The Tournament of Roses Parade scarf

My mother will be going out to Pasadena the end of the year with her friend/neighbor, Barbara, to see the Tournament of Roses parade. How fun! Mom and I are huge fans of the Tournament of Roses parade and watch every minute of the parade every year. In fact, Aidan knows it as one of the only two times during the year that we eat in the living room while watching television, the only other time being the Super Bowl.

I wanted to make Mom a fun little scarf to wear and since it won't be bitterly cold (hopefully) out there, I chose a short lacy scarf knit in a laceweight alpaca/silk blend. James suggested the color since it reminded him of a red rose, which is, of course, one of the symbols of the parade.

It was both a fast and easy knit, but it certainly does not photograph well!



There is more than enough yarn leftover as well as time, so I plan to knit another scarf for her traveling companion.

My cutie patootie

Two recent photos of Aidan:

Aidan joined Cub Scouts this year and he looks so adorable in his little uniform. So, anybody want to buy some Boy Scout popcorn?

James' parents went on holiday in Alaska recently and sent Aidan a toy penguin. Two cuties in this photo!

Here leezard leezard leezard

After Aidan gets home from school, he has a snack and then does his homework, under my supervision. Homework for a first grader consists of studying spelling words, completing a page or two of math problems and a few pages from his reading workbook, and reading a story or book. It usually takes him thirty minutes or so.

He walked into the sun room to get a pencil for his math homework and shrieked. I went out there to see why he shrieked and he was laughing at a little lizard, running across the floor. Aidan said "My foot was straight over it when I saw it!" The lizard was about four inches long, about half of which seemed to be tail. Wow, could he move fast! Because of the lovely mild temperatures most of the day, I had the windows open until mid-afternoon and I suspect that he crawled in around one of the window screens.

I got a plastic cup from the kitchen and we chased him around the perimeter of the sun room until we finally cornered him, and got him into the cup. Aidan took him outside to let him go and we watched him skitter away.

And where was Spenser all this time? No idea, but I am rather glad he was nowhere to be found...I didn't want the lizard to get hurt nor did I want to later clean up regurgitated lizard.

Later I looked online and found out that our visitor is a five-lined skink:


So...is a promiscuous skink a skanky skink?

Farm days

Yesterday afternoon we spent a few delightful hours at Heritage Days at Minter's Farm. After our first experience last year, we were excited to return this year and we were not disappointed. The weather was delightful: sunny but not hot, with a light breeze.

There were, of course, lots and lots of vintage tractors including John Deere tractors (always a family favorite).


Aidan would have happily spent the entire time hulling corn and then grinding it - see the little smile in the first picture?

We had to practically tear him away from the corn to go and see everything else there was to see! Aidan saw several classmates from school, we got to scratch some donkeys behind the ears and feed some chickens. This year we actually saw the moonshine still, which we were told was only processing water. Right. What's the point of that?

Although there was no sight of Mullet Man from last year, the people watching was still quite good. And as we rode in a hay wagon back to the parking area, a woman noticed my Ohio State t-shirt - turns out she is also a fan. So there we were, surrounded by bubbas in their Georgia Bulldogs gear, happily talking about Buckeye football!

As with last year, a good time was had by all.

Special Olympics scarf #3

I finished my third - and final - Special Olympics scarf this morning.


It's a great project and I am pleased that I was able to knit three scarves for the wonderful Special Olympic athletes, but I am also glad to put the acrylic yarn down and work with fibers that are more pleasing to me!

Here is Aidan modeling the three scarves - work it, work it, own it.

Dinner conversation

Heard at our dinner table tonight from Aidan: “May I be excused to go into the other room and fart?”

So, yes, on one hand I am pleased that he left the room to pass gas and asked very politely to do so, but on the other hand…

Progress report #1

Aidan brought home his first mid-semester progress report of the school year; yes, believe it or not, he has completed half of the first nine weeks.

It was an excellent report. He is working at grade level in all subjects and meets expectations for his conduct ("does not meet expectations" is the only other choice). His teacher added the comments: "Aidan is off to a great start! He is precious!"

We are very pleased with the report and with the school year thus year. I don't know if it is a function of being a little older and more used to how things work at school, or an excellent connection with the teacher and parapro, or a combination of both...doesn't matter, it seems to be working. Aidan's behavior at school is much better than last year and he appears thrilled with everything they do in class. He is excited to leave each morning and returns home every afternoon in a good mood, ready to tell me about his day.

