What's New......... - originally posted 11/10/10 - last post on old blog

Well, since I last posted I have completed my last days at my former job. The last day was kind of hard. The office manager had gone to visit her oldest daughter & granddaughter in SC and so I spent my last 4 days there in the main office by myself. The last day, every time I did something, it would cross my mind that this was the last time I would do this task. But I made it through and have been unemployed since leaving work at 5 pm on October 29th.

I have applied for unemployment and if I am doing it right, I expect to see something next week. Through this week it is saying that nothing has been processed, but I think that is because there is a 1 week waiting period & last week, which I applied for on Sunday of this week, was my 1st week of being unemployed. I don't know for sure, it's extremely hard to get through by phone and I have never applied for unemployment before!

I have also emailed my resume & letter of recommendation to several companies for consideration. I told the temp agency that they could submit my resume for 2-3 companies in addition to the ones that they submitted it to prior to my last day at my previous job.

I have been doing more cooking than I had been prior, mostly because now I am at home during the day, so even when D works evenings, I can cook before he heads to work. This is something I haven't done a lot in the last 5 years - mostly because I hate to cook for 1 or 2, but I am not miding having left-overs right now. D also has been kind of picky about what he would or wouldn't eat for a while, checking everything to make sure it didn't have hydrogenated stuff in it & so on. But he seems to right now at least, not be being so picky about things.

I also have done some more knitting, crocheting & just plain resting up a bit. I have even turned off the alarm. Am still waking up about 7-8 am, was 5-6 before, so not sleeping in too badly. I have had to fight with myself some to keep from staying up quite so late at night. My more natural inclination is to stay up until about 4-5 am, then sleep in until at least about 10 am.

I took my sister out for her 47th birthday on November 4, made her a cake (wanted to make it look like siamese cat, but after giving it to her & the looking at the pictures I took I realized that I forgot to trim the bottom of 1 ear with black icing) & gave her a crocheted scarf as a gift. I am going to be going out to brunch this coming Saturday with 2, maybe 3 women I went to school with from grade school. We have all reconnected on Facebook (at least 3 of us have, the other is not on FB, but I keep running into her around town, so trying to get her to join us, but she doesn't have a phone) and have decided to get together. It's been 33+ years since we all graduated high school. I remember the one being in class with me in 10th grade, but she left to have a baby. The other I don't remember seeing her at all in high school and she says she doesn't remember either me or J from high school. That is kind of what happens when you combine about 8 grade schools into 3 junior highs, then all into 1 high school of about 1500 people total for 3 grades.

I have had 2 of the granddaughters for their visits with me. The oldest wanted to go to Wichita to the Museum of World Treasures and wanted to invite my youngest to go with us there. We ended up getting in on an "opening" of a redone exhibit. The youngest decided she wanted to go to the movies to see MegaMind and to the Kansas Cosmosphere to go through the museum. I ended up losing a knitting needle somewhere between an Apollo 13 exhibit & going through Wal-mart, so guess it was a good thing I had also tucked in some more yarn & needles just in case. I was able to start a scarf for the youngest during the movie. I got home and was able to transfer the 1st scarf to another set of needles, so have finished it now, except for double checking sizing as soon as I see the kids again. I have decided that at the moment, at least until unemployment kicks in, my time is more plentiful than money, so I will try to use stash yarn & make things for the kids for Christmas this year. Maybe will make a meal or 2 for our adult kids as our gift to them.

I saw a picture of a scarf online that the designer was selling the pattern. But I could tell by looking at the scarf pretty much how she had done it. So I decided to try casting on & duplicating it for the most part. I added 1 more hole to the design on each side, then I decided to try adding a hood to it. The orange one is the 1st set that I have finished. The multi is made from yarn I had left from a project for the same granddaughter from about 5 years ago. She still likes the yarn. I decided to make hers a bit different since I now had a real feel for the design, so I turned every other one upside down & did it in reverse. I think she will like it! I have thought on & off for years about trying to add a hood to scarves so that they are all in one.

I also finished weaving in the ends on a baby blanket that I had done a few years ago. It is now being used by the latest new family member - my sister's newest grandson that was born October 18th.

Yesterday I started rearranging our bedroom. I need to move a few more things & then I think I may take the recliner in there as well as a corner desk. Set the desk up so that D can have his typewriter set up all the time (he refuses to learn to use a computer, but is always wanting to make copies of things to keep - just cannot convince him that things would be so much better if he had it on the computer) and the recliner will allow me to have a place to sit & crochet or read in the bedroom, if I want. Because of D's back, he prefers to lay down on the bed than to sit in the living room in the evenings anyway, so I could sit with him.

I have also done some knitting on another shawl for my mil, but I find it hard to work on in the evenings when the light is lower. So it isn't getting as much progress as the scarves are right now. I have 5 grandkids to get something done for, so that will take a bit of time.

I am also trying to figure out exactly how to add Ravelry Progress Bars to my blog of the projects that I have up on Ravelry. I seem to be missing something because I copy the api info & put it into the bigger box for the widget, but the only thing that shows up in my title for that section. Guess I am going to have to do more digging to get that set up.

Well, probably should get around & get something done for today! Hope you all are having a good week!

Tuck Away Tote finished, Another new project added

I finished the Tuck Away Tote yesterday!  Not only do I think that my plan to make the 2 pocket/bottom pieces first next time & attach them to each other while I start the sides, but I also think when I do, that I will make sure the extra piece will be in the inside then the bag is in use.  I turned mine inside out today & I think I like that better.  I showed it to my oldest daughter D. and she said except for the fact that the grandkids undies would show through, it would make a great bag for them to use on weekend visits without taking up a lot of space otherwise as well, so maybe we have an idea for another gift.

