8 years

8 years ago today, John and I started dating.

8 years ago I could not imagine this house, many of my friends and my 2 beautiful children. What a wonderful 8 years! I look forward to the next 8 years, even though today is one of those days that will go down in history much like the night Diana died. The DOW fell 777 points, 1.2 Trillion Dollars, largest point drop in history, and one of our local banks, Wachovia, was taken over. What does that mean for the other bank in the area, Bank of America? It's all pretty downright surreal for me. What will the next 8 years look like? Where will time take us? I don't know. I could see it coming, believed it was coming, but still am surprised by it.
But I know I have a great family because of one little kiss, 8 years ago tonight. I know God put us together and held us there when we didn't want to be. I expect another great 8 years with my sweetheart and children. We are lucky John has a very stable job and that he's young enough that pension loss (if there is any) isn't catastrophic.

Tonight I count my many, many blessings.

Happy 8 years of Grand Adventure, honey... on to the next 8!

(PDL)

Prayers for all of you who are hurting tonight.

Riding the train!

Just our luck, we missed the train as we walked up! No big deal, or so I thought at the time. The next one broke down a ways down the track... and we waited over 40 minutes for the next one. Dory was so patient. I think it was just general train excitement. I was much less patient. We bought the ticket at 2:29, and that was after crossing the tracks and traffic after the last train left station. It was about 3:15 when we finally boarded. So much for every 12 minutes on Saturday.

Other than that, our trip to Downtown yesterday was fine. We went back to the SOKHOP convention after it being quite the fiasco the previous day. It was good, nothing to really report there.

Bug Ball

On Friday night we went the the Bug Ball at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens with Grandma Patty. We had a wonderful time!

Dory is always full of surprises... she did this:

(It's a Walking Stick. She asked to hold it.)


And then this:

(That's a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach there folks. She 'petted' it.)

But when we went to the conservatory...


She would not do this:

Go figure. My fearless little girl is afraid of sugar water on your finger.

We also decorated wings for Jack, decorated a pot for a butterfly plant, and had a grate time trying on bug glasses. It was a great evening!

RIP, Miss Zelda Mae

Grand's sweet, sweet 19 yr old kitty passed this morning after losing her battle with kidney failure.
She was a tiny little thing that had a taste for Canaries and antagonizing bigger cats.
She was a calm lap kitty who often was shy with new people.
She had a very sweet 'half "ow"' from a car accident as a kitten that in her last years developed into more of a normal meow again.
Most of all, she will be very missed because she was very loved.

To the ER we go!

Ok, on with my story… Missed knit night tonight. Spent it in the ER with Hubby. He is the proud new owner of an Epipen.

So, I was on the way back from the Tuesday Farmer’s Market and he called to ask where I was since he was locked out, not having taken his keys to work. I told him we’d be there soon and that he should pull some weeds….

Got home and found him limping. A fire ant bed lit him up with 40-50 bites. He was standing on it because he thought he was backing in the holly bush and getting pricked. He completely tough guy ignored it. I was supposed to walk right back out to knit night, instead went to get benadryl at the super close store. Once I got there, he called… and we knew it wasn’t going to be enough. By the time I got home he was at the neighbor’s with the kids and I got the benadryl in him and called 911. As the paramedics were looking at him debating on a transfer, the lights swam on him. Off we went. Whole body was swelling. Lips, eyelids, arms, neck… teeth were going numb.

Long story short… he’s lit up with benadryl, pepcid, prednisone and epinefrin… swelling is down and he’s snoring hard. He’s going to be completely fine, but on drugs for the next few days still. We all got back home about the time knit night was completely over, whole thing from when I got there to walking back in our door was about 3 hours. I gave him the fully earned hard time.

So… ER - yeah, fun evening. I think I did good to get the food shoved still in my bag into the fridge.

eta: John's Version

Come outside, the weather is perfect...

