Nine years ago...........

Nine years ago on this day I quit smoking!! Shocked even myself. I just decided that I was DONE smoking and I quit, cold turkey. Haven't had a cigarette since then. Rarely, I still get the urge to smoke, but I haven't. I am so glad I quit, for many reasons.

The day after Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving.  We just had a small group this year, my husband smoked the turkey, and the whole meal was delicious.

Today, for the first time ever, I went shopping at odarkthirty to buy fleece and yarn at Jo-Ann's.  I have never ever gone out on black Friday before, but there was such a great deal on fleece and yarn, that I talked my husband into getting up at 5 am and heading out to the stores. We went to a smaller town to shop, so it was actually not that busy.  He dropped me off at the door at about 5:56 am and the doors opened at 6 am. I choose my fleece, had it cut, looked at yarn, paid and was done by 6:27 am. I had to wait for my husband and son to pick me up. They did so at 7:05 am.

I just love the fleece I chose this year, some are the same as last year. I also purchased two yards of each color, except the hot pink on the bottom, that is three and a half yards because I got a deal on the end of the bolt.  This fleece should last a while. The fleece I bought last year was only one yard of each color, and this year I bought even more colors!!  It will take me a while to use all this fleece.

I make varying sizes of blankets for babies, mostly smaller ones for the NICU babies, but I have found that the small blankets also make very nice lovies for big babies too!!

I'll post pictures of the fleece progress!

General update

So, I finally posted pictures of stuff.
School is going well for me, I dropped the philosophy class. The professor was a jerk, always late to class, and he swore all the time. I just didn't have the time to invest in a class I wasn't enjoying.  The Spanish class is going well, just three weeks left. The professor is great, and makes learning spanish fun.
I go in January to make a new pair of shoes, and I am excited about that. I am entertaining my family here for Christmas. Probably about 24 of us again.

My boy is doing well in his new school too. He likes it, his teacher, and his classmates. He continues in Scouts and is doing well with that.

My daughter moved to California in June. I miss her. She was here in August and October, and will be back at Christmas time for a visit. She still loves knitting!

My husband is working a lot and is having knee surgery tomorrow. I hope it helps the pain in his knee.

That's about it for now.

Sadie

This is another picture of my Sadie. I really love this little dog. She is so sweet and she plays with Louie. She fits into our household perfectly! And she is cute.

My mom

This is my mom on her 86th birthday (July 1). I took her out to eat and she chose Perkins. We enjoyed our lunch.
Mom moved in August and she is very happy in her new place. It is such a change from her other apartment. It's bright and airy!
She fell in October and hurt her head, she needed two staples to close it and she hurt her neck. She doesn't know how or why she fell. She did go to the doctor and he didn't know either. I think she was exhausted, because she had been on a short trip and then right after that entertained in her home. I think she was just very tired and it all of a sudden hit her and she fainted.
She is doing well now, fully recovered, and I am thankful.

Recycling..........

My husband did some cleaning this spring and we curbside recycled these items. It didn't take long for people to help themselves to the stuff! That makes me happy.

This stuff is just stuff I had laying around the house that needed a new home. I donated to the local family services, they have a store that has used items. And of course the books.

Blankets and shawls........

 I love this baby blanket and lovey. I made them both. I bought a bunch of fleece, cut it into smaller sizes and crocheted the edges. They are fun and quick to make.

 This is a brown rectangular shawl I made for charity. Made with Lion Brand Homespun. I love making shawls!!

This is the fleece I edged in crochet. I bought four yards of four different patterns and crocheted the edges. It works up quickly and is great for charity.

Shoes!!!

 These green and white shoes are the shoes I handmade myself this past summer. I signed up for a class with the woman that made the red shoes and burgundy shoes below.  I made these shoes by hand, all sewn by hand, the leather was cut by hand. Everything by hand. It was four days of hard work and my hands and fingers were so sore! I am actually going up in January to make another pair. Different style and different color. I am excited to go again. My nephew said they looked like bowling shoes. I don't care, I wanted a pair of green shoes, and this is what I chose. They are soooo comfortable.

 These are the red shoes made by hand to fit MY feet. I love the red shoes.

These are slip ons and I like them but they are a tiny bit big. Made by the same lady, but slip ons always fit a little big. They are beautiful.

