A Permanent Fix to a Temporary Problem.

I had a whole mess of double-first cousins (Mother's brother married Father's sister) who grew up basically across the street from us.  My cousin Tim was a riot -- always the life of every party.  He always could be counted on to have a new joke or a funny story.  He was my mother's favorite, probably because he had such good comedic timing.  I admired him greatly.  When I was growing up I wanted to be like him.  He went on to be elected Mayor of my hometown.

This morning, in the midst of apparent financial problems, he committed suicide.

And there just aren't words.

Tomorrow.

Rest assured, this isn't an Annie revival.

I have been very good.  I let them stick needles in my wrist.  I've kept the flipping brace on 24/7 (except in the bathroom and when washing dishes).  It doesn't HURT as much as before, but the pain has been replaced by a loud clicking, uncomfortable grinding, and I do not think I will put up a fuss when he says we should set the date for surgery.  Your wrist should not remind you of a rake being dragged across a feckin' blackboard.

I see the surgeon tomorrow.  I am nervous.  I am a big baby, I know.  I think an exacerbating factor is that any other time I've been sick or broken, I have used knitting to keep my head in the game and speed healing.  Without knitting to hold my attention I have more time to spend worrying.

I have a beautiful skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in Periwinkle.  Enough for a shawl.  I figure when this is all over I will have to knit something special with it.  It's good to have a treat.

My Aunt Nan died Saturday morning at around 1:30.  She was 95.  She was out playing cards at my cousin CarolAnn's house -- cards being one of her favorite pastimes -- and she suffered a fatal heart attach.  Anyone's passing is sad, but it is also sort of beautiful that she died doing something she enjoyed tremendously, surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back.  Not bad.

My Aunt Nan had only one arm -- she had lost the other as a small child following an accident.  A vivid childhood memory of mine is sassing her a little and saying to her, "Well, it isn't like you could spank me with only one arm!"  Faster than lightning she grabbed hold of me, swung me around, and, just inches from my face said in the least-joking voice I ever hear her use, "Oh, yeah?  Is that what you think?  Just try me, Buster.  I'll have you over my knee and give your hind end a whoopin' you'll never forget before you even know which end is up."  And I could tell that she meant what she said and I never messed with Aunt Nan.  Lesson learned.

Oh, did I mention that, in addition to cards, she also was an avid bowler?

I won't be going to the funeral -- I have too much riding on this appointment with the  surgeon tomorrow.  I feel bad about not going.  But I also know that if I don't get this done before December 31st, it is going to cost me an additional $2600.00.  And Aunt Nan, ever frugal, would probably sit up in her casket to call me seven kinds of stupid if I canceled the appointment.

Over. Done. He's a Man Now. Whew!

Things went very smoothly, Norbert did an exceptional job. He chanted beautifully -- his voice only cracking 13 times. (I didn't count -- two 16 year old girls did!) But nothing phased him. He didn't even pause. He just kept chanting with precision.

Dinner and services on Friday were spectacular, and the luncheon after the bar mitzvah was well attended and we didn't run out of food. (Always a worry of mine.)

Sunday's boy/girl party went well -- the kids had fun, and that really was the whole point of the party.

There are no pictures from Friday or Saturday -- our synagogue considers cameras (as well as any electronic devices) to be prohibited on the Sabbath. Today we got Norbert to put on his bar mitzvah clothes, ride over to the synagogue, and let us take a few pictures.

He's a good boy.

We are tired, but pleased. It was a lot of work, but we love the kid, and that made it a lot easier. The friends who came to our aid -- cooking, setting tables, delivering things -- touched our hearts in a way I can't describe.

Tonight I pick up the knitting and get cracking! But probably won't get too much in. I'm going to have to turn in early -- tomorrow we are all back to work, and I'm plenty tired still.

You Never Forget Your First Time

Myfanwe, Norbert and I enjoyed our first visit to Shell Cottage. We did a little rearranging, a little cleaning, a little cooking, and a LOT of lounging. (Lounging being a family favorite!) We were at the cottage from Thursday the 31st until early this afternoon, so we celebrated our first New Years Eve, our first Shabbat, and my 46th birthday boom! boom! boom!

