It's been a while!

Well, it's been just over a month since I last posted.  I sure didn't intend to take a break from blogging, but that is what I have done.  Christmas has come and gone, New Year's as well.  Tomorrow is the US Presidential inauguration and a lot of people will be off work - not because of the inauguration, but rather because it is the day we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.  I have to work and so does my dh.  Our son is off work, but he may be the only family member not working tomorrow.

I don't think I mention in my last post that I was casting on several projects for my son's gf, I, who had finished a pair of ankle socks for herself that she loves to wear to bed in particular.  She wanted to start a pair for her mother, my son, and a friend's son.  Then she also decided that she wanted to make a couple of scarves for herself.  She had an approximately 1500 mile drive each way coming up for Christmas where they were going to FL to visit my in-law's, so it gave her knitting time since she wasn't driving.  I haven't seen how far she has gotten in person since she got home, but I know she sent me some pictures along the way of at least 1 of the scarves in progress.  I am not sure if she might not have bitten off more than she could chew to start so many at once, but she wanted a variety to work on.  That way if she got to a heel on a pair of socks, she didn't have to stop until she was with me again or anything.  She doesn't yet want to learn to read patterns or to learn the heel process.  English is her 3rd or maybe 4th language, so she wants to take her time.  If I could find some patterns that were in both English & Portuguese we might be all right, but she says maybe 2 years, then she will be ready to learn to read a pattern.

I need to do some adjustments to 3 items I made for gifts - the sleeves are too long on my son's sweater & the neck is too tight for his head.  The 1 granddaughter's socks need to be bound off a little differently since I made them longer & she has trouble with getting them over her calves.  Another granddaughter, that I didn't get to measure, her socks are too tight around the foot, so I need to completely remake them.  I thought there was a chance since I didn't get to try them on her while I was making them.

We have had some snow, but not much.  We have had quite a few days with single digits in the mornings.  So I keep telling myself it's only about 2 more months & then we are looking at warmer weather.  I hate winter myself!

A week ago with mad the company Employee appreciation party at my new job.  Every employee can bring 1 guest & it wasn't until about 4:30 pm that day that I knew whether my guest would be my son or my dh.  Turned out my dh didn't work more than 8 hours after all that Saturday.  So we both got a nice dinner for it and each employee was given either a gift or cash.  The envelopes of cash were all gone before my name was called since I am 1 of the newest 4 employees, so I got a Nook Simple Touch.  I had tossed around the idea of Nook or Kindle for quite a while, but never did anything about it.  I still like the idea of a Kindle Fire since I could download shows and movies from Amazon to it to watch when I had a chance - car rides, etc.  But I do have my little laptop that I could use as well.  I have found several classics books that were free to download and got them put onto the Nook yesterday after receiving the 32gb memory disk that I had ordered for it.  The nook doesn't have much of a memory built into it, but you can add memory.  And with more than 1 memory card, you could add quite a bit actually.  I do like that I can view .pdf patterns on it, so that will be handy and was 1 of the reasons I had considered getting one anyway.  I haven't taken it yet anywhere with me, am waiting on my case to arrive for it - should be here on Tuesday & then the screen will be protected in my purse.  I have added the .pdf's of the 3-4 items I am currently working on or want to work on to it so that I have them.

My mil was hospitalized last weekend with the flu and pneumonia, but she was dismissed about mid-week.  I did get to talk to her for the 1st time in about 6 months while she was there - it made it easier that she was kept in 1 place!  But my bil was there with her, so gave her the phone.  Her dementia is really taking a toll on her, but I don't know how much of what I noticed is from the dementia and how much was from her being sick.  I sure miss her from before the illness that is robbing us of her came into play.  I have earned a sum total of 1 day of vacation time from work, so am thinking I may try to piggyback it to a holiday weekend and maybe even a day or 2 of no pay so that I can get up to see her later this year.  She did tell me that she was wearing the Amazing Siberian Slippers that I had made for her Christmas gift though and that she liked them.   I didn't actually hear my bil telling her that they were from me, so he might have done that just prior to my phone call.

I have found some new blogs recently to follow - 1 of them is A Joyful Chaos that started out with a former Amish woman telling about growing up Amish.  She has now co-written a book with another established author to tell her story.  I want to order the 2 that will be out when I get my next paycheck.  Growing up near an Amish community and interacting with the Amish as my mother bought goods from them has always made me be interested in them.  So I am always wanting to learn more.  Right now Mary Ann is having a give away on her blog of a book by 1 of her favorite authors.

Another blog I found recently is a woman in Australia who has discovered the joy of making socks, but she has already bypassed my 3-4 years of sock making in just 6 months or so - she is currently working on her 20th pair, unless she has already finished those!  I do not know how she does it!  Maybe I just have too many other interests!  That blog is MelsNattyKnits.

Tomorrow finishes up 3 months that I have been at my new job and I believe on Tuesday I should have a 90 day review, but my boss hasn't said anything about it.  I do think that things are finally all fitting together and I have a clue as to why certain things are done and since I do, I now have a clue as to when to do certain things, so it is all getting easier.  It's kind of hard to know what questions to ask when you do know exactly what it is that you need to be doing.  I hope some of my notes might make it easier for the next person, if I were to give up my job at any time in the future.  Not that I intend to, but I do remember 1 previous job that my notes probably helped the next person out.  I know I passed them on to a co-worker who was doing the same job during the time that I was also doing the job and I believe they helped her.

I talked with my oldest (younger) brother - 1 have 1 sister & 2 brothers, but all are younger than me by 4 1/2 to 8 years - on New Year's, I believe it was.  I found out that he had left Kansas in November to live in Oklahoma.  He is with the woman that I can't stand.  They say they are married, but I know they did file for a divorce at one point and I don't think they ever remarried.  They just believe that because they went back to living together before the divorce was final, that it voided it.  I think she is horrible for him, but I think he clings to her because he always wanted a mother to love him and she reminds him of our mother - but that isn't a good thing!  Our mother wasn't a good mother!  Anyway, it brought up what I always feel - I am the last in the family to know anything that is going on.  And they wonder why I disappeared for so long & kept to myself?

Our youngest daughter is traveling for work & is currently in India until March.  An experience of a lifetime for her!

At the last minute for Christmas, I was able to whip out a hat for our sil - it took me about 24 hours from start to finish & I believe he likes it!

Anyway, I think that brings me up to date for the most part!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Knitting while trying not to panic

On Friday I ended up with a quandary about a job & I sure hope I didn't make a mistake, but right now, while waiting for a phone call, I am not so sure.  I had gotten a message from my son last week with a picture of an Facebook post 1 of his friends had posted saying that the company she is in the HR department of was needing some full-time positions filled.  I looked it over and of the 4 positions listed, I felt I was qualified for 1 of them.  I had an interview on Friday morning and felt it went pretty good.  Came home and found a message that the temp agency had a company wanting me to start a 3-4 week data entry job on Wednesday of this week.  So I called the 1st company back & left a message for my son's friend saying that while I would understand if they didn't want to say anything at all (I had told them this temp position was a possibility of being offered to me) and that I wasn't trying to put her on the spot, I would like to find out if she might have heard anything positive and/or know if there was a definite start date that I might be able to use to see if I could fit in the temp position (which the message at that time said it might only be 2-3 weeks - so a start date of November 7th or later might allow it to work out) since they had told me it would be about 2 weeks before they made a decision.  When she called back, she said that my call had given her an excuse to go talk to the 2 I interviewed with a bit earlier than she had planned to already and that I was definitely in the running.  They had interviewed another person Friday afternoon.  And that she would give me a call this morning since they wanted to sit on it over the weekend.

