Has it really been 11 days?

I had no idea I hadn't posted in 11 days. What's wrong with me?

So I'm in the midst of trying to update my apartment, which looks like a Toys R Us after a nuclear attack. With a Barnes & Noble thrown in. Not pretty. But I'm trying.

I've got two bridal showers and two weddings rapidly approaching, and I'm nowhere near the dress size I want to be. Grr.

At least I start school tonight - my final class for the Publishing Certificate! Whoo hoo!

I'll write more later, I'm going to post my manic Martha energies on Domestic Goddesses now.

Project Runway

I prided myself on the fact that I was NOT watching Project Runway. It's one more reality show I don't need to be teased about watching. Then, I board a JetBlue flight to my Dad's, nothing's on TV - not even on my beloved VH-1 - and I ended up watching three straight hours of a Project Runway marathon. I blame them and Stacey for the fact that I knit my little fingers to the bone, up past the bedtime I said I was going to adhere to, to watch the new one last night.

How did I miss out on this before? What was wrong with me? It's so snarky, it's delicious. It's like eating candy without the calories.

Let the bitchery fly!

Knitting Fever

I'm a knitting fiend. I'm working on a cute cardigan and hat set and a cable-knit blanket for my mom's friend (remember the baby booties from hell? That's the one.) The cardigan, ever since I abandoned the original pattern and took up a less stressful one, is coming along nicely. But moss stitch is VERY time consuming, so I took a little break. The back and left front are done, and the right front is 3/4 done so I really don't have much more to go. But I needed something new. Which probably explains why I have so many UFO (unfinished objects) strewn about the apartment...

So this blanket is adorable. It's got a cable running up each side and a diamond pattern in between. I may go cross-eyed from looking at the chart before this is over, but we'll deal with that later. Pictures will come when I'm all done.

What's with the Banks?

So everyone familiar with Forest Hills knows it's like Bank Mecca. You literally can't spit without hitting a bank. Then I read this in this morning's Daily News and almost fell off my chair. What is with the banks? Are we becoming our own little Wall Street or something?

Flushing Savings Bank plans to open its newest branch at 107-11 71st Avenue, the former site of The Zone clothing store, where it will compete with more than 10 other banks in a ONE BLOCK radius, according to construction workers at the site.

There are even rumors that a bank will move into the former site of Value Depot, a 71st Avenue bargain store that closed last month.

What in the world is this all about?

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The Lights of 9/11

From Karen's terrace, the lights where the Twin Towers once stood. The lights reflected off of a cloud and created an amazing effect - it looked like the cloud opened up for them.

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The Hunt for Red November

For the past several months, I've been telling myself that I'm going to find a dress for Karen's wedding. I'm one of her bridesmaids and, in a move that is magnanimous on her part, she informed us that we only need show up in a red dress. Perhaps, I suggested, we go with a David's Bridal-type situation where we do the mix and match so we're all in the same type of outfit, a la Stacey's wedding? No, too much restriction. So with less than 60 days to go, women are scrambling and freaking out at being told that getting a dress can take up to 12 weeks if you're going to David's Bridal.

Not that I'm any different, and I've been a bridesmaid before. I just didn't feel like trying on dresses at this point, but finally I broke down and the good and kind Stacey and I embarked on Roosevelt Field this past weekend. Wow, we saw some humdingers. But finally, in Ann Taylor of all places, I found a dress! On sale! While the size I was hoping for was not zipping past the boobage, I upgraded and will likely take it to the cleaners to have a minor nip and tuck here and there. Why my boobs are a size bigger than the rest of my body is a fact left best to modern science to figure out. Ah, the wonders of womanhood and childbirthing.

So the dress is deep wine/burgundy, tank top with a bit of a scoop neck, and has a little bow at the waist with a center pleat that I am assured is flattering. I am doing 30 minutes of cardio a day just to make sure it STAYS flattering. We then went on to the holy land, aka DSW, where we were disappointed in the lack of ridiculous shoes - that is, until we happened upon this work of art:

Yes, that is pasta on the shoe. And a tomato. And, as Stacey noted, basil. We have a complete Italian dinner for two on one shoe! For only a mere $299! Mangia!

