I haven't touched my knitting in two days.

And it just matches how I'm feeling in general. I finally got to watch the news today to see coverage on Katrina and I am almost speechless. I ask that if you can't help a reliable charity like the Red Cross please send whatever thoughts you can to them for quick healing, comfort and help. I'm overwhelmed with emotions.

Just a quick update (quick, lol yeah right).

Work Update: I didn't do that much at work but fill out paper work, get a tour and watch a few videos. I'm not sure they're paying me enough.... It should be an ok job and at least we get paid weekly and I can have direct deposit. But as far as a discount? ROFL can you believe not? Only once in a while do they give discounts on some things. pffst! (I so hope they prove me wrong on the discount thing.) (Update: I get a 10% discount all the time, what they give you periodically is a greater percentage off of certain things. 10% isn't much but it' s better than a poke in the eye I say. LOL)

School Update: My geology class is going to ROCK (pun intended) and I'm so looking forward to the 3 day trip to the U.P. at the end of September. Tonight is Education of the Exceptional Child which will be interesting.

In Knitting: We know I joined the Sockapal2za right? We know I got my socks done for my pal a long time ago right? We know I am a bit worried if she'll like them right? Well you know what? I went over to check the Tuesday update at Alison's Blue Blog and I was looking at all the socks everyone made and almost EVERYONE is worried about what they are sending to someone else. Well my Sockpal who is making socks for me, I loved every sock that I saw so PLEASE don't worry about my liking them because I will. That's a promise.

(Something I noticed I do, I put all my personal stuff first then the knitting stuff. I was wondering if that's because I feel some need to have my "dirty laundry" aired, but that's not it. I think I leave the "best for last". lol That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Have a great day.)

And they're off.....!!!

Ok, for some reason this bus photo disappeared from the post so now it's at the top. Sometimes I swear my fingers have a different mind. So read below and all will become clear lol.

Oh I love my camera, check this zoom out! As you can see they're way down the road, approximately 5 houses away and we have just over a half acre lot ourselves. I was wobbling so bad I had to brace my arms on the mailbox and put the settings on high action. I was able to yell loud enough to get Garrett, Grant and the neighbor boy to look up long enough for me to snap this second photo. Then I can't believe I got the third one (see photo #1)! Both boys and the school bus. Max is going to first grade but I have to take him in an hour for the 1st grade orientation. Half day today, the older two
will ride the bus home and tomorrow I'll try and get Max and the school bus, plus the boys will have their backpacks. I haven't bought any school supplies yet, I'm waiting for my discount at work. Do you blame me? I think not. LOL

I love this school bus photo, it's almost perfect isn't it? The sun hitting the left front fender... I just got all sentimental holy cow. I'm so PMSing. Something made me cry last night, something really, really stupid, a commercial or something.

Knitting News: I am extremely happy to announce that I got Meg's TSP done last night. It needs to be washed and blocked but it's done and it looks better then I could have wanted. I hope she likes it as much as I imagine her to.

Ok I'm not sure what happened to the bus photo. I'll try again.

Did you hear that?

That was my jaw cracking from yawning so big, I got up at 7:15 instead of the 6:45 I intended. (Probably because I have no "reason" to get up this early on a Sunday.) I did get the kids up right away and we ate pancakes. Now today is a fun filled day of "lets see what still fits you". We all hate this day, but most especially my oldest since he has no hand-me-downs and it's much more crucial for him. Of course I'm sure the first full week when we hit a Friday and he finds he still has a pair or two of pants to choose from it will all be worth it... now someone tell HIM that ok? *grin*

Knitting News: I did another repeat on the TSP plus four more rows into the next section. I have 4 more repeats (sections) to do. I'm pretty sure I may be able to get it done today if I sit my hiney down and do it. It might just be a Harry Potter movie marathon morning, the best movies in the world for me to knit to. I look up a few times but mostly I listen to it. I can always do the pants thing tonight or next weekend right? LOL Knitting IS more important right? Right?

