The scarf exchange circle is complete

It was only last week that I sent off the scarf I knit and the goodies to my downstream scarf exchange pal, Sue. Today I received the scarf from my upstream scarf exchange pal, Christie! She did a great job. She knit me a great scarf out of some very cool yarn that has all of my favorite colors:

And the yarn has just a bit of glitz and bling in it, which is, well, so me. :)

Christie also included some great goodies: some bamboo circular knitting needles in a size I don't have (how did she know?), some darning needles in a case, two skeins of some heavenly Debbie Bliss yarn, and a cute flip flop keychain that Aidan has already claimed as his own.

How fabulous! The scarf exchange has been a wonderful experience. What a pleasure (and a bit nerve wracking) to knit for someone I have never met and how splendid to receive a knitted gift. I had no idea knitting would be so much fun!

A moment of silence. Please?

During the summer when school is out and particularly on summer weekends, there seems to never be a waking moment in this house when it is quiet. I would like to say that it is all due to Aidan, but it is not...James is just as bad, if not worse! He cannot read the newspaper without commenting out loud or reading it to me, or surf the Internet without chatting, or even watch television without making comments every few minutes. No wonder I can hardly concentrate on anything - I am not given the opportunity.

And it is not just that one or both of them is always talking, it is also that they talk LOUDLY. I cannot seem to get the two of them to understand that every conversation - particularly between people who are located right next to each other - does not have to be conducted at the top of their lungs.

So what I treasure most is the rare moments when I can enjoy the silence. Most days, that only occurs in those few minutes when I am in the shower! Do you think they will get suspicious if I start taking seven or eight showers a day?

She likes it!

My scarf exchange pal Sue did receive the scarf yesterday, and she likes it! She both posted on the Ravelry Scarf Exchange group forum and sent me a very kind email yesterday, telling me how much she likes the scarf. She said "Really, the scarf is so 'me', I could have knit it myself for sure! The pattern is lovely, the yarn is lovely, and I will wear it lots." She was also very appreciative of all the goodies. Yippee! I am so pleased!

The scarf exchange scarf

Since my scarf exchange pal, Sue, should receive her scarf today, I can finally talk about it - yippee!

I chose the Midwest Moonlight pattern, both for its beautiful pattern and for the name - you can take the girl out of the Midwest but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl and all that.

I chose a luscious silk and alpaca blend yarn called Elegance, which I purchased online from Knit Picks. Love, love, LOVE this yarn! It is silky and oh so elegant, indeed. The color is called Grass and is a pretty shade of green - not too bright, not too olive. I think the scarf turned out gorgeous.

I also included a lot of fun goodies, most of which I found on Etsy:

• A soap sock from designtalentedone, along with a bar of natural french clay soap made by daisycakessoap;
• A sheep-shaped (say that fast) bath fizzy, also from daisycakessoap;
• A polka dot coffee cozy from jenandjules;
• A half pound of our favorite Mocha Java coffee from Senoia Coffee Co.; and,
• A "surrender yer yarn" button from CafePress.

Fun, fun, fun stuff - I hope Sue likes it!

All dogs go to heaven

And cats and birds and horses and gerbils and turtles and any animal that has been loved and brought joy to someone's life. Theology, schmeology, that is what I believe.

My friend Stephanie in NC sent the following email message this morning regarding their dog, Taylor, who had cancer (their other dog, Tristan, died as a result of their horrific car crash in March):

"I am very sad to say we had to put Taylor down this weekend. We had always said that we hoped that he would let us know when it was time because we didn’t want him to suffer. On Friday evening, he told us that he was done fighting the good fight. The sparkle was gone out of his big brown eyes and he seemed to have lost 10 pounds in one day. It was time. On Saturday morning, Brian and I took him to the vet for one last visit and he went peacefully with his head in Brian’s lap and me holding his two giant front paws.

I take solace in knowing that Taylor joined Tristan and Justin, his very best buddies, in the place where all great dogs go. I like to think that they are swimming in big lakes and sleeping on big feather beds and eating pot roast for every meal. And they don’t have to stay on the leash and no one gets mad for eating the cat food or leaving muddy paw prints on the carpet!

The next time you have a chance, raise a glass in honor of the great big yellow dog with a very waggy tail and his little chocolate friend. We were lucky to have had them."

And Taylor and Tristan were lucky to have had Steph, Brian, Turner and little Will to love them.

Iron Boy

Aidan received a $25 gift card to Target for his birthday and has been asking to go shopping. Yesterday was the big expedition and the guidelines were that he could buy only one toy and that I had to approve it. We spent almost an hour leisurely walking around Target, checking out all the marvelous items that a six year old boy might want to buy. We perused art supplies and kits, fishing poles, action figures, cars, a science kit (my preference) and Legos.

