Almost 2008

As the year ends and a new one begins a great many are making resolutions regarding what the will or won't do in the coming year. I have a great many goals that I am pursuing but they are and will remain mine and mine alone. One thing that I will share is that I intend to blog without obligation in the future.

See - I even have a handy dandy logo that I swiped from somebody else's blog who had a really good idea + the ability to write code. It stems from the fact that most blogs I read start off with " wow it's been a long time since I blogged...." And mine has been the same way. So from now on I'm going to blog when I darn well feel like it without apology for however long the interval between entries might be. I like blogging and will do it when I get around to it and I refuse to feel guilty for not keeping up with the Harlot. We can't all be as prolific or as entertaining as she.
Tomorrow I say goodbye to Air Force boy for several months. It has been great having him home and we will miss him greatly. Our wallets are sighing with relief though. Air Force boy is high maintenance. His visit has also brought us closer to officially having a daughter in law. Elly Mae is sporting a very pretty ring so listen for wedding bells some time in the next year.

Happy Christmas

I'm a happy mom with all my kids back under one roof. I'm looking forward to having a house full of teenagers eating everything in sight for the next week. Mo got in today - under the weather, but we'll pamper him a little and send him back healthy. Larry & Elly Mae finished their exams and are out for the holidays too. And best of all I don't have to go to work until after Christmas.

This is how Snoopy feels about his boy being home after 4 months away.


And this is how I feel about it.

Jose has been adapting Christmas carols to have a hospital flair so I have been working on a labor & delivery style take on Twas the night before Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas and in L & D
The nurse's all gathered to sigh with relief
Not a laboring mom was about on this night
As Santa Claus was about to take flight

The newborns were nestled all snug in their beds
While Percocet dreams danced in mom's heads
The doc's and the midwives exchanged high five slaps
And set out for home in hopes of a nap

When out on the ramp arose such a clatter
Nurses jumped up to see what was the matter.
Away to the door with a wheelchair we flew
To swoop up a mom and a frightened dad too

The moon did shine bright on this Christmas eve night
Gave luster of peace to all within sight
When what to our wondering eye should appear
But Santa, his sleigh, and all eight reindeer

But dear little baby was coming right quick
So we all took off , ignoring St Nick
Away to the birthing room the nurses they flew
With a laboring mom and her husband too

As we were closing the door and turning around
Into the station St Nicholas came with a bound
He was dressed in green scrubs from his head to his foot
And his crocs were all grungy with blood and with guts

His eyes how they twinkled his dimples how merry
His cheeks were like roses his nose like a cherrry
A stethoscope tossed in a loop round his neck
He looked like a resident with a backpack

The nurses had scattered to their work you know
So he wasted no time but got on with his show
Gifts he was leaving for the staff and their boss
No offense he did take at the attention lost

He understands that in L & D
The moms and the babes take priority
We welcome this evening a wee little one
And celebrate He who helps us get the job done

As he leapt in his sleigh to drive out of sight
We heard "Happy Chrismas to all and to all good night."

Quick!

Hide all the chocolate in my mouth. It's been a bit since I've posted - Again. It's cause I've been busy - Still. Duh, It's the holidays. Everyone is running around like crazy folk trying to get everything done so they can have the " Norman Rockwell perfect Christmas". Which I personally think doesn't exist but it doesn't mean you don't have a great time trying. I spent Sunday with my extended family in Tennessee - always a hoot. Larry & I tried to count the Christmas trees in Pam's house - We gave up after 17. She is WAY into Christmas ( in a good way) I particularly liked the lighthouse tree in the bathroom. I got my focus back and finished the socks for a very special person. I will definitely being making some more in the feather & fan pattern. It turned out very nicely and I'm really glad they don't fit me cause I want them. I also started a sweater for another someone special and fell in love with the yarn. I've been petting it ever since it came in the mail but it is truly lovely to work with. Dream in color - classy is awesome. Must. Have. More.
Poor Mo is freezing his tushy off in Texas. He is stationed close to Oklahoma and they are getting lots of ice and winter weather. Unlike Atlanta which is experiencing Spring . It was 76 degrees here today. I sat on the back deck with kitties frolicking about my feet and napped in the sunshine. Bad news on the kitty front - Mama is chubbibg up again. Anyone want kittens? Please say yes.

holiday quiz

I'm being lazy and letting this serve as my post for the week. Busy Busy - must finish shopping and decorate. At this rate by the time I get my decorations up it will be time to take them down again.