I thought I'd at least post one photo. That's Max and it totally illustrates what I live with every day with him. He has the wagon attached to the Kett Car with a stick and pulled it out to the mailbox to get the mail. Put the mail in the wagon and pulled it back to me. Due to this trailer pulling he pulled the handle of the wagon apart, the part you hang on to, that came off. See the branches in the wagon? He took our HUGE loping shears and wacked (a parents nightmare I'll tell ya) them off a poor defensless maple tree that has the misfortune of having limbs low enough for him to do so. I should make a list of the stuff he has broken this year in his quest for knowledge of how things work. God I love that kid even if he's expensive and frustrating. LOL

Yawn, I'm not a morning person.....

We got up at 8 am.... on Saturday. Tomorrow we will get up at 7 am, on a Sunday yes. Why? Because this next week is going to ROT like eggs. Monday is the boys first day back to school, I have to go to a orientation with the younger one, which means we have to be up and moving at 6:30 am. Then I go to my counseling session at 2 and then off to training at 4. Tuesday? Oh lovely glorious Tuesday? I start classes, one in the morning and one at night. That means two trips to Ann Arbor, and with these gas prices *shiver*. Wednesday I have training from 2-10pm. Thursday, three classes, one in the morning, one in early afternoon and one at night. I get to spend about 13 hours on campus, which to tell you the truth, I like. I do homework in between and eat. Sometimes I get really lucky and I can knit for 30 minutes straight. I bought a ball of Magic Stipes #205 last night for yes, you know it, more socks. The pattern they give you on the label (and online) is with five needles and not four. I think I'm going to give it a try since I have two sets of 4. I wonder how many pairs I can get done before the end of the semester? Today is all about Meg's TSP. I need to get that done and I'd like to get it done this weekend so I don't have any complicated knitting once school starts. I'll post a photo later of the sock I'm working on just to give you something visually attractive, it's from left over yarn and it will have a mate that is opposite colors. They're going to fit Miranda because she's the tiny foot in the family...though it's not all that tiny anymore LOL. Consider yourself warned now, if I don't post much this week you know why. (We all know I can't stay away though right?*sheepish grin*)

Edit/Update/Confession(?): It's just after 6 pm and I knit about 3 rounds on the green sock. I went to the library, Borders, and Costco today, I made three meals, and I even read sections of the books I got from the library, but what I didn't do is Meg's TSP. I did touch it though... LOL I picked up the ball off the floor before Albert decided to chew on it. So, maybe tonight I can get a repeat done... or finished... or something. I was suprised to find this Halloween book by Silver RavenWolf there and I am so ready to start thinking about decorating for fall, I get this way every time school starts but I'll refrain from starting until after September 1st. *grin*

It's a Mad Hatter or Two.

Well here are the two hooligans who will wear my interesting bark like hats. We had to tickle Max to get him to smile somewhat normal and Grant decided that he had to hold Albert up for the photo. I'm wondering if I should go buy some more of this Bernat's Camo yarn and make some hats for my DH and FIL for turkey hunting. It's a thought. But I think I'm going to focus on socks because they're just the right size to stick in my backpack and take to school with me. I mean seriously, what's four ounces added to 50 pounds of text books and such? LOL

It's the top of a Mad Hatter.

This is the top of Max's hat, the short rows make a really neat star don't the? I've figured out how to do this post next to photo thing. I love learning new things! :-)

Quick Albert Update.

The new vet we visited today at The Country Cat Hospital told me she talked to two different orthopedic vet surgeons who both said that with Albert being so young that he has a great chance of healing without surgery. So we are bandaging him up nice and tight and he will be living in a large dog cage for the next 6-8 weeks. We can take him out and play with him but no jumping at all. So my poor unhappy, newly bandaged (in bright red this time) kitty is laying in the cage all droopy and down. Or maybe it's the pain meds LOL. We'll let him grow and his leg may not be totally straight or quite as long as the other three but he should live without pain and not be hindered by it at all. And if we are wrong and it's painful or some other problem then we can still amputate it and he'd still be a cute little kitty. So that's the update. My in laws will take him back every Thursday from now on because I have three classes on Thursday and someone needs to be home when the boys get off the bus. So they will take him in and then come back to meet the boys until my DH gets home. So all is getting better in my world. Now lets just get training over with next week at work so I can start pulling in a paycheck. (!!!$$$!!!) Oh and I've got two rows to do to finish up Max's hat, then I'll sew it up and take a photo of him wearing it. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. *grin*

The Finished Hat

Here's the finished hat on the lucky owner. Grant took it to MIL tonight to show it off LOL. I'm now 1/3 of the way done on a second one for Max. If I have any yarn left I'm going to make a third one because this pattern is so easy. It's adapted from a garter stitch baby hat in Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicolas (pg 76).