I had to drop by my son's last night to pick up the registrations & insurance cards to be able to go to the courthouse today & get my dh's name taken off our son's 2 vehicles.  While I did, since I had just found a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby on 1 item, I went ahead and picked up a jumbo ball of Aunt Lydia's Classic 10 crochet thread.  My niece J., had mentioned last year that she wanted something lacy.  I misunderstood her comment & thought she was talking about the shawls that I have been making, so I decided to make the next one for her.  But what she really wanted was a crocheted tablecloth to use for when the family isn't eating at the table.  So I had started looking for patterns for a rectangle tablecloth.  I found one that I loved, but it calls for 68 balls of #30 crochet cotton and at $2.89 a ball, that would be almost $200 just for the materials.  Since it is also able to be used as a bedspread, that might be part of it, but it does give 2 different totals for thread depending on the brand you buy, so even if I bought the 56 balls for the 2nd brand, that is still $162.  I didn't want to chance it & I certainly can't afford to spend that much myself right now with no job.  So I kept looking.  I found one that I think she will like that says it needs 1,750 yards of #10 crochet cotton.  The jumbo ball has over 2,700 yards, so I should be good.  Even if I decide to add a bit to the edging.  And the 40% off coupon brought it down to just $11.01 with tax.  A much better figure for my budget.  And even though I told J. that I needed to get my Christmas knitting done before I could start, yesterday was her birthday, so I pulled out my hook & at least started on the tablecloth.  But now, back to the Christmas knitting!

This weekend I will have my oldest granddaughter A. for the weekend.  She is the one who knits with me.  The last time she was here, she took her knitting home with her because I had mentioned that she needed more practice to really get better.  I hear she made a mistake & we haven't gotten around to getting that corrected.  At least she knows that she made a mistake!  We had also talked about going to Yarn, our LYS (local yarn store).  I thought they had told me that they held an open knitting on Saturdays now.  So I called the other day & found out that either it has changed or I misunderstood.  They do hold a spinning group on Saturdays, but open knit is Tuesday mornings, Tuesday evenings & Wednesday afternoons.  But when I said why I was asking, I was told to bring our knitting on down, that they have people drop by to craft all the time & the coffee is always on.  So will need to see what A. wants to do.  We are definitely trying to keep things to free activities.  Friday Grandpa is supposed to be working about 15 hours, so not supposed to be home until after midnight, which gives us the evening for just us girls!

We had a thunderstorm the night before last come through our area.  I have known that my male Pom has always been afraid of loud noises -fireworks, thunder, etc.  I was really taken by surprise though to hear a noise & looked over and he was trying to drag himself across the floor by his elbows.  He was so scared this time that he started having a seizure!  So I got him, petted him, reassuring him, etc.until he started coming out of it pretty good.  After a bit, he turned his head to look at me & I could tell he was starting to relax.  The female Pom had joined us.  She knew something was wrong and so was trying to comfort him as well.  When he finally wanted free, he was still stumbling a bit, but he has been fine ever since.  This is the 1st time that he has ever had this kind of an issue with his fear!  We used to have a chihuahua that would have seizures and we used to do the same thing for her - just comfort her until it was over.

Went to the courthouse this morning and it only took me about 45 minutes total today - I was the 3rd in line when I got there, which was a good way to start!  It didn't take very long to get to a clerk and $41 later the 2 vehicles are only in my son's name!  I hope that means it's at least 10 months before I have to go down there again!  Maybe by then they will have the issues fixed finally with their system.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Catching Up

It's been a couple weeks since I have posted.  In that time, I finished a couple of projects, made a couple of cakes, had my dh leave for a week, etc.  Now to try to catch up!

I believe I had already technically finished Mom's orange socks, but had not gotten the puff paints to put something on the soles to try to help her not fall & break a hip in them.  I really had hopped to find something that would blend in with the color, but wasn't able to, so just went with white & drew the outline of hearts on the soles of the socks before sending them off to her.

August 1st our oldest daughter, D. finished her last class for her accounting degree!  She first started in college in the fall of 1996, but through life's many twists & turns, it has taken her a while to get to this point.  I believe over the course of it all, she acquired an Associate's degree from 1 college & in total attending about 4 different colleges.  She went from originally intending to get a dual degree is Mathematics Education & Music Education to Accounting.  But in the process there were 5 kids & 2 husbands involved as well!  I know she is finally glad to be at this point!  And this means that all 3 of our children have finally gotten their 4 year degrees!

I finished that up about the 5th or 6th of August, then on August 8th I mailed them after my dh left for his niece E.'s wedding in the Seattle, WA area.  I was also sending the wedding afghan that I had crocheted for their wedding gift to them.  He had a good visit, I believe, with his parents, siblings & their families.  Unfortunately, for the 1st time in 35 years, I had to chose to not go due to being required to report exactly who I was applying to each day for jobs with my unemployment.  Our town just isn't big enough to be sure I would be able to find enough jobs to apply to online or through email to allow me to go & then not being sure how the internet would work (have been in places that was supposed to have free internet, but was never able to connect), so didn't want to take a chance!


On August 17th I finished my Ruby Sangria shawl from the Bat Cat Designs KAL that I had been working on.  I have another on the needles as well though since I realized shortly after starting that the person I had intended to give Ruby to had already been given a shawl in almost the exact same color.  Oops!  So am now working on an Ancient Ruins color.

