I Did, I Do

Kathryn had to do the math for me this morning, it seems like we've been married forever. I thought this was our 14th anniversary. "No, Mom. It's your Golden Anniversary." We had a little conversation about the difference between golden birthdays and anniversaries.

In all actuality, it is the time before I met Jon that seems like it lasted an eternity. That time you where you wander aimlessly through life; searching for something, finding all the wrong things, making all the wrong choices, turning left when you shouldn't even have been driving. And just when you think your life is about tho fall apart, it does. And you're a mess for a few years. But you fix yourself up and meet "this guy". He likes the "new and improved", on-the-path-to-self-actualization you. At some point you'll tell him about the you that you left in a heap over in South Minneapolis! He is strong and wise, witty and charming, and well past self actualization - but before egotistic. He may be the most amazing person you've ever met.

One day, he asks you to marry him. And so, I did. I said, "I Do."

Thirteen years ago today. I said "I Do." So did Jon. I have never regretted those words. I love my husband more every time I look at him. He didn't rescue me from something or fix me or save me. He was the first person to see the real and true me and to know the potential in me. I will love him forever for that. He is my husband, the father of Kathryn, a gentleman, a friend, a caring and giving human. If you've met Jon, you know of his sense of humor. Frankly - he is one of the best people I know. And he's mine. I'm resisting saying "I don't deserve him" because that would negate all the years of therapy - so, let me just say - and I DO deserve it.

Jon: I did marry you; I do love you, I would (and will!!) marry you again. Happy Anniversary!

Mother's Day

I never met my mother-in-law. She passed away before I met Jon. We've had many discussions about how she would have felt about me had we been able to share some part of our lives together. We always come back to the same scenario: she wouldn't have taken to me at first. "She's a bit too old for you isn't she?" "Well, she's been married before, she has baggage." We agree that in time, she would have come around. And what would have eventually brought her around, is when I became a mother. She would have adored and worshiped Kathryn and she would have approved of me as the mother of her precious granddaughter, and therefore as the wife of her beloved son.

We always bring flowers; at Christmas, a wreath. Sometimes we only stay for a few moments. Other times we stay for a long time and just sit quietly. Sometimes Jon tells us stories about what she was like.

On the day we were married (14 years ago tomorrow!) it rained all day. We stopped to visit her briefly and drop off flowers. As we pulled up in the limo and walked up, the sun poured out, and a huge rainbow appeared.
There are times when we laugh and times when we just pray quietly. Often we give Jon time to just be in her presence and Kathryn and I will wander around and look at the flowers. Then there are times we just hug and cry.
They say you can't miss something you've never had. Don't tell that to her granddaughter. Or her daughter-in-law. Happy Mother's Day to the other Mom.

I

. . . I is for Intarsia

As in, not interested. Don't even want to try. I am not opposed to other color work, but I just find intarsia, well, icky, and kind of grandma-like. When I think of intarsia I think of giant snowmen, pumpkins, or those collectible dolls with the big heads knit into giant sweaters. Sure, I've seen smaller, more lovely designs, but nothing that has ever seemed worth the effort. All those bobbins and tails and beginnings and ends and - ENOUGH!! I do not like them Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and intarsia.

Where's Mom

"Is Mom ever coming back, Big Doggy?" - Tigger

"Yes, she told the little girl she wanted to volunteer more at her school." - Holli

"Does that mean she doesn't love us anymore you guys? What's a volunteer? What is school? Which one is Mom? Which one of you is the dog? Who will feed us if she doesn't come back? What about...."

"SHUT UP, Sammy" - Holli & Tigger

Prom

It's not just for high school kids. Sometimes grown-ups get all dressed up on Saturday nights and go out to fancy places for dinner and dancing too.
Such was the case for these beautiful people this past Saturday night when we attended a benefit for the TCGMC. I was thrilled to learn that the attire was "upscale tropical". I bought this dress in Florida for my brother's wedding this coming June. First time EVER I've actually had something to wear when one of these events popped up on the calendar.

We had a blast; danced a ton; stayed out way to late. And all too soon my date left for Phoenix. That rarely happens in high school I suspect.

So Not...

I'm sorry. I missed something.Who exactly turned a simple knitting lesson with the Tuesday Morning girls into a sock contest - CAROLE? It's so NOT a contest.

Just the girls, getting together. Not even at 318 Cafe. I know! It had me out of sorts and I was QUITE pissy about it. In that way that some of you know I get. Bad pissy! So we were just gathering to wind yarn, go through a new pattern, mark up all the changes that I made to it to make the sock EXACTLY how I like it with out any regard for how the others may feel about it better, in colors I picked for all of them, cast on, knit the toe increases and begin the lace pattern. In two hours. Nope not a contest.




But if it was - a contest - I'd SO kick.their.asses! This is 2 1/2 hours worth of work, my friends! For cryin' out loud - time is money. This is why the second sock NEVER gets made.



What fun we had! I remain forever grateful for the love and friendship of these beautiful girls. You are the best friends a girl could ever have.

Team Project

Last spring I hand dyed yarns for each of the members of the Tuesday Morning Knitting group. The idea was that we'd all make socks together at the same time, using the same pattern - blah, blah, blah. You know how that all goes. So, it seems that today it all works that we will begin our adventure. Toe-up, Magic Loop, Crazy Monkeys, with a short row heel. In for a dime - in for a dollar.

Guess who's leading the effort?

Sock hand-modeling provided by Kathryn.

H

. . . is for Holli

from puppy ...

to clown . .

to a patient . . .

with incredible patience . . .

to farmer, or boater....

to Olympic swimmer . . .

to one who shares everything she has with her cats . . .

