the week that flew by way too quickly...

It's funny how time can be so hard to pin down. While I feel like I've been away from the online world of blogging and emailing and twittering for endless ages now, it also feels like this past week has flown by in an instant.

The internet is such an amazing thing. How can I possibly express the gratitude I feel for the connections and loving friendships that have enriched my life so very much? Eva has definitely become one of the family...and there are so many little smiles stored in my heart, little glimpses of this fact. Annie and Eva picking out clothes, Max pestering Eva to play badminton, Gray being contrary with Eva, Eva busting on Rich...all these little moments of ease and comfort. :)

It seemed simultaneously a busy week and week where not much happened but living and loving. We went thrifting. We went to the library. We hit the coffee shop a few times. We ate out a few times. We walked around a fun section of downtown. We visited a city park. We talked. A lot. We cooked. We ate. We drank chai--Eva makes the best chai. Ever. We talked. A lot. We played badminton. We watched Gray and Annie practice Aikido, and witnessed Gray earning his yellow belt. (Yay Gray!) We played word/drawing games. We talked. A lot. We read. We squeezed in some school. And homework. We wrote down book recommendations. We knitted. And crocheted. We talked. A lot. We survived yet another septic system problem. And sunburn. And a complete week of unseasonably warm weather.

I was rather sporadic in my picture taking, but I'm grateful that I captured at least a few moments from our week:






I think I was in serious denial all day about the fact that Eva was leaving this afternoon. It hit me really hard about ten minutes before they had to leave for the airport. But I am consoling myself with the thought that tomorrow I will get to do some blog reading and catch up with my other friends that I've been missing so much. You all have been posting, right???

tidbits and babblings...

...I screwed up. After a couple weeks of finally feeling more human, I pushed limits I shouldn't have pushed, and now I have crashed spectacularly. A day jam-packed with non-stop chores following a night with just a few hours sleep was recipe for disaster. Even sadder, I didn't come close to finishing my to-do-before-Eva-arrives list, and now I've just got to admit that I'm not going to. :( Note to self: Next time have clean-a-thon before read-a-thon. Note to fibro: You suck. Note to Eva: Don't bring a white glove. :P

...Every single year, I'm surprised and delighted anew. One day the trees are still nothing but brown, and the next morning you wake up and there is this sudden profusion of green! Literally overnight. :)

...I love how my fingernails can be such a sign of the fun things I'm up to. Yesterday it was dirt dirt dirt I was cleaning out from under them. This morning it's bread dough.

...That dirt I just mentioned--yep, some of yesterday's labors involved the garden. Rich and Gray got the strawberry patch planted. :) And Rich and Max got four blueberry bushes planted. :) And Rich and I got some of the "4-6 weeks before last frost" seedlings planted. :)

...That bread dough I just mentioned...now two wonderful loaves of sourdough bread. Mmmm...

....Hoping everyone has a lovely week.

reading notes, entry 2...and a couple other tidbits...

Burning for Revenge by John Marsden.

Max and I are still working our way through this series, and yes, we're still enjoying it. (Burning for Revenge is the fifth book.) This series is violent. Not surprising, as the books are about war and how a group of teenagers try to survive. In a sense, I'm almost glad they're violent, because I just wouldn't want war to be sugar-coated. And these books ask a lot of good questions...questions about humanity, about morality, about friendship, about trust.

But last night, this book pissed me off. And I found myself for the second time this year censoring one of my children's experiences with a book. This was much different than the first time though. Luckily, my brain reads just a tiny bit ahead of my mouth, and I was able to exercise the option of deleting a few words.

Here's the sentence, told from Ellie's point of view:

I know they taught us at school that girls shouldn't feel under pressure from guys, and guys won't die if they don't get what they want, but in real life it's not that easy.

When I read it to Max, I deleted that last clause, "but in real life it's not that easy." In a sense, there's truth to the whole thing, because no interaction between two people is ever simple enough to be fully explained in a few words. But face it, that's not what's being said here. Nope, what we've got here is just another perpetuation of the same old, same old--guys can't control themselves so it's up to girls not to be raped. So yeah, I didn't read that last bit because THERE IS NO "BUT"!!! And yeah, we were still able to have a conversation about the topic, without the reinforcement of a troublesome idea.

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Okay, enough of my pissed-offed-ness...let's move on to a bit of happy stuff...

*I just want to say a GARGANTUAN THANK YOU to Lu for directing me to The Old Reader. If there's anyone else out there who hasn't figured out what to do about Google Reader going away, especially if you're not particularly tech-savvy, The Old Reader might be your answer. Seriously, it was easy even for me to figure out, being as non-tech-savvy as the come. And thus far, I must say that I am loving how it works!