I had been working on another of Bad Cat Designs KAL's when I had issues develop last year with my right hand.  I have now tinked back to correct a dropped stitch that I had evidently marked when I was last knitting on my Back to the Garden shawl, figured out where I was and am trying to make sure I do a couple rows per day so that I can get it finished in time for Christmas.  I had intended to give it to my oldest daughter last year for Christmas, but then couldn't when I had issues being able to work on it.

There have also been several twists & turns in getting a great-niece's 15th birthday party done.  Originally her parents had intended to give her a Quince bash like they did for her sister last year, but it seems she had some trouble making up her mind about what she wanted exactly.  In the end, we had cake & ice cream yesterday for her 15th birthday, but she doesn't actually turn 15 for another week or so.  The original party date had been 9/1, then it was changed to 8/11, finally to 8/18.
 

 The weather has gotten cooler over the last couple of weeks.  We have still had some 90+ degree days, but as I am writing this, it is only 67 degrees.  I looked over at my female dog & realized that she looked like she was trying to find some way to get warm.  So I got out her sweater & now she is cuddled up in her bed going to sleep!  Usually I only have their fur cut twice over the summer & the 2nd time I don't have it cut as short as the 1st time, but this summer with trying to not use the AC, I actually bought a set of clippers & cut them about every week to get them through the hottest parts of the summer.  And the female has actually lost some weight over the summer because she didn't feel as much like eating.

I'm going to get a break for a little bit on a 2 disk rental that my dh got.  It's corny, not my taste in a movie, which he is watching in the living room because the TV that he had in the bedroom went out and with his hearing loss, I have trouble thinking straight with it on.  He is planning to go visit with out grandson for a bit, so guess I will deal with it again this evening.  Maybe after a nap I will feel up to it more myself.  It was so bad that I couldn't even lose myself in my knitting since I couldn't concentrate.

My son E. has started taking flying lessons recently.  He is all excited, especially since he works in the airplane industry now that he has graduated with his Mechanical engineering degree.  So he calls me & tells me about his progress after each new event.  He would love it if I could bring myself to fly with him at some point in the future, but I really don't think that will happen.  I am terrified of heights, but I do manage at times to go on commercial airlines.  I just can't even consider the idea of going in a small plane!  When I am on a commercial airline I sit in the aisle seat, avert my eyes from the window, try to distract myself with reading, knitting or crocheting - except for take off & landing usually.  Those times are usually done with my eyes squeezed shut as tight as I can, holding my breath & clutching the seat in front of me so tightly that I am sure the person sitting in it thinks I am trying to snatch it out from under them!

I have to say, I do a little better than I did on my 1st flight when my maternal grandmother had made sure to tell me about, if I never see you again......  I had a 3 month old baby & it was my 1st time flying!  We had gotten a special on our tickets that if we drove to Kansas City & flew United, then we could get our tickets for 1/2 price.  The seats that were available were 1st class going & coach on the return trip.  So we had the best leg room going - 1st row, right side of the plane and when the baby started crying, the flight attendant offered to take her with her while she offered drinks!  Gave me a chance to get myself together & I think helped calm D. down since she had to be picking up on my nerves.

Well, I think I will see about getting a bit of knitting done on the 2 shawls I am working on at the moment.  I did get several rounds done of the legs of a pair of socks yesterday during the party, so I am doing good on those.


Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

It's still a heat wave.....

Although the thermometer was a little lower yesterday I think!  There was rain all around Kansas the night before last, but I think we only got 0.007" of it.  Not enough to really count in my opinion.  But as I keep telling myself & the dogs - it won't be long!  It will cool off a bit & maybe even rain again!  It is so very dry around here right now!

My dh has been off work this week with a plant shut down happening.  So he is now darker, but with a bit of a reddish tinge from working outside all week.  We have just about 1 acre of land & he has been trimming trees, etc.  He's gone to the dump a time or two.  The last couple of days I have gotten almost hourly reports of some hawks that have decided he is doing something wrong.  He thinks it might be a mother & her babies, but there are 4 of them.  At first it was the biggest one almost dive-bombing him.  Now yesterday he called me to tell me they were even following his van as he moved around the yard with his trailer attached & even down the road as he left the yard!  So every so often, he gives us & comes in to just take a nap.

He has also gotten in to get his eyes checked and is in the process of getting new glasses.  About 3 years ago, he had cataract surgery on both eyes and so there are some changes.  Recently he talked about not being able to see everything he wanted while driving.  Our prescriptions are not too far apart, although his eyes are a little worse than mine.  A few years ago, I was working at a company where the outside doors were kept locked & for various reasons, I also needed to be able to see which phone line was ringing when I was a distance from my desk before I answered.  But if I am wearing glasses for distance, I couldn't see what I needed to read or the computer screen in front of me.  So I had a pair of trifocals made to use at work.  So when D. started talking about what he wanted to see, I had him try driving with my trifocals.  He liked them, so has decided to get his own.  So right now, he is down having 1 of the fittings done that he is going to need to do to also get them done as a pair of safety glasses for work.

I did finally finish the socks I had started on July 5th for my mil.  My dh will get attending a family wedding in the Seattle, WA area in mid-August and his mother lives in the area and it will be her 84th birthday the day he flies home.  So I wanted to send something with him for her.  I am still deciding if I will make the soles non-skid so that she can wear them as slippers socks.  They are made with worsted weight Cascade Pacific and so I think they are too thick to wear comfortably in shoes.  But I would hate for her to fall & break a bone because of trying to wear them without her shoes.  So need to maybe do some checking around soon to see what I can do.  I have heard of a product that The Home Depot might have for coating tools that can be used to make them non-skid & I have also heard of using puff paints to do that as well.  I made them in a burnt orange color - orange is her favorite color - so not sure if I can get a good color to go with it.

