One of my goals for this year is to eat better. I’d like to lose weight and I’d like to exercise more but the bottom line is I need to eat better. And the more I read about eating better the more I read that people who do eat better (how many times can I use that phrase in the first paragraph of this post?) eat breakfast. Every day.

Now, I love breakfast. I love it on Saturday and Sunday mornings and I love it to consist of eggs and pancakes and bacon and sausage and hash browns and toast and baked beans. Yes indeed all of that at once, please. Howsomever, I don’t think that’s what the people who advocate eating better and eating breakfast actually have in mind. Something tells me if I ate that every morning I probably wouldn’t lose any weigh. Heh.

Nevertheless, I’m here to tell you that I have eaten breakfast every morning for the past 27 days. I haven’t eaten breakfast that many days in a row since the 6th grade, I think. But I’m doing it. And I like it.

Some mornings I have cereal with banana along with wheat toast and peanut butter.

And some mornings I have a one egg omelet with a low cal English muffin.

And other mornings I have oatmeal with almonds and craisins and that piece of wheat toast with peanut butter again.

Variety is the spice of breakfast, apparently. So, there you have it. B is for Breakfast. Every morning. I think I’m eating better, kids.

Thank you all so very much for your kind comments on my blogiversary yesterday. I loved reading them and I’m glad that you all like the new look for the blog, too. Or maybe you just all want chocolate. Either way, I’m a happy blogger.

I wish I could show you the knitting I’ve been doing but I can’t. You see, I have to be all stealth about it because I’m test knitting some patterns for Sock Madness 2. You remember Sock Madness, right? Well this year I’m hosting with Hillary (sounds like a show on the Food Network, doesn’t it?) instead of participating and right now we are deep in the throes of planning for this year’s competition. We had a great phone conversation last night and talked about everything from work, family and blogging to knitting, spinning and how we’re both not phone people. Believe it or not, we even managed to sort out some details about Sock Madness. Sign ups are right around the corner so keep your eye on the Sock Madness blog for details!

In the meantime I’ve been test knitting sock patterns. So far I’ve had one unsuccessful pattern but two successful ones. I just can’t show them to you because Sock Madness patterns are a big secret. Well, maybe I can give you a teeny tiny peek.

How’s that?

Three years ago today I started this blog and I’m so glad I did. I’ve met people and traveled places and learned things that I never would have otherwise. I’ve expanded my horizons, jumped on bandwagons and spent my disposable income on yarn, spinning wheels and photography equipment. I’ve happily responded to thousands of comments. I’ve gained readers and lost readers and gained them again. Writing and maintaining this blog has been a blessing and a joy and I’m thankful every day for this community. Yes, I mean YOU.

So, in the spirit of my blog-versary, it’s time to give back. First, there’s a new look to Carole Knits. I loved my old look and you can see that I haven’t changed all that much but it was still time for a bit of a change. Do you like it?

Second, it wouldn’t be a decent blog-versary without a contest. So, you know the drill. Leave me a comment on this post and I’ll enter you into a drawing. Since you all have plenty of yarn, I thought it would be fun to mix things up a bit and offer a different sort of prize. Instead of yarn, I’m going to offer the next best thing: chocolate. In the form of brownies. From here. They’re really good, just ask Margene.

To summarize for all you skimmers:

1. It’s my blog-versary and the blog has a bit of a new look
2. Leave me a comment on this post by Friday at 8pm EST
3. I will send brownies to one random winner
4. That is all.

Remember the yarn I won in Scout’s preppy contest? I turned it into some socks. They are very pretty and of course, very preppy, too.

I finished sock two on the plane last weekend. I though it would be fun to do a photo shoot in Florida but it was too damn hot to put them on. I did manage to photograph them last Sunday while we were there. They were languishing on a cactus in Brant and Heather’s back yard.

Warm and scenic. Sigh.

Fast forward to this Sunday. I photographed them in my backyard.

Cold and snowy. Ugh.

Oh well. If I lived in the land of the cactus I’d have no need for beautiful socks like these. On a day like today, though, that’s small consolation.

Sunset over Venice Beach, Florida. You saw this coming, right?

Enjoy your weekend.

A 4 day trip is such a whirlwind that it seemed like we said goodbye almost immediately after we said hello. Nevertheless, we managed to cram in a lot of fun, a lot of visiting and even some sightseeing. I’ll give you the highlights here and if you want to see all the pictures I took be sure to visit my flickr page.

On Sunday we went to a nature preserve near Brant and Heather’s house. It was pretty chilly but I shot some great bird photos and also this picture of Ambrynn. It’s my favorite of all the pictures I took.

Monday was warm and sunny and we headed to Venice Beach. We spent the afternoon playing on the beach.

Walking on the beach.

And watching the pelicans.

When we got hungry we headed to Sharky’s for dinner. I tell you something I really like about this restaurant. When you can’t decide which frozen concoction you want to try they bring you a sample of all five of them. Great idea!

We only had a limited of time on Tuesday but we managed to squeeze in a visit to a yarn shop in Punta Gorda. It happened to be very close to one of Ambrynn’s favorite playgrounds so we went there and watched her play for a while.

All too soon it was time to head to the airport and come home. We’ve got great memories, though, and it’s nice to be able to have actually seen where the kids are living, you know? I’d be lying if I said we weren’t still concerned about them but we’re parents so we’re always going to be concerned.

Bottom line? I’m already plotting and planning for our next trip.

We got home late last night from our trip. The weather was mostly beautiful and it was great to hang out with the kids for a few days. I’ll have a more detailed post for you tomorrow but for now, how’s this?

Yeah. It wasn’t too hard to take.

Pine trees in the snow are pretty but palm trees in the sand are infinitely better. I’m just saying.

Please send vibes for safe travel and sunny weather! See you next Wednesday.

When I did the 2006 ABC Along I had a rule that I wouldn’t use any people for my letter posts. This time around, though, things are going to be different. I mean, really, how could I not choose my beautiful little granddaughter to represent the letter A in my life?

This little angel stole my heart from the first time I saw her (you can read about that here, if you’d like) and I miss her desperately now that she has moved to Florida with her mom and dad. She’s 2 1/2 and time is passing too quickly. Her father tells us that she has developed quite a stubborn streak and the terrible twos have arrived in full force. But I’m her nana and it’s hard for me to imagine her as being anything other than sweet and lovable.

Soon, though, I won’t have to imagine at all. You see, A is also for Airplane and on Saturday Dale and I will be boarding an airplane and flying to Florida for a little visit.

I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. Turns out A is also for Anticipation.

I didn’t take this walk on a Wednesday but I’ve got nothing else for today so you’ll just have to pretend, okay?

It was just your standard “walk down back” with Dale and Dixie but the new camera made it way more fun.

There are some shots of my sister-in-law’s garden, the road we walk, frozen puddles and ice along the river.

Finally, just for Sandy, a Haiku.

Walk to the river
Fancy camera in hand
Endless photo ops