sherriknits

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!

Well, today we finally made the trip to try on the tux for real.  It is on it’s way for alteration and to get the ivory shirt we had ordered.  Big brother went along and the little imp really loves to imitate.

He loves his new ’suit’

He worked hard at cooperating. 

Let’s see, what else is going on today.  I did lots of forward-backward-forward knitting on the sock.  I am ready to be doing something else, but I did start the heel flap tonight.

And the weather today?  I hope it changes by next weekend or we’re having an indoor wedding!

I came home from work and found this in the refrigerator.

It was just so colorful, I had to take a picture.

And now for the sad news.  Right now, I am on the new computer we got yesterday for my work.  That in itself is exciting but I had to find all my disks to get any photo editing software on here.  I also found the kids had not put any anti-virus on here so I did that, too.

But why am I on this one?  I left tonight for a short time to take the little imp to buy a Father’s Day card and when I came home, my laptop was DEAD!  Nothing I do will make it start.  It did this same thing when it was a few months old and they sent someone to fix it.  Now it is in the extended warrantee and I bet I get to send it to them now.  I did all kinds of bookkeeping today and I did not back up my work and to be honest, I can’t remember the last time I did.  Shame on me, I know.  I am so bummed out.  Do you realize how much stuff is locked inside your computer?  Not to mention I had to figure out how to get into my domain stuff since they give me a bizarre user name consisting of very random letters.  I can’t figure out how to get into my shop’s email so I’ll have to call them on that one.

And to add to it, I am really mad about my iPod.  They are in no rush to get my mailing label e-mailed to me so I can return the defective iPod they sent me.  I have been without it for over a week and whenever they decide to send me the label, I am looking at a week’s wait.  So much for the quick turnaround they told me about when I bought the extended warrantee on that one.  I use my iPod to fall asleep to, I have pretty big sleep problems and have found listening to books is the ticket for me.  I finally had to resort to the Ambien the doctor gave me months ago.  I do not like taking sleeping pills at all and was so happy with the solution I had found.

I am just a bit melancholy tonight, but I need to step back and count my blessings.  I know I have a lot to be thankful for and I need to choose to look at those things instead. 

At least I started knitting on the sock instead of playing with my laptop!  (although if the truth were to be known, I am pretty good at doing both at the same time!)   lol

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

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. 

We had a great time today, World-wide Knit in Public Day! 

I think there were about 10 of us off and on today hanging out together and knitting in a little coffee and popcorn shop.  Celia, the shop owner, was so gracious and really enjoyed having us because we were ‘well-behaved’.   She even stood on a chair to take our picture.

What I love about knitters is that they are so willing to help each other.  Here is Linda helping Patty figure out her gauge.  We all know who to ask for help because Linda is never without her calculator and ruler.  Amber and Bunni are just enjoying visiting with each other.

I loved seeing all the fellowship, too.  I posed the question that I wondered if there is any other kind of community out there that will draw together the way knitters do.  I am so amazed that people like Claudia can raise so much for MS and Stephanie for Tricoteuses Sans Frontières (Knitters Without Borders) which supports Doctors Without Borders.  We decided there must be other kinds of groups out there but we don’t know about them and they probably don’t know about us.  I’m proud to be part of something so big and caring, though.

Shanda, Julie, me, Pam and Amber towards the end of the day.

It was just so cozy.

I had fun learning to do a short-row heel…needs practice!  I was steered to a website by a new friend in Wisconsin and showed it to Julie who mastered it and is now teaching me.  Thanks, Julie and Sandy!   I need to be careful and not yank the needle out of the stitches, though.

All in all, a fun day. I left my phone on the counter at my shop with a note to call my cell phone.  I only had to leave once for that purpose and what was cool about that was I had several things happen when I was there so I took care of all my business at once and then got to go back and knit.  I may try that again later in the summer if we decide to sit outside when the weather is nice.

I even made progress on my Tofutsie sock.

I hope you got a chance to KIP at least for a little bit today!

