Back in The World

My editor gave me a brief pass on being late on deadline, so I decided to give myself a break. I'm about 90% done with my final edit and I figure I need about another 6 hours or so to get it finalized for the FedEx. So, The Husband and I decided to head to Blacksburg for the weekend to see The Daughter.

Nice break-- I knit on the Lizard Ridge shawl for nearly the entire trip down, and made some pretty good progress.
While we were driving I kept seeing things that reminded me of ridges:
Wonderful, of course, as always, to see The Daughter. I won't get an opportunity to see her again for awhile, since I'm away in a couple of weeks, and hopefully she'll be very busy with her pep band duties (wink, wink--don't wanna jinx 'em) during break.



I forgot how much "fun" it is to live in a pseudo-college dorm situation. In our case, our condo is in a primarily student-occupied area. The neighbor kids apparently had quite the good time Saturday night, and we were treated to LOUD yelling, knockin' on their door, and the like. At 3:45 am. My first move this morning was to check the entryway to make sure there were no frozen college students out there. Ah yes, those were the days.....

I stopped by my home away from my home away from home (Mosaic)--My home away from home is, and always will be KnitHappens) and saw Mimi. She and her little cronies at the Blacksburg house of yarn are also working on Lizard Ridge projects-- most lovely. I would have liked to spend more time there, but there was basketball to watch.

OK, Already-- Blogger-- I give up!!!! I was trying to put in a link to a very nice banner I found at hokiesports.com that tells you that Virginia Tech is currently in first place in Men's Basketball in the ACC. This is because a) The Hokies beat Georgia Tech yesterday and b) Duke beat Boston College, bumping them out of first place. A picture tells a thousand (or a hundred or so) words, and it would have been more fun to see than reading this, but there you are.

And then the trip back-- mostly in the dark, so precious little knitting was accomplished.

And now to finish the bleepin' article and make it go away.

I Haven't Died-- Yet

I'm just in final edit hell. I hope to rejoin the human race sometime this weekend.

That is all.

Hap-py New Year!!!

Even though we're already almost 2 weeks into 2007.

It's been a rather wacky couple of weeks while SEEkING SAkNITY...

The Husband picked me up after work (that would be 7:30 p.m.) on Dec 28, and we drove to Blacksburg (yes, it's about 4-1/2 hours). We spent the night at the apartment, then departed the next day for Atlanta for the Chik-Fil-A Bowl.


The whole Atlanta experience was fun. We joined a lot of other Hokies fans at Hard Rock Cafe for some pre-game excitement.

We went to the parade. So many bands. So many cows.


We even found a friend for Maeve's pooch Abbie.


Hokie Bird had a great time:
One of the neatest things to experience was the Hokie Nation following the Marching Virginians to Fan Fest.
Imagine thousands-- really! Thousands-- of football fanatics in maroon and orange joining in the parade. It was awesome!



We ran in to friends from home, drank some beer, and watched some football. Our seats were spectacular, and the first half of the game was great fun to watch.

The final results were not terrific. We rather got our butts handed to us, but overall, the trip was well worth it.

The morning after the game we left for Chicagoland for New Years' Eve. Wonderful timing that we have, we went through Nashville just before the Titans footbal game started. For those who may not know, the stadium is just off the main highway that runs through Nashville. You get my point.

I KNOW how long Illinois is. I've driven it many times. But every time I travel through those hundreds of miles of cornfields, it reminds me that there is room to breathe in our fair nation. (The Husband and I wryly commented a number of times about how many townhouses and strip malls the Washington area developers could cram onto those thousands of acres of God's country.)

Spending time with my family is always important to me. We have a great time together, and it's always difficult for me to leave.

Our journeys totaled 36 hours of driving time during a very busy week. Much of that was in daylight, so I was able to knit. Hurrah!! I finished the casserole mitts. I wasn't as happy with them as I hoped I'd be. They didn't felt as thickly as I'd like. If I make a similar item, I'll probably double the yarn. Mom is going to re-felt them and see if they don't shrink and thicken up a bit more.

