The Small And Wonderful Things

I beat the beast. The beast was the scarf I was making for my mom for Christmas. I had been working on it for about two months. The detail, counting, and the smaller needles I was using, caused it to take a lot longer than I had anticipated and the week before Christmas had me in a panic trying to get it done. Being discouraged with slow progress had me putting it down at times to work on other quicker projects.

Then, my thought was I would make hats to match the scarves I made for each of my parents. My problem is that I knit very tight and haven't gotten accustomed yet to checking my gauge. So these hats are probably going to be gifts for kids because they are so small. My second attempt at each hat was much better. Here are the folks with their gifts.

Pops loved his set. He was elated that it was hand made by me.

Mom got a kick out of the fact that there were tiny pieces of animal hair. So the animals also contributed.

Christmas was very nice and relaxing at my parents house. I did feel bad though that they had way more for me than I had for them. It's hard to show your parents how much you love them, how much they mean to you, and how thankful you are for all they've done for you. But I have a feeling I gave them a little taste of that when they saw their gifts were handmade with love and a lot of time was put into them.

There was a very cute and funny moment that started off as a little irritating for me. I had put another present for my mom in the same box as as the scarf hat set. As soon as she saw the gift, she started laughing and getting excited more about that then the set. I started feeling offended that she appreciated the store bought item more than all my hard work. Well, at the end turns out she was so caught up on that because she had gotten me the same exact thing.

Like Mother...

...Like Daughter

Things You Learn From Losing Power In An Ice Storm

1) Your fish may die, or just freeze to the point that they're listless and you think they're dead.
2) Don't throw your fish out until you're sure they're dead. They don't like to be flushed when they're still alive.
3) Don't go grocery shopping the day before a storm, or leave the groceries in the yard so they don't go bad.
4) Grocery shop when the power comes back on or you'll starve since all your food went bad.
4) Two cats and a dog in the car are a bad combination if you have a headache.
5) Disconnect you're alarm or it will go off at weird hours when the power finally comes back.
6) You're house gets cold.
7) Putting a robe on, then donning a blanket doesn't make you move any faster when you're freezing.
8) When it's cold, you have to pee more.
9) Even though you use heating oil, that doesn't mean your furnace works.
10) Carbon monoxide detectors make a hideous sound when the battery is low.
11) An emergency flashlight that goes on when the power goes out will not last the night.
12) Don't pack in the dark.
13) You will forget to reset your timed lights.
14) Two cats and a dog with you at your parents house doesn't make for on time departures for work.
15) Two cats and a dog like to play games in the morning when you're running late for work.
16) An anti-social, highly neurotic cat will not come to you when you try to put them in their box.
17) That strange, guttural cry for "Mom" is your cat being in a strange place wanting to go home.
18) A twin bed is smaller that you remember it.
19) When the dog has the foot of the bed, and the cats have the pillow, the only part of a twin bed that's yours is the edge.
20) It's easy to fall out of a bed.
21) A hot house and an old dog who's bladder has shrunk is a bad, bad thing.
22) No matter how anyone else feels, if your dad is cold, then the heat will be turned up to 90.
23) When you finally get back home, nothing feels as good as being in your own bed and crowded out by two cats and a dog who want to get under the covers with you.

For Always

Tuesday started off fine. I was enjoying the day and the tunes in my car when I turned onto my street and it hit me. I was coming home, alone, to an empty house. I live alone because my husband is dead. The flood gates opened and the tidal wave of emotions came rushing in.

So my Wednesday started off bad. I wasn't interested in the lunch conversation with the girls at work, I hated being at work and trudged on through my tasks. But then I got a voicemail that cheered me up and made me sick to my stomach all in the same breath.

The monument company called to let me know that Jake's headstone had been placed. He didn't go all this time with an unmarked grave (I had a military marker placed at his feet) and some might think that this would be another depressing sign that he was gone. However, in my case it is a symbol of good that has come out of almost a year and a half of mourning, especially considering all the drama that was centered around this headstone - which I will not go into now.

This time of year now brings out the sadness in my life and this gift came at a time when I need it. Although I have come a long way from the darkness that was last year's holiday season, and to most I might appear to have a great deal of strength, I still have my moments of emotional breakdown where I wish this was all a horrible nightmare. So I look at this as a beautiful gift to my husband and a way to keep a piece of him around. I kept my promise to him and I hope he appreciates all the love that went into it.

The back - Jake's guitar, his hockey puck from his favorite team and Arlo.

Arlo will forever be with his daddy.

Sick, Sick, Sick

I am so tired of being sick its ridiculous. I have been sick three times in as many months. My saving grace this time is that I had already requested the time off from work.

Did I foresee the future and know that this week would be the week my nose would open like a faucet? Is it possible that I knew pressure would form over the bridge of my nose and shoot through my head exploding like buckshot embedding itself into the base of my skull? Perhaps I anticipated the phlegm lodging itself in my throat, causing me to choke with every breath I try to make. Maybe I believed this would be when the aches in my back would flare up.

No. The planner that I like to be actually anticipated being productive. Having not done anything for Christmas, and avoiding Black Friday like the plague, I planned on being off from work so that I could get some shopping done. With the exception of a few scarves that I have knitted, I have no idea what I am going to get anyone for the holiday. I would love to already have the shopping done by October, but funds would not allow that this year.

But low and behold, I am in bed. I'm not even in my own bed - well sort of. I had brought Arlo with me to my parents' house for Thanksgiving and left Baby Kitty and Mr. Anti-Social at home, checking on them once during the weekend. Then there was my Lil Cuz (teenage daughter of the cousin that was in the horrible car accident) visiting for the weekend, Craft Night on Monday, and having so much to pack up in order to get back home that sickness has found me in my old daybed, in a room that is a hodgepodge of what was once me and what is now office functionality for the folks.

I like to blame my current illness of Pretty Girl who I work with and who was sick with the flu last week. She came in to work on Monday, sounding like crap and really should probably have stayed home. The tickle in my throat and runny nose started that night while at Craft Night. However, I truely have a few people to blame. There are three people at work who are sick, includind Pretty Girl. Then my aunt was sick when she brough Lil Cuz over for the weekend, and when I made the trip to bring Lil Cuz back.

So although I want to be shopping or knitting, my pounding headache wants me to rest my head on a pillow. The throbbing over my eyes wants me to sleep. But my mind wants me to be active.