Grateful, Grateful, Grateful

I'm so grateful for everything you've ever given me...

November is a time for giving thanks. I guess it’s because of the Thanksgiving Holiday. It’s kind of silly if you think about it. Shouldn’t we be thankful every day? Despite that, every year I’m ‘going to’ post what I’m thankful for on a daily basis. But it seems every year I get behind from the start and manage to stay behind until well beyond the first of the new year. Still, I decided I had so many things to be thankful for that I needed to list them, mainly as a reminder to myself.

I’m a list maker. I should own a portion of the sticky note company because I have them all around my desk. Although I seldom get to the grocery store with said list, I decided I could sum it up nicely if I used the alphabet to make my record of things I’m thankful for. So…here goes!

A

Alan, apples, airplanes (when they are on time), aprons and autumn

B
Bryce, Belle, Bernie, babies, buttons, butter, beer, bottles, bubble baths and bacon

 C

Callye, Caleb, candy, cars, chairs, candles, cats, Christmas lights and carols 

 D

Dads (mine especially), dreams, and doors

E
Evan, eggs, elevators, electricity, and eyesight

 F
Family, friends, fun, fireplaces, and French fries

G
Grandkids, Grandparents, green chili, and guitars

H
Haircuts, hot water, and heaters

I
Ice (in the summer), icicles (in the winter), imaginations, and Iris

J
Judi, Jimmie, Jennivee, jelly, jam and jars,

K
Knitting, kites, kindness and kittens,

L
Lights, laughter, LSSK, and leaves

M
Moms (mine in particular!), money, mountains, and medicine

N
Napkins, nighttime, and noise

O
Oranges, online bill paying, and October

P
Pennies, pants, pajamas, pizza, pedicures, and Paypal

Q
Quilts, quiet, quality, and quarters

R
Reading glasses, Ravelry, and rocking chairs

S
Starr, sweaters, seat warmers, snowflakes and snowmen

T
Tyson, talking, Tartan, tea, teachers, and Texas!

U
umbrellas (and the chance to use them), unity, and underwear

V
Veterans, vests, and Valentines

W
Wine, WHIBSIB, water, and warmth

X
Xerox copies, x-acto knives, and eXums!

Y
Yarn, yams, yo-yo’s (fabric), yesterdays, yawns and yellow

Z
ZZZ’s, zippers, zoos and zigzags

Well, that was a little tougher than I thought it would be! And, I believed I had invented this brilliant idea but I Googled it and found tons of people had made their list this way. Regardless, however you come up with the things you are thankful for, just remember to take the time to be grateful. It makes you feel pretty good to realize all the things you have instead of focusing on the things you haven’t! 

I wanna show my gratitude, gratitude, show my gratitude to you.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Utah this year. It was a very long trip and I got a lot of road-knitting in! I had two GIGANTIC scarves to make for a couple of my son’s friends and completed one and like only a couple of inches on finished the other. 

I’m finishing up some surprise gifts too. It’s going to be here before we know it! Be pleased that you’re here to enjoy. 

Gossamer Infinity Scarf

Rainbow ruffle

Dropstitch cowl

I wanna show my gratitude, gratitude.

I wanna show my gratitude,show my 

Yeah, my gratitud...

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

If it's the last thing we ever do…

Do you ever feel like you just have to get away? Not from anything specific, not from anyone specific and sometimes not even from anywhere specific…but you just have to get away? It’s one of those times.

I was told once by a supervisor that I’d do anything to avoid conflict. Well, that’s sort of true. Actually conflict can make me want to retreat. I put up with a lot at work, in personal relationships and just in general. But the older I get the less inhibitive I’ve become and I don’t practice restraint as well as I used to.

Sometimes general confusion makes me want to take flight. Take dealing with the dog for instance. Junior is the new star of the family. He doesn’t do much wrong, unless, of course, it’s just me and him. He’s a six month old Rottweiler and all in all isn’t a bad dog for a puppy. But it’s like he can read my mind and knows just what buttons to push. He has an inner sense, much like a child to a mother, knowing the minute you sit down and become comfortable. Immediately, he needs something. He may snitch something he’s not supposed to have. He may scratch at the door because he needs out. He may get a drink of water then bring the water dish over because he drank it all. He might even put his bone under the ottoman and then try to squeeze in between me in the chair and the ottoman to get it out. It’s almost like he thinks of things to annoy me and make me get up.


Put Junior and two dear grands together and it really is just a ball of confusion. Oldest DGS (E) had to have an operation so Mamye (me) stayed with the other two, C and B. C is a little boy, three and B is a little girl, two. We had a great time but Junior is a little boy too and he doesn’t realize how big he is and that he’s rough so there was a lot of “Stop Junior!”, “No Junior!”, and “Quit Junior!” Mamye, Junior bite me, Mamye, Junior has my doll, Mamye, make Junior stop. Finally it was time for bed. With IceAge on tv, we settled in. Junior wanted up there with us but there wasn’t room. All was well until around 3:45 a.m. when youngest DS calls. When you are old, you always answer the phone if it rings late at night because who knows what might have happened. He acted like it was the middle of the day and chatted away. Since I was up I thought Junior might need to go outside. He wouldn’t. So I think all is well and just when I get settled I hear a noise.






