Matt-Man

With love to Matthew...

No long goodbyes;
a hug, a squeeze.

I love you, Sweetheart!
...Come back to us, please.

And just in case you ever wonder... big girls, yes, even Grandmas, do cry.

Wolfie Goes Camping...

Great title, huh? Too bad I can't tell you what it means. I've been sworn to secrecy.

Ahhh...Thursday evening, 9:00 p.m. and winding down for the night. It's been a nice day. Ordinary day. Zach is great, the kittens are playful and extremely funny, DQ aced a test, and Christopher is getting ready for a Boy Scout camping trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...
Our newest son-in-law, Josh, has his birthday tomorrow and we're going out for dinner. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!!!" ...a mere 5-days later my oldest son will leave behind his teenage years and enter his 20's. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARRELL!!!" ...and 3 days after that will be my big brother's birthday - he's Darrell, too (my oldest son is named after my two brothers). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, (UNCLE) DARRELL!!!"

Went to Costco today for shopping and lunch with Ken and the kids. Being the good Weight Watcher person that I am I opted for the turkey wrap instead of their great pizza or even a hot dog. To my amazement (and distress) I later found out that I would have been better off with the pizza. The turkey wrap is LOADED with calories and very heavy on the fat grams. Who'd'a thunk it???

I'm doing really well on WW this time around and even hitting the 'Y' periodically - not as often as I'd like but doing better each week. It's been clear that the weeks I exercise are the weeks I lose the most weight. So far I'm only doing treadmill and exercise bike but it's apparently been enough of a difference from my usual (sedentary) routine.

Abbey's soaps are adorable and she sold quite a few on Mother's Day. She's even had a couple of special-orders. This weekend will find her busy making more. I'm still having a great time making jewelry designs and love learning new things.

Had Abbey to the orthodontist today for a consult. She will need braces eventually but not yet - that was good news. Christopher just had spacers put in this week in preparation for an 'appliance' to keep his teeth where they are - don't want them moving into newly opened spaces.

And that sounds like a good place to wrap things up for this evening.

Tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is about here - yeah! Hope you have a great one!

Too Cool...

Some 'Too Cool' thoughts for today...

Abbey, our 8-year old, is starting a soap business. No official name yet but she's purchased supplies and her first batch came out beautifully. A little light on the fragrance, but hey, some people might prefer that! Way to go, Abbey!

Heard from BF, Dawn, yesterday. Nicole is doing well these days (praise God!) and getting ready for prom. Be sure and send pics, Dawn! Miss you!

Rob and Elisa got us a terrific gift. It's a CEIVA picture frame. It works like most digital frames except you can take pictures with your phone and upload them to the frame. Share the address with friends and loved ones and they can upload pictures, too. Photo libraries can be managed online for extra-ease-of-use. Definitely too cool! I have a ton of pictures loaded on it and really enjoy watching the continuous slide-show.

Zachary will probably be crawling by this time next week. He's just about there now. He certainly is a determined little guy.

Mother's Day - Ok, yes, one of my most favorite days of the year. A little less so since I lost my mom, but with a mother-in-law, 5 kids of my own, 2 sons-in-law, and 3 grandkids it's still a super-special day! I'm never happier than when we're all together. Kenneth makes most days feel special but he even ups the attention on Mother's Day.

Weight Watchers - very cool when you're doing well on it and following plan.

YMCA - Same as Weight Watchers.

Netbook Computers - Computers that fit in my purse, boot-up quickly and offer portability and connectivity wherever you are. Cool enough on their own, they reach the 'too cool' level with a wireless card.

Jewelry Making - My newest venture and one I really enjoy. I figure I'll knit in the fall and winter and play with beads in the spring and fall.

It's Thursday - the weekend's almost here. Too cool...

It's all about balance

Balance.

Ups and downs.

Good and bad.

I could fill a page with the common metaphors. A recent dinner conversation with the kids touched on this very subject. 'Without the bad we couldn't recognize, let alone appreciate, the good.'

We pray that the down times aren't devastating but know that with God's help we'll get through even those. We celebrate the joyous times and float along with the day-in-day-out 'normal' times. If we're lucky, the 'normal' times are pretty good by themselves. Mine are, and for that I know I am blessed.