In the meantime, I had contacted the temp agency to ask what the options would be if I were to accept the temp position and then get offered the FT position & want to take it.  Would I just give a couple days notice or what.  They came back with 2-3 days notice would be fine, but after they contacted the company they were working with, he said he wanted someone who would give a 4 week commitment, but she agreed to give me a bit of time this morning to see what came of the other position.  So far, it's almost 10:30 - I've been up since about 7 and I haven't heard anything!

In the meantime, I finished chart 6B on the Back to the Garden shawl this morning.  It's still a little damp around the edges, so while I am typing this, I have the fan blowing on it to try to dry it enough to work on again.  I still have charts 7 & 8 to finish before time to bind off.  I am really hoping to have this shawl finished for my oldest daughter for Christmas this year.  I did finally break down and told her it was for her.  I had started it a year ago this past summer, but when my hand issues developed, I had to put it aside, there was a lot of aching in the hand even trying to work on it and I was afraid that if I kept on, my hand might not recover.  I still have occasional twinges in my right hand, but nothing like it was last year at this time!  I have not tried to pop my thumb on that hand since the issues came up, but occasionally it will pop on it's own.  I think that is probably a good sign since for the longest time it didn't pop!  So I think the tendon is getting back to normal!  I am still taking my MSM 1000 mg, but am taking 5 a day rather than the 8 that I started out taking - 4 per day is the recommended amount, so figure I am not taking a huge amount over, but slightly over now that it is close to being back to normal.

My dh started a 1 week vacation today.  I think it is his last week for this calendar year.  Tomorrow morning at 3:20 am he will leave heading to Chicago by Amtrak train to visit our youngest daughter & her dh.  He decided to pay about $40 more and get the direct route, so the trip will only take about 13 hours going and 12 hours returning.  He will arrive at about 3 pm tomorrow and it seems their apartment is only about 14 blocks from the station, so his plan is to just walk to their apartment instead of them taking off to go pick him up.  Then he will leave coming home at about 3 pm Saturday and arrive back here around 3:20 am Sunday morning.  So I will get my son or daughter to help me Saturday & we will take his van down, park it in the lot there - pretty much where I used to park for my last long-term job and then I won't have to get the granddaughter that I will have for the night up in the middle of the night to go pick him up.  If it were any of the other grandkids I wouldn't worry about it, but the 2 that are our sil's daughters are early to bed, early to rise kids, so it might be a problem to get them up at that time!

I have now moved into about 6th or 7th place in the I Love Yarn contest - I could sure use a bunch more votes if anyone is feeling generous!  You can vote once every 24 hours and you can even vote for more than 1 picture - I have a couple of friends I have been voting for also.  My entry is the Sugar Plum Fairy that I did last winter & gave to my niece J.  I sure would appreciate your votes!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

T's Birthday Cake - originally posted 5/21/10

This past week 2 of the grandkids have had birthdays. T turned 12 last Saturday and C turned 8 on Wednesday.

Mom is having a bit of a time coordinating the parties for them though. T's is to be this weekend, but he got himself into trouble at school by not doing his math homework & then lying about it - so the trip to Sports World is off. I think he will now just have a family party on Sunday so that Grandpa & his soon to be step-dad will both be able to be there.

Then he is to leave next weekend for a 3 week camping trip to AZ with his grandpa from the other side of the family. An aunt from that side wants to take his next younger sister to Seattle with her for the summer - details are still being worked out on that one. But that also means either C has her party while T is gone, but A can be here. Or she waits until T is back, but A is probably gone. Or the idea I suggested, which I think is being considered, is to wait until the end of the summer when A is back, then have the party.

In the middle there, their mom & soon to be step-dad are to get married. I have no idea if A goes, if she will be here for that - I haven't even asked yet!

In the meantime, I finished T's cake last night & so I don't have to worry about it while having A for the weekend starting tonight. I will pick her up shortly after work, take her & probably B out to dinner & then after we drop By off, we will head back to town & maybe have a bit of a slumber party before going to bed. Then we will see what she is wanting to do tomorrow. I am going to sit the kids down tonight to explain to them that we will need to try to be conservative for a few months or even a year until I know what the job situation is going to be. That may also have an effect on the choice she makes for tomorrow. Sunday we will get up & try to be over for the party about noon, I think. Then Sunday evening will be my own somewhat - D's days off are Sunday & Monday so it will depend on what his ideas also are.

Things are getting interesting! - originally posted 3/16/10

Well, there has been some interesting events turning up in the last couple of days! It appears that in the last week or so, there have been several checks either being passed or attempted to be passed on the bank account that my 3 siblings & I closed of our mother's back in late December.

I got a text message yesterday afternoon from my sister telling me that 1 had been passed on March 8th for $150. So asked her a few questions about it all & didn't get much more until today. Decided to call the police department & see if anyone would give me any info. Got a call back late this afternoon from a Detective saying that evidently whoever is doing this attempted to pass one at a local convenience store yesterday - a woman. Today there was a man trying to use one at a local auto parts store. There appear to have been at least 3 last week. I don't know if the information I got about the $150 one was accurate or not - story goes that it was used to pay for 2 wallets & 2 purses. But the detective didn't mention that one today. He did say that he is waiting on some video to see if he can match up that with known names. He also gave me 2 names that he suspects could be involved since during the convenience store attempt a license plate # was gotten & it matches the man that he mentioned.

Now the question to me is how were these checks gotten? The check # that I have heard is about 105 #'s past the last one that I have record of from her account. Now there could have been a few more that went in after the statement was printed since the statement I have was received 12/10/09 and I have been getting sporatic mail since the end of December when the niece put her 2¢ into it. It appears that my mother usually kept 2 books of checks in her purse & there were some family members seen with the purse the night of her death, but since most books of checks seem to hold about 25 checks - this seems to be a # quite a ways past what you would expect there. And since the niece & her s/o have tried to make sure no one but them is ever in the house or if they are in the house they are always supervising them - it would seem there hasn't been much chance for anyone to do anything without their knowledge. So it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

My youngest brother today called the local postmaster complaining about them not letting me have the mail & asking if there was anything else that they would consider allowing for us to get the mail restarted after the niece had it stopped. Said he mentioned that he lives out of town & that they had all asked me to handle things since I am the more stable one. So it seems now, even though I had asked about this previously, that since it has been more than a month & they are now returning mail to the senders, they will let the 4 of us sign a notarized statement that all mail is to come to me & then they will restart the mail. So Friday when I get off work, 3 of us will meet at our credit union to have that done & then my youngest brother will come down & have his signature notarized as well. So maybe by Saturday, this part will be finished! I sure hope so!