We also enjoyed the 18 inches of snow we received over the long weekend!


We found a veritable treasure trove of furniture in the basement! You may note that the only items of substance in the picture below that were NOT left behind by the previous owner are the lamp, the rocking chair, and Mitzi, the dog!


This cabinet, in particular, made Myfanwe very happy. It doesn't have any interior shelves, although it clearly had them at one time, so I am going to have shelving cut to size.

This six-sided table was my favorite piece left behind. I love the claw feet and the Greek key motif. I'm not terribly big on the silk flowers, but they add visual interest until we are able to replace them with a lamp.


See this tree? I own this tree! I have absolutely no idea what kind of tree it is, but I believe it is from the genus mine mine mine mine mine!

I don't own this tree -- at least not directly. It is in Dewey Cannon Park in Three Oaks, Michigan, just a couple blocks from Shell Cottage. In the summer there are band concerts in the band shell every Saturday night.

This is the Dewey Cannon.


After a couple of nights of (restlessly) sleeping on the air mattresses, Myfanwe wanted to make sure this was not a long-term arrangement. So we went to a mattress outlet in Michigan City and ordered three beds -- all very high quality -- a twin for Norbert, a surprisingly comfortable futon sofa for the loft/guest room, and a queen size for us. We wanted a king, but realized that it would a) be too big for the room, and b) that a king mattress would never fit up the tight little stairway. A queen mattress can be bent enough to get up, but not so a king. We then realized that a queen box spring wouldn't make it up, either, so we bought a split box spring. They all will be delivered next weekend! We weren't going to buy beds so quickly, but I'm glad we did. Now we can have people come to stay.

It just hit me that, since we have a king size and a twin at home, we have now have a queen size bed and a full size bed in Michigan and do not own a single set of queen or full sheets! Oh, well. If people want to come, they can bring their own sheets!

MORE EXCITEMENT!

Today I spoke with my cousin Katie who lives in Piney Flats, Tennessee. She is going to be coming up to the Chicago area to help her parents pack up and move house to be nearer their other daughter near South Bend, Indiana/Notre Dame University.

Katie is one of my favorite cousins. She's so good and kind and gentle. She looks a lot like our cousin, Sister Clemente, who is also good and kind and gentle.

When Katie comes up, she is going to bring me a present. A spectacular, heartbreaking, wonderful present. She is bringing me a set of china which had been my grandmother's which, when Katie got married, my grandmother gave to her. It is beautiful china. I plan to take it to Shell Cottage and make it our Shabbat china. I can't wait.

Calling Out to My Seattle Peeps.

I have a lovely niece -- for the purposes of the blog, I think I will call her Newsie -- who is currently a graduate student in Museology at the University of Washington. She is intelligent, articulate, hardworking, thorough, and trustworthy young woman. (She's also funny, talented, clever, mischievous, and cute!) She moved to Seattle in August for school and is still looking for a part-time job. She has experience in a law office setting, a pharmacy, box office, and hospitality (culinary) industry.

If you hear of any openings, could you please forward the postings to me? I'd appreciate it!

I CRIED, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY

I grafted the hem on the Lace Dream shawl on Saturday evening, and I blocked it this evening. It is prettier than I imagined -- even with my wanting skills and poor blocking.



I knit this shawl for my dear friend, the Principessa Maxine de Rumball-St. George. Maxine spent the greater part of this year very ill, and I was very worried about her and felt very impotent, being far away from her. I knit this shawl as a vehicle for focusing prayers for her health and well being. I wanted something really spectacular for her. As I neared the end of the shawl I received word that the Principessa's health was, finally, making improvements and that she had passed the first, most important milestone on her way to a full recovery.


I don't know if it was seeing the pattern finally revealed and realizing that it was even more than I imagined, or if it was a sense of relief and gratitude for the Principessa Maxine's recovery; whatever the reason, I was moved to tears.

I couldn't wait to show it to you. It may well be the most beautiful thing I've ever made. I still can't believe I could make something so beautiful. Tomorrow morning it will be off the wires and I will take more pictures. I will probably be working a great number of hours between now and Friday -- when we leave for the de Rumball-St. George's -- so I may not get to post more until after the weekend.