Using US8s I start with 30 stitches instead of 20 and increase in the last stitch by knitting front and back in the same stitch. You have to make sure you only increase on the one end because this shapes the crown. I increase until I have 40 stitches. Then, after knitting back to the bottom edge you knit up towards the crown, leaving 10 stitches on the left needle, turn, slip one as if to purl with the yarn in front then pass the yarn to the back. Knit to the bottom edge and back up and knit one stitch past the gap, turn, slip one as if to purl and then pass yarn to the back. Continue like this until you knit the last stitch and then turn and slip it, pass yarn and knit to bottom edge. Repeat this from the "leave 10 on the left needle" until you have six or seven sections. Finishing with a slip as if to purl and knit 39. Bind off. Then you just sew from the bottom edge up and finish the crown how you want. I weave the yarn through and then draw it up tight because my stitches get really loose on the crown side.

See? It really is easy and I didn't have to look at the book once to tell you anything. I don't know how this would work in Stockinette but I like the garter look. My pink fisherman's hat is the same pattern but I used size US10.5s and it ended up MUCH larger than Grants. And they're both knitted in worsted weight. It's a fun pattern to play with and you're bound to find someone who can wear it. I'm thinking of trying to make one with each "pie section" a different color but when I'm done with this next hat I need to finish up Meg's TSP. So that's what I did today. *grin*

I worked on my son's sweater earlier today and now I started a camo hat for one of the boys...who ever it fits when it's done LOL. I'm going to make a few in different sizes and just hand them out. DH's follow up appointment is a week from Thursday so we have to wait a week. I'll let you know when we do!  

Just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving, moving, moving.

See the progress bars on the right there? I've been working a little on this and a little on that and got to move some of them! Meg's TSP is half done...but now I'm thinking of another item to go with it... So when I get her TSP #1 done there just might be a TSP #2 that shows up, but it might be for a holiday gift and not her birthday. I also worked on the sock of the week...which is turning into sock of the month. I save the socks for knitting when waiting and knitting while being a passenger in a moving vehicle. And today, since it was soooo blissfully cool out I got out the Shoal Water shawl and put on two 4-row repeats. It took me approximately 4 hours too and I'm only about half done with it! How long is it going to take me per row later? It's damn scary.

On the kitty front, my MIL found a cat hospital around here and they seem to think that Alberts leg, if set correctly won't need an operation. But we'll have to take him in every week or two to have the cast checked because they grow so fast and it will have to be changed. If this doesn't work then we'll amputate it, but at least this way we may be able to save his leg and keep our house at the same time. He's a rockin' little cat and either way (3 or 4 legs) he'll continue to be one. So that's the update.

On the DH front: He hasn't called the neurologist yet, that's tomorrow. As soon as we know ANYTHING, I'll make sure I post it.

On the work front: The training session has been moved to NEXT week which totally pisses me off because that just means I won't get a paycheck that much longer. ARGH! And school starts Monday for the kids and Tuesday for me. I'm really looking forward to it too. (I'm sure I will be singing a different toon by Thanksgiving LOL.)

quiz time!

Knit Whimsies had these cute quizes. What are you?


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discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Albert is doing really well so far. He doesn't seem to need the pain meds but I'm giving it to him anyway. He's really starting to move on the three legs while dragging the bandaged one. I am starting to get positive about the fact that if we have to get his leg amputated then he's really going to be ok and functionable. I can not keep this cat down! LOL He's such a lovey butt and I so enjoy him even when he bites my ears or my nose. I hope it won't take us too long to find the fundage for this.

Here's my little Albert. He's as playful as ever and isn't suposed to be climbing up and jumping off of things but I'm having a heck of a time keeping him from doing that.

I just don't know how much more I can handle.

DH's tests went well, the MRI only took 20 minutes when they said it'd take 45. While I was sitting on my arse in the waiting room I got quite a bit done on the TSP for Meg. I still have a long way to go but it is looking really good and I'm amazed at how much I did! Well, we then took my mom grocery shopping and the lady goes to town because we're buying and it's Aldi's so it's cheep (...but it's not free). Well, we can't really afford to buy but I also can't let her starve.