After finishing the socks, I picked back up my latest shawl to get it going on Chart B & am about 10 rows of 30 into that.  Not sure if I will make it through all the chart by Sunday when the next chart is posted, but maybe!  This weekend is a weekend with a granddaughter & this granddaughter likes to knit as well, so maybe we can watch some movies while trying to stay out of the heat & do some knitting!

Next week I need to start doing some baking, probably in the early morning so that the house doesn't get too hot.  A great-niece will be having her Quince celebrations on August 11th & I have volunteered to make her cake as my gift to her.  Her colors are yellow & white, so that will work out great for making the cake!  I like to make the cake ahead & freeze it so that I can get the 1st coating of icing on while it is still frozen to
trap crumbs, so that they don't show through.

This year is 35 years since I graduated high school, so some classmates & I, that have reconnected on Facebook, are putting together a weekend of fun for us.  We are planning for the last weekend of September, which is still about 2 months away, but when you think of it in terms of only 8 weeks, it seems closer than that even!  I had such a miserable time when I was in school, that for years, I swore I would never attend a reunion!  I didn't figure I had any reason to.  But then I got on Facebook & started to get brave enough to ask former classmates to be friends, went to a couple of Junior High reunions (planning to go again this year too!) where my son went with me for emotional support.  Then last year we had an informal 34th high school reunion that was great!  I realized that while some things happened - both at home & in school - that made me be a loner, most of it was when I was younger & I got into habits that made it so that by the time I got to high school, I didn't even give anyone a chance to be my friend!  I was in my own little circle & all I wanted was for everyone to forget that I was there!  And now it has been many years, I have come out of my shell a lot & we are all different people, so why not?  It has been great!  I can't wait!

The job search hasn't turned up a job just yet.  I had 2 in person interviews this past week.  Have heard nothing from the 1st (and yes, A., I did send a thank you!), but I am not really surprised by that.  He told me at the time that he really thinks the person they are advertising to replace will change her mind & that he is in no big hurry to hire someone.  The other, that I thought had gone well, I got a letter yesterday saying they will keep my resume on file for 90 days, but no job.  Another that I had emailed my resume to emailed back saying they will start narrowing things down next week.  I really am hoping for something full-time, but could take part-time, if it has a chance of working into full-time!  But will keep looking!  Something has to be out there!

So how has life been treating you lately?  What is on the needles, if you are a crafter?  How has your weather been?  I would love to hear from you!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Weekend fun!

First off, this is a weekend visit with a granddaughter!  C. & I have been going cheap this weekend by staying home & hanging out in our jammies!  She has been having a movie marathon.  Those $1 dvd's from Wal-mart that I was buying back in about 2004-2006 while I was helping provide childcare for the 3 children after their parents marriage broke up is about the best investment I have made for her.  She loves watching them!  Most of them are cartoons that were from my childhood or even earlier!  Right now, she has a Ernest movie going of a 3 dvd set.  I think I paid about $6 for it last year.  She thinks it's cool that my maternal grandmother's maiden name was Worrell like Ernest's name in the movies.


We made pasta for dinner Friday with meatballs.  Saturday morning she decided to have rice for breakfast after Grandpa had asked to have some rice put in the rice cooker for him.  I swear that man goes through more rice than anyone I know!  Anyway, I only put in ingredients to make 2 cups in the 3 cup cooker so that it wouldn't be so messy while cooking.  But after 2 bowls of rice for C., there wasn't much left for Grandpa when he decided to come back from the library or somewhere.  So I put on more.  After a while, he came in telling me that I had blown the GFCI with using the rice cooker & the crockpot because the lights weren't on on either.  But the crockpot doesn't have a light on it.  So I reset it (for whatever reason, when we built the house, he put the reset in the nearby bedroom!  Not the kitchen.), but that didn't fix it.  I think the rice cooker went.  Not a terrible thing, we only paid $10 for it several years ago at Walgreen's.  But I had another I had picked up, so was able to locate that in the cabinet & get his 2nd batch of rice cooked.  For lunch, we had burritos & then decided on Sloppy Joes for supper last night.  This morning she wanted waffles for breakfast & I think we will have leftovers for a late lunch before time to take her home later today.  Then I will had the oldest granddaughter in 2 weeks for the weekend.  This was to have been her weekend, but she wanted to go to a friend's house for the night Friday & so traded with her sister.

Yesterday was my dh's 1 sister's 39th wedding anniversary.  She & her dh do not live in the USA, so we don't see them often at all.  I know the last time I saw them was in 2002 at their 1 son's wedding.  I know my dh saw her at least a few years after that when all 3 siblings were organized, I think, into a visit for their mother's birthday by her much younger sister.  My dh will be seeing his sister again in about 3 weeks.  Their youngest daughter will be getting married in the Seattle, WA area on August 12th & so he is flying out for that.  This will be the 1st time in 35 years that I haven't gone to something like this, but I am at that stage of unemployment that I have to submit a sheet showing who all I have applied to over the course of the week in order to receive my unemployment benefits for that week.  And the benefits have been cut by 1/3.  So it just isn't in the cards for me to go.  So I have made an afghan for a wedding gift - undecided if I should mail it ahead so that I know it doesn't get forgotten or let him take it with him.  Mailing ahead also might help with the current trend of charging for checked bags & even at times carry-on bags.  He will get gone a week, so he could use that space for his own clothes.  But if I send it with him, then he could use the space when he returns for t-shirts or some such for the grandkids.  Decisions, decisions!