CAN YOU CHECK YOUR MAGAZINE RACK?

Or check in the stack by the commode? I am looking for the Yarn Magazine Issue 6, April 2007. I went to the magazine's website, and although they have most back issues available for sale, guess which one they DON'T have!

Why, you may ask, do I want this issue so badly? Here. A picture is worth a thousand words.


This is the Cathedral Windows Shawl. And I want to knit it. I have a cousin who is a Sinsinawa Dominican, and I would like to knit it for her or -- because she is not the greedy type and might well give it to one of her Sisters -- for a member of her community. I knit a shawl for Cousin Margie a couple of years ago, and when she was here for dinner a couple of weeks ago she mentioned how much she loves it. I think the Sisters will like this one, too.

So if you happen to have Yarn Magazine, Issue 6, April 2007 in your collection and would contemplate parting with it, I would be more than happy to purchase it from you. You would be doing a mitzvah!

(p.s. I borrowed the image from a Ravelry project. Do you think it would be wrong or bad or rude to e-mail the people who have knit the project to see if they would be willing to sell their copy? I feel a little uncomfortable. I'm kinda shy.)

I FEEL A KNIT COMING ON

Friday we left Chicago at Noon and drove to my hometown of Springfield. My brother and his family are very involved in community theater in Springfield, and we like to go down whenever there is a "family" production.

This year the show was "A Secret Garden". My SIL, Laurie, directed. My niece, Lilly -- Sean's wife -- designed the sets. Dennis was responsible for construction, but was held back a little by that whole open-heart-surgery thing. (It was noted in the program that he took a whopping 5 days off from set construction to have his valve replaced.) Dennis and Laurie's youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was a dead woman in the show (and sang the part beautifully) and their youngest son, Conor, built sets and ran crew. Lilly's brother added to the familial aspect of the show by coming up from St. Louis and spending a week or so working on the sets.

Saturday we had a mini-reunion over brunch at Cracker Barrel. Dennis, Laurie, and Betsy joined us, as did my cousin, Carol Ann, her husband, Jerry, and their daughter, Kathleen. (Kathleen has the prettiest teeth. You can't see them in this picture, but they are really, really perfect.)

(l to r, seated -- Laurie, Norbert; standing -- Kathleen, CarolAnn, Jerry, Betsy, Me, & Dennis)

Saturday afternoon we drove to Peoria, where Norbert had the chance to see his grandparents -- he was at camp during the 25th Anniversary wingding. I got a speeding ticket between Springfield and Peoria. The ride home was uneventful, save for the fact that I had a migraine the whole way.

I have decided that I must, must, must pick up some knitting. So I am going to finish the Swallowtail Shawl. Tomorrow I will rip back the two rows that seem to be in error and put them to right. Then I will knit at least 4 rows a day until it is done. (Although if the nupps give me trouble, I may revise that number down to two.)

Please keep me to this schedule, will you? I'd like to finish it so that I can cast on a Lilly of the Valley Smoke Ring. But I can't do that until the Swallowtail is completely off the needles.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY!

I'm sorry I haven't posted. The last month has been a bit busy. The highlights:

• The kitchen was completed. Unpacked. Broken in. Loved.


• Norbert went to camp for 4 weeks. Leaving the Lovely Myfanwe and I to our own devises. 'Nuff said.


• One weekend we went to a campground between Topeka, Illinois and Havana, Illinois, where my MIL and FIL marked their 25th wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows. I spend the weekend wishing I was dead.


• The Lovely Myfanwe and I did have this smashing picture taken at the reception, though.

• Dennis is doing quite well. He actually took 5 days off after his open heart surgery before going to work and resuming set-building for a musical his wife is directing at their (really impressive) community theater. He is nuttier 'n squirrel poo if you ask me.