I set them out, and they did pretty well with it. I wish we had a fence so I could do this everyday! The weather was amazing, absolutely beautiful... about 74 and sunny. Amazingly, I actually got some housework done.

Shiver me timbers!

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Here be my Ravatar on Ravelry. Arrr....

First Day of ASL

Since we are homeschooling, when do you get that great traditional first day of school picture? I'm not sure. But, we are starting our first add on class of ASL and so, I took my chance in case this is it. So... there you have it, Dory's first day of 'school'. She was excited and it went really well. I feel really good about how many signs we already know, and we are going to practice finger spelling the ABC's now as well. I'm enjoying it, and I know Dory is too. Too bad it's only once a month right now! When she gets older it will be more frequent.

Happy Birthday Grandma Patty!

Jack and Daddy had a good time in the kitchen - Jack is quite the Monkey Man now, and will climb anything and everything! The age two antics are in full swing as of this last few weeks, its easy to see his birthday is right around the corner. We had a great day over at Grandmas house, and have all sorts of things coming up to do with Grandma still. ;-) Like a Tea and Chocolate pairing benefit Thursday evening!
John is leaving Wednesday for his annual Fish and Chips with the guys. He says he's going to be in a tent while the rest of the guys (other than Ted) will be in a cabin. Good luck... I bet he'll fall prey to temptation! Anyway, Grandpa is babysitting so Patty and I can attend the tasting/pairing. I'm pretty excited about it.

Dory painted Grandma two teacups and I knitted cozies for them. I drew frames around the pictures and even added a tiny plaque on the lower right hand side... then made them "Gallery Series" numbered editions on the bottom. I am super pleased with how they came out. They don't look like the traditional hideous kid scribble all over and actually seem pretty cool to me. But, I could be very biased on that. I don't know! Grandma loved the cups and said the only problem was that the cozies covered them up... of course!

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Adding the pattern to the Ravelry Database. Direct PDF download is here. Enjoy Patty's mug warmers.

Combination Knitting Video

I made a knitting video today for someone on Ravelry who wondered about seeing what I do. Considering the type of camera I have (crappy) I think it's rather good! I put it over on the MobleMe gallery, it' the first time I have used it. If you see a problem, let me know! (Title is the link to video.)
It's almost 4 minutes with no sound, it is titled though.

Okay, I added it to YouTube...

Go Vote!!

I got an email from a yahoo group that, at first read seemed outlandish and overblown. So, I googled it. I added all of the links you see. I do make a point of exercising my right to vote, and do slack on local elections. This November I pledge to do better. I do not care how you vote, but please... VOTE.
---------------

This is the story of our Grandmothers, and Great-grandmothers,
as they lived only 90 years ago.
It was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women who made it so were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for
air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food -- all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.
So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because -- why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO 's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was -- with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use -- or don't use -- my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote Democratic, Republican or independent party -- remember to vote.
History is being made.

One more thing... vote by something real - not an attack ad.

Pregnancy, itchy rashes and Celiac's Disease

So, it looks like my hypothesis that Jack cause the rash I had while pregnant, and that it *was* DH was correct. I just found more supporting evidence! It seems like the Ig crossed the placenta and ran through me, like the gluten in my diet passed through to him! I found this very interesting.

Dory painting

I just adore this picture. I took it with my cell phone on Aug 16th and have not altered it to do any correction... but I like it none the less. :) Just had to share it. It's a tiny kitchen, but the light is great. She had paint everywhere. I think it all came out of her shirt. For the most part anyway...

Blue Sky Alpacas Swap!

Oh, how exciting! I got my BSA package today from Chris (Chrispy) Church! 2 beautiful skeins of worsted alpaca and wool blend hand dyed in a tan color, fave chocolate, more chocolate, pizza crust mix, bread mix and a pattern for Prickle that I have been dying to knit up. What a package! She went for a loose theme of comfort, and certainly hit the nail well. Pizza for supper tonight!!

oh, yeah...

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

His first real soled shoes. Luv.