Happy anniversary, Motherhood Later group!

Today is the one year anniversary of the formation of the Motherhood Later Rather Than Sooner group on Ravelry. Woohoo! The group is for knitting and/or crocheting mommies who have given birth at age 35 or older. What a great group of women - this is the group in which I have participated in two swaps, and one of two groups that I visit multiple times a day.

One of the members came up with a great way to celebrate our anniversary: "...wouldn’t it be nice to send a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to a good friend you’ve made in the group, something you know they would love or have wished for in conversations, and you could make it happen? Maybe it’s a thing you make or buy, but it would represent a celebration of online friendship that we wouldn’t have without this group. I’m not talking like a full swap package; just a symbolic item."

I adore this idea - just sending a little surprise to another member of the group, just because. And the woman who made this great suggestion is the person that I chose to gift first with a set of felted coasters:


I got her address from one of the last swap moderators and sent the coasters in the mail yesterday, with a little note telling her how I have enjoyed getting to know her on Ravelry. Not a big gift at all, just a little something to say "I appreciate your friendship", and I hope that when she uses them she will think of her friend in Georgia.

Now, what and to whom should I gift my next RAK?

Hot water

For once, being in hot water is a very good thing since we have been without it for almost five full days. James came downstairs on Monday morning and announced that his morning shower was tepid. We did some investigating and found that the pilot light on the hot water heater was out and would not relight. Rats.

We have kept up the home warranty since buying this house (terrified that the a/c units or furnaces will croak) so I immediately called in a service request. The earliest that the contracted service company could get here was Tuesday afternoon. The guy spent about five minutes examining it and said that it was the pilot light assembly, which had to be ordered. His best guess? Three to four days, then they would come out and install it. So let's see...three to four days from Tuesday afternoon was Friday or Monday; we could easily be looking at a week with no hot water.

The service guy was so apologetic but good grief, it wasn't his fault. And in the grand scheme of things, it could be far, far worse: no water at all, no electricity, no a/c. It certainly made for VERY refreshing showers and quick ones, always good for the environment. Aidan was hilarious as he lowered his tookus into his chilly bath each evening! But I missed having hot water in the kitchen the most, having to heat water on the stove for dishwashing and rinsing.

Much to my surprise, the service company called this morning to say that the part was in, and would it be convenient for them to install it sometime today between 10 and 1? I could not say "yes" fast enough! About 11:45 am, the repair guy was in our basement to install the new part and a little over an hour later, hot water was available.

Heat + water = a good thing.