Christmas is here...

Memories

When I was little we would spend every Sunday at my grandparents house. We'd come in the afternoon and stay for homemade pizza, Wild Kingdom and Disney. We'd play cards, dance with my aunt's, go down the lane and just be together. They are some of my most treasured memories.

Livin' The Dream

All summer we have found a tiny, green tree frog living inside our hot tub. He’s just under the flap and above the water line where the steamy, hot conditions are the best. We assume he spends his time perched there pretending he is in the Amazon, sweating profusely and narrowly avoided death by fierce anacondas. We always shoo him out when we get in and I hope he isn't going back to his tiny tree frog buddies and boasting,

“I’m livin’ the dream bitches, livin’ the dream.”

Nobody likes a douchebag…

Day 05: My Hometown

My little hometown has been around since 1875.  We are only 25 square miles wide, but we pack a lot of apple orchards and squalor in a tiny place.  Of the 8,000+ people that live here many have peen featured on People of Walmart. The crowning glory of small town America.

Once, long ago, before welfare, the correctional facilities and Gurney's, we were an illustrious community.  We have had many famous and important people call our little town home.  I can't think of any of them right now, but there must have been a few.

We have the Erie Canal and Mount Albion Cemetery which is listed in the National Registry of Historical Places.  We have the most fantastic salmon fishing around and people travel 1000's of miles to experience it.  We also have a McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and 2 pizzerias all within feet of each other. People get stabbed at the above mentioned retail location and young girls are murdered and buried in the apple orchards.

My dear friend's son graduates this year and is aching to leave the nest.  Every places he talks of going to is too far away, in mom's opinion.  I understand completely and would feel the same way about my little bird. But then I take a minute and think "What would they do here?  What would they be?"  Getting out seems like a good idea.

I have never wanted to leave, ever.  It's been 43 years and the warmth and love of my family and the familiar has always won over travel and better options, but I know I want my daughter to experience more and have better opportunities.

 I just want her to do it less than an hour away.

Where does the time go...

Our one and only child went to Florida this year with a friends family, and thus started our first "empty nest" experiment. She will be gone for 12 days, let's just take a moment to let that sink in....12 days....two days short of a fortnight.

When we agreed to the trip it was a week, Friday to Friday, and I thought "We can do that, no problem."  But then the details started trickling in and they would need drive time and the days got longer. Twelve days is a long time.

Our girl goes to sleep-away camp every summer and that is a week, so I did have a base of separation to know what I could manage.  When she goes to camp we are completely cut off as they don't allow cell phones. We drop her off and come back at the end of the week to see if she is still alive. I live through it every year.

This time I knew she could call us, video message us, text us, Facebook us and that would make it easier.She has done all that, and we talk to her several times a day. She calls with giggly stories, we got a video of the room and we get excited texts about finding just the right hoodie at Ron Jon.

But it's not the same.....

I miss her sounds. I miss her strolling into the kitchen while I am making dinner to talk to me. I miss her asking me what there is to eat. I miss her laugh. I miss her sweet face in the morning when I should be going in to wake her up. I miss telling her to do something and having a discussion about if I want her to "Do it right now?' Who would have thought that fourteen years ago my life would change so much. I can't imagine what we would be without her. She has made both of us better people. Her time is coming to go out and use what we have taught her to make a life of her own. I am not looking forward to it.

I know she is having fun and I am glad, but I can see the future now, a time when we don't have her here to make us laugh and feel secure that she is okay and it is not as golden as one would think...

Ten On Tuesday

10 Things To Do Inside When It's Too Cold To Go Outside

Now we are talking! My favorite things to do are inside. I love camping and kayaking and long walks in the woods, but as I get older I find that I do not like to be cold. I blame all those years I spent standing by the pizza ovens at Pontillo's, my internal temperature gauge is off. Once the cold winds and snow start I am happiest inside by the fire.

1. Knitting - Obviously this is something I enjoy year round, but my favorite knitting is done in my chair by the fire with a glass of wine and a movie.

2. Baking - I love to bake when it's hot (that weird temperature thing again) I always seem to be making 3 pies and a batch of jam when it's 90 degrees. We heat our house with wood stoves and my kitchen is in a chilly in-between zone. The best way to combat this is to have something baking in my 1945 NORGE beast of an oven.