What The Holidays Mean to You

For you, the holidays are about emotional connections and bonds. You are happiest being around those you love. You celebrate the holidays in a minimalist style. You are likely to only give one great present and decorate your house with a few special items. During the holidays, you feel happily busy. There's so much do to and not a lot of time to do it. But you enjoy every minute of your holiday chores. You think the holidays should be nostalgic and sweet. The holidays bring out your inner child. Your best holiday memories are warm and intimate. You remember special moments more than gifts or parties.

What Do the Holidays Mean to You?

Turkey

Ooooh, I'm such a slacker. It's been a while since I posted last and I have no good excuse. Oh well. I'm going to chalk it up to getting ready for the holidays as well as a myriad of other minor disasters that while not particularly dramatic were rather time-consuming.
Work as always is a disaster in progress and I'm seeking alternate methods of obtaining income that do not involve receiving hate mail daily. I hit a deer last week on my way to work and crunched my poor Elvis' nose so getting him some plastic surgery has been on the agenda. Poor Forrest got in a scuffle and had a ginormous abscess on his neck that had to be drained and since he was visiting the vet - we made sure he wouldn't bring home any MORE kids. He is most disgruntled but we're bribing him with little friskies turkey & giblets to love us again. What exactly is a "giblet" by the way? Does anyone know?
Thanksgiving was celebrated on Wednesday evening at Chez feline due to other obligations. We enjoyed Turkey, dressing, and all the fixins. Then I started cooking all over again to take food out on Thursday. T-day itself was not bad. I had good company and no drama. I even got to knit a little. Feather & fan sock #2 now has a toe but I'm going to have to speed up if I expect to finish in time.
Today, I'm staying home and watching all the lunatics who think it's fun to shop on Black Friday. I usually have all my shopping done by today and spend this weekend putting up all the Christmas stuff. Have I mentioned that I'm a slacker? I'm going to go drag Larry out of bed and get busy. Hope everyone had a great Turkey day. I'm thankful for more stuff than I deserve and wish the same for you.

Three things

Three things seems to be the theme for posting this week so I'll play along.
Three vegetables I hate :
1 boiled okra
2 artichokes
3 stewed tomatos
Three veggies that I love:
1 corn
2 turnip greens
3 Tatties
It's been a busy week at Chez Feline. The wee kitties are becoming much more tolerant of affection ( as long as kibble is involved). We're still working towards them not being so skittish but all in all much improved. Work has been a three ring circus and I was saddled with being ringmaster not once but twice. Lisa & Cindy - You owe me. You may gain forgiveness with gifts of chocolate or sock yarn. Your choice. Meany Fitch was at her broom-riding best and deserves some karmic reprisals. And Jen - points awarded for trying and for pizza. On a happier note - I went shopping with my sweet baby on Friday and I got my hair did. I spent today cleaning out my closet and helping AH clean and reorganize his half. The Salvation Army will be receiving the results on Monday. I got some cooking and cleaning done and finally managed to prod Larry into cleaning his bathroom. It was an atrocious sight with furry floors and general ickiness. Much better now.
Here is Forrest with two of the three babies, Bubba and Dani. I love that Dani is a tortie and she is the friendliest and smallest.
I'll leave you with a recipe ( a la Paula Deen) that I tried this morning. It is way yummy.
Ultimate coffeecake:
16 frozen dinner rolls
1 package butterscotch pudding ( not instant)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans ( or not - make yourself happy)
1 stick butter melted.
Throw the frozen rolls in a well greased bundt pan. Sprinkle or pour all the other stuff on top. Cover it and let it sit overnight. It will be big in the morning. Bake for 30 min in a 350 degree oven. Make sure you put a cookie sheet under the pan to catch what oozes out while it bakes.
Otherwise your security company will call you to ask why your fire alarm is going off.

Three more things
1.butter + sugar + hot oven = smoke
2. never hire someone you know to monitor your security system - they make smart assed comments when things like the above happen
3. Then they don't get invited over to help eat the yummy goodness.