*Dewey's Read-a-Thon is just a few days away now! And I am sooooo excited! Dewey has been on my mind a lot lately, even more than usual. Not sure why. But I feel especially grateful right now to be looking forward to this day of joyful reading that Dewey gave birth to.

*And look what just arrived on my doorstep:

From my incredibly sweet husband, I'm assuming. I put it on my wish list but didn't actually order it as we've been trying very hard to not spend unnecessary money the last several months. So yeah, I think he broke the rules but I am exceedingly appreciative that he did. :)

tidbits and babblings...

*Boo. I do believe I'm getting sick. It could be that I'm just entering a flare with the fibro, the pain just started going crazy on my last evening and hasn't let up. But I've just got this inkling that there's more to it. Just please don't be the flu too.

*Yay! I started a new book for Once Upon a Time that I'm really loving! Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. It's early, but I am completely sucked in! In fact, I sort of wish I'd saved this book for Dewey's Read-a-Thon because it's the kind of book that just begs to be devoured in a single sitting.

*Boo. Work is going full tilt on the housing development that's being built behind us. So depressing. I can't wait for the trees to leaf out so I don't have to see it anymore. At the moment, it's hard to ignore as the spot where I generally work is at our bedroom window which faces right out towards it. I'm hoping the trees will help at least a bit with the noise as well. It's so damn noisy--construction vehicles from 7:30 to 5:00 Monday through Saturday. And how much more annoying will it be when it warms up and we want to have the windows open and are spending lots of time in the yard and garden. *sigh*

*Yay! Max heads off to middle school next year. While I'm not at all familiar with the school and how they do things, we have learned that the kids and teachers are divided into three different houses. The letters just went out about what houses the kids will be in. Max has made two really good friends since we've moved here--and all three of them will be in the same house!

*Boo. And Yay! Rich and I get to go to Max's soon-to-be middle school tonight. Not really an orientation, but more of an initial look around and meet the teachers for his particular house. This is a boo simply because I'm not feeling well and because I hate being in crowds of people. But really it's a Yay! I've never before even seen the outside of the building, let alone the inside, so it will be nice to get acquainted with the place that Maxidoodle is going to be spending much of the next three years. I sort of wish he got to come along, but this is a "for parents only" sort of thing...and there's plenty more opportunities for us all to get to know the school coming up in the future here.

*Yay! The mallard couple on the pond/swamp just makes me so happy. I love watching them. While I hate assuming that I can tell what other species think and feel, I just can't help but view this couple as so in love. Seriously, they are just so very sweet to watch.

*Boo. Well, it's happened. I've let myself get really far behind on Project Life. The one thing I didn't want to do with this project...because I know myself all too well, and this is usually the thing that causes me to fail. I'm not giving up, but I know it's going to take determination and perseverance to get caught back up. And you know, I'm just not feeling it right now.

*Yay! I did start a new crafty project that I'm really excited about! Yes, I did tell myself that I couldn't start any new crochet projects until I finished some. Apparently, I'm not a good listener. But I forgive myself...mostly because this is one of those projects that is coming out even better than I'd had it pictured in my mind. :) I decided to put all those old, outgrown, stained, and/or holey tees that I've been saving for a bajillion years and slowly turning into t-shirt yarn to use. See I decided to start the painting/building stuff/fixing up around this house. I've started with the little hallway--I know, talk about anti-climactic, huh? :P There's not much to be done. Mostly just painting-ish stuff. And maybe putting together a small gallery wall. And, getting/making some sort of runner to add some color to the area. And yep, that's where the t-shirt yarn comes in--I decided to crochet a runner for the space. I haven't gotten far yet, but I do so love how it's turning out:

*Yay! While I'm not generally as eager as most people to say goodbye to winter (good thing, as we're to have a bit of snow this morning, followed by freezing rain), I'm by no means upset by the arrival of spring. And there is just something magical about those first blooms, isn't there? The daffodils have oodles of buds, and while they aren't yet blooming, I suspect they will be soon. In the meantime though, we have coltsfoot and glory of the snow! :D  With last year's freakish weather, they bloomed extremely early so they had come and gone before me moved in last year...extra Yay! for happy surprises!

