Mrs. Claus Sews

Good Hands

2012-01-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

I am so very glad I picked the massage therapist I did. This gal really knows what she is doing, and it isn't prejudice because she's an old friend. She took my history and filled out the forms. Then she went to work on my, er, bum muscles, then turned me over and worked on my knee scar. She showed me pictures and illustrations of healthy tissue and scar tissue and what massage will do to smooth out the tangled scar tissue fibers. She only got to the one side-that took a whole hour! We'll be doing two massages this week and next, then we'll see how it goes. Of course insurance probably won't pay for it-I did have the doctor write prescriptions for massage and for acupuncture in the off chance they do pay-so I'm not sure how many I can afford. Even 4-6 sessions will really make a difference.

Knee doc actually thought I was doing OK. He wishes I could bend my knee better but I did get him to admit that there is still time to make it work. Especially with Stacey working on that scar tissue!

Tutu

2012-01-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

I really have been crafting-mostly knitting, but today I finished this for Gracie:

She has been wanting a tutu for a long time. She takes ballet lessons and the class is pretty laid back, so I'll bet she wears it to practice! It's a really simple pattern. I cut a piece of elastic to fit her waist and sewed it into a circle. Then I cut tulle into 6" strips, then cut the strips in half. Then I put a light pink and a dark pink strip together and tied it on the elastic. I used 11 yards-5 1/2 of each color. Her favorite color is pink, but what do you bet she'll want blue, green, purple....... I stitched a ribbon bow at the waist just to give it a nice touch.

I'm knitting socks-pretty constant thing-but I found this sweater pattern on the Lion Brand website, so I started it.

I remembered that I had a box of nice worsted in a soft ginger color that was among my mom's things when she passed. Since I'm the only one who knows what a needle is for, the family gladly gives me all the materials-Stan's family is the same, so I really have a lot of fabric, yarn, and notions. It was funny that she had this color, she was usually into bright colors and pastels. I wonder if she meant it for me.

This sweater will be all mine-if I like it I'm going to make it in several colors.

I know you must be getting sick of hearing about my health, so I won't say much. Doing the exercises from the book Contessa recommended, and am actually feeling quite a bit better. I'm only going to physical therapy every other week now-I think Jason knows the exercises hurt more than they help. Monday I have my 3-month with the knee surgeon, we'll see how that goes.... Oh! And I have an appointment for a massage on Monday, too! My friend Stacy is a massage therapist and is anxious to see what she can do for my leg, too.

Onward and upward! I'll get better really soon-have to-Mazatlan is in our near future!

'Nuf Said......

2012-01-16T08:08:00.001-08:00

Such a Pain!

2012-01-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, that would be my lower back! I did go to the spine people today, and got some really good news. I do NOT have a ruptured disc! Still not sure why the guy with the big needles and cortisone said I did. He's an MD, you'd think he would know how to read an MRI. The spine guy and I read it and in his words, "Your spine looks really clean!" I could see it easily and I'm not an MD! It's probably a tiny muscle causing the problem, the piriformis. The sciatic nerve can run through that muscle and cause terrible amounts of pain. Only thing is, they can't do anything for me. Of course, they half-heartedly mentioned physical therapy, but my experience with that is less than optimum.

It's good news to me that there is nothing structurally wrong because now I can take over my own healing. There are a few options open to me-accupuncture, massage, chiropractic, etc. My friend Contessa recommends this book, and I think I will get it. It has to be mailed, it's an older book and isn't available on Kindle yet, but that might be better-Stan can use it for his rotator cuff pain.

I'm reading some other books, too, about tension and the mind-body connection. I just might combine both and come out on top!

Stan's sis is chomping at the bit to go to Mazatlan soon-like in a couple of weeks-but I'm not sure I can sit in a plane that long yet. I really want to go, so I do have to get in shape quickly!

New Look

2012-01-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Decided it was time to get rid of Santa. I started sifting through my pictures and ran across this photo. This was taken in the early 20th century. It's my Grandma's wedding picture. From left to right-Grandma's friend who stood up for her; my uncle Stephen (my grandpa's twin brother); Grandma Hazel; and Grandpa Bill O'Rourke. She was a tiny, spunky redhead. To me, in this picture, she looks totally unhappy to be in a dress. She was always a tomboy. I loved her dearly, she was always willing to spend time with me, and I spent many weeks in the summer at her little house in Livingston, MT. She taught me to paint-watercolors. I still have the picture she painted for me of two kittens playing. She was a pretty talented artist, I'll have to scan a picture and show it to everybody.

Grandpa died when my mom was still in grade school. Grandma later remarried, and her second husband died in the '60s. Grandma lasted until the late 70s. Grandma was born in the 1880's. She always bragged that she was the first white child born in Yellowstone Park, at Mammoth, but we found someone else's Grandma who was born before her. She raised 5 kids-my mom was the youngest.

Mind over Matter

2012-01-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

I am so tired of being a sickee, that I have decided to tell myself that I am well, and that I don't feel any pain. I started pushing myself a bit on the stairs and did the exercise bike in spite of the nerve pain. Don't know how long that will last, but if you don't push yourself you'll ever make progress. I'm doing both legs on the stairs because it looks to me that my quads are weakening. We'll see how this goes, but for today I feel optimistic. The shots helped some things, but not others. I still have that nasty leg pain, so until I see the spine guy on Friday I'll pretend I'm just fine.

Robert Browning said, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp." Well, I'm reaching.....

Quick Update

2012-01-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

Had my shots today. I was supposed to get two on L4, but they gave me two on L5 also. We came right home and I went right to bed. I slept for a couple hours, got up and ate lunch, then settled in my chair for the duration. At 5:30 I decided I should lay down again. I slept until 7:30! I got up, went downstairs, lay down on the couch and fell asleep again. Stan cooked a little supper and now I'm in my chair again. It's 8:54 and I'm ready for bed, but I'm wondering if I'll sleep tonight! Might have to get out the melatonin.

It was a good idea to lay low today! Really can't tell about the pain yet-I think the right side is better, but they didn't do the left side, since it came late to the party. I suppose that will be another session.....

Update-I went back to bed at 9:00 and slept til 4:30. 12 1/2 hours sleep in 24-unreal! I'm alert now, must have been one of the things they stuck in my back. I feel a little better today, but I didn't have the quick relief like I did last time. I'm taking that as a good omen.

More (big) Shots and Bittersweet Goodbyes

2012-01-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Just waiting for Thursday and the shots-never thought I'd be looking forward to something like that! God certainly is working on building my patience!

Tonight is my last church council meeting. I am done being a deacon for at least a year. We serve three year terms and I can't believe that three years have already gone by! Tonight we will attend the first half of the meeting-a kind of changing of the guard, so to speak, we will break for treats that the outgoing officers provide, and then we shake hands and leave. I have mixed feelings about the end of my term. I loved serving-most of the time I was the only woman on the board, but the relationships we established and the work we did was incredibly rewarding. I love that I am forever ordained as a deacon. The two that replace Bill and me will have to be ordained too-I am so excited about watching that. We lay hands on them and pray for God's blessings. They will then sign the form of conscription that says that they are now deacons.

The process we use is very Biblical, I think. Members of the congregation suggest names of people that would be suitable, the council goes through the names and sends letters to the candidates. The candidates then either agree or turn it down, then the names are published in the bulletin for two weeks. On the first Sunday of January, the names are sealed in envelopes, and the outgoing officers each select one. I am thrilled that one of the new deacons is a woman-Kara, the lady that married the missionary. They are back in the area for a few years to receive training, so we get to reap the bounty of her experience. It's also a great training ground for her-it surely was for me. The second one is the one I selected. As I reached out to pick an envelope, I said a quick prayer for God to direct me. My hand immediately moved to the envelope on the end-very cool and very profound! The name I selected was definitely God's doing. This man has struggled for years with a bi-polar disorder and has made great strides. I just think it was a way for God to tell us that HE picks His servants, not us. I see great things happening in our church because we are obedient to God's direction!

Well, I'd better get moving. I hope the copier repairman calls soon so I can meet him at the church. Not good when it goes on the fritz! And I have to assemble my part of the treats for tonight. We are having a sundae bar and I am bringing homemade caramel sauce and hot fudge sauce. The hot fudge is so easy, just bring 3/4 cup heavy cream to a boil, take off the heat, dump in 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips, let stand 5 minutes and whisk til smooth. This is a basic ganache. When you want to heat it, just put in a bit of cream-maybe 1 tablespoon, and warm in the microwave. Best hot fudge ever, and no corn syrup!

Update

2011-12-31T16:46:00.001-08:00

Just a quick word-Millie is home from the hospital. She is sore and tired, but glad to be home. She has A-fib and for a while her heart was racing so they weren't sure she would get to come home today, but the meds worked and she's fine now. Not loving the PT, but that's pretty normal.

Hanaukka!

2011-12-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

There is a group of Jewish families that have settled in our small town. Super neat people-as a deacon I have worked with the rabbi on various situations involving the homeless. At one time one of their group ran a shelter in Bozeman. Now I must tell you that this group is Messianic-which means they accept Jesus as the final piece in the puzzle. They observe all the Jewish holidays, Sabbaths and traditions, but they add the worship of Jesus as Messiah. About four years ago, it was decided to add a menorah to the Christmas decorations downtown. Some of the men went to work in their shops and made this beauty:

I don't know if the glass lights were hand made, but they kind of look like they might have been. Very nice!

On to other things-Millie is doing well. She had a reaction to one of the pain meds so they've changed it to something else. She said this one works better. She should be able to go home tomorrow. Now comes the hard work and the long healing process.

As for my recuperation, I had an MRI and they found a ruptured disc. I had one set of pain injections two weeks ago that did absolutely nothing. They tried another drug that gave me some pretty interesting side effects-my hands and feet went numb. I have the number to the orthopedic office memorized! I had issues with some of the schedulers in the office-one made me wait three weeks for those injections. And the knee doc's scheduler was condescending when I called and asked for a referral to the spine surgeon. This is someone we've known for years-he repaired Stan's back, Millie's neck, and my nephew's femur after a nasty auto accident. He calls me "Mrs. Santa." The scheduler acted like I was too stupid to know what I was talking about and why would I want to go to a "surgeon?" I told her to just pass the message along to Dr. LeGrand, and sure enough yesterday he called me and said he had gone over my MRI with, of course, the spine surgeon. I need another set of injections that should relieve the pain and give us a definite diagnosis. The hint was that eventually I'll have to have back surgery. Not something I really want, but when you have that much pain you become willing to do anything. Then a week after the shots I will see the spine guy's PA to see what my treatment will be. While I had Dr. LeGrand on the phone I complained about some of the schedulers' behavior. The next two calls I got were back to back-griping works if you reach the right person!

Oh yeah, and the guy that I had so much trouble with? When that office called, I talked to a woman and she told me she just started working for Dr. Slocum yesterday. Hmmm-wonder where that guy went-do you suppose they got rid of him? The only downside is the soonest I could get in to get the next shots is next Thursday. I don't want to wait, but any port in a storm...............

All Done!

2011-12-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Millie's surgery went well-boring is what our Australian surgeon said. He said the same thing about mine-meaning no complications I'm sure. They're working to control the pain, but I'm sure it will be there soon. She was eating lunch when I got there, and was pretty alert. She got dozey with pain meds and I had to go to PT so I left her. I'll stop by before work in the morning-she's ordered a snowman latte' from City Brew. It's not fun to recover from a surgery like that but they really work hard to keep you comfortable.

Tomorrow

2011-12-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow DIL Millie will be having HER knee replaced. She has to be there at 5:15 A.M. I told her she will be done in time for lunch! Anyway, send lots of prayers up for her, I'm sure she's looking forward to this as much as I did! I will keep all of you updated on her progress.

A cute thing-Gracie has been telling everybody that her mommy is getting a "metal knee." "And" she says, "My Gramma already has one!"

Merry Christmas from Montana

2011-12-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

So far it's been a very nice holiday. Had brunch with the kids and exchanged gifts, went to Gracie's concert, ate out, drove around looking at lights (I have some nice pictures but I'm too lazy to go downstairs to get the camera out of my purse!), and now I'm waiting for pies to bake.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, and to my Jewish friends, happy Hanukkah!

