sunny saturday

today was wwkip day. at one point in time i had high hopes of doing one last hurrah at the LYS for wwkip day. but life has been so crazy and time consuming, it never really came to pass.

instead my sweet friend and i cleaned house for 2.5 hours, give or take, then took off for the beach. not an ocean beach where it is windy, cold and fogged in, but a beach on tomales bay where it is sunny and warm. where we could sit on our cool new beach chairs and soak up plenty of sun and the sound of families playing together. where my sweet friend was able to start reading t's just released book and where i was able to knit on my cute husband's sock to my heart's content.

i love sunny saturday's.

sorry, still no computer; still no pictures. soon, i hope!

ohhhh, backup! right!

our hard drive died. we took it to the shop to see if it could be resuscitated and if any data could be retrieved from it, but no. it has died and taken everything that was on it to hard drive heaven. and of course, there is no recent backup. sigh. there were years of pictures on that hard drive. family vacations, celebrations, performances. sigh. oh well, time to make new memories. and back them up.

a gap is forming

my local LYS is closing.

i met some great knitters there; i learned a lot from those knitters; i was inspired and challenged by those knitters; i took classes from them; i had the opportunity to teach beginning knitting and introduce new knitters to the satisfaction of making and sharing something beautiful.

the owner is trying to sell the business but i am not sure if there will be any takers. which is sad because i think the community can certainly hold a knitting store.

but the saddest thing is i feel like a comfortable old friend is going away. i will miss all of the talk with the girls, the sharing, the ooohhhing and aaahhhing, the catching up with friends. all within walking distance of home.

so it goes. everyone will move on to other things. but i will always be grateful for the time i had there.

the holes change shapes

today is dia de los muertos, or day of the dead. 14 years ago, while vacationing with my sister, my cute husband called to tell us our father had died. the bottom fell out. pop and my sister were very close so for her not to be with him when he died was awful for her. but we got through it. my boss back then, who had lost quite a few family members in a short period of time, told me that sometimes the black holes would be very small and i could maneuver around them and sometimes the black holes would swallow me up. and i feel that way to this day.

and so on this dia de los muertos, i light a candle for my pop in hope that he sees its light and knows that i miss him.

yes, it is geeky

so we took big guy to college today. some dear friends lent us their humongous suv which fit all of his belongings being taken plus the family of four. though i am not an suv lover, i appreciated being able to fit everything into their one car instead of us having to drive our two cars.

the big guy's room isn't bad. and his roommate seems like a really nice guy. the boys were able to configure all of their room furniture and their belongings into an acceptable to them floor plan. the roommate brought a refrigerator and the big guy brought a rice cooker and gobs of rice, each being excited about what the other brought. plus they like the same bands and music. so hopefully it will all work. i mean, how can you miss when school is nestled on the side of a mountain among redwoods trees, yet overlooks the ocean? not a bad setting. and things seem off to a positive start.

but it is already quieter around the house. i don't think it will really sink in until mid-week when i realize we are not being two ships passing in the night, but he truly doesn't live here anymore. it's a challenge to let go. but a joy to see him take wing. all a mother can do is offer some pac man cloths. and i am such a geek, they are in the school colors.

it's been a bit

if someone had told me 24 years ago that i would be married to a wonderful man, have two amazing children, two cars, a mortgage and a big, smelly dog i would have laughed, gob smacked by the thought of being in such a relationship.

but here i sit, a lot older, wiser and thicker around the middle, but amazed at the adventure the last 24 years have given me.

and though it caught me by surprise, i wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

it must be mid summer

so i am in the midst of a knitting slump.

my sweet friend and i went away for an extended weekend last weekend and i haven't got my rhythm back yet. it did not help that work was absolutely slammed from the moment i walked in monday morning to the moment i left friday night.

also my sweet friend isn't home. she is visiting auntie pam down in so cal. and going to the beach every day. ahhhhh, to be a teenager on southern california beaches. that is the life. but i've been there and done that; wouldn't want to go back, but wouldn't say no to a beach house either. can you imagine, knitting on the porch of an ocean view beach house with morning coffee? i can smell the sea. or maybe it's the dog. oh well.

i am still in the midst of reading gobs of vvs blogs. you knitters out there are amazing! i am feeling like slow poke knitter! coupled with the fact that i have picked up my knitting once this week. oceane is so close to being done i can feel the bind off, as is the sari ribbon scarf. but do i dedicate time to finish them up. no. yesh. oh well. someday soon.

in the meantime head over to cass's shut up i'm counting blog. she is celebrating her 222 post by giving US presents! amazing.

happy 4th

for those of us in the states, it could be a day of sitting in the hot sun during the town parade; visiting with friends over a bar-b-que; eating way to much apple pie and home made ice cream and for me, knitting all the while.

or it could be a nice quite, sit at home day, doing whatever takes our fancy. either way, it is nice to have a breathing day in the middle of the week. happy 4th of july!

i missed the deadline

my sweet friends skirt was supposed to have been done by today. it is close, but not close enough, about 20 rows away from being done.

but it has been a busy week. it is the last week of high school for the big guy. grandma is up for graduation; the house is being prepared for a celebratory open house and the big guy is ready for his next phase.

i suppose i am also, but not quite as excitedly as the big guy.

but this is what it is all about. all the nurturing, the support, the involvement, the parameters, all culminate to this, his leaving home. i guess, as parents, we are supposed to look forward to it. but it feels a little empty. i have been told i'll cry the first week and after that it will be "who?". time will tell on that one.

in the meantime, i will finish my sweet friend's skirt.

and so it goes...

it has been a week since surgery and what an interesting week it has been. the meds made me unfocused and nauseous; having the brace on 24/7 means sleeping sitting up and it hurt to knit.

i am med free now; am able to get around much better, no longer being tethered to the cold therapy unit. i actually drove to get my hair washed and take my cute husband, who has been an absolute angel through all this, to lunch.

and since we were downtown and within walking distance, stopped by the LYS where i met a woman who had a similar surgery a year or so ago. it was nice to hear what she had to say and see how the surgery was of benefit to her. she said she was able to knit a couple of weeks after surgery. at first, just a RS and WS; then a RS, WS, RS; then until her arm tired. it was just good to hear it came back, especially from someone who now loves to knit socks.

so i think i will try to knit again tonight. just to see how it goes.

finding dorrie

the finch died last week. it was about 6 years old, which isn't bad for a finch. but i have a feeling it was age, the fact that our house is way cold and drafty and just a smidge of changing its water every other day or so instead of every day.

my sweet friend took it real hard. it made her quite sad to not have her musical pet around. after a teary evening we sat and chatted about it. we decided not to get another finch right away. we may get fish!

a special treat

the owner of the knitting store took us gals out for pedi's as a special surprise treat! true heaven! except i haven't put socks on yet so my feet are truly cold now!