Happy Birthday Mom

I filled many a notebook when I was in high school with copied Rod McKuen poems. I could not get enough!

His recordings? I was not a fan.

RIP Rod McKuen, 4/29/1933 - 1/29/2015

I particularly dislike hate this song (no matter who "sings" it). But I love it, too, because it's so full of memories and reminders.

My mother played this album nonstop for a while. Nonstop.

It was pure torture.

"Seasons In The Sun" was on the list of songs suggested for the playlist at Mom's memorial, but (truth be told) I was so happy that I couldn't find it.

(I may not have made every effort to find it.) 

But I love it. And I love you, Mom. Always.

Happy Birthday. And Happy Anniversary, too.

I miss you.

xo

Right now...

Watching: We've begun rewatching Seasons 1 & 2 of House Of Cards in preparation for the release of Season 3 on Feb. 27th.

Reading: Tropic of Cancer... and I cannot. I need a little more organization.

I also need a good beach read.

Suggestions welcome!!

Knitting: Sophie's Rose Shawlette by Michele Bernstein. (You must read/watch her story about new shoes, Harry Smith, PDX, and the NBC Nightly News!) Anyway, this is part of the Hugs & Kisses KAL in the PDXKnitterati Ravelry Group; the official KAL start date is Feb. 1st. I'm getting a head start, as it's vacation knitting and I don't want to have to think too hard. My MC yarn may be too busy...

Drinking: Cerveza! Testing, 1-2-3. Just getting myself acclimated...

Wearing: Nothing that will be packed in my suitcase.

Organizing KonMari-ing: Has taken a back seat at the moment, but I'll be refreshed and ready upon our return from Mexico. It's the annual-ish purge but so different this time -- with much more oomph and, I believe, results that will last. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo is changing my life. Yep.

Celebrating: My last workday for a little while.

Listening to: Dr. Blair's Spanish in No Time. I'm learning listening to Spanish in my car!

Itching to: GO!!!

Looking forward to: Sunday morning and everything vacation.

Needing to: Finish packing.

Delighted by: The weather forecast. Also full moon!

 

Ten on Tuesday: Foot f*tish

Ten on Tuesday:  10 Types of Footwear I Own/Love

Shoes aren't really "my thing," though I will admit that they've become more of "a thing" lately. Inflammation and often severe swelling in my ankles and feet didn't make for fun shoe shopping -- it was always a consideration when buying shoes, and adjustable was the (only) name of the game! Even with fairly significant weight gain over the past 6-9 months, I don't suffer the inflammation and swelling that I did in the past, and I can wear a lot of shoes that I wasn't able to before.

1. Keen -- I can't remember the name of this Mary Jane style. I've had them for several years... long enough that I've employed Shoe Goo in an effort to keep them together a little bit longer. After sitting out most of last year, they're back in the rotation a bit more. I've always loved them, especially the color!

2. El Naturalista -- the shoes I was desperate to stretch & break in before our trip to the U.K. I think I ended up wearing them on the plane but mostly they were in my luggage... and they are heavy!

3. Garage Sale Sandals. I don't usually buy used shoes, but these had possibly been worn once. I don't remember the brand -- maybe Bjorn -- it's a brand of shoe that usually doesn't work for me. The arch support could be a little better, so I don't wear them when I know I'll be walking a lot or on my feet all day, but I love the style and color and that leather is so soft. Like buttah.

4. Merrell Captiva Launch 2. I love, love, love these boots! They're pretty close fitting, so usually worn with tights or leggings. I haven't snagged or broke a single buckle... knocking on wood.

5. More Keen. These were purchased specifically for their flexibility and adjustability, and originally to wear while cycling (and are still my preferred footwear for that activity). They're also pretty comfortable (as I find most Keens to be, for me).

6. Lucky! I love these distressed, short boots. I bought them last year, I think. They fit great but don't have a zipper, so they can be a challenge to get on -- especially since I broke the loops in the back! (I've recently found the trick is thin, slippery socks or tights... not my usual cotton socks.)