Little Drummer Boy

2011-12-19T10:12:00.000-08:00

Syd got to shine yesterday at the Sunday School Christmas program. Not only did he have a whole 2 lines as the "Third Carpenter," he got to play the bongos for Little Drummer Boy.

Gotta love the mix of old and new in the carpenter costume! By the way, the boy on the far left is one day younger than Syd. Syd is small for his age, and Johnny is big for his-makes quite a contrast!

Saying his lines-had them down pat. He and his dad worked hard on them.

The keyboard player noticed how Sydney hovered over the boy playing his drum, so she set him up with the bongos. He did really well!

Nothing cuter than little kids at a Christmas program. I heard someone say they were glad their kids were grown and they didn't have to go to any programs. I would miss them, even if I didn't have anybody specific to watch.

Oh, and I almost have the pajamas cut out. Years ago, I bought some of those things you put on the bed legs to make it higher and put them on my cutting table. Sure helped today with my touchy back. Sometimes I wonder how long my back has been like this-I have been babying it for a long time! Just have to cut out the bottoms for Syd and Sam's PJ's but my back yelled at me so I'm taking a break. I really need to go back to town to buy the rest of the Christmas gifts, but I looked through the ads and wrote a battle plan so I won't have to wander and come home sore and exhausted.

BIG Shot!

2011-12-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

After getting stinky with the spine Dr.'s assistant, I went in yesterday to get my nerve root injections. Now I am NOT a fan of cortisone, but I was kind of between a rock and a hard place. I had to get rid of the pain quickly so I could finish my physical therapy.

Stan had a series of these shots several years ago, but things have really changed. He had his done sitting on the side of the table and it was almost guesswork where the doc put it. Mine was done in a special room, lying on my stomach, and they were totally guided by a live X-ray. They put in contrast dye to make sure they were in the right place. They told me I would immediately feel quite a bit better, but after about 1 1/2 hours I would be back to square one and the real relief would come in 2-3 days. I had about a 50% reduction in pain right away, but imagine my surprise when that 50% stayed away. The only pain I had that was annoying was the injection site. (Have you seen those needles? They're about 6 inches long!) Some Tylenol took care of most of that.

What the assistant didn't tell me when I made the appointment was this is a real medical procedure, not just a shot, so there were some things I should have done. I wasn't supposed to eat, which I didn't because I was being cautious, I shouldn't have driven myself, I shouldn't go to work, and I was supposed to go right home and go to bed for 2 hours. The only thing I got right was the no breakfast. When the guy said I was being naughty, I chewed him out and told him that if he had informed me of these things, I could have done them! I raced to a coffee shop, wolfed down some breakfast with the Benadryl by my side just in case of a reaction, then went home for 3 hours to rest. But I had to get the bulletin done, so I drove back to town and worked for a couple of hours. But then Stan remembered he had a 4:00 Santa job so he couldn't pick Sydney up from school, so I ran to Belgrade, picked him up, went back and finished the bulletin. I then decided it was really time to go home, but as I passed the last interchange to enter Bozeman I realized I had forgotten to stop by Steve's work and pick up Syd's overnight bag. All the way to Belgrade, turn around and go back and get the bag. By this time I needed to get out of the car for a while so we went to a coffee shop and watched YouTube Christmas flash mob videos on my Kindle Fire.

Okay, now for home-but Stan gets home and wants to go out to eat-today is his birthday and he had a craving for Prime rib. We just went uptown to the Oasis, a local, popular steakhouse and ate. Finally I stood up and announced that I wanted to go home-I hoped they were done eating, but I was just done! Went home, curled up with my blanket and went right to sleep.

I still woke up super early this morning, but I was coughing-I think I caught a cold. I slept more soundly than I have in a long time. Still some pain, but not like before, and I know that in a few days more of it will go away. I feel enough better that that huge stack of newspapers on the kitchen table that Stan has left there is bugging me-didn't care a hoot about it before. And I even had enough strength to cook a birthday pancake breakfast for him. Resting now, but I'm heading back to town to get Stan's birthday present. I had bagged that idea yesterday after all I had been through. I also have to shop for gifts for the widows of the church-something we deacons do every year. Nothing complicated, but necessary. I feel well enough, finally, that I think I can wander around Walmart doing some shopping.

I estimate I put more that 100 miles on my car yesterday, just running back and forth. I keep nagging Stan that we should move closer to Bozeman so we don't have to drive so far to get anywhere. I figure that I went in the hole wage-wise yesterday-only worked a couple of hours but burned it off!

I cut out Gracie's nightgown this morning, too, so I really am on the mend I think. Hooray-I am a very bad sickie and don't like to be held down!

At the Doctor's

2011-12-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was my 6 week follow-up. Hard to believe 6 weeks have passed by! The physical therapist and I have been concerned about all the sciatic pain I've had. It's really slowed down my rehab and time is running out. Two weeks ago, I called the doctor's office and talked to the PA, who assured me he would hook me up with a spine doctor within two days. Two weeks later still nothing, so the PT called Dr. LeGrande just before my appointment and emphasized that we were running out of time and that the extreme pain I am in was hindering our good work.

So finally, yesterday, the doc swooped in and announced that we had to do something soon because our window of opportunity for good flexibility was about over. (Ya think??!!) They were also very concerned that I was still limping. So this morning I was at the imaging center at 6:15 for an MRI, the first I've ever had. Wasn't horrible-noisy and my back hurt because I couldn't move, but the new machines are shorter so you're not locked in this huge long tube. They played Christmas music in the headphones and gave me a blankie so I did just fine.

Now, let's see if they can relieve the pain so I can finish with my knee. Still bending at 100 degrees, not terrible for 6 weeks, and I am doing OK on the exercise bike-lowered the seat so that's good. If there is a ruptured disc I'm sure I'll have to have surgery sooner or later, but for now we need to concentrate on the first job. I'll keep you posted-at least I can drive now and I'm off the aspirin.

Strolling

2011-12-11T16:22:00.001-08:00

Thursday night was Manhattan's Christmas Stroll. Of course Santa was there. He started at the school library handing out treats to the kids, while the kids did crafts.

Sydney and Grandpa, I mean Santa!

He inhaled that candy cane!

They had kits for little polar bears. Very cute!

Then he rode the sleigh to the bank downtown to have pictures taken with the kids. The bank does this service for free and they are really good pictures.

I had a really great picture of Santa among the kids on the wagon, but I didn't want to show kids' faces on the Internet with no permission, so I showed Syd instead.

Great pic of the Big Guy!

Like a dummy, I didn't take pictures of the other grandkids when they showed up at the bank. I'll have to steal some of Millie's. I hung out at the bank while the kids strolled-not really up to running all over town yet. I refer to "the bank" because in our small town there is only one bank. They are very community minded and it really is a place where "everybody knows your name."

What I'm Up To

2011-12-05T13:17:00.001-08:00

Let's see-the weekend was full. Friday night Stan, Syd and I went to the Belgrade Festival of Lights just to watch the floating luminaries. Syd even got to send one off! I made a video, but my Sony camera saves it in a format that Facebook and Blogger don't recognize so I have to wait til Millie sends me the conversion program before I can post it. Hope it works, it was breathtaking! Saturday Millie picked me up and we took the two 7-year-olds to the Nutcracker. Very, very good-great dancers and they had the Bozeman Symphony play. It was a bit sad-the founder of the Montana Ballet Company passed away just a week ago. She had sold the company a couple of years ago, but her mark was still on everything. We sat on the aisle so I could get up and walk if I needed to-and I did! Then to the Community Co-op for lunch. Then home. I had kind of an accident-I spaced it out as I went down the stairs and took the last step with my left foot instead of my right. I wasn't injured and I didn't fall, but that hurt like holy h**l! I laid my head on the bannister and sobbed. It's fine now, and I think it even bends a bit more. I had asked Stan to build me a short practice step, and after that he went right out to the garage and built it!

Sunday was church and our Advent supper. I love that we get into the season so much now. We even have three lit-up Christmas trees on the platform. And we always light the Advent Candle. I stayed home last night while Stan went to the Bible class. Any excuse to be alone-something I don't get much of right now. A lot of fun-I watched TV with my eyes closed!

This morning I made macaroons. They are delicious-ever as good as what you get in Mazatlan. Dulce de Coco is a regional specialty there. The only thing-the recipe calls for parchment and all I had was wax paper. I will NEVER make that mistake again! The cookies were glued to the paper! By the time I discovered it I had two pans baked, so on the last pan, I liberally applied no stick spray and took the cookies off the paper. That worked much better! I dampened the back of the wax paper, waited a while, and then peeled it off the stuck cookies. I have to remember to make a big note on the recipe.

Well, off to stretch out a bit and head to physical therapy. I hope I can be at 100 degrees today, since Wednesday I was at 95.

Moving Right Along

2011-12-01T18:06:00.001-08:00

Today I serged and prewashed the flannel. I also made my "safe" waffles. I make a huge batch of chocolate chocolate chip ones and put them in the freezer. They satisfy my sweet tooth since I can't have wheat. Takes a while, my waffle maker only makes two at a time. That was the end of my activities for today. Had a bite of lunch and have been messing on the computer and watching TV.

Yesterday at PT I actually went FORWARD on the exercise bike! Jason came in just as I pushed myself to do the backward one, which I did for a while. He raised the seat a hair more to make it a tiny bit more comfortable. I wondered out loud if it would work going forward and before he could say anything I did it! He was shocked and gave me a high five. He was so thrilled he only kept me there for 30 minutes. I am now at a 95 degree bend-I gained 5 degrees since Monday.

Every day is better, every day I walk straighter, have less pain, and have more endurance. And it is less than two weeks til I can drive! I am getting through this! Tuesday at my deacons' meeting I prayed for toughness and I really think God has given that to me!

Tomorrow is work, then Saturday Millie and I are taking Sydney and Gracie to the dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker. It's free for the little kids and only ten dollars for the adults. This is the Montana Ballet-a very good ballet company. It's probably one of the best companies in the state. I am glad they do this rehearsal thing because I'd hate to pay full price just to have the kids get bored, which is what Sam did last year. Consequently he's not going with us this year! Sydney is a ham and loves to sing and dance so he'll be just fine. Well, time to go warm up a leftover for supper.

A Bit of Working

2011-11-29T08:43:00.001-08:00

Worked a bit this morning. Sunday at church I picked up my bulletin folder and e-mailed the bulletin template to myself. Only problem was, the church has Office 2007 and my laptop has Office 2003. Not sure I can even do an upgrade. Anyway any Word file Office 2007 saves is in DocX form, something 2003 can't open. Never fear, put the question on Bing and I found a patch that allows my 2003 to open the DocX files! So I was able to get some preliminary work done on the bulletin. My plan is to have it ready and send it to the office on Friday. I'll have Stan drop me off and I'll run, fold, stuff, etc. then. I'll do a dry run today-I'll send it to myself and check when I go for my deacon's meeting tonight. I can always print the one here at home and bring it in if the e-mail thing doesn't work.

Was very excited at PT yesterday-I was able to pedal all the way around on the exercise bike! Backwards, but forward will come. Jason said he thought I had stalled on the bending motion, so he pushed me. Boy did he-I had sweat running down my back doing a tiny little pedaling motion! If the sciatica weren't so bad it would have been easier. I kept getting a muscle cramp in my calf next to my knee. I finally just pushed through it and got it done. Now there's no turning back-he will expect more and more of me! That's fine, I want total knee function, no matter how bad it hurts.

I talked to Jason at the doctor's office yesterday and he is setting me up with a spine doctor to get rid of the sciatica. If it weren't for that I would be very close to 100%. I have very little pain in my knee now-yay! I almost have my braking motion back, so in two weeks when I am released to drive I will be ready. Stan wants to go fishing today, so if the doc wants to see me today I may have to bum a ride from someone. Will be SO GLAD when I can drive! Besides, I am itching to get Christmas done.

The one thing I am not itching for is housework. The first time I cook dinner the jig will be up and I will have to cook all the meals, so I'm not jumping into the kitchen for a while yet. (Married women will understand!) I make my own breakfast and coffee, and heat up lunch, but that's about all.

Think I'll call my friend Joyce to see if she'll pick me up for coffee today-a confab with friends is good for the soul!

What a Weekend!

