Room Fairy

My mom just sent this to me via e-mail. I had forgotten all about it. It's something I did for Kate when she was younger and struggling to keep her room clean. Unsurprisingly, not that much has changed! Hope you enjoy it and don't think I'm a complete loon! (Or at least, I hope you enjoy it, decide I am a complete loon, but figure I'm harmless enough.)



Dear Kate,

Today you have been visited by the room fairy. Actually, I am the very same room fairy that use to visit your mom when she was growing up in Pittsburgh. Somehow I always knew that she would one day need my help again. Because you are loved, your room has been cleaned from top to bottom by me, Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

A visit from a Room Fairy is a rare and wonderful thing and you should never assume that I will visit often. Some girls live their whole lives without ever having an encounter with a Room Fairy all their own. Ask your friends. I bet some of them have never heard of us.

If you are familiar with the story of Cinderella you will remember that she had to be home by midnight or the spell would be broken. Since Fairy Godmothers and Room Fairies operate in a very similar way, there are now some rules about your room. We find that having some guidelines makes things easier for everyone involved.

Rule No.1: Since Claire is only 4 years old she is not old enough to have a Room Fairy too. I will only be checking on your part of the room you share and will surely understand that she may sometimes make things messy. But Room Fairies are very clever and I will always be able to tell if you have been doing your part to keep things tidy.

Rule No.2: You will not leave clothes on the floor or cram them into the dresser drawers. The items that need to be hung up will be hung up securely on hangers. I have spoken with your mother and she will help you decide where your clothes should go and make sure that you have enough hangers.

Rule No.3: While it is true that Fairies in general are a friendly people, there are times that we have our disagreements. Currently we are working on improving our relationship with the Laundry Fairies. Putting clean clothes down the laundry chute will certainly make them angry and they will, no doubt, blame us for the extra work. Please, in an effort to preserve the peace, think twice before you toss.

Rule No.4: Your bed will be made neatly each morning and decorated as you see fit. Making a bed includes pulling up all of the bedding (sheets included) and keeping the linens from dragging on the floor. Some children think that this is an easy rule to bend, but be sure, we are very serious about it and will check under the covers.

Rule No.5: Your room will be generally tidy. This means that parents will not feel the urge to scream when they enter your room and no one will trip and break their neck should they make a surprise visit to your room.

I am a very busy Room Fairy and normally I would not be able to check on your progress each and every day. But since I was so very fond of your mother and because I know that you have a good heart and a quick mind, I will make a point of stopping in each school day around noon to see how you are doing. I tend to go to glamorous, all-night parties on the weekend and I do not check into the Room Fairy Office unless there is a very serious emergency. I will leave the details about your room to your mom and dad on the weekends. If I feel that you are living up to your end of the bargain I will leave my calling card with you. Oh my, I forget that children these days probably don’t know what a calling card is. Fairies live for so long and usually have trouble leaving our old-fashioned ways behind us. A calling card was something like a business card that your dad may have in his wallet. When someone wanted to visit a friend or neighbor, they would present the maid or butler with their calling card and it would be taken to the lady of the house. If she was able to see them at that time she would have them invited in and the visit would begin. I think it’s a lovely tradition, but people just don’t seem to do it anymore. Anyhow, if I feel that you have done a good job, I will leave my card with you in this envelope which you make keep on your door. Don’t be surprised if I am picky. I have heard wonderful things about you and I expect wonderful things from you. See, I know you can do it.

When you have collected ten of my calling cards you may return them to me (in the envelope) and I will let you know what your reward will be. I will have to speak with your mother from time to time and make sure that what I have planned will be ok with her. We fairies are not very practical and I wouldn’t want to put her in an awkward position. Sometimes you may receive a little surprise right away and sometimes you may receive instructions about your reward. Please remember that Fairies cannot carry a lot and we do not use Big People money so the rewards will always be very special because they come from a Fairy, but they will not always be fancy.

If you think that this is an arrangement that you could live with, please complete the enclosed form and leave it in this envelope for me to see tomorrow. You have my word that I will do all I can to work with you in this very exciting adventure of having a special room for yourself. I have gone over these plans with your mom and she can answer any questions you may have. I’m sorry that this is such a long document, but with the unfortunate rise in Lawyer Fairies, we can never be too careful and find it best to straighten things out at the very beginning.

Have a wonderful evening and enjoy your clean room. It really is quite lovely; I like what you’ve done with it.

