Mittens and Things

Well, it hasn't been all gloom and doom around here.
My 2nd cousin who is 100 years old will be at my Aunt's viewing this evening, so we are a pretty resilient bunch.
In the meantime, I have been knitting mittens to give away to charity.
I've knitted some up on 2 needles, but have yet to sew them together.


These smaller mittens knit up so quick - I had no idea!
I can definitely use up a lot of my old acrylic yarn on these things.
I'm supposed to be reading Typee by Herman Melville, but on Friday I got this book in the mail. It was recommended by Wendy, and I thought it sounded interesting so I ordered it.
It is a good read, very clever development of a new plot line, and of course it involves knitting.
If you're interested in reading it next, drop me a line and I'll send it your way.
Normally I love keeping books like this, but it would be fun to pass it on, so that you too can pass it on.
Let me know.

Sad Times

Some sad times in our family this weekend.
My 89 year old aunt, Auntie M, died.
The first to go of my mother's three sisters.
Auntie M shown seated in this pictured.


This is a woman who had a very, very tough life and who was never a very strong woman, but who continued to maintain even as life dealt some terrible blows.
The worst came one evening when her husband came home and was there for 2 hours when he had a heart attack. She rode in the ambulance with him, and then suffered the indignity of riding home alone on a bus to tell her six children their father was dead at 41.
Her youngest was 9 months old.
She suffered severe hardships raising the children; they never had a lot, and they lived in some awful places, but her greatest accomplishment is that her family is very, very connected and close to each other.



My cousin Jan is pictured here closest to the front.
She took care of Auntie M for the past 7 years. Auntie M suffered from lupus and her kidneys had been working at 15% for the past few years. Two weeks ago her doctor, who has cared for her for 25 years, told her that her kidneys were shutting down and that he wouldn't put her through the painful process of dialysis.
She was philosophical about what her doctor had to tell her, kind of how she dealt with every blow life handed her.
Guess she wasn't the sister without strength after all.
Saturday morning at about 5:30 she passed away.
Although her life was not easy, her death was.
Unfortunately it is difficult to know when the grieving will end because it has been a bad year for my cousin Mike, Auntie M's oldest son.
He had a stroke in June (he's 58), his wife died of a heart attack in August (she was 58), and now his mother has gone. On Saturday after his mother died he had another couple of mini-strokes that put him back in the hospital.
He is out now, but has to go back to the doctor after the funeral on Tuesday.
So as I said, some sad, stressful times around here.

Happy Birthday, Marines

It is the 233rd birthday of the Marine Corps.
Did you know our Service began in a tavern?
It explains a lot about Marines if you stop and think about it.
My friend sent this article to me.
The original can be found at this site.

At dawn in Phila., homage to the first Marine

By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Writer

Once a year, few are the proud who remember:
The Philadelphian who founded the Marines is buried here.
Every Nov. 10 for more than a decade, a simple sunrise ceremony has taken place at the unlikely site where Samuel Nicholas is buried:
The Quaker meetinghouse at Fourth and Arch Streets.
The gravesite is so little publicized, even those who paid homage this morning were unsure where it was.
Having an almost-unknown tomb of a well-known soldier is remarkable for a city that worships its history makers.
About 6:40 a.m., hearty chanting heralded the approach of a contingent of men and women.
"Back in 1775, our Marine Corps came alive!" was one of the lines they bellowed.
The cadence grew louder, as about 48 souls, most of them in sweatsuits, jogged quickly through the Arch Street gates, just a block west of the Betsy Ross House.
Then they stood silently, on a herringbone brick walkway west of the long two-story brick building, under a skeletal canopy of towering trees.
A reading commemorated the birth of the Marine Corps in Philadelphia, authorized by the Continental Congress, 233 years ago on this date.
That it falls the day before Veterans Day is just coincidence.
A wreath of red and white carnations was placed on a wire stand, followed by a minute or two of silence.
Then the group was off, except for Capt. Phillip Peche, 31, who stayed behind to explain.
"I think it's great to introduce the newest members of the corps to the history," he said.
The 48 paying homage - who ran the 3.5 or so miles from the University of Pennsylvania - included about 40 ROTC cadets from Penn and Villanova, as well as three second lieutenants and a gunnery sergeant from Quantico, Va.
The ROTC program he helps manage, he said, is officially a Navy program, but cadets can opt to join the Marines.
The precise whereabouts of Nicholas' remains were a mystery, he said.
On the only obvious grave marker is this inscription: "BENEATH THIS STONE LIES THE BODY OF DOCT EDWARD OWEN, WHO DESIRED WHILE LIVING THAT AFTER HIS BURIAL HE MIGH NOT BE DISTURBED."
Nicholas is believed to have been buried on the east side of building, Nancy Gibbs, the Friends meetinghouse director, said later this morning.
"We don't know exactly where," she said.
Quakers don't subscribe to fancy headstones, and as cemeteries go, it was anything but exclusive, she said.
As many as 20,000 people - including thousands of casualities of the late 18th-century yellow fever epidemic - may have been buried on the property, which was chartered as a cemetery by William Penn in 1701.
Yes, the meetinghouse, finished in 1811, was built atop remains, she said.
"They're still here," she said. "They're under our feet. They're under our parking lot. They're under our walkways."
Nicholas was a member of the Quakers, renowned for their pacifist views, until he decided to fight for the country's independence and started recruiting at Tun's Tavern to form the Marines, according to accounts.
Nicholas was expelled - Quakers call it being "read out of meeting," Gibbs said, but his remains were still buried there - a fact that has remained surprisingly little noted.