Now, for the Bhutan Death March Schedule:

• Norbert's trombone teacher, our friend Libonia, and her partner, Lelani, were married in San Francisco two weeks ago, and to kick off what shall prove to be very festive nuptial celebrations back home, we hosted a wedding shower, complete with a Moroccan feast, in our home last Saturday.
• Cooking in the new kitchen was such a joy. My dear friend, Gale, and I both took Friday off, and we spent the day chopping and cooking. Cleanup was also almost painless. We laid off around 3:00 in the afternoon in great shape.
• After Gale left, I jumped into the shower, dressed respectably, then hied myself up to the law firm of Weare, Stuffier & Smugg for their cocktail hour. Myfanwe was speaking to summer associates at Stuffier, and my friend Nancy is a first year associate there. We all enjoyed their admirable cheese trays. This place plunks down the big bucks...someone on their hospitality staff really knows their cheese.
• Anyway, from there, Nancy, Ben, Myfanwe and I rushed top meet our Rabbi -- the one who just left our former congregation -- and his family for dinner before attending a service he was leading at a congregation nearby that is looking for a Rabbi. We enjoyed the services quite a bit. (And I REALLY enjoyed the oneg afterwards, where they served the most delicious florentines I've ever had the pleasure of eating.)
• After services and the oneg we walked the 2 miles to where I park the car...I have monthly parking, so why pay an extra $30? It was a lovely night, and Myfanwe, Ben, Nancy & I had a lovely walk. By the time Myfanwe and I tumbled into bed, it was almost midnight.
• Saturday morning came quickly, and I fell out of bed and into my preparations for the evening's festivities. The next thing I know, it was 5 o'clock and the first people arrive. I know something happened between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., but it's really all a blur.
• Everything went well, the house looked lovely, the food was spectacular. The last person left, we emptied the dishwasher and loaded it again (I don't use paper or plastic -- china and crystal all the way) and threw in a load of table linens into the washer. Then we dropped into bed around midnight.
• 6 o'clock the next morning came quickly. We tumbled excitedly out of bed, emptied the dishwasher, loaded it for the final time, then jumped into the car for the drive to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where we picked up the happy and joyful Norbert from camp. It sure was good to see him! He was really missed.
• The ride home was filled with traffic snags and a quick stop for a few groceries which ended in a 20 minute wait at the checkout line. We walked into the house 5 minutes before my nephew Sean and his wife Lilly arrived, along with Nancy and Ben, for a Welcome Home dinner (leftovers!) for Norbert and the presentation of Norbert's Thank-You-For-Being-Such-a-Great-Sport-During-Remodeling present...a Wii! (Norbert was, after all, the most discomforted by the remodel, sleeping in the living room and all.)
• Luckily, Sean is well-practiced in Wii installation, and he got it up and running. It really is great fun. Norbert is having a great time with it. Myfanwe and I tumbled into bed a bit later than normal for a school night -- 11 o'clock -- and from there, the next week began.
• I could use a good night's sleep. I'm not likely to get one any time soon.

Our vacation this summer is going to be a trip to Boston. We will be staying in Beacon Hill, and are looking forward to all the sights and tastes the city has to offer. THe city has 2 long bike ways, and I was really excited about riding the 11 mile Minuteman Bike Way, which is only for bikes and has on and off ramps and such, and follows the route taken by Paul Revere. But alas, I looked into renting a tandem bike for the ride...Norbert isn't comfortable riding his own bike, for some reason...and the only place that rents tandem bikes wants $100 a day! Can you believe it? So we'll do something else. That's just ridiculous.

OK. So I've caught everyone up. I'm going to be busy at work the next 10 days, with a lot of overtime, so don't be surprised if I go a while without posting!

Even Quicker Update

• Dennis is OUT OF THE HOSPITAL! Prayers are answered, Thank you. He feels great (wierdo) and says that the only pain from the surgery is where they cut his sternum to spread open his chest. And he says THAT only hurts when he laughs! Are you ready for this? The dumbass went in to the office for an hour "or so" TODAY! I swear, that boy is a special kind of stupid. (But I love my big brother and wish the moron only the very best!)

• Norbert and Myfanwe took me out for lunch on Fathers' Day. Here is a pic the lovely Myfanwe snapped as we were on our way out the door.
  