Reaping what you sow! - originally posted 3/3/10

I can't remember what all I said about the one niece that is giving so many issues over my mom's stuff, so will just start somewhat from November again.

Or really even last April. Maybe even before! My step-dad died in 1986 and at that time, the house we grew up in that he & Mama bought in October 1963 before my sister & the next younger sibling was born in November 1963, was paid off by a mortgage insurance. If my mother had left well enough alone, her home would have been debt free. To her credit, at least she didn't add any of the multiple men she married in the last 23 years to the deed of the house, but she did remortgage it. And it is terribly run down & in a very poor, bad part of town. According to the tax department at the courthouse, the house & I believe 2 city lots, is valued at just over $5,800. Yes, hundreds, not thousands.

So following the seeming family tradition of playing one person against another, she evidently used it as a bargaining chip with various family members over the years. Even going so far as to threaten to put one of the children that my oldest brother's wife had with another man on as co-owner. Instead in April 2009 she finally took the house out of hers & Daddy's name & put it into hers & my sister's oldest natural daughter's name. Supposedly the plan is that the granddaughter will then at some stage, add her daughter who is just over a year old now onto the deed so that it will pass on down to her. Personally, if a major amount of money were not put into the house, I don't think it will stand long enough for that child to grow up!

Anyway, we had my mom's funeral on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 then on Saturday November 21, 2009 several of us gathered at my oldest daughter's house to have a Thanksgiving dinner together. My daughter invited basically all of my siblings & their children to her house - which I really wasn't sure I was ready for after all the years of self-imposed estrangement. But my sister with her 2 youngest children, her step-daughter's family of 5 & her oldest natural daughter's family of 4 arrived at staggered times. I had been working on gathering information about my mom's finances as my siblings said they wanted me to do, changing the mail to my home, turning off telephone, cellphone, etc. I found out about the cellphone for instance when I heard that the oldest natural daughter's s/o had been found using it not once, but twice since my mom's death. And I did notice on the phone bill that came in after her death, that there were long distance calls made - after her death - from the phone! So anyway, as we were sitting there, I asked questions & handed out print-outs of what I had been doing. This included the information that I had changed the address for mail to my address. And telling the granddaughter who was now to be the owner of the house, that the utilities needed to be changed into her name asap. Told her I would give her until the end of the following week, which was Thanksgiving week.

So I kind of stood back & waited. I kept hearing that maybe my mom had really followed through & had gotten some life insurance that would maybe pay out. At this point, the only money that had been available was a burial policy for $3,000 that I had been paying on myself for 23 years. One that my mother had always claimed to think I was trying to get rich off of & had even at one point tried to get me to turn over to her to pay. But I refused since I wanted to make sure that the money was there & that the premiums were never dropped. So finally one day my sister's daughter called me at work crying, saying that there was a policy that my mom had been paying on & that if she had lived until next month - April 2010, it would have paid out $10,000, but that since she hadn't, it was only going to pay back the premiums and that she & my youngest brother's oldest daughter were listed as the beneficiaries. My sister also told me that she had told her daughter that she should call me about this & that she could trust me even before she could trust her. So I promised not to say anything about it. Then a few days later, I remembered that I hadn't checked again about whether the utilities had been changed into her name. According to what I was told the day before the Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's, all she needed to do was to call them, give them her driver's license #, her name, etc. and they would change the billing name on the account to hers & then bill her the deposits over 4 months. And since the mortgage on the house was only $121.51 a month & I am sure she is paying a minimum of $350 a month, it shouldn't have been an issue of affording it. She kept telling me that she would have to pay reconnect fees - wouldn't listen when I tried telling her that since it was still connected, there would be no reconnect fees. Finally, about 3 weeks after my mom's death or 1 week after the original deadline to turn things into her name, I asked again about it. She ended up angry at me, cursed at me, told me to never contact her again & then hung up on me. So I called & arranged for all the utilities to be turned off the following day. To me, it made no sense when there was no money in the estate, to keep wracking up the bills in my mom's name. And I had told her I would do that not long before she hung up on me.

So a couple weeks later, I drove by, there were lights on in the house, so I assumed she had finally gotten the message & took care of hooking it all up in her name & since she had been stupid, was actually having to pay reconnect fees. Turns out the only thing they seem to have turned on was the lights & maybe the water. They did not turn back on the gas & the house has gas heat. They evidently also didn't put in any kind of electric space heaters - so during a long cold snap, the water pipes all froze! And burst! So I have been told they have been going through the house - or at least my sister & her dh were - and replacing water pipes. All of them! Now yesterday my sister sent me a text that the gas man had told her that she will have to replace all the gas pipes in the house before they will turn the gas on!

When I changed the mail to my house November 21, 2009, I was told that if any of my siblings contested the address change that someone would need to be declared executor, but that in the meantime, they would take a copy of where I had paid the bill for the funeral as proof that I was being the person in charge. In late December I got a phone call from the post master that this granddaughter had called & claimed to not know why they weren't getting my mom's mail at my mom's house and that when she was told I had put in a change of address, she claimed I didn't have a right to do that (remember she had been told along with my sister on November 21, 2009 that I had done this & I had called my 2 brothers who weren't there to let them know - there are only 4 siblings!). So he said that he didn't even have to tell me that they were going to start holding the mail until an executor was appointed. Now how a granddaughter, whose mother is 1 of 4 siblings that all are still alive, can cause an issue on this, I don't understand! But he swears she has the right to do so. So since I was already going to see a lawyer about forcing her to give me things that should belong only to me, I told him I would ask about that. I was told by the lawyer that first off it would run about $2,000 to file & be appointed executor (of an estate of less than $10,000 - if you included the house that was mortgaged for more than it's tax roll value) and that to do so would probably make the judge angry to have to be dealing with such a thing. But that if need be, we could do it & the $2,000 would be charged against the estate (?????). Some things were still getting through, but not all. I have some paperwork that said there might be some refunds coming, I know of at least 1 refund check that was sent to that address, but because of this issue, none of it is coming through - they won't release it at this point without either an executor or a notarized statement between me & this granddaughter saying there is no issue. She won't sign it & I won't sign it unless the other 3 siblings say they want the mail to go to her - I don't think she has any right or need for the mail! If I was to get it, I would try to use all refunds to pay off the balance of the bills from my mom's home. If she was to get it, I am sure she would use it for her own wants & say to heck with my mom's bills. The other 3 siblings have not said they want it to go to her!

But I realized that in February I did not get the mortgage statement! I called about it & found that even though it had been changed to my address previously & when I got it, I always redirected it to this granddaughter, she had had them change it to her address! A part of me wants to make an issue of that - first off, she stopped the rest of my mom's mail, so why should she be able to get this mail! And another part of me takes issue at her being able to change something that was addressed to my address to her own - even though supposedly she is paying it. So far I have said that I won't contest it, but a part of me wants to contest it & tell her that if she will release the rest of the mail, then she can keep this going to her house. I have told the mortgage company that I will not pay any of the payments, but that I want to be notified if she fail to make the payments! They have told me that if she fails to make 2 payments, they will start repossession on the house.