I am the oldest of 4 children - the other 3 are actually my half siblings since we don't have the same father.  My natural father passed away when I was a baby & their dad raised me from when I was 2.  My sister is about 4 ½ years younger than me & then we have 2 brothers.  Today is the 47th birthday of my oldest brother.  Due to circumstances, I have no real way to contact him today to tell him Happy Birthday, but when I spoke with him last on June 30th, I had told him that I would wish him a Happy Birthday then in case I couldn't contact him on his birthday.  I knew he had quit his last trucking job & so might not have a phone available to him today.  So I have written on his Facebook wall at the very least.  If he ever figures out how to view it, he might see it.  Even though I am the oldest, I am the only one who is really computer literate as well!

Today is the day we are casting on for BadCat Designs newest KAL (knit-a-long) - Sangria!  The first charts & instructions are posted to the yahoogroups site for it & I just need to pull out my needles to get started.  I am using a yarn from Sheepy Time Knits called Ruby Slippers Sparkle with ruby beads & the champagne 6/0 beads on the border for contrast.  If you are a knitter & interested in doing a KAL, check out the details on her blog.

I am thrilled today to see that I have another follower!  It is always a pleasure to see who is enjoying something you are doing.  So welcome!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Cooler weather this week!

Well, it is now Hump Day as Wednesday has come to being called!  We are half way though yet another week, more than half way through 2012 & nearly half way through July!

The weather here in Kansas, as well as other areas of the country has been being really hot - not quite as hot as we had it last summer, but definitely over 100 degrees every day for several days in a row.  This past Saturday ngiht we had a few sprinkles & come Monday, it has been about 10-20 degrees cooler than it had been.  As I write this, it is just 74 degrees!  I don't even really mind this weather too badly!  My preference would be 60-70's year round, but that isn't a possibility here in Kansas for sure.

Yesterday was my youngest brother's (and youngest sibling) 45th birthday!  I hadn't planned to do anything personally about it, especially after being caught a bit by surprise with a shorter than normal deposit from my unemployment last week, but then got notification that I should have 14 weeks more coming, although at a lower amount that I had been receiving - quite a bit lower in fact.  So after initially turning my niece down on her request that I visit for my brother's birthday, I changed my mind, but let them know that this will have to be the last visit until I have a new job!  And I have to admit to a bit of panic about that part of it all.  I know there is a good possibility I could be hired back into an old position or something in the same field, but that wouldn't be my preference.  I left that position over 7 years ago & it feels like stepping way back to consider going to work in that field again.  But, if I haven't found anything within about a month, I will go & ask.  But back to the subject of the birthday - I was 8 years old when this brother was born.  He was the youngest of the 3 children my mother had with my step-dad.  All 3 were born within 5 years.  The oldest 2 of the 3 were only 19 ½ months apart, then the youngest was born just 5 days before the 2nd child's (or oldest brother) was born.  Our mother, in my opinion, was never a good mother.  She pretty much did her duty, but no true love was given to us, no cuddling, no fun times.  So when the 3rd was born, except for her nursing him, I pretty much took him over!  I called him my baby.  I bathed him, changed his diapers, etc.  When he started talking, he called me Mama as well as calling her Mama.  At a point later, I didn't feel like his Mama, but if you talk to all 3, they will tell you that I continued mothering all of them.  I think instead of mothering, what I did was have things that I knew either had to be done or was told I had to do & I did them.  I made meals, did the laundry, got them off to school, etc.  I didn't correct them unless I was told that I was to take care of them while our parents were gone & I would be in trouble if the chores we had been given were not done by the time our parents got home.  Usually I did them myself since if I didn't, it wasn't the others that were in trouble, it was me & they would usually locate themselves on our parents king-sized bed with a pair of legs aimed in all 3 open directions & if I tried to physically force them to do something, I got kicked.  So I would give up & do the chores to get them done.  I do remember one time, our mother had gone across the street to visit with her sister, our aunt.  She had taken my youngest brother with her.  When she came back, she didn't have him with her.  I asked where he was & was told that she had given him away to a woman who had been walking down the street as she was coming home.  I was totally freaked out & screaming about this, begging her to go back, find the woman & bring him home!  She thought it was hilarious!  She had left him with her sister for a while.  A couple years ago, he was in the hospital after a big scare with a blood clot in his leg, which he is now handicapped because of.  I was notified about it & about the fact that he was fighting the nursing staff & his wife wasn't able to be found.  It turned out, after I had driven there to see what I could do, etc., that she had been exhausted & found a place to get some sleep.  Anyway, his oldest daughter said that I gave him a look & he backed down - so evidently as an 8 or 9 year old, I must have developed a look that I still had!

Because of the cooler weather this week, I was able to get the afghan done that I had been working on!  Which is a relief, not only because it means that I am finished with it more than a month before the wedding that it is a gift for, but also because I don't have to have it on my lap causing me to be hot all the time in the hot weather we had been having!  No yarn sticking to my fingers instead of flowing through, etc.  Now I have a pair of socks on the needles to try to finish before my dh leaves to go to the wedding.  He will be flying home on the day of his mother's 84th birthday & I wanted him to give her a gift from me in particular since I won't be there this time.  But I need to get them done early enough to be able to put a non-skid coating of some sort on the sole of the socks.