I made great progress on starting this:

I'd been intrigued by the lovely Lizard Ridge afghans I've seen, including this one by Katie. (scroll down past the beautiful sweater.)

I've had 10 balls of Noro Kureyon in stash for a very long time, and could never quite figure out what to do with it. I found it rather intimidating on the ball, since the colors are somewhat vibrant, and the irregular thickness of the yarn made it difficult for me to visualize the outcome. Of course, I could have just knit some up to see what happened, but sometimes I just don't feel like venturing out there all by myself.

An afghan requires 20 balls, and while I could have gotten 10 more balls of another colorway and alternated or made strips, I decided to make a shawl. I just love the bumps. The pattern instructions say that the bumps will flatten when blocked-- but hey, I think I'll miss them!!!

We returned home to, of course, work. 5 nights in a row for me.

Got off work Wednesday morning, slept all day, and then hit Late Night. Steph and I were both off night shifts and, I must say, a bit foggy. (If you look closely at my Lizard Ridge above, you may notice that the top row of bumps is not offset from the one below. Needless to say, I paid more attention to talking and listening, and less to what I was doing. Also needless to say, there was subsequent froggage and now I proceed.)

I've REALLY missed my friends at the shop. We had quite a crowd (Sorry about no links-- I'm tired, and I need to wrap this up.)-- Maeve, Holly, Nikki, Niki, Elsbeth, Steph, Carolina, Dani, a new friend, Troy (hey-- she's an EMT-- has a badge and everything!) Aimee, Kelly, Jasmine--- and the beat goes on.

I haven't had time to think too much about the New Year-- intentions, resolutions and the like. The short list is to maintain integrity, serve as a good role model for my children, and try to get a little bit organized (this one is the real challenge).

We'll see how it goes.

Merry Christmas To All

...And to all, a Good Night!

Favorite And Least Favorite...

Christmas movies

(Before I begin, let me give a "shout out" to my buddy Erin, who was woefully neglected in the last post-- my error-- so sorry. Chopped liver, she's not.
Also-- Happy birthday to Aimee, who's just getting better.)


Back to the movies, Let's see--

Favorites....

White Christmas (Bing and Fred)
Holiday Inn (Bing and Fred, again)
It's a Wonderful Life (Jimmy and Donna)
Love, Actually (Hugh, Emma, Colin, Bill, and a boatload of others)
The Christmas Story (Ralphie)
Come to the Stable (Loretta)
Bells of St. Mary's (Bing and Ingrid)
Christmas Vacation (Chevy)
Hardrock and Cocoa and Joe (If you are from Chicago and watched Garfield Goose)
Charlie Brown Christmas

Least favorite..

Hmmmmm..... can't think of any, although there are some cheezy cartoons.

What are yours?

The Hurrieder I Go....

It's been a busy few weeks.

Work presented me with a complicated patient situation that was emotionally and physically draining, but it is completed.

I was able to spend a rare afternoon at The Shop with Holly and Steph to de-stress. I'm not able to do it nearly enough. The "Irregulars" are a group I care about a lot-- and I miss them when I can't hang out with them. (The aforementioned situation kept me at work very late one night and prevented me from attending a gathering that I was really looking forward to-- Why is it that events collide like that?)

I was able to go home to the Midwest for some wonderful time with family, and a very long day of cookie baking.

A bonus was that Dad's birthday was on Friday. It was also the first night of Hannukah.

Although we are not Jewish, we've had latkes on the first night for many, many years. The Daughter asked one year, when she was quite small, if we could celebrate the Feast of Lights, and I thought a modified celebration would be just fine. The Latke connection is through Gramma (Dad's mother), who made the best potato pancakes ever. As years progressed, we were never able to find any that compared, either homemade, purchased, or in a restaurant.

I came to the conclusion that the downfall of the latke was the widespread introduction of the food processor. The potato shreds are shorter and blunter than the hand-shredded ones, so they don't get as crispy around the edges. So I shred them by hand, and although they're not as good as Gramma's, they're not too shabby. And in honor of Dad's favorite dessert, we had strudel from Trader Joe's. Again, nowhere near Gramma's, but a passable (and I must admit, more reliable) alternative.