Civic Duty

I voted today at 6:45.


For the record, I don't like either set of candidates, however I had to chose because I couldn't find the place where I could write in Pat Paulsen's name.

$24.00 out of $42 million

$24.00
That's how much I paid for our tickets to High School Musical 3 on Friday night.
The movie made $42 million!
That's a lot of people going to see the same movie.
I took 4 young girls with me, and I only dosed off once.
Hey, it was the 9:20 showing; you should know I have trouble staying awake past 10:00.
Was it a good movie?
Meh.
There were some very good songs in there, but the storyline....there was one?
They gave Troy's dad some very unfortunate hairstyle.
Yuck.
Anyway, now I can say I've seen all three movies.
Don't you want to be me?
Before we went to the movies, however, we had cake.
Why cake?
Because DN2 is celebrating a birthday tomorrow.
Here she is being bossy.
Where does she get that from?
Her sister, probably.



I love this pic because it looks as if she is throwing her face into the cake. She's actually blowing out the candles.



The two babies.



SN2 and his friend Z bothering one of the young guests.
She totally hated it.
NOT.



Z bothering the older girls too.
I asked them if they wanted to see HSM with us.
Z did, but everyone else wanted to see Saw V.
Their loss.


It was a good time, and then we spent the rest of the weekend recovering.
Or at least that was my excuse.
I did get some knitting done, but you'll have to wait to see that.
Today begins a very busy week, and tonight we are going to see SN2 play in a semi-final game in the Sectional Championship tourney.
Enjoy your week!

Thursday Quiz -- Holiday Parties on my Mind

I love this time of the year, with Halloween followed by Thanksgiving and then on into Christmas. It is as if these months bring celebration after celebration after celebration. One big, long party season.
As you all know, Halloween is next week. And on a Friday too! Now that is like picking the Willy Wonka bar with the golden ticket -- it's all good.
I'm still knitting ahead for the Christmas holiday - well, still working on the same Christmas stocking. No progress to report.
It's cold in my house and in the evening we really don't do much except go to bed early.
DN2 is having some friends come over for her birthday, so I'm afraid we may have to turn on some heat. You know I don't want to, but these little girls may get all whiny and complain.
Anyway, here's a quiz for you, since it is a Thursday:

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You definitely think of yourself as someone who has a dark side. And part of having that dark side means not showing it. Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. You fear people taking advantage for you. You are always worried about protecting your own interests. You're prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind... even if you don't admit it. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Doctors