*Yay! It looks like there's a very good chance that we're going to have a special guest staying with us sometime in the next month or so. Probably not nice of me to tease by not saying who (it's someone most of you know), but it's one of those "not my place to talk about first" things. But it is a definite happy thing. :)

*Yay! Oh my gosh, speaking of happy things--Andi's post...massive happy tears! Not only am I obviously happy for Andi and her fiance--she sounds blissfully happy, but sheesh, the whole Andi and Heather are finally going to meet in person thing! I just feel like I could burst open with joy thinking about it! And it makes me all the more hopeful that I really, really, really will meet Ana in person one of these days...that would be a dream come true! That *will* be a dream come true!

Lots more Yays than Boos...life is good.

pictures from Mount Hope...

And it snowed! Not enough to stick or anything, but still pretty coming down.

before the day's over...

Not going to blow this every day in November blog thing yet. But I must admit it is hard tearing myself away to get on the computer because we have such a lovely house guest. And Eva has managed to charm all, man and beast...

Okay, so it's not so hard to win over Lucky...he'd be willing to love and cuddle with a serial killer.

But look at Darwin--that is the look of love on his face.

But the truest test of all, Aldo, Miss Standoffish herself, immediately took to her. And I mean immediately. She sometimes won't let strangers see her for days, let alone pet her. Yep, she's on Eva's lap!

And tomorrow, pictures from Mount Hope.

new beginnings...

After the turmoil that has been our life for the past few months, it's sort of hard to believe that we will again be homeowners in a little more than 24 hours. I'm sure it goes without saying that I'm excited. Whenever I'm showering or driving home from dropping Max off at school or some other such task, I find myself daydreaming about all the setting-up-house and redecorating and putting in of gardens we'll get to do.

But.

I don't think I'm as excited as I should be. I think that I've overplayed the whole "fresh start" idea. I think I've used that concept too many times in an effort to gain some sort of much-craved balance in my life. And I think that maybe in overplaying this card, I've lost some of the ability to believe it can work.

Something else that I fear I've overdone--the apologizing. For not keeping up with email, for not keeping up with commenting on blogs. I don't want the apologies to sound empty, because they are anything but. Maybe I really need to stop apologizing and trust that the people I love so much *know* that I love them...even when I drop the ball. Which I seem to be doing quite frequently as of late.

So anyway, I'll keep striving for that ever-elusive balance. And starting tomorrow, I'll be doing it in a brand new (to us, that is) home.

(Just to give you fair warning: There will likely be lots of before and after pictures as we go about turning this house into our sweet little dream home.)

*****
Just had to share these:

Are these hats totally adorable or what?!! They were made by the lovely and talented Pat for Ms. Annie. Pat, she absolutely LOVES them both!!! Thank you, dear lady!!!


















*****
And appropo of nothing:

This picture just never fails to make me smile when I see it. Taken shortly before we moved out of our house.

"But Mom, I swear I wasn't digging up the yard you made me promise not to dig up because the lady buying our house wouldn't want a big hole in the back yard."

elaborating, #1...

You all know the lovely Care, right? There's just something so very very special about that woman, I tell you. She's one of those people I long to be more like. In so many ways. Her positive outlook, her sense of humor, her kind heart, her generous and thoughtful ways. She's just a beautiful person, you know.

Anyway, yesterday she sent me an email with these words of wisdom:

Remember, the keys to happiness are
1) Someone to love,
2) Something to do,
3) Something to look forward to

Something about these words really spoke to me. It's seems so simple and yet somehow so profound. And I've sort of decided that whenever I'm feeling a bit on the blue side (today's version brought on by: lack of sleep, worrying about Annie who's having a tough time with her OCD and anxiety the last few months and it's showing in her grades, worrying about Gray who has been having some pretty major meltdowns as of late, and the stress of this house limbo), I'm going to pull out those words and elaborate. 'Cause you know, if my "keys" were translated into the tangible little metal things, my key ring would be far too heavy for me to even carry.

Key 1--Someone to love: See first paragraph.

Key 2--Something to do: I've been working on making Annie this jacket for her birthday. It's a bit more challenging than most of the crochet projects I do (as in, I actually have to pay attention much of the time, instead of just zoning out while I crochet :P ), but I'm really enjoying it. I so hope Annie will love it! I'm guessing I only have a couple of hours of work left on it now.

I just couldn't for the life of me get any decent pictures, but you get the idea, right?













Key 3--Something to look forward to: Okay, this may sound silly, but I'm going to say breakfast. Seriously, breakfast is one of the major perks of staying here. It's always so yummy, and such an indulgence to have a hot breakfast every day. Well, sometimes I just have a bagel and juice, but I *could* have a hot breakfast every day if I wanted! :D

And you know what, I really do feel better. Thank you again, Care. You are such a bright, warm ray of sunshine!!!

tidbits...