Magically Yours,
Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

Room Fairy Registration and Contract

Name ____________________________________________________

Age________Boy or Girl (Please circle one)

Location of Bedroom (Example: first floor, back of house)


Do you share a room? Y_____N_____

Name of Room Mate__________________________________________________

Age of Room Mate________ Boy or Girl (please circle one)

Would you like your Room Mate to receive a letter of
explanation about our services? Y_____N________

Mother’s name_____________________________________

Father’s name______________________________________

Name of brothers or sisters and ages_______________________________


Please answer the following questions.

The thing I like best about my room________________________________________

The thing I like least about my room__________________________________________

I find this the hardest thing about cleaning my room _____________________________

Please circle the number that tells how you feel about the Room Fairy service with 1 being “bad” and 10 being “great”.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I, ________________________________, promise to do my very best to work with my

Room Fairy to make my room a special place to play, work, rest and dream.

_________________________________________________________
Name

____________________
Date



Hmmmm...if only there were a Checkbook Fairy!!

The Spice of Life

Time for that post about the Clergy Spouse Retreat! Each year the Clergy Spouses (dubbed "Spice" by resident lunatic, Brett Probert) have a three day retreat at one of the conference camps. This year the retreat was held at Camp Allegheny, near Johnstown, PA. For ten years I have been attending these retreats and I think I have only missed two...once because I was pregnant with Claire and near my due date and once because the retreat was rescheduled due to the September 11 attacks. There are very few other reasons I would miss it. Being a clergy spouse isn't easy. At least I don't think it is, and I really like people. As a clergy spouse you are in a unique situation where you are thrown into a new environment, and yet, you can only really connect with that new environment in so many ways. No matter how much you love your congregation and no matter how dear certain people become to you, you still have to have some boundaries regarding confidentiality and intimacy. I've gone round and round about this with some people and we don't all agree, but if you're looking to find your best friend in your local church, chances are you're going to be terribly disappointed. To me, a best friend is someone I can say anything to at any time. Say the wrong something to the wrong someone in a church and your husband is suddenly standing in the pulpit each Sunday with a giant target on his chest. The same holds true for your children. There is a certain amount of protection that is necessary to survive the role of clergy family.

Now, this all sounds very negative, but it isn't. It's real. I have met hundreds of truly lovely people in our ten years of ministry. The far majority of people I've met would never do something to hurt me or my family and I am so blessed for that. But it only takes a handful of people to make things really, really miserable. What I'm saying is, that even though we're dealing with the most intimate issues of our humanity...spirituality, love, service, death and life...I have always felt I needed to be a bit guarded. That's just been my experience. The clergy spouse retreat gives me the opportunity to unload, relax and let that guard down. Of course, you have to watch what you say there as well, because everyone knows everyone (!), but these are friends that I have grown to have such a deep connection with, that I feel I can trust them and be myself. And we have so much fun! This year's theme was "joy"..."The joy of the Lord is my strength". The retreat committee did an excellent job! It's not easy to plan such an event and work out all the details. Having served on the retreat committee for two years, I can appreciate all that dedication. This year's committee really thought of everything. We had plenty of time to relax and also had nice options to choose from. There were some crafty things to do. I made this snowman and some other people made really nice stamped cards or learned how to crochet. There was even horse-back riding. Thursday night Bishop Bickerton joined us and we spoke for a while about joy and how to have joy in our lives. I think it's basically a decision we make. Joy doesn't mean that nothing "bad" ever happens or even necessarily that you're happy all the time. But joy comes from knowing that through it all, we're God's and he's always, always with us. The bishop was a little under the weather and he had a long drive to and from Cranberry Township, but we were really glad that he made the time for us.

This year we didn't have breakfast until 9 AM! Usually we have to get up for breakfast at 8:00 or so...while that's certainly not early and we're all usually up before that on a regular school day, it was nice to sleep in a little bit. However, I was starving!! I really had a good time. I just love these friends. There are some people I have seen every year since 1996 and some people I met for the first time. Then there's Ken! Bless his heart! Ken has been at every retreat I've ever been to and always has something wonderful to share. He is so comfortable with himself, he doesn't mind being the only guy there. (Then again, we're such a beautiful bunch, who could complain??!) Christine was there (calling me a heathen) with her mother, Wilma Jean. When Wilma Jean talks, we listen! Mary was there too, knitting something amazing! She is the first person I ever saw knitting socks with self-striping yarn and little bamboo needles. She inspired me to learn to knit. Now I want to learn to quilt because she's an amazing quilter. She's going to think I'm stalking her! Cheryl and Kathy signed one of the hymns for us...beautiful. We told jokes, shared funny stories and talk way into the night. I took an upper bunk (big mistake) and got so wrapped up in my sleeping bag that I abandoned it the second night. Wilma was there with her cousin, Lynn who is a Presbyterian pastor's wife. That's cool...I think we should do more together. These are just some of the people I thought of, but they're all great. As soon as the weather gets cool and I know retreat's coming I start to think of them. Maybe next year Doreen will be able to make it, but she's in Ireland now and that's a bit of a trek!

