future

(mom & dad's new house; grass soon to come!)
When the last of the holiday company leaves, your mind automatically shifts into the next gear. Of course there are things to clean and tidy, but further back in your mind are the "to do" things that you look forward to. I'm so glad there are always clean, fresh days to look forward to. We can have a bright, happy future, if we make that our goal.

I've been watching Gone With The Wind (hi-def) and its one of those movies that steels your resilience and motivation to keep on going. If Scarlet could do it, well then frankly, I can too!
And my latest Kindle book is by Louis L'Amour, which kind of takes you to the same mental place.
Work has been really tough this week, and I am worthless tonight. Since it's raining and chilly outside, I've taken a hot bath and am ready to read for a little while before hitting the treadmill and getting to sleep at a decent hour. We are changing our billing structure/person yet again, hopefully tweaking things for the last time. It is exhausting and mentally challenging; I leave feeling like I've had jumper cables clipped to my brain for the day. And our Outlook at work has been out for two days. No email, no calendar, and no contacts. I tell you, I'm tired. Louis L'Amour, take me away!
The spinning wheel has seen a little business lately. No knitting, with company, holidays and church. I will leave tomorrow evening after work to go see my daughter for a day. Maybe I'll take a little project to knit in the car. That would be sweet!

Our church is moving into the newly built sanctuary soon. We had a 'sample' service on Christmas Eve and it was spectacular. Beautiful space and bigger than what you might imagine. The little preschoolers I work with will be moving into the new building soon as well. There's a space just for them and those little guys deserve it. They are precious in God's sight! What a joy to show this brand new place such innocent, unspoiled eyes. Of all the people, I'm glad they're getting to play and learn there. They won't be complaining if things aren't 'just so'. They'll just be glad to have new tables & chairs and crayons to color with!

My parents house got a coat of paint recently, just before we all arrived for their party. (That's it above.)

And my folks have been busy with their garden.

Raised beds and container gardening. My dad even made me this unique rubbermaid tub with holes, pipes and a drainage system that I couldn't begin to explain. When the weather improves, I'll go outside and get some pictures of the container. Here are a couple of the ones he made out back - end of the tomato season!


Click this last one and you'll see a cruise ship coming into port!

Hello!

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I were playing scrabble and she asked me about my new year's resolutions. She knows me well and I do make them every year. You can't give up trying just because of a few failures. The more things you try, the more things you're likely to succeed at. Biographies of great individuals will prove that over and over. It's not how much you fall down, it's how many times you get back up.
I definitely want to watch the clouds this year. I have taken lots of photos already and learned one thing rather quickly. Taking pictures of clouds works better if you just take the picture and don't try to compose a shot. Just do it. Then look at it. I don't know why, but they are pretty all on their own, without any help from me. Imagine that!

We have had a really good time with family this year and it's not over yet. My husband's little brother and family will be coming over today and I'm looking forward to seeing them. We really did not focus on lots of presents this year and I'm not unhappy with that at all. One of the attorneys I work with (he has a little 2 yo girl) mentioned that Christmas can't be much fun any more now that the kids are grown. I disagreed and said it's just not about the presents and the tree anymore. It's about family and friends, having good times doing things, going places and eating lots of meals together. The last one is pretty special to me. There's something about dinner with friends and family that glues you together better than anything else I know. At least for me.

The gifts this years were all very lovely and a nice surprise, mostly because I hadn't thought much about them until I opened them Christmas morning. I won't post pictures because I am finding I need to keep at least a few things private in this world. I will say I really truly like every single gift I've gotten!

The little watermelon hat is done. So cute, though I had to do some serious decreases at the end 'cause I was running out of yarn.