I went to the doctor yesterday for the first time in a long time.
Of course I have a slew of follow-on appointments, but one thing interesting came up.
It has been a very stressful weekend, because we were so busy, and yes I watched movies, but I couldn't sit down and watch them all at once. It was my turn for the birthday celebration in the office so I made an apple pie, pumpkin pie, fudge, magic cookie bars, and Cousin Helen Ruby's Sour Cream Pound Cake.
I don't know who Cousin Helen Ruby is, but damn, she makes a good pound cake, and it was a hit.
Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the feast, which everyone said they enjoyed.
I had to race down to the doctor's office.
When they took my blood pressure, which is normally normal to low, it was 142/70.
Was I calm?
Hell no.
I'd been rushing around all weekend and all that morning.
So when the doctor came in she told me that next time I come if my blood pressure is that high (!) again she will talk to me about medication.
I looked at her and said, "I bet if you took it now it wouldn't be that high."
She didn't.
She should have.
Because now I have another stressor.
Next appointment I am not going in to work before.
That is a given.
Because work is the penultimate stressor, isn't it?
Perhaps I should spend the morning knitting and listening to melancholy music, like this hit from Gilbert O'Sullivan:



Of course it may lower my mood straight into depression.
Well that's a chance I'll just have to take.

Get ready

Today's weather forecast - 62.
Tomorrow's weather forecast - rain mixed with snow.
It's coming, get ready.
I fear this will be the coldest winter in a while.
I'm still working on my Christmas stocking to put in the Holiday Helping Hands package. That stockinette stitch is slow going, and I knit through Iron Man, Baby Mama, and You Don't Mess with the Zohan. Well not all the way through, but partly, because stockinette, even on size 8s, can be extremely tedious.
SN2 went to the Bills game yesterday with some friends from school.
Thank goodness the weather was good.
One of the friends he went with is a fabulous singer (actually she provided his ticket).
She has sung the anthem at a Bills game previously, and this is the recording they use at the Varsity Boys' soccer games. I swear that before I realized it was her, I thought it was Faith Hill, but better. (DN2 said that before she realized it was a recording she kept wondering where all the people were who were cheering. We're smart, we are.)
She has a remarkable talent for someone who is still in high school, and she's traveled the country to sing at various sporting events.
Remember her, because I swear she will be going places.
And she doesn't need American Idol to get there.

Thursday Quiz - Being Canadian is Cool too

This is my 500th post.
I know I should probably celebrate it in some way, but that would be unlike me.
I'm on that road paved with good intentions heading toward the hot place, so I'll just announce it as a first line, and then give you a quiz because it is Thursday.
According to this quiz I am 65% British. Well I must be un-American because I watched the season finale of Project Runway and didn't watch the debates.
Sorry, finding out who won that contest was of more concern at that particular moment.
Did you watch the debate?
Tell me what you thought.
Do you think you're British?
Take the quiz and find out.

You Are 65% British

Congrats, mate. You're are probably British. (If not, definitely Australian. Or Kiwi. Or Canadian.) You enjoy most aspects of mainstream British culture, without being stereotypical about it. You also have a typical British temperament. You wouldn't dream of being impolite.

How British Are You?

And it's true, being Canadian is cool too.
Now I've gotta run because my tea is cooling on the counter and I need to drink it.
Cheers.
P.S. I knit in class last night. I'm working on a Christmas stocking. How brave of me, right?
(Note to self - Next time use wooden or bamboo needles to avoid the clanging of the metal needles. It's distracting to me and everyone else, I'm sure.)

Stitching Up!

Yesterday some of us stayed an extra hour after work and laid out the afghan squares.
We decided that since these are going to a nursing home, and most probably will be used as lap robes, or lap blankets, that we would cut the size down a bit. The smaller size will keep them from being too bulky, and should not get stuck in the wheels of a wheelchair.
DN2 and I got all the squares out onto the table and stacked them according to color.
Wow, what a lot of squares:



And here are the lap blankets:














We then packaged everything up into boxes, keeping the layout intact and with a photo record to send to whomever will stitch a particular one together (these photos). Our thoughts are that everyone can take home a box and begin stitching. The target delivery date is the second Saturday in December, so we'll have plenty of time, for sure.
And now, time to begin whip stitching!

But really, can I punch him?

We went to a luncheon with some of our cousins the other day.
It's basically the descendants of my grandmother and her brother and sister.
They are dead of course, but I have a lot of old relatives.
And really, I mean old, not elderly.
During the luncheon we celebrated the 100th birthday of one my cousins (2nd cousin, actually).
Before the luncheon started I went over to say hello to my Uncle John.