• Speaking of the lovely Myfanwe, she and Norbert posed for a lovely picture at brunch.

• 

Speaking of pictures, Norbert had his picture taken with The Mayor.


Today we took Norbert and his friend, No Pie, to camp. Norbert will be gone for four weeks. I miss him all ready. Here is his annual "Posin' with The Pie" picture.

ohmydogi'msoexcited

The counters are being installed as I write. It smells like airplane glue...it's like being in high school ... Anyway, I've had a little glimpse, and the counters are prettier than I imagined.

AND Ron, the Greatest Carpenter In All the World, is currently making the pantry shelving. Shelving which will incorporate THIS:

More pictures will come as soon as people clear out. Ron, aforementioned Greatest Carpenter in All the World, gave me 2 AA batteries so that I could resume my photo documentation of this project. Dog bless him.

Dennis is in surgery as I write. I'm worried, but every time I start to worry, I try to take a moment and just say a prayer. It is scary.

Gratitude.

On Sunday, Myfanwe, Norbert and I participated in delivering Passover food boxes to poor, elderly Jews living in Uptown. Participants were drawn from the membership of the neighborhood Jewish Community Center, but all of the families that participated were families from Norbert's school.

There were a couple of humorous moments -- like when the desk clerk explained why Mrs. Horowitz didn't answer her door. Apparently she was at church. I wanted to say "With a name like Horowitz?", but before I could, the clerk added, "They have a nice snack after."

There were also some serious, thought provoking moments. Norbert was off with one of his classmates and her mom delivering boxes, so Myfanwe and i struck off on our own. We were delivering to separate apartments on the same floor. I knocked on a door and Mr. Geflotzenplotzer* asked from behind the closed door who it was. I explained who I was, and, after a pause, he timidly opened the door. He was a thin, frail old man wearing only urine-soaked underwear, sitting in a wheelchair.

I asked him if he would like me to unpack the box for him, which I did. He was very happy for the jar of gefelte fish and the horseradish. He likes horseradish. I put the chicken in the freezer, put the produce in the crisper, and stacked the boxes of matzah and the cans where he could reach them. He then apologized for his appearance, explaining that he didn't have anyone to help him get cleaned up and dressed on Sundays.

Without skipping a beat, and in a very matter-of-fact way, I asked if I could help him get cleaned up and dressed. He paused, but not for long, and accepted. I explained to him that my father had had numerous strokes and that for the last 12 years of his life he had been paralyzed on his right side and restricted to a wheelchair. I was confidant I could help him.

As he leaned his old, frail body against my younger, more hail frame something inside me changed. I can't really explain what it was or how I changed, I just know I did. The only thing worse than having to help a stranger off with his urine-soaked underpants is knowing that he had been sitting in them, possibly for hours, without anyone else to ask. As difficult or embarrassing as it might be to find yourself with a naked stranger leaning against you, think how embarrassing it was for him.

After Mr. Geflotzenplotzer was cleaned up and dressed, he thanked me. And I very sincerely told him that no thanks were necessary. And I made it all the way outside his apartment before I started to cry.

*Not his real name.

Little Bird's Debut

She's the most beautiful little puffin ever to walk the face of the earth.

Below is a picture of our first meeting...notice the very sharp hat I'd just picked up on Delmar. When this picture was being taken I believe I was saying, "Hello, Little Bird. I'm your Uncle Aidan. You and I are going to be best friends. You are going to tell me all kinds of wild stories and I am going to take you shoe shopping and for spa days and facials and to get you eyebrows threaded. You will be the only girl in grade school with Mac cosmetics or Manolos." She cooed.

A fella could get used to this...
Here I am singing to her. I decided to start with songs of the Irish Resistance, 1800 to 1900...from Bold Robert Emmet to the Bold Fenian Men. And I threw in a few family drinking songs, just for good measure. Proud mom Maxine is on the left and Norbert looks on from the right.


I have to wait a full three weeks before I get to hold her again. Life is not fair.

I MADE IT!

The entire week. No gossip. None. I even turned off the network news when they started stories I decided did not meet my journalistic standards. I haven't a clue what is going on, and, what's more, I'm ok with that.

