sherriknits

Does anyone else out there use their blog to remind themselves of events in their lives that they don’t necessarily blog about?  I’ve done it occasionally and have found it to be quite helpful to me.

Today was a day I want to remember and a picture speaks more than a thousand words. 

The “rock” is the part I’m not going to talk about here, but it’s incredibly meaningful to me today. 

The bracelets I will discuss.  They are a little treat to myself and I love them.  They were cheap, too.  Aren’t they fun?

I haven’t knit in 3 days.  I want to but I’ve been tired and have had too much going on.  I want to work on Francie, but I can’t figure out where I’m at on it….ohhhhhh, I hope I don’t have to start tinking back until I can figure out where I left off.  Today I just don’t want to figure it out.  I could work on my shawl but I dropped a stitch when moving it over to lace needles and I don’t feel like figuring that out either. 

Tomorrow I will be getting some yarn to start the BYOB pattern from Knitty.  It is the first bag that has spoken to me in a long time.  I hope the fact that at least 3 friends of mine are wanting to start it gets me moving along on it, too.  I tend to get bored on bag patterns even though I love them.

Everyone is gone but the little imp and I…he’s watching every tv he can manage to get started (what is it that fascinates him about that?) and I have bookkeeping I really need to get at, but I don’t want to.  Hmmm, sounds like I don’t want to do much of anything, huh!

Ok, I’m cracking the whip on myself….see ya later. 

Today took quite an unexpected turn.  I was looking forward to a day at home, I planned to get something done in this house and just have a quiet day.  Not to be.  Last night I got a call from the little imp’s therapist reminding me of his appointment today. I thought it was next week. 

This morning I tried to take a little bit of time to relax after a rotten night’s sleep so I wouldn’t be stressed out on the hour drive.  I decided to move my shawl to my lace needles.  I didn’t realize my lace needles were unoccupied.  Well, I knit a row and moved the shawl and managed to drop 2 stitches…but no worries, I’ll fix that when I knit the next row.  I’m excited because the next colors coming up are purple and lavender.  I love how Noro does their colors, the lavender pops.

Next time you’ll see a definite change.

Today was wildly rainy and windy.  It was a horrible drive up to therapy. 

Can you see the capital in the distance?  This picture didn’t really capture the weather but it was so wild out that I wanted to get a picture.

At least it’s a beautiful drive.

After therapy we ran several errands and the little imp really got a kick out of walking down the street under an umbrella together.  We had to park a block away from the shop we were going to only to watch ALL the parking places in front  open up as we walked up.  haha.  He thought it was great fun and while we were in the shop, it poured buckets and then there was a lull long enough for us to get to the car.

I tell you, the rest of the country is experiencing a horrible heat wave and we are mid-50s and never-ending rain and wind.  I did see on the news tonight that we’re supposed to be getting nice weather.  We already had 2 nice days this year.  lol  Seriously, I’d probably rather have this than the horrible heat and storms they are getting.

We did get to meet up with the mama and papa-to-be.  They both have horrible colds.  They were going to the mid-wife appointment and wanted to connect up for a little sit down visit at Barnes and Noble.  It was pleasant.  I love watching the little imp and his brother-in-law hanging out together. 

When we got home we had to finish cleaning out the RV as the owners are taking it tomorrow.  It’s funny, we had that great week away in it, trying to rest up from the wedding.  When we got home I wiped out unloading it in the pouring rain.  Then it’s just easy to let the last little bit go for weeks because we had time to do it…and the funny part is, I can never figure out the locks so I can’t get into it if the fancy struck me to get it cleaned.  It took us less than half an hour. I took all my handy dandy green cleaning supplies out there and scrubbed away to the sweet scent of rhubarb.

I love this stuff and I really don’t mind cleaning the RV…funny how that doesn’t transfer to the house!  :-s 

My mom called me today to tell me that a lady she knows sent to Michigan for some Finnish toast that I grew up on.  It’s hard to find in this area and my siblings and I LOVE it dunked in coffee.  I’m bummed that we have no coffee in the house but I did eat 2 pieces while taking a picture.

I was so happy that even though I got back to town too late to pick it up from her, it appeared here anyway.  Not sure how, but I’m happy to have it and plan to run to Starbucks in the morning! 