I do think that a lot of it has to do with his teacher, Mrs. M. She has a way about her that makes Aidan want to please her, to "do his personal best" as he tells me. He clearly adores her, much like he did his pre-K teacher. I have great admiration for those teachers who can inspire such devotion and positive energy from their students.

11 September

Today's date is one that is spoken in capital letters, a date that can never be mentioned without a catch in the voice.

I was at home that morning. I was between jobs (a nice way of saying unemployed) and because my severance pay from the job I was laid off from had ended, I had an appointment at the unemployment office. I did not have the television or the radio on, unaware of the horror that was unfolding. James called me and asked if I would turn on the television and tell him what was happening, because their office at JFK had mentioned something before their telephone communications went down.

I was astounded. I would tell him what I was seeing and then he would tell the other people in the office. The second plane hit while we were talking. I finally had to leave to go to the unemployment office and when I got arrived, there was a television on in the waiting area. I was waiting to be called when the first tower fell. The woman sitting next to me grabbed my hand and we sat there, holding hands and crying. I had never seen her before and I have never seen her since, but at that moment, we comforted each other.

I had to run an errand on the way home and when I walked into whatever store it was, the cashier took one look at me and we both started crying again. It was all I could do to drive home.

Amidst all the tears, I remember being angry - and I am still angry. That janitors and administrative assistants and waiters and receptionists and accountants and any number of “ordinary” people, just trying to make a living, went to their seemingly safe job that day and were murdered.

My friend Val’s husband is a pilot for Northwest and was flying that day. She was, of course, in a panic until she heard that it was an American Airlines airplane and a United airplane…she realized that at the same moment she was breathing a sigh of relief, some other spouse/partner/child/parent was experiencing the opposite emotion.

11 September 2001. It seems like a world away but it also seems like yesterday.

90 Minutes in Purgatory, Part Two

Believe it or not, the blog post 90 Minutes in Hell was a somewhat watered-down version of what I sent to my group of friends back in North Carolina. And while they saw the amusement in it and understood my frustration, more than one of them replied with something along the lines of "MaryAnne, this is a clear sign that you need to get involved and whip that group into shape!" Huh? Never, for one moment, was that a thought in my mind as I spouted off.

I do like having the free time to volunteer and that was one of my goals when I became a SAHM. But I have no aspirations to seeking any kind of leadership position in my local PTO. I will happily work in Aidan's class (I start next week), serve as a reading tutor (I have committed to working with two students each week) and helping out in other ways. And while new blood is always welcome, somehow I think that me charging in with my mandate of streamlining monthly meetings would be welcomed as much as a nest of fire ants.

My friend Stephanie pointed out that if I did pursue and achieve PTO leadership, I might then next take on the role of Vice President of the US! Be afraid, people, be very afraid...

90 Minutes in Purgatory

Or, The First PTO Meeting of the School Year

I am not, by nature, a patient person. That comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me and is probably one of the many many reasons that my friends love me. Right? Right? So while being impatient may not be a virtue, it does mean that I am always cognizant of time and do my utmost not to waste anyone's time, especially not my own.

Which brings me to the subject at hand: last week's PTO meeting, which was held on Thursday morning. Yes, kittens, PTO meetings at Aidan's school are held on weekday mornings, effectively telling working parents of either gender that their presence is not needed nor wanted. Okay, maybe I am reading just a tad bit too much into the scheduling of the meetings, but that's the message I get loud and clear.

For some reason (which now, in hindsight, seems damn brilliant) I did not attend any meetings last year. Last week's meeting was my first ever; what remains to be seen is whether or not I attend another one. The meeting was listed as starting at 9:30 am, which of course means that I arrived at 9:20 because it is, of course, biologically impossible for me to be anything other than early. There was quite a gathering around the refreshment table, which should have tipped me off...nothing was going to happen until everyone had their share of the danish.

The meeting finally started somewhere around 9:40-9:45. Not a good sign. The agenda was rather short but I soon realized that this was not going to be a brief meeting. Holy moly, what a mess. I think the people in charge have probably never ran a meeting in a corporate environment. Maybe I am being terribly unfair, but I doubt it...people were permitted to talk as long as they liked, the same things were said over and over, things were read to us even after the speaker said "you have the information in front of you so I won't read it." My eyes soon glazed over.

We had already been meeting for over an hour when the principal stood up to talk about the upcoming sales tax referendum, and his vision for the school year. He speaks slowly. In a calm principal voice. And he rocks slowly back and forth when he speaks. I was in serious danger of slipping into a coma and slipping out of my chair. And, worse yet, he was positioned so that I could not leave the room unless I walked one foot in front of him. So I had to stick it out...and when he finally sat down 25 minutes later, I scooted from the room as quickly as I could. I had already given them an hour and a half, and there was still 25% of the agenda left to cover!

