Wow

This is the view from my back porch this evening. Kate and I were trying the different settings on the camera to finally capture a pretty good picture. We didn't have a tripod, but we did have a plastic table and several boxes. We set the camera on its nighttime setting and used the timer so we wouldn't jiggle it while the shutter closed. Pretty, huh?

It's a stormy night here after three days of brutal heat and humidity. I'm very grateful for the air conditioning we now have. It's great to have the windows open to enjoy the summer breeze, but when there is no breeze and it's nearly 100 degrees I'm all for the AC!!

I had to have some repairs done on the van yesterday in Connellsville, so the kids and I paid a visit to Dawson and then we went to the Fayette County Fair. Oh my, it was a really hot, sticky, dirty day, but the kids had a lot of fun and got to visit with some old friends. We didn't head for Pittsburgh until nearly 10:00 PM and I had several kids to drop off en route. When we finally pulled in the garage I thought, "Oh, it's so good to be home." That's when it occurred to me...this is home now. For about a month it still felt like the "new house", but now it's home. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Dawson (and yes, I did buy a new cowboy hat at the fair...check out Yarn Harlot's entry for August 2...she wants to be just like me), but we are very blessed to be where we are and it just feels good. Maybe it's because I grew up right across the river in the same county and I love the city (hate the traffic, love the city). Dawson is an awesome summer place in particular and I will always keep a bit of that country girl in me, too.


I have done a bit more work on the baby blanket. It's 165 stitches wide and each row seems really time- consuming, but it's a great pattern and I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. Here it is with a lamp I got at a recent auction and one of two tea cups and saucers that Dennis and Doreen brough me from Ireland.


Think I'll finish this up and do some more knitting. Tomorrow we're off to Idlewild Park in Ligonier. Another long, hot day! Christian starts band camp on Monday, so we're trying to get some things done before he's gone every day. This year it's "Go Jaguars!" for this family!

Finished!

I just finished the last of Kathy's bear sweaters. It's really amazing how quickly they come together and they're so small that the finishing doesn't take too long. I've made so many of them that I almost don't need the pattern anymore. I remember my grandmother saying the same thing once about making a pair of slacks for my cousin and she sewed the two pants legs together!! The moral of the story...always refer to the pattern!

Another notable thing about the picture of the sweater...the plant that the sweater is resting on was a welcome gift from someone in our new church.

What's so amazing about that? It's still alive!!! And it has a matching twin that I've also kept alive for nearly a month! I tend to kill plants despite my great love for all things floral. This beauty actually is on its second life. One day when it was nearly 100 degrees outside I went out to find them withered and definitely near death. I took them to the basement, filled the laundry tubs with a couple of inches of water and let them soak in the cool basement over night. Voila!!! They live!! I felt a bit like Dr. Frankenstein running around the basement yelling, "It's alive!!" (See, I really am pretty easy to amuse.)

Now I can move on to working on the baby blanket...yippee!

Summer In the City!

This is Claire at our new local park today. The park isn't new, but we're new to the park...get it? The move went off without a hitch and we are trying to settle into our new surroundings. There's way too much to catch up on, so in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Back to the picture. Doesn't she look cute with all that water behind her? There's a part of the park with water shooting out all over. Reminds me of the kids you see on Sesame Street that are cooling off with the fire hydrant in the city. Well, we're not really in the city, but "summer in the city" sounds more interesting that "summer in the suburbs"! Here are some other great pics from today.

I have also been catching up a bit on some knitting. Not as much as I'd like, though. (I have these fantasies of me spending hours at a time knitting one beautiful gift after another and maybe even knitting something for myself.) Here's the progress on the third of Kathy's teddy bear sweaters.

We have a lovely porch on the side of the house and I've enjoyed knitting out there when it's cool enough. Since this picture was taken I've finished the back and one sleeve and cast on the second sleeve. I'll have this out to Kathy by the end of the week. Then it's on to the scrumptious baby blanket and eventually a couple of shawls for a charity auction and a Christmas present. (See what I mean about the fantasy thing??!!)

OK...gotta go do some fantasy laundry. I'll try to check in more often now that my schedule is back to normal (whatever that is!). Thanks for your patience!

Boxes and Boxes!

