Life List #79

Knit a sweater that fits.  I've been working all summer on Tee for Too.  Finally on Saturday, I sucked it up and sewed up the sweater, which was relatively easy since the sleeves were knit into the body of the sweater.  But still, I really hate the knit-picky stuff like weaving in ends and sewing up.

So I fortified myself and got to work.

Which got me this.  Any position other than the most vertical was going set the girls free.  Call me a prude, but I like my girls under wraps.  So since a decorative crochet edge was called for, I added a few rows in the front. 

2 inches later I concluded, I could live with(in) the sweater.

Blogiversary

Whoo-hoo!  Today is my blogiversary!  (And Mother's day, Hi Mom! Hi Janie (mother-in-law)! You both rock!).  A year ago I had a domain name and an idea from my life list.  A year later, I get to mark off #93 on the life list as complete.  It has been a super busy weekend which has included the first red berries from the strawberry patch-the subject of the first blog post.  It was all very circle of life.  I'll have to break weekend activities into a couple of posts.  So watch for wise-quacks, sunburn, and sore muscles-coming soon to a blog near you (ok, it's this blog right here).

Yada, yada and then I wrote the book

Back in the summer, I mentioned to my Grandmother that I would like to write her life story.  At the time, she didn't seem too keen on the idea.  In fact, she seemed pretty set against it.  I thought I would have to employ some subterfuge and get the story on the sly.  Well, apparently she changed her mind and happened to mention to my Mom, who mentioned it to me.  We're starting this Saturday.  So tonight I sat down to get a few questions on paper (I don't want to miss anything) and I realized--this is huge.  I thought it up and started the ball rolling without thinking about what it means be in charge of someone's story.  At 91 years, it's a quite a story.  It's kinda of like my brain went "I'll write my Grandmother's life story.  Yada yada yada, and voila! The memoir is written. See?  It will be easy."  This is the same brain that likes shiny objects and yarn fumes.  There is a chance I may be in over my head (Shocking, yes?).

Weekend Update

1.  Dear Winter, We've ready whenever you are.

2.  Knit and then knit some more.  Christmas shawl is 1/2 complete.  The fact that I have less time to finish the 2nd half than I did to finish the 1st half is duly noted and ignored.

3.  Bowl.  There were four groups bowling on lanes 1-4 out of 30 lanes.  Really?  Were you afraid you'd be unable to accommodate the sudden rush of patrons at 10 am on a Sunday?  You needed to cram us into one corner of the alley?

4.  Life List # 56 -I have joined the Board of Directors for the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians.  It combines everything I love (the outdoors, crafts, and encouraging self reliance).

5.  Purchased Creepy, Cute Crochet.  I'm planning on tweaking the basic design into snowmen to use as Christmas ornaments to adorn my Christmas bakery baskets.  You'd think you could find a pre-existing pattern at this time of year, but I was unsuccessful.

Vacation eye candy

We're in New Mexico at the International Balloon Fiesta.  It is a feast for the eyes.  It was cloudy at first, so the early pictures are a bit dark, but when the sun broke through--gorgeous.

Shawn--looking alert despite the obscenely early hour (3:30 am) we had to get up to get here.

 

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Some of the balloons were a bit unusual--

We went back for the Balloon Glow tonight, but the extremely windy conditions prohibited the balloons being put up.  I tried to be disappointed but I was too tired.  

Gutter punk

I recently tacked a new addition onto the Life List that I thought sounded like a neat accomplishment.  Bowl a 300.  Well, yesterday in a attempt to deviate from our well worn life grooves, Shawn suggested we go bowling.  Perfect!  I could get a baseline reading for my goal.  Now I can't really place the last time I went bowling, sometime 6 or 7 years ago.  But I do remember I was on the low side of an average player.  I didn't suck.  So we bought a couple of games and set to it.  Shawn did pretty well.  I, um, did not.  How bad you ask?  I guttered 7 sets before I managed to knock down any pins.  I scored a 10 on the first 9 sets.  Nope, I didn't leave a 0 of that.  It was a 10.  Meanwhile 2 lanes down, a 5 year old hit 3 or 4 strikes without bumpers.  To be fair, his whole family was rocking the strikes, but still, a 5 year old.  So my choices were 1) sit there burning with the shame of my incompetence or 2) laugh because seriously, how can someone be that bad?  So I laughed (even though there was a bit of shame in there).  There was slight redemption when I started the second game off with a strike and a spare, but then I quickly returned to my gutter prone ways.  I think my total the second game was a whole 36, but over the first game, that was a 260% improvement!

Day of Updates

1.     Still reading The Bible.  I made the halfway point last week at page 828 in my Bible.  I’m trying not to be discouraged over the 828 pages remaining.

2.     Got these in the mail on Friday. 

I have funny shaped feet--not side-show funny, just unusual enough to have to order a good, supportive pair of sneakers.  Bad news?  Now I’m supposed to use them.

3.     Knitting along on current project.  Added 4 inches to the length over the weekend.  The yarn isn’t winning me over though.  It’s round like cord and has a tendency to split.  It’s also browner than it looked online.  It has a bit of stretch in it and looks ok knitted up.  All the same, I have a feeling that even with the ruffle it may not look baby enough.  Am contemplating running a light blue ribbon around the edge.

4.     Weeded the garden this weekend.  The green beans are blooming (yea!).  The corn is actually growing in its new location (yea!).  I have 4 baby squash on the vine (yea!).  There has been no rain now in over a week, and no real rain chances are in the forecast this week.  I hope we’re not heading for the same dry summer we had the last two years.  I will have to water this week as soon as I replace the hose which was sacrificed to the lawn mower last week.  Oops.

5.     Life List #92-Have a blog—So far so good on this one.  I was asking my husband how long he thought I had to maintain the blog before I could mark this one off.  He said a year.  Really?  I wasn’t going to quit any time soon, but I was thinking a month might qualify me to mark it off.  So much for (almost) instant gratification.  

Life List #41-Take a meditative retreat.

Thursday morning-Fuel up.  Purchase prerequisite Combos and Diet Coke (no cherry, *sniff).  Head out on Highway 64, which I pick up about a mile from my house.

It is perfect road trip weather.

I decide to follow Highway 64 to Hendersonville.  Though if I had known it looked like this--

and that this would go on for about 40 miles, I might have gone a different way.

But there were lots of pretty scenes out my window.

After several hours (the extended scenic route took longer than expected), I arrived at the Billy Graham Conference Center (The Cove). 

In a setting like this, it was easy to feel uplifted.  I had a perfectly lovely retreat and left feeling better in mind, body and spirit.