*Was supposed to have a doctor's appointment today. Car would not start. Battery stone cold dead. Felt horrible calling to reschedule at the last minute like that, but they were very understanding. Even told me I didn't have to pay the fee for late cancellation.

*Spring semester started for Rich and Annie. (Well, not for Annie's at-home classes--we start our third quarter on Feb. 1st.) At the community college, Annie's taking a health course called Emotional Wellness, Precalculus Mathematics with Analytic Geometry, and Literature of the Holocaust. Bet you can guess which class she's most looking forward to, huh? (At home, we'll be continuing with Biology, doing a half-year of Phys Ed, and starting a class on U.S. History Since 1945, which we'll be continuing with next fall.)

*Meeting with a plumbing contractor at the house we're buying on Friday. Am ridiculously scared to find out what kind of estimate we're going to get for all the work that needs done. But I sort of figure knowing the size of this price tag is a better kind of stress than not knowing.

*Have so many ideas for projects for our soon-to-be new-to-us home. Am going to concentrate on one room at a time. First up will be the dining area...well, not counting the bathroom which needs help beyond our piddly DIY skills. Starting with the dining area, partly because it's pretty much the first thing you see once you walk in the house from the sunroom, and partly because I just have it pictured so well in my imagination. I couldn't resist getting started. I had an image in my head of placemats I wanted to make...but I couldn't find a pattern anywhere that was quite like what I wanted. So I decided to just come up with my own pattern.

And I must say, I'm thrilled with how they're coming out. It took some playing around to get the pattern of stitches correct so they would lay flat, but it wasn't too difficult overall. Each one is going to be done in the same colors, but the order of the colors is going to be different for each one. Figured why not--our chairs are all mismatched and so are our dishes. :P (I also plan on making coordinating coasters.)

I'm thinking about making DIY posts for some of the projects we do. Which I realize likely won't interest anyone, but I'd kind of like to have a chronicle for myself of bringing our dream house to life.

*Just want to wish dear Heather a very happy birthday one more time before the day's is out. Happy Birthday!!!

You know, January has produced some amazingly awesome people...in addition to Heather, there's Ana and Renay and Jason...yep, I think I just gained a much greater respect for January as a month after this realization. :)

lookie what I got...

A Moving Fairy!!! Is she not the cutest stinkin' thing ever?!!! (And truthfully, she's even more adorable in person--my camera seems to have washed out her colors a bit.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you Care! She is going to be our little good-luck-smooth-sailing-all-the-way-put-a-smile-on-my-face Moving Fairy!!!

Okay, me and my fairy are off to pack a few more boxes...

and so it begins again...

A winter tradition. Okay, a silly winter tradition. But still, when Max and I walked out to wait for the bus this morning, I could not help but smile when I saw the window on the van:

All winter long, Rich writes messages in the snow. And Max takes great delight in somehow transforming the message. As here, where he simply added "not":

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I am so. damn. excited. about this weekend. Chris, who is just as sweet and thoughtful and freakin' awesome as they come, emailed me about a month ago with this super fantabulous idea. He told me that it just made him so sad how stressed out I was last Christmas season. So he came up with the idea of a Christmas-a-thon, where we'd pick one weekend in November and spend the entire time working on Christmas stuff! Is that not brilliant?!! Not to mention ridiculously fun. :D And this is the weekend we settled on. I'm starting this afternoon--when Rich gets home from work, we're headed out to do a pile of Christmas shopping. Sans munchkins. And we're going to eat supper out, just the two of us. And then do more shopping. I have lists galore made, so hopefully I'll put a major dent in the shopping I have left to do. If I've any energy left when we get home tonight, I'll knit or crochet away on one of the bazillion gifts I'm hoping to get made. And tomorrow...well, I'll just wait and see what I'm in the mood for--wrapping? making Christmas cards? crafting? deciding on what I'll be baking this year? putting up some decorations? a little of each? Oh yes, the possibilities are endless... :D

*****
I haven't finished much in the way of gifts thus far this week, but I have been working away (mostly while watching Doctor Who episodes with the family and watching "school" videos with Gray).

I finished a Cthulhu (awesome free pattern found here...and still have two more left to make...

I also made a crocheted cowl for my Mom. But when I asked Annie to model it for me so I could take pictures, she fell in love with it. So I think I'm going to surprise her by giving it to her instead and making my Mom a different sort of scarf.

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I so hope you all have a lovely, lovely weekend!!!