And so, to the cookies. We do this every year, and come from far and wide to make the cookies that my dear Gramma used to lovingly bake for us. Sister #1 was able to spend time with her to learn the secrets of her success, and as the years have passed, we use technology and make minor adjustments. But the Flaky Cookies, the Bird's nests, the Almond Crescents, the Brownies (these are not your ordinary brownies, believe me!), the cutout butter cookies, the gingerbread cookies-- all from scratch, and all unbelievable. We've added Mexican wedding cakes that Sister #1 perfected, as well as some really fun chocolate and pretzel snacks.
The sisters bake:

the offspring decorate:
(and bake if so inclined-- they're so happy to be together that they spend a lot of the time just hanging out),

the brothers (and Dear Ol' Dad) watch football and old movies and refresh the beverages. And The Parents watch over it all with love and support.

I'm so fortunate to have such a terrific family, and I don't for a moment take it for granted.

Knitting wise-- yes, that's what keeps me sane, right? I've made some progress. I'm working on casserole mitts for sisters, a stocking cap for The Son, socks (always) and have a few other projects in the wings.

Coming Up
I have one day left to get ready for Christmas. Then to work on 21,22 and 23. I'm actually off on Christmas Eve and Christmas, then back to work on 26,27 and 28.

Then off to Blacksburg for the night, and on to Atlanta for The Chik-Fil-A Bowl. (The Siblings have come up with a bunch of other names, since this is a bit different from The Peach Bowl, which is what it used to be. "Boneless Chicken Bowl" "Fried Chunk of Chicken Bowl" -- You get the idea.) From there we go to The Parents for New Years' Eve. And then back again.

I'll have to put together some thoughts on a 2006 retrospective. See you then

Nicely Done, Hokies

A nice win over UVA, and a respectable season. While we lost to Ga Tech and BC, it was pretty good overall. We won't make it to a BCS bowl, but there may be a bit of post-season action.

So what does one do after football season is over? (Yes, I know that there are pro games --- Go Bears---but college ball has a special place in my heart.)

Well, I'll have some weekends free. In my job, we have to work weekends, because people don't get sick on only weekdays. With the football schedule, I've had to work every weekend that wasn't a game. So that means that I may be able to hit The Shop on some Sundays.

I'll also have to spend a big chunk of time doing the final edits on The Article-- yes, the one that I submitted last March-- solicited by the journal, and then escaping into a black hole somewhere. The peer reviews are done, and I've got fixes to make-- all due by Jan 20. If all goes well, it will be published in June. This writing stuff is not for the weak of heart. Hats off to you, Erin!!

I'm spending an extra day in Blacksburg, relaxing a bit before heading back to crazy-land. It's been a busy couple of weeks. I worked a bunch of nights going into Thanksgiving week. And then, since I was also working Wednesday, Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday, I recovered a bit on Monday, and then we had our Thanksgiving on Tuesday.

This is the way it works in our family. Since I have to work holidays as well as weekends, we "declare" our holidays for whenever we can do them-- hence, Thanksgiving on Tuesday. It worked out well for The Offspring as well, since they were both able to work on Thanksgiving. (Both have been promoted to "Blue Shirts" at the theater where they work-- I'm such a proud Mama!!!)

Thanksgiving dinner was great-- all the usual foods, including pumpkin pie and lo-carb pumpkin cheesecake made from pumpkin that The Daughter prepared, froze and brought home. They were great. (10 pm phone call the week before: "Mom-- I have this pumpkin. How do I fix it?" She made a pie that we sampled before the Kent State game-- really good.)

The real bonus was that I finally got the dining room cleared out. We actually ate at the dining room table. What a concept. After Christmas, it'll most likely become my home until The Article edits are submitted.

I'm setting up my Blacksburg room as a study for The Daughter, since we won't be here as much for the rest of the school year. The bed will be more like a couch, and I got a table that will be perfect for spreading out books and papers. We put up a small Christmas tree in the living room here-- artificial, which goes against my nature, but a lot more practical since the apartment's small, and the girls won't have to worry about taking it down to avoid needles everywhere (never mention the fire hazard) when they leave for Christmas break.