Last Saturday I sat down to write about the wonderful day we had. It was very simple. Nothing special in many ways. Yet it was idyllic to me. I couldn't get it down in writing quite right so it never got posted. I'm sure I was trying to complicate it too much. I tend to forget the KIS philosophy of simplicity.

Last Saturday was a beautiful, cool, early spring day. Ken and the kids built a secure area for our cat, Mischief, to have her kittens. I baked bread for the first time in a long while - a true simple pleasure. Favorite tunes playing, singing along, enjoying the time in my kitchen. Conversation with my oldest son - just a 'feel-good' day. Later we went out for some general errands. Silly for such a simple day to stand out that way, but it did.

Sunday was Easter. Joyous, introspective, contemplative. Later an unexpected invitation to dinner at my mother-in-law's home with my brother-in-law and his family, and later, Rob, Elisa, and Zach arrived home, safe, from a week's vacation.

Balance...

Monday brought unexpected pain and turmoil to our oldest daughter, and in turn, to us. Parenting doesn't stop when one's child reaches 18, moves out, marries, etc. There is no 'off' button to those feelings, those habits.

The week continued with less drama but with the see-saw balance clearly evident. Tuesday a trip to the theater with Abbey and her friend, Sylvia, to see the new Hannah Montana movie and a bit of shopping with oldest son afterward. Wednesday brought a midday answer-to-prayer when my grandson, Matthew, arrived. He lives in Texas and we haven't seen him in months and it was the first time all 3 of my grandchildren were together. Thursdayevening our neighbor alerted us to where Mischief was keeping her 4 kittens and we were able to bring them home. Friday was a back-and-forth battle over where Mischief would keep the kittens (she's finally comfortable with the area we built and seems content there now - as long as we keep our garage door closed).

And so it goes...an unexpected bill in the mail, a phone call sharing good news. A worrisome situation with a loved one, a better-than-expected medical report. Doing well on Weight Watchers, making positive changes in one area and not-so-positive in others. Prayer and praise. Joy and pain. Balance.

As a side note...or then again, maybe a relevant note...
As I'm writing this we are traveling on I-85 to Charlotte, NC for an outing with our daughter and her family. In a case of mistaken-white-minivan, we were pulled over. Fortunately Ken was given a warning and not a ticket for speeding. He was also given a warning when pulled over a few months ago (that time for cause). Me, well, I didn't get a warning - I got a ticket. Needless to say this is a teasing issue in our family. So, let's just say I'm very glad Kenneth got a warning just now and not a ticket that he would have to fight but hey, this is getting old

Wishing you a well-balanced week.

Spring Break

We're in the second week of April and 'spring break' talk is everywhere. I guess the weather took note (and took a break from spring) because the temperature was in the high 20's this morning. Yes, twenty-something! I guess it's winter's last hurrah since now, at lunch time, the temperature has risen to 53. The low tomorrow is 40 - back to spring-time normal.

The area we live in straddles two counties; Greenville and Spartanburg. Spartanburg K-12 schools were on spring break last week, and Greenville kids are out this week. Our son's college break was a few weeks ago. Activities such as scouting, AWANA, speech classes, and even babysitting Zach are affected by spring break so we have a bit of a lull this week. Our daughter, Elisa, enjoyed spring break so much as a teen that she's continued the tradition into adulthood and is in Florida this week. (Hey, Elisa - send G'ma some Zach pictures, please.)

Let's see...

• I had a birthday last week. It was a great few days (I'm pretty good at dragging these things out) and actually ends with a birthday dinner tonight. I was the recipient of a pedicure, purse, money, headphones, books, ice-cream maker, clay creations from Abbey and artwork from Christopher. I was also treated to lunch at a local Japanese Restaurant and dinner at my favorite little Italian restaurant, Mythos.
• Christopher and Ken went on their 2nd Boy Scout camping trip last weekend. All went well. I'm really excited about this as a mom. Christopher is learning some really wonderful skills and having time with his dad, Uncle and Cousin.
• I signed up with Weight Watchers. So far, so good - I've felt good about being on the program and it's been fairly easy. It's been two weeks but hey, every journey has to start somewhere.
• We also joined our local 'Y.' I haven't been yet (sheepish grin) but will start working that in within the next couple of days.
• Out of the mouths of babes... I recently commended Abbey (8) on her 'can-do' spirit. She was very quick to agree with me and then added 'I make things happen.'
• Oldest son registered for fall classes this morning. I can't believe he'll be a junior already. Of course it's also time for me to consider curriculum for our two youngest. Even after all these years the process still makes my head spin. I'm in a never-ending-quest for 'the best' curriculum and it just ain't out there. The 'best' is, of course, a relative term and that which is best for me or my kids may be worlds apart from what is best for another family. I know this because I've purchased about everything that others have said is 'the best.'