I'm glad to be a knitter; it has it's definite advantages. There is a real, down to earth community with knitters. After the Tiger Woods scandal broke, one thing became very, very obvious. This was a man with so many people on his payroll (a dangerous place to put people who speak into your life!), so many women who wanted his money, and so many yes-men around him, that no one was telling him the truth any more. How sad. Beth Moore calls it BIRGing. Basking In Reflective Glory. KNITTERS on the other hand, will tell you the truth in a heartbeat. No bull-stuff. Just the God's honest truth. I absolutely love that about knitters.

The end of short days

Today officially marks the end of short days - from here on out the sun sets later and the days get longer. Woo Hoo!! We made it!

It also marks the 24th anniversary of my marriage. My husband and I tied the knot 24 years ago today and I have been married longer than not married (I was 18 that night.) He swept me off my feet those many months prior to the big day. No game playing; he was always straight up that he was interested in me and never wavered. I had never met anyone like that! What pursuit and romance. A girl needs to know that a guy's feelings are true and that he's not gonna walk away at the first sign of trouble. (Believe me, he was asking for it!)
Over the weekend we celebrated my parent's 50th anniversary and I'm sure they would say the same thing. Just because times get a little squishy between the toes does not mean you turn tail and run. I think too many couples do just that. They leave if things get a little tricky. What makes for a richer marriage is the ability to persevere and get past the tough times to all the fun times to be had. Laughter, shared reward, common experiences, and even the occasional blow up can end with a stronger, more stable marriage.

I thank the Lord for my husband who has loved me through thick and thin, no matter how freaky I got, he was still there. I love him for that! Bless his heart! He is a wonderful, thoughtful man, and I don't deserve it.

My parents anniversary party went perfectly. There was an enormous amount of food, the decorations turned out great and the old, dear friends who came made for a perfect party. I'm so thankful for my parents and their example to all who've watched over the years. Always generous, never meeting a stranger, but wise in countless ways. Guiding without pushing. Praying, encouraging and listening.

I pray that I will be the kind of person they are.

Although we had someone taking professional photos, here are a couple of random snapshots from the event.


First our initial setup the night before, then the actual day of; my sister Terri and her husband, then my brother Sam.

Hopefully I'll have some really good photos soon. We were just so busy setting up (and tearing down after it was over) that this is about it.

Here we go

We are preparing for a trip this week. A trip to my hometown for my parents' 50th anniversary. Everyone is coming and I am sooo excited to see everyone - it will be the first time all of us have been together since 2003. Too long. I hope to post a few shots of the event when I get back Sunday; we leave first thing Friday morning and the party is on Saturday morning. It's a brunch and my brother in law, the chef, will be cooking. Can't wait!
The watermelon hat is getting close to being finished. I'm in the decrease round and running out of yarn. I hope it'll be ok, but it's always a nail-biter when this happens.
(The hat looks more tangerine than watermelon in this evening/kitchen light. It's not really. )
Because you're a knitter, you know what I'm doing in the back of my mind. That's right, I'm already planning the next project. The elusive pay-off. The project that you dream about, like the red rider bb gun in A Christmas Story.

I have pretty much decided to rip out (frog) the sapphire sweater and just do a set of gloves and scarf, or some felted purse-kinda project. We'll see.

We had our office Christmas party the other day and it was a big let-down. The restaurant is new and they don't have it together yet. Service was slow, the room was way to cool (I wore my coat the whole time) and the food was just average. I realize now that their focus will be on the beer, since it's a brewery, but they aren't serving beer yet. I don't drink beer, but it just didn't make sense to open up before you had your stuff together.

And speaking of not having it together. It's almost Christmas and I have really got to get it together when we get back from Mobile. Our shower head is not working properly. Somehow its gotten stripped when you adjust the thing and it's permanently set on "atomic". Not gentle shower, or pulsating massage. I'm talking mafia machine gun. At least my hair is getting clean; what's left on my head after the shower!
And I really need to clean the floors, especially in the bathrooms. I have a pet peeve about dirty bathroom floors. And seats. In public restrooms women sometimes have difficulty maintaining aim if you know what I mean. Some women teach their daughters "not to touch anything" but forget to say that when you're done, you should clean up. I take little preschool boys to the potty during Sunday School and they have better aim than some women I know! I'm not kidding. (Sorry if that's TMI.)
So, as soon as we get home Sunday afternoon, I've got to get cleaning. Right after I do some knitting during the football game. I'm in the fantasy football playoffs, you know!! (Go Dallas!)