3. Slow Cooking - The crock-pot and my cast iron dutch oven are my favorite kitchen tools. A cold day requires that one of theses be in service at all times. We love soup.

4. Purge - Hoarders is an awesome show, but I have felt uncomfortable watching it more than once because of similarities. Then a snowy day comes along and I start throwing things out.  It feels so good I know I am not a hoarder.

5. Organize - I spent yesterday taking all my yarn off the shelves, petting and smelling them and then putting it all back in an organized fashion.  What?  You smell your yarn too, admit it.....

6. Reading - I don't do as much of this as I used too, but I am getting back into it. I got a kindle for Christmas and I have read four books since. I just started a new one that seems like it will be good!

7. Movies - My love of movies has been documented in the past, especially old movies I have seen hundreds of times. There is something very comforting about watching a movie I know and can follow in my head with out even looking at it.

8. Crafts - Pintrest is killing me. My supplies are seriously depleted.

9. Laughing - My husband and daughter are two of the funniest people I know and they crack-me-the-hell-up!

10. Snuggles - We are big on snuggling here and someone might announce at any minute that they need a family snuggle. I hope that never changes....

Hustle & Flow

 

We are in full holiday tilt over here and the month seems to be flying. Today is my one day off a week and I have so many little details to work on that I almost want to just sit in my chair and knit to a marathon of National Treasure, do you ever feel like that?

 

Here are some bullet points of the last 13 days....

 

• The sun porch (cold room) is full of fudge, white trash, cookies, peanut butter balls and a Oreo/Reese's combo that is still in the works. Even with all that chocolate some people still ask me if there is anything good to eat, jeesh....
• We are behind on our Christmas movie list, but we have not given up. We took a break to watch Friends With Benefits, JT was adorable.
• We have been to one Christmas get together and we have another one this weekend, yay!
• I am completely caught up with wrapping and now am just doing them up as they arrive.
• We had a dusting of snow that is melting away as we speak and the child is getting nervous about her white Christmas.

 

Now I think I will go toss a coin to see what gets done today....

Chevron Scarf

This is primarily a knitting blog and I am primarily a knitter, with all other domestic duties falling to the way side. So, I thought it was about time I talk about some knitting!  While I still had sunshine I wanted to get some pictures of this beautiful scarf.  It is my two favorite things, Noro and chevron stitch.

It came out beautifully, just as I had hoped and I was thrilled to find a use for some of my kuryeon that seems to multiply on my shelves.

We have had a very lazy day here waiting for our great hunter to return. The apple crisp is out of the oven and the beef and barley soup is in the crock pot. I think a nap may be in order.

the grind...

My extra long weekend is over and it’s back to work today. I managed to do very little with my 4 solid days of laziness, except work on Parcheesi.

I did do a little sweeping, some laundry did get washed, I even managed to go to the grocery store and make a few good dinners. I spent time snuggling my loves and reading too.

All in all...a very good few days.

just keep swimming...

Things to tell myself today when I feel lazy and unaccomplished…

So far this year I have;

1. Cleaned out my closet and my husbands, donating most of the too small clothes in both.

2. Cleaned and organized my office and yarn supply (the magnitude of this feat is lost on the internet)

3. Started and finished 3 knitting projects, 1 for me, 1 for the husband and 1 for the child.

4. Cleaned my fridge, with soap and water, not paper towels and Windex. I even removed the drawers and washed them.

I will repeat this to myself like a mantra while I go through my Netflix queue...

{{a moment in words}}

Outside my window…
A gray, snowy day

I am thankful for…
Long weekends with a Tuesday day-off

From the kitchen…
Maple and brown sugar oatmeal with apple chunks and golden raisins

I am wearing…
Yoga pants, tee shirt and Old Navy sweat shirt

I am going…
To watch Netflix movies all day and knit

I am hoping…
That I can do this very thing for the next two days

One of my favorite things…
Little notes left in unexpected places

A few plans for the upcoming week…
It is my FIL’s 70th birthday this week, so we are busting him out of the home and partying him up

Here is picture for sharing…