Still gone.

Or perhaps gone round the bend. It's hard to tell. The feather & fan socks are officially hibernating. And yet I still ogle the pretty yarns on my computer screen as if I will ever have time to knit all that is already stashed in my house. Don't tell AH. He only knows about a fraction of the whole and I've no desire to be on yarn restriction again. Twas a sad and lonely place. As I write this I hear it in my head spoken with a Scottish accent. Perhaps what I deserve since I just read Janice's post. I haven't yet progressed to spinning. The desire just isn't in me - yet. Spare time recently has been spent taming wild kittens in hopes of rounding them up and hauling them to a vet to be fixed. Pics of the wee ones to follow when the critters stop freaking out about strange noises, and movement, and curious ( tho entirely harmless) dogs, and leaves and butterflies and what have you.
The only project I'm currently making any headway on is this sweater for a coworker who has inexplicably decided to have a baby. If it wasn't such a brainlessly easy pattern it would be stalled too. You'd think she'd know better considering what we do for a living. Oh well. Mine is not to question why. Mine is not to let them die.Happy Monday peeps.

It's gone!

That's right. You heard it here first. My sock-knitting mojo is Poof - gone. I picked up the sock. I admired the nice neat rows of perfect ( somewhat) stitches. I put it right back down again and picked up a sweater which I knit happily on for the better part of an hour. Then I put that down and ( gasp) picked up a book, which was not about knitting. I have lost all desire to fondle DPN's at the moment. It is a scary thing. I will go watch TV until I get better. For I surely must be ill.

Before and After

I'm home again and back to work and all the drudgery that comes with it. Grocery shopping, calling the wireless company and wrangling about the bill and what have you. It was sooooo good to see my boy, even without hair. This is before bootcamp - No haircut for 6 months...

This is after BMT ( Basic Military training)

He had more hair when he was born. The AH complains that the medical profession is way too into using acronyms ( STAT, PRN, QD) After one weekend with AirForce Boy I don't think he'll be griping at me anymore. Everywhere I turned it was A1C ( airman 1st class) BDU ( Battle dress uniform) BX, KP or a bunch more that I can't remember. Anyway - not much knitting got done in spite of honest effort. It went along for the ride. The feather and fan sock is more well-traveled than most people I know. I have finally turned the heel and much swearing and frogging was required - now is the fun part. Just working my pattern til the leg is a decent length and cranking out the mate. I'm feeling the urge to start another baby sweater - I picked up some "boy colors" today in the midst of all my other errands. Hey a girl has to reward herself for bringing home the toothpaste and laundry detergent doesn't she? I also got to have lunch with a dear friend - my face hurts from laughing but we didn't get thrown out of the restaurant this time so that's progress. And a special thanks to AMY for her quick response and good info. Great blog template by the way.

There is water coming from the sky today - I think I've forgotten what rain is. Atlanta is DRY and Georgia is fighting the Feds to keep water in our lakes from going to Alabama and Florida. Not that they don't appreciate our water, but our lawns have been dead since July and they get to keep watering theirs? And I'm all for protecting endangered species but hello, they are getting rain. We aren't. I know it's asking a lot but can we get just a little common sense from our government?

Got my Invite

I got my Ravelry invite. Finally. Even though it is a giant time suck, I'm having a grand time poking around and seeing what everyone else is doing. Is it just me or does everyone else on the planet actually have more free time than I do? I'm done with work for the week. Can I get a whoo hoo here? And I'm taking off on Thursday to see number one son graduate from boot camp. I can't wait to see my big bald baby. And when I get done hugging him I'm going to kick his sorry butt for only writing his mama once in the last 6 weeks. Kids. No pics today. Busy busy. More next week. Maybe. I hope.

Top Ten

Since I am not loving my place of employment so much these days I thought I'd write about some of the more absurd things that I have seen, heard or experienced in nineteen plus years of delivering babies. This will mostly encompass the appalling ignorance that much of the population seems to walk around in.