Holiday Season

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of meeting with my spinning group buddies to celebrate Christmas. We have a little potluck party every year and this year was a special time with better than average fare.

Mixed green salad with lettuce from Brenda M's garden (and homemade dressing), Shepherd's pie made by our very own New Zealander Sally, Potato Soup from our German hostess Susie, Avocado & Grapefruit salad from our resident cookbook author Marty, Hummus and chips, casserole, chocolates and cream puffs,....I'm telling you it was nice.

Pleasant conversation ranging from European vacations to disastrous power outages. And then the reason for the season, presents! (just kidding!)

Here's what I brought home. Amazing hand knit neck scarf made from handspun alpaca and wool. Merry Christmas to me!

Show and tell brought up lovely handmade things as usual.
Beautiful! The shawl below was hand combed and hand spun and hand crocheted from 2 fleeces.

We are so blessed to have such abundance at our fingertips. I got to share with the ladies that a man from our church told my husband he would GIVE me several llama fleeces, as he burns them every year and doesn't know what to do with them. All the girls' jaws dropped when I said this (and I think I saw some green flashes of envy/can I have one?).

~ ~ ~
My watermelon hat is a breeze, yet it reminds me more and more of my need to wear glasses when knitting in less than perfect light. I will be 45 this January and eventually I'll have to start coloring my hair and taking pills and wearing glasses for more than needlework. I am ok with all that. Life has been so good to me and there's so much more to come; I can hardly wait to see what's next.

I've really enjoyed my Kindle this week. Well into my mystery novel and already looking for the next book to read. The night I got it (FYI, kindle is like an iPod for books) I downloaded The Lifted Veil by George Eliot and a few samples of books to see what I'd like to buy. I read the book in a couple of days and loved it! Public domain books are generally free and there are lots of them to get. There's such a large selection to choose from, it really takes a while to make a decision. (Not to mention that if they are free that helps me decide more quickly.)

This Tuesday is our office Christmas party and we are going to a new restaurant in downtown Franklin, TN. A brewery that is owned by a local celebrity. Last year we weren't able to get bonuses but did receive an extra paid vacation day. Funny thing is, I still haven't used all my days from last year and I'm now into my 'new year' at work. I've been there three years now (didn't get an evaluation but I'm sure of my facts. I know my work anniversary!) Starting my fourth year has been better than I thought it would be. Things are changing daily around there, but more and more I feel a sense of confidence with my job. Thank you Lord for a good job!

Watermelon, Watermelon

I’ve heard that when singers don’t know the words to the song they’re singing and people are watching, it’s best to say watermelon, watermelon to at least look like you know what you’re doing.
With that in mind, I’ve selected this Watermelon yarn to start a new hat; imagine that I know what I'm doing.

I also have some Tangerine yarn that I’ll add after the ribbing. We dyed these yarns at our dye day last year and they have been begging me to find a project for them . They just want to be seen and not left in the storage bin like the Velveteen Rabbit.

This pattern is now a no-brainer; just like socks with an afterthought heel. The hat starts with 120 sts and k2p2 rib for 8 rows. Then an abrupt increase, knit straight for a while (or insert some lace, etc.), decrease and tie off. Easy!

Tonight on the drive home from work I had almost an hour for my stocking feet to dry in the nice warm heated floorboard of my car. Rain all day; then walk to the car with an umbrella - this does not protect my tootsies from puddles and windy, sideways raindrops. So I'm thankful for the nice slow traffic that gave my feet lots of time to dry. (See? Giving thanks in all things!)