When I was in high school, LONG before Harry Connick, Jr. was popular, I was in a production of The Pajama Game. I was just a dancing member of the chorus with no speaking part, but it may have been the most fun I have ever had. There's a character in The Pajama Game, Max, that is the salesperson for the Sleeptight Pajama Company. Max also happened to be my very first boyfriend, Kenny Van Cara. In our sleep-deprived, giddy state, certain lines from the show would seem really funny if said over and over and over again. To this day, I can't think about boxes...a LOT of boxes...without thinking of my high school chums and Kenny Van Cara. For some reason, each time he delivered his line about the "Boxes and Boxes!" of pajamas piling up in the Sleeptight warehouse, we would just laugh like mad. As I was looking around the girls room, which took a full two days to ALMOST finish packing, all I could think of was Max's "Boxes and Boxes!".

I guess it's good to maintain a sense of humor!

The kids had their farewell party Wednesday night. All together, there were about 30 kids at the church next door. We had planned an outdoor party, but the forecast called for rain, so we moved to the social hall. It went very well, considering there were three different age groups there. The kids played DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), Twister and listened to music...really loud music. They ended the night by singing selections from Wicked, the Broadway musical. Again, this was very loud. A good time was had by all.

I've said so many goodbyes lately...I thought I was nearing the end of my weepiness. I was OK that night until I started saying goodbye to Christian's friends. All the kids have great friends, but I've known his friends the longest, they've been the most constant and they are really a fantastic group of kids. I will miss them dearly...their familiar banter, "band-geekiness", youthful exuberance, polite friendliness and down-right goofiness. WOOT! (band cheer)

(KATHY STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RUIN YOUR SURPRISE!!)

On a lighter note...I have managed to get in just a smidge of knitting time. I am making this baby blanket for a certain someone (sorry to ruin the surprise) from an old pattern book my mom has had for over 30 years. It is actually falling apart, but that adds to its charm.

It's my first experience with circular knitting needles. It took some adjusting (they're so short!), but I can definitely see the benefits of using them for something with many stitches. We shall see how much gets done! I have an image in my head of sitting on my new porch in the evenings after the unpacking is done and serenly finishing this sweet gift. It's my anchor...it's one of the things that is getting me through the chaos!

Gotta go do something productive like make dinner or so some laundry. The three older kids are off to camp tomorrow for a week. Hopefully I will make a big dent in the packing while they're gone, but tonight we have to get them ready to go. Went "junking" this morning with my friends Patty and Eugene. These are serious garage sale professionals! We left at 6 AM (yikes!) and blew through three towns and dozens of yard sales by noon. I got some little stuff, but the steal of the day was this sofa for the new basement...$75.

I really had fun, but it was exhausting! There is definitely real training necessary for this kind of shopping!

The Tall and the Short of It

We're in the final stretch here for all school activities and school itself. Phew! What a busy month of May! Christian and Elliot both had big events on Friday. Elliot graduated from TUMC Preschool in Scottdale, PA and Christian had Freshman Fun Day at school. Yeah, about that. The school had scheduled this "fun" day and the kids were going to play softball all day. Softball. My son would rather stick pins in his eyes than play softball all day and so would his musically-gifted friends. So we, The Parents, decided that they could stay home from school and do something different. They went to see the new X-Men movie and hung out for the rest of the day having FUN. Can you imagine if the school had told the students they were going to spend the day watching musicals or jamming in the band room all day? I don't know why they didn't have more choices.

Elliot had a lovely graduation ceremony. Short, sweet and to the point. One of the best things about his preschool (which I have loved since Claire attended in 2002) is the simplicity of the school. It is very calm and the teachers are gentle and friendly. Here's the whole class.

Did you notice the boy with the mohawk in the front row. That's Billy. Great hair...it's often green, too. Elliot is circled for you. Here we are together.

And here are pictures of the watering cans I made for the teachers.

After graduation on Friday I went to New York City with my friend, Patty. It was totally spur of the moment. I found out Thursday night that she was going and had a place for me. I went with a whole bus tour from our church and town in November with Kate, and this time it was just five ladies in a van (sounds like a rock band). Patty goes to New York often to buy things for various fund-raisers or her gift shop. Most of what she sells goes to some charity or the church or someone in need...I don't know how she does it...she gives so much away. She and her husband Eugene are the two most generous people I have ever met. Case in point, I went to NYC with $20 of my own. Twenty dollars. Patty paid for everything else and gave me spending money, too. She thought I needed to get away! Everyone should have a Patty. I had a blast. I thought I died and went to purse heaven. We were in the wholesale district and went in a store that was all purses. I seriously couldn't breathe! I have a real thing for purses. These ranged in price from $.75 to $12.00. I bought about five and bought others along the way from vendors or other shops. It was amazing.