Baby blankets

These are baby blankets that I have made this fall. I know two women that are having baby boys after having three baby girls!!  I have another friend having a baby in the Spring time but she is not finding out the gender! so I will have a blue and pink blanket available for her.

I've been crocheting in between studying for my Spanish class and this is what I have done this fall.

All of these are baby sized, about 36x48 or so, I never measure when I make them, I just crochet them. All but the yellow one are made with Lion Brand Homespun. The yellow is similar to Homespun but it's not and I forget what brand it is.

It's been a while

And I loathe bloggers that post and say they will post pictures later, but, I'm saying that again. I do have pictures to post, but something happened where I can't download from my camera anymore and it seems like such a hassle anymore. I have pictures of crochet stuff and pictures of the shoes I handmade.

It's been somewhat of a busy summer again. My mom moved at the end of July and I spend a couple of weeks getting her unpacked quickly so she would feel at home. She moved to a senior apartment and absolutely loves her new place. It has a great feel to it, and it flows well, and is bright and airy! She is extremely happy there and that makes me very happy.  Mom also turned 86 on July 1 and I have a birthday picture of her I will post. (hehehe)

We went up to Grand Marais this summer. The boys went fishing and I took a shoemaking class and made my very own custom fit/made shoes! It was really an incredible experience and I hope to go again next year.  The boys had fun fishing, and we would all like to go back to visit again. It is a very peaceful town. I love that we can walk anywhere in town too.

I registered for school. I will be taking Spanish and Philosophy. Both classes fill requirements for me to obtain a degree, and I signed up somewhat late, so this is what fits with my schedule.

My boy starts a new school in a couple weeks. I think he is excited and a little nervous and that is understandable.  We could use prayers for all of that.

The daughter is here visiting and it's been nice. She returns home on Wednesday. She is spending some time with Grandma and helping her finish unpacking. They work well together.

We are still trying to find a church home in our community. We like the church attached to the school, it's an Assembly of God affiliation and we are comfortable with that. Could use prayers for finding a church home as well.

For the second year I attended The Global Leadership Summit .http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/  It was incredible and each year I attend, I learn so much, and I learn so much about myself as well. This year it is all about communication. Not just communication, but effective, leadership communication. And I learned about forgiveness. That is a huge one for me right now because I am carrying a lot of unforgiveness and it is a burden. But I am working on that and I know the release will come.

Finally got my yarn under control. We cleaned the extra bedroom/storage  in anticipation of the girl coming home and it took us 6 hours to get the room under control. We did it. I have a very clear picture of the yarn I have and I know exactly what I have to work with. In this process, we also gave SIX large garbage bags of clothing and jackets to our local family services. In addition, there were also a grocery sack of books and household goods, rugs, even a working vacuum cleaner. It is refreshing to donate items we are no longer using.

Looking forward to fall, and what the new school year has in store for us.

School................

I registered for two classes that start in August. I am taking Philosophy and Spanish 1.  It should be a fairly easy semester, and I am slowly getting classes done.

My boy is all registered for his new school. In August we will have an orientation for parents and children, which is a switch from the other school. It will be nice for my boy to meet his teacher again and bring all his supplies into school before the first day of school.  We also need to get new uniforms, this school is a little more picky about the uniforms and have very specific uniforms available at one store. We will go in August for that.

I am somewhat hesitant enrolling him in another Christian school.  I've discussed the Christian school issue with two people I know that have actually been school teachers at private Christian schools. Both indicated that they were somewhat surprised how every one is treated. I am not surprised anymore because I saw it, and lived it first hand this past school year. I have to admit the behavior was somewhat shocking to me this year. We'll see how it goes. It saddens me to think that "christians" treat each other this way.  I understand why people back away from a church.

Not a terribly busy summer for us. We will be going to a couple of concerts in the fall, and we are going "up north" for a few days. We are all excited about that.

Forty years ago......................

Wow, just writing that out makes me feel old!!

Forty years ago, I spent the summer in New Jersey with my relatives. My sweet grandma, my great grandma and my aunt and a family friend drove out there and they all left me there and I flew home later in the summer. It was a definite summer to remember.

 I stayed with my Aunt that I have written about occasionally and my Uncle and cousins. It was a fabulous summer.  For July 4th, we went to the shore for fireworks and it was beautiful to see the fireworks over the ocean while sitting on the beach.