Personally, if it were one of my children creating these issues I would be stepping in & telling them they had to stop, straighten it out & keep themselves out of something that was none of their concern. But my sister has never forced her children to do anything they don't want & that is the biggest thing that is frustrating me! I just feel so frustrated that no one is telling her where to get off! And really, they aren't the ones dealing with the issues that she has created. Just this week, I got a collection agency letter about a payday loan for $600 that they say is severely overdue. Well, because of the mail stoppage, I hadn't even known about the payday loan! How the collection agency got my address to mail this directly to my address in my mom's name, I don't know, but they did. This item in particular has brought it to a point that I know my mom's bills are not all going to be paid! Which means that the companies that are owed the money will not be really absorbing the costs - they will pass it on to everyone else that they deal with! But since I am not willing to pay more than $3,000 until all 3 of my siblings have also each paid $3,000 & at this point I have only gotten $20 from 1 of my siblings - there is no chance! I have just under $300 and am waiting on $43 from the car insurance company who mailed 1 check to my mom's address, but were supposed to stop payment on that check & reissue it to be mailed to me & then I can pay the gas, water, telephone & cellphone bills. The electric has already gone to collections & after I called to tell them that she was dead, they haven't contacted me anymore for it.

The niece's s/o has made comments about how he would like to punch me in the face if he ever sees me out anywhere (my lawyer has notes on that!) and they have made comments about how it is all my fault that they are having all these financial issues, I think the gas pipes is one more thing where this niece is being given a major lesson in homeownership & biting the hand that tries to help you! And even though I know they will add this to the list of why they hate me, I don't care! She will never get another chance at being a part of my life!

And to add to the drama - she has found out that she is expecting her 3rd child! He doesn't work. She doesn't work (worked 2 days at Wal-mart & quit!) Don't have any idea where they are getting their money & really don't want to know since I am sure it is illegal. I am sure some is coming from the state since they aren't married. And like I told my sister yesterday - after my sister said she didn't need to be having another child - I have my own opinions of having babies & maturity - but I will keep those to myself! But I do think she is reaping what she has sewn!

Still recovering - originally posted 3/2/10

Well, I first started getting sick 2 weeks ago tomorrow and I am still recovering! It went down into my chest & has stayed there. I am getting better, but my chest still rattles when I try to do much. Been on a chicken & noodles or beef & noodles kick for nearly 2 weeks as well. Went to the store on the way home from work last night & bought more!

Got a phone call earlier from my youngest brother. Evidently he is in Indiana right now, driving back to Kansas. He has 3 children with his ex-wife - 2 girls & a boy. He had pretty much done all the raising for the girls already when they split & the boy was a baby. So evidently there was an arrangement that if she left him alone with the girls, then he would leave her alone with the boy. He has seen his son, but not really had him for more than visits. But now the boy has taken to giving his mom trouble, calling her names, etc. My brother thinks that maybe it is stemming from her planning to move from Ohio to Massachusetts & the boy doesn't want to move. Anyway, he drove to Ohio yesterday, arranged for temporary residential custody, went to the school this morning & withdrew him from school & now is driving back home with him. He plans to enroll him in school with his next older sister tomorrow. So it seems after a while here, I will be meeting another nephew for the 1st time.

Had a surprise in the mail last night. Another piece of mail - this time, with my address already on it, of my mom's arrived at my house. Nothing until now about her having had a $600 payday loan, but now I get a collection bill from a collection agency wanting this money from her. It annoyed me yet again to find out something that I probably would have found out about 2 months ago if not for my sister's oldest natural daughter creating a fuss over the mail. I still wish my sister would grow a backbone & tell her daughter where to get off! This young woman should have no more say in matters than any of my 3 and if 1 of my 3 were to do this, I would be telling them where to get off & and marching their behinds down to straighten it out! I don't care that the young woman in question is 25 - she still is acting like a little kid! But I called them last night, told them that this was the 1st that I had heard of it because of this issue with not getting the mail - still don't know why it came with my address, but I had never gotten anything on it before - told them that there is no estate, was only $85 in the bank account & that is long gone and so basically sorry, but you aren't getting any money. I then faxed them a copy of the letter with it written on it that she was deceased and a copy of the death certificate. The woman I spoke with said this should end any collection calls & any mail - I told her they had better not have my phone # on anything to call!

Then today, prior to the phone call from my youngest brother, I sent a text (about the only way I can talk to my sister with her pre-paid phone - she never has any minutes) to my siblings telling them what I had gotten, what I had done & letting them all know that this is another time that the niece's actions have annoyed me! Maybe, just maybe, someone will tell her off soon! But I am not holding out hope really.

A lot of mixed feelings - originally posted 2/27/10

November 14th started as a day that I was feeling down because if my natural father had still been alive, he would have turned 76 that day. All day I would have thoughts of how I had never gotten to know him and he had never gotten to know my kids & grandkids.

Then that evening the house phone rang from a number that I didn't recognize. And a message was left - from my youngest brother. Saying that our oldest brother had found our mother dead. Now this was not something I felt bad about - I felt more anger about it. I had made a decision in the fall of 1996 to separate myself not only from my abusive mother, but also from my siblings. At that time not only did I feel that I was being used by my siblings since they only seemed to call me when they needed a babysitter or a loan, but they also were all 3 either involved personally in taking illegal drugs or with people who did or with people who were selling illegal drugs. I didn't want to know for sure, but I knew that in May 1995 my sister's home had been raided, she & her ex - who had moved back in, were arrested and after it was pretty well over, I read the police reports and while I wasn't personally mentioned in them, both my brothers were mentioned. This was pretty frightening to me and helped in my resolve to get out and protect myself and my children / family. Anyway, the message that was left for me the night of November 14th was that our mother had been found dead and if I had any information on burial /life insurance &/or burial plots, I needed to get in touch with them.

Now some might say that was a bad way to leave that message, but I have a feeling that if it hadn't been left that way, I would have just ignored it. Instead I called my youngest brother back & we had a talk for about 45 minutes. He said he would like a chance to be a part of my life again, etc. I explained some of my reasoning to him (I had never explained myself before - just cut ties). I said I would try. I gave him my cell # & I asked that he not share it with anyone else at that time. He said he wouldn't. While I was on the phone with him, the house phone had rung again and another message had been left. That message was from my oldest brother's wife giving me more or less the same information. So I called that # back & at that time, found out that my youngest brother had been driving to town from where he now lives out of town. He told me at that time to deal with him & he would deal with my sister & oldest brother, who were also there & my oldest brother was yelling in the background about burying my mother in my backyard. This was just the latest from him - a year before, he passed me while I was coming out of a store & yelled there goes the b*tch at me. That had shaken me up so much I had to sit in the van shaking & in tears for a while afterwards. He has always had quite a temper & a few years ago had even entered my house after I had told E to tell him to leave - that I had nothing to say to him.