Much to my surprise (and chagrin), he got very excited about an Iron Man mask and "repulsor gauntlet", which shoots disks. Oh, joy. I extolled the virtues of the science kit ("Look, Aidan, you can make stink bombs!") and even talked up the Diego fishing pole, but he was set on the Iron Man set. It was within his price range, I got a solid assurance that he would never ever shoot the disks at us or Spenser, so I decided to be an indulgent mom and let him buy it.

He was so proud to hand his purchase and gift card to the cashier, and, for some reason, was very excited to receive a receipt! He carefully folded it up and put it in his pocket for safekeeping.

Since we returned home, he has playing Iron Man nearly nonstop. We set up plastic cups and take turns knocking them over with the repulsor disks. And if terrorists ever make an appearance out here in Hooterville, we'll be ready for them.

Nice work, if you can get it

His name is Spenser and he is eleven years old. If I am the queen, then he is probably the king...or perhaps the emperor. His life consists of eating, napping, being adored and petted, and generally being waited on.

Spenser is our crotchety old man. He has sparks of liveliness, when the Mother Ship calls to him and he races around the house at high rates of speed, but he mainly sleeps and complains. He and Aidan are great buddies now and I am sure it won't be long before Spenser sleeps with him at night instead of us.

It's good to be king, eh Spenser?

A smart woman

As I mentioned previously, we went to a Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball game while visiting my mother. The park has a very good way of managing alcohol sales. Instead of each vendor having to check IDs, a booth is set up at the entrance where IDs are checked and you receive a hand stamp. All you have to do is then show your hand stamp to the vendor from whom you are purchasing beer.

I stopped to get my hand stamp from the Beer Approval Person (BAP). The BAP, a gentleman who appeared to be in his late 60s, peered at my drivers license and asked "You're from Georgia?"

Me: No, sir. I am not from Georgia, I simply LIVE in Georgia.

BAP (nodding): So, are you from this area originally?

Me: No, sir, I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio but I really consider North Carolina to be my home.

BAP (smiling): Whereabouts in North Carolina?

Me: Raleigh.

BAP: I'm from Wilson. Do you know where Wilson is?

Me: Yes, sir, Wilson is Down East. (pause) Where they make the world's best barbecue.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Instant approval!

BAP (smiling even more now): You are a very smart woman.

Me: I am a woman who likes Eastern North Carolina barbecue!

He stamped my hand, still smiling, and told me to enjoy the game. Later, when James went to get his hand stamped, the BAP was about to harass him a bit about his Georgia drivers license when he spotted me standing nearby.

BAP: Are you with her?

James: Yes.

BAP: Then you're okay. Enjoy the game!

Ah, the language of barbecue!

Boys and boxes

There is an old adage about a child who receives a toy at Christmas and plays with the toy for five minutes, but plays with the box the rest of the day. That may not be exactly true at our house, but our boys are very fond of boxes.

When we bought the mattress set for the guest room last month, it came with an offer for a free set of sheets and pillows. The items arrived yesterday in a fairly good-sized box. After we removed the contents, Aidan asked if he could have the box and before we could even answer, he was dragging it into the sunroom. It wasn't long before he climbed into the box and started decorating it.


After Aidan went to bed, our feline boy started playing in it.

Nothing like a good ol' cardboard box to entertain the boys in the house!

Take me out to the ballgame

While visiting my mother last week, we had the opportunity to attend a Tennessee Smokies baseball game. As I have mentioned previously, the Tennessee Smokies are no Durham Bulls, and the Smokies Park is definitely no Durham Bulls Athletic Park. But an evening at the Smokies Park is better than no baseball at all, so off we went.

My mother's senior choir from her church was invited to sing the national anthem that night, so that was the group with whom we were sitting. This presented a bit of a problem for James and I: while we have heard that some people over the age of 21 do not drink beer at baseball games, we certainly do not fall into that category. Ever. I have sat through Durham Bulls games in 50 degree weather and still enjoyed a cold brew. It is just what we do at a baseball game.

So our challenge was how to enjoy a cold beer but not offend or embarrass my mother in front of her fellow choir members. If it was just Mom, okay, but we were her invited guests at her outing among her friends, and there was no way we were going to upset her. We thought about trying to camouflage the beer in regular drink cups but the kibosh was put on that brilliant idea when we realized that we were sitting in a "no alcohol" section. No alcohol? In a baseball park? That is just not right.

