Knit and Plenty

The only thing knitted is my brow.

I 'm mad as hell. Exxon Mobil reported a $10 Billion dollar PROFIT and gave their retiring CEO a $350 million retirement package. Is this crazy? Why aren't we heaving televisions or gas cans or something out our windows? Exxon made $1,318.00 every second of the last quarter and it cost me $58.00 yesterday for 16 gallons of gas. 

They could give every man, woman and child in the U.S. about $33.00 - and frankly, I want my money. I'm sure lots of folks could use $33.00.  For food, or medicine. Or yarn, for God sake.

I'm done with Mobil. I used to go there because it is where the Dunkin Donuts is. Now, I've got my coffee maker and I'm going to buy gas from somewhere else. Anybody have a suggestion for a better (oxymoron?) oil company??

Seventeen Seventy Knits

Can you believe that its already the Fourth of July weekend? Every year as we toast our first hot dog, my mother says, "Well, you'll turn around and it will be Labor Day before we know it!"  Ain't that the truth.

If you get a chance this weekend, go see the new Sandler flick, "CLICK"  It's all about slowing down, being present, celebrating all the mundane things that happen every day.

So, this weekend - enjoy a burger, mow the lawn, curl up in the lounge chair with that second sock you 've been meaning to finish. Start knitting for Christmas.

I'll be making GTK Kits - about 1776 of 'em.

Happy Fourth.

Knit didn't happen.

I did. I plum forgot to write. It's late on Monday, and yeah, it's been a hell of a day. Actually, a hell of a few days. Computer virus that lost about 25% of all my files and required re-installing all my software. (Please do your back-ups). Laryngitis. (Had no voice for four days.)Next, my daughter's 1994 Chevy Blazer needed $750 worth of repairs, before it crapped out all together - putting her without a car for the summer. Then realizing that she has to have a car, and that I am going to have to solve THAT problem. Then a ceiling light totally fell out of the ceiling - and oh, my youngest cat (Dewey) had a $600 vet bill, - and of course, its only about three and 1/2 weeks since my surgery. So all and all, its been a hectic few days, and I haven't picked up a knitting needle all weekend, and I absolutely forgot to blog.

And I'm certainly not complaining. This is just all small inconvenient life stuff. SH*T happens.

So, do forgive me - I hope to get back on the normal schedule,

Not much cooking.

I couldn't resist nabbing (and sharing) this little cartoon. It seems to say to me what my mother always said, "For every pot, there's a cover." It was her way of saying that people find each other, and that in some way, they are made for each other.  Being recently single (again) after a really nice 5 year relationship which ended amicably (so far), I've decided to put the whole pot/cover/relationship thing on the back burner.

And if one more person tells me that it always happens when you least expect it, I think I'll hit them in the head with a shovel and say, "Gosh, that always happens when you least expect it."

So, what does this all have to do with knitting?  For those others out there that are single, you know exactly what it means. Especially on a Friday, before a weekend. Maybe I'll even finish a shawl, or two.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday.

Nursing my Wounds

Thanks for all your kind words and well wishes. I was really nervous before the surgery and your support really helped!

It was a six hour procedure - and although I was awake for some of it, I don't have any recollection of it. I was told that I was talking and making jokes. When I told this to Mary Ann, she said, "I don't know if I'd want my personality running around without ME there!!"

So, so far so good. I'm happy to report that everything went really well - and I'm off today to get my stitches taken out. (Now, THAT is something I am quite an expert at - but I thought I'd let the doc do the 'tinking'.

I still can't see well enough to knit - even the SS is too tiring. But it's good to be back on the blog.

I'll SEE you next week.