7. Taos. These laced shoes have a tiny little heel, which is very high by my standard of the last 30 years! They are super comfortable, though an all-day walk around Edinburgh was a bit much and I ended up with a blister on my little toe!

8. More Taos. These are the sandals I bought even though I could barely even squeeze my foot inside because of the inflammation. I loved the style SO MUCH and knew that once in a while I'd be able to wear them. Well, that turned out to be hardly ever never until the inflammation and swelling were under control. They are some of my favorite shoes ever.

9. Wolky. These, too, were purchased for adjustability. You can't see in this photo, but there are two velcro buckles on each sandal... I was at the point last summer that I was wishing I could get them tighter!

10. A brand new -- my first -- pair of Fluevog Shoes. Sandals that I purchased during a recent sale. I'm aiming to gently break these in while on vacation. Also, how did I not know that there was a Fluevog store in Chicago???

MORE:

My #1 favorite thing to wear on my feet is NOTHING! Barefoot, baby.

#2 is some short cotton athletic socks that I wear more as slippers.

#3 is a pair of slippers, usually worn over the socks because they're big.

OBSERVATIONS:

• I have more shoes than I'd have guessed. I'm wearing some nice Merrell's (same as #7 on Kym's list!), there's a pair of snow boots, some tennies/athletic shoes...
• I've jettisoned some old faves recently that hadn't been worn in years.
• Red seems to be my favored color for a pedi!! Stay tuned...

 

Weekending

Weekending: A great weekend, full of family and fun! They should all be so good.

I met Ann & Brian, all four of their boys, and Joe for a lovely birthday dinner for Annie at Carmella's, one of the nicest restaurants in our area. Most of us shifted seats between the appetizer and the main course, so a good amount of visiting and catching up was accomplished, and a very good time was had by all.

I babysat Junah afterwards so Ali could go out to celebrate her friend Abbey's birthday! He was sleeping when I arrived, but roused a bit for a bottle and then we had a wonderful snuggle and snooze together on the couch.

The Best Of Times.

The main event of the weekend was Annie's birthday brunch, which she prepared and served herself -- it is one of her favorite things in the world to do!! A lovely baked egg dish, delicious whole grain pancakes and waffles served with syrup, fresh whipped cream, fruit and nuts. Yum.

On Saturday afternoon, she wanted me to go with her to the mall -- stops at Williams Sonoma, a chair massage, and the Fox River Brewing Co. were on the list.

Afterwards, we met the boys for a quick bite to eat before heading to see Paddington! I wasn't going to go, at first, but Mack was very persuasive... he's almost 10 and I figured that if he wants me to go, I should go; things might be very different in a few years! I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would, and the boys LOVED it.

On Sunday, it was the RV & Camping Show on Sunday morning! Rusty & Rod wanted some ideas for a project that they're considering; Kate, Ali & I went along for grins. This event has always been my earliest herald of spring, but it's the first time I've ever gone.

Wow, people. These are not your parents' campers! Camping is not my thing, and these mobile party modules haven't really swayed me, but... impressive.

The rest of Sunday was mine and I spent quite a bit of it knitting. Deep End has been my exclusive project since casting on, and it looks like it'll be done in time to take/wear on vacation. Yay! Pardon the last photo (late-night lamp light), I was so excited about the color pop of Stripe 5! That's a shorty, and Stripe 6 is even shorter... it's possible I'll cast off at Knit Night tomorrow!

6 Days.

 

The Baby Is 50

Happy Birthday Annie!

With a six-year age difference and three other siblings between, we've sometimes been close and sometimes not. Lately -- the last decade or so -- close; probably closer than almost ever in the past year.

I think we're a pretty good match -- the laid-back Type B eldest and the more, um, let's say "urgent" Type A youngest.