2011-11-26T15:36:00.001-08:00

Here it is only Saturday but I am whipped! Wednesday was physical therapy which usually means I am worthless for the rest of the day. I managed to get some cranberry salsa made, but the "safe" dessert I wanted to do for Thanksgiving never materialized. Then Thursday was church then dinner at the Senior Center with Stan's family. We were there from noon til 9:00-wayyyy too long for this girl. I did crash on the couch for a while, but sitting has been hard anyway and I was toast. I tried to get Stan to take me home 2 hours before he actually did, but I don't think he got it that I really needed to. He wanted to pitch in to help clean up, but nobody would have resented his taking me home. When we left, we went straight home, I took my pills and went to bed.

Then yesterday, Millie came and picked me up. Jo-Ann's had pajama flannel for $1.49 a yard so she agreed to stand in line for me. I always make the grandkids Christmas pajamas. Gracie went along too, and we had a good time even though the Jo-Ann's line took 2 hours! We went for coffee, got Gracie's ears pierced (a story in itself), had lunch at the Community Co-op, and went back to Macy's to get Gracie a beautiful Christmas dress for her children's choir concert. Then Millie dropped me off to meet Stan at my niece's 50th birthday party. We were there for a couple of hours, then Brother-in-Law and his wife suggested we have dinner, so we went to our favorite place, Fiesta Mexicana. I spent too many hours on my feet. Today Brother-in-Law and his wife came to the house to help Stan cut up TWO deer. Sister-in-law and I spent the day in recliners watching Debbie Macomber Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. They've left and as soon as Stan rests for a bit he'll make some hamburgers. I'm not moving far from my chair tonight. My leg is a bit swollen, and I'm sore so I think some rest is in order. I need to make a trip to Walmart but I think I'll put that off til after church tomorrow.

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!

I Had to Do It!

2011-11-21T09:16:00.001-08:00

Every year, during the holidays, I make several batches of toffee-"Almond Roca" if you will. I knew I had to make a batch for Thanksgiving, so today was the day. I got everything set up, pan buttered, almonds chopped, and a stool set up. The candy doesn't take too long to make, but you do have to stir and stir. I'd sit and stir, then stand and stir. Got it done and it's cooling in the garage. Resting now!

If you are interested in the recipe, I have it posted here.

And So It Begins!

2011-11-19T10:34:00.001-08:00

Well, winter has arrived and that nasty chore of shoveling is back. Darn it, I can't shovel for a while. My heart is really broken about that! Sydney helped Grandpa shovel this morning-funny how kids think chores are fun.

He kept shoveling the snow back where Stan had already shoveled, but it was still fun to see him want to help. The temp was 7 degrees F this morning-darn, I wish I were in Mazatlan! Quite a contrast between these pics and my blog header!

I Must Be Healing

2011-11-17T13:12:00.001-08:00

I must be healing because, boy am I stircrazy! I really want to get out and do something, but Stan is hunting, all my kids are working, and I am not cleared to drive yet. I would just love to pop into town, do a bit of shopping and stop at my favorite coffee spot.

I've been doing a lot of things, fix my own meals, etc., but no housework. I have heard of people that drive at two weeks but I wouldn't feel safe-my "brake muscles" aren't working right yet. I need to be patient, it will come, but right now I'm really antsy. It's a good sign, like I said, so healing is on its way.

Stuff

2011-11-15T08:00:00.001-08:00

Well, the pain was not a blood clot but severe sciatica. The PA said, "If you saw how we treat your leg you'd know why your sciatic nerve is so irritated!" And the tourniquet they have to use to keep me from bleeding to death also irritates the nerve. A nurse friend on Facebook said that is the most brutal surgery one could ever have! Nice to know now-no wonder I was reluctant! The pain in my knee is subsiding, slowly day by day, now if I can keep that nerve quiet I'll really feel better. I've been walking around the house a lot, and making my own coffee in the morning. I'd love to go somewhere but that doggone nerve makes it really painful to ride in a car. I'll have to get creative about that! Since it hasn't snowed yet I'm going to try walking on the street again-just with the cane. Whenever I used the walker I ran into little pebbles on the pavement and came to a grinding halt. My shoulders get so tired I come in early. But my gait is more surefooted every day, so I think I'll try it without.

I forgot to tell you the results of Stan's Holter monitor. They found a bit of irregularity, but don't think it's anything life threatening and the meds he's already on are enough to keep it under control. In fact the doctor said the meds probably masked the irregularity for a long time. Good thing-I'm in no shape to take care of him! I don't think he's as vigorous as he used to be-he went hunting Saturday and came home early-too exhausted to stay out longer. Plus his knees were complaining about walking the hills. He might be next for a knee replacement or two!

Today

2011-11-14T09:46:00.001-08:00

Today I should get my staples out. I'm very happy-they itch like mad, and I think my "bending therapy" will go better without those dern things pulling. I had to cancel my PT session with Jason this afternoon because I almost had an overlap. My appointment with Jason at Bridger Orthopedics is at 1:30 in Bozeman and my appointment with Jason at Excel PT was at 3:00 in Manhattan (30 minutes away). Didn't sound like I could make the PT so I cancelled. I still have my machines at home. I kind of have an abundance of Jasons! I have some pain in the back of my leg I want Jason (Bridger) to look at, just to make sure it's not a blood clot. I have 9 blood thinner pills left and if all goes well I will graduate to aspirin. I decided that, given my age, I would stay on baby aspirin for the rest of my life. Just a little insurance. I am able to lift my leg up onto my hassock now, so that's progress!

I have been knitting some. I am making a toddler's sweater-not sure for what purpose, but it was just a really cute and easy pattern. I knit a few rows, Facebook a bit, nap a bit, then walk around the house working on my gait-who knew I'd have to learn to walk all over again! Most of my big blocks of time are spent on my passive motion machine-I'm supposed to do 6 hours a day! Not there yet, but I'll get there. The physical therapist said a lot of people get in it at night, turn it on and sleep. When Millie told Jason she wanted to go back to work after 4 weeks he told her she wouldn't have time-she needs that time to get her new knee in shape. I will be going back to the church next week, but I only have to work for 5-10 hours a week so I shouldn't stiffen with that much. Only thing is Stan will have to drive me in, so I probably will work from home for part of it.

A Family Thing

2011-11-10T20:37:00.001-08:00

My daughter-in-law and I share the same knee surgeon. Today she got the news that she is next to go under the knife! Actually she should have been first, her knee is much worse than mine was. Now she has to find a good time. They want to do it the day before Thanksgiving but why ruin the holidays? They also have December 28 open so I think that's the day she'll go with. It's better for me, too, I can help more and will be finished with the "family walker."

A Bit of Progress

2011-11-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

My recovery is coming along, hampered only by the fact that I can't take any narcotics. There were a few bad pain times and I only had Tylenol to take the edge off. I think I'm beyond the really bad part, now. I still am sleeping in the guest room so I can prop my head up. But I can't get past 3:00 A.M. yet. Of course I'm out by 9:00 P.M. so it isn't horrible. I work so hard to get the leg limber and after it lays for a bit it stiffens again. Had my first physical therapy session on Monday, another one today. I will go twice a week with a goal of a leg extension of 0 degrees and a bend of 120 degrees. A bit of work, but I'm at 7 degrees and 90 degrees so it could be worse.

I'm still mostly camped in my office, but my bum is getting tired of the same chair and I think I need to walk more. I'm hoping that today after therapy I'll feel perky enough to stop at the local cafe for a bite of lunch. Maybe later (or tomorrow) if it doesn't snow I can walk a bit on the street. I alternate between walker and cane because my upstairs is not particularly set up for a walker. I'm hoping to spend more time downstairs in the next couple of days, too. Goals are good.

Well, I think I'm going to instruct Stan on how to make hot buckwheat cereal for a change. And finish the paper.

Glad That's Over!

2011-11-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm home from the hospital! Tired and sore, and not liking my physical therapy, but time will pass and every day will get better and better. They tell me 2 weeks are the marker, that after that I will start being glad I did it. It is very good to be home, and I had superlative care. They were very careful to note all my allergies. I ended up not getting much for pain besides Tylenol because even with the anti-nausea meds the narcotics still made me sick. I could live with the pain. The anesthesiologist phoned me in pre-op and discussed my allergies. He told me he would do a spinal and a femoral nerve block. He must have used more painkiller in the block because my leg has not regained its strength and is in danger of buckling, so I have to wear the immobilizer. I took it off at home, but I'm very careful-falling would really hurt!

I had THREE allergy wristbands-the admitting nurse said she wasn't taking any chances!

Only thing, I don't think they quite knew how to read the allergy panel report I brought and she listed everything that was on the test, not just the allergens!

It was just fine-I would rather they err on the side of caution. Well, back to resting. I have a ton of work ahead of me to get the new knee into shape. They sent me home with an extension board to keep my leg from freezing bended, and a CPM, or continuous passive motion machine which keeps my knee bending. And I go to a physical therapist. Whew! And I can't drive for a while, so I might as well work on my knee.

Tomorrow

2011-11-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day-I get a new knee! Still kind of shaky about such a big surgery. I have lots of allergies and it's going to be tricky balancing pain control with the reactions those meds might cause, but I have spent a lot of time discussing this with all the staff involved, so here goes nothing...

Thanks to all those who are praying for me and thinking of me. I don't know what time it will happen yet, they will call me soon with that bit of info.

I set up my office as a kind of recoup room, since we have stairs in the house and no bathrooms on the main floor. I have a TV, and my laptop, lots of knitting and my phone so I should survive. I put together a box of things like napkins, salt and pepper, silverware, cream and sugar to have there-to save Stan a few steps.

I'm off to town to find a footrest and a little table to set up in there. And to get my City Brew fix before I get cooped up. Stan has to see the cardiologist today because he has been having some irregular heartbeat so they're fixing him up with a Holter Moniter to wear for a few days. We're going to look like a fit pair in the hospital!

I should be able to blog a bit unless I'm really out of it, so once I'm home (approx 3 days) I'll be talking to you. See ya later, Blogland!

Last Day(s)

2011-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday some of us headed to El Centro or downtown. We wanted to take in the Mercado and show Dave and Laura the cathedral and the downtown area. Steve stayed back with the four boys and they camped out in the swimming pool for the day. Millie talked Gracie into going with us, but she wouldn't go near the pigs' heads in the meat counters! Gracie did get her twirly dress and Laura found some cool earrings. We had to finally leave the market because it was a bit overwhelming for Gracie. Then to the fabric store, but I need time to think, which is hard to do when you're with a bunch of people and it was really hot so I just decided to forget the fabric shopping. Too bad-fabric is dirt cheap there, and they are more into the apparel kind of fabric and less into quilting. So off to the cathedral.

It's such a beautiful church, and there was a wedding just starting, which thrilled Gracie.

Dave and Laura in the square in front of the cathedral. I think I need to frame this-a great picture of the two.

Lunch at Panama then back to the Golden Zone so people could buy the goodies they saw there the other day. For the first time, I went upstairs in Seashell City to the museum. Pretty nice-this is a fountain, completely encrusted in seashells.

Dave, goofing off.

That night, we fed the kids macaroni and cheese and the adults ate a nice grown-up dinner in the resort restaurant. Sweet and sad-nobody wanted to go home.

We left for the airport at 4:30 the next morning. We got back to Montana at about midnight, so we were an exhausted group!

I don't know how he sleeps like that!

Or that way, either!

A nice little place for a nap.

And another one bites the dust!

There went the girl, too!

Gracie sobbed all the way to the airport and when she got out of the taxi she threw up on the sidewalk. She did NOT want to leave Mazatlan! I think the grand throw-up total for the week was four for Sam and two for Gracie. Plus Sam had a pretty bad allergy attack after the Fiesta. Didn't seem to make them sick, they just threw up. Millie was so embarrassed she washed the bedding at 1:00 A.M.!

We're already planning our next trip-hopefully sometime in late February or early March. My heart is still there, but now comes the hard part-the knee surgery-so I have to wait until I'm cleared to fly.

Another Fun Day

2011-10-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the first thing I did was watch this cloud over the ocean pick up the rising sun's rays.