My dear Purl Needlemeyer and I have a lot in common. Of course, we are passionate about knitting. Yes, we both love Good and Plenty, pink yarn and 50's shirt waist dresses. She's got one eye closed with that cute little wink. And I have something called ptosis (toe-sis) which in layman's terms means that the muscles in my eyelids are on the blink fritz. Well, tomorrow I go to Yale New Haven Hospital for some fun-fun-fun eye surgery. That's the good news. The bad news, (get this) is that I have to be awake for most of it so they can make sure that the eyelids work, etc. Wowza. The worst news is that I'm going to have to put down the sticks for a few days. I do have a straight stockinette project nearby - and I'll really get to see how well I can knit without looking.

So, I'm taking a little hiatus from the blog until after Memorial Day. I hope to be back on the web "sight" for Tuesday.  I do hope you won't forget to come back.

Have a happy Memorial Day weekend.

The true meaning of Easter

Stop me if you've heard this one:
A young boy sees his three old Jewish Aunts sitting and knitting and decided it was a good time to ask them the meaning of Easter.
Without looking up from her lacework, his Aunt Ruby quickly replied, "It is the holiday when children dress up in costumes and  ring door bells and collect candy."
"NO!" said his Aunt Dottie, putting aside her afghan, "Easter is when a big fat man with a white beard and a red suit goes down the chimney and gives all the children presents."
"Vot are you talking??" shouted Aunt Fanny, dropping her needles. "Easter is very serious holiday. It begins on Good Friday, marking the day that Jesus was put on the cross and then buried in a tomb walled in by great boulders. And on Sunday, a great miracle occurred. As all the people gathered in front of the tomb, the rocks began to shake and fall away from the tomb - and Jesus stepped out from the tomb...
"And then what happened," the boy asked excitedly... "Then," his Aunt said, "he saw his shadow and went back in for six more weeks of winter."

(Like how I made that about knitting??)

Well, whatever this weekend means to you: whether it's painting eggs or not eating bread; praying for Peace or starting out on a Spring vacation, may it be filled with joy and lots of time for knitting.
See you Monday.

How we define ourselves.

Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for my former father-in-law, Robert (a WWII veteran who left us about 2 months ago at 83). We celebrated the life of a man who loved his family, his country, his garden.

I saw a lot of people that I have not seen since my divorce in 1996, and others -- since my wedding in 1981.  It was a day filled with many memories and catching up, and everyone commenting about how beautiful my daughters are, and lots of folks wanted to know what I was up to. I was delighted and surprised by my own answer. I didn't tell them about my work. I said, "I'm really loving knitting right now."

Isn't it wonderful to define yourself, not by what you do, but what you love? 

How do you define yourself?

I am grateful that I no longer describe myself as a marketing consultant or a corporate VP or a business owner. I am grateful that I call myself a mom. A daughter. A friend. A knitter. The fact is, when we go, no one will really care much about what we did for a living - but what we did for a loving just might be remembered. Godspeed, Bob. We'll miss you.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Yarn

I got home last night from my short trip to Florida, and I have to say two things. First, I just love the sun, and I can't wait for the warm weather. And secondly,  re-entry is a bitch. Of course, I am happy to be home since there really is no place like it. But right now, i can't remember what it is I do for a living; or how I possibly keep up with all my responsibilities. Plus,  I have all these bags of yarn everywhere and I can't for the life of me recall what I was planning on making with any of it. I am assuming that it will slowly come back to me, as I unpack, do the laundry, call my clients, and fall back in to my routine. Happily, that routine includes my Saturday Knit Live group tomorrow, and next week's blog postings about some projects I actually am finishing. Thanks for coming with me on my trip, and for being here when I got back!

What the President Nose.

Who of us hasn't seen this cute Pinnochio tape measure? I couldn't resist buying one. So, I happened to be using it last night (to measure a purse I was working on)  when a story came on the news about a video tape that proves President Bush knew of the dangers of Katrina prior to the storm hitting. As I was using this fun little knitting notion, the notion struck me: If we are going to measure something, maybe it should be "how long are we going to put up with this??"

Oops - sorry for doing the political thing on a knitting blog. Just so you know, some of my best friends are Republicans. No -- actually, my best friend IS Republican. And you have to give me extra points for tying it in with the whole tape measure thing, right?