She's the best baby sister ever, and I can't wait to see what happens -- where she goes and I get to visit -- in the next 50 years!

xo

 

Ten (x 3 = 30) on Tuesday: A Wedding Anniversary

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic is:

10 Things I'm Happy About Right Now

I'm going to riff on that today because it's our 30th wedding anniversary.
{{{ 30 Years! (?) }}}

30 Things for 30 Years!

1. We met through work -- the company Rusty worked for was a customer of the company I worked for.
2. Our first date was about 3 weeks before my birthday.
3. At the time, I was thinking of moving back to Wisconsin from Oregon.
4. He was interesting enough to reconsider that thought.
5. We went out to dinner at the Lake Lytle Restaurant on our first date and then took a walk on a wide, low-tide beach at Rockaway (memorable because it was beautiful, and also because I wasn't wearing appropriate footwear for beach-walking).
6. He gave me a small jade plant for that birthday. Perfect!
7. We cooked (both together and for each other) and played a lot of Scrabble back in the (early) day(s) at my apartment.
8. And we got hooked on watching Reilly: Ace of Spies on Mystery and had a standing date at his house.
9. When we'd hang out, he'd paint or draw while I knit.
10. I enjoyed sitting out in the sun room/patio watching Rusty build a porch.
11. Then I offered to help.
12. We finished his house at Cape Kiwanda together.
13. And expanded it with an addition.
14. We got married at that house... 30 years ago.
15. The stage was set for many years of home improvement.
16. I'm good at demo.
17. He's good at finishing.
18. We're a pretty good team.
19. There's an 11-year difference in our ages.
20. Rusty never thought he'd have kids.
21. Surprise! We have three amazing daughters!!
22. And we're grandparents too!
23. We've always given each other space.
24. He does his thing.
25. I do my thing.
26. We do our thing.
27. It works -- sometimes better than others. These 30 years have had the highs and the lows.
28. Lately, we seem to be travelling more -- separately and together.
29. We used to take impromptu trips -- just get in the car and go! One memorable trip was to Seaview, WA, though we didn't know that's where we were headed when we started out. We stayed at The Shelburne Inn and loved the whole area so much we went back a time or two.
30. Our upcoming trip to Mexico is the first since we were married that we're not going with someone, or meeting up with anyone -- there's not so much as a "stopping by" to visit anyone we know. From the time we get on the plane in Green Bay until we step back off a week later, it's just us and a new adventure!!

 

Never give up

It's never too late!

• Project:  Tasha by Leigh Spencer (at knitty.com, Summer 2003)
• Yarn:  Aunt Lydia's Denim Quick Crochet
  
• Needle:  US 6
• Started:  June 4, 2004
• Finished:  January 16, 2015

Through the magic of blogging, I know exactly when I started knitting this bag -- it was well before the dawn of Ravelry!

A WIP for 10.5 years, it's finally finished, and I couldn't be happier.

I have run across this WIP many times (whenever I'd "organize") in the past 10 years; I've ripped out or even thrown away other projects, but always spared Tasha. I really liked that project and wanted to finish... eventually! All the pieces were knit except for the strap, and I was about half-way on that piece.

This year, it's as much about what's taking up space as it is about anything else, and I didn't want this project taking up space anymore.

Also, wouldn't it be perfect for Mexico???

It slid right into the #1 spot in the rotation. I finished the knitting, washed and dried all the pieces. I did about half the sewing up at Knit Night on Thursday, the remainder on Friday evening at home.

And now I have a "new," perfect little bag to take on vacation. Just right for my wallet, sunglasses, keys. Serendipity at work.

 

Going off the Deep End

I've finished the knitting and have begun assembly of the 10-year-old knitting project that I recently mentioned. I did about half the sewing up at Knit Night last night, and ought to be finished within a day or two! I'm so excited to finish.

Next up will be Deep End by Heidi Kirrmaier, and I'm diving deep into the stash trying to find a 6-color combo that I like.

Here's everything I have on the table (ha ha) for consideration.

I'm going to play around with this blue-sy (water/sand) combo in the middle left a bit more.

Close up!

That's an actual piece of knitting on the far right that I am fully prepared to frog because the project is never going to be finished... and that color totally "goes." Some of these are my own hand-dyed, including some of the natural dyeing I did last fall. The variegated blue/green/teal is the Madelinetosh exclusive for The Village Knitter called Great South Babes.

I'm also leaning toward some purples with this gorgeous Lisa Souza green that I've been dyeing to use.