So anyway, those events had me feeling quite nervous about meetings with my siblings. But I got off the phone with my youngest brother and I immediately called the funeral director to let him know that I had a $3,000 burial policy that I had taken out in 1986 after Daddy died and I was joint owner of a burial plot with my mom - which had both been a bone of contention with her!

On Monday I called Fairlawn Cemetery & found that my mom had told them she wanted to be cremated & buried on top of Daddy. I decided that wasn't going to happen without a fight from me since she had been married multiple times since his death & she had told them she wanted to change his stone & his stone is a military stone for his service in the Korean War. I talked with my youngest brother & found that he felt the same way. My sister met me at the funeral home (all 4 kids had to sign for her to be cremated, which also meant we could get it all done except a stone from the policy that I owned). When she & I got there, our oldest brother had already been there & signed for the cremation. My sister said she wasn't certain she wanted to sign for the cremation until I told her that I also didn't know that I felt good about cremation, I was pretty sure I didn't want to have it, but that I had found that our mother had told someone that she wanted cremated and that we could get it done for the money we had. So in the end, she & our youngest brother (who was on the phone with us) said they would go with what I decided. So she & I signed the paper & after the funeral director had the form faxed to our youngest brother, he signed & faxed it back to them. Then they could cremate her for a Wednesday graveside service.

Tuesday I realized that there might not be many plants or anything sent & I was right - only 3. One was sent directly to me & 2 were sent to the funeral home. So I ordered a spray to be there that just said Mom on it & was made with whatever the flower shop had on hand. It turned out nice.

Wednesday morning I was waiting on the florist to arrive with the plant that was being delivered to my home, then I got a call that there was 1 more piece of paper that needed signed at the cemetery, so I went & signed that. Found out while I was there that the woman I was dealing with was married to an old childhood friend that we had lost touch with after his mother passed away in CA. So we chatted a bit about that. Then I came home for D, then back to the cemetery for a 1:30 graveside service. A didn't come home for it because she was completing her degree & graduating in December & it just wasn't feasible for her. E, D & the grandkids were there for me. I was still really nervous about meeting up with my oldest brother - the one with the temper, as I hadn't seen him yet, nor had I talked with him.

I got to the cemetery about 45 minutes before the service was scheduled to begin & some were already there. Including an old friend of my mom's who ended up passing away 2 weeks later from brain cancer. Some that were there, I had no idea who they were, but I tried t greet everyone I did know. My siblings finally arrived about 2 pm. I couldn't believe it, they were actually about 30 minutes late to their own mother's funeral. My youngest brother had told me all along that he was going to bring his daughters since they wanted to come, but that he wouldn't be staying. He did change his mind after talking with an aunt. So all 4 kids were there, but only the youngest didn't sit with the rest of us under the tent. My oldest brother took a bit of time before coming to me to hug me. E in the meantime went to him & told him that his temper frightened me & that E would be keeping an eye on things. Then E stood with his hands on my shoulders for the entire service. Since our mother was no longer attending a church that we knew of, we decided to just allow anyone who wanted, to talk about their memories. All but 1 of the people who spoke said things that were accepted as being in good taste. One person said some things that ruffled some feathers, but like I told all of them - you open it up that way, you need to be willing to accept the bad with the good. E told me several times that if I had anything to say that he would stand up with me while I did, but I told him I didn't. No one there would have wanted to hear about my memories! I can only hope that the bad memories that I have helped some of the grandchildren to have good memories with my mom.

Oh yes, I didn't tell that when we decided to not place Mama in with Daddy, I had said that she could either go into the 2nd plot or we could put her in with her mother which had been another idea I heard she had mentioned. The 4 kids decided that we didn't want to put her next to Daddy since we just remembered the abuse she had heaped on him as well as on us. And I think I figured out why she said she wanted to be buried on Daddy - she thought I didn't own that plot like I did the one that was next to him. But she was wrong. So I called our uncle and he said he was all right with her being buried with their mother. And he went down to the funeral home to sign the papers for that. We will still need to have him sign to replace Grandma's stone with a joint stone for her & Mama, but he says he will do that.

Anyway, I had gotten to thinking that since there was no church involved, there would be no funeral dinner, so maybe if things went all right, I would suggest my taking everyone out for pizza. But my sister's step-daughter from her 1st marriage - who still calls her Mom, decided she didn't want me doing all that, so she arranged a dinner at her house & invited us over there. I still ordered the pizzas & bread sticks for that as well & it's just as well. There were a lot of people who showed up.

After the funeral, my siblings told me that they would like me to also take charge to the finances since I have a better head for it. So I got busy trying to find out all the info I could, changing the mail to my house, etc. I turned off her cell phone, house phone, cable, etc. Found out info on utilities, but didn't turn them off right away. Three weeks later my sister's oldest natural daughter, who had been placed on the deed to the house with my mom nearly a year ago now, still hadn't changed the utilities into her name & decided to get nasty with me. So I turned them all off. Now, because she didn't bother to get heat back into the house, all the water pipes have frozen, but that is on her - she had 3 weeks to get things changed without paying reconnect fees & all she wanted to do was get mouthy, tell me never to contact her again, etc. And it's not even like she is truly inheriting the house - there is a mortgage on it for $6,000 and the house is only worth $5,800 - yes really! It is in a bad part of town & is in extremely bad shape.

I didn't want anything of my mother's to remind me of her in anyway. But I did want pictures, home videos, etc. that she had from my dad & my wedding dress & veil, if it was still existed. I was not getting any cooperation from the granddaughter that was getting the house, so I went to see a lawyer since I just didn't think there was a legal reason for me not to get them. About the time I did that, I also heard that she & her significant other were pawning things from in the house. Well, to my surprise when I went to see the lawyer, I found out that the contents of the house didn't belong to her, so I had the lawyer send her a letter to that effect. The first letter was sent to my mom's address by mistake, so I asked that it be sent again. She evidently claimed to my youngest brother when he was trying to get some things he wanted that she only got 1 letter & that it didn't include the list of items I wanted. I have gotten a picture of my dad that was on the wall my entire childhood. Even more, it was on the bedroom wall of my mom & my step-dad, Daddy's room! But I used to talk to that picture when I was a kid & was crying after a beating from my mom & I could have sworn he told me everything would be all right. I also got my wedding dress & veil, but don't know if they can be saved or not - it is very yellow & the lace is ripped, etc. I want to try to do some repairs on it & then see if the cleaners can do anything with it. I also have been given a few pictures from my childhood and some pictures from my mom, step-dad & natural dad's childhoods. My siblings tell me that I am the most stable one, having lived on the same corner for over 30 years, so they want me to keep them. I am gradually scanning them into the computer & will give each of them a cd of the pictures. I also have my step-dad's flag that was over his casket. I plan to buy a display case for it.

We had found that the granddaughter who is getting the house had moved all kinds of things out of the house to try to hide them, putting them into her older sister's basement (the step-daughter who organized the meal after the funeral) and she told me they were there. So I went down & went through it. I took out 3 boxes worth of pictures to bring home. Some family members want to give her back copies of the pictures I took, thinking it will help to keep her from getting angry since they are afraid of her temper. I feel like she doesn't deserve any of it & legally it isn't hers anyway. But I figure once I give them disks, then they can have copies made if they want.

