Small things

Take this -














+















+
















for this -















Oops - dog head optional.


This is much better:















As the temporary mother of three young girls, this is all I've been able to accomplish lately but I just love them. I'm addicted to flip-flops but my toes are cold all the time. These are like pulse warmers for your feet.

My sister arrives from San Diego tonight. We are all very excited to see her. She had her stitches removed today and finally got a prescription for something to help her sleep (duh - that would have been my first step . . . but I'm an overmedicater!!). She sounds much better but the girls and I just want to get her here so we can pamper her a littler bit. She found out the name of the offending beast who attacked her. Any guesses? Charger. There's irony for you. Thanks for all your well wishes. They were all passed along to Di and she thanks you all as well.

Sigh.....

All is well back home in Minnesota and I managed to get all three girls back safe and sound, arriving home last night just after midnight. Young girls don't seem to tire like old girls do so they were up are ready to go pretty early this morning. I imagine the crash will come sometime early this afternoon.

However all is not well back in San Diego and I'm asking you guys to please keep my wonderful sister, Diane, in your thoughts. Early Saturday morning while on her regular walk, she was attacked and mauled by a dog. She suffered numerous severe dog bites on her arms and torso and is completely traumatized by the whole event. The worst part is that there were people around when the dog attacked who turned away and didn't help her. The dog was "in the care" of a homeless man while its owners were out of town and he fled the scene when the dog started to attack. A second man came out of his house and turned around and went back inside when he saw the commotion. That part makes me so sad - to think of her so helpless. She was able to finally fight the dog off with the help of someone who finally stopped and then others came out to assist her - thankfully. She spent the day in the hospital getting cleaned up, getting stitched up all over etc. She's still in really bad shape - physically, but mostly mentally. She can't sleep or rest peacefully. I imagine, as with any trauma, that healing will take the longest.

Please keep her in your thoughts.

80's Babies

Did I mention that my brother's party was a "theme" party? And that the theme was "80's"? Probably not. I was not a child of the 80's but baby brother Dennis was. So I did not complain when I had to dress-up for his party. In fact, it was relatively easy. Short black skirt, leggings, lots of tank tops with straps showing, 45 pounds of metal belts and necklaces (all supplied by my sister) and - DONE! Add gobs of hair gel to spike your hair up straight in the air and you are "like so totally eighties". After all we were in "the" Valley. The rest of the family did their best to dress the decade - I'll let you decide how they did.


From left to right, yours truly, brother Dave with yuppie upturned Polo collar and Ray Bans look, sister Donna as burn-out, sister Diane with the "Madonna" look, guest-of-honor, Dennis as Sid Vicious, and brother-in-law Pat as DEVO. He pretty much stole the show.

Happy 40th birthday Dennis! Love ya!

We're off to the Ball

School is out. Third grade is over. Summer vacation has begun. But something is different. This is usually when I start to panic. How will I ever keep Kate occupied for three months. She's an only child. I'm an only mom. She's nine. I'm---not. Jon calls this May/August Anxiety Syndrome. It must be in the DSM IV somewhere (I knew that Psychology degree would come in handy someday). I call it "I'm a cranky mom in June and a lonely mom in September".

Not this summer. Nope. Call the Mother-of-the-Year-People. Friday afternoon Kate and I are headed to San Diego to see her two best cousins, Dana and Andie.



Dana (10) is on the left, Andie (8) on the right, and Kate is in the middle. This picture was taken in Old Town, San Diego last year at Thanksgiving. They don't know that Kate is coming. They'll still be in school until June 16.








The story is that Aunt Debbie (me) is coming for Uncle Denny's (my baby brother) 40th birthday party. Denny is pictured here with his girlfriend Helen (left, and yours truly). The picture is also taken last year at Thanksgiving and also in Old Town.

But surprise of all surprises, Kate will be with me. We'll stay for 10 days and then the four of us --Kate, Dana, Andie and I -- will all fly back to Minnesota where the cousins will be together here until July 3rd. Their mom, my sister Diane, will come out on June 26th to spend some time with our family as well, but basically, Kate gets 3+ weeks with her cousins. I'm quite sure it doesn't get any better than that.

Except for this:


This is the pool ball that Di purchased for Kate's arrival. It's kind of like a human hamster wheel. You get in and spin it around. It looks nauseatingly hot and claustrophobic to me but I can't wait. Neither can Kate.










So that will get me through the 4th of July which by my calendar is just about half way through summer when I can start worrying about what I'll do when she goes back to school.

Third Grade Wisdom

My daughter's third grade teacher taught a section on proverbs a few weeks ago. As part of the lesson she had the children complete several well known proverbs with their own endings. Here are some of the best from Mrs. Kitzmann's Graduating Third Grade Class:

Never put off until tomorrow . . . . . . . night.
Two wrongs . . . . . . . is equal to nothing.
When the cat's away. . . . . . . let the dog out.
Don't count your chickens . . . . . . . just count your eggs.
A penny saved . . . . . . . is a penny spent.
Birds of a feather . . . . . . . are worth nothing.
Look before . . . . . . . a chicken flies in your face.
Early to bed and early to rise . . . . . . . makes a grumpy man.
Never look a gift horse . . . . . . in the eye.
All work and no play . . . . . . . will keep your boss away.

When the cat's away . . . . . . . look for it.

Don't count you chickens . . . . . . . count your blessings.

You can't make this stuff up.

And now for somethingthing completely different. On these early days of summer when it gets just a little too hot, Holli says...cool off, take a dip in the lake. Don't forget your sunscreen!

Shameless Promotion

I don't think I've done this before and I won't likely do it often (unless it's really worth it) but I thought you should know about Girl's Night Out in Excelsior - especially at the shop. It's every Thursday night from 5:30 - 9:00 from now until October. More than 25 shops in Excelsior participate with specials during the evening. Carri has wine and snacks in the shop and a chance to just sit, sip and knit. She's also running various specials each Thursday to those who wander in. This coming Thursday (June 8) is 25% on any cotton yarn. That's like 1/4 off isn't it??

Amy, Lisa, Kelle, and Christine (blogless) came on the first evening. They had planned to dine first at 318 Cafe, but they had a $15 cover charge (hello?? Not conducive to wandering around Excelsior and shopping). No problem. These ever resourceful pals and yours truly with a takeout menu from Ming Wok solved the dinner problem and the wine poured and the knitting and gossip began.

Last week was so nice I set up table and chairs outside and knit all evening on the sidewalk. I had a few friends join me and it was an absolutely delightful way to pass a Thursday evening.

I'll be gone this Thursday and the next (more and that later this week) so come take my place for me OK?