1. "Is labor going to hurt?" - Yes, it is going to hurt more than you could have ever dreamed it possibly could. If it felt good we wouldn't call it labor. We'd call it party or picnic to more accurately reflect it's festive nature. It occurs to me that the people who ask this( and God help me, I've heard it more than once) have never worked a day in their spoiled little lives and have no concept of what LABOR is.
2. Showing up in the labor and delivery unit on the " due date" with labor nowhere on the horizon - There is a reason this is called the estimated day of delivery. Please stay home until you can locate one or more brain cells to bring with you to the hospital. This may be a while. we'll wait.
3. "I lost my mucous plug" - We haven't seen it. Please go away now. Perhaps if you looked under the bed?
4. " I'm here to have my labor seduced" - Trust me - the seduction is long over.
5. " I'm supposed to have a c-section because I have fireballs in my eucharist" - Could you possibly mean Fibroids in your Uterus? Maybe if you hadn't been glued to your cell phone in the Dr's office you would have heard what the provider said. Go buy some Q-tips and give Verizon a rest.
6. ( after having a catheter placed) " Now how will the baby get out?" - OMG - What was I thinking? How Will the baby get out? Labor is a bad time for an anatomy lesson - just trust me on this one.
7. " The baby keeps pulling on the unbiblical cord and it makes my belly-button hurt" - shaking my finger at the patient's belly - Stop that you bad bad baby
8. " My water keeps breaking - does this mean I'm going to have a 'dry birth' ?" - no it means the baby left the faucet running. Stop wasting water.
9. " I don't want an epidural - I'm scared of needles" - this from a person with several large tattoos .
10. And my favorite. " When will you poke the holes in my nipples so I can breastfeed?"

Total Momsense

KIP

I love September. It is my most favorite month. The family and I just returned from a short holiday. Larry was most embarrassed by my propensity for knitting in public (KIP) Probably because because I did a lot of it. But I wasn't the only one. See this nice lady on the cruise ship ?She was making a pretty burgundy sock. I found a crocheter on the pool deck but alas had no place for my camera in my swimsuit so no pic. I visited a very pretty yarn shop in Key West but they were closed. Knit Wits - Please forgive the nose prints on your door. I like your shop very much. Can I come inside next time? Even though you are dog people I think we can get along. Trust me - I will be back. I had a lovely holiday and since I got a bit sunburned ( again, I know- You'd think I'd learn) I had some "inside" time. This is what I accomplished.You guessed it. A sweater for a one-armed member of the lollipop guild. Actually the last sleeve is awaiting completion and then all that's left is the neckline & button/buttonhole bands. The sock is for my darlin daughter-in-law to be. It is made of Trekking XXL and I love the heathery rose color. They will look great with jeans. The dark brown background is the ever helpful Snoopy doing yoga. This is his downward dog pose.
And since no blog post is complete without lots of eye candy - I'll show you a few shots of Key West, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen. I think God was just showing off when he made these places. Gorgeous.

9-9- whatever

Today is my birthday and I have had an absolutely delightful weekend. I worked Friday and was tormented by my co-workers as this is a "milestone" birthday. Thank you one and all - and kindly remember that revenge is sweet. Yesterday my darlin Kenny came to town to see me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Isn't he pretty?

The show was awesome. Here is a pic of me and the AH early in the evening. Later pics are not
so flattering.
.This is the sunset over Lakewood amphitheater. I know it's called Hi-Fi Buys amphitheater now but I grew up in Atlanta and some places are just gonna get called by their original names no matter what. And you can rename Stewart Ave., Metropolitan Blvd all you want to. It's still where the prostitutes hang out. Some things won't change. My Vols beat So.Miss last night and UGA lost. Kenny is a Vols fan. of course. The Pride of the Southland band was busy last night but the Ga Tech marching band showed up to play along, as did Uncle Kracker and Joe Walsh. And today the AH & Larry took me out to lunch at one of my favorite places and when we came home AH produced some serious bling in the form of bracelet and earrings. I especially love the bracelet. I'm sure it wasn't intentional but the design is very much like two rows of knit stitch. I'm a lucky girl. What a sweet hubby. Tomorrow I get to take the dog to the vet. Darn reality intruding on my idyllic weekend. But after that I'm going to Knitch to fondle the goods and maybe bring home just a little. Have a great week.