Even though the audience was primarily comprised of stay at home moms with plenty of time, there is no reason to be inefficient and disrespectful of people's time. And I really don't mean to be rude or disrespectful of the PTO board; they are giving their time and energy to a very worthwhile organization. But, folks, you really should learn to run a meeting well and maximize everyone's time.

Special Olympics scarf #2

I finished Special Olympics scarf #2 last night:


The pattern is called 2 Weeknights with Warrick, but it took me more than two weeknights!

My initial goal was to make two scarves for this marvelous project, but I have now increased my goal to three. Since I am over halfway there, I am going to take a brief break and treat my needles/fingers to some alpaca yarn!

Do I look stupid to you?

If I ever have occasion to meet John McCain, although I can't imagine how that would ever happen, I might say something to him like "Do I look stupid to you?"

It is no secret that I like Hillary Clinton, and that I happily, proudly, almost giddily voted for her in our state's presidential primary. I think she is smart, tough when necessary, shrewd, passionate, compassionate, intense, well-spoken, well-read - namely, all the things I want in a president. That she happened to be a woman was just icing on my cake.

Was I disappointed when she didn't get the Democratic nomination for president? You betcha. But I am not so disappointed that I will vote for any woman. And if John McCain thinks that I will transfer my vote that will not get to be for Senator Clinton to Governor Palin, then I must look stupid to him. As far as I can tell, the only thing about which Governor Palin and I agree is a woman's right to color her hair any color she likes.

One of my favorite columnists, Leonard Pitts, said it far better than I ever could in his recent column, "Gov. Palin and Sen. Clinton 'could hardly be less alike'":

The notion that Hillary's women will automatically become Sarah's carries the implicit assumption that a woman is a woman is a woman is a woman, that disaffected female supporters of Clinton will flock to Palin because she has the right reproductive organs and never mind that, politically, the two could hardly be less alike. Never mind pro-choice versus pro-life. Never mind Iraq, Iran, gas prices, the mortgage crisis, failing schools. Chromosomes conquer all...

I believe that if I were a woman, even one who had supported Clinton, I'd still be insulted at this notion that any woman will do, affronted by this attempt to manipulate my hunger for history.

Indeed. And while I have long respected Senator McCain, he just fumbled the ball big-time with me. There was never a possiblity that I might vote for him - too many ideological differences for me to do that - and naming Governor Palin to his ticket certainly does not improve his chances with me. I am left, however, feeling slightly offended and belittled. And it takes a lot to offend me.

Good news, bad news

The good news is that I have lost 15-18 pounds since January. Why the range of 3 pounds? If you are a woman, you know that your weight fluctuates based on the time of the month, what you ate two days ago and how Mars is aligned with Jupiter. In other words, for any reason.

So, of course, I am thrilled to be lighter...so what could possibly be the bad news? NOTHING FITS! Don't get me wrong, I love to shop for clothes, but I just hate the thought of having to replace almost everything that I wear from the waist down (tops are still doing well because, unfortunately in my case, the girls didn't seem to lose any weight). So all the size 12 clothes that I had assembled and gathered and liked over the years now hang off my hips. Some things I can fudge, but some are beyond cinching or hiding with long shirts. I have to go shopping. Especially for jeans. Yuck, yuck, double yuck.

Other than buying a swimsuit, there is nothing worse than shopping for jeans. But as a SAHM, jeans are the most practical thing for me to wear. And with cooler temps coming (albeit several weeks away), I need to get some before I wake up one morning and realize that it isn't crops or capris weather anymore.

Today I have a PTO meeting at Aidan's school, errands to run and then lunch with James. I put on a casual skirt that I had not worn all summer and found that it now hangs about five inches below my waist; even with a longish top over it to try and hide the drop, the patch pockets in the back rest somewhere around where my thighs become my tookus. Not only am I far too old for the gangsta look, I don't think that look ever works with a tan chino skirt from Talbots.

So in between the "must do" errands today, I will try to pop into a store or two and start the painful process of buying jeans and fall pants. Remember me in your thoughts, will you?

My first Special Olympics scarf

Yesterday, I finished my first scarf for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Scarf Project:


I loathe the yarn but adore the project. The only good things I can say about the yarn is that weaving in the ends is easy because the yarn seems to grip itself, and that the colors do look good in contrast to each other.

I feel proud knowing that my scarf will adorn the neck of an amazing athlete. Hugs all around!