We did a lot that summer. My one cousin and I went to the Boys and Girls club often and met people there. There was a trampoline there.  I met a boy and I have stayed in touch with him all these years. Just recently, he sadly lost his son to a drug overdose. His only son. He is heartbroken and I am heartbroken for him. No parent should ever live to see the loss of a child.

My other cousin, who is like a sister to me, is the cousin I go visit each year. This year I went in the middle of May again.  We had a good visit.

I will always have fond memories of that summer and all the people I met. It was a special summer for me.

Changes.........

There have been some changes around here lately. 

We withdrew our boy from his private school and enrolled him in another private school. Which means we are no longer attending the church we've been at for five years (but attended on and off for about 17 yrs).

It got to the point where we no longer had the confidence in the leadership of the school, or the church to be able to continue at either one. There were some trust issues as well with the leadership of the school and his teacher this year. Several parents and employees heard a teacher yelling at the children and reported it to the principal, who did nothing. In five years I had never heard a teacher yell at the children. There were inconsistencies in discipline and that also was brought to the principals attention and nothing was done.

I am trying to move past this, but it is difficult for me. I made some great friends at the school and I am concerned about the children. I know all schools go through a transition, and I hope that this school comes out better at the end of that transition, but I fear there is a lot of heartache to go before that is accomplished. And we can no longer be a part of it all. It's heartbreaking.  I know of about 10 children that are leaving this year. And a substitute parent that is not even coming back to sub!! I know there is a spiritual fight going on there, and I will continue to pray for the school and the people that work there and attend.

My daughter is moving again, this time to California. I hope she does well out there, and accomplishes what she has set out to do. It's been wonderful having her home these past few years. We are currently taking a year long, once a month knitting class, and I'll miss her for these last 7 lessons! She likes knitting a lot more than I do. I prefer crochet. I;ll miss having her close again. And my boy will miss her too!! Dad will miss her as well.

School for me was interesting this past semester. I only took one class-Geography and it was not what I expected at all. It was weird and interesting at the same time.

My mom is moving into a senior high rise in August. I think she will be much happier there. That's all I want for her, to be happy.

We have a few things planned for the summer. Not much but it should be fun. The boys are going to Scout camp for a weekend, and they will go up north to my brother in laws to go fishing for a weekend. We are also going up to Grand Marais for a few days. I will be making a pair of leather shoes, and my boys will be going fishing, canoing and exploring.

My boy took a tour and shadowed the class he will attend school with next year and was excited! EXCITED!! I haven't seen him excited about school for a very long time. We are excited for this new chapter in his and our lives.

I took my yearly visit out to my cousins house. It was refreshing and relaxing. We took a walk downtown and there was a tea shop there. I brought some lovely tea home and I've made some delicious sun tea with it.  We also visited a salt shop. I never knew there were so many different salts in the world!! We also visited a delicious candy shop and a yummy bakery! I had a very good time and as usual, I look forward to visiting them again!

Knitted Scarves

These three scarves are knitted by my daughter. She loves to knit like I love to crochet!!

She made these for my sons school benefit auction. I hope people like them! 

They are all made with acrylic yarn.

Baby blankets

More baby blankets. The two bottom ones are made with Homespun. The pink one is made with Red Heart yarn.

These three are just baby sized blankets ( they are folded). The pink one on top is for a friend of mine who is giving it to her pregnant friend.

The bottom two are for other pregnant people I know.

Dogs................

We lost our Sophie just a month ago. We have since got a new dog. She's on the right and her name is Sadie. That's my faithful Louie on the left. He likes the new dog too.

A little over a week ago, I spotted Sadie on our local animal shelter site. I have been stalking the site for several weeks, looking for a dog, but not really thinking we would find a dog so quickly. I saw her picture, read her story, and told my husband to take a look at her profile. We visited the shelter that night and put a deposit down on her. The next day, Saturday, we brought our Louie to visit her. They got along, mostly ignoring each other.  My boy and I went back later that same morning and visited with her again, and paid for her.  We could not pick her up until at least Wednesday, since she was being spayed on Monday.