MY WEEKEND

Myfanwe, Norber and I went to St. Louis on Friday for the baby naming of Little Bird*, the new daughter of George and Maxine. (You may recall me writing about the baby shower in December.)

George and Maxine were delivered of a spectacular little girl on January 27th, and she was given her name, Little Bird, yesterday morning. I don't know when I've had so much fun. I love George and Maxine so much, I love who they are together, and I've always believed that the world was a better place because they found each other. Now that I've seen my beloved Little Bird, that belief is validated.

No pictures -- I have to say that the minute I held her for the first time my brain turned completely to jelly and I not only forgot how to opperate a camera, i forgot I owned one. All I wanted to do was to hold her and sing to her and rock her and eat her up.

While we were in St. Louis we had some spectacular meals. We ate Friday night at Mekong on Grand -- a quirky Vietnamese restaurant that made a spectacular bowl of pho. I was having a special bowl with slices of bbq pork, shrimp and crab. First taste? Eeh. It was ok. Good. Very good, in fact. But nothing to blog home about. I asked for a little drizzle of chili oil, which transformed an acceptable dish to a sublime dish! Myfanwe and I loved the food so much, we ordered (and ate) another entree -- a bowl of noodles, grilled chicken, and other yummies topped with the best fish sauce I've ever eaten. (Note: We don't diet from sundown on Friday night to Sundown on Saturday. So we weren't cheating on our diets.)

Saturday lunch we ate at Thai Pizza in the Delmar Loop neighborhood. Thai Pizza sounds incongruous, but was a terrific meal. I wanna go back. Myfanwe wants to sell our home and use the cash to open a Thai Pizza in Chicago. I'm not going to say more about the food -- mostly because I AM dieting today and I'm hungry -- but if you are ever in St. Louis, eat there.

I am having baby withdrawl today, so I think i should start planning our next visit to St. louis to see my Little Bird!

*Names of minors are changed to protect the privacy of the innocent. Names of adults are often changed to protect their privacy or to ensure I'm not violating any restaining orders!

MISH MOSH

There used to be a restaurant at Clark and Belden called Max's Deli. It had some pretty good food, as I recall, and little buckets of half-sours on the table. Money was tight in those days, but Myfanwe and I managed to eat out once a week, and Max's was usually our restaurant of choice.

One of the reasons we liked Max's was they served a pretty incredible bowl of chicken soup they called Mish Mosh. It was a huge bowl of well-made chicken soup with a matzah ball, a kreplach, fine egg noodles, rice, and kasha. It cost $6.95, came with a generous bread basket, and was enough to keep a person satisfied for many hours.

The only reason I'm telling you about this is that this post is going to be a mish mosh; a little beit of everything, mixed together.

1967

I've been doing a little work in my spare time on organizing my family tree and going through pictures. This photo is from a family reunion in 1967. I was three years old. That's me, fourth from the right in the front row. My mom is in the fourth row from the front (I think -- it's hard to count the rows in this picture) and fourth from the left. She's the one in glasses looking off to the side. My father is two rows back -- separated by my Uncle Joe, my Aunt Nan's husband. This is only significant in that, when this photo was taken, my parents' marriage was literally crumbling. My mom moved out within weeks.

My parents had me as a last-ditch effort to save their marriage. (What -- they couldn't tell from the first four kids that number five wasn't going to be able to save them?) Anyway, when this photo was taken, I was failing at my reason for living.

There are very few pictures in existence wherein the three of us appear together. And even where we appear in the same photo, there is a distance between us. Hmm. Go figure.

ON THE NEEDLES

I am still stuck on the Swallowtail Shawl. It's psychological at this point. I just can't pick it up and rip back the last two rows. I just can't do it.

Though I may have stumbled upon the proper incentive while perusing Ravelry.

I just downloaded the pattern for Evelyn Clark's Labyrinth Lace Shawl. The pattern was $11.99, but well worth it -- it's 25 pages long! Every row is written out and charted!

