Farting dogs and broken promises...

Aha!  Now that I have your attention, you might be wondering just where the farting dogs come into play.  Well, the dog belonged to my friend Jill, and I have no idea what became of it...Maybe we all need to jog over to Jill's Blog and ask?  On second thought...knowing Jill and her family, maybe it's better not to ask...

I know I made a resolution to blog more often, and a secondary resolution to blog in the morning so I don't fall asleep in the middle of a post.  I had wonderful intentions and I'm going to blame it all on Andy, my middle son.

Andy was the most pleasant child on earth.  He smiled all the time, was polite and affectionate and his eyes closed promptly at 9 PM every night and opened about 6:30 AM every day.  After the first week of life, he never kept us awake at night. 

Now, 19 years later, he's working in a machine shop several nights a week until 10:30.  He loves his job.  Every work night, I try to sit up and wait for him.  Every night, about 10, I pretend that I'm going to go up to bed and read until he comes home.  Most nights, I don't even hear him come up the drive in his Jeep.  Every night, I hear his Doc Marten's clumping up the stairs toward our room (Yes, I was the one that fell in love with that pine staircase and thought anyone who might suggest carpeting was insane!)...I can feel him standing next to our bed, and as soon as anyone stirs, he asks, "Did I wake you?"

Answer yes, answer no, it matters not.  Eye contact is not necessary.  All you have to do is change your breathing pattern and he sits on the edge of the bed and begins talking...

In minutes, we know what machine he worked on tonight, what the tolerances were (1/1000 inch?), how many parts were made, what they had for dinner and how cold the drive was home.  He then wishes us good night and heads for the shower, leaving us to resume the rest that old parents like us needs...

Mark can do it, but I'm not so good at going back to sleep...so here I am...

Now whatcha wanna talk about?

I was really planning to talk about all the people in blogland that I 'know' and watch...about Laura's upcoming baby (and maybe a new house), or LynnH and her Color Joy...I love those words, color brings me much joy.  I've always maintained that my favorite color is plaid!

Have you heard about Stephanie's (aka Yarn Harlot) new concrete floor?  Are you sending healing vibes to Joan's husband and Bliss' precious dog?  Did you spew coffee on the screen when you heard what Jill's daughter said?  Do you feel as though these people are a part of your family?  Do you worry when they don't post? 

Am I nuts or what???

On the  other side of the coin, I thought you'd like to see what's on my knitting needles these days...

Project #1...a size 2, top down raglan sweater.  No clue where it will go when it's done.  I started it as a k with my darling daughter, but I passed her at the starting line...but it's fun and mindless knitting.

My Irish hiking scarf from Hello Yarns, and a cabled hat from a pattern by Judy Gibson all made of Wool Ease.  I was going to give it to my oldest son's SO for Christmas, but it just didn't happen.

Now you gotta have sox...lots of sox...and here's the current pair on the needles.  I think it's Magic Stripe, and they are certainly for ME!

Last but certainly not least...

Clogs from FiberTrends!  These still need the outer sole, and they certainly need felted, but they are Kool Aid dyed.  I'm not sure where they are going once they are done, I have several people on my list who claim they are for them...

Well, hope this hasn't put you to sleep...but it certainly did the trick for me...I'm off to dream land.  Sweet dreams to you!

 

 

 

 

I don't like my dog better than I like my kids!

Last night, Mark was spending the night with his father and Andy was at work.  Tony and I went shopping, had dinner out and came home to watch TV.

I have a short attention span, so I wandered around the house, looking for things to do.  Tony lay on the love seat in the living room and must have fallen asleep.

Next thing I heard, he was sputtering and grouching.  I peeked in and this is what I saw:

Apparently Arnie wanted to lay on the love seat (he hates cold floors) and Tony didn't move in time...

Nope, my dog is not spoiled!

Jill has one, so I have to have one too!

Who is Jill?  Why she's my identical twin born in different years to different parents in different states, of course.  Whatever fun thing she finds for her blog, I have to have one too...so here is mine:

No, it's not how we voted...it's the states I've seen - some I wish I had not!