I still have the peanuts from someone's McDonalds sundae in my purse. We figured if we had the peanuts we could spend all our money and still have nourishment to make it home. As it turned out we had enough to have dinner at O'Reilly's Pub before leaving the city.

I am so blessed. Not because I get to go to New York and shop, but because my days are full of experiences I share with other people that I love...not just my family, but my friends, too. I can't possibly keep up to date with this blog because there is always something wonderful and interesting happening in my life. They're not always big things, but they're memorable and important...they're the stuff life is made of. Thank you, God for the madness in my life!

Long Time No Post!

Wow! When was the last time I posted? Thursday, May 11; nearly two weeks ago! A lot has happened since then. Let's see if I can catch up...

Monday, May 15: Kennywood Picnic for Connellsville School District...and of course it rained! The kids really wanted to go so we grabbed the rain coats and umbrellas and hit the park. Once we arrived and had our lunch, the rain stopped for the whole day although it was pretty chilly and the park closed at 7:30...pretty early. However, there were not a lot of people there, so the lines were short and the kids got to ride everything they wanted to...several times! Elliot rode the Jack Rabbit and the Racer rollercoasters for the first time and loved them. He was a bit put out when his coaster train didn't win on the Racer, but he still liked it a lot. Claire rode the Thunderbolt for the first time, too. Check out the cool face painting that Claire and Elliot had done...

Claire is a butterfly and Elliot has a shark on his face that really bites! Cool. Here's a picture of me and Christian. He really is taller than me, isn't he? Also cool.

(The Kennywood pictures were taken with an old camera and the quality isn't too great, but I still thought they were good)

The day after the Kennywood picnic, I loaded the kids into the van (no school, since it was election day) and we went to neighboring Greensburg to shop for the dances that Christian and Kate had that weekend. Just outside our first destination we were rear-ended by another driver. Everyone is OK, but we were very shaken (and stirred) and the van had some damage to it. The other driver was OK, too, but her car was really a mess. We were all checked out at the E.R. and there was no spinal or serious neck injury to anyone. I had a neck strain, but nothing too serious. It really makes you stop and think though after you've been in an accident. How cautious and focused are you when you drive?? I'm a lot more careful now. Especially in the rental van!

Wednesday I chaperoned Claire's field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo. I love the zoo. It's really cool. We go at least once a year and usually more often than that. I know there is some opposition to having animals in any kind of captivity and I can see that point. But I believe that the Pittsburgh Zoo has done all it can to make these fantastic animals available to the public while trying to preserve their dignity and well-being. Did I mention it rained that day, too?

Thursday I had to take Kate and Christian shopping to get the things we were unable to get on Tuesday. I decided to just take Christian's friend Jessica (his date for the Freshman Farewell Dance) since he had no clue what he should wear. We had a fun time. Kate liked having Jessica there to help her try on outfits (her Spring Fling Dance was Friday night) and to play big sister for a while. The kids clean up pretty well, don't you think?

Friday night was the Freshman Farewell at the Junior High and the Spring Fling for the elementary school. I managed to get everyone where they needed to be (on time!) with my sanity in tact. Keith had a wedding rehearsal and some important visitation calls to make, but we managed. Claire and Elliot rented "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (not as good as the musical Kate and I saw in NYC) and had a cozy night at home. Elliot had quite a cough and I don't think anyone slept real well that night.

Saturday the girls had their last soccer games of the season. Both teams won and the girls really had a good time. There is a tournament next weekend, but we have the Tri-Town Homecoming (street fair) here in Dawson which none of us want to miss. Keith and I carved out some time to attend the wedding reception for the couple he married Saturday afternoon. What a lovely wedding...very tasteful and elegant. The bride was just beautiful and the groom was very relieved that the ceremony was over. There was a lot of kissing! It was nice to see such a sweet couple have a beautiful day, especially after a week of rain. The sun even came out Saturday evening.

Sunday we had church and a pot luck dinner at one of the churches in the evening.

Monday I took Claire and Elliot to the new school in Jefferson Hills. Elliot had his Kindergarten screening and Claire went for a tour. Can someone tell me what difference it makes if Elliot can walk backward, toe to heel? How often are you asked to do that? I just thought it was kind of silly, but I'm sure it indicates something developmentally. Everything else was fine. There were some things that he missed on their little quiz, but I'm not concerned. Who cares if you draw ears and a neck on your stick figure when you're clearly a genius anyhow? The teacher didn't even notice that he was left-handed. Wonder how she did on her Kindergarten screening? Hmmm...