It’s funny the noises a mother can identify. You can tell when a baby cries if it’s a hungry cry or a wet diaper cry or an I’m going to be sick cry. You can hear things when the kids aren’t making any noise and when they are making too much noise. So I hear Junior start to pee on the carpet. I sprung from the bed to see what was the matter and startled him and rushed him outside. But I’m not a morning person and for sure not a middle of the night person so I was a bit disgruntled. It was 4:30 in the morning so I figured he could just stay out.

We slept on til around 10:00 when DD called to say all went well with E and his surgery. The kids were still sleeping but I got up and thought I’d better check on Junior. He wasn’t there. I called. He didn’t come. I went to the front and called. He still didn’t come. I was working myself into a panic.

Junior is my DH’s best friend. In fact there are times I’m certain he likes Junior a lot better than me. I was thinking I was going to have to move if I didn’t find that dog. I called my DD. This one time I was thankful for a small town. She called her friend whose mother was friends with the dog catcher who happened to pick up Junior. $25.00 later he was back, not one bit sorry, but at least I didn’t lose the dog.

On the knitayear project for Thursday, a blue yarn with pieces of ribbon, yellow and pink, coming out of it was knitted in. I was feeling a bit frazzled and this yarn was a good representation of frazzled! Friday, the lost dog day, was a silk sari. It’s a dark maroon with some turquoise and green and red spun in to make a jewel like color. The day started kind of dark for me. I was a bit distraught when I couldn’t find Junior. But it turned out okay and the bright spots of turquoise and green signify that it was a good day after all. Saturday is pink and seed stitch. It was a great day. There’s nothing like hearing “I love you so much Mamye!” and having a little warm body or two or three climb in your lap. The seed stitch shows how the family is woven together thorough generations. It’s a day like this that I know I am in good place. But when the confusion and stress hit again I’ll be thinking…


We gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do.
We gotta get out of this place. Girl, there's a better life for me and you.

Life Has Its Little Ups And Downs

And I guess it always will. If it didn’t I suppose you’d be dead and wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore! Saturday DD and the three DGKs came over. I had hoped they’d make it early but it was after 5. I think this is the first time they have ever come over to spend the night except for a holiday. I wish it would happen more often. The kids make me smile. Sometimes they are the only thing that can make me smile. Their sweetness and innocence and unconditional love are refreshing. And their honesty is so genuine. Not to say they can’t come up with some tall tales! But they aren’t lies like grownups tell but products of their glowing imaginations. The stories and the make believe, the obsessions with dinosaurs and baby dolls and little action figures are all being knitted together to form the fabric of their personalities. It’s going to be interesting to see what comes out.

We had a great comfort food dinner, finally, pretty late that evening. At least the kids enjoyed it. Roast, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and macaroni and cheese. And more gravy! The gravy seemed to be a hit. Kids after my own heart! But eating so late seemed to give them a second burst of energy! It was wild for two or three more hours! Junior, the five month Rottweiler puppy doesn’t quite know how to take them. He likes them, you can tell. But he wants to play and he’s big and doesn’t know it and can get a little rough for them. He loves to snatch their things and have them run after him yelling No! Junior! Stop! He snitched a ‘pacifur’ and instead of tearing it up like we expected him to try to do he just sat with it in his mouth like he’d seen baby girl do. It was hilarious! But he wouldn’t stay still long enough for a picture. I guess he was afraid it might spoil his bad dog image!

Sunday after a few hours of getting rounded up, feeding the chickens, gathering the eggs, donuts, coffee (1/4 coffee, ¾ steamed milk with Splenda), bacon and sausage, (the sausage was hot and it was funny to hear the middle one explain that it had ‘cheelay’!), we headed to their house with food and Easter eggs and had a great time. Barbeque, relaxing, family, egg hunts, playing…a good day.

Knitting…I had to take out about 2 ½ inches of my Landscape scarf. It was sad! The marker slipped through a YO and instead of counting like I usually do I trusted the markers. So the holes were off one stitch. Would anyone notice? Probably not. But I did! So ripped it was.



And the Knit a year project is still going. Saturday had some ups and downs. Just stuff. So I picked a bumpy yarn. I think it might be LB Homespun. It has some beige and some green, and pink to remind me I can’t always be looking through my rose colored glasses! Sunday I found a variegated sock yarn that was Easter colors. Happy and egg memories.


And I’ll keep in mind...

Life has its little ups and downs, like ponies on a merry-go-round. And no one grabs the brass ring every time.