I just wanted to bring her home NOW. I could tell she was stressed and confused and I just wanted her home. But they said no. So she was spayed Monday afternoon. I called several times Tuesday and then picked her up Wednesday at noon, when the shelter opened.

She is a very sweet girl. The shelter told me she was four years old. I brought her to my vet and my vet said she was maybe TWO years old!!! That's ok though. She must have come from a loving home with other dogs and children. She is very well mannered, potty trained, knows how to sleep in a bed, loves to sit in laps, and is just generally a loving dog. I can tell she was well cared for. She is just a sweet dog.

She does not like taking medicine or kennels. I bought a small kennel for her but she would not use it. Thankfully she is well trained so we don't need it.

I never dreamed we would get a dog so quickly after Sophie. But our house was so quiet and then Sadie's profile showed up. Sometimes you just know!

I still miss my Sophie, and still look for her around the house. The ache is getting smaller each day, and I know we did the right thing. Sophie was a faithful companion for me and my family for almost ten years, and I am thankful for that.

I think Sadie will be a faithful companion for us all too.

Crochet projects catch up post

 I've started knitting and this is the scarf I made with my daughters help. It's made with wool yarn. I sent it to a dear friend this past week and she told me she likes it!! That makes me happy.

 

This is a brown shawl I made for the church for the Prayer Shawl ministry. It's made with Homespun yarn and it's rectangular shaped.

 This is a green hat I made for my daughters boyfriend for Christmas. It's made with Red Heart yarn.

 

This is a purple Prayer Shawl I made for a friend. It's Homespun yarn in Purple and it's very pretty, one of my favorite colors. I hope she likes it, I sent it to her this week.

 This is a white memorial blanket I sent to a dear friend that had a miscarriage. It's made with Homespun yarn.

This is a yellow blanket I made for a teacher at my sons school. She didn't know the gender before I made it. It's yellow, made with Bernat Baby yarn. So soft.  She had a baby boy!

Mrs. Sophie Toes...

This is Sophie. I called her Sophie toes sometimes because she didn't like her toes being touched.

Sophie was originally my aunts dog. My aunt got Sophie from her neighbor that didn't want Sophie anymore. Sophie was about 6 months old when she went to my Aunts house. I have known Sophie all her life and so have my dogs.

In May of 2004, my Aunt died. I asked her husband if we could have the dogs, there were three of them. At that time he said no, but I let him know that if he ever didn't want the dogs, we would take them. He let us know in December that we could have the dogs. It was December 4th. My sweet husband drove from Minnesota to Maryland in a weekend to retrieve the dogs for me.

So, I always say Sophie was my Aunts dog, which she was, but she was actually my dog in the end. I had her for almost ten years. She surprised us with how well she behaved. We thought we would have issues with her, and she turned out to be a wonderful pet for our family.

Around August I noticed she was drinking a lot of water and brought her to the vet for a check. She had liver issues, so we put her on medicine and started her on a special food for dogs with liver issues. A couple of weeks ago I went to get her more food and spoke with one of the vet techs about Sophie. She wasn't getting any better, and she was actually doing a little worse. She was starting to retain water and she was starting to have problems breathing.

The vet called me the next day and we talked about Sophie, and options. One of them was to drain the fluid, giving Sophie more time, a week, a month, two months--who knows? Once you start draining, you have to keep draining. We talked about quality of life etc for Sophie. I reluctantly decided that Sophie needed to go to her final resting place.  She was 12 years old, and had a wonderful life. It wasn't fair to her to have to suffer just because I wanted her here still. I could she how bloated she was, and hear how difficult it was for her to breath.

She was still feisty and barky though. She was our barky dog. We always knew when someone was here, because she would bark. And when we arrived home, she always greeted us with her bark barking.  I miss that now. Our house is quiet, and our other dog Louie is lonely. He has always been our quiet dog.

My mom was sad about Sophie too. She said it was like one of the last ties to my Aunt.  And she is right. I feel like it was more than just Sophie that we let go.

We brought her in Thursday, and we were all there with her. I held her and comforted her. Her passing went quickly. I was able to spend some time alone with her on Thursday, to tell her she wouldn't be in pain much longer and to tell her what a good girl she was for us. I know she knew, and I know she understood.

So we go through the days, one at a time, missing Sophie and adjusting to our new, quieter house. I miss her more than I ever thought I would.