what I do instead of sleeping

I am getting very cranky with the Farmyard Baby Wrap. Well, no, I am getting cranky with my knitting ineptitude. This is my first foray into color knitting and I am just not getting the hang of stranding. The tension is all f***ed up! It looks like the eqivalent of knitting with fingerpaint. Gaargh. Just because it's for a baby doesn't mean it should look like it was knit by a baby. Advice appreciated! I have three rows of blocks to go, and then I have to embroider the outlines, feet, eyes, and such, so there's definitely time for improvement!

Onto something I am marginally more experienced at...canning! Even with a disaster of a garden year, I have more tomatoes and peppers than I can keep up with. This is one of our favorites: Mixed Pepper Jam. Yum! It's spicy and tangy and a little sweet. And it's so pretty! This year's is especially alluring due to the Black Czech hot peppers (purple) and the Carrot chiles (bright orange) I grew. Tonight it's onto either homemade ketchup or homemade V8 juice. Both are new recipes, so wish me luck. Nothing worse than all this prep and work and boiling water and sanitizing to come up with something inedible.

And, lastly, there's the bed issue. I've broken down and gotten a prescription for Ambien, so there is a remote chance I might get some sleep. Except that I am the last to bed, and get only whatever space is still unclaimed by husband, dog, or cats. You'd think this wouldn't be much of a problem in a king-sized bed! Glenn is un-wakeable, especially when it comes to giving up space. And Murphy, well, he usually pulls the poor, pitiful amputee card, giving me such a woeful expression that I cave and give up trying to manever him to a corner of the bed. Plus, you know how little kids go all limp and add fifty pounds to their dead weight when they don't want to be moved? Well, Murphy has learned that particular trick. Thank god Lola only weighs seven pounds.

Lastly, I think, I think I feel movement. So hard to tell! It's such a funny sensation of pressure. And what's really weird is that I don't notice it build and build until all of a sudden it's gone! Only a week and two days until the ultrasound! Trying to keep my mind occupied, but it's so hard!

Oh, and the leaves are changing here. Welcome fall. At least it didn't frost in August. I hate that.