Happy Labor Day

Just a quick post to say Happy Labor day to everyone. It's a gorgeous day in the ATL and I'm ready to go play outside. Sorry Bit , I know you're at work today. Unfortunately I have to get Larry to help me cut the grass. The rain that we begged for a few weeks ago has turned the lawn into a jungle that must be tamed. Mo got to call home from boot camp and give us his address. He sounded tired but he was reading from a script and couldn't say anything but what it said. It was good to hear his voice. I miss my buddy. One good aspect to being a little stressed out is that lots of knitting got done this week. Booga 3.0 is complete and drying on the blocker as I write this. And Bear's sweater has most of the back complete. The camo socks have been temporarily abandoned but I'm sure I'll pick them up and finish them as I have some travel coming up in the next couple of weeks. Here's some pics since I hate to blog without photos

Have a great holiday.

The things we do for love

Mo must be in love because there is no way He'd ever let me do that to him and get photographic evidence. Enjoy the sight of his lovely soft and silky black hair that he loved for his mum to play with - cause it's GONE! Yep - Uncle Sam has done away with my baby's pretty hair as of this morning. We sent him to Texas for bootcamp this morning with hugs and smiles. The tears came later - did you think I was made of stone?Darn kid was as excited as if he were going to summer camp. Poor SGF/DDILTB is left at home to pine for him. Isn't she pretty? We love her.
This is what happens when Mo mugs for himself. Messy - Just like the basement that I've spent the day cleaning when I could have been moping and knitting. The longer I cleaned the gladder I was that he was gone because I might have strangled him if he was home.
On a happier note the Little league baseball team from Warner Robins, Ga won the LLWS against Japan. All I've got to say is that for two years running we've gotten some payback for that damn Kudzu that's taking over the south. And my Vols play California on Saturday. Now I'm going to go console myself ; chocolate or alcohol? Maybe a chocolate martini? MMMM decisions.

Insane

Knitting sweaters in 100+ degree heat in Atlanta - Are you insane? Why yes, Apparently I am since I am guilty of casting on not one but three new projects today, two of which are sweaters and the other is Booga 3.0. We are enjoying our third week of no rain plus 100 degree temps here in the ATL. There is nothing quite like summer in the South. I've been trying to spend a little time each day vegging in the pool cuz that's what it's for and where else can I beat the heat and get skin cancer at the same time? I might have overdone it a bit today though. I'm thinking that the red glow behind me is not taillights. Anyway this is the status of works already in progress. One completed camo sock - the other about half done. Two completed baby camo sox - cause they're cute and quick. Love me some instant gratification. Booga 2.0 complete except for attaching the strap. I did this one with Paton's SWS. That yarn LOVES to be felted. A little too much, thus Booga 3. This is also in SWS but I'm modifying the pattern to obtain a more useful finished size.

And here is Abby trying to look innocent after absconding with a bit of yarn. I'm not buying it.

SAFF

I was reading about SAFF before bed a couple of nights ago and apparently this produced some very strange dreams. I dreamt that I arrived at SAFF to find it a combination fibre arts fair/ county fair complete with live animals and such. I then found myself ( along with a number of other people) being pressured to wear a purple geisha-like get-up and go on a quest for sheep hidden on the premises. So I proceed to mince about the fair on my too-small geisha feet looking for sheep. I giggle evilly at my fellow contestants who mistakenly snatch up goats. I finally locate one little sheep under the bleachers ( think under the stands at Quidditch - HP 1 & 2) and try to sneak up and capture it. Enter a coworker who I find particularly annoying who begins to talk incessantly and loudly about how unkind it is to the sheep and how much better it is at her fair blah blah blah. ( This is actually what I hear when she talks at work) So then I am torn between committing murder or grabbing my sheep and running for the finish line where I am positive grand prizes in the form of yarn await. And then my two cats discovered that they were sleeping in close proximity to each other and decided to have a hissing spitting match to see who got to sleep with Mama and I woke up. I don't usually remember my dreams but this one was so entertaining that I'd like to have it again so I can see how it ends. Did I win the yarn? Did I strangle my coworker? Did I get the YARN?