Well, I've got a boatload of stuff to do before I head back north. No knitting, since I'll be driving, but I'll listen to an audiobook-- such fun.

Catch you later.

Quick Note

Busy, busy time. More to come soon. I've been reading your blogs, but for those of you on typepad, it hasn't been posting comments properly.

Nashville-- Here I Am!

Due to a burp in the registration system for the conference I'm attending, I have the morning free-- so a bit of a blog, and then to the Country Music Hall of Fame that is across the street from my hotel and the Conference Center.

I'm looking at the Ryman Auditorium right now-- original home of the Grand Ol' Opry. I was thinking of trying to get tickets to the Opry last night. Carrie Underwood was playing-- but I opted for barbecue take-out and early bed in the hotel.

So I'm looking forward to several days of interesting sessions-- I'm DEFINITELY in the session I wanted this afternoon.

No pictures right now-- there are computers set up for us to use at the conference, but I do believe they'd frown on my breaking in to access the cpu and load up photos-- so next week I'll catch you up on any interesting things I might see.

Whoa-- Brain Burp!

I'll be in Nashville next week-- not Atlanta. Wrong City, wrong state...

Guess it comes with getting older...

Yes, Yes, Yes... I'm still here

... But with working, and sleeping, and commuting to Blacksburg for football games, I'm lucky if I even read my emails, never mind blog.

I've had some progress on the knitting front, albeit with little projects. Commuting to Tech has its advantages.

I'm nearly finished with the second Chuppah Square. (It's coming, Cindy-- really it is!!!) These puppies aren't blocked yet, but soon....

I'm halfway through the first of a pair of Hokie-themed felted clogs. (I can't find the rest of the yarn!!!!! Quel disaster!!! It's around here someplace!)(Sorry- no picture of this one. More later.)

I'm working on a Cherry Tree Hill sock-- on 0's if you can believe me, and using Wendy's generic toe-up pattern. I may do something interesting on the cuff when I get there. I'm thinking about it.

Football

There's nothing like it at Virginia Tech. We had a couple of disappointments, but it looks as if we may be back on track.

This is what "Orange Effect" looks like in Lane Stadium. Phyl would have been in heaven. (The game was against Georgia Tech. We won't speak of this further.) The Daughter is in the band-- The Marching Virginians. They have a great time, before and during the game. As they're approaching the stadium, the ever-amusing Tubas always have fun. Yes, that's a porta-potty. And yes-- there was someone in there. Can't beat college kids for having a good time.

And this is "Maroon Effect." It was against Clemson who did orange that night.This is their Tiger being very worried, because things weren't going their way.

The game against Clemson on Thursday night was just amazing. Both teams played well. Both teams treated each other with respect-helping each other up after plays, obligitory pats on the butt... Almost no fouls!!! Although I know that Clemson fans were disappointed, everyone seemed to have a really good time. When the students "stormed the field" at the end of the game, it was out of sheer joy.



They behaved themselves and it was great.

There were a couple of downers, though.

This was my view of the first half of the game. The idiots a couple of rows ahead of us (who must have gotten the tickets somehow from the nice people who usually sit there) decided they needed to stand, although there was NO ONE in front of them. Granted, in the student sections, people stand throughout the game, and that's fine-- but we're in the first row of the more (ahem) shall I say, mature area. We stand when there's a reason to, but mostly we just want to watch the game.

We really wanted season tickets this year. The only way we could get them was to give a rather sizeable donation to the athletic department for special seats. I say this not to be snobby. We would have been happy to get tickets sitting with God, where we spent much of last year, but they just weren't available. So we figured that since we bought tickets on e-Bay last year, and paid a boatload for them, we'd rather give the extra $$ to the school and the athletic fund. In exchange, we have real seats with real backs (and cupholders--can you believe it?) that we like to sit in during the game.

They decided to put on a show, too. (We were hoping not to be present at the conception of their first child.)But at least they were sitting down at this point, and we could see the game.