And last but not least…the matches are out for Secret Pal 12 and I’ve heard from mine and contacted the one I get to spoil.  I’m so excited, I have never done this before and am excited to participate.  My pal sent me a Hoops and Yoyo card…adorable!  She must have investigated enough to see that I love them.  I have a little friend (2nd grader) who visits me occasionally and that’s what we do together…we watch them at Hallmark.  I hadn’t seen this one so that was really fun!  Wooohoooo!  This is going to be great fun!

We had 2 storm warnings for this weekend but so far they have not materialized.  I have to say thank God!  Some of us actually got warnings by telephone…the concern was mainly that since so many roofs had tarps and so many trees have loosened, there could be damage from even a 50 mph wind.  I tell you, it is still so shocking when we drive around the area and see all the sawed off fallen trees or blue tarped homes.  For the most part, we’re doing fine, but this has definitely taken an emotional toll on the community.

Last night, we went to a wedding.  It was very sweet, the bride was a doll.  It’s so fun to watch these kids grow up and then walk down that aisle.  This little bride actually majored in mechanics.  She made a very beautiful bride, but I had to ask her to show me her shoes!

How cute is that?

Tonight, we went to our children’s play at church.  The play was written in mid October and then we lost all that time due to the storm, but I think it was the cutest thing we have ever done.  It was a tv news program following events of the birth of Jesus. 

Here are 2 shepherds wandering around before it started.

I have to say, it was heartwarming to see all of the children who helped keep one sweet shepherd on task.

Here are newscasters Katie Suric and Barbara Falters…

It was just shocking how well these kids did.  These girls had so many lines to learn and they had to do a little bit of ad libbing but they were so professional, it was adorable.  We had roving reporters and some of the kids were 4 and 5 years old and said these big lines.  It was soooo cute.  Even though it was funny, it was all done with so much respect.  We had some videotaped portions and some live, it was really hard to tell what was what because the live interviews were shown on the big screens just like the taped ones.  Some of the scenes were taped outside in the dark with flashlights.  Gosh, what a hit!

This is most of the cast during some of the songs. 

Here’s a closeup of the object of our interest.

As the kids all gathered around the manger, one little shepherd got a little distracted and no one noticed.  He’s standing by the open door…and spent most of his time smiling at his family.  Yes, that’s big brother looking at the camera.

The house was packed and we heard rave reviews afterwards.  They even had a little reception line for all the stars.  The little red-headed girl was the flower girl in our wedding last summer.  Those are her handsome big brothers.

Ahhhh, it’s all over, now the good stuff.

No, I’m not losing my mind.  haha

2 heartwarming little stories:

• Some of the power companies who sent crews requested that they now return home.  The workers said no, they can’t.  The people here still need them.  So they stay.
  • Those same workers marvel at the resiliance of the people in the community.  Even when they have had no power for 5 days, they bring them coffee and donuts.  So, we are blessed by them, they are blessed by us. 
• Our friends began to move out of their house today.  Someone has given them a house to stay in and they are figuring out how to get their internet hooked up and all that fun stuff.  $10 to change it to the new house.  $45 for one month of cable since they are used to satellite.  Not so bad.  But that’s not the cute story.
  • People wen tto help them move their stuff today.  There were so many people that they told hubby not to come (he did anyway).  They had gotten their tree literally about an hour before the storm.  The wife/mom was lamenting that they bought and decorated their tree and she didn’t do laundry or dishes and they lost their power immediately after decorating the tree.  Some friends went to their house today with a trailer, put the tree on it and put a bag over it and moved it fully-decorated to their new house.  Is that cool or what?

We went on our date tonight and it was fun.  We went to the mall and saw several people we knew and heard lots of stories.  Some had power now, some not.  What a sense of community, though.  This young kiddo we’ve known since he was months old, he is now about 16, stopped and talked to us for about 20 minutes.  I don’t think in all the time I’ve known him he ever talked that much.  We all just need to connect.

I so wish I could get pictures of some of the stuff I saw tonight but it was dark.  The power trucks are out on the highway working.  And a sad one…this really cool restaurant that has been around forever…used to be really good, then went downhill, then new owners about 2 years ago brought it back and we have never driven by but what the parking lot was jammed. It’s out in the middle of nowhere.  On Monday, crews were there working and suddenly they heard a sound like a freight train and suddenly someone screamed “RUN!” and a huge wall of water and mud came cascading down the hill and totally demolished the restaurant.  Last night the news said the insurance will not cover the loss, now totalling a million dollars.  (not sure how that is, but that’s what they said).  We could barely see it when we drove by.