Lifehouse's Everything

This is incredible

Too blinking hot

It is 9:30 PM and I just looked at the thermometer as I was waiting for the dog to have his evening constitutional. See ? Big word and it sounds lots better than - well , what he was actually doing. But dudes - it was 90 degrees! When I walked out of work at 7:30 and got in my car the thermometer said 95. And this was in a covered parking deck. It felt like walking into an oven. I guess with the relatively mild summer we've had so far we've turned into a bunch of weenies. Still - 90 degrees! It was a crazy day at work - 11 kids in 12 hours - obviously someone was slacking off one of those hours ( probably me - hee) but overall not a bad day. Lots of little annoyances - no big disasters. There has been no knitting accomplished for 2 days however. Heck there was no lunch accomplished today unless you count inhaling cafeteria food in between episodes of poking my hand in strangers' nether regions. Said hand was washed numerous times, both before and after touching the cafeteria food if that makes you feel better. I leave you with a sad alpaca waiting to be invited to Ravelry. It looks like so much fun - I want to play too.

Quickie

I've just finished playing Harry Potter trivia with Mo & his SGF ( and winning.) So now they are mad and I'm back in the office to blog a little.
Just a quick post before I head off to bed. It's been a busy week as usual. On the work front - we set a new record number of deliveries for the month. 226! That's a whole lot of new citizens for a little county hospital. We is tired. On the home front - it is back to school next week. I think I hate it almost as much as Larry. Only three more years. I'm gonna need a new countdown timer in the sidebar. Also on the home front is the view from my back deck. Look at the doe and her triplets. We see deer several times a week but three fawns at once is new. So I take pictures - cause I'm a dork that way. I've been industriously ignoring the house falling down around me and the clutter accumulating as I knit on the camo socks. I'm swatching for the baby surprise sweater and if I actually manage to follow the pattern ( there is some serious doubt on this one) then my Brenna girl will get a cool sweater made by her loving Aunt Kel. Which will piss Cayla off and I'll be knitting sweaters til my fingers fall off. Sigh.

facelift

The blog has had a facelift. What do you think?. I'm kinda liking the new color scheme so far. It's been a slow week, Blog-wise anyway. Just not a lot of fodder. I could expound upon the Jerry Springer show issues of the patients at work but that violates all sorts of privacy laws and could get me fired. Besides which their issues are really pathetic when you think about it. It has been a good knitting week. The booga bag is completed - no pictures - someone who reads this will be getting it as a gift. I'm really pleased with how it came out and pictures will be forthcoming. And the panda cotton socks are started. I guess I'll call these the camo socks since that's what the coIors remind me of. Feel free to leave name suggestions in the comments. I love this yarn. It is a little splitty but it feels so good that I don't really care. And it is is very forgiving which means no ladders. Thanks Sheri for the suggestion. I had originally planned to give these socks as a gift but I don't think I'll be able to part with them. I will probably wind up buying this yarn in every color. I have S.E.X. planned for September. ( Get your minds out of the gutter - that's a Stash Enhancing eXpedition) Anyway, Here is my stuffed puppy modeling the

toe. Isn't he cute? He supervises my computer time, which has been curtailed this week due to evening thunderstorms, or "thunderboomers" as my mom calls them. My Gran would say that " it comes up a cloud" about this time every day. I've never known exactly what that meant but it is obviously weather related. Someone should probably tell the folks at the weather channel. They could stand to expand their vocabulary. I mean - if you're going to talk about the weather all day, every day you should probably come up with several ways to say " It is going to rain in Mississippi " or " It is going to be hot in Arizona". Otherwise people are liable to get bored and just go outside and figure it out all on their own. And that's what I'm going to do now. Later.

I'm Back

Triage : A french word meaning "Where the hell did all these patients come from, and how do I make them go away?" It has been a long and extremely busy week both at work and home. I am very grateful to have had a couple of days off to do nothing but read the last Harry Potter book. A few loads of laundry and a very little housework got accomplished too, but I have just read the last page. I won't be a spoiler for those of you who haven't finished yet but I can't deny that a few tears were shed as I read this one, just as they were at the end of book six. J.K. Rowling will certainly have a place in history for writing this series.