Virginia Tech has a program called "Hokies Respect." Those who "act out" are theoretically singled out by "Jerk Alert." (hey- it works!) I did not take a picture of the female half of this couple making obscene gestures to the other team's fans. There was really no excuse for that behavior. "Jerk Alert" really fit the bill.


Aside from that irritation, it was an amazing evening. The bottom line was that the overwhelming majority of fans on both sides, and the players on both sides had a great time-- with great respect and good spirit. It was a wonderful atmosphere.

I've missed my friends from The Shop. Hopefully I'll be able to go on Wednesday night for awhile, and maybe on Friday.

Coming up:

A special day for me on Friday.

I'm off to Atlanta for a conference next week, then flying back to Roanoke for Band Parents' day at the Hokies game against Kent State. (Kent State? Should be interesting. They're scheduled against Florida State this year, too.)(Kent State?)

Hmmm-- conference, airplane, KNITTING TIME!!!!

Drive-By Entry

All's well-- just another crazy couple of weeks.

The VT vs GT game was a good one-- but we lost. Frank Beamer put it best-- "We helped them out a lot, and they didn't need our help." It was "Orange Effect" at Lane stadium, and as soon as I get my act together, I'll post some pictures. I also visited with Mimi at Mosaic in Blacksburg. She works with Gina there. I was SO happy to find another ball of the pink stuff so I could finish the baby kimono.

I worked through the week and weekend, doing an overtime shift each week (cha-ching!) Yesterday a group of us went to Stephanie's hospital to do a presentation.

We're having a "Great American Bakesale" tomorrow at work, so today has seen me as a baking fool. I've done 4 batches of brownies and a couple dozen muffins so far, and now that I'm out of eggs, I need to go get some more.

Hopefully, I'll hit KH tonight.

Finally--Pictures!!!

And finally-- evidence of knitting progress!!!We have finished wee sockies.
We have completed Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono. (It's been blocked since the picture).

We have completed Chuppah square, and in-progress Heartbreakingly cute that will have pictures soon. (Don't want to get all carried away, now)

This weekend was another great one. It drizzled on Friday, and a bit as well on Saturday, but it didn’t bother the VT football team. It was a really terrific VT Hokies football game on Saturday (a well-fought game against worthy opponents Cincinnatti).

I visited my Blacksburg LYS-away-from-My Real Home LYS,. It's Mosaics, run by Gina. If you happen to be in Blacksburg, it's behind 5 Guys across from University Mall. I picked up some Debbie Bliss denim and cotton cashmere for – what else—Heartbreakingly Cute Kimonos, as well as some Online on-sale ribbonyarn with little fuzzy things that I’m knitting into –guess what--? Heartbreakingly Cute Kimonos. (Well heck—my coworkers are popping them out like crazy!)

They have some pretty cool bags—see?

In other knitting progress-or lack thereof- I spent quite awhile working on Fibonacci- and I think I'm going to frog it and start over on larger needles. I started knitting way too tightly, and although I got the recommended gauge, it's just basically a stockinette t-shirt. When I picked it up again, I knit for rows and rows, and the progress on the tiny needles is laughable. The fabric is very dense, and I think it'll be too warm-- if it ever gets finished at this rate. So, I think we're gonna start over on this one. Sigh.

New, Random Topic:
Here's something The Daughter pointed out the Kroger.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it seem strange to name dog food "Old Yeller?"

As I recall, it didn't end well.







Travelling I-81 is always an event.

If I'm "Passenger-ing" as I always do when The Husband accompanies me, there's time for knitting, napping, reading or just watching the beautiful mountains and trying to avoid experiencing the traffic.

We've come upon accidents several times, but Sunday took the cake. A van in front of us was pushed off the left side of the road by a semi. By the grace of God, they didn't roll over.

We were trying to slow down, pull over and help, when we noticed that the semi had no such plans. The dude just kept on truckin'!!! We were aghast. That's just WRONG.

So-- as I called in the accident to the State Police, my husband pulled in behind the truck, which by now had gone into the right lane. (We saw that others were stopping to help, and we figured they needed to get this guy.)

