Sundays are great!

Sundays are a wonderful day for us. We normally get together with our family and play games and have dinner. This is nice as that way my mom gets to see grandchildren and great grandchild. We have been doing this now for about 2 years and we either gather at my house or at my son's house. This week was at my house. Josie (our grand daughter) loves to use the camera. Her Grammie taught her how to use it and she has been taking pictures since she was about 2.5 yrs old. Some turn out really great and others we have to delete because no one knows what they are of. So this time while she was taking pictures of the "ladies" playing Phase 10, I decided to take a couple of her. She got a kick out of the fact we were both taking photos at the same time.

Yesterdays meal fare was, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fruit salad. I was so shocked when Josie told me she wanted her hot dog on a bun with lots of ketchup on it. This child is a very fussy eater. But I made it just the way she wanted and then gave her some grapes on the side. She ate over half the hot dog! Not too bad since she had already had 4 hershey kisses and a handful of pretzels. She originally asked me to make her some Mac n cheese and I told her that she had to eat something we cooked that night as I was not going to make her a special dinner. She was a bit shocked at that statement since MiMi (that's me) usually ALWAYS gives in to any request she might have. Oh Well.............it must have been just one of those days for me. LOL

So here we are in holy week and I love this week in our church. It is so powerful with tradition! I look forward to the Tridium this end of this week. I especially look forward to our Easter Vigil on Saturday night. It is the longest mass we have (usually 2-3 hours) but worth every minute of it. We have baptisms, confirmation and first communions all combined on that night. It brings back such wonderful memories for me from 11 years ago when I came into the church at Easter Vigil. I will probably cry (I usually do during these masses) and will laugh and I will give lots of hugs too.

As for my crafting. well.................not much to tell. Have done a few more rows on THE SOCKS. Still have a long ways to go on them. Tonight I will work on a prayer shawl during my holy hour of prayer at our chapel. Don't know how much time I will get to work on THE SOCKS but I will try and get another inch or two completed on them before I go back to work next week. (I have Thursday thru Sunday off) But there is the chance of them getting worked on a lot next week as DH will be out of town for a week so that will give me a lot of down time in the evening to work on them. I will let you know how I do. I might even be nice and snap a photo of them and post it here.

Better get back to what I am suppose to be doing.

Have a Very HOly Week and a Totally Blessed Easter!

LIfe as I know it

So what do I know about life?

I know that when you least expect it things can turn totally upside down on you leaving you to think "what the heck just happened?"

I know that if you are nice to people you will find that they will be nice to others too. (unless they were just born mean)

I know that your priorities in life may not be God's priorities and He will fix that.

I know that children are the perfect examples of trust, love and giving.

I know that family is so important but the most underappreciated thing in life.

I know that if you want something done right either give the best directions ever or do it yourself.

I know that you can not fix stupid.

I know that I am somebody because God doesn't make junk.

I know that I have people that read my blog but never leave me any comments. But that is ok because I know they are just spending a few minutes getting to know me better.

I know that tomorrow will take care of itself and I don't have to worry about it.

I know that this is the end of this post for today.

Another post!!!!

Here is a good picture of my brother from this past Sunday. We were in the back yard enjoying a wonderful spring day here in AZ. We had dinner with him and my mom tonight since this was his last evening in town. After dinner mom, brother and I played a game of Phase 10. Brother won! Oh well, it was his last night here so I guess that might make him want to come back again! While we were playing cards DH was watching the college basketball games. Luckily we left before they were over since they were into double overtime!

Got a few rows done on THE SOCKS this week. Now that we will be back into our "normal" routine I should be able to get more done on them. But wait..............next week is holy week which means we will be at church for 3 days in a row. Ok, so maybe after Easter?

I would like to get back to my beading too but there just are not enough hours in a day for me to do all the things that I find FUN! I have been trying to figure out how I could take my knitting to work and work on it during lunch while still being able to EAT my lunch too! If anyone has any ideas let me know. I only get 30 minutes of lunchbreak. If I had an hour I could eat in about 15-20 minutes and then use the rest of the time to knit but with only 30 minutes that gives me only about 10 minutes of knitting time and that is just about enough time to get the project out, yarn straightened out, wrist warmer gloves on and maybe 1/2 round done on one sock. I wonder if I could live on milk shakes and just drink my lunch thru a straw while knitting? HUMMMMMMMMM that is an idea! Of course I am sure my waist line (or lack thereof) would not agree with that. Must think on that some more.

I know.............I could stop blogging and take the time I spend here to work on the socks! What do you think???????????? Nope, your right. If I did that then I would not have a place to vent my frustrations. Nope, nope, nope, won't stop blogging.

How about I stop; cooking, cleaning, laundry, answering phones, talking to my family, going to the bathroom, sleeping etc. Yup, yup, yup..........that would give me more knitting time for sure. Wonder how long I could get away with that? (probably until the first time my bladder started screaming at me!)

Well, I will think on this for a few days and if anyone has any suggestions on how to knit and eat let me know.

Gotta go and get ready for bed. (see, sleep is getting in the way again!)