Now, since this is a knitting blog and I haven't written much about knitting lately, I will try to catch up. The confetti socks are almost finished. Just a little ribbing required on the second one and I will be casting off. Then, in keeping with my cast-off, cast-on rule, I will be starting a Booga bag with Noro Kureyon colorway #214. Am I the only one who wonders why the Japanese yarns don't have names? And also since I like to keep a pair of socks on the needles for knitting on the go I have some new Crystal palace Panda cotton which is a bamboo blend. The skein is so soft, I can't wait to see how it works up. And the name of the colorway is awesome - chocolate almond. And as if that isn't enough - I've got a baby cardigan and a baby surprise sweater waiting in the wings. I hope someone I know gets pregnant soon or I'm going to feel foolish about these projects.

And even more good news, Stephanie Pearl McPhee is coming to Atlanta in September. Her blog is a delight to read as are her books so I am very anxious to see her in person. But for now, I will go and visit with Mo & Larry if I can get their noses out of their copies of The Deathly Hallows. Here's a pic of the elusive Mama Kitty to tide you over til next time.

7-13-89

On this day 18 years ago Mo entered the world and just three months later he was this fat happy little ham who slept through the night. I guess he finally realized that Mom is not too interesting in the middle of the night and might be more fun in the daytime if she slept at night. I think he stayed up because he was so dang nosy and was afraid he'd miss out on something. That's my boy - he never wants to miss out on anything that might be fun. And before we knew it he turned into this handsome little guy in the Magnum PI shirt who was charming all the ladies at preschool.

And he grew some more and grabbed life with both hands. He wanted to try everything and do everything. He tried to make his little brother throw up on the teacup ride at Disney. Didn't work but it was fun to watch. He tried snorkeling and karate and indoor skydiving and escargot. He tried to drive his parents crazy. That one worked most of the time.














And since today is such a milestone birthday I'm going to be embarrasssingly sappy and steal the words to a very pretty song to express my wishes for you. Happy birthday son. I love you.

"It's only for a moment you were mine to hold.
The plans that heaven has for you will all too soon unfold.
So many different prayers I'll pray for all that you might do.
But most of all I want to know you're walking in the truth.
And if I never told you I want you to know
As I watch you grow.

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams.
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things.
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots and help you find your wings"

How many?

When you have pets of any kind there comes a point where, when people ask you how many you have, and you reply " four" or " seven" or however many is true, that they look astonished and want to know " Why so many?" You see, it started like this. My family and I actively sought out and rescued 2 pets. 1 cat ( Jenny) and 1 dog ( Snoopy). This made us happy. Then we moved. Our old house was apparently a desirable place for a feral cat to have her kittens. It was not however desirable to sell a house inhabited by feral cats so we banished them , in the process rescuing Abby. She was tiny and we bottle fed her and we kept her, figuring two kids, two cats. Makes sense right? She does love to sit in her daddy's lap

Meet Forrest. Forrest wandered up one day last year and talked his daddy into patting him on the head, then feeding him, then letting him move in. He moved out again pretty quickly. Naughty house manners, nuff said? But he stayed around and became the "outside kitty". For those of you keeping track this makes a total of 4 critters. 2 inside kitties, 1 outside, and one very spoiled inside dog. Still a reasonable number right? One pet for every member of the family - nothing exotic or outrageous.
Now it gets a little ugly. It seems that Forrest has a wife and kids. We just met them Sunday. Mama ( you know that Forrest loved his mama) is a pretty little gray tabby - very bashful - no pictures available yet. Little Bubba is solid black like his daddy and little Lou ( for lieutenant Dan) is gray and white like his mama. They are also quick as little bunnies and we can't catch them. So now it starts to sound a little nuts. I admit that I have said when I am old that I will be the crazy cat lady on the street. I have also said that I will sit in my rocker and knit and give little kids snow cones. I really never meant for this to happen. I'm not old yet! Oh God, I have 6 cats, and a dog. I need a drink.

Home

As you can no doubt see, St Thomas is exquisitely beautiful, but I am thrilled to be home. After much drama and mayhem involved with the airlines, we actually made it down there. I have mentioned my distaste for Spirit airlines in the past. You may now officially register that as outright hatred and know that I will NEVER fly them again. The nice AIRTRAN and Delta planes went up & came down on time and got me and the guys where we needed to go. I had several enjoyable encounters with the TSA agents as well. Who knew getting frisked could be so much fun? Apparently when you buy tickets at the last minute and then fly with no luggage you set off alarm bells. Who knew?