It almost looks like a mushroom cloud. The weather forecast was for rain, but it never came. Steve, Chris and Isaac headed out for a zip line tour. The rest of us, all but Irene, headed to the aquarium. First, Stan, Dave, Laura and I headed for a drug store to buy some Poli Grip. The cashier looked at us-probably wondering which one of us had false teeth! Laura had a temporary crown come out, and Millie had suggested this. It worked well-that crown stayed in until they got home. I'll be remembering that! Then we hopped a pulmonia for the aquarium. Jim, Millie and the kids got to see the sea lion show, but we were too late for that. We hooked up with them just after the show got out and walked around with them. Of course we saw sea turtles:

And many, many fish:

We did get to see the bird show, very cute!

Just watching the kids' faces was entertainment for me. Everything was in Spanish, but it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on.

It was very reasonable-85 pesos for adults and 60 pesos for children. That works out to about $7 and $5-not bad for a whole afternoon's entertainment.

Then we headed to Mega for more groceries then back to the resort. The kids got a huge kick out of riding in the pulmonias-half of us in one, half in another, and we had to keep shouting and waving to each other!

We had a taco supper and the kids hit the pool. The teens and Steve related an awesome time zip lining. They even got to tour a tequila factory-and grumped because Uncle Steve wouldn't let them taste the finished product!

Then to bed-whew! We were all pooped, and we had one more day of fun to enjoy.

The Jungle

2011-10-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

We knew we wanted the kids to take the Jungle Cruise. This is a tour of an estuary in the mangroves on Stone Island, and a walk through an old time Mexican farmyard, where we saw a cayman and several sea turtles. This is followed by a stroll on the beach-we were carried there from the farm on a "Mexican Hummer." Actually a big trailer pulled by an old tractor.

Crazy happy family.

Don't remember the name of the smaller birds, but this is the first time I've seen them-probably has to do with the time of year.

The waterway through the mangroves. The tide was still high enough for us to boat through. During low tide it becomes a mud bog.

On the "Hummer."

Stone Island has the best beaches in the area.

After the hour or so on the beach they hauled us back to the hut, where our delicious lunch of fish cooked on mangrove wood waited for us.

The tables and benches were petrified palm tree trunks.

Our dessert was coconut candies-actually macaroons-made with fresh grated coconut. So yummy and they gave us the recipe.

Then we headed back, and Fernando our guide brought out a bucket of fish to feed the pelicans. He asked for volunteers and Sydney was first in line.

Pretty cute!

I had to get a shot of that hat!

That night most of the guys went to a baseball game. Mazatlan has a professional AAA team-some of the players even come from major league teams in the US, wanting to stay in shape during the winter. They do this at a mere fraction of what they earn in the US. The guys had a blast-they showed Stan on the JumboTron and played Christmas music. He played along and waved. The crowd cheered and some lady from Canada passed him her e-mail address. Nice try lady, that Santa is taken!

The name of the team is "El Venados" the deer, since Mazatlan was named by the local indians, "Land of the Deer." Here is their mascot.

The family had had spaghetti for dinner, but I didn't eat since I was allergic. So after the guys left, I freshened up and went to the restaurant all by myself and had a lovely shrimp salad.

Wednesday

2011-10-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we all piled on the bus and headed to the Golden Zone. I'm sure that bus driver did a double take when 13 people got on and all of the same family!

We went to my favorite souvenir shop, "Colibri" only to find out that Mari Lisa had closed up and moved on. She was well beyond retirement age, so I hope that's what she got to do. By that time we were already very hot so we stopped at Pancho's for a snack. They ordered nachos, and since I couldn't eat that I ordered flan, but it wasn't finished cooking. So after everybody else was done eating, they had to wait for me while I ate a scoop of ice cream.

A mariachi band wanting to play for the diners.

Our view north from Pancho's

Christopher had this wild idea he should get a tattoo, so we split up and they went in search of a parlor. We walked through the Zone and took a "spider" back. It's a small pickup with benches in the back and a tarp over the top. It's called a spider because it seats 8 adults. Turns out Christopher was creeped out over the tattoo parlor so they hopped a pulmonia and got back to the resort just about the same time we did.

Father and son cruising along in the spider.

Dave and Laura.

Gotta love the iguanas!

Then on to the Fiesta Mexicana at El Cid. Usually we go to the fiesta in the big conference room on the street side of the hotel, but a guy came by and led us to the main dining room which faced the beach and had much better food in the buffet. They also had the same show. Irene decided to stay home-I think our mob was tiring her out!

Gramma got to sit at the kids' table-I loved it! Millie got the biggest kick out of the fine dining lessons I was giving. They thought it was so cool to be so fancy.

Had to watch Gracie-she thought it was wonderful that the waiter would keep her in all the chocolate milk she wanted.

She was captivated by the beautiful twirly dresses. Told me I had to make costumes for her and Sydney for Halloween next year-Syd in a white suit and sombrero and Gracie in one of those dresses! Notice her fine hair is already popping out of the braids.

Then another ride home in a spider-we crammed all 12 of us in it. Grandpa rode up front with the driver and had a great conversation with him. That's what I love about Mazatlan-the people are so open and friendly. The grown-up kids were not used to the unlimited beverages and were a bit (bit?) tipsy. Steve and Millie entertained us with constant jabs and barbs at each other.

The second best part of the night was hearing my favorite singer, Oscar Gomez. The best part was watching my entire family all together enjoying the evening and each others' company. Made me all misty-eyed!

Swimming

2011-10-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

We decided not to get too excited the first couple of days. The kids were infatuated with the pool anyway, and you have to go for that first walk on the beach.

We did go to Mega for groceries. Millie wanted the little kids to see the store and pick out baked goods. Dave and Laura came along too, so Dave could get ingredients for limeade, and hopefully for foccacia bread to go with the planned spaghetti supper. We couldn't find yeast however, and I didn't bring my dictionary to look up the word. Turns out we were too tuckered out to cook so we ate in the resort restaurant again.

We had a really cool experience Monday night. There is a group in Mazatlan that is working to save the endangered sea turtles, and they planned on releasing a bunch of babies into the ocean at the resort. All my grandkids got a chance to release one!

Tuesday was another low key day, but some of us rode the bus to the Golden Zone, the tourist area. More walking on the beach, swimming in the pool, and we bought shrimp from the guy on the beach. He goes at the crack of dawn to the fish market and walks the beach in front of the resort with a cooler. He always sells out.

Gracie has wanted to get braids in her hair since her parents were there in March, so that was a priority.

She sat so well for the lady, usually she hates to have her hair messed with.

We stuck the spaghetti fixings in the freezer and cooked our shrimp. We ate every bit.

Father and son shrimp cleaning team.

Home!

2011-10-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it home! We did have a wonderful time, not without a few hiccups. We had trouble getting there-remember how nervous I was about making our Mexico City connection? Well we didn't. The Butte Delta people messed up our boarding passes so we had to get them printed in Mexico City, therefore missing our connection. I love that my daughter-in-law is on my side-she took the Delta people by their short hairs and stood her ground until they agreed to put us up in the airport hotel for the night. The only problem was there wasn't another Aero Mexico flight into Mazatlan until the 20th-four days from then! So instead they flew us to Culiacan, about 120 miles from Mazatlan, and then we took a taxi to Mazatlan. Crazy but it was cheaper than buying bus tickets for 11 people and quicker since we wouldn't have to stop in each little town. Our luggage made it just fine to Mazatlan and after we arrived Tuesday morning, they brought it to the resort.

Here we are at the airport in Butte:

Then Salt Lake:

Then here we are in Mexico City, after our blowup at Delta, at the Carl's Jr. where Sam threw up on the floor. (Oh yeah, of course we had a sick kid-makes the day complete!) He doesn't look sick but boy he sure tossed his cookies! He did it all night the night before, too.

At least we only had to walk to our gate from the hotel-no taxi needed. Gracie begged her mom to please not wake her up so early again!

But we made it-in time for lunch:

And we got to see Dave and Laura for the first time in about four years. I called Dave from Mexico City and told him to have dinner on me, and hopefully they would see us on Monday. So glad they did see us!

We were exhausted, but we were finally there.

See Ya Later!

2011-10-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Doing the final packing and details for the trip. Gotta go pick up the rental cars, drop off the dogs, make sure the house is buttoned up, etc. Say a prayer that we make all our connections, nobody gets sick or hurt (hear me, Tia Irene?) and that we have a great time!

Riding off into the sunset.............

43 Years!

2011-10-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Happy anniversary to my sweetie! We've been married 43 years-seems like 5. That time just flew. I told him this morning we would at least make 60 years-he wasn't so sure, but I reminded him his mom lived to 94,

We just had a quiet dinner at Sir Scott's Oasis. We're going to be celebrating all week next week, so this was enough for today. Our gift to each other is taking our whole family to Mazatlan, so we didn't have to unwrap anything!

Car Socks and Other Stuff

2011-10-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

I actually finished these socks about a month ago, but the way my life goes these days, I'm finally posting about them. I got the yarn from a garage sale. There were several balls of yarn, I think I paid $5 for the whole thing. No labels, but the girl I bought it from assured me it was all machine washable. I think I'll err on the side of caution. They started out intended for me, but Stan took a liking to them, plus I thought they were a little scratchy. Stan will wear them over cotton socks when he's doing things outside. I would have just worn them as regular socks so this is better. I call them my car socks because they were made completely in the car-either riding or waiting to pick grandkids up from school.

I swear I had pictures of the socks half-finished, but I can't find them on my computer. Maybe they're still in my camera.

For the trip I started a pair for me (really). The yarn is more of Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn-wool, bamboo, and nylon. This one is a girly color in a self-striping pattern. I should be able to keep these.

Had a bit of a scare last week. I had all my pre-op tests-blood, chest x-ray, and EKG. Imagine my shock when my doctor calls and says I have to go right away to get a CT scan because there is a spot on the lung area on the x-ray! Had the scan on Friday, but I'll probably have to wait til Tuesday to hear any results, Columbus day, ya know. Sort of nervous, but I trust in God. Years ago another doctor found a calcification in my abdomen during a kidney x-ray. It hasn't shown up since on x-rays, but this particular technician might have been extra good and it finally showed up again. I guess I'll find out pretty soon. The trip is still on, and I have been cleared for the knee surgery.

Still a bit nervous about the very short layover time in Mexico City, but we're going to do everything possible to make sure things go smoothly so we can make that connection. I will look over all their immigration forms to make sure they made no mistakes, and I'll remind them to have all their papers ready. I think I'll talk to the flight attendants too, maybe they can radio ahead or something. (One can wish-this is an American airline company, after all.) We do connect with a Mexican airline and they just might wait for us-Mexican service is top-notch.

Did a bunch of baking this weekend so I can survive. Some I will take with me, but most of the baking was just my regular food since I can't buy much. I made a wheatless apple pie. Very tasty but the crust didn't hold together very well. I also made crackers, sugar cookies and my chocolate waffles. I make a huge batch of the waffles and freeze them. I spread the waffles with sweetened cream cheese for a yummy snack. I always fix one to take with me when I leave the house, just in case I get hungry and can't find something else wherever I'm at. I didn't like the cookies, the sorghum flour was a bit too pronounced-next time more coconut flour and less sorghum. Some of the cookies really crumbled so I put them in a Ziplock and labeled it "Safe Cookie Crumbs" and will freeze them for use later in a cheesecake.

Well, pray for me and hopefully I can post a couple more times before we leave.

And We had a Birthday!

2011-10-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Chris, our first (but not oldest) grandchild turned 16 Friday. I can't believe he went from this curly-headed tot:

To this curly-headed teenager in such a short time.

He hasn't changed much, still a heart-breaker!

Fun Saturday

2011-10-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting as often-not working as much, so I really don't have an excuse! Unless you could say that Stan has been canning like a crazy man and of course I get roped into helping. If I don't want to help I have to make up an excuse to leave the house early. Can't resist him when he shines those green eyes on me and asks if I'd like to help!

We've been fairly busy otherwise, too. Getting ready for a vacation with 13 people is a full-time job, and add getting ready for major surgery and it's no wonder I have no time left at the end of the day! Last week I went to a "Joint Replacement Class" sponsored by the hospital. It's designed to answer our questions, encourage us, and give us a good idea of what we will be going through. We had one hip replacement and three knees. (Sounds funny, doesn't it, but that's how we introduced ourselves-and that was NOT prompted by the class leader!) I got a good idea of anesthesia choices and I think I know what to choose.