It's Tuesday night and normally I would be catching up with the latest episode of Castle, but the finale of Biggest Loser is on and my friend Liz has been a finalist. She looks fantastic by the way. She is a very, very kindhearted person and a southern belle to boot!

Gone to Seed

I've gone and done it. I ordered some seeds to plant in my garden this spring; lettuce in a few different varieties. I have planted from seed before and I know the risks. It's better to start seeds in pots or order plants, because seeds tend to germinate and then flop over and die once they've gotten off to a good start.

But now that my husband has fixed me up with some little flourescent lights in the kitchen, I may be able to start some seeds inside this winter and have plants to put in the soil. I had thought I would put out bulbs but it's getting late. Maybe too late in the fall for bulbs. We'll see..

Ever since I can remember, there's been a natural inclination in me to do things the old fashioned way. Planting gardens, sewing, cooking from scratch and of course spinning and knitting. Maybe it comes from reading books and the way writers romanticize these things. I'm not sure why, but I know that I'm curious to at least try something once.

Right now I am working on two books. One is an audio book by Jacques Pepin, and it's his autobiography.
The other book is on my Kindle; a PD James novel. She's sort of a Sherlock Holmes type of writer, but modern and a woman. I really like getting on the treadmill with my book - it's so much easier than trying to carry a paperback and reading a shaky text. Now I just prop the little thing on the dashboard (?) of the treadmill and press the button to turn the page as I'm reading. Too cool!

The weather here in Tennessee is getting quite cool by the way. We're all dashing in and out of buildings, trying to get warm and drinking lots of hot drinks. (Maybe I should be knitting a scarf instead of reading!) It seems like the economy/stock market is perking up a bit, and shoppers are spending more than they did last year. That could be wishful thinking but it is December and Christmas is right around the corner. And of course that means a new year and in my book that means New Year's resolutions. I've already started to ponder the lighter ones. I think this will be the year of watching the clouds. I noticed the most beautiful sky last Sunday morning on my way to church. I realized that God gives some pretty spectacular shows, right in the middle of the day, if we just look up!

Edit Settings

When Monday rolls around, we all sigh and head back to work, which is even harder after a holiday weekend. But today I had a few extra things on my plate (so to speak) and I knew my hours would be fewer due to an office training session in the first part of the day. The session went well and was fruitful; I work at a law firm and it's important to keep track of documents, calls, etc. in case you're asked about them. After the session, I headed back to my desk, trying to get back into the swing of things, sorting out what needed to be done first. Then the UPS guy brought a stack of boxes: 6 brand new monitors and one of them was for ME! No way was I going to get anything done until I had hooked up my new monitor. What a nice surprise! Gweyn in the office next to mine had a little trouble, and I gave her a hand. She and I both had to shed our high heels to hook up the wires, but it was worth it!
(That's it up there - 21.5 inches wide.)
I really had to double up my efforts at getting work done, mentally negotiating how long each task would take.

This weekend I finished the blue hat, and tossed it in the dryer this morning to get a little fluffy going on.

What a pretty little thing, and my daughter assured me that navy is "so in" right now. Praise be!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and when we tried to take our annual Thanksgiving portrait, the camera seemed to have a mind of it's own, giving off tremendous flash every time and somehow the shutter speed was all messed up. But my husband finally said, "Enough, the food's getting cold!"






















I did some spinning over the weekend but have reached the end of what's carded. I may spin a little of the gray I bought from Marty at the last meeting.
Tonight I must begin my Christmas decorating. I am having a little party Friday night for some of my helpers at church. They are priceless and deserve a huge reward for their tireless contribution. At work they remind me that the dollar amount would be very high to pay all these workers for their time. I couldn't agree more!