We have Vacation Bible School this week next door and Kate's last All Star Band concert was last night. Elliot is taking his birthday treats to school today since his birthday is in June and Friday is his Preschool graduation. I love his preschool and think his teachers are just out of this world. We were blessed to have him attend the same preschool that Claire attended in 2002...we don't often get to repeat things like that since we move so much, but it all worked out this time and we got Elliot into the same preschool. What a great experience for both kids.

So, now I suppose I should freshen up and get ready to take the kids to the bus stop and school. Today's a bit of a breather and it picks up again tomorrow. To illustrate the amount of running around I've done lately, I put 350 miles on the rental since Thursday! Keep in mind I am a "stay-at-home" mom. Isn't that ironic?

About socks...

I have a question for all you sock knitters out there. Do your socks ever look as nicely shaped as the ones in yarn catalogs and pattern books? (see photo at left). Mine (see photo below)always look fantastic on feet, but really sloppy otherwise. It's almost like they're too big. I thought that maybe I am a loose knitter, but I checked the gauge and it is spot on. The pattern requires 64 stitches on size 3 needles for yarn with a gauge of 7 stitches per inch. That's what I've got! So, is it just one of those things? Like the photographs in recipe books that look so wonderful and even though your recipe tastes fantastic it looks a bit...thrown together? I know there are photographers that go to painful lengths to make that food look good. Are there non-knitters out there making knit items look picture perfect? And is this fair to the average knitter? Knitters of the world...SPEAK OUT!

Still here

Last night Keith and I were happy to see Kate perform with the PMEA District Band at Connellsville Jr. High East. Here she is...

What? You don't see her? OK, here...

She's sitting right in the front because she was FIRST CHAIR FLUTE! Yay Kate! I'm perfectly within my parental rights to brag, aren't I? I'm really proud of her. And she looked so professional and pretty sitting up there. She really had a good time and the kids were fantastic. They've come a long way since "Hot Cross Buns" (not that I don't love a rocking rendition of "Hot Cross Buns").

In other news...I did some house work this week. I figured I don't really have to live in complete filth until we move although the packing thing was providing a pretty good excuse until I came out of denial and realized that I wasn't packing yet either. So, some floors got cleaned and some laundry was done. All in all a good attempt. I also got this much done on Carlie's socks.

Any of you who read this post may notice that it doesn't look like much progress has been made on said socks. This is because I came across a knot in the yarn where two pieces were actually joined together. Yuck! I tried working around the knot, I tried ignoring the knot, but in the end I decided to begin again and eliminate the knot all together. It was really messing up the stitches and I was concerned about how the finished socks may wash up and if the knot would come through to the front and...blah blah blah. OK. I give. I'm really just a perfectionist.

The kids are wrapping up a lot of stuff at school for the end of the year. Here is Claire with her New Mexico project for Impact.

There's a little chili bean with a sombrero climbing the ladder! Is that too cute or what? (Give the picture a couple of clicks to enlarge it.)

This picture is a bit fuzzy because I took it through the screen in the window, but I think Claire and Elliot look sweet here. In reality they're probably plotting their hostile takeover of some small unsuspecting country.

I really must snap some pictures of Christian doing whatever it is that Christian does...marching band, computer, video games. He's been really busy lately too and soon he'll be going to his Freshman Farewell Dance. An excellent photo opportunity. Stay posted! (ha, ha)

Why I live where I live

I was peeking at Anny's blog just last night and saw this subject posted there. So, I got to thinking about "why I live where I live".

I live where I live because in 2002 we were sent to Dawson, Pennsylvania for my husband to pastor three small United Methodist churches. In our United Methodist system, the Bishop makes an appointment and the pastor itinerates to that appointment. There is no hiring or firing.

I love Dawson. There is no logical reason that I should love Dawson, but I do. My husband and I are suburbanites. Dawson is the smallest of small towns. Here's a picture of my house.

It's a lovely house that needs a lot of work. I have loved living in this house despite the cabinets that don't close right, the ceiling that drips and this...

Yep. That's a train as seen from my front porch. It goes through town about 30 times a day (and night). You do get used to it, but it's still very annoying. The first night we stayed in Dawson the train woke us at 3 AM...Keith and I sat up in bed and laughed and laughed. Not only was the whistle horrendously loud, but the train sounded like it was falling apart and wouldn't make it to the other end of town. I told Keith, "If there is a train that takes you to Hell, that's what it sounds like".

Here are some of the other reasons that I love Dawson.