Rats. But we saw the opportunity to quench our thirst when Aidan spotted the playground past third base. We excused ourselves to take him there, then quickly purchased and quaffed a small Blue Moon Belgian White. Ahh. It was cold, it was delicious and it put us in a good frame of mind to return to the no alcohol section and enjoy a few innings of minor league baseball.

The Book Thief

I just finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for my book discussion group next week, and I am completely in awe. The plot was excellent, the characters fascinating and well developed, and the writing was absolutely superb. It started a bit slowly for me but once it took off, I could not put it down...I stole every moment I could to read, even standing over the stove and attempting to read while cooking dinner.

Applause, applause for one of the best books I have ever read.

The cat days of summer

I took this photo of a neighborhood kitty (not ours) cooling off in our backyard this morning:

The spite! The audacity! The nerve! Life in Peterson Place

Yes, I am exaggerating...a visit to Mom's neighborhood, Peterson Place, is not exactly like a visit to Peyton Place, but there are times when it definitely resembles some kind of strange cable reality show. Or a daytime drama, only with people who are older and plumper.

Mom lives in a neighborhood of patio homes, which means that although the homes are detached, they are small and on small lots, and the lawns are maintained by the HOA. When she and my late father moved into the neighborhood, most homes were owned by retirees and although the majority is still owned by retirees, some younger people and a few small families have also moved in.

In a place where the homes are close together and most people have a good part of the day free, there is going to be a certain amount of prying, gossip and irritation, to be sure. I am just shocked at how much of those three exists! Every time I visit, I am newly surprised at just how much they all know about each other's business and the extended families of each resident, and there always seems to be at least one issue about which they are cranked up.

This time, Mom and two of her immediate neighbors are a-twitter at a couple whose house faces their three houses. They are angry that this couple has done some landscaping in their front yard and down the sides of their driveway that, in their words, "doesn't go with the style of the houses." Let's see, as far as I can tell, the style of the houses is simply small brick ranch. And, in my very humble opinion, nothing that they have done looks bad - just some brick outlines and some river rock. But Mom and her friends think it looks awful and, more importantly, has been done by this couple just to annoy them.

The latest "slap in the face" that this couple committed was to add solar lights down the sides of the driveway. Shut up! How rude! You may be chuckling, but the three women were aghast, and got just a bit annoyed with me when I failed to display the appropriate amount of outrage. Actually, I failed to display any reaction at all except internal eye rolling so they quickly cut me out of the conversation. And don't even suggest that if this couple broke any HOA rules or covenants, that the HOA should deal with it; that point is irrelevant in their minds and it's a touchy subject because the yard desecration started when my mother was still on the HOA board. Oops.

I love my mother dearly and she is, overall, a kind and sweet lady. But this couple and their "hideous" house are obviously a source of contention for her and I suggest that you never EVER mention it in her presence.

The "D" word

As in "Disney." Yesiree, after several years of waiting for Aidan to be old enough and saving up the cash to do so, we are finally going to Disney World for vacation this year. Yippee!

We are all very excited. First, it is the first family vacation we have had in too many years to count and, second, we are finally going to the "happiest place on earth." James has been to Disney World twice, but both times were many years in the past. I have never been, although my family went to Disneyland a gazillion years ago. We waited until we had saved enough money to stay on property for a week, and so that we don't have to pinch every single penny to death. We will be staying in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which looks very cool.

My mother will be going with us and although it will be tight to have four people in a room, we knew that she would enjoy going and that Aidan would be thrilled to have her along. By staying on property, any of us can go back to the room for a rest when necessary, plus we can enjoy the park benefits that those who stay on property receive.

We made our reservations about six weeks ago, but told Aidan about the trip just yesterday. We wanted him to have time to look forward to the trip and to help us plan what will we do, but not so long that it seems like forever in the future for him. When we were leaving Mom's house yesterday and he was pouting about leaving Grandma, we decided it was a good time to tell him, both to get his mind off leaving Grandma and to tell him how he will see her next month when we go. He giggled and giggled when we told him, and we spent a good part of the trip back yesterday talking about our plans.

Yippee! We are going to Disney World!

Good golly, it's hot

We are back in Georgia from our trip to Grandma's house. It was unusually hot up in Knoxville for this time of year and doggone it, it is hot here - heading up to mid-90s tomorrow. Yikes. I know it is summer in Georgia, but we aren't usually this hot this soon. I will be sort of used to it by the middle to end of the summer, but I am not used to it now.

Our visit was nice but it is always good to be back in our own house with our own thermostat settings! More later on what we did and the sights/sounds of Mom's neighborhood.