Since I've been home I made this bib for a baby Keith baptized on Sunday. Not bad for one night's work. I also finished Carlie's socks! I knitted about 9 inches of the leg while on retreat and got them finished this afternoon. I can't believe how well the stripes line up. I had made really detailed notes about where to stop and start different parts of the pattern. I guess it paid off!

I hope they fit her. I'm going to include a pair of googly eyes in the package, too and tell her if they don't fit she can make them into sock puppets!

Back from camp

Big post tomorrow about the Clergy Spouse Retreat, but for now, check out Kate's blog.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Really.

It is.

I swear.

I found this website to confirm it!

And just to show you how far-reaching the whole knitting thing is...



A Booty Bag! I know about a dozen kids that would love this! Too bad I knit at a snail's pace!

Watch this to get you in the Pirate mood (whatever that is)! I just loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The sequel wasn't nearly as good, but the music from the movies is great! (You'll want your speakers on. Savvy?)

Now that's some serious knitting music!!!!

Vote!

Just a short post because it's nearly time for kick-off (GO STEELERS), and because I don't have anything to say nearly as important as Keith, Brett and Chris!

Saw the Povertyneck Hillbillies last night at a benefit concert for the TJ Youth Football organization. Despite the fact that the event staff did not seem to have their heads screwed on tight (should the "security" really be guzzling beer all night? Isn't that like getting drunk at your own party?) and despite the fact that I had to relocate my car to a far-away shuttle stop after being told to park in the closer lot by the event staff (perhaps they had already begun to enjoy the bubbly) and despite the fact that I kept wondering, " SHOULD THEY REALLY BE SERVING BEER AT A FUNCTION DESIGNED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR YOUTH FOOTBALL????!!!!" (a drunk football mom is not a pretty sight).....

Gasp!

....I had a really good time.

There were two main reasons for having a good time.

Number one...I went with my super-cool daughter, Kate who is a great gig date! Even if she did abandon me to rush the stage and stand at Chris's feet, she's so much fun to hang with. Love you, Kate!

Number two...The Povertyneck Hillbillies are awesome! I still enjoy seeing them after all these times.

If you want to see their new video featuring Steeler's Quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, click on the button to the right.

To vote for their video on GAC tv (Great American Coutry)...go here! Last week they were Number 2 in the nation! Move over Carrie Underwood!!!! You can vote once every 24 hours (and if you know how to delete the cookies on your computer, you can vote over and over...not that I would condone stuffing the ballot box...wink, wink)

Gotta Go! Enjoy the game!

r

Other folks

Other people have some really neat things on their blog right now.

The Yarn Harlot had a picture from one of her recents adventures of this really cool t-shirt.



Well, actually, the picture was of a person wearing that really cool t-shirt.

There is a comment-war on this blog. These people are great (OK, my husband included)...they do a lot of great things, but they're a bit silly! Love you, guys!

Anny is back! Yay!

This is a new blog I've been reading. Check out the first sentence. "This is what I've been working on for the last two days". "TWO DAYS"????!!!!!! If I accomplished that much in two weeks I'd be thrilled!

I've recently realized (well, I've re-confirmed what I think I already knew) that I love to read about knitting, talk about knitting, blog about knitting, photograph knitting, and dream about knitting, but I can only actually knit for so long. I just can't seem to get comfortable and I can't really sit and do much of anything for too long. I need to get up and move and I have a really short attention span. I see people who accomplish so much with their knitting projects and I get really down. It takes me forever to finish something.

For instance, this guy will be in college before he gets his baby blanket. Ain't he cute???



My next mission is to find a knitting circle somewhere near me. Not a class, but just a group of people knitting. So, if anyone reading this is from the South Hills of Pittsburgh and you know some knitters, send them my way!

Well, time to go. Elliot just informed us that he is going to make juice by himself...this can't be good! Maybe I'll even do some knitting today!

I Heart Bake Sales!

Elliot and I spent the afternoon doing some good, 0ld-fashioned baking.

He made these...

...and I made these.

76 lemons??!! No, no, no. Didn't I explain the whole "Western Pennsylvania's Love Affair With Football" thing?

76 football cookies. After all, the bakesale is right before the NFL Season Opener and after all, the Steelers are playing, right? We'll all need tons of sugar to get through our first game without Big Ben. Appendicitis?? Good grief.