By looking at the big spaces between states I've seen, can you tell I hate long car trips and prefer to fly?

 

Resolution/conclusion

I've come to the conclusion that I have to make the resolution that I have to post in the morning so I don't fall asleep in the middle, as I have been doing.  Right now, instead of posting something new, I'll go back and finish my last one...deal?

Check it out!

Oh...and just to amuse you...here's today's photo (Andy):

Windows: you can see right through them!

Well, after Friday's sleepless night...

"Sleepless?" you ask.

"You bet your bippy," I reply.

"Why?" 

"It's Mark's fault," I reply.

And it is...Mark and I decided, after much deliberation, that our next labor of love/major expenditure/gift to the house goddess would be new windows for the house on the hill (HotH).  

For those of you who don't remember, HotH is a 163 year old brick colonial that sits high on the hill, surrounding the new kids on the block, or those darling little houses that were built on much of the farm about 50 years ago. 

 

Now, I am not naive enough to think that window shopping is a breeze...or that it could be done in a day...but the things I didn't know could fill a dumpster!

As in the past, my major concern was financial.  Could we afford this?  Now, in this age of simplicity, they throw many new twists and turns into the decision making process:  First, you answer a million questions...wood or vinyl?  What color?  What kind of glass, insulating properties...and last but least, how many panes? 

I had my heart set on double hung with six panes on top, six on bottom, but when we went out looking at windows in houses, it seems that EVERYONE and his uncle have those windows, from mobile homes to 100 year old houses...I wanted something outstanding...

So we shop on...

 

Gee Whiz!

How in the world does one get out of habits so easily?  I really want to keep this blog going, if not for the few readers I had captivated in the past, but for me to help keep track of my life.  I stink at it!

Today was the last day of the semester for the kids.  Andy has now, or will on Wednesday when they go back to school, begun his last semester of high school.  Wonder if he is sad?  I hate to ask him...I can't handle the eye rolling...can't they understand that they will always be my babies?

Tony and I drove around today, looking at windows.  No, not window shopping, but looking at how people replace the windows on their old houses...There is a house in Lyndora that is/was the twin of our house, or was before those ultimate renovations began.  It's still very close and they have the 12 pane windows-in bad shape, but still wonderful.

I made up my mind that those are what I wanted.  We got one price today...about $500 each, uninstalled!  Considering we need 17 of those and three casement windows, I don't think we'll be heading for top of the line any time soon, or at least not all at once.  Wow!  Very old houses are like very young lovers...very expensive to keep!

Tomorrow is chore day around here.  Andy works half a day and I'm sure he had things to do after that...but I'll capture him and force him to do something to earn his keep. 

Sunday is a big day for us...Tony has a hockey game in the morning, he and Mark are determined to hit a couple buckets of balls at the indoor driving range, we're invited to a Steelers' party in the afternoon and then the kids have two more days off. 

It will be nice to go to someone else's house for the football game. I usually host the Sunday activities. Mark's sister will host this week...yippee!

But it's bedtime now...but before I go, for your viewing pleasure...here's my mother, Christmas Eve, with all our stockings...

Sweet dreams!

 

 

 

Quick! Sing, dance, pray!

Woo hoo!  I'm not to sure what I did to piss off the A-O-Hell Gods, but when I accused a merchant of not responding to a request for information, they insisted that they responded and were waiting for my response to their response...

I dug through my 'spam' file and found out that EVERY-STINKING e-mail I got from Yahoo was sitting there, hoping I'd find them before AOL deleted them. (Hi Jacque!)

What did I miss?  Tons of stuff, but most of all,  I missed an email from my friend Cheryl, who has been my friend since we were about 10 years old.  She told me that her brother, who went to school with my late sister, was undergoing heart surgery last Monday.

Last Monday?  Holy breadsticks...I didn't pray for Tommy before his surgery, but I hope to heck that the gentleman upstairs knows and understands that my general prayers for that day included all those special people out there who need prayers and he credited just a titch of the special care to him.  I'm also praying in retrospect, especially until I can get in touch with Cheryl to find out how he's doing. 