Me: Hi Uncle John.
UJ: Hi.
Me: How are you?
UJ: You look more and more like your mother every day.
Me: (Laughing uncomfortably) Well, I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
UJ: You have the same smile...
Me: (Still laughing and trying to rapidly think of some smart ass remark)
UJ: ...except you're bigger.

I know he's my mother's brother and he's 94, but seriously...I'm hoping he means that I'm taller.

Old Time Country

Are you a big fan of Ann and Kay from Mason-Dixon Knitting?
I definitely admire their work, and I read their blog, but to be truthful I do not own either of their books.
After seeing this hilarious YouTube video I may just have to go out buy both of them.

26, 4, 6, 2, 1, 10:30, 20, 3/4, 34, 303, 5

Numbers, numbers, numbers.
I hate math, it is my least favorite subject and it always has been.
Here are the numbers floating around in my life.

26

The number of days between blog posts. Why? I'll tell you why.

4

The number of books I have read in between posting to my blog. It's been busy, folks, between class, knitting, and home life, oh, and stinky work (blah), I've been super busy. I have accomplished some things, though, and I will show you. But get this - I haven't done any "pleasure" reading, only reading for school. Now that is unlike me. I think it is because I'm addicted to sock knitting, although I still make mistakes, such as this.


6

Six is the number of stitches I need to ungraft on this sock so I can fix this screwy Kitchener stitch.
After that I will have...

2

Two complete socks. Yippee!!
Of course not all socks have pairs.

1

One sock left to do here, I finished the first one during yesterday's soccer game. I picked up the yarn literally off of the floor in the spare room (my knitting room, as I call it), and decided to really try and use up some of the crap yarn I have. I donated quite a bit to our charity knitting at work, but I still have some left behind. I thought I would make these for DN2 because even if she just wears them around the house they are made of acrylic and after picking up all the cat and dog hair on the floor will wash up easily.


10:30

The time we had to be at a soccer game yesterday morning. It was Senior Day.


20

Twenty is SN2's jersey number and what was embroidered on the blanket the soccer boosters gave to all of the parents of seniors. It was a nice touch, but you know I lost the blanket as soon as I came home. SN2 took it from me; he seems to think it is his. Ha! You know people still look at me strange when I knit during the games, but I don't care. It keeps my hands busy and I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. And accomplishing something at the same time. So there.

3/4

I figure I can get about 3/4 of this sock done before running out of yarn. And guess what, I can't buy the yarn anymore because it is discontinued! Note to self, when they tell you one skein makes one pair of socks they are talking about people with normal sized feet. Not like me, well and Sweet Dee, who has HUGE feet.

34

The number of days past my birthday. Not much to report there, although I do need to thank my brother for sending this DVD my way. Very enjoyable viewing (and knitting) time.



303

The number of items in my Netflix queue. Do you think it will ever be empty? An even better question is, do you think my yarn stash will ever be decreased? Seriously.

5

The number of Sundays I have been teaching Sunday School. I wish I could tell you how many until it ends, but I would have to start adding Sundays up on my fingers. It is fun, but another added stressor. That's alright because I bring my knitting with me to church. Is that wrong?

So what did I tell you, numbers, numbers everywhere.

For the record...

Have you heard the latest about Angelina Jolie's magazine cover?
The one where she's nursing one of her children?
It's creating quite a stir.
Just look at this offensive photo.



What a highly sexualized photo, right?
Why it's almost obscene!
And while we don't actually see a nipple, we know it is there because she's shown both of them to the world before.
This is Lara Croft after all.
Obviously, as a sex symbol Angelina's breasts belong to the men in the world and should not be shown in this natural state on a magazine cover.
This photo might force men to desexualize her, and we can't have that now.
So let's all take offense at an intimate photo of a beautiful woman looking very content as she bonds with her child.
For the record...people are idiots.

We Have Our Suspicions

Yes, we have our suspicions...
...but we may never know.

(Handwritten sentence reads "because someone pooped.")