Lessons learned today? Flour looks really cute on 5-year old faces...

...but kind of stupid on my favorite black sweatshirt!!

Random Catch-Up

Well...hello. I'm just checking in to acknowledge the continuation of my existence! Here are one or two random thoughts I've had lately...

...how incredibly blessed are we to live in a place where we can see fireworks at a ballgame and know that the lights and sounds are all orchestrated and not part of some military attack?

...why does The United Methodist Church have no presence in Downtown Pittsburgh? Really. I'm asking. And if I'm wrong and we do have something going on in the city I would be glad to admit my error. I saw information about this in the program for the musical Rent. I was embarassed that there was no United Methodist church listed among the active congregations working in Pittsburgh. (And no, you haven't somehow skipped over to my husband's blog...I can be serious too!)

...how much better would this picture be with Christian in it? We moved here after the picture was taken, but he did get his own picture taken last week. The band was in the Fall Fantasy Parade at Kennywood last week. They really looked sharp!

...isn't it ironic that I moved to the city/suburbs from the country and now I see more wildlife than I ever did. On my way to the highschool last evening I saw 5 deer, 2 groundhogs and 10 wild turkeys. Cool.

...did you know that if you buy beer in a can at Heinz Field the vendor will have to open the can and pour the beer for you? I know this because last Thursday I worked a booth at the Steeler game. Aramark (a vending and food services company) allows various non-profit organizations to work their booths (concessions and beverages) at the stadium in order to raise money for their group. The TJ Band Patrons work these games and I went to my first one last week. It was really fun and I had the best view in the stadium (of the city, that is...not the game). I can say I have actually bled to raise money for Christian's band trip. I cut my finger opening one of the 407 cans of beer we sold from our cart. We advertised "the coldest beer in the stadium" since it had been on ice for nearly two hours. I was advertising "the coldest hands in the stadium" since my hands were in ice for nearly four hours. Most of our customers were very nice, seemed to be drinking well-within moderation and some even left us tips. Pittsburghers are great! The women were so happy to be carded, but the guys looked a bit less-pleased. So, if you're at the stadium, be nice to the vendors! I'm going back on Thursday, September 7...the season opener. Pray for me. It will be a madhouse. I did get to (shhhh) sneak down after we finished (the beer booths close early because we serve no alcohol after the fourth quarter starts)and saw the last 5 minutes or so from the back of the first section. It's amazing in Heinz Field...and very very loud...almost a scary sort of roaring noise. I can't imagine how expensive the tickets in that first section are, but the view is fantastic...even from the fifth level the players look like real people, not little black and gold ants!

...TJ Football beat Belle Vernon, 48-0...yippee! Woodland HIlls HIgh School lost (yes, lost) to Mt. Lebanon. High School football is serious business around here. Check out these rankings.

...is it beginning to sound like I care about sports? Scary. Where's the knitting? Where are the recipes? Have I temporarily taken leave of my senses. (Yep, it's Fall in Western PA...it happens)

...if you haven't seen the Pixar movie Cars, don't walk, RUN to see it!


It's in our dollar theater now, so you may have missed it since it was released in early June, but do yourself a favor and see it as soon as you can even if you have to wait for the DVD. It is truly amazing...the animation is my absolute favorite so far. I'm a big fan of Pixar. Not only do their movies look great, but the story-writing holds up, too.

Major Accomplishments

We have a lot to show off tonight!

Claire made these this week...two plastic bowls she made with those cool melt-in-the-oven bits you use for sun catchers.


She used a cookie cutter in the center for the heart and the car and then baked them in a tin pie pan in the oven. Then you let them cool, remove them from the pan and place them on a can in the oven again so they droop and turn into a bowl. Pretty neat! The kit was her big purchase at the rummage sale the church is having (one PK perk...you get to check out the church sale stuff before the sale!!).

Elliot made this puzzle tonight. He wanted to be sure I got a picture of it with him and by itself!

Kate made these cookies, too. Between the six of us there aren't a lot left, but they're really good!!


Christian had band camp today and his band tan is coming along very nicely! GO TJ!!


And what did I accomplish?? Well, I knit about 6 rows on Kathy's baby blanket at the playground today and then I, gasp, ripped out about 7 rows to go back and catch a mistake. SCARY! I know I could have just un-knit it (what's that called...tinking?) but I was too lazy, so I bit the bullet, layed it out on the table and pulled it out until I was fairly certain I was past the mistake and in a place that I could identify on the pattern. Looks like it's OK...


I also did laundry. Less exciting, but certainly an accomplishment!

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)