A Suzville Update? Really??

In light of my long hiatus, it is apparent that I have problems managing homeschooling, doing the things I love, and blogging it. I admire those who can do it all, I have a hard time with my hobbies after homeschooling and cooking. So much has happened since my last post!

• After Hoss died, we brought home his six year old mama, Chloe.
• Then we got a rescue dog, a puppy that we named Pepper, high energy border collie mix with a dominant tendency.
• I finished my first sweater for me, using recycled alpaca yarn from a thrifted 80s sweater that I dyed with Koolaid. Because of my proportions, patterns have to be modified, so I am not totally happy with the fit.
  
• I made a sweater for DQ Bakerette, again, recycled wool from a thrifted sweater, though the beautiful marled blue/cream color needed no enhancing.
• The Fashionista knit a cardigan for herself (from a recycled sweater in a gorgeous green), along with a hat for herself, and a hat/scarf combo for a friend, wrist warmers for her sister, and I don't even know if I remember everything she made.
  
• I finally made a messenger bag for Dapper Dude, using a dark denim jumper dress and stash fabric. I doodled with thread for the flap design and it turned out fantastic! Now he has a stylin' bag to carry all of his violin books.
• The Fashionista is working on a coat made from a thrifted wool blanket and has drafted her own pants pattern using instructions from Weekend Designer. I know!
  
• I made a wrap cardigan from a tutorial online this weekend. I have to finish the serged ends and steam the funky sleeves. It's been an experiment, but it's wearable, and I'm happy with it!
• We became board members of our local homeschool group.
• My computer caught something and had to be restored, which is how I spent this weekend. I now have some 10 different programs to scan for viruses, malware, and any other -ware there is, plus a new firewall. Of course I don't run them all at the same time, but people, please make sure your programs are up to date and working. My assumptions got me in trouble (seeing my anti-virus program tell me every single morning that the virus database was up to date was not enough).
  
• We borrowed the Dog Whisperer DVDs from the library and watched many, many episodes. As a result, I am walking daily, with Chloe and sometimes Pepper, which is awesome because I really needed to get back into that.
• On one particular walk (yesterday's), I got caught in the rain, unprepared. I had taken Dapper Dude and Nature Girl along with the two dogs. The sky was gorgeous, sunny, with a lovely breeze - something we hadn't seen in a while. We'd had a break in the rain and I thought a short walk would do us some good. Well, that breeze brought another rainstorm, just when we were far enough out that we would get wetter trying to get home than trying to wait it out crouched down on the side of someone's fence. Thankfully I had my mobile phone and we got a ride. It just so happened that the sun came back out right about the time we got home, all completely drenched.

So there you have my updates. I'll try to get pictures of our accomplishments and links to all the instructions for you soon, but I'm making no promises.

Because I'm really supposed to be writing out assignments right now.