda like little pancake type thingies and I love them! And I got to eat them!


My friend and I went to the Zwarte Markt (Black Market) in Tessenderlo (town in Belgium). It is a giant indoor swap meet type thing. Man do they have some crap there, from the very kitch to the just plain crap. And in one of the buildings was a stage and they today, Easter Monday, they had this guy performing. It's all the epitomy of uncool (especially when you combare to LA standards, my other home), but all you can do is shake your head dance along to the 'schlagers'. I love being here.
And another very un-LA thing... snow! (The real kind, made by Mother Nature)

Here are a couple of pics of my parents house in Belgium. (My room is the two windows on the right. And the last picture is of the garden shed. It's new, less spiders, for now.)

Ah, the snow ain't so bad.

Here comes the snow...

The pilot informed us, right before we landed, that there was some light rain in Belgium. As soon as we touched the ground, he updated his report to snow. Welcome home to me. I was wearing flip flops that morning, now I would have to be hidding in my winter coat.
It's a good thing I finished my hat. I couldn't find a button that I liked, not that I had spent a lot of time looking... But with this weather, i had to time to wait. The hat needed to be finished, so i knit a little flowery thing.
It makes the hat look more cutesy, but I like it.
Now I think I shall cast on for the scarf. I hope I brought enough yarn with me. If not, I can always work on my sock.
I was sure to bring enough projects. You never know how long you will be stuck at airports. Or how nice the plane will be... It was so nice, I didn't want to take a nap. Personal tv screen and programs starting at regular intervals. (I fought it for a while, but I did end up taking a little nap.)

Well here's to variety

I have so many things to do. In two days I'm going on a trip to Belgium. I got packing to do, my appartment is a mess again, still have plenty of erronds that need to get done, laundry,... Well, you get the picture. So what do I do, I turn to my knitting. It been a while and it is so nice getting back to my yarn. But with all my UFOs, what do I choose from? It's so hard to pick, so I'll just cast on for something new. I'm gonna need a hat when I'm in Belgium, so there. It is the republic hat.

Joan made me feel better by calling my UFOs a variety of life. Well here's to variety! I love it.

And I heard a silly knitting/blond joke.
A cop is driving down the freeway and passes a speeding car. He is totally shocked to see the driver is actually knitting. He turns on his lights and through his PA system he yells at her "PULL OVER!!!" She rolls down her window and yells back "No, it's a scarf"

Yep, I warned you, it was silly.

Back in blogland

I really hope to visit more frequently. But lately, I have been soo busy. And nothing worth blogging about. That is the sad thing. It's just work, tutoring kids to help pass their high school math exit exam and being very frustrated that these kids are WAY below the level they should be at. Thank you California school system. You will produce a fine lot of burger flippers. And keep cutting those budgets, some kids might not even qualify for that...
For a while I was working with the kids in small groups. And the kids were responding, they got better grades, they even got in the habbit of doing homework (trust me, that is a major change). So yeah, the program was working and therefor one of the higher up administrators decided to put an end to it. Because the school had recieved a grant and there was still plenty of money left. Why should they spend it on something that benefits the kids?
Really, me, bitter, no no.

Anyway, I'm back to regular subbing. Which should give me some time to finish that horrible thesis of mine. Who am I kidding, I'll never finish it. So let's talk about things I might finish after all. This a a little baby sweater. Whether Tessa will fit in it, I don't know. But someone will. To make it easy on myself I opted for short sleeves. I just need to but 5 more rows on the second sleeve, crochet a border around the neckline and weave in the ends. Then I get to cross it off my WIP list. (It's been a long time since I got to do that)

These here are my bins of shame. I put all of my yarn and WIPs and UFOs into two bins. I really need to work on finishing some of those projects but there is so much I want to cast on for...
... and then there is this: Michelle gave it to me. She went to Stitches West and brought me back this little skein of lovely. How can I resist casting on! How!!?
While I figure it out, I do have this to occupy my time. It's the box lace shawl and I am actually very happy you can start to see the little box pattern. Yeay, I'm doing something right. This is also yarn I got from Michelle. Plus, when I go home for a week, I'll be bringing this little project with me. My staircase socks, made from yarn I got from Michelle... Yep, Michelle is definitely my enabler. It's a good thing she has impeccable taste in colors.