Creating Lately

I don't think I shared that I started crocheting again. (Again as in, for the first time since I was very young. I have been knitting in the past five years, but crocheting, no.)

Afghan, in progress.

Infant's hat, fluffy.

Infant's hat, side-view.

First Birthday Party (3/19/1999)

Thanks to Jeannie, I was able to convert the VHS tape we found at my grandmother's house from Jack's first birthday to AVI. It's pretty wild, not the least of which for the people who are all in the video.

The party was on March 19, 1999, so Jack was 1 year and 1 day old. The filming technique leaves something to be desired, but I am glad to have it despite the random zooming, extreme close-ups, and other oddities. There is almost 45 minutes of video, which I am sure will not interest everyone, so I will try to highlight some funny/cute moments in each.

Part 1: The first few minutes are introductory as Jack was apparently still napping. My grandma Dorothy is in the blue and Grandma Joyce (my father's mother) is in the pink. Jump to minute four for Jack's appearance and stay through minute six for cuteness with Nana and Grandma Mary. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUr5YY6qduM)

Part 2: Essentially, twelve minutes of Jack eating. Eating, eating, eating. And talking, talking, talking. You can probably skip this one unless you are interested in seeing my grandfather or Jack inserting himself in the conversation from the very early years or Aimée and Craig looking like youngsters. :-) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bugAcGKeDI)

Part 3: Time for cake! Jump to 1:00 to see Jack pleased at our singing, then skip way to the end to see the messiness. I apparently made a pretty indestructible cake because it took forever for him to break into it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEjuG0qDMk)

Part 4: Presents. So many presents, and the boxes and tags are the best gifts. My favorite part of the video is contained here. I like to call it, Awkward Toddler is Awkward. Jump to 10:00 and stick around to the end. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljzESPsl0AM)

Part 5: More presents! A good moment is around 2:40 when Jack decides to give up on the squeaky book because Nana is better. Right after that, I unwrapped the blue afghan she made for him which of course we still have. At 4:40 Jack says, I understand what to do with a big box. Drum! Then at 7:50, he played the diva card and left his own party. The end. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTBTdXlPgI)


(Yes, the person behind the camera with the drawl is my father, but he isn't southern, honest.)

College Thoughts

Do other parents think about their child's college years this early? Do some consider starting to think about it when their children are past ten years old too late? I'm curious.

One method, if it can really be given that much credit, I have been using is uPromise. When you make purchases starting from their web site, a percentage is given back to the college fund. Most stores do this, but not all. So if you are interested in helping out and shop online already, you can use this guest link. You don't even have to join uPromise!

Thanks.

In other news, a recent picture I like:

Tradescantia pallida, or Purple heart.

Oh, and it's 2011. How did that happen?