Oops, I almost forgot….here is Saturday sky, and you can see why we sat inside today.

It is official, summer can begin.   It was a great day and I got a new camera!  We drove an hour and a half to pick it up and straight back home.  There was a little bit of a charge on it, so I held it over my head and got this shot, not bad, eh?

Then we have to have the road going by so we can check out the image stabilization

and then through the front dirty window

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

But, you may be asking, why can we let summer officially begin?  Because I had the pleasure of having my first “porch knitting” with a good friend.  I had 30 minutes to vacuum the cushions before she came and it was great.  I actually think we missed all of last year, so this was an awesome way to start the season.  After my camera charged, I played with it a bit.  This is a favorite little table that used to be bright white.  I kind of think it shows a lot of character these days, but I may repaint if I get ambitious.  It used to be a phone stand I guess.

(and guess what!  I love my cups with my new Fiestaware!)  I love how clear the pictures are, too.

Here are the friend socks hanging out together.  The white one was pre-frogging.  The pattern made the cables look a little odd because of the direction they went.  The sock is now back to this size and she was right, it was the ‘right thing to do’.  She didn’t take my advice and I’m glad.

Before my friend showed up, I measured my sock against the first sock and had an inch to go.  I don’t know how long we sat and knit, at least an hour, and when I measured again, I had an inch to go.  What’s that all about?  I actually did get to the heel flap tonight.  (after twice measuring and having two rows to go, measure again, still two rows!  lol)

We came inside to eat barbecued hot dogs and watch “Benny and Joon”.  What an odd, humorous movie! 

i will leave you with two questions…..

do you think it’s amusing when some people show their childhood fear of jack-in-the-boxes?  lol  it seemed to be great cause for giggling in this house tonight by two certain people.

and would you refuse to be walked home by someone who looked like this?

I’m not sure where this week went, but it was busy! 

Since I did not have my camera with me yesterday, I didn’t get a picture of Saturday’s sky, but here is today’s

Don’t let that blue mislead you, it’s raining. 

Hubby and I had a retreat Friday and Saturday at the most beautiful camp…and I forgot my camera!  I was more than a little upset over that.  This was a working retreat, but we had a great time.  If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you know we’ve gone through a very difficult time.  This weekend brought much healing … lots of tears, lots of affirmation, it was good.  During part of it, we had someone leading us in an exercise in active listening.  It was pretty funny.  As couples, one of us was supposed to bring up a subject to talk about and the other was to practice the listening steps.  It was really cool because I was able to look around the room and see active participation and it was pretty interesting.  That’s not what the retreat was about really, just a little section of it and I think it was my favorite part.  I think we do pretty well in our relationship at listening and communicating but we learned a lot about dealing with others.  I love spending time with people I love and respect and who aren’t afraid to show that they care and to laugh and cry together.  That’s not really what it was all about either, but it was significant to me personally. 

When we arrived at camp, we had cards taped on the door to our rooms.  When we read ours, the tears just flowed.  They were thank you notes from the staff at our church.  We haven’t had difficulty with any of these people, but they all wrote what they have seen in our lives as a result of what we’ve been through and I was so touched.  It’s funny how you don’t see it yourself. 

I guess all I can really say is God is so good and so faithful and when I look back, I can see so much good coming out of adversity.  I’m so thankful we are moving on and relationships have been so strengthened.

And now, I DID get a chance to knit a little.  I needed something that was mindless so hubby was more than a little happy that the socks I started for him back when life felt so tough came back out of the bag they were stuffed in and I managed to add a few inches to the 2nd sock.  It was so relaxing riding and talking and knitting.  I love practicing knitting without looking (you never know when you might need to do that!).  I only got ‘off’ a few times.

When we got home, the dear boy had gotten a hair cut from big brother’s girlfriend.  I convinced him to hold the socks-in-progress for me on the wet deck because the light was a little better out there but he kept complaining that it was soooooo cold out there.  Not cold at all, a bit wet but I was only asking him to stand on a dry spot.  lol  The payback is that he loves seeing his picture on here. 