On a final note...

Last week I asked my son to please work on getting the screen protector off of my touch-screen phone. Before long he showed me where the upper left corner of my screen was coming off. Well, it turned out that I didn't have a screen protector on the phone after all and all his hard work went to removing the upper corner of the touch-screen! I sure am glad it was still under warranty and we have a terrific phone guy!

It's All in the Timing...

They say 'Mother knows best,' and I guess it's true. From my earliest days I remember Mother commenting on my horrible sense of timing. She's been gone close to 8-years and I can assure you my sense of timing has not improved.

In her later years my mother started sewing as a hobby. She had sewn on-and-off for years but usually for projects like draperies, school costumes (I was a great pilgrim!), etc. My left-handedness intimidated her a bit so she never taught me to sew. Truth be told, I had zero interest in learning. Lest you misunderstand, that was ZERO interest.

Well, as it turned out, Mother passed away, we gave away all of her sewing materials and then, about two-years later, I wanted to learn to sew. This was also right after the sewing shop here in Greer closed down.

During my time learning about sewing I found an interest to quilt. Yep...right after the little quilting shop in town closed up. Since then Hancock Fabrics in Spartanburg closed and Wal-Mart in Spartanburg stopped carrying fabric and cut back on their stock of other craft items.

Fast-forward a few years and my new interest in loom knitting. I remembered there was a little yarn shop nearby in Taylors - oops - they closed up last month.

Now I'm working on jewelry - I guess I better get to that cute little bead shop - and fast!

Hope you're staying dry this weekend - we've had rain for days.

Bet'cha didn't know...

Just like everyone else these days our family is certainly staying busy. I hate to say I've been too busy to blog but it is an easy thing to put to the side. I have started to jot notes on Twitter here and there but really not much more than I've posted here. I'm going to try to keep this rather short - you probably know I can be quite wordy. Why say in ten words what you can say in 100?

Bet'cha didn't know that I'm making progress with my loom knitting. I moved on from scarves and recently made a small afghan for Zach. Last night I made a hat for Kaitlyn. Tonight I'm starting a dishcloth project. That means using cotton yarn instead of the basic acrylics I've used before. I'm really looking forward to learning about socks. I think that could be fun. Typing it out makes it sound kind of funny (odd rather than ha-ha), but it's true. Loom knitting has been a reasonably-priced hobby thus far, but, unfortunately, as I go along I'm learning more. Now I find there are a lot of looms out there that I want in a variety of sizes, types and gauges. They're also a bit more expensive than the plastic ones I started out with. I guess the steps are just going to go a lot slower now.

Bet'cha didn't know that Christopher is on his first Boy Scout camping trip this weekend. The weather is just about as perfect as I could have hoped for for him. I'm really anxious to hear how he liked it.

Bet'cha didn't know that Abbey prepared her first dinner this evening (with me as her adult helper). She chose a recipe from her Paula Deen kid's cookbook. Pasta with homemade cheese sauce. Angel hair pasta with a rich alfredo cheese sauce. I thought it was really good but I don't think Abbey cared much for it. She likes the jar sauce better - it's smoother.

Bet'cha didn't know we had an interesting week weather-wise. We went from 4" of snow early in the week and finished up today in the high 70's and sunshine! We even got to experience the rare 'thunder snow.' Yep, thunder, lightning, and snow. That was different. Oh, and Trudy doesn't care much for walking in snow - not with her 2" legs!

Finally - no matter how many years I live here in the upstate - I never get used to the incredible beauty of the seasons. I may complain we don't see much of a winter, but it's still more than what I had in south Florida.

Time to go move the clocks forward (ugh!) and knit a few stitches before calling it a night. Have a great rest-of-the-weekend!