This one needs some explanation...See that colored blur in the middle of the river? That's 400 rubber duckies racing down the river at the Annual Duck Race. Each duck is numbered and "sold" for about $5. The first duckie under the bridge wins! No one has fun like a small town!

Now, here's the irony. After realizing how much I love this little town, the Bishop is appointing us to another church...in the suburbs. We will be moving to Jefferson Hills (Pittsburgh) in July. While I am excited to be making a move that is good for our family (good appointment, great school district, near family) I will miss Dawson desperately...especially in the summer. It's hard to believe that I can find such character and charm in another place, but that's what I have to believe. Otherwise I'd be dead in the water. And I know it will come...there will be other wonderful people and other great things to do. But it's bittersweet to leave the town, the river, the people, the house, the fairs and even the train, behind.

OK, Kate

Kate has informed me that I "really need to update my blog".
Ok, Kate...but I'm keeping it brief!

See these?

They represent what I should be doing.
See this?

This is what I am doing.
By the time we move I will probably need a bulldozer to get it all done!

By the way, I did finish Bear Sweater #2 (shown here with Bear Sweater #1).

They really are cute. Bear Sweater #3 needs to be done by August...no sweat.

Bad to Blog?

It is possible, just possible, that reading all of the cool blogs that I do is messing with my brain right now. Why? Well, everyone has such fantastic stuff they are designing, knitting, sewing and actually finishing and I can't seem to get my butt in gear long enough to finish the laundry. I'm stuck.

Stuck in the "we-can't-move-for-another-month-and-a-half-and-it's-really-too-soon-to-
get-serious-about-packing-so-why- bother-cleaning-anyhow" rut.

This is paired with the "I-really-don't-like-to-clean-this-big-unruly-house-but-do-actually-take-some-
pride-in-it-when-its-clean-but-can't-relax-or-really-enjoy-doing-much-of-
anything-if-its-not-clean" phase that I'm going through.

It's a toxic combination. I need a game plan. I need to just dive in and get started. Our church is having a rummage sale in two weeks and they are getting the bulk of my "treasures". Two weeks to purge and then the packing can begin. It's just such a daunting task. It's so messy. It's so disorderly. I don't do messy or disorderly very well, although my life as a pastor's wife with four children tends to be messy and disorderly.

Breathe.

It will all get done, right?

Right?

Jimmy

This was drawn by Jimmy (James) Elston, one of my husband's dearest friends. Don't you love this picture? You can see a lot more here (his blog) or here (his web site). Yay Jimmy!

Warming Grace

Here's the square I knit for the Warming Grace project.

It is the Berry Stitch I found in Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasure of Knitting Patterns (reviewed by Anny here). I would like to send more squares, but for now this represents the only wool I have left in my stash. As I come across more I will send more squares. Unfortunately there will be a need to comfort children with cancer for a very long time. Finding these projects in which to participate helps me to have hope. Hope that there are people out there doing good for other people...often people they don't even know. We have to have faith.

If you would like more information about Warming Grace, please click on the button in the side bar.

One. Day. At. A. Time.

Well, I did it. I managed to stay on my (enter expletive of your choice here) diet for one day. Yesterday, actually. I did really well. I ate my targeted amount of points, drank a lot of water, had several fruits and veggies, passed up the Snickers Easter egg (even though I had enough points to eat it) and opted for fat-free pudding instead, and walked with hubby on the Yough trail. So why doesn't it seem to matter? Why am I so darn impatient? Why am I so hard on myself? I haven't weighed this much since I lost 60 pounds 3 years ago, but so what? I haven't gained it all back and I intend to take it back off, so why am I so obsessed? Hopefully after tonight's meeting I will be able to put the past behind me and just forge ahead. Remember, I plan to accomplish great things in this next month. (Read this.) How did I manage to stay on my diet yesterday? Look closely at this picture.

We put up the gate to keep the dog from the extra food we had in the pantry over Easter. But, in reality, I think it's higher purpose was to keep me away from this...

Every time I had to step over that (enter expletive of your choice here) gate I remembered to eat well. Maybe I should set up gates all over my house! Imagine the workout I could get jumping from room to room!

Took these pictures to find out what color Kathy prefers for her daughter's bear sweater. I think they're pretty.

When is purple month for Project Spectrum? I'm also going to knit up a square or two for Warming Grace. I don't have a lot of wool, so I'll have to see what I can come up with. Gee, I might just have to go to the yarn store!

Let In the Light!

This is a picture of the rainbows cast on my stairwell by the sunlight shining through the front door.

See the illuminated words?

Cool.

A gentle reminder.