Then my oldest son is having his friend spend the night tomorrow. His friend moved to Chicago area almost two years ago so when they get together it's such a big deal for DS#1. This kid is a nice guy but is rather bold in what he says. He's the youngest of two from a professional couple... can you imagine the difference? We're barely making it, the house is always in a state of mess/clutter/grossness, and he has to deal with three younger kids instead of being the youngest. So our house is never good enough and knowing this we cleaned the basement, and I mean CLEANED! It's finished with a couple of bedrooms, bath, familyroom, laundry... well we get done and come upstairs and are in the kitchen discussing dinner before we hit the upstairs when we hear this thump and a heart wrenching howl from the kitten, that doesn't stop.

We run in there and Alberts backleg is at an unnatural angle and he's trying to attack anything that comes near him until finally he pulls himself under a chair. OMG, I'm freaking, DH is freaking, we're both yelling at the kids to try and find out what happened. DS #2 finally tells us that he threw the cat.... I've seen him do this before and it's not a "throw" like a ball, he just "tossed" the cat down after petting him and getting scratched. So we call a vets thats open 24/7 and they get us in right away. $209 later, after an xray, bottle of pain pills and a bandaged leg, we are sent home to decide what to do. Now mind you this is our August house payment...yes, I know, it's almost September isn't it? And then there's another one due... see what I meant yesterday when I said I'm desperate? Anyway the leg is broken and not only is it broken, the part that broke off is the growth plate.

Option #1: Operation at a cost of $1100 to $1600, involving pinning and such.
Option #2: Amputation at a cost of around $800.
Option #3: Set it and let it grow as much as it will (won't grow much) and Albert will be in pain for the rest of his life.
Option #4: Put him down.

Not what I call a good choice. We won't do #3 for sure, we REALLY don't want #4, so now it's between 1 & 2. I guess we'll have to go apply for a credit card and see how much we can get. If it's enough for the operation we'll do that, if not we'll have to amputate. My DH had a 3 legged cat when we met and she did/was great, you'd almost never know she lost one, so it's not a totally bad thing. But I'd prefer to fix him. Poor kitty, I cried and cried at the vets and it was terrible to hear him while they put the bandage on. Now he's in the half bath with a bed, food, water, and litter box hissing and growling at the bandage. As long as he doesn't chew pieces off he's safe. He's refusing right now to learn how to walk with his leg like that, I hope he learns quickly. Oh my heart is hurting so bad I can barely stand it. I love my Albert so much. What a crappy couple of days. Yesterday in the doc's for the kids, this morning for my DH and tonight for my baby cat. What a deposit I'm making in the Karma bank eh? Well, that's my sad ramble for tonight. Hope you have a good weekend.

A bit of knitting and some good news, kind of....

Ok, took the two younger ones to the doctor's for routine stuff (all's good) and worked on a sock for someone little, not sure, but probably Panda Bear. I also got a couple rows on the TSP done, but that's just a drop in the ocean. The good news, kind of, is that Meijers called and I'm now an employee. So now I get to hang and straighten clothes for diddly shit, which is better than getting jack shit, but I think it's all shit. Though, at the same time, I'm very thankful I have A job now because we're getting calls from the mortgage company. Not a good thing. And discounts for Santa, he'll be really happy about that too. LOL

Tomorrow is Punk's tests so I'm sure while I'm waiting I will make great progress on the TSP because I have 6 weeks to get it done, and only a week until school starts. I NEED to get this done before I'm snowed under by homework. OH! I got my textbooks today and I'm just excited beyond belief for this geology class I've got this semester. I LOVE THE EARTH! So I'm going to try and read up a bit ahead too. Such grand plans and I'm usually all talk. ;-)

ARRR I be a fisherman, woman, person, well, whatever!

Here's my Pink Fuzzy EXTRA long hat and it makes me feel like fisherman. Now I'm going to make a scarf to go with it me mateys. I wonder if I should change my last name to Gordon? My DH was so happy that I was finally making myself something again. I was very shocked when his reply to "I guess this is going to be mine it's so big" was "GOOD!". He said I put all that work into these things and nothing has been for me. Where did he come from and how long can he stay? LOL I like this side of him! Oh, by the way, the yarn is Incredible by Lion Brand. I had to look at the label, it never came back to me. I think I'm going to put a few rows on the TSP for Meg tonight. When I get tired of that I'll take a break by making the scarf from one of the magazines I have laying around. I know! I know! I get to start something new and I get to go looking for it! I'm all giddy and flustered at the thought! KNIT ON!