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce

Thanksgiving is just days away and I am grudgingly putting aside all my inclinations to cook a healthy meal. Orders are to fix anything and everything that is starchy and sugary or has added butter or bacon grease. I can't tell you how hard that is for me. Lord help me remember the reason for the holiday!
This evening I got in a few more rows on the little blue hat. I've inserted this lace row to add interest, but there are no competing colors - just navy blue.
(the color is hideous, but you get the idea)

I had a lengthy conversation with my sister tonight. I haven't seen her in years but my plan is to go see my parents the weekend before Christmas for their 50th anniversary and get in some good 'visit' time with the rest of the family.
For the drive down, I just may be absorbed in this - my Christmas present that came early.
I'm so excited that I'll get to take it on my trip. We had some plans this year to do some improvements to our house, but my daughter met the man of her dreams and got married this past July, so many things were put on hold. Now we're starting to get some breathing room again this was my Christmas wish! I've been lusting after a Kindle for about a year now. I can't believe I've finally got it. Some things are just sooooo worth the wait!!!

Please be seated

Today is my day off and I woke up with the blessing of a new project to knit. I have relegated the sweater to the UFO pile for now. I started a slouchy hat (tam, beret) out of some acrylic I had in the stash. Washable, smooth, even and a great color. Navy blue. I thought of doing a fair isle pattern, which is in the instructions, but opted to just make a plain blue hat that would hopefully be more classic and timeless.

The good thing about his hat is the perfect size 7 needles. They really are the perfect size to me. Big enough to hold and not too big to manipulate. You don't get the tired eyes and cramped fingers like you get from 2's. And you don't knock over your coffee cup like you would with 13's. And the great thing about a hat is that unlike socks, when you're done, you're done. No second-sock-syndrome.

This afternoon we're goint to see the new Jim Carey Christmas Carol movie. It's time to get into the Christmas spirit and I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner. My son, daughter and son in law will be here to share the holiday and we are not holding back. I hope to get my grocery list finalized today and get the majority of the stuff this weekend, with those last minute items left for Wednesday. I do hope we can go home early from work that day.

I get to work in a very nice place with very nice people, but I do dislike being seated for 10 hours straight. I leave for work at 7:15 (seated in the car in rush hour traffic), get to work, turn on computer, etc. and work till 5:00, get in my car for another half hour of bumper to bumper, arriving home at 5:35. Ten hours of sitting leaves me ready to stand up for a little while.

Would you like fries with that? (rant ahead)
Last week the camera that I use for blog pictures died the gnarly death. I have since begun to use my husband's camera, which has different knobs and such. Learning curves.
So today I'm trying to upload these few photos when my husband comes into my office and starts plugging things into my computer. He's trying to complete the overhaul that's taken him the better part of a week to finish. You see his studio computer had to be completely re-done, as in start all over. The process meant that my iPod stuff was not accessible until he was done, and I really wanted to get part 2 of the audible book I'm listening to.
I can sympathize because I had a similar thing happen to me at work yesterday. Without the details, I will just say that a mail merge needs a data source that it recognizes and somehow I had changed the data source for all my accounts (almost 200) and didn't know how or what I'd done. I finally figured it all out, but only after I had had one great big panic attack that lasted about 45 minutes. Thank goodness it was my "Friday" and I left looking forward to this weekend and time away from work.

What a lovely day!

Today was our spinning group meeting (formally its the Harpeth Spinsters, I think) and we met at Susie's house, and she served a great little pumpkin coffee cake desert, and the weather was beautiful, and Peggy came (she's been out of commission for a while) and we spun a lot and knitted a lot and talked a whole bunch andtook pictures and. I know there's more but I had such a good time. Why stop for punctuation and grammar?


Truly the weather is just about perfect today. I came from the meeting with some great roving from a sheep named Alice (I can hear my boss cracking a joke about the movie with Bob & Carol,Ted & Alice). I got my money for the yarn I sold when Carolyn took it to the folk festival.

I brought my sweater pattern to get some help. It's come to a halt by the way, due to technical difficulties. Sally gave me some good advice about knitting the V-neck of a sweater. Everyone else concurred and I'll be doing some frogging this weekend (rip it, rip it).