Anyway, then in late December I got a phone call from the local post master telling me that as I had been told at the time in November that I had changed the address for my mom's mail, my sister's oldest natural daughter - the one getting the house - had called him claiming she didn't know why they weren't getting my mom's mail & when he told her I was getting it, that I had no right to it (I had been told if a sibling contested it the mail would be held - not that if any family member contested it -but I can't get him to budge given that it is a grandchild) & so, they weren't going to release the mail to anyone without someone being an executor. After talking with my lawyer, I decided it is not worth charging the estate where there is $500 in bills & the bank account only had $85 and there was $121 left from my burial policy, a $2,000 fee to be appointed executor! So, anyone that owed her a refund & that hadn't already changed the address to mine, is now going to get to keep her money, thanks to this granddaughter! The postmaster said there was 1 way he would release the mail - she & I have to sign a notarized statement saying there is no conflict over it - still don't get how a grandchild, who's parent is living, can cause a conflict, but he says she has a right! Since she won't sign to let it go to me & without the other 3 siblings telling me that they want it to go to her, I won't sign it - we are at a stand-off!

Of course, a part of me wants to create a fuss since I recently have found out that she has gone to the mortgage company, who had changed the address on the mortgage to my address & has had them change it to hers. I feel like saying if she will go sign that paper to release the mail, then I won't create a fuss about that since she is paying it, but it feels wrong that she was able to do it since that is messing with something that was addressed to my address, not to my mother's! But so far, I am going to let it go. I nearly have enough money to pay the last bills now, except for the stone & I personally don't care if the stone ever gets changed. I have put in $3,000 and to date the only sibling that has put in anything is my sister - $20.

And that is the sad state of affairs concerning my mother's death.

Cruising with Audrey to the Bahamas - August 2009 - originally posted 2/27/10

We first met in Kansas City near the airport the night before we flew out to Miami - which was Thursday August 13, 2009. We flew out of KS City on August 14th. J drove A down & then I took her home afterwards before coming on home.

We had to be at the airport early! Then we are in the gate & hear a kid of about 12 sobbing horribly! We finally get on the plane late & find ourselves sitting in front of the family with the sobbing kid! Just before the door is shut, the parents take the kid & get off.

We arrive in Miami, get our car & drive to West Palm Beach to my in-law's house until Monday AM. A's friend L, who was also her maid of honor, meets us there. We have a wonderful relaxing visit. The girls & I even getting in their pool, me knitting on my 1st pair of socks, etc.

Monday, L leaves & then we leave. Our ship sails at 4 pm, I believe. We get to Miami, drop off the car, get a taxi to the docks, check our bags (1 duffle bag gets destroyed - the entire end ripped off, but I think they manage to find if not everything, then nearly everything! - including an ugly shoe that didn't belong to us!). Before the ship (Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas) sailed, we got our first mojito! That felt so decadent to me!

This cruise, we didn't have any sea days, Monday left Miami, Tuesday in Nassau, Wednesday in Coco Cay,, Thursday in Key West & Friday back to Miami. Even with wearing my knee brace, A & I managed to walk approximately 9 miles across Nassau & saw many terrific sites. We did a little shopping and then we stopped in a local restaurant & had a late lunch before heading back to the ship. Then we got another drink & went out onto the deck to relax as the ship sailed, until it started sprinkling on us.

Tuesday was Coco Cay - a privately owned island owned by Royal Caribbean. A wanted to snorkel, I was originally intending to try to walk the nature trail about it, but after she was stung by jelly fish several times & considering how much stress I had put on my knee the day before, we just decided to head back to the ship and then go & enjoy the massages that we had arranged for the day before. Of course when we got to the spa, we found out that had mistakenly put us down for the exact same things so while they had told us before that we wouldn't be able to be together for them at that time, they had actually put us into the same room. So we got it corrected on what we each wanted & it all worked out - I got scalp, neck, shoulder, back, foot & ankles massages - she got a total body exfoliation, milk bath, scalp, neck & shoulders, I believe.

Thursday was Key West. We walked a lot again while we found Hemingway's home, the Little White House and the Southern most point of the US. We even got to see the 6 toed cats of Hemingway's and then we had a late lunch & drinks at Sloppy Joe's before heading back to the ship.

Last year when we had cruised, we felt we had very rude & horrible tablemates & so we only tried eating dinner with them 2 of the nights, then gave up. This year, we had 2 great couples we shared a table with & we not only had dinner with them every night, we also all stayed at the table talking way after everyone else was leaving! The one couple had just gotten married on Saturday before we cruised & they were from Kansas City. The other couple was a longer married couple from WI, if I remember correctly.

Friday we caught a taxi to the airport & tried to get our tickets moved to standby so that we could leave earlier, but were unable to. So we spent a lot of the day in the airport in Miami. And we seemed to have some of the worst luck when it came to people on the planes! We ended up sitting with a couple who were having an argument! So when the attendant said they needed to move 2 young kids out of the exit row - A & I volunteered to take their places! Then we were also able to spread out a bit & enjoy ourselves.

We were late leaving Miami, so barely made our flight in Detroit - she ran ahead & I came behind because of my knee. We were the last ones on the flight I think, but we made it. We got into Kansas City, caught our shuttle, got the van & headed to her house in MO. Saturday morning, we got up, I got ready & headed to Iowa to visit my natural dad's youngest brother's family - got about 30 miles out & A had changed her mind, so I went back for her. Ended up not getting to my uncles as early as I thought, so a cousin & his wife had to leave, but we did get to see 2 aunts, 1 uncle and 5 cousins before we then headed back to A's. I got up early on Sunday & hit the road home. Made it home about 5 pm & was able to get the dogs before unpacking & getting ready to head back to work on Monday.


I can't wait until I can cruise again!

At long last! - originally posted 10/28/09

At long last, I am going to post something! We have had good news in the family in the past week or so. As I think you are all aware, J& A live in MO where he is in medical school and she is also a full-time student working on her accounting degree.

Well, this is the fall that J had to put in where he wanted to go for his rotation & originally we were hearing Phoenix area. I think mostly because there are more openings there. But then he came down to Wichita to check it out & shadow someone there. He liked it a lot, so came back to shadow at least 1 more time. Last week, J found out that he had gotten Wichita for his rotation!

During this, A started talking with some people from an accounting firm that has a branch in Wichita. She was invited down in August I believe for a somewhat informal type interview or screening to see if they were really interested in people. Originally, it would have been an internship, which seems to be how these firms usually get their employees - they recruit them as interns & then when the internship is finished, they hire them as employees, if they worked out well. So, then she came back for another in September & now a 3rd in October. And this time, she was offered a full-time position - bypassing the internship!

So J's rotation starts in June & A's new job starts in August and they will be just about 50 miles from us & in the same state that we are!