POP! (Though there's not much contrast between the purples)

Otherwise, I'm leaning toward neutrals.

Various shades of gray... brown, black, and white.

Or, maybe I should throw one of these into the mix and see what happens:

Decisions, decisions.

This one has sparkles!

Decisions will be made because casting on happens Monday! I'm predisposed to loving this shawl and there is already precedent to knitting the same thing twice or thrice, so I'm not stressing too much.

My day started out on the lousy side, but it's already improving:

• It's Friday!
• There's a big football game on Sunday! (Two of them, actually.) (Go Packers & Pats!)
• Vacation is fast approaching...
• And this morning I made reservations for a whale watching trip. That's one of two things we have scheduled for the week, and both toward the end; otherwise it goes something like this: BEACH, RELAX, BEACH, RELAX, BEACH, BEACH, RELAX... with nourishment and refreshment as needed and/or desired.

Counting.The.Days.

(16)

 

Space

¹space noun

: the amount of an area, room, surface, etc., that is empty or available for use

: an area that is used or available for a specific purpose

: an empty area between things

 

²space verb

: to place or arrange (things) so that there is a particular amount of space between them

: to separate (things) by particular periods of time

 

Those are the simplest definitions of the word SPACE according to Merriam-Webster.

I have a full year to explore the full definitions and to see how I spin it... or it spins me.

I wasn't intending to choose One Little Word -- it just seemed like way more thinking than I'm willing to do right now just to come up with One -- but this one fell into my lap in short correspondence with Kym the other day, and it stayed there.

 

Pillars of Creation, Watercolor by Lee Mothes (with the artist's permission)

 

Stay tuned.

 

One

It's hard to believe...

3 Weeks

4 Weeks

6 Weeks

9 Weeks

6 Months

10 Months

(the light)

1 Year!

Let there be cake! Haha!

...it's been an entire year!

I just don't even know what to say... it's been amazing and wonderful.

Addie summed it up nicely in the card he made. Boys! Who knew??

 

More unearthing...

With Kate's kickstart the other day, my annual-ish purge has begun.

It feels different this time. I'm liking the open spaces... there's room to breathe.

I haven't even got 'round to the knitting stuff yet, and I've already tossed more never-will-finish-that knitting projects than ever before.

Or donated. (I just can't bear to throw away that much Rowan Fine Cotton Chenille.)

It's a sort of knitting needle (and stitch holder/marker) reclamation project!

So far, it's mostly been pre-Ravelry stuff. I may have blogged once or twice about whatever, but mostly... as if it never happened!

I have unearthed one project from Knitty Summer 2003 and have resumed... it would be great to have it finished in time for Mexico!

Can you guesss what it is?

 

Change of plan

It began with a desire to get away to someplace warm this winter. It was two years ago that I went to Brazil in January and I have not forgotten how good that felt. Good and fun and oh, so warm.

I realized that we'll be celebrating 30 years of marriage this month... how in the hell did that happen? And, it got me thinking...

The traditional and modern gifts for a 30th anniversary are pearls and diamonds. I already have a pearl in my wedding ring (from a ring that was my mother-in-law's), and I can count on about one finger the times in the past 30 years that I've wished I had a diamond. There must be another way...

"Diamond Head" came to mind and fits right in with the "experiences, not things" philosophy that I love more and more! It's unisex, one-size-fits-all, and HAWAII... so warm.

Pretty much decided on Maui, with a trip over to Oahu to visit Diamond Head, we could easily have booked an all-inclusive package and be done, but that's not how we roll 'round here. Personally, I can see the advantage of an all-inclusive resort, but it is so NOT Rusty! It wasn't coming together very well, and it was adding up!

Where else could we go?

Mexico had been on the table all along -- Rusty's especially wanted to visit Baja. Plus, it turns out that he'd already visited Maui -- the exact location I was looking at -- on his first-marriage honeymoon. And, well, NO... not this time, anyway.

VIVA MEXICO!!

We'll spend a week at Todos Santos. Flight - check! Car - check! House near the beach - check! And, man, what a nice, l-o-o-o-o-o-ng beach. Perfect.