Just some late night musings.

I was thinking about a knitter's need to start something new. To start something new, even when there are so many things on needles, is thrilling isn't it? It's fresh and new and entertaining. You're fingers aren't used to that yarn, that pattern, and your eyes, the color. Maybe it's a bit like starting a new relationship, though I've not started a new one in 20 years so someone else may be able to say. I've been working on hats lately as you can see below and I'm halfway done with a hot pink hat for myself. It's some Lion Brand yarn I got on markdown, and I can't for the life of me remember the name. How weird. But it's one of their many mohair type yarns, it'll come to me in a bit.

Now tell me, why am I starting a third hat when I have two shawls that I've been working on for a long time and my son's sweater yet to do? I have Meg's TSP gift to finish by the end of September which is priority #1 at this time, but here I am doing a boring garter stitch hat! WTF? Maybe I needed a "new relationship", a quicky, one weekend fling... which happened now three times this weekend. hummm....

I also started another sock with leftovers. Not sure which kid will get them at this time. Socks go with me places, shawls don't. Neither do sweaters. Hats either for that matter. I also need to find a baby item that will go for any baby gender for early December. Maybe a nice tan/taupe colored cardigan in a sweet yarn.

I had an interview at Meijers Sunday and they're doing a background check. I may get a job this week and they pay jack shit but I'm DESPERATE! I also have an interview for Monday at Target if I don't hear from Meijers. Yeah, yeah, Target is WAY cool but I do more shopping at Meijers and I can take care of groceries after my shifts. Besides, I'm not sure Target pays much more than jack shit, maybe jack poop. Either way it still stinks. I also sent in a resume to an environmental group that is looking for field techs to do water/soil samples among other things. If I get a call for an interview I'm going to throw up! Want to talk about a job that has the potential to change my life? I'd continue in college, but the teaching aspect would be dropped and I'd just major in geology. Oh, a job like that would just well, make me giddier (is that even a word) than I normally am.

I expect I will be doing a ton of knitting the next couple of weeks because, 1)I'm nervous as hell about money, 2) I'm doing interviews, 3) my DH is having a slew of tests done because last week he was in the hospital for a night w/ stroke like symptoms and 4) SCHOOL STARTS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!! Well, that about does it for late night babbels. Have a groovey and shagadelic night, I'm going to go snuggle my DH and thank any higher power that's listening that he's still here with me!

Here's Ben's birthday Alien hat modeled by my Miranda (she's got the smallest head in the house). The yarn is Wool Ease from Lion Brand and the Alien pattern is out of Stitch 'n Bitch.  

What's that? 

ALIEN! 

Miranda modeling my nephews birthday gift hat. Made out of Lion Brand Jiffy that I had left over from a scarf. If I have time I am going to make a pair of green mittens with tan trim to go with it. Now I'm working on another hat for my my best friends son. Both parties are on Saturday so wish me luck! LOL I'll post the next hat as soon as I'm finished. 

Close up of squares.

Close up of squares just for you Suz. LOL

The mitered square afgan. At the right you can see where I stopped to take a break from the double crochet edging. Not the most attractive lap blanket, but I'm happy with it anyway. 

Closer up. 

I'm a weird-o and this is sooo acurate.

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Maybe at heart.....

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?
brought to you by Quizilla

But I LOVE color.... so what's up with that? Just because I love licorice, fog, crimson, and I enjoy lots of different music? ROFL WTF? That was fun. (Just for the record, when I did this quiz a few weeks ago I got Fruity sock yarn.... one extreme to the other.)

Here's our E=MC2... or better known as Albert

And here's Albert Einstein, our new kitten. I named him this as a joke and it stuck. So Albert's our newest family member and everyone is thrilled about it but Sticky. Albert stumbled upon Sticky under a chair and I think they both almost had a stroke, then once they recovered it was a big ole hissing fight until I picked up Albert and Sticky went to go sulk under our bed. I really hope that it won't take too long for them to adjust to one another. He's the friendliest cat and so is Sticky, my dream is to have two cats sitting on me, purring happily and keeping me warm this winter. I love furry babies!