And listen to this.  There are some construction companies who are going to houses who lost their roof and for free putting tarps on them … the tarps are being provided free by Home Depot!

A grocery store has been giving out free ice.  An employee told me today that they are going to give a one-time coupon to everyone for 20% off all groceries so people can get back on their feet.  *smile smile smile*  It is so heartwarming.

Anyway, most of what we are seeing is the kindness of others.

I promise I will stop talking about this soon, still trying to sort through it all.  I do hope to pick up some knitting needles sometime soon!!

It was over 80 degrees here today and supposed to be the same tomorrow. 

No knitting today, for some reason, I was just wiped out.  I went to first service at church today.  Hubby and kids were on the worship team this week…it’s the first time back after 3 Sundays being gone on vacation!  I go to first service but stayed halfway through 2nd just standing outside visiting with a friend.  Fun.

The little imp and I drove through McDonald’s to get him something to eat and we came home to watch the rest of the Mariner’s game.  hmmmm…we finally won one!  I’m not a fair-weather fan, but it was nice to get a win after 9 losses!  Not sure what happened there, we were on a roll for quite awhile.  While I watched the game, I attempted to remove my nail tips I had put on for the wedding.  I had them filled twice and they were just too thick to be able to use my computer or much else without being a bit of a hassle.  I got them off but my nails look like I bite them…not too bad but not too great.  I definitely will get them again some day and maybe next time I’ll let them take them off for me.  lol

I asked if we could go for a drive since it was so beautiful out, hubby was helping #1 son put speakers in his van.  By the time he was ready to go, I had fallen asleep.  We did drive to the beach, though.  Just the 2 of us.  #1 son took the little imp to get a hair cut.  His girlfriend is a hair dresser and she bought him some gel and taught him how to do his own hair.  Cute.

Most of the time if we get a warm day here, the beach is freezing but not so today. 

It was calm and warm.  We drove on the beach for awhile and then when we came off the approach,  we saw deer in the dunes but I couldn’t get a picture….just a few feet up the road, look what we saw.

There were 2, the other one was already off the road and they were in no hurry to get out of anyone’s way.  I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago when I was downtown at my shop, in the middle of the afternoon I saw a deer run by on the sidewalk!  It was so scared and sliding on the sidewalk, I have no idea how it had come from the direction it had come on a busy street coming from the busier street.  It turned the corner and since I was heading out to my car, I drove around the block but it was gone.  We’re a few blocks from the river going the other direction but this poor thing was just lost and scared.  We see them in our neighborhood quite often, too.

We drove up the coast a few miles.  It was just too pretty.

We had to get home, though, because the little boy was being delivered home and we’ve been pushing our luck lately with getting to get away for a few hours here and there.

I guess I should let you see the new haircut!

Isn’t he just the happy camper?  Believe it or not, this is an attempt to smile.  lol

What a wild few days and a few more to come.  I am not sure I can even remember yesterday.  I do know we ran errands all day long but I seriously cannot remember what I did.  I do remember coming home, though, and as we drove up were greeted with this!

Batchelorette party in action.  Each girl took the bride to a place that had meaning to her.  We were excited to get to see part of it. 

Here is this memory being shared.

And off they go.

Today we spent much of the day decorating.  Getting tablecloths on the tables was a bigger job than I thought.  Lots of help, though.

Everyone helped.

The little guy disappeared.  There is very, very rarely a time that we aren’t aware of where he is.   When the farm hand came in and asked if he could take him for a tractor ride, we were all so amazed.  He’d made a friend, which is not unusual.

Can you see how the gentleman is showing the little guy how it all works?  He had a ball!

I think he didn’t mind so much that he had to spend the day here!

We didn’t make it back to town in time to go get the soft-serve ice cream machine (an hour and a half away)  but we did go back to the bulk grocery store an hour away to get all we needed and hubby has to get up early and be at the rental place at 8.  When we got back to town, we went back out to the ranch and look what we walked in to see.

She had turned all the lights on and was sitting there alone just looking at it all.  I forgot to take a picture from the back showing the chairs.  Everything is still in the rough stages, but we have lots of help arriving tomorrow.