The trucker at this point was being the perfect little citizen-- observing the speed limit and behaving himself. We relayed the license info to the dispatcher who plugged us in to the local coordinator. They took the info and our phone number and that was that. Or so we thought.

We were a bit annoyed that there didn't seem to be much action from the troopers. We gave them good info, after all. We did a little bit of passing, so I could get more info from the side of the cab, just in case. And I took pictures. This is one in my rear-view mirror.

At one point we stayed behind a camping trailer for about 10 miles going 50 in a 65 zone, and Mr. Trucker Sir was behind us that entire time, until he finally pulled around us. I got pictures of the side of the cab, which I will not share, as I value my life.

As we were driving, we were just amazed at what a fine citizen he continued to be-- and we were a bit concerned as well. (Didn't want his little trucker buddies deciding that we needed a visit to the median strip.)

We stayed several cars behind the truck, not because we particularly wanted to, but because we happened to be travelling in the same direction, and if the troopers were gonna get him, we wanted to watch.

Nothing.

Well, about 70 miles up the road (and bear in mind, we're approaching West Virginia by this time) I got a call from the State Police dispatcher, asking if she can pass my phone number on to yet another center. Heck yes!!!

Deputy Dawgs in Hot Pursuit

The latest dispatcher asked if we still had the truck in sight, and told me that a trooper would be coming up behind us. She got a description of our car, our location and speed, and further details we'd gleaned. I was giving her the play-by-play, just like on Cops. All of a sudden, Mr. Trucker Sir signalled and pulled off at an exit. I asked the dispatcher what we should do, and we were told to follow him.

You want us to what??? We were now right behind him.

Can you spell adrenaline?

He went into a truck stop. We were told to keep following him and keep an eye on the truck. Holy cow!!! There were a lot of trucks, and he drove behind them. The Husband kept an eye on the other side of the truckstop so he could see if the guy left.

The trooper finally arrived. The truck had tucked himself in amongst all the rest of the trucks, and it took us awhile to help the trooper find it.

Long story short (too late, I know)and skipping a lot of detail, we identified the truck, the trooper got the guy, we made a statement, and headed home. The people he hit were physically ok, although very shaken up. The trucker said he didn't know he hit them. (!) Right.

Just a thought: We travel I-81 a lot. So do The Offspring. I've always known it's dangerous, but I have a new perspective on The Knights of the Road. Some are wonderful and courteous. But the bottom line is that they all have to get their stuff to where they're going, they're bigger than you, and you just plain have to pray hard and hope to stay out of their way.


On the last leg of the way home, we saw this.

Be careful out there.

Groan--With a Capital G

I have a very nice posting prepared.

It even has pictures.

Lots of pictures.

I can't get The Blogger to let me download the pictures to the blog.

Not even one.

Since the initial theme of the posting is that I finally have pictures, I can't really post it without the pictures.

I will try again tonight. This has taken entirely too much of my time already today.

That is all.

I''ve Been Waiting..

To post until I had some pictures worth sharing. But I figured I'd better get some words on the screen, or it might be more weeks before I post. Bad form.

First, go visit
Erin and wish her some sunshine and cheer. I'm apparently not the only one who has been in the dumps by our dreary weather. I actually started getting up early enough to sit in front of the "anti-SADD" lamp for a couple of hours. Does it work? Don't know yet-- I'll let you know after I've done it for a couple of weeks.

No such problems today, though.

It's sunny and beautiful out, here in Blacksburg. And what a nice time we had with our time in the sun. See? 36-0. It's a good thing (at least if you're a Hokie). The ride down yesterday was pretty gloomy, and punctuated with at least one Virginia State Police car about every 3 miles or so. It was quite amazing. I've never seen so many.

Knitting-wise, I've unearthed Fibonacci. I started the critter about a year and a half ago, and put it aside for a couple of reasons. The first was that the entire thing is stockinette stitch, and I was going nuts. The second was that it is knit sideways from the sleeve, and when I joined the neckhole, I discovered that it was several inches short of where it needed to be, and I got ticked off. The third was that I decided to "throw" rather than using the continental knitting technique that is more comfortable for me. I ended up knitting it quite tightly, and my hands were getting rather crampy.