And just because I had to take a picture of something outside, this is my hydrangea bush after the cold weather has gotten to it. Isn't it still beautiful?
Now I have to mention something that encouraged me recently. I heard that Carly Fiorina will be running for senate. I am a believer in women doing what they can to better the world, be it in a 'man's' environment or not. She was in the corporate world for a while and now she's dipping her toe into politics. Smart lady, and her book is worth the read.

Finding a balance

I recently had a change of heart about something. The concept is very simple to explain, but extrrreeeeeemely hard to put into practical terms. I am now acutely aware that my attitude has been bad lately. I think I’m not alone in this. Having a bad attitude is so acceptable today that it is now the norm, and those with a positive outlook are mocked or viewed as simple and naïve. “Well, if they only had to do what I have to do…” or, “Just wait till they …..” The problem is, that we spend so much time complaining, and have convinced ourselves that these things outweigh the good things in our lives.
So, I decided last week that every time I think of complaining about my job, I will stop. It’s mostly mental, those thought patterns, you know. So if I stop it in my brain, I will be less likely to say it.
I confess, I had a little session of complaining this morning to a co-worker, and realized shortly after, what I had done. I’m sorry, Lord. Please forgive me.
I am blessed with a very good job, a sympathetic boss, and kind, honest co-workers.

Our law office recently moved to a larger space and has sub-let part to a group of three heart surgeons who do consulting work. There are no patients coming in and out, just admin support of about 10 girls and the 3 docs. One of the girls is always reading in our shared break room and today she had a novel that I’ve got on my iPod. We’ve both just started the book and she and I were equally excited to have someone to discuss it with. See, there’s a blessing right there!

I went to lunch and came back with a free sample from Starbucks. Another blessing!

I was going through my client files today and was about to cancel an account for non-payment when the mailman brought me a check from that very person. Yet another blessing!

I could go on, but you get the point. How much better to focus on the positive – it makes the negative pale in comparison!

Oh, and one more blessing - my spinning group meets this Friday at lunch! Woooo Hooo!

Take Good Care

Before we moved to Nashville, I had pretty much two things I looked forward to doing when we got here. One was playing tennis at a big tennis center in town; the other was visiting the Mary Engelbreit store at the Opry Mills Mall. I have yet to play tennis at the center, and the M.E. store closed shortly after we arrived, but at least the new M.E. calendar for 2010 is out and I love it. The title is Take Good Care. Colorful and bright with adorable children on each page.

This morning I've spent some more time taking care of my new flower bed/garden. It has been quite rainy and on the pretty days, we've had plans so this morning I made a bee-line for the back yard before anything got in the way.

The grass I dug up has died and it was much easier to break up the clumps and pull out the roots, etc. I realize that I will not be able to dig up under the little tree in the corner, because the roots of the tree extend to what I call the drip line. I don't want to kill the tree so I'll probably put down some kind of tarp to kill the grass and then I'll lay some stones to 'pave' underneath. I'd like to put a small bench or chair there - the view is really nice and I'd like a focal point.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank

I reached a knitterly challenge this week with the sapphire sweater. After knitting in the round for 12 inches, you find the center front, turn around and start knitting in the other direction. This is where the V-neck comes into play.
You can see I have two different circular needles going now. (Boye and Inox)
Soon I'll have to stop a the armholes and then the sweater will have three sections. (Back between armholes and two front shoulder sections. ) This may be a difficult thing to picture unless you've sewn or made garments before. Well, let me tell you as an experienced seamstress (I used to make all my own clothes) and a semi-experienced knitter, the decreases for the neckline, continued increases for the bust and stop-start stuff for the arms is a bit like the guy on the talent show spinning lots of plates at the same time! I thought my job took concentration, but this takes the cake.

And speaking of cake. I went to a friend's birthday party last night. She turned 50 and a few of her friends gathered around to wish her well. The time was short, but we love our friend and would not have missed this for anything. Happy Birthday Janet!!