Here is a four generation photo we had taken tonight. From left to right (back row) Son Josh, Mom, Grand Daughter Josie, Brother Stan and that is me sitting on the ground in front. Josie decided last week to take a scissors to her hair to "cut out" a pony tail holder. Otherwise her hair would be really long in the front but she needed an emergency hair appointment to try and even it out. Her mommy is not a very happy camper about the doo.

The jewelry that I am wearing is some that I have made. I am still doing that too. Case in point; tonight I repaired a necklace for a friend, a bracelet for my boss, and a bracelet for Josie. The first two items needing repair, I made. The necklace had a magnetic clasp and it was not strong enough so I exchanged it for a toggle clasp. The boss' bracelet is made out of sterling and she kept pulling off the charms so I reattached them with a much stronger metal. Josie's bracelet just plain broke. So I restrung it. It was one of her favorites as it has Dora on it.

We are still enjoying our visit with my brother.

I am excited to find out how to download my camera so I can now upload pictures here! It was so easy and am looking forward to taking pictures of my crafts now and uploading them so you all can see what I am up to.

Getting late and I need to go to work tomorrow early.

TTYL

Enjoying life

Yes, I am enjoying life right now. My brother made it into town Friday evening after a VERY long Motorcyle trip from East TX. I was just glad he was safe. My DH and I went to dinner with him and my Mom on Saturday evening at a very nice Italian restuarant. It was such a nice evening I almost hated for it to come to an end. Then on Sunday I had them over to our house for BBQ Ribs and family enjoyment. My son and his family were able to make it so my brother finally got to meet my DIL and my GD! Josie was a bit shy around him for a while but warmed up enough by the end of the evening to show him how she can "shake her bootie". Gotta love kids and then things they will do for company!!!!!

Wednesday night is our mid-week "Pick me up" Mass. Afterwards we normally got to Garcia's for some food and socializing with our friends. We have invited Mom and Brother to join us this week. If it is a nice evening we will sit out on the patio there. We are going to ask the Padres to join us too as they are so much fun to be around and I would love to have them meet my family.

DH and I are planning on having dinner with mom and brother again on Thursday night at her place. Brother leaves early Friday morning. I know it will be really quite at Mom's place after he is gone but I am so glad that he came and paid her a visit. He is the first one to come and stay with her and she has enjoyed it so much. Plus he has done a bit of handy work for her while here and for that I am VERY thankful for. There are some things I just am not able to do.

Needless to say THE SOCK has been on hold for a few days but that is ok. Since our weather is in the 80's right now I don't think DH is going to be wearing his boots anytime soon. But I really want to finish them so I can make mom her bed socks that she loves so much. I have that yummy bamboo yarn to use and am dying to try it out.

I have taken lots of photos over the past few days and will eventually get them posted so you can see what a good time we have been having. We even were able to sit outside by the pool late yesterday afternoon until the sun went down. It was that nice out. Gotta love springtime in the desert!

Next week is holy week and we will be very busy with Church "stuff". So I may not be posting for a while until things settle back down. DH is leaving on the 5th of April for Vegas to help his brother paint the outside of his Mom's house. Then we are heading back up there the 15th of April for a conference for my job. So things will be busy for at least the next month.

If I don't have a chance to post before I want to wish each of you a Blessed Easter! He is risen, He is risen indeed! Praise be to God!

oh-oh

I have not worked on "THE" socks really since we came back from Vegas. Last night I decided I would work on them while watching TV. (they are just plain Jane socks). As I picked them up I noticed a little problem. Seems I dropped 2 stitches about 5 rows back! I paniced. I really dislike trying to bring dropped stitches back up but it was either that or frog the sock and I knew that was not something I would enjoy. SO I grabbed my small crochet hook and started the weaving in process. I DID IT! So then I am counting my stitches and discover that I have 1 too many stitches on one side of one sock. So now I have to do a decrease. ARGH!!!!!!!!! At least these socks are to be worn inside of boots although you really can not see where either of this little mishaps are. But I know they are there so it kind of bothers me.

Good News!!!!!!! My brother is on his way up here from Texas. He is staying with my mom and she is so excited. They have not seen each other for a couple of years so it will be nice for them to have the time to visit. I just got to see him at Christmas time but it is always nice to see family. We are planning on a couple of family dinners so hopefully I can get my son and his family over to see him too. My brother has never met my DIL or my Grand Daughter so it will be nice for him to get that chance.

Our weather here is finally getting warm! We have been in the 80's already a couple of times and it looks like we will be continuing that trend and before you know it we will be in the 100's. Then the water in our pool will get nice and we can go swimming again. Pool parties at our house are a lot of fun. This year we want to get our GrandDaughter swimming lessons so she is better equiped for all the swimming that takes place over the summer months.

Are you proud of me? I have posted a lot this month! But then I seemed to have had a lot to say. (Imagine that!)