I was able to book our flights with miles (thank you Brazil, Scotland, and L.A.), which leaves almost all of the budget for lodging and doing... though I'm leaning way toward not much. So excited.

I haven't found the "diamond" angle yet, but we'll get creative!

 

Intent

Ten on Tuesday:  10 Intentions for 2015

I'm having a hard time thinking about anything more than what's in front of me this year. Junah's 1st (!) birthday party at my house on Saturday, a Packer game on Sunday, hopefully another a week after that, my sister's 50th (!) birthday soon, my mother's birthday/anniversary at the end of the month, vacation, the adventure of possibly trying to find a place to watch the Super Bowl... in Mexico!

A month out is about as far as I'm willing to go.

This year, I'm all about recovery. I don't have a word. I don't really even want to think too hard... about anything... not words, not intentions, not goals, not dinner.

Live and let live. Knit and let knit. Or sew. Take it as it comes. Roll with the punches.

Enjoy my family.

In lieu of 10 Intentions, here are some messages I've jotted down on sticky notes over the years and have posted around my work area... they're all intentional; designed to help us be better.

* * * * *

Intensity : Say Yes

Inclusion : Be Generous

Integrity : Speak Up

Intimacy : Love More

Intuition : Trust Yourself

Intention : Slow Down

 

* * * * *

Something to do

Something to love

Something to hope for

 

* * * * *

Time only seems to matter when it's running out.

 

* * * * *

It's the time you have, not the time you want.

 

* * * * *

Unearthed

An email from July 2004:

Congratulations! You've been admitted to the Knitting Bloggers' Web Ring!

* * * * *

In the interest of actually being able to do some work, I've been spending some time over the past couple of months trying to clean up and organize my workroom! I've organized, I've purged, I've replaced old inefficient furniture with more practical shelving.

It was a pretty big disaster, not helped in the least by the holidays. Also, I may have too many interests... knitting, dyeing, photography, sewing... not to mention that I'm the defacto family historian/genealogist. Yarn, needles, magazines, books, dye, kettles, tubs, measuring & stirring tools, cameras, lenses, flashes, reflectors, props, sewing machine, fabric, thread, cases, bags, and totes.

I've made progress, but it's slow; and there eventually comes the point when I hit the wall. WHAT NEXT?

I was at that point yesterday when Katie walked in the back door. I asked her to come in and see my progress, "Look! You can even see the sewing machine."

It took her a few seconds, "Where??" And I had to direct her gaze. *sigh*

"Would you like me to help you for a little while?"

Um. YEAH! We discussed an overall plan and then set to work.

I'll tell you what, people. If you're having a hard time cleaning things out -- deciding what's worthy of keeping, etc. -- invite someone to help you. The answer you give when you ask yourself whether to keep something is completely different than when you're asked by someone else!!

One small victory: the Rubbermaid "tote full of totes" is no longer a thing! There are a few remaining, but only the ones I use or really want!

I'm not sure which pile o' papers gave up the blog ring email; I don't recall ever making a conscious decision to keep it, but obviously neither had I made a decision to toss it.

Anyway, progress made... GREAT progress, yesterday!

* * * * *

I've finished a few knitting projects for & since the holidays -- a couple of caps for Rusty, another hoodie for Junah (no photos of that one yet).

Rib-A-Roni x2! Rav'd: v.1 and v.2. I used some tweedy Plymouth Galway Worsted that I've had hanging around for years.

Continuing with the "clean up" attitude, I've pulled an old WIP off the shelf to finish:

It's the Lokken Kerchief from Knitscene Accessories 2012 that I started it on June 23, 2012. The pattern was separated from the knitting, so I had to track it down, but I'd purchased the electronic version of that publication from Interweave and it was easy to download it again! I've figured out my place and finished the actual knitting; now comes the tedious process of fringe.

I will not lose focus!

 

The sun sets

Stevens Point, WI

A quick run with Ali to pick up a vintage Formica set for the shop.

I found some terrific glass beakers. Perhaps I should have been -- or previously was -- a chemist.

We stopped in for a visit with Maddy before heading home.

Quiet.