Anyway, on to fun things. Gracie has been obsessed with horses almost since birth. I think it's a girl thing. We finally connected with our good friends, Wayne and Connie, and arranged for the three youngest grandkids to ride their horses Saturday morning.

Connie introduced the kids to "Girlie" a gentle 25-year-old mare. It didn't take Gracie long to touch the horse, but it took over 20 minutes to convince her to get on. Sydney got on and rode around for a while just to show her how easy it was, then they tried to get her to ride with Syd, walked the horse over to a flatbed trailer so it would be easier to mount, but finally it was a threat from Mommy, "You came here to ride a horse. If you aren't getting on, we're going home!"

"Noooo, Mommy," she cried, screwed up her courage and got on. Then you should have seen her face! And of course when it was time to go we couldn't get her off!

Sydney was doing so well, Wayne put a bridle on "Smokey" and put him in the round corral. Syd got the hang of handling a horse in a heartbeat and trotted around that corral like he'd been doing it for years.

Then Sam, who wasn't afraid, just not very interested, decided he should ride, too. He loved it!

Wayne and Connie's grandson, Colton, has been on a horse since birth. He'll be 3 in December and is happiest on the horses.

He wasn't too happy to share the horses-there were only two kid's saddles so they had to take turns. That did NOT please him! Here he is with his mom getting a talking to.

Then Gracie got on Smokey with Syd and together they trotted around the corral. It was such a cute sight to watch, four kids that nuts about horses, even with the fit that Colton pitched!

We spent about 2 hours there. I'm sure Connie was exhausted from leading that horse around the yard over, and over, and over....................

Gracie and Sam are making thank you cards to send to the Speakmans. They haven't stopped talking horses since!

After getting kids to their respective homes, cutting Syd's hair, and showering myself we went to a 50th anniversary party for another close couple. That was really nice-they have eight kids and two of the daughters went to culinary school. The food was fabulous, and the tribute to 50 years of devotion and good parenting was touching. The hubby even shed tears when each kid got up and reminisced or joked about their childhood. They still live on the same farm outside Manhattan that they bought back when they started their life together. All three daughters have built houses on the property, and all but 2 of the boys live in the area. One of the boys even married a cousin of Stan's. Talk about full circle!

They held the party on the property, the third event we've attended there. First was their oldest daughter's wedding that I had had the privilege of singing for, then the husband's 60th birthday, then so many years later their 50th.

Oh, and the daughter whose wedding I sang at? Her kids are now grown and married.

Got Me Some Peaches!

2011-09-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

As I was leaving town yesterday, I noticed a fruit stand at the gas station. I called Stan and told him. He went right up and bought a case of Washington peaches. When he got home with them, he promptly devoured two. When I got home from work, I made peach cobbler, and today sometime I will probably do some freezer jam. I used this recipe from my cooking blog. I pretty much made it the same way, except I used less water since peaches have enough juice, and I used a mixture of sorghum, tapioca and potato starch for the flour. After he gets the applesauce (from our own tree) going, Stan will process 7 quarts of peaches just for eating this winter. The cobbler was so good, I had to have some for breakfast!

Just look at that ice cream melting into the sweet peaches!

Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go back for more!

I Can't Believe I Did That!!

2011-09-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

Since I have a bit more time, what with the job change and all, I've been doing some sewing for myself. Did a nice caftan out of some fabric I've had since 1987 when I worked at Ben Franklin. About time, eh?

I've also been making tank tops and little light shirts to go over them. The latest is this maroon set.

Instead of using facings, I cut cross-grain strips and bound all the edges, except for the hems. Makes for a nice finish, I think.

I cut the strips at 2 1/4" and folded and pressed them. I sewed them on with a 3/8" seam allowance then trimmed the seams down to 1/4" to reduce bulk. Then I turned the strips to the inside and topstitched into place. Trying to do facings on this stretchy stuff can make for some wonky results. I made one button loop and put a shank button on it-just enough so it wouldn't shift.

This is one of my favorite closures-you're never going to button the whole thing up, so why not just have a little something at the neck?! That's when I discovered this, to my horror!!

As I cut the blouse out, it crossed my mind to make sure the round things weren't (ahem) strategically placed and I thought I had. I guess not......

I guess I can wear it unbuttoned...........

Plane Troubles

2011-09-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

I was sewing yesterday when the daughter-in-law called. She had the foresight to plug her phone number and e-mail address into the Delta itinerary. Well, they called her-my number was messed up somehow and I am sure glad she was on the ball! It seems that Delta has cancelled its 6:20 Sunday morning flight out of Bozeman. They just moved us to the 9:00 flight but that would make us miss our connection in Salt Lake City by 45 minutes-therefore the dominoes would fall and we would be getting into Mazatlan sometime on Monday. Not acceptable for several reasons, the biggest being the three youngsters that couldn't take that much layover time, but also that would leave Dave and Laura all by themselves at the resort with the reservations in my name.

First I called Hotwire-why they didn't e-mail the change to me is a mystery-Expedia always e-mails me right away! The guy on the phone was very nice but he said their "schedule change" people would look into it and get back to me within 24 hours. It's a good thing I didn't wait and called Delta after checking the flights out of Helena, MT and Butte, MT. Both towns are about 65 miles from us and it wouldn't be a terrible hardship to drive there. They both had 6:20 flights with lots of room. (Butte, MT on a Sunday morning? Go figure!!!) It took a lot of effort to get the Delta lady to understand what we needed. I had to repeat several times that all we needed changed was our departure city-nothing else. She kept saying that the other flights were booked up-I said "Of course, we are already booked on them!" She was very nice and was not in India or someplace like that-she was definitely English-speaking. After about 30 minutes with her consulting her supervisor to be sure it would be OK to switch airports we got it done! I waited while she e-mailed me the itinerary. Then I went on the Delta site and corrected my contact information. Whew!!!

Now the plan is to rent a 12 passenger van Saturday afternoon and pick everybody up by 3:00 AM Sunday morning. We'll drive to Butte, turn in our van and fly away. Heck, we can sleep on the plane!!!!

The Delta lady insisted on getting us seats all together on the Butte flight. I told her as long as we were on the same plane we would all be happy, but she insisted. Millie says it's probably a good thing, only family would want to sit with Sam! Of course Gramma would always want to sit with Sam!

Oh, and Hotwire never called back. Guess it's Expedia from now on!

Going For It!

2011-09-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

I had a visit with my knee specialist on Friday. He had received a report from the physical therapist that was pretty grim-the therapy was pretty useless. So-now I get a new knee! They will be calling in a few days to set up a time. My only request was that it be done after October 23, which is when we get back from Mazatlan. The doc agreed-he thought it would be foolish to travel post-surgery, too.

I already have a walker and a toilet seat raiser-compliments of my sister-in-law in Billings. She had her knee done in February so she knows the scoop. We helped bring her home from rehab and I had to pull her off the toilet because she didn't have enough strength to get up on her own. It was kind of funny, but her daughter went right out and bought the seat raiser. Now I have it-LOL!

His only concern is my many allergies. We might have fun controlling my pain without my violently reacting to the meds. They are forewarned and are working on it. I don't want a fiasco like I had with my last surgery-couldn't take the meds because they made me nauseous-something I had to avoid at all costs with that particular surgery. So I spent a long night in excruciating pain. Not this time-we're going to be ahead of it. I hear this surgery HURTS!

I've started exercising in earnest, so my leg muscles are in tiptop shape, hopefully that will help me rehab quickly. Now, between the upcoming trip and getting ready for surgery, I won't have a minute free!

An update-the surgery is scheduled for November 2. First it was scheduled for Oct. 26, but 20 minutes later they called back and said the Dr. was out that week and would I mind waiting a week? I would have rather gotten it over with, but that actually will give me more than a week after we get home from Mazatlan to get ready-clean house, cook and freeze my "safe" foods, etc.

Finally Chickens!

2011-08-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the chicken table runner. I've had the fabric for months, and just about the time I'm ready to start, the customer would bring over more fabric. I had gotten this far before the last drop-off:

She has seat cushions or something made out of the chickens and wanted me to showcase the chickens as much as possible. I did a kind of log cabin style block-she said her curtains are red and white ticking stripe so I finished with the red. The stripes are made with the bag of scraps she dropped off.

Then she dropped off this cute fabric-saying maybe I could use it for backing:

It's chicken wire print on white background. Too cute to put on the back. Instead I decided to make eggs to go with the chickens:

I stacked fusible interfacing with the fabric and cut out eggs. I pinned them together, fusible side to the front of the fabric, and sewed all around. (Don't leave a space for turning) Make a slit in the interfacing and turn through the slit. Use a point turner or knitting needle to turn it as well as you can-DON'T PRESS! Place on your quilt where you want it and carefully fuse into place.

Then using your blanket stitch on your sewing machine, stitch around the eggs:

I goofed when I put it together to quilt. I didn't cut the backing large enough-should be somewhat larger than the top because the quilting will draw it up. Consequently when it came time to bind it, I almost didn't have enough. I had to give up about 3/8" of the red that I really wanted to keep. It was kind of a skimp!

A good seamstress's best skill is faking it so that's what I did! I used the chicken wire fabric for the binding.

Finished chickens-finally!

I backed it with muslin-a much better choice than hiding that cute chicken wire stuff, I think! Now I just have to take the time to drop it off at the customer's house.

Happening Right Now

2011-08-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

I almost caught the lightening arcing across the sky. Then the sky opened up and it's raining cats and dogs.

Nice Reunion

2011-08-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend Stan's high school class celebrated their 50th reunion. Hard to believe it's been that long! It was a lovely time, starting with a nice buffet dinner on Friday night, breakfast at the school's new atrium Saturday morning, then a drive to Gates of the Mountains-a place along the Missouri River where the mountains close in and form a "gate." They give guided tours on boats. Good trip, even though we had to drive about 90 miles to get there. Then we met at a classmate's home for a burger fry. Gave us lots more time to gab and gab. Stan reconnected with his best friend from high school, Howie, and they are plotting fishing trips for the fall when Howie comes back to help his brother with the potato harvest.

It was great to see Howie-his wife passed away in January, and it's been pretty rough for him. He almost didn't come, but he told us he's glad he did. He's a retired school administrator who can't be idle, hence the potato harvesting. It'll be super for Stan to get together with him again!

A few people who didn't graduate with the class were there, and it was good for them, too. It's funny how 50 years can strip away all the pretenses and we can just relax and enjoy each other. All the spouses had a good time, too. They made us really feel like part of the group.

This isn't all of them, but there was a nice showing. They've only lost two-pretty good for folks pushing 70!

A Small Change

2011-08-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

I know I promised chickens, but I worked a 5-day stretch so haven't had time to finish it up. Tomorrow maybe. Anyway, I wanted to share my news. A couple of weeks ago, our church secretary announced she was quitting to go full-time at her other job. When I saw the announcement, I decided to give it to God for a week or so to see if I should apply. A little background-I had that job before this gal did. I was always sorry I had left. The job I went to was way too stressful and even though it was a ministry as well, I never felt like I was really making a difference.

I am a deacon in the church and was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being secretary also, but my three-year term is up in December. I finally shot off a resume to the Council president, sharing my misgivings about what people would think. Last night we had a special Council meeting to select a new secretary. There were three applicants. I announced that I wouldn't be a part in the selection process and left the room. As I left, I told them not to worry about my feelings, just do what God wanted them to do. I went into the office and prayed over the proceedings. I didn't pray that I would get the job, only that God would put the right name in their hearts, whoever that may be. Stan, who is also on the Council, told them he also wouldn't be voting-too close for comfort. We did everything we could to keep it ethical and above board.

Long story short, they voted to hire me. I am very happy about it, and the pastor has told me to be sure to do what I need to the office. Actually I had been thinking of some things for a while-a lot of groups use that small office and it could be refitted to accommodate more things, such as when the deacons count their money. Right now we count it standing up, around a tiny desk. We could get rid of two desks and put in a small table that would work much better. It will be fun doing that, and the pastor suggested a paint job would be a good idea, too. Nice!

I will be staying on at Macy's but on a flex status. I will log into the database on Sunday mornings and pick up a couple of shifts for the next week that will work around the 12 hours at the church. Things fell into place so well I can't help but think God is in this.

