Last night we went to a get together. Two very special people are leaving before the end of the year for overseas assignments. one of those special persons is my son in law. the other is his brother. Don't want to think about it much (because my son is next in the spring). Both the boys, who are really men, are excited and happy to be going to do the job they've been training for the past three years, and to server the country their family has dedicated itself to for many generations.

bless them

early morning phone calls

I have semi-adult children now. two live at home, one lives half the country away. The ones that live at home still have to tell me when they expect to be home if they go out, or if they don't expect to be home at all. Either way is fine. And I ask them to wake me up when they come home since I often wake in the middle of the night and then start aworrein. My son's room is down the hall from mine, if he forgets to tell me he's home and I wake up at 2 am all I have to do is look down the hall and see if his door is open or closed. A closed door means he is safe and well. May daugther sleeps down stairs. If I don't remember her coming in as expected, I will walk to a front window and look out to see if her car is home or not. If someone isn't home as expected I have been know to call or text a cell phone with the exact words

You'd better be laying dead in a ditch since you're not home

Sometimes that backfires and someone crawls out of bed to come up and tell me why no they are not in fact laying dead in a ditch. They are laying quite happily in their bed thankyouverymuch.

I was up at 4am saturday. No special reason, just couldn't sleep. So I made my coffee, got my paper and was enjoying a nice quiet morning. at 5:45 am my phone rings. I quickly run down the list of family members, I know 3 are safe and snug in their bed. That leaves my mom 10 hours away and my son 20 hours away. My heart didn't stop, but my blood pressure went up and I leapt for the phone.

My son.
My First question is are you okay?
Well of course I'm okay mom, why wouldn't I be?
Oh, I dunno. Because you are calling me before 6 am?
Oh. Guess What?
I hate those games, they never come out well. But I bit. What?
I made my first arrest last night, the guy was way big and two of us tackled him! I had to take him to the hospital to be checked out then to the jail! (read I'm 10 here)
Oh yeah.

Can't give details, his employer wouldn't like that.

I may start turning all phones off at night.

Miscellaneous Things

So, I've been neglectful recently about posting. Well, I did tell myself that we would see how the blogging thing went, work up to a daily or at least every-other-day posting.

I've finished a sweater - that is about 5 sized too big. Bummer doesn't beging to express my feelings about this situation. I have almost come to the point of being able to take off the colar, un sew the seams, rip three inches off the sleeves - and how exactly did THAT happen? and then I'll start knitting again, while unraveling at the same time. This stuff has some mohair in it. I'm a dumbass.

On the bright side, we had snow flurries monday. I love snow. they are calling for more tomorrow. I hope so, although number 2 son is going to be outside working on his vehicle most of the day so I'd also prefer that be at least 60 degrees. but you can't have everything can you?

Trying to get my house in order which isn't easy. I've been trying for a few years now and it is getting better. My two goals will be to have the house easily taken care of with routine maintenance by the end of the year and to blog more. Surely I can do that.

hmmmm, we'll see

Rainy Day Miscellaneous

The day started out good. Got stuff done around the house, ran errands before the predicted afternoon thunderstorms came. Hung some pictures I'd been meaning to hang for over a year. laid down to read a book for a few minutes and that was it.

But I had a nice nap. Just made some loose leaf tea I got last month from a tea house in Fletcher NC. VERY nice place, a little pricy but the food was delicious, the tea was reasonable priced and kept coming, and the desert, well my muffin top is a bundt cake.

Even got some knitting in and hope to finish a sweater tonight. I got the sleeves sewn in last night and the sholder seams, even picked up a ton of stitched before retiring for the evening. It is a hoodie type sweater but I'm getting a bit tired of working on it, so I think I'll just make it a big collar sweater and call it a day. WHile I've been working on it, I though two buttons, one on each side of the front slit and then some I-cord for a closing would finish it off nicely. And of course, I just realized I'm going to have to increase the collar so it lays flat against my back.

well, at least I realized it's going to need some "refining" before finishing and then being pissed because I have to rip back.