This is the adorable hubby sitting right above the first completed confetti sock. It is displayed on one of my cool new sock blockers. Thanks Chappy, they finally got here. I believe I mentioned that I would endeavour to locate a yarn shop during my travels. There are none, zero, nil, nada. Apparently the fine folks in the Virgin Islands purchase their Rasta hats at the local K-mart.
These fine folks are however, exceptionally bad drivers. Probably something to do with them driving on the wrong side of the road. Some of you are aware that my tolerance for bad driving has sharply diminished in the last year. Even so, I was a bit slow on the uptake when our erstwhile tour guide/ car rental agent began marking the pot holes on our map of the island. I failed to realize that he was only marking the holes that were deep enough to swallow the car. Needless to say we returned the car quickly and opted to stay in our resort thereafter. Which was very nice. We attended a couple of weddings. Best wishes to Scott and Sandi. We drank a lot of rum punch and pina coladas. And we vegged on the beach and watched the iguanas freak out the other guests. Who could ask for more?
We didn't miss much. Apart from the incredible natural beauty, St. Thomas resembles a third-world country. So I leave you with a photo of the amazing sunset as I go off to acheive whiter whites and brighter brights in preparation for my return to work.

On the record

I want to go on record as saying that Spirit airlines is the chintziest carrier that I have ever had the misfortune to do business with. Did you know that they charge you for luggage? What sort of airline, which takes people, presumably Away from where they generally keep their unmentionables, then charges them for the priviledge of taking some clean drawers along for the ride? I just don't get it. I would not be having this issue if the best airline on the planet flew to St Thomas . Airtran understands that most people feel friendlier and make better passengers when wearing clean underwear and they let you take some with you. Let's all boycott Spirit now. They put the LOW in low-cost carrier.
Now I'm sure the 2 or 3 people ( Hi Dad) who regularly read this blog are wondering what this has to do with the llama at the top of the page. Not a darn thing. Hermione is a llama ( not an alpaca) and she is here to make my friend Jose' happy. Now I am going to take Larry to get sheared . I mean , I am going to take Larry to get a haircut and try to find something to feed him for dinner. Adios.

Priorities

In these days of high gas prices, war on terror, starving children in Iraqi orphanages, I know that all of us are very deeply concerned about how Paris Hilton is tolerating prison. I ask you - Does any body really give a damn how spoiled little Paris is getting thru her time-out for drunk driving? I can't be the only one tired of hearing about her on TV and radio.
Paris - GROW UP!
Now, Off my soapbox and on to more pleasant topics. The bribery socks are complete along with their miniature pals to go to the bereavement box at work. The hat was still on the needles when I took the picture and I was too lazy to go get it. It's a hat. Use your imagination. The confetti sox are started but since only the toe is done , I thought I'd spare you the photo. The Go-live of the new electronic medical record at work went surprisingly well. There were some glitches. There had to be. It's the Rock after all. But overall - Not nearly as painful as anticipated. Countdown to St Thomas - 8 more days!

bipolar

To quote Mr Rogers " It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood". If you like bipolar weather. This morning was rainy and dreary and after sitting in godawful Conyers traffic for 30 minutes I finally made it home from helping teach a computer class . The sun is now shining brightly beckoning me to come freeze my big white tushy off in the pool. And I will soon oblige. But first I will ramble on about knitting. The second bribery sock is well under way - the heel will be turned before the afternoon is over as long as I don't get called in to work. And as soon as they are finished then I finally will get a pair for myself out of this cool confetti yarn.

This project will be going with me on vacation as small easy endeavors are best for travelling. Plus, the airlines don't wig out so much over little bitty sock knitting needles as they do over big, "I'm making a blanket large enough for a small third world nation" terrorist needles. Just fourteen more days til St Thomas. I'm thinking that Caribbean countries probably have little use for knitted items except maybe Rastafarian hats but before the week is over, I will KNOW if there are any yarn shops.More later.

More already ! AH & Larry went fishing recently. Please admire the lovely bass Larry caught. Notice Abby sitting next to her bowl. She was most disappointed. This is her looking disgusted about the whole situation.