Back from Vegas

I am back from Vegas poorer but happier. We had a great time and are so glad we went with our friends, Beth and Charles. They had me laughing so hard I was in tears a couple of times this weekend. It was great even if DH and I didn't 'win' any $$$. Anybody know how many calories in strawberry daquiris? I have a feeling there are alot because I gained almost everything back I had lost last month! Now I get to start over again. My friend, Beth, said she is blaming it on McDonalds. After all the daquiris are just really really yummy fruit juice. (I love that lady!)

I worked on THE socks on the way up and back but they still are not done. I only got about 4-5 inches done on them but then that is because it takes 11 rows to make an inch of sock. I will get them done yet. I was so hopeful that I even took some yummy bamboo yarn with me to do bed socks from my mom. Oh well..........I will get to them too.

DH and I will be returning to Vegas again next month for a conference for me. I have to go to keep my credentials up to date. We will be at Ceasars then. We have never stayed there so are kind of looking forward to a new experience.

DH will be going up to Vegas without me right after Easter to paint his mom's house. He will be home 2 days before we go back for my "thing". He will probably not want to go back for a bit after that. Although he did tell his mom that he would come up sometime this summer to help paint the inside of her house.

DD started her new job yesterday. She said she will never get bored there. I am so glad she found a job she really likes and that can hold her interest.

There is a rumor in the air that my brother may be coming up this Friday to visit mom. It is not written in stone yet but that will be nice to have him here for a week. Better now than in the middle of the summer when we hit 115 degrees.

Not much else going on other than work so I won't bore you all with that.

Have a great and blessed day!

lefty issue

I just thought about something that I had to share with you!

I know I knit right handed but I realized the other day that I cast on left handed. So that explains why the first row of knitting is so hard for me to do. I have tried to cast on with my right hand but even with my tongue twisting and turning I can not manage it. I usually end up with a BIG mess and feel like throwing the yarn and needles across the room. Maybe if I had someone actually sit down with me and show me how to cast on with my right hand I could kind of do it.

So you see................being a lefty can be a challenge even when you think you are being right handed about something.

Also.............when giving directions while riding in the car with my DH I will tell him to turn right and always point to my left. Of course after 30 plus years of marriage he kind of realizes that this is the way I do things and he has adapted to it. But to me my left hand is dominate so it is the "right" hand.

Another thing that makes DH crazy is watching me use a screw driver. He keeps telling me I am turning it the wrong way! I laugh each time he tells me that. Of course I have to repeat to him..............righty tighty, lefty loosey. Then he laughs.

My kitchen is set up for a lefty to cook in. But I have noticed that when my children have left home most of them had their kitchens set up like mine. That is until they married and then the right handed wives set it up for them the way a righty would.

These are things that I contemplate late at night. (better than all the info-mercials)

Well, just wanted to give you a little insite as to what is like to be a lefty in a righty world.

Have a great weekend. I will!!!!!!!!!!!!! VIVA LAS VEGAS

On the road again

I am so happy! We leave this Friday for Las vegas with our friends for a long weekend of fun and relaxation! We went together in October and had a blast. Seems like it has been a LONG time since we went. We are all stoked about going up again. We never set any type of schedule and just go with whatever we feel like doing.

I started a pair of socks for my DH. I decided I wanted to try the short row heel on these. So I did all the measurements that were required of me. I got to the length where my book said to start the short row heel. I finished it on one sock and thought " I think I had better try these on him before I go any further." Well, the man was no where to be seen so I tried them on my foot. The heel hit me about mid foot!!! Oh No! So I frogged them back to the foot part. Decided I need to put on another inch of stitches and then did the heel again. This time the lovely man was sitting right next to me. I put them on his foot and it was still too short!!! So frogged them again. (this has happened over the course of 3 days!) I finally went to the internet to see if I could find something that would help me with the measurments since my book LIED to me. I found a sock-calulator! I put in his measurments and it came back and told me I still needed another inch and a quarter. So here I am at day 4 on these silly socks that I so want him to have before we go to Vegas since they are going to be for his new boots he bought. So last night I knitted like a fiend. I got them the right length according to the sock calculator. I made the heel on the first sock and carefully looked over at the man who they are being made for and in my nicest voice said to him. "Give me your darn foot again!!!!" I tried the sock on him and EUREKA! It fits. So I stayed up until midnight last night finishing the heels on both socks. Now on to the mindless knitting of the leg.

Needless to say...........I don't think these socks will be done by the time we leave for Vegas but that is ok. I will knit on them on the drive up. That gives me 6 hours of knitting time and if they are not done by then I will continue them while we are there and if need be will continue on the way home. But the darn things are going to get done!!!!!!! I have too many other things that need my attention other than his socks.

I will say that I love the short row heel. It is really quick to do. Of course it looks more like a store bought sock than a home made one but that is fine. I ust hope the heels wear ok.

I think I will be using the short row heel more often now that I have found the sock calculator. Next thing to learn is the short row toe. Since I knit from the toe up I never have to worry about running out of yarn. When the yarn is close to being out then I am close to being done. This is very important if I am doing long socks. It really doesn't matter when I am doing bed socks or anklets. There always is enought yarn to do those. But a boot sock needs to be Loooooong.

Well, that is all from here for now. Will post again once we get back from Sin City.