So, when I re-started, I decided to do the rest of it continental, and hope that it'll all come out even in the blocking. I also went down from 6's to 3's, and the stitches look pretty much the same. Interesting, huh?

I finished the Wee Sockies and the Baby Kimono. The Kimono is done and blocked, and needs about 10 total inches of sewing up for finishing. So when do you think THAT'LL happen?

Now if I can just remember to get some batteries for my camera....

Wow

Tuesday: The Daughter calls in the morning to tell me that the SWAT team has evacuated all the students from Squires at Virginia Tech, classes were cancelled, and VT was on lock-down. And that she was fine. The guy who shot and killed two people was captured on VT grounds later that afternoon.

Wednesday: Late Night. Good company, good conversation, good times. Much needed, much refreshed. I was really glad I could be there, since I have to work on Thursday and Friday, and will miss the AWESOME sale.

Thursday: Found out that Sister#2's beautiful home in Chicagoland was hit by lightening this morning at 6 am. School has started there, so all were awake. She got the kids and dogs out safely. One of the dogs was very frightened and hiding, but they were able to find her at the last minute. All are well. The fire was very extensive, wiping out a large portion of the house as well as the garage and several cars -- lots of fire, smoke and water damage. The house is uninhabitable and will require a massive amount of work.

She has been so generous to all of us in her home. In addition to my parents' home, it is where we gather to spend time together, mark joyous occasions, bake cookies, celebrate holidays, including the incomperable New Year's bash-- it is our gathering place.

I just don't know what to think. There's nothing I can do to help, except send prayers.

Croppin', Croppin', Croppin'

I do other things besides knit. For example, I'm a nurse. And as a nurse, we are expected to do other things besides taking care of patients. So I teach, and I write articles, and I work on committees, and I do projects. One of the projects I'm up to my neck in is the annual calendar. It's lots of fun, but holy cow-- it's a lot of cropping.

If you've done much in the way of scrapbooking, you know that it's a wonderful creative outlet. But with all the bells and whistles, journalling, embellishing, color coordinating and the like, it can take a couple of hours to produce one lovely page.

Well, the calendar has a cover, 12 lovely pages for the months, and a back page. Or two.

Scrappers do "crop-til-you-drop" parties-- lots of fun, get together, and maybe get a page or two done. So why not just do one of those? Because it needs to be tied together. The powers-that-be would be most unhappy if it didn't look like a unified project. So we ARE going to do a paste-up party, but everything needs to be ready first.

So I'm croppin'-- and pretty soon I may be droppin'.

You may not hear from me for awhile.

…It’s All Part of Growing Up

Letting go, that is.

The Daughter just left for school. Packed up the car, and drove off. It’s her 3rd year at Virginia Tech, and you’d think that by now I’d be used to it. And maybe I am, a bit. No tears this time from me, although they're probably right under the surface. It was wonderful to have her home, but we had so little time together this summer.

My work was brutal there for awhile, and she was in summer school and working. She was only able to spend the first weekend of our family reunion vacation at Lake of the Ozarks. Our time together is so precious—and I was really grateful that she agreed to leave today so that we could spend yesterday together.

We had fun!

We hit the beauty shop for cuts, color and hightlights. Unfortunately, I have only “before” and “during” pictures, and she would be a very unhappy daughter if I posted those. Had I taken “after” pictures, you would be quite impressed because we are quite lovely.

Fortunately, I had a rare couple of hours to knit, and I made great progress on a Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting. (Maeve the Marvelous inspired me, as she’s been whipping out these things like crazy. Go to the second posting down, and you'll see a lovely green one that she did.) I started it at Late Night on Wednesday, and am more than halfway done. It’s truly a great and easy-to-knit baby project. On another note, the wee sockies are finished, and I’m planning a hat or something to go along with them. (Or maybe one of them there kimonos?)

After 4 hours of this hair business, we headed off to King Street Blues for some wings and Diet Coke, and then some back-to-school shopping.