The dog of course wandered by right then but what are you going to do…can’t ask that boy to freeze out there when it’s soooo cold!  lol

We got a text message when we were on our way home that sis and her boyfriend were taking the boy to see Pirates of the Caribbean because he was pretty upset at missing the midnight showing Thursday night.  lol  as if we’d have let him go.  I cannot even believe we let him ever see that movie, but I guess with older brothers and sisters, it was just inevitable when they buy the dvds and watch them at home.  I absolutely hate those kinds of movies, but that’s me, I guess.  But…bad news.  They were sold out, so they took him to see Shrek.  I guess they had an interesting time…our daughter is tiny and it’s hard when someone big sits in front of her.  Right before the movie started, you guessed it…a whole family of very tall people came in and sat down.  That wasn’t all, but it would be unkind to tell the rest of it so I’ll stop there.  However, the little boy commented the entire movie that big brother and girlfriend would take him to see Pirates today….the whole time! That was what he went to see and he let everyone know.

He got to do that this afternoon.  I am so thankful my older kids love taking him along whenever there is a new movie coming out.  Since he’s been home, he is talking about 3 dvds coming out so he can watch it at home.  (is it really going to be 3?) Once he’s seen it, he knows the next step is the dvds and as far as he’s concerned, they can do that now.

We found out something amazing that he’s figured out how to do.  He is incredibly smart when it comes to anything electronic.  He can find any trailer on internet when a new movie is coming out and will tell you constantly what date it is premiering.  (case in point:  High School Musical 2….coming soon to a theater near you!  He’s been telling us this for months and now apparently he knows the date but I can’t remember!)  Well, here is his new thing.  He figured out how to set reminders on the tv for one of his favorite shows and every time it comes on (at least three times today), it starts showing a reminder 2 minutes before and then it automatically switches to it!!!!!!!  Now how did he ever figure that one out!  He is also famous for putting the closed captioning on, he just loves that, and sometimes he changes the language on it.  I can never figure out how to get it off, and if he feels like being nice, he will do it for me.

Ok, I guess I have rambled enough.  I think I’ll consider knitting a bit for awhile.  Hope everyone is having a safe holiday weekend.

haha…where did that song come from?

I’m glad the week is over.  First of all, yesterday morning brought this cutie to the table:

That’s his favorite breakfast…french toast.  We heard him in the other room jabbering away.  He does his best talking to himself and we listen to get a clue what’s on his mind.  It used to really bother me, but his therapist told me this is fairly common and if we try to stop it, he will be very frustrated because it’s a way for him to express himself.  It will sometimes go like this, “Hi —–” “Oh, hi!” “How are you?”  “Fine.” “I want french toast for my birthday breakfast” “oh, cool!”  So, I decided if he’s thinking about french toast, then his tummy must be better and french toast it is.  He excitedly stood by me while I made it, picked his plate…and then sat there smiling and never ate a bite.  By the way, he gave me the yellow plate and he apparently assumes it is his.  (and it’s not his birthday yet, but that’s no reason to not have french toast if he wants it!)  I knew he was better though, because soon I saw him like this…

And the smile just did it all. 

I am on the heel of the sock, but I left it at work.  Here is something else on the needles though.

It might become a sweater.

I love seeing pictures posted on Saturdays for Saturday sky, so here are mine.

We woke up to cloudy, had rain here and there and I stood on the wet deck to take this at about 8:15 tonight.  We’re watching the Mariner’s and they had to close the roof tonight.

Have a great weekend!  We have the last bridal shower tomorrow afternoon.

OHHHHH…………….

I had one of the funniest emails I have had in ages the other day.  Since she didn’t leave it in my comments but emailed me insted, I have to share it here because I still haven’t stopped laughing:

“BTW, I hate to be the one to point it out but I think you have a serious
problem. If you’re knitting so much that your boy’s getting yarn-boogers, I
think you need professional help! Try this: http://www.knittersanonymous.com
:-)”