There is a sad part. One of the women that was not hired is now causing an uproar on Facebook because she and her family think it's unethical for me to have the job. Most of her children have said things that Christians shouldn't say. Makes me really sad-we were friends. And Stan and I both worked really hard to keep things above reproach.

I'm just giving it to God and hoping that they will see what they are doing. I know I have the backing of the Council and feel that I am not wrong at all. I am going to work very hard to not get into any kind of row with them and only be discreet and loving. Say a little prayer for me that this can be healed.

It's Curtains!

2011-07-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Got a call from a desperate lady last week. Her daughter bought some drapes but they didn't fit in her new house. She got my name from a local fabric store and called me. I picked them up on my way home and Monday I got to work. The first one was easy. It was a big panel that she wanted split into two, shortened and a rod pocket on the bottom. The second one not so much! Actually the second two. She had two valances the same width, but wanted me to cut some off each end of one and sew those ends to the other valance. It wouldn't have been too bad, but they were pleated and lined, and the hem was scalloped and had cording! So today I tackled them.

Which meant that I had to take the two side pieces off, open both edges and switch them to opposite sides of the "big" swag so the curve would match up.

After joining and refinishing the pieces I had to press like crazy to make it look professional again.

I don't think I could have gotten a closer fit on the cording without ripping the whole works out and putting in new cording-not really an option. There was a bit of fabric that I had cut off the big curtain, but not enough for cording especially since cording should be cut on the bias.

The other curtain took a little over an hour, but the job today took three. When I called the lady she was very relieved I had them finished before her daughter arrived and said she hadn't told her yet that she farmed the work out to someone else.

Next time I hope to show you the chicken table runner. I've been working on it for some time and I'm ready for the owner to take it home. She dropped off some last-minute fabric a few weeks back and I have made her a little surprise. Hope she likes it!

Now That Was Work!

2011-07-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last 2 hours on the computer looking for and booking flights to Mazatlan. That was a job! First I found the itinerary I wanted on Priceline, and when I went to book they doubled the price. Forget that! Then I went to Hotwire and got the times and price I wanted, but of course you can only book 6 at a time, so I had to do 2 installments, actually 3 because while 11 of us fly from Bozeman, Dave and Laura will fly from Austin, and Hotwire was no help with that, so their tickets come from Expedia.

I think my credit card is a bit warm from use right now, but I got it done. Dave and Laura will be there a couple hours sooner than us, but I'll get them on an earlier shuttle and inform the resort of the earlier arrival. They can walk the beach til we get there.

Just 2 1/2 months and we'll be back in that great place!

Millie walking the beach on Stone Island

Going Again!

2011-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just booked our timeshare for October. This is going to be a hoot! We have our entire family-kids, grandkids, in-laws and an auntie, basking in the Mazatlan sunshine. Gonna be so much fun!

Now if I can find decent flights for everybody-one comes from Billings (not a problem-she can drive over and stay with us) and two are coming from Austin, TX.

A Purse

2011-07-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

I just listed a purse in my shop. I bought one of those designer handbags from work, one of the ones that was supposed to be so handy. I just don't like it-if you put all your stuff in it, it bounces off your body just like a basketball. So I made a new one for myself and a spare for my shop.

I can't wait to use my bag to carry my "work stuff." My old designer bag didn't even have space to tuck your water bottle, or a snack. This one is extremely roomy. Check it out!

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Niiiice!

2011-06-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

Had my physical a couple of weeks ago. I asked my doc about my knee, it has been hurting a lot since I moved to the linens department and have to climb a lot of stairs to the stockroom. She ordered x-rays and I find out that I have severe arthritis in the knee and will most likely have to have it replaced soon. Rats!! I just thought that when I fell last year I had a chunk of cartilage or bone that was getting in the way and a simple arthroscopic surgery would fix me right up. I guess that's what I get for thinking........

They are going to move me to a different department at work, but that might take time for an opening to show up, so the supervisor told me to keep my trips upstairs to a minimum. That's easier said than done, only one or two people know the stock as well as I do and it would be a worse pain to try to give someone directions to find something up there. I'll try to be a good girl anyway!

The rest of me is in good shape-mammogram, blood workup, etc. I have a bone density test on Tuesday-probably won't get off Scot free on that one-a person is bound to lose a bit of bone as one ages. I don't like this aging thing, not one bit!

First Fruits

2011-06-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Stan picked our first official batch of strawberries today. Just enough to slice, sugar, and devour over ice cream.

They were delicious! (Key word: were!)

Got a Bit of Sewing Done

2011-06-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

Got a few things done. I have 5 days in a row off, but they are filling up fast so I don't know how much more I'm going to get done, but I'm going to try! I really want to make a new purse. I bought some cool heavyweight fabrics at Hancock Fabrics and I'm itching to turn them into a purse or two-if I get really ambitious I might make a couple extra and put them in my Etsy shop. I got some nice top and blouse fabrics at Hancock too:

The bottom one is woven polyester, the other three are knits. Can't wait to turn them into tops, but I have other things ahead of them, too bad!

About 30 years ago, Stan's sis Irene bought some black polyester velveteen. She stuck it in a drawer and didn't make anything out of it. A few years ago her stepdaughter Lisa was visiting and volunteered to make her something out of it. Lisa is an accomplished seamstress who specializes in wedding dresses. She turned the velveteen into a lovely suit. Irene loved the suit-has worn it to a couple of funerals and other functions, but she never liked the dress's short sleeves-they really made her arms feel bound up, what with all that velveteen in the dress and the jacket. A few weeks ago she asked if I could take the sleeves off. I said, "Sure!" and have done that.

She wondered if I could make pockets for the jacket out of the dress sleeves. That worked out pretty well.

I decided to hand-sew the pockets in, because I thought topstitching would make it look homemade and not well done. I used a kind of back stitch to do it and I think it will be good and strong. Now she has someplace for her hanky!

Lisa made gussets in the underarms so I'm anxious to see if the armholes are all right. You need more fabric if you have sleeves than if you don't. I'll make her try it on first-she said she's not going to wear it without the jacket anyway so it may be just fine. If not I can take it in a bit. I didn't realize how much fuzz and lint was on this thing until I took the photos. Better get my lint roller out!

It was fun to look inside a garment just to see how another seamstress does things. Lisa is very good at what she does.

Then a young man and wife from our church asked if I could shorten a dress for her. She is a tiny person, but the dress is REALLY tiny! Cute, though, and it will look darling on her.

Work Clothes

2011-06-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to whip up a blouse for work. It is so blasted hot in my department that I am trying to gather some lightweight short sleeved tops to wear. I had seen this pattern made by Lisa on Polka Dot Cottage.

I wanted sleeves, though, but I didn't care for any of the sleeves on the pattern. I did some measuring and used the sleeve pattern from this one.

I have altered the t-shirt pattern to suit my fitting needs-it bears little resemblance to the original pattern. It didn't go quite as I hoped, the first sleeve bunched up and I had a big pleat right at the top of the shoulder-grrrrr! Resisting the urge to throw it, I ripped out the serging and redid it, basting the part that had pleated. It went in smoothly the second time, thank goodness! The other sleeve did fine, since I was super careful to watch. The shapes weren't quite compatible but it worked out okay. Now I have another top to wear to work!

This actually looks better on me that it does on Alice, tee hee!

Meet Alice

2011-06-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip today. For a while now, I've been thinking I needed a dress form. I checked out my local fabric store, which shall remain nameless because they always disappoint me. They wanted my whole paycheck plus my firstborn child for the forms they carry, besides the fact that they had only smalls in stock. Those of you who know me know I haven't been a small since I WAS small!

On to the Internet and my favorite fabric store-Hancock Fabric. Yes they carry nice forms and only want $99.99 for them. I found the phone number of the Billings store and called them. They had a medium in stock and put it on hold for me. In the meantime Stan got his Harbor Freight ad in the mail and was itching to go to Billings anyway.

We left about 10:00 and met our sisters for a Mexican lunch, then headed out shopping-first at Big Lots where I scored a good deal on a Bissell Spot Shot, then to Harbor Freight where Stan got a ton of guy-type doodads and a big rollaround tool chest. Then we hit Hancock and got my form, plus some lovely fabrics for tops and some duck cloth to make a couple of bags. Our last store was Kohl's to check out the competition, since they're building a store in Bozeman right across from the mall and Macy's.

A potty break and coffee to go and we were back home again by 8:35. The dogs were naughty on my living room rug, so the spot shot is charging and I get to spot clean some carpet in the morning, grrrrr!

The form is blue, so I have christened her "Alice" after the song, "My Sweet Little Alice-Blue Gown."

Now I can show photos of my creations on a form instead of on a flat old hanger. Next time I'll drape Alice with something so we don't see her naked blueness through the sheer fabric!

Resurrection

2011-06-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Thirty some years ago, the neighbor across the street stopped by. She and her sister were going to get some lilac suckers to plant in their yard and they wondered if I wanted one. I said sure and they went on their way. About three weeks later the husband came over with a sheepish grin and a bucket with a dead-looking twig in it. "Sorry," he said, "We totally forgot about this and it's been dry for a couple of weeks." I told him I'd take it anyway, and planted it because even if it never grew, it didn't cost anything to plant it.

Now look at that dead thing!

Sometimes it pays to take a leap of faith!

There's a rain drop on the lens in the first picture-the rain won't stop and the whole area is flooding. We're OK where we're at, but I feel sorry for the people who live nearer the rivers and streams, especially those in Roundup, MT. We took a drive on the back highway last night and the East Gallatin river is all over the place.

I wish we could just tell the rain to go south to cool down Texas and Arizona's terrible heat spell. Maybe if we all yell at it together, hehe!

We did have about two days of sunshine and Merlin took full advantage of it.

Is It Really Summer?

2011-06-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely beautiful-it got all the way up to 70. We planted the garden and just enjoyed the day. I did some baking-not too hot for that, thankfully, and barbecued. I have to show you our trees. They are breathtaking this year. Right now we have 3 lilacs, one pink crab, one white crab and a chokecherry bursting with blooms and perfuming the air.

It feels like a fragrant park in our yard right now. Soon our Spirea and peonies will open up. In the back I have two beds full of day lilies and irises. There are two lilacs back there, too, that are doing their fragrant thing.

Every photogenic beauty has to have a close-up, right?

And the cedar waxwings are still pruning the old apples out of the pink crab. They are so darn cute!

Tomorrow is supposed to get to the 80's but then it's going to get cold again. I love summertime in Montana but all this chilly weather and especially that icy wind really makes me miss Mazatlan. Oh well, we had today.....

Stuff

2011-06-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

First I want to say "Happy Birthday" to Gramma Liz. We lost her two months ago, and today she would have been 95. SIL Norma went to Washington to visit her kids-a planned trip, but a good thing to do to keep herself occupied so she doesn't have to think about the day quite so much. Don't know how Stan is-he is definitely a man of few words. When we got married, Gramma Liz warned me that he was and she was certainly right!

OK, life goes on and Gram would want it that way. I really have been sewing-for myself and for others as well. I started this project as a topper to wear to work, since we have to wear black.

I decided it was too sheer to make buttonholes, so I made loops. After thinking for a while, and not finding anything suitable in my massive stash, I hauled out the crochet hook and black thread from my mom's stash. I have used a ton of her things-glad I held on to them!

I made a self-fabric binding for the front and the neck. The front I cut across the grain, and the neck binding I cut on the diagonal to accomodate the curves.

The neck ruffle before gathering.

The ruffle in place. I made a tube, finishing the ends, and left a small gap to turn it. Then I gathered it down the middle and topstitched it in place at the neck. I thought about hand stitching, but I thought the topstitching would make it a bit more stable since you really can't interface the thing.

In all its glory. I REALLY need a dressmaker's dummy. I think I'm going to invest in one soon since I'm working so much-gotta get something I want out of it.

Just did three buttons. I had a terrible time getting my camera to focus, even on auto. I think it was because of the sheerness of the fabric.

Finished with a rolled hem. Love that finish and it's much easier than you would think. I got the instructions from an old Threads magazine.

After all was said and done, it's too dressy to wear to work! I would trash it working in my department. So now I have a lovely topper to wear to Macy's special events.

I did some sewing for customers yesterday-I'll try to get those up in the next day or so.

Still Here...........