I haven't decided if I should make it in my extra cone of gray silk from ColourMart or in the olive cashmere -- also from ColourMart -- that I am frogging and starting over. The two fibers both have great things going for them...the silk is amazingly drapey, and the cashmere is as soft as a baby's bottom. So choosing is going to be difficult. But one thing is for certain -- I am not going to do anything with it until I have ripped back the two erroneous rows on the Swallowtail. As Mrs. Slocombe used to say, "I am unanimous in that!"

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

If you are a regular reader of the blog, you already know that Myfanwe is a legal aid attorney who represents only HIV+ persons who are also very, very poor. It is a thankless job, but Myfanwe and her staff are tireless and they make a difference in the lives of their clients.

Myfanwe has been asked to present at a national conference of HIV/AIDS legal advocates in March in Baltimore, MD. Normally this would elicit a big "Whoo Hoo!" from me, but it instead presents us with difficult decisions.

Let me start at the beginning. Myfanwe is a legal aid attorney. I am a paralegal. Neither of us makes a kabillion dollars. So we budget. Everything. When Norbert was born, we opened a mutual fund account as a savings mechanism for vacations. Every month $100 is deposited into the account automatically. That way, every other year we have money saved for a decent vacation...and the off years we spend our summer family vacation at a friend's house in Michigan.

Myfanwe's office -- thanks to Congress and the buttf*&^ing President -- is having to make some difficult financial decisions, seeing as how said Congress only gave them a half a percent budget increase...after years of zero percent budget increases. So all of the secretaries are being layed off. And the travel line item has been zeroed out for the year.

So -- this is nice vacation year. We had talked about going to Montreal or Toronto. (I would LOVE to make the Harlot Pilgrimage...you know...go to Lettuce Knits, the pubs she mentions, ride the streetcar, view the incredible fleece-thieving squirrels in their native environment, etc.) And Montreal would be like taking Norbert to France without having to sell him once we got there due to the weak dollar.

So the difficult decision was Montreal or Toronto. But, given the office budget, we have decided Myfanwe should go to Baltimore in March on our dime. So the difficult decision now is, do Norbert and I go with her, spend a few days, and count that as our vacation for the year, or do we hold out, save hard, and try to do Toronto in August?


4 days in Baltimore in March or a week in Toronto in August. Does anyone have any opinions?

Hey, Rocky! Watch Me Pull a Rabbit Out of My Ass!

The lilac and willow Baby Surprise sweater didn't end well, thanks to Gauge, the Evil Knitting Demon. But, I couldn't have shown up at a baby shower without a baby present, so I pulled this out of my ass.



I literally was sewing on buttons while Myfanwe curled her hair for the party. But, thank Bob*, I got it done and it fits! Or at least it LOOKS like it fits! I think we will have to wait until February to find out for sure!


An interesting note about the buttons. When my father, z"l, passed away, one of the things my brother Mark gave me was Pop's button tin. It was obvious that my dad had never thrown a button away in his life. And he had cut a number of buttons off of my mom's old clothes and from the five kids, as well. I treasure it, and dole out its contents as if distributing gold. The five shell buttons came from Pop's stash -- a sure sign of how much I love and treasure the baby's moms.

* My Ravelry friends will know who Bob is...and I will write more about the new knitters holiday, Bobmas Eve, closer to the April 10th celebration. (Bobmas Eve is traditionally celebrated by getting together for food and libation and exchanging stash! Can I get a Woot! Woot!)

Done.

Well...let's see. What have I been up to?

Aside from working brutal hours, meeting every deadline, and managing not to call f***heads, well, f***heads, not much.

Today I met a major deadline. Actually, I came in 24 hours early. My boss leaves Saturday for 9 days in New Mexico, so it had to be done Friday. And I had plans for tonight, so I didn't want to have to work. So I just opened a can of whoopass, and it got done!

Tonight's plans weren't exciting -- I cooked and Myfanwe and I tried to create some order in our chaotic home before the cleaning lady comes tomorrow. (I am always afraid that the cleaning lady, who doesn't speak 5 words of English, goes home on Friday and talks about what pigs we are.)