H is for Holli and she's my best friend.

Seriously??

There's an inch or more out there already and it's still coming down. I'm headed for the basement; call me in June.

Going Dark

On the drive to school this morning, as I reached to turn the radio on, Kathryn stopped me with a polite scream: "MOM - it's Media Free Day and if I go all day with no screens or electronics I get a non-uniform pass!!" Well, let's drive in silence. Or talk. About American Idol. It's a short drive.

I was encouraged to go dark as well. She suggested that I try to do it for just one day. The 11-year old!

I have things to do today - and um, for the record - I don't wear a uniform. Good luck to her though!

Connected

This is everything required to stay connected, digital, and charged while on vacation. While the devices themselves keep getting smaller and more "feature-rich", the cords, chargers and connectors seem to multiply while I sleep and are NEVER interchangeable. I'm aware that I have some devices with the same functions (my Crackberry also takes pictures, my iPod has a calendar function etc.) But I use each one for its primary function. The Crackberry is a phone and PDA, the iPod is a music and video player, the camera is . . . a camera.

So maybe this is why I took no pictures on vacation and my phone lost its charge on the third day. The iPod was used extensively to listen to "A Death in Belmont ", by Sebastian Junger and to Eddie Vedder's phenomenally fabulous soundtrack from the movie "Into the Wild" while I read Jon Krakauer's book by the same name. That's pretty connected!

Taking a Cue

When I was a wee child of 11 or 12, I participated in the very first Earth Day ever! We were sent out on the school grounds with plastic bags to pick up trash. Folks back then were not as "earth-conscious" as we are now and I remember it being a filthy and disgusting way to spend an afternoon. Clearly, we've gotten better - both at making the Earth a better place and at making Earth Day more observances more practical for children. In her class today, Kathryn will be planting trees on a hillside on their school grounds. Do you do anything for Earth Day? How about your kids (or pets!)?

Sammy, on the other hand, having seen what her blogidol, Mayhem is up to today, wants to go shopping at the kitty ko-op. Despite the warnings on the bag alerting her to the dangers, she crawled right in this morning after the newspaper was removed. A favorite jingle bell "somehow" got in the bag.

"Mom, is this bag 'cyclable? Can I take it with me to go shopping with May?"

Happy Earth Day!

What the Snowdrops Brought

The Snowdrop Socks are finished. And just like that, the sun came out. Along with a few other things.

Dear Jon, the gardener.

John Deere, the tractor.

Hmmm, someone is just not sure that the snow is "really" gone for good.

Something from a horror movie.

"But WHY can't I be an outside cat??"

And then, the beverage for the devoted fan who watched the activities as they happened while working on a new pair of socks. Yeah - it's spring.

Going Green

I've confessed to a few close friends just about everyone I know that I am not in touch with the world of nature when it comes to gardening. I don't have the "green gene". My knowledge of growing stuff is about the same as my knowledge of the purpose and function of a prostate gland.

Jon is in charge of all things "garden" around here. Sure, I can be counted on to dump a bunch of water into a house plant now and again, especially if they start to look - sad (I'm sure that's not the technical term for it but it's the one that works here. I'm very visual.) So I went looking around the gardens today to see what I could notice - and because everyone else is doing it.

Here are some green things popping up. On the left is in the little garden by the driveway. I think that might be either a Day Lilly or a hosta. On the right - no clue. But it's in the big garden where just about now Jon starts muttering about the deer and the bunnies and how they eat the heads off the tulips and we never, ever get to see the tulips because of the deer and the bunnies (which I personally love because it's the part of nature that I like more than green stuff). Then he goes to the store and buys some "new & improved deer-and-bunny-be-gone" powder or spray that smells like bear pee or human poo or something equally repulsive making impossible to go near the big garden, or Jon for that matter, unless you happen to be a deer or a bunny in search of a tulip head. And once again, we have no tulip heads to look at. I believe they call this the circle of life. I call it fun.

I also notice on my travels around the yard (as you garden types likely did too) that this is probably the weekend that "the rake which is not a rake" is probably going to come out to pull up all the "stuff which is no longer worthy" from the garden. I am no longer allowed to participate in this activity. I am begging you - please don't ask why. Let's just say that plant identification (as noted above) is really not my strength. And I swear to you - I did not do it on purpose.

Two things that I do know about my Jon's garden that are always there for me. My Bird Girl of Savannah statue. She was a Christmas gift from Jon a few years ago. The trouble he had to go through to indulge this one wish makes me love her all the more. And my Mojito plant. I'm sure it has some fancy name. I just know it as the mint I use to crush up to put in mojitos. No one actually planted this. Someone just threw a glass with mint in over the deck and it grew, and grew, and grew. My kind of plant.

All this was to distract you from the fact that I challenged Mother Nature. She got rid of the snow before I could finish the sock. It's not nice to challenge Mother Nature.

Dancing With The Stars

Sammy's favorite show is "Dancing With the Blog Stars". Her favorite contestant by far is Mayhem. She practices all of May's moves and has bugged me for a while now to get her a "Cat Dancer" so she could do those same little leaps and jumps that Mayhem does. Yesterday, after knitting with the girls, we stopped in at Lulu & Luigi's and I finally got her one. She squealed with delight, put on her "Cat Mix" CD and began to strut her stuff.

"and 5, 6, 7 ,8"

"Stretch it out, reach for it girl...."

"Smack that thang"

"Move up stage now...:

"Screw the dancing; I just want to cook the feathers."