2011-05-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA for a bit-other bloggers are starting to wonder what happened to me. A nice feeling, knowing that I'm missed. Mostly it's just been work, work, work. And a good amount of time going to tee ball games. Gracie plays on the rookies, Sam and Syd play tee ball, on different teams. In the same town, thank goodness! Sometimes Stan goes to one game and I go to the other one. Then after our kid has batted twice, we hop in our cars and switch fields. Fortunately the fields aren't that far apart-two are three blocks away and the other one is about ten away from the first two.

I've been knitting a bit, sewing a bit, cooking some, and not getting any gardening done. This week was supposed to be the first week in my new hours classification (20-30 hours) but I ended up working today which brings me to 5 days this week. That's still better than two weeks ago when I worked six days! I'm getting too old for that.

They hired a bunch of flex people who are supposed to go in and pick up all the extra hours. We'll see if I can keep my hours down now. I need work clothes but I'm working too much to make them. I can't find anything at the store that fits my bottom-heavy body to my satisfaction so I really need to sew. I also have a couple of orders to finish-one alteration and a table runner to sew and quilt.

Here are a couple of pictures of my little athletes:

Three cute, enthusiastic future baseball greats. Or at least they hope so!

They had opening ceremonies where they introduced all the teams, had a real person sing the National Anthem, and someone threw out the first pitch. My guys are in there somewhere!

And Sydney lost a tooth today!

This Easter

2011-04-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

All in all, it was a good weekend. Yesterday we watched the three little kids hunt for Easter eggs-in the snow of course!

The kids got to sit in the fire truck and ambulance after the hunt, and got to pet a chicken at the petting zoo set up in the park.

Thanks very much to the 4H groups, the Manhattan American Legion, and the Manhattan volunteer fire department. They have really made this a huge success for many years! There are bigger hunts in Bozeman-a megachurch holds one on the university campus with 50,000 eggs, but can you imagine the traffic problems? We could have walked to the one in Manhattan if we wanted to.

It actually turned out to be a fairly warm day. The sun came out and melted away the snow. Today was even more beautiful and it got all the way up to 60F. The first day of the year (except when I was in Mazatlan) that I never put a coat on all day.

Today we had a wonderful church service, then went to our oldest son's house for ham dinner. It was a relaxing day with the guys gathered in the living room talking, the little kids playing outside, and the daughter-in-law and I chatting in the kitchen. At one point, Isaac decided to try to get some little rubber darts out of the patio door-they had gotten stuck there yesterday-and all the men jumped up and started hunting up tools and things to fish the darts out with. Steve finally got them out, but DIL and I decided that the testosterone level in the room went up 20 points when the guys realized there was something to tinker with!

There were a few misty moments thinking of Gram and missing other family members, but God was faithful in keeping us going on a good/tough day.

It's a Rule!!

2011-04-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

In Montana it's the rule that you must have snow on Easter. It doesn't matter if Easter is early or late, there will be snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

Everybody is getting a little crabby around here. Thursday night we were hit with ANOTHER blizzard. People are talking about moving somewhere warmer. Our racks of summer clothes at the store are still full and look mighty lonely. They even moved them closer to the restrooms so people could see them as they pass by, but when you have to slog through six inches of freezing slush, shorts and cute little tops are the last thing on your mind. I am totally convinced that if Easter were in July, it would still snow!

It does make for a pretty sunrise picture, but I could do with a summer type of sunrise.

We've had a bunch of stressful things hit our family lately-some I can talk about, some I can't. But all the stressors make me want to fly away to Mazatlan and forget about everything!

Anyway, have a blessed Easter, and remember that He loved us enough to die for us.

Knitted Easter Egg Pattern

2011-04-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is my creation. I think it turned out pretty well-it's been fun cranking them out.

Easter Egg Pattern

Materials: Bits of leftover knitting worsted, about an ounce. The variegated is the most fun, especially the self-striping yarns.

Set of double pointed knitting needles size 6 US.
Large darning needle

Cast on 8 stitches, divide on 3 needles (3 stitches, 2 stitches, and 3 stitches).
Row 1: Knit around.
Row 2: Knit 1, (inc. in stitch below next stitch, K 2) around, K1 (See increase instructions at the end of this post.) (11 sts)
Row 3: Knit around.
Row 4: K 1 (inc. 1, K 2) around. (16 sts)
Row 5: Knit around.
Row 6: K 1 (inc. 1, K 3) around. (21 sts)
Row 7: Knit around.
Row 8: K 1 (inc. 1, K 4) around. (26 sts)
Row 9: Knit around.
Row 10: K 2 (inc. 1, K 4) around. (32 sts)

Rows 11-24: Knit around.

Row 25: K 2 (K 2 tog, K 4) around. (27 sts)
Rows 26-28: Knit around.

Row 29: K 2 (K 2 tog, K4) around, K 1. (23 sts)
Rows 30-32: Knit around.

Row 33: K2 (K 2 tog, K 4) around, K 2 tog, K 1 (19 sts)
Rows 34-36: Knit around.

Row 37: K 1, (K 2 tog) around. (10 sts)
Row 38: K 2 tog around.

Cut yarn, leaving about 8", thread yarn needle and run through remaining stitches on needles. Pull tightly, run needle through the end carefully so you don't see the threads on the outside, bury thread tail and cut.

Bury thread at the bottom end, but leave egg open if you are going to fill it. You could stuff it with cotton or fiberfill and sew up the end if you wanted to, but I filled mine with Robin Eggs and those little wrapped chocolate eggs.

Increase Instructions

Insert needle into the stitch BELOW the next stitch.

Then yarn over and pull through that stitch. You now have a new stitch on your right needle.

Knit the next stitch as usual. That would count as the next stitch in the sequence.

I'm trying to get 10 done-I'm on 8 1/2 as of today, so I have to keep moving on them. All my kids-big and little are getting these for Easter.

Catching Up

2011-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, what a week! We said our final goodbyes to Gram on Thursday and it was a great service with lots of hugs and expressions of love from friends and family. Stan sang three songs, and they were all amazing. The neighbor, who we didn't even realize had been at the service, came over yesterday and told Stan what a wonderful voice he had. All the songs were ones that Gram had held dear-"How Great Thou Art," "In the Garden," and "There's a New Name Written Down in Glory."

Afterward we asked the people at the senior center if we could do an impromptu dinner for the extended family and they said an enthusiastic yes. We loaded up on Costco rotisserie chickens and a bunch of salads and gathered there to honor the great lady one more time. She would have loved watching all the commotion, especially the noisy great-grandchildren that were everywhere!

We made sure that the two uncles that are left were invited, as well as a couple of cousins. There was an empty place at the table, but I am sure glad we made that connection with each other.

Stan's two sisters with Uncle Bert, Gram's youngest brother. This has been really hard on him, he and Gram were very close.

Now on with regular life, and all it has for me to deal with. Gotta pick up our taxes today, had the dogs to the vet this morning for their yearly, and am leaving to get an oil change in an hour or so. I have an eye appointment in two weeks, and have to schedule a physical soon as well. My sis and I had a long talk last night. She is on SSI and Medicaid and I have been managing a special needs trust for her from money our mom left us. She has a hard time grasping things and loves to spend money, so I had the job of explaining to her that if she continued this way for much longer there wouldn't be anything left for her old age. The broker had to transfer some money to cover her "purchases," and now wants to know where to go from here. She could just spend it all down, it's not a fortune, but if she did she would be right back to square one with only her disability for income. It was hard for her to take, she needs to think on it for a while. I need to arrange to get power of attorney soon, because I fear she won't be able to make some of these decisions for herself before long.

She has TWO storage units loaded with stuff she has bought and probably will never need. She is definitely a hoarder and needs my direction. She got the second unit when I threatened to drive over and clean out her house. She lives 60 miles from here so sometimes it's hard to keep tabs on her. I think there will still be a major clean-out with a massive garage sale-what the heck does a single person who doesn't even drive need with two storage units? All stuff I will have to deal with soon. Didn't sign on to be my sister's caretaker, but I think that's the way things are going to be.

Okay, hopefully tomorrow I will have a pattern ready to publish. I designed a knitted Easter egg, one you could stuff with Robin Eggs or little chocolate ones. If I stay on track I might have that ready! Then back to the trip. I need a walk down memory lane to keep the trip fresh in my mind.

Rest in Peace, Sweet Gramma

2011-04-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

Gramma Liz joined her husband in that beautiful place called Heaven today. She fought the hard fight and is now basking in Jesus' love. Can't help but think there was a huge celebration up there this morning. When Millie told Gracie that Gramma Liz had passed, Gracie excitedly said, "Oh goodie, now she can tell Gramma Pat all about me!"

We'll miss ya, girl, but I know you're no longer frail, blind or depressed. Have a blast dancing with the angels! I have an image in my mind, that just like in Henry Van Dyk's poem, just as you left our sight, someone on the other side shouted, "Here she comes!"

Eventually....

2011-03-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Eventually I'll get back to writing about our trip, but we've been tied up with Gramma this week. We spent the night with her last night, and another sister-in-law will be there all this week. Then after that we'll have to figure out who can stay for the next go-round.

She doesn't sleep much, and rambles on and on about things from 20 or more years ago. She doesn't remember me. She said, "I love you!" "I don't know who you are, but I love you anyway!" She called for my father-in-law, gone for twenty years, and today she told me she was fishing and caught a whole bunch of fish. Later she told my sister-in-law that we had to do something with the fish in the garage so they wouldn't spoil. A friend who has done a lot of care alongside Hospice told me this is all very typical. It's kind of like she's rewinding her life.

She loves it when I read Scripture to her. Her favorite verse is John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." She's got one foot in heaven and is waiting to get the rest of herself there soon. One time during the night, I was sitting by her bed and she asked me who those people were behind me. Dreams? Hallucinations? Angels, waiting for the signal to take her home?

This really is a privilege to sit with her while she makes the transition. Just think, she gets to see Heaven soon!

Henry van Dyk, an inspirational poet from the late 1800's wrote this. This is what it feels like watching her make the journey:

A Parable of Immortality
by Henry van Dyke

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!'
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes!',
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
'Here she comes!'

We're Back!

2011-03-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

We're home safe and sound, and had a fantastic time. Jim and Millie are ready to move there, and since I want to also, it seems right somehow!

I'll try to show you day by day what we did. First day, after getting up at dark:30 in the morning we boarded a 6:00 plane in Belgrade. We transferred in Minneapolis (I know, huh!?) and flew directly from there to Mazatlan. I will say all our flights went smoothly-they left a bit late but arrived early. So we were in Mazatlan by noon. When we touched down, the entire plane erupted into applause. They were ready for spring break!

We managed to miss the gauntlet of timeshare salespeople on our way out of customs, and went directly to our shuttle pick-up spot.

Then on to the resort for check-in, lunch and that important first walk on the beach.

That smile says it all!

We stayed at the resort for the rest of the day. We took in happy hour, amazing Imperial Shrimp at the resort restaurant and a wonderful sunset.

We did come home to some bad news. Gramma fell twice on Wednesday, and now is bedridden. She has to have a family member stay with her 24 hours a day, and the doctor says it's just a matter of time. I know at 94 it's expected, but it still makes us sad.

Spring!

2011-03-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

The wind is blowing, the sky is blue. The snow is gone, a farmer on his four-wheeler just ran through the subdivision to his other fields, and the teens across the street are playing basketball in the driveway. I have the windows open, even if it's only 54 degrees, and I can hear my wind chimes singing. Tomorrow it might snow and there is always a chance for really cold temps, but for now we have springtime in the Rockies.

This will play out until late April when things really do start greening and growing. But this is what we get here for now-the hope for something better.

My Shop

2011-03-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

I usually don't remember, but this time I did put my Etsy shop on vacation mode, hence the blank on my sidebar where it usually shows up. Now I just have to remember to take it OFF vacation mode!

Since I forgot my list the other day, today I have to make that dreaded Walmart run. Gonna stop by Gram's apartment too. She has started declining a bit-the pain from the cancer has increased quite a bit and she's having more trouble breathing, so we put her on Hospice care yesterday. Now I'm shaky about leaving her, but she really isn't in a life crisis yet, so I think it will still be OK to go. Brother and sis in law are coming from Helena today, too, so I want to be there when they are. We have been invited by the church youth group to a Senior dinner tonight-I have my doubts that Gram will be going now, which is too bad because she was really looking forward to it.

