Gearing up on Amazon

So the fam is getting ready for our annual camping trip in a couple of weeks – YES! I haven’t had a vacation in almost 2 years, so I’m really looking forward to it. The manlets & I have gone camping for years, so we have all the necessary gear for us… except the problem this time is that there will be 8 of us instead of 3! So, I’ve been shopping like mad with Amazon to get ready. First, we needed another tent – we have 2 that both sleep 6-8, but that means comfy for 3 or 4 – plus, some of us want a bit more privacy. LOL

Next up, waterproofing for the new tent, a new, bigger coffee pot (coffee is the elixir of life, after all!) and most importantly, a portable charger for all the electronics! ;)

The best purchase of all, though, isn’t for the camping trip. It’s for home & should arrive any minute now. The geek found this absolute jewel of a coffee maker & bought it for his place. I’ve totally fallen in love with it & just had to have one for home as well. Seriously, this thing is AWESOME. I cannot recommend it enough! ♥

Reading

(Yes, I skipped running, stupid toe!)…

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen – I am a bad, bad Floridian in that I had not yet read any of his novels. LOL! I thoroughly enjoyed this hilarious mystery that takes you from South Florida to the Bahamas in its telling. The monkey? Yes, quite bad & totally needs to be featured in more stories.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer – Cinderella retold with Cinderella as a cyborg?! ZOMG, you know I’m all over that!! It is a YA novel, but honestly – it is not written overwhelmingly as one & easily kept me hooked & enjoying the story. Cinder is not your typical teenage girl in that she’s mature, brilliant, a mechanic & a cyborg with no googly-eyes-making at the boys. I loved this story so much that I immediately began the follow up story, Scarlet.

Knitting

I’ve mostly been working on my stashbusting projects, but I also have this sweater OTN – I’m down to the sleeves now. Some time ago, I’d knit a Weasley sweater for the Pixie. Her sister recently saw a picture of it & asked if she could get one too. She’s Ravenclaw too, w00t! Ooops, I accidentally bought enough yarn for TWO sweaters.

I’m very happy to knit for her, as she’s agreed to Dane-sit for us while we are camping. That’s a pretty big job, but she’s the perfect person for it, as Leonardo already adores her. As a few of my other kids already know, he’s pretty picky about people & can be a downright crotchety old man.

P.S. I came across this post on creating a chart for your own letter – it’s awesome & works PERFECTLY.

Today’s Ravelry Search

I had fun trying some other search methods today & found some patterns I’ve not seen before. :)