Last pre-Olympic post

This morning did not go smoothly. Elaine woke up cheerful and not so dribbly as yesterday, and was determined to go to school. Great, good, wonderful. First things first... I put the kids in their new sweaters and made them sit on the couch for a photo shoot. Photographing two children at once is always twice as hard as just one...

Then things got complicated... I haven't been grocery shopping lately (I love the milkman!) and had no bread (Elaine is quite particular about what goes in her lunchbag) so I told her I'd bring her her lunch in time, but I had to go shopping while she went to school. Then, I was in the shower and I realized that Arthur had set off without his swimming things, and it was swimming day! So I got clean, got dressed, got the swim stuff, the shopping list, the empty lunch bag (with a knife to spread the jam on the bread, but alas, without the jam!) and was not long out the door before I realized that Stephen had gone off with all the money!
I know the route he takes between dropping the kids at school and heading out to the university, so I attempted to catch him, but alas again, I saw him turn the corner and ride off, and I hollered and ran for a bit, but couldn't catch him... Eventually I did, I think, get everything sorted out. Went to the bank for some cash, got the swim stuff to the school, got the groceries, made the lunch, dropped off the lunch, came home with the rest of the stuff.

What I'd wanted to do this morning, besides make the house spic and span for Elaine's birthday party tomorrow, was play with my new yarn! Yes, I know I have projects on the go, and yes, I know I have to start something new and mega-thrilling this afternoon, but lemme tell you what happened yesterday! I dragged Elaine off her sickbed and we went to pick Arthur up after school. We were walking home down a road which is home to several charity shops, and usually we walk right past, but as we came to the Cancer Research shop, I just had a whim to go in. I thought we'd look at some buttons, of which they usually have a box at the back. Then, um, no money, so we'll just look, okay, kids?
Then, ohmygod, ohmygod, what's that over there!? That's not buttons, that's a laundry basket full of yarn! I grabbed all the lovely Rowan tweed I could find, casting aside the mohair fluff and the unlabeled cotton whatever! Of course, I had to run to the bank and get money (this is a recurring theme this week!) and the fellow at the desk kindly held the yarn for me, and when I got back we checked the price on the basket -- 50p a piece! That's a buck. I got 6 skeins of Rowan (one is not tweedy, and one has no label, one says Chunky and the rest are Aran) and a ball of Lopi Light-ish wool I can put in the Sweater that Makes Me Sneeze, all for 3 pounds 50. I'm feeling chuffed, for sure, and now that I've recovered from my morning's exertions, I think I'll just clean the bathroom, swatch up the seafoam green stuff, and get lunch all before casting on for the Big O at 2 pm. What do you think? Oh, and if anyone recognises the age of the Rowan labels let me know! Are they vintage, retro, antique or just a couple of years old?
See ya at the pub tonight, and we'll raise a glass to knitting Olympians the world over!