They are looking for a place to live now. We looked at a duplex on Monday evening that A likes, except for a couple things that are livable, if need be - the driving into the sun going to work & home from work could get old - especially with J pulling 16 hour shifts or so. And the 2nd item is that while the neighborhood leaves something to be desired, it is still better than the neighborhood they live in now - in fact, the questionable area isn't the immediate neighborhood, but rather the area 2-3 blocks over. It does sound like all the currently available duplexes are spoken for, but they are going to start some new ones before the end of the year that would be ready just prior to when A & J would be moving to the area. So it seems that the plan right now is to look for something on the east side of Wichita that would mean driving away from the sun in the mornings & evenings, and with maybe a bit better of a neighborhood. But if nothing is found within their price range, to get one of the new duplexes.

The other item of good news is that J, D's fiancé, has finally found a job that he seems to like again. He was let go from the local prison last winter after he objected to them checking on him after the huge snow that we had - or at least that is the story we heard. So he has worked several other jobs in the meantime to work, the most recent for a temp agency. Somehow, he found out that the Rice County jail needed an officer, so he started that job yesterday & so far he likes it & says that it is the type job that he likes. He had been at the prison for something like 10-15 years.

D is on vacation this week, but so far, I haven't seen a lot of him! Which between my job and keeping the gym open for E on Tuesday & Thursday in particular, it isn't that surprising.

We have been getting walls up around our desks at work in the past couple of weeks. We won't have a tent this winter!

Family, Birthday party & boxing - originally posted 3/22/09

Well, it has been an exhausting week around here.

Wednesday night Audrey & John arrived about 9 pm. We all met for dinner at the local Carlos O'Kelly's. Before heading there, I got a text from Diane asking if her boyfriend could join us - he usually works evenings with Friday & Saturday nights off, but he had taken a personal day from work. I feel like it is presuming too much to say that he did it so that he could meet her sister & bil, but it sure seems like that was the plan. And I think it went fairly well. Audrey was a bit frustrated that Diane hasn't even mentioned that she is dating Jeff to Audrey & then he was at a family gathering where she was tired the entire time. I am glad they met, but can see Audrey's point since this isn't the first time this has happened. Anyway, evidently Eddie & Erica were on the outs, so she didn't join us, but he finally did arrive just before 10 pm - he called, so we ordered for him & the entire meal was gone within 10 minutes of him arriving - not sure he tasted it at all!

Audrey had asked Erica to cut & color her hair while she was here, but Erica only had an appointment available at 3:30 on Thursday - so they decided that after our dinner, we would meet at the salon and she would cut Audrey hair & put in the highlights, then Audrey rinsed them out here at home. John decided to go with us so that he could see Erica and watch what happened. Audrey asked me to go - so I did. We finally settled down to sleep a bit about 2-3 am.

Up at 5:30 am, but fell back to sleep & didn't wake up until 7:30 am - so plans didn't work out for Audrey to get Don to go for coffee with her before he went to work so that she could spend some time with him. But John got up & headed out for his dentist appointment scheduled for 9 am - eveidently they put Audrey first, but he took the 9 am appointment time & then she was there to take the 10 am time slot. After John's, he headed to Wichita to shadow the head of the rotation department at the hospital there that he is looking at as one of his options for his rotation in 2010 (he really liked what he saw!). Audrey came back home after her appointment and we chatted a bit, then decided to go to lunch at Lone Star where we both had a salad (helped make up some for the mexican food the night before and all the chips & salsa we consumed while waiting for everyone to arrive - I had met Diane, the grandkids & Jeff there at 8 pm - so was there for over 2 hours total myself). Then we decided to head to Wichita where we were t meet the photographer from their wedding 4 years ago and pick up the pictures Audrey had finally managed to order on one of her visits home. Turns out the law office that she works in is in the same shopping center as the restaurant we were meeting John & their friend Omar at for dinner. After several drives back & forth while we tried to find the law office, we finally found it, John was finished & followed us, so they both were able to chat with her (she just loves them & talks all the time about how easy they were to work with and how beautiful their wedding was).

Omar went to West Point with John and then lived across the hallway from them before they bought their house while still in Highland Falls, NY. So there was a lot of catching up for them all to do. I was enjoying just being with them & so was pretty quiet - which Audrey has commented on several times, but I told her I don't get a lot of adult conversation in my life where I can just sit & relax!

Headed back home about 9 pm, with a quick stop at Wal-mart in Wichita (after a search online, I found that Crest Pro Health toothpaste has a cinnamon flavored one that is also for sensitive teeth - so I was searching for it & found it!). A & J hit the road headed back to Kirksville, MO just 24 hours after arriving in Hutchinson. I was so tired already, but couldn't really sleep until I knew they were home, so dozed off & on while waiting for the text that arrived about 2:30 am - then slept until 6 am before getting up to get ready for the day at work. Had not worked Thursday since R was kind enough to give me the day off without me even really asking - I had asked to leave early to drive A to Wichita.

D had been talking about having a birthday party for A since A's 9th birthday on February 5th. But since A wanted to have a trip to the bigger zoo in Wichita for her party, it needed to be a day with a good weather forecast. So it had been postponed a few times. Thursday night, I texted her while driving back from Wichita, to see if she had firmed up the plans yet. Got the message Friday morning after arriving at work, that yes, she had & that yes, she wanted me to bake & decorate the cake, if I still could. Since the party supply store that I get all my colorings & such from would be closed by the time I got off work and wouldn't re-open until 10 am Saturday with an 11 am party time - it wasn't in the options to get anything that I didn't already have at home - so I thought about it off & on all day at work. Trying to figure out something I could do for her cake that wouldn't require anything other than a trip to the grocery store for eggs & such to bake the cake & that she still would like. Then about 1-2 pm it hit me - she likes to machine knit with me! She has a couple of knitting machines that are kept here at my house. One of which is a pink & purple Singer. So I realized that if I did a little cutting of cake pieces, I could duplicate it pretty good and make a knitting machine cake for her. I think it turned out well and even though while I was at the grocery store, she called and was asking me to do horses & dogs on the cake, I think she liked it (we explained that I couldn't get the necessary materials to do the horses & dogs before her party). I was so tired on Friday that I baked the various pieces I would be using, but set the alarm early & got up to do the actual decorating Saturday morning.

At 11 am Saturday, we all met at the South Hutchinson McDonald's (so D, who had to be at work at 4 pm, could be there for at least part of the party). D had decided that instead of arranging a birthday party at the zoo itself, she would take the kids out to eat first, have cake & then go to the zoo, while buying a 1 year family membership which would allow them all to go more times this year for just the cost of gas & maybe eats - which was cheaper than a party there would have been. So about 1 pm, we headed out to Wichita - T & C driving with me, A & her friend J driving with D & J (J's girls couldn't make it since they had plans with their mother - her birthday maybe). I had to be back here by 5:30 pm, so knew I would have to leave earlier than everyone else to be back on time. We made it most of the way through the zoo before I had to leave - left the barnyard area until last since it usually take a lot of time for some reason & then I think they were taking the kids out for dinner before heading back.