As we left, it was so beautiful.

I can’t believe I have the energy to post this but needed a quiet time to myself. 

Oh!  I almost forgot!  I got my Ravelry invite today!  I signed up for it when they first announced it, but hadn’t heard yet and heard they were letting people in in big chunks so I re-signed up.  Not sure which one I finally got in on, but it’s pretty cool!  I really don’t have time to check it out yet, but go look!

Today was the last kind of not busy turned busy day this week.  The rest are just plain busy. 

This morning it occurred to me that we had to get the sequins tightened back up on the dress because it is headed to the bridal shop tomorrow for steaming.  I called the girl who said she’d help me and she said she could come if it could be ‘right now’.  She’d had every intention of calling me to find out when she could help and got busy and forgot, too.  I am so grateful that she came so quickly.  She fixed the dress and the bridesmaid’s dress that the lace had ripped on.

Then we headed out to the ranch to check it out again.  We had every intention of doing the ceremony in the field….

We even had a few practice runs of the boy walking me in.  (how am I going to keep from crying?)

Then we went in the barn…

(see how strong he is?)

As we walked around planning for the reception, my sister had this brilliant idea.  I think the whole thing may take place indoors now.  It’s a good thing because it is threatening to rain and we have a violin and cello that cannot be out in the open.  They are willing to sit in a little portable tent, but who wants to sit in the rain?  There is a chance the weather will move forward and be nice, but it may solve a lot of hassle to do it indoors.  We won’t have to drag the chairs up and the people won’t have to walk on the uneven ground.  They can even drive right up to the barn doors.

The hay bales will be stacked however we want them and the wagon will be outdoors.  I guess some people have left it in though so people can get up there to speak.  Since there isn’t much of that, I doubt we’ll leave it there.

I had to leave there in a rush to get to my nail appointment.  That was interesting.  Quick, though. 

This evening, I got a phone call and went out on our deck and as I was talking, I see a little boy’s name written on the side of the house!  I didn’t realize he would choose to write out his last name, too.  When questioned, he told me the bad guys did it…he didn’t.  Of course, that didn’t go over.  He didn’t get ice cream tonight until he confessed.  So, guess what he got to do?

This isn’t very clear, because it flashed in the window, but you can see how happy he was to be doing this.

Blessings of the day:  I had several friends call and e-mail offering their help in any way.  I also had a friend e-mail and almost insist that I borrow her iPod!  Aren’t friends the best? 

This morning I got up early and headed out of town to find ribbon for the jars for the flowers for the table.  lol  The bride and I found some really cool lantern type candleholders at JoAnn’s….and the great thing is that they were 60% off!

I then went to my sister’s house and we spent hours tying ribbons on jars.  I could not believe that we had almost exactly the amount of ribbon that we needed for the jars.  The last few, I use 3 strands of skinny ribbon on the big jars and they were cute.  We used lots of different kinds of ribbon. 

I left there to race home so hubby could go to work for a short time.  I have spent hours and hours tonight trying to get my email configured on my home computer.  I think I mentioned that this computer is brand new.  No one will ever use Outlook Express but me anyway.  I had to talk to 2 tech support people to get help getting them configured.  I have forgotten so many of my passwords so I spent time getting them set up also.

I called to find out why I did not get my mailing label for my iPod.  Apparently they sent it, but I never got it.  Therefore, I get to wait another 24-48 hours to get another.  I am not a happy camper.  I called to ask them about that, then I asked if this was the number I talk to to get my laptop repaired.  lol   They had to send me to another number.  After I did everything the lady told me to do, she determined it needs to be sent in.  I had almost finished giving her all my info and the phone went dead on her end.  I waited awhile to see if she’d call back, I wonder why I thought she would.  I’m glad I wrote down the number so I didn’t have to call the iPod number again.  I got a guy who finished the call and I think the news isn’t that great after I told him the other issues I was having.  There is a good chance I can get my hard drive backed up before I send it in, though…and that is good news although I will have to pay for it.  It will save me months of work, though.  I hope I learned my lesson on backing things up!!!!  He said they may just replace my laptop, which does not thrill me in the least because it won’t be the same thing at all.  I am really bugged.  I think I want an Apple like my daughter’s.