What's under here? 

Saturday Insanity!

I'm going to be humming this for a long time damn it. You have to go check this out, it takes time for it to load so be patient, but you HAVE to! And turn your speakers up! Llama llama duck

Thanks to The Yarn Harlot and her Seattle tour for bringing this to my attentions. (evil, evil lol)

Later today I will be bringing home our new kitten, Albert, and posting photos of him of course. Until later....

Actual knitting content w/ a photo!

Knitting! I know it's been a while since I posted an actual knitting photo and I just took the time to upload approximately 50 photos to my Kodak Gallery of our trip and Garretts birthday. During the long, long, wait of the upload I put another inch on the foot of my anklet. I'm getting close to the yellow area and it's a really good thing because I have enough yarn to probably do 3 more rounds. So one anklet is going to have a slightly bigger yellow toe area. I think the remaining yellow will either be anklets for Miranda, a head band for her, or pompoms for the back of these softies. This Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmarino is fabulous and it's too bad that I will never be able to afford to do an actual sweater in her regular Cashmarino (I'm spelling that wrong I think, but it seems my spelling abilities ended back at the 3rd grade level). So that's what I was doing today.

I'm not sure what I want to work on right now. I need to finish my mitered square afgan, the two shawls, Garrett's sweater, Meg's TSP birthday gift, and I'm itching to start something new already. I also just found out that one of the girls I used to babysit for (a long time ago) is pregnant and due in early December, so if I can find out what she's having I can either make her a cardigan/hat for a boy which I already have the yarn for or I'll have to plan something for a girl, which I might have yarn for too. I still have some stash that I'd like to see gone so that when I get a job and take a month or two to get caught up on bills then I will be able to have some serious S.E.X. And boy will that be fun! So much knitting so little time I swear! Christmas may have to be store bought once again, yech!

Oh, speaking of babies, go the right side there and click on "All I Want Is You", Rachael had a baby boy yesterday (great date in my opinion, see previous post LOL) and he's sooooooooo cute. You have to check out those cheekies! Congratulations again mom and family! I'm off to see if I can get anklet #2 done tonight! Night!

Happy Birthday!

Today was my oldests 10th birthday. 1 decade ago I was in a hospital with a baby that took three days to get out of me then took my breath away. He was 16 days late, 8 lbs 12 oz of adorable cuteness that changed my life in more ways than even I can comprehend. He's smart and cute and has a very promising future in front of him. Garrett is just an amazing child and there are times I don't know what I'd do with out him, I love him so much. But then I believe that all my children rock! :-) I am biased, there's no denying it.

Our camping trip.

I'll start this big post off with the one and only sunset we had and it was the first night we were there. Isn't that gorgeous? It's like lava in the clouds. Nice way to start off the trip.

Me, before a shower. Maybe one day I will get a photo up when I'm actually wearing makeup. But when camping? I don't think so.
Update 8/3: Did you happen to notice the shirt? It's from White Lies Designs under miscellaneous. It says Knit On, lol, love it!

A little fuzzy because of the screen but that's Max in one of our chairs. Off in the distance, the building you can see? That's the bathroom with showers. The showers used to be in each bathroom, now they are individualy accessed so that parents can take their kids in or people who need assistance can have an assistant with them. I also suspect that the lines in the womans bathrooms had a bit to do with that also. Now the men have to wait too! ROFL We were campsite #426, I believe that there are approximately 500 campsites. Our trailer was squished up against the firepit because when we got there half of our lot was underwater.

The inside of our very messy trailer. I'm sitting on the other bed as in the previous photo. The "dinning room" slides out also. It can sleep 6 adults or 9 kids. The three boys slept on the bed you can see and Miranda slept between us on the bed I'm sitting on. I'm sure you can figure out that the table makes a bed and so does the couch you can see behind the little tuft of Max's hair on the left bottom corner.

This is Garrett, Grant and Miranda with my father in law in the lake. Not sure where Max was. This is the only photo I got that's fairly true to color for the lake. The darker blue in the back ground is not a shadow from a cloud, it is where the lake drops off. See how far out the two ladies are in the back ground? Or the guy standing by the boat? It's super shallow then it drops off to approx 50-100 feet. It's a seriously big drop off LOL.