This coming weekend will be a weekend with the oldest granddaughter again!  It is also the same weekend that my next KAL starts, so I probably won't get that started until Sunday evening.   But I know my granddaughter & I will have fun!  Possibly playing monopoly, which is a favorite game.  Possibly playing on the wii.  Most likely watching a few movies & hanging out together!  Most of the grandkids also usually take advantage of the fact that they can sleep in!  Unless we have a deadline for something, I don't make the kids wake up before they are ready, unless it is Sunday & it is getting close to the time I have to take them home at the end of their weekend.

This past week I tried making some cream horns.  I don't feel I have succeeded even though they have been very good.  I am doing something wrong!  I know the 1st time I should have looked at a recipe I had found before diving in, instead of using an egg white wash & then sprinkling on sugar, I used just cold water.  My dh said he liked it that way, but I felt they got kind of soggy.  The 2nd time I used egg white wash, but this time, they stuck really badly to the forms.  Maybe I need to put a strip of wax paper around the forms or maybe I should just oil or flour the forms.  I don't know - will do some thinking on it & give it another try when the weather is cooler!  I do know that both were good, but an thinking making my own puff pastry dough might not only be cheaper, but also better tasting!  Will try that!

On Facebook, I have been staying up way too late at night lately reading & commenting on a page about those of us who grew up in the same town.  There are some posts - mostly about what businesses had been in what building, or events that happened, that I remember 1 way and others remember another way.  Sometimes I think it is confusion by someone that might not still live in the area & other times I think it is selective memories or choosing to change things because another version sounds better. At times it reminds me of various times over our marriage where my dh has taken a family story of my family & changed what happened when he then tells it to someone.  I get upset about it.  Usually it is bad enough the way it actually happened, but in my opinion, it makes it so much worse when he has changed it to his version.  Maybe it is just me because of the comments that were made about me by a person in a position of authority when I was young where they claimed I was a liar - my story differed from their daughter's story, so I was the liar.  I admit it, I have an almost phobic response to things not being told the way they happened.  Although I am sure there are things that I don't remember the way others remember them.  A prime example is the way my siblings remember me being their caretaker - I don't remember it quite the same way.  I especially don't recall taking care of my oldest 2 siblings, I remember it more as just doing my chores.  In the end, we have had so many memories come flooding back to all of us.  A thread will start one way & before long, it has taken a turn & has almost no relation to the original subject of the thread, because something that was written has now reminded someone of something else that happened.

On this page, I have found someone that I evidently knew when I was just 5 years old, but I can't say I have a memory of them!  I do remember being 5 years old & supposed to be walking to & from school that was 3 blocks away by a girl in a family that lived diagonal across the street from us.  I do remember my mother saying this girl had either left me at school or somehow forgotten me.  The person I have recently met on Facebook says that she recognized me & my name after looking at a picture of me 47-48 years after the fact & remembers that she & her older sister walked me to school, but they didn't live diagonal across the street from us.  They lived 1 block away at the end of the next block, 1 street closer to school than we did.  But she says I would be outside their house every morning.  So I almost wonder if I had finally been allowed to walk to school on my own, but had chosen these 2 girls to walk with.  I don't know, but I do know I will be eager to see if I can recognize her by a picture once she can get back to her home to send me one of her.  I usually do have a good memory for things & people.  I have recognized people that I last saw as small children when I wasn't even a teenager yet myself.  I have surprised quite a few people with my memory, especially from my own childhood!  I feel as adults, our lives get more complicated & involved & sometimes we don't really let things sink in so that we remember them years in the future.  I know that I have waited on people in jobs that then when I met them in different surroundings, I didn't recognize them & had to be reminded.  Or they will look familiar, but I can't place why.  In any case, her maiden name isn't clicking with me, so I will hope the picture does!

So how has your week been going?  Tell me about it!  I love learning about other people!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Happy Independence Day!

It's been a week or so since I have posted.  It's been a hot week or so since I have posted!  Today I think the temperature is supposed to reach about 102ºF here in my area of Kansas!  I plan to have a quiet day at home since my other half has decided to go on an impromptu visit to Wichita our son & his gf.  I decided that didn't sound like much fun in this heat, plus I am about 80% finished with the wedding afghan I am making for the August wedding, so I can use the time to work on that.

Today the US is celebrating Independence Day - the day our country declared it's official independence from the English.  This day brings back many memories of camping trips with my family while growing up!  Most of the ones for this holiday seem to center around driving to the campgrounds near Chapman, KS and camping on Chapman Creek.  I know others had to use it or else it wouldn't have been as nice as it was, although it was nothing fancy - mostly just the grass kept mowed to a reasonable height.  But I don't recall anyone else other than our family being there during the same time we were there.  Daddy's brother H. would come & bring his family, Mama's sister F. would come with at least her daughter - I don't ever remember her dh joining us though.  Mama's brother W. would also come with his family at times.  I don't ever remember going to this campgrounds with any of Daddy's other brothers, but H. did bring the son of another brother with him the summer I was 14.  That was the summer I had 2 male cousins trying to peek into the tent while I would change!  But I don't think that trip was over July 4th.  The trip I remember over the July 4th weekend was just our family of 6.  We had fireworks to set off & it started raining on us as we were starting to set them off just before we were going to leave for home.  One I remember for sure was a spinning thing that we nailed to the tree.  We finally gave up & just left, hoping to get out to the blacktop before the road got impassable.  We didn't make it!  So we spent the night trying not to roll downhill in the camper, waiting on the storm to pass.  The the next morning, Daddy left to find a farmer willing to bring his tractor our to pull us out of the ditch.  Which he did & we were then on our way home!