I had a very long talk tonight with the mother of the groom.  My cell phone died while I was talking to her, though.  It doesn’t seem like my week when it comes to electronics!  I am the gadget girl and this is so amazing to me that I am having as much trouble as I am. 

But…I can laugh and I can count my blessings!  And you know the cool thing that happened to me today?  A friend offered to pay for me to have tips put on my nails!  I have never done that before.  She just wanted to bless me.  I cry these days at the drop of a hat, mostly good tears.

No pictures today, I am too lazy to get down on the floor to attach my camera to the tower.   I might not get back up! 

The wedding date is coming fast (next weekend) and in one way it feels like things are under control and in another…yikes! 

In sock progress, I am halfway through the cuff and this time around, the pattern just ‘clicked’ and I don’t have to give it much thought any more.  I can’t really knit it without the chart in front of me, but it makes sense now.  I am not going to post a picture here because the progress isn’t enough to really waste the space.  I am enjoying it, though…but I’d really like to see this pattern in a solid color because I think it’s too pretty to be lost in the multi-colored yarn.  I am convinced, though, that I won’t knit Tofutsies in anything bigger than a 0.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the surprise opportunity to knit for awhile with a friend.  We didn’t have too much time, but I really enjoyed it.  That’s one nice thing about my ‘job’, I get to sit and knit with people.  Then today, 2 more friends came and spent the afternoon with me.  I am not sure I even knit one row even though I started to.  I think we were trying to solve the yarn problems of the world, not sure if we did or not.  All of us were so tired that I’m sure we made sense to each other.  lol  I like being able to just ‘be’ with people.

I don’t have much to share today but last night, I tried to snap a picture of the sunset through the car window.  It doesn’t really do the sunset justice.  I was knitting on the way home in the car (an hour ride) and I started noticing how beautiful the sunset was.  I told hubby that I see life so differently since I got my new camera.  Maybe some day I will learn to take better pictures.  This one doesn’t qualify but you can still tell how pretty it was.

And now, hours after I started this post, I am trying to wind down for the night but I just got off from a 3 hour phone conversation and then about an hour of talking to hubby.  Right now, I feel like my life is such a journey.  We are healing for a very difficult time in our lives and because of the wedding, I got a phone call from a dear friend needing to find a ride so she can attend.  In talking to her, I was able to see the tremendous healing that has happened in my life over the past 6 months.  God is good and He knows what we need.  The journey that I am seeing is so positive because I can actually measure growth in myself and see that a sense of value is returning and a peace is settling over my life once again.  I know I have a long way to go and so many people I know also are walking that road, but healing is coming and I love the idea of walking forward together.   Isn’t that what life is about, though?  Always walking along the road of life, ever seeking to be better than we were before?

So, in life, I also have to tink and sometimes frog…but I can still move forward, enjoying the journey and coming out with a finished product, persevering until I get it right.  Will the parallels between my knitting life and my life in general never cease?  I love that. 

I did but I ended up getting sick.  We went to the coast and I froze most of the way there.  I felt so yucky that we were barely there for any time and just came back home.  The family had fun and told me they enjoyed spending the time anyway.  We rode down with the big boy with us, the others in the Jeep. Then the girls rode home with me while the boys were all in the Jeep.  Dad had to sit in the back seat because the boy has claimed the passenger seat, no matter who is driving.  I didn’t think to get a picture because I felt rotten, but it was cute. 

The big boy helped me do this:

Next time I will pay attention to the background…there were a lot of other places I could have had him stand!  lol  And, notice the dogs?  There are 5 yipping dogs who live next door who bark like this, often at 1 a.m.!  They are the reason I invested in an iPod, I fall asleep listening to a book and they don’t bother me as much.

I was so, so shocked!  My family surprised me with a new set of dishes.  I had commented that I would love to have some of these some day (this is what the bride in the family is getting) because they are so fun.  I thought maybe in a few years after we are done with weddings, I’d start picking up a few place settings at a time.  Well, they got me a good start…service for 6! Not all shown here and forgive the sloppy picture, some were being used and I just plain don’t feel good enough to do it any other way.

We drove to the coast and I visited the yarn shop

Where I got this:

(When I feel better, I am going to re-wind it because I thought it was kind of a sloppy job the lady did.) 

I had to get a picture of the boy at the end of the Oregon Trail.

All in all, a great day.  I am so grateful for my kids…and hubby.  And now I am going to snuggle back under my blankie.