When she was little, that meant paper, pencils, crayons and new shoes. Now it means paper towels, Ziplok bags, Hamburger Helper, cold medications, freshly ground coffee and cases of soda, as well as any gadgets for the apartment that we could purchase now so that "Me-The-Mom" pays.

I’m not falling-apart distressed, since we have VT football season tickets, (YAY! In the Club section!!!!) and I’ll see her in a couple of weeks. It’s just that every year they get a little older, and I have to let go a little more. I hope I’ve done a good enough job…

Vacation was fun

It is always wonderful to be with my sibs and their spouses and kids. I spent a bit more time in the pool this year, frequently with beer bottle in hand.

It was hotter’n blazes, and the pool warmed up to nearly bathtub temp by mid-afternoon. One of the kids threw some ice cubes in at one point. Mom is amazing. She finished the last chemo just before our week, and was moving a bit slowly, but hit the pool every afternoon. We made shade for her by putting a couple of deck chairs on their sides and draping towels.
The Lake of the Ozarks is a lovely place—butterflies and hummingbirds all over the place. There was a deck outside our room where we had coffee every morning, and read books when it wasn’t too hot.

The morning we left, we got this picture of 2 of my sisters, my Mom and me. Except for missing my other 2 sisters, I think it’s one of my favorites.

No Pictures Today

But plenty were taken by others at Late Night. And what a crowd we had to celebrate Holly's birthday at The Shop. Of course, I hadn't hit Late Night for probably a month or so-- so it was great to see everyone and catch up. And holy cow-- talk about good! Incredible cakes from Ann,Erika (who left with Bennett before I got there, darn it!,)Rosanna and Stephanie (hey-- keep a good thought for her-- it's a big day today).

I worked on the second wee sockie, and picked up some Mission Falls to make some nice washable baby sweaters. They're poppin' out all over the place, and I'm barely keeping up!

The Husband and The Son came to pick me up, since we've had another of our musical car scenarios going on. We went to Las Tapas for dinner-- lovely sangria, great food, flamenco and a guitar player who was quite good.

Today's schedule:
1.Gather stuff for vacation to Lake of the Ozarks (Whoopee!! Family Vacation with The Parents, The Sibs and The Offspring). Most needed.
2. Take MY car in for an estimate and leave it to get fixed. The Son got rear-ended by a person who has turned out to be, shall we say, less than cooperative with our insurance company. He wanted to skip insurance and pay for it himself. That would be fine, if he were honoring the estimate. (Hey, Mister... when you hit the back of somebody's car while you're playing with your dog-- or whatever it was that you were playing with, you have to replace the bumper and fix the car so that the trunk will close. And guess what? I'm not going to have Joe Schmoe fixin' the not-yet-completely-paid-for Volvo with parts from the junkyard!!!)
3. Do laundry.
4. (only if the spirit moves me) finish a teaching unit for work.

And tomorrow-- leavin' on a jet plane.
Catch you next week.

What a Difference a Day Makes

A day away, that is. (or actually, a day and a half-- 36 little hours...)

All work and no play makes NurseLaura a very grouchy lady.

So, our Day Away was to Cleveland.
The Son and his Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia(national men's music fraternity) buddies sang The National Anthem at the Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins game.
And here I am, with Baseball Knitting, working on the wee sockie.








Bratwurst, beer, a taste treat known as "Johnny Applestix" (omigod-fried apple slices rolled in cinnamon that you dip in caramel sauce... un-be-bleepin'-lievable!!!)

We attended the game with DW of Brother #3 and their daughters, as well as 2 of Sister#2's offspring who flew in from Chicagoland. Brother#3 (who runs the place) let us walk around the field after the game, sit in the dugout, play in the bullpen, and even touch the grass. It's nice to "know people."

And despite a rather crushing loss (I blanked the final score out of my mind) FIREWORKS!! Lots of them-- and dare I say, even better than the 4th of July on the National Mall. And the music was better. (I love Stevie Wonder, but choreographing the National Independence Day fireworks to his tunes? It was a bit weird.)



And we returned to this:
It doesn't get any better. (Except maybe when we win.)