I did hit the jackpot for myself, finding a cute pair of strappy heels that match the color of the dress perfectly, so I am a complete bridesmaid now! I also found a cute pair of red Kenneth Cole loafers marked down to a price that challenged me NOT to buy them. And then, the big coup - a pair of black Charles David mock-croc pumps with deep purple piping on them. Marked down from $148 to a ridiculously low price. After conferring with Stacey and my mom via cell phone, it was decided that I should treat myself to all three pairs. My DSW Reward Your Style card hasn't seen this much action in ages.

Last night, headed over to Karen's to stuff wedding invites. Karen, Shauna and I sat around a small table, ate Chinese food, and assembled invites. I am a fully-dressed bridesmaid. Cue the huge sigh of relief.

I know I've been quiet today but September 11 is never a good day for me. A bunch of friends on ClubMom have been taking part in this Legacy.com tribute, where you select someone who was lost that day and memorialize them. As usual, my powers of technology were not with me and I think my tribute is somewhere in the ether so let me just blog it directly.

Christine Lee Hanson was 2 1/2 on September 11, 2001. About the same age as Will. She was going on vacation with her mommy and daddy, and was probably really excited to fly in a big plane, like Will and Alex get.

You know, once you become a parent, you don't deal very well with bad news stories involving children. So you're going to have to bear with me here. Because every child becomes your child when something goes wrong.

So little Christine was probably very excited. Her parents were probably smiling and laughing with her, pointing out the big engines or giving her gum to chew so her little ears didn't pop when the plane took off. But little Christine and all the potential ahead of her ended at the World Trade Center that morning.

Christine's not going to have the same opportunities Will has. She's never going to be excited over seeing her first movie in a big movie theatre. She never got to start Kindergarten and make new friends. She won't get to pick out Hello Kitty or Barbie school supplies. Christine's mom will never drop her off on her first day of school and cry when she gets home because her baby is growing up.

Poor Christine didn't have enough of a life to warrant her own obituary; she was part of her father's and her mother's. But she'll never be forgotten.

Every time Will reaches a milestone, be it a science project or be it mastering a two-wheel bike, my mind will wander to Christine. Because like the saying goes, there but for the grace of God, went Will and I.

There is no justification for this act.

School Daze

I sent my big boy off to second grade this morning, so I'm a little misty-eyed. Will was so excited to be back at school and with his buddies. We got his supplies ready last night and portioned out which he's bringing in which day - it's going to take a full week to bring everything in. Public school kids - how do these kids not graduate stooped over? I have FOUR BAGS of supplies, including three rolls of paper towel, two boxes of tissues, and a box of baby wipes - am I a parent or the local Costco?

X-Men folders? Check. Wacky Packages pencils? Got 'em. Tony Hawk folder - check - and do you actually know who Tony Hawk is? "Yeah, Mom, he's the skateboarder guy." Wow, I'm impressed. My son is turning into a pop culture freak like his mother.

We assembled school supplies, watched Revenge of the Sith and the Clone Wars I DVDs, and then he made some calls to his friends - who he'd be seeing not 24 hours from then - and all I could think of was, "Wow. He's a kid. He's not a little boy anymore." He's totally become this real kid, as opposed to the little boy I sent off to first grade last year. I may still have written his name in indelible ink on all his posessions this year, but he's growing up.

He even chooses his own shoes now. We went to Payless to pick up some new sneakers for him and he announced that he no longer wanted "any shoes or socks with cartoons on them." It was like a dagger in my heart, as I was eyeing up the cool Batman sneaks in his size. He chose a black pair of Shaq sneakers ("Do you know who he is?" "I think he plays basketball - but they're COOL SHOES!") and a pair of white and black hi-top Shaq sneakers. He loved them and was so proud that he chose them. For a sec, he looked at me and wavered, but I couldn't be selfish. I told him, "You have to wear them. You're... a big kid now. What shoes do you want?" "I don't want the Batman ones, Mom."

So we now have two pairs of Shaq sneakers at home - some guy who plays basketball. He couldn't wait to lace up the black ones this morning. He spiked up his hair (he chose the haircut, too) and was ready to go.

Oh, well... I still have a modicum of say in Alex's stuff for the time being. :-)