Um - Hi!

Sorry. The break went a little bit longer than I anticipated. The blog and I were in a little bit of a disagreement as to which should come first - work or play. Ultimately I won. And while the blog thinks of herself as work (and at times, so do I) last week, it was all work for me. The blog thinks what I do is "volunteer" and thus, should not count as work. She thinks she should come first. It's an age-old battle between the blog and me. It makes me wonder how blog peeps with real jobs manage all this drama.

The blog and I will have to continue this battle as school starts tomorrow; I'm not quite ready for it this year as it's a full week ahead of schedule from years past. And while I realize that I am not going to school it does mean I'm really busy. Jon and I agreed once again chair the parish-wide Oktoberfest fund-raising event for the parish/school. And I continue in my capacity as hepard to the youth of the school in their fall sports endeavors. I love my volunteer jobs - well, you know the rest of that statement.

But I hope you'll stick with me here because there is a big change coming for the family. Some of you know it - don't give it away! The blog will take a slight detour while we undergo a little family detour; it'll be very exciting.

The last few weeks of summer had my family from San Diego here. It was delightful. A house full of girls is just a wonderful way to end your summer. Full of giggles and laughs and squeals. Every moment of it was lived to the fullest . . .

. . . from the beginning . . .

. . . . . to the end.

Awake

I've been in bed long enough to watch the entire "Firefly" series, including "Serenity". I'm quite well rested and even my nurse abandoned me yesterday for a friend's house for the afternoon and a sleep over. I've had plenty of tea and water. Today, it's mind over matter. And the funeral of our neighbor's son. Even though he was 59 and they are in their 80s - no parent should have to bury a child.

Then maybe I'll come home and hug Kathryn a lot and climb back into bed and watch some movies with her.

Message from the Animals

Dear Mom's Blog Friends,

Mom is too sick to blog today. She got a bad, bad cold or something. Yesterday she came home from 4 hours of begging for volunteers for Oktoberfest (again!) and went to bed. Two of us kept her warm (the kitties); one of us kept just worrying 'bout her (Holli). Dad and Kathryn left her alone - prob'ly a really good thing 'cuz she was crabby! She's still kinda crabby today 'cuz she didn't sleep so good (kitties were fighting for who could sleep close enough to her 'cuz she had a lot of hot on her!) Also maybe she has stuff to do today like take Mrs. Stinky Pants Smelly dog to the groomer for a bath cuz she can't lick herself clean like cats can. Also she has to go get the rest of her hair colored to match the stuff that's growed in. AND Kathryn has to get her hairs all cut. Animals just have to lay around all day. We wish mom could do that too.

Love,

Holli, Tigger and Sammy - the most wonerfullest little kitten who did all the writing of this cuz Tig is too fat to reach the computer and Holli is just plain 'fraid of everything and I'm not scart of nuttin!!

Blog Brag

I have to take today and brag about Kid's College. I was dreading this event. It was a ton of work and I really thought that the kids wouldn't quite appreciate the curriculum - much less the effort. I was wrong. It was great fun. Of course I only had a fully charged camera for the second day and So I missed the Middle School. But the Elementary School day was better for pictures.

We had our local police on hand to talk to the about safety and 9-1-1 and stranger danger. The kids got to play in the cruiser, sound the siren and flash the lights. And really, isn't a always a hoot to see a sister driving a cruiser. That's our beloved Sr. Lucy. She wants us to sent this home to her family in India. I hope they have a sense of humor. "Hey kids, how many of you have seen your mom and dad back here?" kept ringing through my head.

Just in time for the New Indiana Jones movie, we brought in a real archaeologist and the kids dug for buried treasure in boxes of sand. He even had a British accent.

There were some high flying kicks thanks to a local Karate studio and some high flying kites thanks to a school mom - volunteers both! Um, why yes, that is my daughter flying that kite. My program, my kid in the picture.

Two craft classes, sewing and scrap booking (taught by our own blogger, Connie) which produced some awesome results. And - boys attended both!! I think that teaching this class was the best part of Connie's very hard day. Please pop over give her kitty hugs on the loss of her beloved Miss Ellie

A "Dog Whisperer" was on hand to teach basics of dog safety and dog training. Um, why yes, that's my dog and my dog whisperer. Ah, nepotism. I believe in hiring the best.

"Fun with Food" - or - "Am I Really Gonna Have to Eat That??"

A total surprise was the city recycling manager who brought lots of examples of things made from items which can (and should) be recycled. His giveaways were awesome - pencils made from recycled jeans, or money and or plastic!

A yoga class to help them through their stressful day!

And finally, a visit from the Animal Humane Society. A strategic error. Gather all the small kids for a 50 minute presentation by this lovely young lady. Start off with a few opening comments about who they are, what they do etc. Then ask if the kids have any questions before she gets started.

Anyone know what the question is?

Yeah - "What's in the cage?" For 45 minutes. That's all they wanted to know. It drove them nuts. They could hear it and smell it and it was killing them. "What's in the cage?" "When can we see what's in the cage" "Will we be able ti pet what ever is in the cage?"

It was a great two days. I'm glad they had fun and even learned some stuff. Thanks for letting me brag.

Twos

I spent a lovely evening last night knitting and catching up with my two friends, Jeanne and Chris. I had two problems weighing me down, things I needed friends to listen to, talk with me about, convince me I was ok - or at least on the right track. They did, they always do!

Jeanne had two surprises for me. While stash cleaning she came upon this beautiful silk cap. And while certainly not wanting to see me slip further down the dark, deep hole that is spinning, she felt I should have it.

Second surprise, all the way from the UK and the lovely Mrs. Pao, this unbelievably gorgeous skein of handpainted silk yarn. And this, my friends, is the most accurate color picture EVER!! Oh, she sent it in honor of my ........ birthday.

I get home, my two roommates are fast asleep and the house is nice and quiet. I checked my e-mail and find out I've sort-of won a contest! Over at Cathy-Cate's (two names), where my name for her beautiful fingerless mitt pattern, "Feather and Yarn", wasn't selected. But because it was "punny" AND the random number generator picked me - I won anyway - for two reasons!! Plus, I get TWO prizes!

All these twos started to pile up (I know - this is a stretch - but work with me, there is a payoff!). On a whim yesterday, I looked back to see when my first blog post was. Guess what?

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Blog!

Who knew all the things you would do

before you turned two.

Help us celebrate; blow out the candles with a comment (by February 15th) and Sammy will draw a name for a some goodies. Nothing that's been in the secret kitty lair - we promise. Thanks for coming along with us these past two years.