Life

Today has been a day to reflect on life and count your blessings. Also one to recommit to living each day as best as possible, and to be happy.

A friend got a call early this morning that her brother was found dead in his home. He hadn't reported to work for a couple of days, lives alone, and someone went to check on him. Fortunately it has been determined that he didn't commit suicide nor was he murdered. But she was steeling herself to go and tell her 80+ year old parents who lived next door that another of their sons had just died. There were no words to tell her how sorry I am. Only the offer to help however she needs it.

Before that early early this morning as I was listening to the news trying to convince myself to get out of bed even though it was raining, cold and dark. The traffic report said there was an accident investigation going on on the exact part of the inter state that I travel on. So try and pick another way. 5 lanes were reduced to 1 lane. We all know that accident investigation means that someone has died. A 21 year old girl had run under the trailer part of an 18 wheeler about 2:30 a.m. My first thought was how in the heck had that happened, and then what was she doing out on the road at that time of the night? not driving towards home.

I was talking about it with my son tonight and said she was from our area and told him her name. He grabbed his year book. There she was. They went through 6 years of school together and they graduated on the same day. He didn't know her except by name and face but still, it made him stop and think for a minute. Then he started texting old highschool friends . . . this shouldn't be happening.

Ugly

I found it a sad state of affairs the other day when I logged on to ravelry and the first thing that poped up was the rules and regulations. that part didn't bother me so much but I was curious and really read them. MAN, apparently there are a ton of just plain mean and rude people using ravelry these days.

I'm not a pollyanna, nor am I particularly nice all the time, however I have discovered the art and wisdom of being polite to strangers, accepting other people's opinions regardless of what I believe/think/feel . . . of course as long as what they do or say isn't a direct hit at me in which case I sometimes feel the need to stop them with a hey, very rude and hurtful ya know?

Buy hey, if the only way you can express yourself is to be mean, hateful, hurtful, nasty etc. they you really need to get another hobby. knitting, crafting and the like is for relaxation, friendship and warm clothes. even the snarky group I joined has standards and was always way more funny than I ever found offensive.

If you can't play nice, please go to someone elses sandbox, or go build your own

Finished

Well, after waiting 6 months with yarn in hand, I knitted a sweater. Then I blocked said sweater. Then it sat folded neatly in a bag waiting for me to get the gumption to put it together. I looked at those pieces for about 6 months. The final task I dreaded. I thought of a million other things to do/make in order to not have enough time to put it together. Then a brainstorm. I'll go visit my mom for the weekend she'll do it.

Yeah right. Well, she at least sat in the same room with me while I did it.

Yay me!

Saturday

Saturdays are apparently going to be a challenge for Jack. Last saturday he got stuck in a tree just before dinner and we had to make an in the dark using flashlights and 40 foot ladder rescue.

Yesterday at 5am when it was still quite dark, I went out to get the newspaper. Jack apparently has decided that hiding under the plant stand at the front door gives him prime opportunity to sneak out. Yes he is allowed out. During the day. When the sun is shining. Not in the dark, especially near sunrise and sunset because I worry about predators in the neighborhood. We have fox roaming the neighborhood and I have seen birds of prey. And I take the collars off at night because the bells rining were waking me up every hour or two. Cats at play in the middle of the night, ya know?

So . . . out he went, no collar. Taunted me with his boldness and wouldn't come in until well after sun up. Finally got hungry and came in about 8 am for a snack. I at least got the collar on but then he went right back out. Didn't come in again until dinner at 5.

he was so tired when he tried to jump in my bedroom window he didn't quite make it and slid down the wall. second try wasn't much better.

this is how he spent the next 4 hours.

Then he moved to the other end of the house, to the back of the couch and spent another 3 hours before coming to bed again. After breakfast this morning he came to sleep in the chair next to me while I catch up on paperwork and blogging.

Wonder if he eve remembers about going out side?