I Sit in the Stands and People Look at me Like I'm Crazy

So I'm sitting at a soccer game this evening and this lady working as security keeps looking at me like I'm crazy.
Seriously, don't you knit at sporting events?
Even in inclement weather?
I do.
What's a little rain to some socks?
They're going to be washed anyway.
Perhaps that is not what people are staring at, perhaps they are looking at me knitting.
I've gotten to the point where I have not only knitting ADD, but I can't sit still and not be working on something.
So we went to SN2's soccer game this evening, and naturally I brought along my knitting since I have a sock to work on.
And yes it was raining, but I managed to get several inches done on the leg.
His team won 2-1 in a game that was very dirty, and I don't mean because of the mud.
A lot of tackling from behind, and one of the players punched a guy from our team.
Did the ref see any of this?
Rarely.
He must have been too busy looking at the crazy lady sitting in the stands knitting in the rain.

Knitting in Class

So I started my new class two weeks ago.
It will be interesting. Difficult, but definitely interesting.
The professor is a character; he is very entertaining and helps to pass the time, but honestly that hour between 8 and 9 pm always passes very slowly.
I heard one girl ask him at the end of class on Wednesday if he minded if she brought her knitting to class.
He asked, "What will you do when you have to take notes?"
And she replied, "Put my needles down."
I have to admire her for doing this, not only asking but actually bringing it in, and I'm sure I'll wish that I brought mine in too, but I probably won't.
Yes, working on knitting is soothing and definitely does help me concentrate more, but the classroom we are in is in the basement of the building, so I already feel claustrophobic, and on top of that we have 20 people plus the professor. Even though we have windows I still feel very cramped in that room sitting in a circle, elbow to elbow with the other students.
Of course I'm sure if I lost about 30-100 pounds I wouldn't feel so big, but that's not going to happen quickly.
Who knows, I may bring something in eventually because I have to knit the companion to this guy.



Isn't he cute?
He's very well-constructed, if I do say so myself.

Thursday Quiz - Fruity Stuff

I took the day off on Tuesday, the first day of school.
I like to watch the kids get on the bus, or in their friend's car, and embarrass them by taking pictures.
Oh and I do.
So then I spent the morning sorting out some knitting projects and watching a movie I adore, Wild Strawberries, an Ingmar Bergman film.
I think this movie is one of my favorites by Bergman. It is a poignant look back at an old man's life and the events that projected him into a lonely and cold old age, and the small steps he takes to rectify this for himself and his heirs.
If you don't mind Swedish (with subtitles), watch this movie straight through and I mean really watch it.
It was the last movie for Victor Sjostrom, who plays the protagonist Dr. Borg, as he died three years after filming and one year after the film's release.
Interestingly enough the Vatican has vetted this film and found it worthy.
So, with Wild Strawberries in mind, I have a quiz for you.

You Are a Pear

You are independent, intelligent, and a free thinker. You can accomplish great things, especially when you do them on your own. You are direct, honest, and sometimes even a bit brutal. There's not much that gets in the way of you and your ambition. While you are hard nosed, you do have a much sweeter side to you. It takes times for you to soften toward someone, but once you do, you'll be their friend for life.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

So I am a pear not only in shape but also in nature.
How sad.
Here's a trailer for the film, just in case you're interested.

Firsts and Lasts

Yesterday was the first day of school.

It was also the last first day of high school for this little boy.

In addition, it was the first game of the season and SN2 got to start.
Here he is running out onto the field.

And this is just prior to the start of the game, he's the one bending in the center.

Unfortunately the team played...not so well...and lost the game.
Sorry about the bad pictures, but we were high up in the stands and facing west at 6:40 at night, right into the setting sun.
Ouch. It was hard to even look through the viewfinder to take the pictures!
Didn't help my migraine.

All is Fair

We went to the NYS Fair this weekend.
Lots to see and do.
Lots to tell you about, but first I'll tell you about one of the booths there -- it was my favorite.
Of course it cost money.
You sign your name and get your personality analysis.
Here is what mine had to say:

You are a loyal, energetic, and capable worker
Your temperament is suitable for competitive occupations
You are somewhat critical of others at times
You love admiration and acknowledgement
Your sense of humor gets you into trouble sometimes
Your moods vary from the highest to the lowest
You can be a tyrant at home and difficult to live with
You become depressed if you don't make the progress you planned
You have a strong desire for wisdom
You are open minded and adaptable in most situations
You enjoy associating with glamorous people
It is your nature to fight defeat

DN2 thinks the point about my sense of humor getting me in trouble is true.
What does she know.
Did I pay her $3.00 to agree with the analysis?