A Bit of All

Poor Girl isn't Photogenic

I know how she feels. But really her heart is beautiful. About 15 inches wide and about 50 inches long, she is a nice length of italian wrap.

Now I just hope to find the right dress to show her off.

Make fun if you will, and yes, I did indeed once outfit myself for skiing around the color scheme of a pair of gloves... but I have in mind the right dress for my beautiful wrap. Oh, and I also have in mind the right body for that right dress for my beautiful wrap... At least the wrap is right.

Oh, My Guys DO Love Me!!




That's right, boys, smooth even strokes!

MMM-HMMM, that's right, Mister, don't you dare leave a less than clean edge.




















Wall-la!!!!

Joy of joys! It is a chocolate brown. YUM!

The wall facing this is all bricked. The chocolate (which has a bit of red to it) is the dark color of the bricks and the sofa color is the light color in the bricks. The other walls are going to be a sage green and will hopefully push the walls apart (green being compliment of red) while pulling the room together!! The Mister leads me to believe that this weekend could involve more painting. JOY!!

Not All Roses

The Mister and the Boys did this work as I was off galloping through the midwest. Actually just to southern MI. My Grandmother, Rachel Frances Monroe, age 76, passed away on Friday, March 17. I won't lie and say that I was close to my Grandma. Families being what families are, mine is self indulgently dysfunctional. I could cry all day long for a grandmother that my Grandmother could never be and that is all it would be, crying. Instead I let my Grandma inspire me in the only way she could...

1 If you speak unkindly to people, people quit talking to you. This can come in handy, although telemarketers don't seem to respond as well as others. Still, if not used judiciously, it can backfire and soon the only people that will talk to you are the ones you pay to treat your hypochondria.

2 Shopping is not effective therapy. Someday someone is going to go through your belongings saying things like, "what the *#$% did she need this for?" And, "the woman wasted her money on this and then never opened it?" Or just plain, "what a shame." I know it feels exhilarating in the moment to buy what I do not need or sometimes even really want, but how much do I really use? Shopping is a symptom not a cure. Again, once we leave the store or hang up with customer service we are still alone.

3 File those papers. Geesh, be kind and dispose of old receipts and organize the paid pile and for goodness sake, put your life insurance records and will in one stinking place.

4 Love my children like I could screw-up their entire lives with emotional baggage. "Handle with Care," they make a label for luggage, but it should be tatooed across the bum of every newborn. I don't doubt that my Grandmother loved my Mother, but I am not sure my Mother could say the same... Hey, it took years of therapy for me to allow and accept the way my Mother loves me, but I didn't have near the life my Mother did.

5 Forgive

6 Love

7 Try and try some more.

In the end, it is the feeling that people are left with when they think of you that matters. I want to be thought of with a smile. Even if my words are forgotten, if I leave a warm hug in your heart you will always remember me kindly. It is my goal, at least.

Oh, and now my Mom is paranoid. My Brother had his accident on Valentine's Day, Grandma passed on St. Patrick's Day, so Easter is doomed... oh, and it is my Birthday, too. DOUBLE WHAMMY! Hide the children and lock the doors!

Relax, Mercury is retrograde only until the end of this month.

Speaking of a Warm Hug

Not that I thought my friends had forgotten me, it is just that it is hard with a young family to find 10 minutes with the Mister let alone 10 minutes to bond with friends that are a continent away. As an excuse it is pretty lame, but I just don't have the huevos to phone a friend at 5am pst even if they are probably awake and it is convenient for me.

Imagine my confusion, surprise and delight when I went to the mail box and found this!

My lovely friend from Northern California, Shannon, sent me a Yarn Harlot book! Happy Birthday to me! Wow, Shannon, thanks. I mentioned in a previous post how voracious I get with a good book. Well, let's just say that today seemed like a good day for the boys to take a nap! *snicker* Ah, I needed a good laugh and this book certainly is one. When is bed-time, by the way?

Of course, nothing is simple. In the midst of my delight, I was all sad and missing CA.

Why does it matter?

It is just a place.

I don't know.

But it seems to matter.

Bags make it better...
I had started this one before the olympics. I have been carrying it for a few days now. I think I like it. It holds enough, but not so much. I am a bit on the fence about the handles. They are wood. I love the look of them and they aren't bad to carry, but the bag just doesn't sit up nice because of the weight of them. Is that a silly reason to dismiss a bag? I also think it needs a bit of embellishing of the handle tabs, maybe nifty buttons or something of the like. But they need to be the right ones. I tried all the ones I have, just not right.

Notice how my sunglasses are buried at the bottom? My dentist told me today that we are actually lucky that we don't see much sun...

1 we appreciate it more when it shows itself

2 we are saving our retinas from all that scorching light. We are healthier for it.

Who says dentists lack humor.

So What Amuses Me, Now?
How about a doll sweater. My grandma had a box of odd balls. She was a crochet-er. I saw this ball that was working up into a granny square and fell in love. My mom just cringed and said it hurt her eyes. I really think there was a mistake at the hospital... but I was born on an Air Force Base and the military doesn't make mistakes, right?

Anyway, it is a good size ball, so I am making an out fit for Miss M's Mimi. This is the back. I am hoping to have enough for a skirt and tam, too. can't you just see a pom-pon in this?

Time for Lunch...
INBA would rather do this than eat lunch. Not that he is a big lunch eater, but he re-arranged my spices at least 3 times in one sitting. I have given up trying to place them so that I can find them. Even if I waited days and then, under the cloak of darkness, put them where I wanted them, he was pulled by some unseen force to view my handywork with thinly veiled disdain. Ok, kid, do what you will, at least this time they are standing up and not stacked on theirs sides... talk about risky spicing.

How Could I Forget?

A Great thing about PGH...

*The Eagle's Nest. Giant Eagle, the grocery store who's name I cannot pronounce, has a "play-place" for kids 3 to 9 while their parents shop. BRILLIANT!!!!! I simply imply that we need to go get groceries and the boys have their shoes on and coats in hand. Child magazine put Giant Eagle at #2 for their 10 most family friendly grocery stores, I cannot imagine what #1 does... deliver?