We are having 15 people for Shabbat dinner tomorrow night. (I swear, when I planned this dinner, I must have been temporarily insane.) In the past we have had to limit guests to 7, because our dining table only seats 10. So we went out and bought two folding banquet tables at Target. Set at each end of the big table like a capital I, they increase the seating to 18. Woo hoo! The tables will come in handy for Thanksgiving and Rosh Hashanah, as well. (Does anyone need a place for Thanksgiving dinner?)

Even with the extra hours, I managed to knit two rows on the Swallowtail Shawl every night...until tonight. I had to clean. But Saturday and Sunday I will knit six rows each, I promise. I think I only have 18 rows of the main body of the shawl left -- then the lily of the valley border, which will be a nice change. I hope to have it done for my friend Nancy's birthday in January.

Must go. Must sleep. Later!

NO CLEVERNESS LEFT

I don't have a cute title for this post. Nothing clever. I'm too tired. You'll have to forgive me. This happens every year at around this time...as we enter the Jewish High Holidays, or, as I like to call them, the Bhutan Death March of Holiday Seasons.

First it is Rosh Hashanah. Clean the house, polish the silver, try to make sure the house doesn't smell like dog, bake things with honey, feed a crowd, then run out on a disasterous mound of dirty dishes and head to synagogue to sit in an un-air conditioned sanctuary for three hours while the cantor does her finest impression of a banshee, then rush home, tumble into bed -- totally ignoring the dirty dishes -- only to arise a few hours later to start cleaning up before beginning another day just like the last.

Ten days later we have Yom Kippur. Clean the house, polish the silver, try to make sure the house doesn't smell like dog, bake things with honey, feed a crowd before the sun sets, then run out on a disasterous mound of dirty dishes and head to synagogue to sit in an un-airconditioned sanctuary for three hours while the cantor does her finest impression of a banshee, then rush home, tumble into bed -- totally ignoring the dirty dishes -- only to arise a few hours later to start cleaning up before beginning another day like the last, only this time on an empty stomach.

Yom Kippur is closely followed by Sukkot, an eight day festival and among my favorite of the Jewish Holidays. It might help that Sukkot is usually right around the time the weather begins to turn cool. Then comes Shmenei Azeret. Bringing up the rear is Simchat Torah, which celebrates the giving of the Torah. This is also my father's yahrzeit. Don't ask me why I threw that in...just trivia.

All this means that, by the middle of October I have the shiniest silver in the world and a lethargy so pervasive, sloths form my pep squad. It also means that between Labor Day and the middle of October, Norbert only has 12 or so days of school. You can't imagine how stressful that can be.

KNITTING

I have completed a few more repeats of the pattern on the Luna Moth Shawl. It really slows down after a certain point...I think I am up to 339 stitches and approximately 60 inches in width across the top. I figure two more repeats (40 rows) and I will check to see if it is large enough.

Ravelry continues to suck a whole lot of time out of my life! It is really such a fun place. I've picked at least a dozen lace projects I want to start, which should be enough to get me through the next 2 years. But every day I go back, looking for more!

I've made some Ravelry friends, and I've joined the Lace Knitters' group, the Yarn Harlot Fan Club, Dolores' Devotees, the Brenda Dayne Fan Club, a Shawl Knitters' group, Jewish Fiberholics, and a couple of other groups. I haven't made any best friends, but I figure I'll invite a bunch of the kids for a sleepover and maybe things will just click.

In real life, or the real world, or whatever this is, I found out that my law firm has a knitting group which meets every Wednesday at 12:30. I wasn't able to go this week because I had a doctor's appointment, but I will definitely try it next week. I hope they are ok with a guy who knits, because I would hate to have to add everyone to my list of people I have to crush when I win the lottery.

I've made a tentative decision on the next shawl I'm going to knit. I've decided on the Swallowtail Shawl, which I hear (from people on Ravelry) is an enjoyable knit and looks really, really beautiful. Don't you agree?

Kwiky is thinking of knitting the same shawl. I can't wait for the pattern to arrive so I can cast on!

61304

The prayer shawl is complete. 61,304 stitches. 61,304 prayers. I can't wait to give it to Cousin Margie.

One observation: Although incredibly soft and luxurious, wet baby alpaca smells a lot like William Shattner's toupee.