Category Archives: Family

A Job With Allison’s Name On It

Rest and Relax

For the past two years I have heard more about knitting than ever in my entire life. That was because Allison started knitting two years ago. There is a yarn store down the street from us called Yarn it All and they were offering classes. Allison said one day, “I’m thinking about taking knitting classes” which meant that she was going to be taking knitting classes. We are very similar in that way, when we express that we are thinking about doing something that means that we’ve already thought about it and are going to do that something. So Allison started knitting. She picked it up right away. Her skills are amazing, I think. She’s made hats, socks, sweaters, blankets, prayer shawls, and baby blankets. She even made the entire family, including the cats, some Janye Cobb hats.

A BDH and a LDHA BDH and a LDHFurry "LDH"Furry "LDH"

Allison has taken her love for knitting everywhere. She knits in the car, on planes and she even knit all throughout IZEAFest 2008. She has also taken her love for knitting online. She is a member of the online community for knitters called Ravelry.

Ravelry has become a part of our lives, Allison has met interesting people through it, she has found great new patterns to knit as well. Ravelry is looking for a new member of their team, someone who will work 20 hours a week as a communication liaison between the community and Ravelry. I think that this job is perfect for Allison. We made a decision when Eva was born that I would work so Allison could spend time at home with Eva. Allison did have a full time job up until the day before Eva was born. She was an Office Manager for a Management Consulting Firm. In that role she was technical support, communications manager, travel agent and all around dynamo.

Heirloom Blanket

Allison staying home with Eva has worked out well and we would love to continue to keep things this way. However, in order to continue to do this we both need to pick up side things from time to time, I have blogging and Allison works about 9 hours a week for a friend of mine. This does leave her plenty of time to fulfill the 20 hours a week with Ravelry. I think the responsibility and challenge and fun of a job like that would be amazing for her. She loves people and community so a connection outside the home and talking with other adults is just the thing.

Allison has incredible writing skills and she loves to communicate with people. We go out places and she has found out life stories of at least 4 people while I barely can remember names. She genuinely cares about other people and making a connection and that is one thing that makes her perfect for this job. Her compassion and understanding make her a perfect person whose primary job is to communicate with an online community. Allison is also perfect for this because she has the technical skills needed for the job, she knows how to create blogs, use twitter, utterli, facebook, flickr and a host of other online resources. She is also extremely familiar and skilled with the Ravelry site and forums. When she doesn’t know something technical she learns about it and solves the problem.

Allison also recently bought herself a netbook so she is able to be both mobile and connected at all times. So this part time online job with Ravelry would be a perfect fit for Allison. She’s even taken renewed interest in her blog and will be posting much more often now.

So if Ravelry is looking for a skilled knitter who is a great communicator, problem solver and a compassionate hard worker then they should really consider Allison for this job.

Springtime Fun is Here

With a few false starts it looks like Spring is finally here. This is one of my favorite times of year because it means we can finally leave the house without being all bundled up, wearing boots and hats. We can now go off to the local parks and zoos. At the local parks we can play on the playground equipment with Eva, she is a big fan of slides. She also likes the swings but we’ve not been doing much swinging lately. The last time she went was her 1st birthday. (Which, coincidentally, feels like the last time I posted to this blog.)

Hanging around

Dad Blogs is a fan of Springtime as well. They are having a whopper of a contest. Dad Blogs has teamed up with Kid’s Creations to give away the Three Ring Adventure. (pictured below)

This is an amazing playset. It has it all. Here is a list of the specs & features:

Features:

  • Trapeze Bar
  • Tire Swing
  • Telescope
  • Ductile Iron Swing Hangers
  • Steering Wheel
  • 2×6 Safety Steps
  • Rope Ladder
  • Rock Climbing Wall
  • 3 Swings
  • Disc Rope Swing
  • 10′ Heavy Duty Wave Slide
  • 2 Safety Handles
  • 12oz Vinyl Canopy
  • 4 Position Swing Beam
  • 4×6 Deck Supports
  • 4×6 Swing Beam
  • 5′ Deck Height
  • 5’x5′ Deck
Specifications:

  • Length 27′ 3″
  • Width 11′ 3″
  • Height 11′

Delivery Time: 3-4 weeks
Number of Boxes: 4
Time to Unload: 20 min
Shipping Cost: free with contest
Tools Needed:

  • Ratchet
  • 3/4″ Socket
  • 1/2″ Socket
  • Cordless Drill
  • 3/8 Drill (to install rocks in wall)
  • Hammer

* Swing beam is rated at 250 lbs per swing *
Kid’s Creations is the only manufacturer to feature 100% con-heart redwood!

Growing up I remember having a swingset in the backyard. It was secured into the ground with concrete. Did you know that over time that gets loose and when you are a kid trying to swing as high as you can you can actually pull the concrete out of the ground. I certainly hope that Eva won’t try something like that, we were dangerous kids back in those days. What I do hope is that if we win this prize Eva will enjoy spending more time in her own back yard playing and having adventures. I think a playset like this one from Kid’s Creations would be awesome because there is just so much to do on it. I’m sure our place would be a favorite among all of Eva’s friends.

I could capture all the fun times with the Canon SD1100 powershot that Dad Blogs is throwing into the overall prize package. Not that I need another camera but I could upgrade my old SD800is.