Join me in prayer...if we pray loud enough, maybe sing a song of praise or two, maybe we can make a difference!  I know, you are wondering where the dance part comes into play...well, it couldn't hurt, could it?  Just keep it clean!

I heard on the radio this morning that this, from January 11 to February 10, is the dead of winter.  This is when we can expect those bone chilling freezing temps.  Okay...so why did I drop Tony off at the golf course today after he rode his bike to and from school?  Why did Andy come home from work to night at 9:30 with the doors off his jeep?  Why was it 59 on my thermometer today?  Why did I turn off the furnace?  'splain that to me?

I haven't given up on winter yet, though.  I'm still hoping to look out my kitchen window and see the snow falling at least one more time this year, maybe 2...I didn't even get to sled ride down the front hill this year.

Andy came home from work early tonight, Mark is spending the night with his father...another guys night out.  He claims that his ankle is feeling better, but he's limping as though it's not.

I'm working on moving this ol' blog to blog spot...it should happen in the next few weeks...I promise to let everyone know before I do.  Once the move is complete, I hope to get back to the daily blog with my thoughts a little more organized...so much goes on at the hilltop mansion that I have to put post-it notes on my desk to remember it all...

But for now, I'm going to make my boys some hot chocolate and give them big hugs and send them to bed...and NO, even though they are 19 and 17, they are not too old for that!

Until tomorrow!

Peace...

 

Just call me Race Car.

I came down the stairs this morning and found Race Car, my fat cat, squeezed into a box so small that he couldn't even reach out and scratch his head...later today, I tried to get into a pair of jeans that were so tight that if I farted, they would have exploded...that darn fat cat and I have much in common!

Today was errand day, but this time it was so strange.  I drove, Mark was the navigator and Arnie (the wonderdog) was the back seat driver.  Ever try to find the most efficent way to run a myriad of errands with a fat dog and a lame husband?  Not fun...

Tony was our guest chief this evening and treated us to his own special taco dinner.  I'm not a big taco eater, but since I didn't have to cook...it was great!

Last stop of the day...Barnes and Noble to find books/mags/information on Florida and/or Mexico...we're hell bent on a southern vacation this spring which will be a huge change from our traditional fall vaca up north. 

Peace,

J

Confession to make...

I have a confession to make:  I think I love my husband...Shocking?  You bet your bum! 

Today I heard him tell his father that he's going to try to get into his office for a few hours tomorrow (He's been home all week-doctor's orders...and of course the fact that he can't drive a stick while on crutches.) and I almost cried...I got to like having him home with me!

Crutches?  Yes, crutches...it's how he brought in the new year, as the only sober patient in the ER...of course, it was only 12:45AM...

Sorry about last night's post...I fell asleep at the computer.  I can tell that if I don't sign off now, that I'll do the same tonight...

Maybe this weekend, when my family will be around to entertain each other, I'll finish my Christmas/New Year story...

Until then,

Peace!

I am really back! Honest!!!

I made my resolution...I would start posting again on 1-1-06.  Well, I'm late...so bite me!

Why did I stop posting?  Life was getting out of control.  The kids were busy (both boys lost their jobs when the bike shop went belly up.  Andy accepted a job with Dick's Sporting Goods (which he hated) and was quickly lured away by a machine shop owned by a former bike shop customer. 

Tony accepted things philosophically...he bought two dozen donuts on the day the bike shop closed and called it his retirement dinner.  He is still job hunting, but since he hasn't run out of money yet, he's doing okay, still playing inline hockey for his school team and making his mother burst with pride when he was chosen for the allstar team.

Life got busy with things that were not worth writing or reading about.  Of course, there were good times...lots of them...

Christmas '04 was a nightmare.  I decided that Christmas '05 would either be better, or not celebrated at all.  Guess everyone in my family felt the same way...this was the most fun we've had at Christmas since Santa sprinkled "Snore-no-More" (glitter) on Mark and we watched him sparkle all day!