I made it back to the house about 5:15 pm, so could get the dogs out to do their business before heading down to help with pre-bout physicals before the boxing show started. Good thing too - the nurse who normally does them evidently couldn't be there & one of the Golden Gloves officials wife, who is retired, did them, but she wasn't feeling well - so she was counting on me being there - I organize the passbooks - getting them matched together according to the order the fights are to go in & pairing them with their opponent, etc. I also write in the readings she gives me & since I used to work as not only a CNA, but a CMA, I am familiar with the format that needs to be used and some who might volunteer just aren't - so it takes more time to bring them up to speed. Plus, I have been helping out this way for about 2-3 years now.

I did stay to see all the fights this time - even though I was tired! Got home about 10:30 last night and sat down to drink a glass of wine (which A & J had brought me - a red wine that is kind of sweet and it is formulated to allow it to be chilled - something I like) - didn't even finish the entire glass before I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up at 8 am & Don still wasn't home - he had worked a 16 hour shift.

So now it is Sunday & I am trying to decide if I just want to rest today or if I want to go for a long walk before going to my cardio kickboxing class this afternoon. I am leaning really hard towards the former!

Original comments:

2 comments:

1. 
   Mamma has spokenMarch 22, 2009 11:21 AM

   Wow that is a busy past few days!!!! After all that I would vote for resting on the couch the rest of the day, forget doing anything else!!!

   
   
2. 
   Cindy/KSMarch 22, 2009 11:58 AM

   So far that seems to be what I am doing. I have my jammies on, D is asleep & I am to wake him a bit after 3 so that he can head back to work. I put lotion on my feet & my aloe infused socks are on (it's a bit chilly, but don't want to close the window!) and I have been reading a bit on the computer - haven't even managed to watch the dvd that I put in.

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!

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!

Monday or the day after Father's Day

It's Monday!  Not sure if this is my least favorite or my most favorite day of the week!  I have always hated having to get up & go to work on a Monday morning since I started back to working in 2002.  But on the other hand, if I don't have anywhere I have to go, then it is my first day of quiet after a weekend of activites!  Which kind of makes it my favorite day.  I can kind of ease into the week that way!

Today it is a nice breezy morning!  Weatherbug is telling me it is about 76 degrees F right now, I am sitting in front of a south facing window with a cool breeze coming in!  It sure beats the 90+ degrees that it got to yesterday & every now & then I get the impression of a droplet of water hitting my skin, so maybe we will get some more rain!  I would love a nice slow rain.  Not the fierce rain we got Saturday morning about 5 am, but one that just drizzles so that it really has time to soak into the oh so very, very dry soil around here!

Yesterday was Father's Day here in the US.  Both of my fathers are deceased, but my dh's father is still living.  He just turned 84 last month.  So we both talked to him on the phone.  I did send a card from us, but it is late since I didn't get to the store & get it in the mail until Saturday & he lives in southern FL.  Dad has hearing loss, so it is a bit difficult to talk on the phone at times, especially for things like giving him an email address for photos to be emailed to.  So I got off the phone & sent him an email explaining it that way better.  We have 2 email addresses that are interconnected through our ISP - 1 is a yahoo.com address that we have had for years & the other is a sbcglobal.net address that came about when we got DSL.  They are connected & at least when we first set up with DSL they said that the 2nd address would disappear about 30 days or so after we discontinued the service.  Which I may do eventually.  But in the meantime, I usually give out the yahoo.com address since it will definitely stay around.  And it is a combination of our names & our zip code, so easy enough usually to explain to someone & I feel easier for them to remember because of that.  But with someone with a hearing problem, the numbers don't always come across easily over a phone.  And I don't think I had ever explained how sending something to 1 of the email addresses meant that it automatically was being sent to the other as well, unless we do give up the DSL.  But recently, I noticed that it seems AT & T are saying that we can keep the other email anyway for free, even if we do give up the DSL.  But we did get the pictures from their recent trip to Chicago.  We do still need to get pictures from their trip to KS last month.  And I need to send them the few I had on my camera, which I haven't done yet.

Anyway, yesterday morning, I think before 8 am, my dh was out mowing our yard - on Father's Day even!  So even though I usually am not a morning person & not a breakfast person - as long as I never eat anything, I usually don't even think of food until late afternoon, which is a good thing, I think, since once I think of it, I want to nibble the rest of the day!  That wasn't an issue when I was younger, but since I had my kids, it has been an issue!  Anyway, my dh is a morning person & is a breakfast person, so I decided that since I had some bacon in the freezer, eggs in the fridge, etc., I would be nice to him for Father's Day & make him a good breakfast.  I made up bacon, eggs & biscuits from scratch.  I even cooked the eggs over-easy like he likes them!  Then he went back outside & mowed some more!  Later in the day, our oldest granddaughter A. called to see if we would want to come over for a BBQ supper that they were organizing.  Which we did!  D. & I stopped to pick up some chips to take for our contribution, while our daughter & the grandkids pulled together hamburgers, hot dogs, mac & cheese, beans & salad as well as taking my idea last month of homemade ice cream sandwiches a bit farther & making individual ones instead of bars to be cut later.

D. was tired after all the mowing, so didn't want to stay long, so we came back home a couple hours or so later & while watching TV, I decided to finally finish a macrame plant hanger that I had made a few months ago & was using, but which hadn't turned out quite right.  When I had changed from 1 place of knots to another making the portion for the pot to sit in, I had worked the knots too close together, so it wouldn't fit down into it.  So I had been using it since I needed it, but I had never cut off the strands at the bottom to totally finish it.  I finished it about midnight last night.

Last Friday was the day that I took the 2 newest granddaughters (their dad married our daughter nearly 2 years ago) for an overnight visit.  I don't keep them for the entire weekend like I do with the other 3 grandchildren, because I don't want to take up their dad's time with them, but so that they can feel included, I do take them for an overnight.  I am considering splitting them up though so that they can each spend 1 night with me.  I know it will mean that since I only do this every other weekend that it would be 10 weeks between each of the kids visiting & the other 3 kids are already feeling that they are losing time with me, it seems more fair to change it.  Yes, the 3 natural grandkids used to get to spend 1 night every 3 weeks with me - I took 1 at a time for 1 night every weekend, then when they moved farther away, I changed it to 2 nights every other weekend, so once every 6 weeks for 2 nights instead of 1 night every 3 weeks.  Then when we added in the other 2, it became every 8 weeks.  But I think the 2 other girls would love to have their own special time alone even if it's only 1 night & the other kids probably won't notice as much now that we have done it this way for a while.  Anyway, it was hot last Friday & I didn't feel like making pizza like we usually do on Friday night when I get the grandkids, so we went with homemade sub sandwiches & chips!  We also rented 2 movies from Redbox - Zookeeper & We Bought a Zoo.  The girls both loved them!  It may have been about the 3rd or 4th time I had seen these 2 movies though!  Then Saturday morning, our plan was to be up really early & have them back to dad for their ball practice, but I woke up to it raining really hard at about 5 am, so considering that & the fact that we had already had rain on Thursday as well, I knew there would be no practice.  So we took our time getting around & dropped them off about 10 am, I think.

So now, I am ready for a quiet Monday with the house to myself & the 2 dogs.  I will even be happy if all stays nice & quiet so that my male pom doesn't decide he needs to bark at everything!

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!