My son was born June 30th, so he got to spend his 1st July 4th holiday at the community fireworks display when he was just a day out of the hospital!  We didn't attempt to go inside the fairgrounds that year - just stayed in my parents car for it.

Speaking of my son, he just had his 30+ year birthday last Saturday.  I had been trying to decide if he would want me to make him a cake, although I know in the past he has told me not to, when I got a phone call from his gf I. who wanted to arrange a surprise party for him after hours at her job, so I made the cake & she did everything else!  With all the 100+ days, I liked the idea of ice cream, so used my ice cream cone pan to make the cake.  Then at nearly the last minute someone decided the cake I was making might not be enough, so they had a boxing cake done for him too.  There were about 20-30 people at his party for pizza, cake, etc.

I knew that Andrea at Bad Cat Designs would be starting her summer KAL (knit-a-long), but was not planning to join since I have so many items in the works still.  But when she announced it, she said it would be an easy one that the pattern would be easily memorized, so I decided to join.  I ordered yarn from Sheepy Time Knits in Ruby Slippers, I order ruby & champagne beads from Charlene's Beads, dug out my #3 ChiaoGoo needle & then it all arrived.  When it did, I remembered that the last time I had to wind a skein of lace yarn into a ball, I had decided I was going to get a swift before I did it again!  So off to eBay I went to look for one.  I found 1 that wasn't too expensive & ordered it.  It arrived yesterday, so I got busy & wound my yarn into a nice center pull ball.  Now I am ready & waiting for the release of the charts, which should happen in about 11 days.  In the meantime, I need to get this afghan done.  And of course, since my dh will be going to the wedding & seeing his mother just before her 84th birthday, I am considering trying to whip out a pair of house socks for her.  Our feet are nearly the same size & if I do it in Cascade Pacific worsted weight yarn, I should get them done.  So tomorrow, I need to go to the yarn store to see what they have on hand!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Cindy's 2 Day 2012 Birthday Celebration

This past Saturday I turned 53.  I am the oldest living cousin on 1 side of my family, the oldest cousin by birth on another side of my family & I get to be one of the younger ones on yet another side of my family!  Yes I count 3 sides!  On my mother's side, I was always the 2nd oldest, but the oldest cousin passed away in a car accident in 1990, which left me as the oldest living cousin.  There originally were 8 of us cousins on that side, but 2 are now deceased.  On my natural dad's side - he was the oldest of 6 siblings & I am the oldest of the cousins there by about 3 months.  I might have my numbers wrong since I didn't grow up with this side of the family, but I believe there are 13 or maybe 14 of us cousins there.  And we range from my age down to my kids ages.  On my step-dad's side, he was the 3rd or 4th of 8 siblings.  One brother never had children.  I think I was right about in the middle age-wise here since some of the cousins were nearly grown if not already grown when I came into the family & some are younger than my 3 younger siblings.

Cessna Aircraft - where my son recently started working, was having a celebration of 85 years in business & as part of the celebration, you could tour the facility.  We didn't get through all of it, but we did look over a lot of things!  I know my dh & my son both loved looking at the actual framework of the aircraft that were being built & they are talking about maybe seeing if a tour could be arranged during work hours.  I loved seeing the completed interiors & seeing where my son is working!  My son's gf I. I believe liked the same things.  It was a pretty hot day out & with a fair amount of walking outdoors between the buildings, I am glad I decided to wear a shirt with sleeves to my elbows, even though that made me feel hotter, it protected the skin of my arms that had been sunburned recently.

After we finished there, we tried to decide on a place to eat that suited everyone.  We finally decided on Genghis Grill.  It was a nice lunch there with us all having our own personalized stir-fry lunch.  My son did have an issue with his Tazzleberry Bluetazzle Tea that resulted in us changing to a different table!  And since someone mentioned the fact that it was my birthday within earshot of the server, I ended up with my meal being free!  Which was a help to my son & I. with him just getting his 1st paycheck from his new job.

After we got home Saturday evening, D. was working on a Chevy Impala doing some repairs/maintenance work before turning it over to our son who is buying it.  I knew he was wanting to get this work done that night since Sunday would be spent preparing for a trip that he is leaving on today for his local union.  So when I got a message from our oldest daughter asking if we had eaten yet or would like to come to dinner, I told her what he was doing.  So then was asked what about Sunday - so we decided on Sunday.  But they forgot to tell me the time!  So I found out what time about 30 minutes before we were supposed to be there.  In the meantime, our daughter, 2 of her daughters & a friend of the oldest of her daughters were making me a cake.  No one hardly ever makes me a cake & haven't since I was about 12 years old.  I think this might be about the 5th cake or so that I have had - at least that I remember.  I could be wrong though since I know my kids made some while they were growing up.  Anyway, they didn't want to call me to give away the surprise, so they were trying to figure out what the problem was of the 1st cake falling apart on them as they tried to decorate a cake where they were cutting the layers & rearranging them into the shape of a butterfly.  They finally gave up & made a 2nd cake.  Somewhere in there, 1 of the granddaughters pops up with - put it in the freezer, that's what Grandma does!  So they froze it for just a bit, which seemed to help with their issues.  I don't remember where I first learned about it, but I always make my cakes, then freeze the layers before putting them together.  It helps to stop issues with crumbs, etc.  I did hear some comments about being sorry it wasn't like the cakes I make, but I tried to reassure the kids that I never expect anyone to make me a cake like the ones I make.  I do it as a hobby & because I want to make something special for someone.  I have even told some that it is my gift to them & I don't buy another gift for them.  I try to make sure my kids & now my grandkids know that not everyone gets a special cake like they do.  That some people just get a cake that is iced, no special decorating, so they are getting something special.  I don't want them to think anything else is less than what they should have!  I hope that makes sense!

After we had cake, then we played monopoly!  I remember playing monopoly as a kid at holidays with family, in particular.  Then I played monopoly with my kids.  Now I play it with my grandkids.  I think I might have started teaching them at about 4-5 years old.  Our games can become very competitive!  And it has become something we do at almost every gathering!  I even collect monopoly games, so we can play a variety!  I was the 1st one out of the game last night!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Friday

It's Friday, the end of the work week - not for me, but for my dh & my son at least.  It's a moderately warm day here today in the mid-80's.  Tomorrow & Sunday are forecast to be in the 90's, but there seems to be a chance to rain on Sunday afternoon & evening.  That will feel good, at least while it is happening & maybe the lawns around here can green up some!  Ours lookes like it is about August already!

Yesterday I finally settled down & did the last few rounds on a sock for 1 of the granddaughters.  They are Christmas gifts, but since this is the first time I have ever made socks for them, I am letting them know about them as I work on them & try them on.  Maybe once I get 1 pair each done for all, then I can try to make a surprise pair for them all as well.  There are 5 total & I have another 2 pair on the needles.  I am trying to remember what colors the oldest granddaughter thought each of the girls would like.  I believe she chose the orange, that K. would like the purple & B. would like the pink.  I hope so, since that is how I am proceeding!  A pale blue for my grandson is 1 of the ones on the needles, but since he wears a size 14 shoe - his will take a while, even though I am working with worsted weight (10 ply). C. tried to convince me to give her her socks for her May birthday, but I reminded her that I have issues with tendonitis in my right hand & so it is taking me a bit longer to do things than it has in the past. And since this was her 10th birthday, so was getting her ears pierced, so I bought her earrings for the gift.

Tomorrow is my 53rd birthday!  I don't usually do much for my birthday .  Partially because we never did much when I was growing up.  Partially because we always concentrated more on the kids while they were growing up.  And partially because there are some family deaths that occurred close to it & so it just doesn't put me in the mood to celebrate.  But tomorrow the company that my son just started working for is hosting an Open House & so weed to get a chance to have a more involved tour of the facility than we would if we just booked a tour.  So we are going to go do the tour & then probably have lunch out with our son & his gf.  She will work tomorrow evening, so we won't make a day of it.  One year I decided for my birthday that I was going to do something for the grandkids & that is the year that we got a family membership to the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita.  That was one of the best investments I have ever made for them - I think we went at least once a month all year & sometimes twice.  For my 36th birthday, we were traveling home from a visit in FL and as we passed through Dallas, my dh & 3 kids decided to take me to Showbiz Pizza (or was it Chuck-E-Cheese?).  Either way, everyone had fun & it definitely broke up the long drive from southern FL!

I visited a blog today that I haven't visited in a long time & was surprised that I can no longer find a way to translate it from the original language.  This women knits a lot of socks, that I love looking at & cannot figure out how she manages to make them so quickly, but it also looks like now she may be making hats to sell, but since I can't read it, I can't be sure.  I sure hope the translation link that I put on here works for others!

I see that there are several people reading this blog and most seem to be coming from Facebook, but since no one has commented yet, I don't know if everyone is enjoying this or not.  I sure hope so!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

A New Start

It's been a while since I blogged & I decided to start over totally fresh!  It's been a quiet weekend with 1 of my grandchildren.  It was C's 10th birthday this weekend & she wanted to make sure that nothing changed that when she found it out.  We rented 3 movies from RedBox - Treasure Buddies, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 & We Bought A Zoo.  Then we got out our knitting!  She chose to buy some fun fur yarn when we visited Hobby Lobby to use on the knitting machine to make a scarf.  Originally she wanted to use her plastic Singer circular machine/loom, but she kept having issues with it.  So we finally got out my Bond Fashion Knitter & set her up to knit on 11 needles.  That worked pretty good for her.

For me - I have several projects going at the moment.  I am making an afghan for an August wedding in crochet.  I have 2 pair of socks for the grandkids Christmas gifts of the needles.  I had the granddaughter try on the 1 pair & she wants the ribbing to be about another inch longer, then I will bind off those.  That gives me measurements to use also for her oldest sister since they wear nearly the same size shoes.  I decided to try making some baby socks as well - it's the first time I have ever followed a pattern for the socks I make, so it has been interesting & they are just so darn cute!  I also hae a couple baby afghans going.  One I have a recipient in mind, but the other is just to have on hand finished in case I need a gift.  I have about 4 shawls in the works as well as about 6 pair of socks for myself.  I want to try to get at least the 5 grandkids their socks & 1 of the shawls done before Christmas.

I recently finished a shawl & gave it away to a niece.  She had mentioned one day that she would love to have a fine lace piece & I just happened to have just started working on the Sugar Plum Fairy shawl project by Bad Cat Designs & it was in a color I was sure she would like!  Here is my version of that shawl:

We had thunderstorms in our area last night & at least 1 tornado was spotted, but it was a ways away from us.  I kind of enjoyed the drop in the temperature that came with it, but as the granddaughter said - it also will be more humid again because of the rain.  But it is only mid-May & our front yard is already mostly brown here in central Kansas!  That's about 2 months earlier than normal, but then I also read where a friend on Facebook says that she saw a combine harvesting a wheat field near here this weekend!  And that is quite early as well!

Well, going to get off here.  Waiting for a family member & his wife to arrive.  They plan to spend the night here while they are in town & they are supposed to have a new toy for me to play with when they come!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!