Thanks, New Friends!

2011-03-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks to some new friends in Mazatlan, all my DIL's fears and questions were answered and she is happily anticipating our trip. I can't believe the kindness of people I have never met. And they tell me that most people who live in Mazatlan are this way. I love that place!

Tick tock-five days! If I just didn't have to get up at 3:30 AM to catch our flight! I always say I'll sleep on the plane but I never do. Nap? Maybe-if it doesn't interfere with my fun!

I'm Getting Noticed!

2011-03-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

In the last two days I have gotten e-mails from two different health websites that have posted links to this blog and my cooking blog. How flattering! They want me to post links to their sites, and I will carefully consider it for a few days.

In the meantime, preparations continue for the Mazatlan trip. Today the suitcases come out. Since the guest room is full of people, I'll set up a small table in the office for the bags. I can pack the backpack for "La Vina" right away, but I think some of the spiral notebooks will make it to the big suitcase because it might make the backpack too heavy.

We have a small concern. My daughter-in-law's mother is panicking over the news reports of violence in Mazatlan. She is begging them to reconsider their trip, to the point of offering to pay the difference for changing their plane tickets to someplace "safer." I know things aren't perfect there, but we know the area and know where and where not to go. We would never put our children in jeopardy, and I think we will have a grand time there and come home safely. People still go to Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, etc. even though there are VERY unsafe places in those cities that a person should avoid.

The resort is gated with 24 hour guards, and we are never out and about past 10:00, although I have seen some people arrive back at the resort (noisily) in the wee hours safe and sound. Not for me, but I fall asleep in front of the TV at 8:30-no party girl here!

Prayers for our trip are solicited-from safety, to plane connections, to avoiding the dreaded time-share salespeople.

Something Else I Hope to Do

2011-02-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

As we play, sun and recreate in the beautiful place called Mazatlan, there is always something tugging at my heart. The poorest of the poor. Mazatlan has the poor just like any other place, and I have been researching the ministries of the area to see where we could possible give back to this wonderful city. I found the Vinyard Ministries that operates in the Golden Zone-the tourist area. Here is a video of some of what they do, and a small taste of the extreme poverty of these people.

Three times a week, the group travels out to the dump to bring food and water to the people digging through the garbage in hopes of finding something worth selling. They also have several ministries for the children. I am always finding bargains, and last fall I picked up a couple of bags of school supplies that I thought I would see if they need. I just e-mailed the church and we will see where that goes. If you are interested in finding out more about this ministry their website is here. I hope there is more I can do when I get there-a money donation for sure, but more than that, hopefully.

I wish that I could snap my fingers and everybody in the world would be happy, fed, healthy and have a chance to know Jesus, but I think He wants us to be the workers that make that dream come true!

From Pug to Lab

2011-02-26T09:46:00.000-08:00

The kids found a new dog. It's a Chocolate Lab/Golden Retriever cross. His name is Brody and he's really good to the little kids. That's quite a change from a pug!

Needles are Still Clicking!

2011-02-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've still been knitting. I decided I needed a really wide, long scarf to wind around my head during these nasty cold days. We were in Walmart and I grabbed a couple of skeins of Red Heart (I know, but this one is pretty!).

I started out with this:

But I decided it wasn't wide enough so I ripped it out. This is better:

Then I knitted, and knitted, and....well you know! I ended up with a scarf about 68 inches long. I have test-driven it many times this week and I think it was a good move in my part. My other small fleece scarf just wasn't cutting it. Now I'm starting leg warmers so when I go out and start my car after a closing shift at work my legs won't freeze.

I look a little loopy in this picture, but maybe it was my red nose. I have yet ANOTHER cold!

All I did was cast on a bunch of stitches on #9 (US) needles in a multiple of four, and do a checkerboard pattern-K4, P4; next row P4, K4; repeat for two more rows then reverse the order. It took about 8 ounces of knitting worsted.

Then my friend Lera sent me this pattern she had featured on her blog. When I commented how much I loved it she e-mailed it to me-wasn't that sweet?! I had to make one right away and I'm hooked (literally-it's crocheted). This will go to a certain little girl, but I'm not sure if I'll give it to her now or wait til her birthday in April. I'll be making more.

Isn't it just fetching? Gracie will absolutely love it. It came with instructions for ages newborn to six years so the possibilities are endless!

On a sad note, the fisherman that was lost when his truck went through the ice was found dead a couple of days ago. My prayers are with his family.

Here's an eagle picture hubby took on his last fishing trip:

Oh, and I got sort of a promotion at work. I will be a core associate in the Linens department. The department manager actually approached me about the job, and after thinking about it and being reassured by her that I can get time off for my trips I took it. I got a nice raise and my hours will be set-no Sundays and a mix of day and evenings. I will have a 3-day weekend every other week. Can't believe my luck-plus now I can fatten up my IRA-haven't put much in there for a while.

What's Happening Here

2011-02-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see.... We have a train wreck, a two-day blizzard, and two trucks submerged in Canyon Ferry lake. Just another day in Paradise!

17 cars derailed, with 14 cars completely turned over. It happened at midnight Saturday and by midnight last night they were running again. They had to replace a mile or two of track. They probably worked fast to hurry up and get out of the cold!

And because of a two-week thaw, the ice on Canyon Ferry Lake was getting iffy, but a couple of folks decided to try it anyway, One truck was recovered, one is still at the bottom of the lake, two people were rescued, and one is still missing. The authorities have closed the lake to vehicles, Hubby and his brother are fishing near there, but they wouldn't dream of driving a pickup out on the ice now anyway.

The sun has finally come out, but it was a very frigid weekend. The wind was blowing so hard you couldn't stand up and it brought the wind chill factor down to well below zero. It was almost impossible to keep up with the shoveling.

But this week won't be quite so bad, hopefully. Spring WILL come, even if it happens in July!

Of Course They're Really Family

2011-02-14T21:18:00.000-08:00

A sweet member of my son's family passed away tonight. Their four-year-old Pug, Daisy Mae, died after having seizures for the last week or so. She was surrounded by four weeping children and their very sad parents.

Millie found Daisy on Craigslist a couple of years ago, and couldn't believe her luck since they have always wanted a Pug. Plus she was free. She slid right into place in the family, stealing their hearts and attaching herself firmly to Isaac. When Isaac would get home from school, she would jump into his lap, lean her back against his chest and purr-at least that's just what it sounded like! She was his dog.

Might not ever find out what caused her seizures and death, but there is sure an open spot in the family tonight.

Wine With Ice Cubes

2011-02-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

Myrna was a sweet, slightly odd little lady. She was brought here from California in the late 70's by her retired military husband. He passed away, and she finished raising their two daughters. By the time she was widowed, there was no one left in California and she loved it here, so she stayed.

She tended bar, she waited tables, she did whatever it took to supplement her husband's military pension. Along the way she gained many, many friends. I first got to know her when she was managing the local American Legion club and I waitressed at a small cafe she frequented. We immediately clicked and had the best conversations.

Years went by-in 2002 she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Miraculously, even though the cancer was bad, she went into remission and recovered. She took up her routine again, by this time she was waitressing at a small restaurant by day, and helping out at a couple of bars at night. Most evenings you could find her at Sir Scott's Oasis, sitting at the bar, sipping red wine with ice cubes in it, and helping out a bit here and there. Her youngest daughter waitressed there and I think she was glad her mom was close by so she could keep an eye on her.

She loved to go to funerals. She knew people from Three Forks to Livingston and thought nothing of driving 50-60 miles to attend the funeral of someone she had known. She preferred to go by herself-she told me she wanted to be able to come and go as she wanted, not relying on her ride to dictate when and where. At the restaurant she worked at during the day, she set herself up at the end of the counter with her coffee and newspapers. She would sit and visit with whoever was seated next to her, periodically getting up to make milkshakes, clear tables, and pour coffee. The funny part about her job there was that she had quit in 2000 but still showed up every day, helping out the waitresses totally without pay. She rarely even accepted a tip, only when one of the waitresses would insist on it. She just needed something to do. When she felt her job was finished, she would gather up her papers, catalogs, and her fuzzy scarf and slip quietly out of the cafe. We joked that she was just a little angel, slipping in and out as was needed. She discovered those rocker-soled shoes, the ones that are supposed to slim your legs, and collected several pairs. Pretty soon that was all she wore, tottering around town spreading her own quiet brand of warmth.

Around the first of November, she had a disagreement with the cafe owner and quit showing up. I started losing track of her-sometimes I would see her green Honda parked in front of the local convenience store. She would buy a coffee and sit at the Subway, visiting with anyone who happened by. I joined her a few times, but then her trips there became rather infrequent. Then I really lost track when I went to work again. I kept looking for that Honda but to no avail.

On Christmas Eve day, I was in the local grocery store. I heard my name called and when I turned it was Myrna's younger daughter Michelle. She told me her mom had had surgery two weeks before and had just gotten home from the hospital. She said Myrna wanted to talk to me and gave me her phone number. I went right home and called her. Neither said the "C" word, neither talked about a prognosis, but in my heart I knew we were going to lose her. She asked me not to visit quite yet-she got too tired and wanted to regain her strength.

Time rolled by-6 weeks came and went like lightening. I kept thinking of her and looking for her car, hoping she had recovered enough to get out and about. The grapevine said she was dying. I decided that next week I was going to ignore her no-visit request and go see her.

Yesterday morning I opened the paper and there was her obituary. She had died 5 days before and few of us knew. Tears blinded me, and I sat there thinking about my loss-our loss. A town's loss. The loss of a gentle spirit who never asked for acclaim, never craved the spotlight. An extremely private person. She was just Myrna. Myrna with her wine and her shoes and her fuzzy scarf-laughing at something somebody said. Listening to all the stories, not judging-just listening. She was mom to countless young people who didn't have loving parents, but they knew they could count on Myrna to listen.

There's a great big hole here in Manhattan, Montana now. I know she loved her Jesus and she is with Him now, but doggone it-we weren't finished with her yet.

Get the coffee on, Myrna-I'll take the stool next to yours someday.

Happy Fisherman

2011-02-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

One benefit of the cold weather is a nice thick layer of ice on the lakes. Stan was able to go fishing three times this week, and pulled in quite a catch. He went twice with a young man from church, and once with his best friend. Saturday he and his friend were extremely late because they almost had their limits and were trying for just that one last fish.

He loves nothing better than to stand out on a frozen lake waiting for the poles to bounce.

What the........

2011-02-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

Manhattan, Montana today:

Mazatlan, Mexico, at the same time:

Just what gives? I saw a physicist on the news yesterday who said the mild winters in the north, all the snow in the east, and the cold temps in Mexico are because of global warming. Something about air currents meeting moisture and putting cold air where there usually isn't any and warm air where it's usually cold. OK.

The problem for the poor people in the south is they don't have heaters, maybe not even windows or doors. I have all that, just a cranky hot water heater that won't put out hot water when the boiler is busy heating the house. (Our heat and hot water come from the same boiler)

Mexico Dreamin'

2011-02-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Very excited that it might get up to 30 F today, but for right now:

Hubs went ice fishing with a young man from church-hope they enjoy the day and catch lots of trout. I'm not wild about trout, neither is Stan, but he cleans them, sticks them in the freezer, and when he has a lot, he brines and smokes them. Then he gives them away. Don't like them smoked, either! I'm just waiting for Mahi Mahi and fresh shrimp. In the meantime I'll eat a lot of good Montana beef.

My Shop

2011-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

I've been knitting again! I love making these hats, but they are sure hard on my old arthritic fingers! Doesn't stop me from making them, though!

A Bit of Fun Knitting

2011-01-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

If you haven't read Jenn's account of her mother-in-law's house fire, I recommend it-a heart rending story. Jenn had seen my post about all my sock knitting and asked if I would make her MIL's Yorkie a new sweater since his was lost in the fire. Dog sweaters are something I haven't attempted because Westies are hot little dogs, even after a close haircut. I looked up a pattern, made the extra small size and sent it off to her. I didn't feel that it was small enough-so far Jenn hasn't complained-so I tried it again, with pink veriegated yarn and smaller needles. My thought was to make the small size and give it to my oldest son for their Pug, Daisy. I think it's still a bit on the big size so I tried it on my Westie, Chloe. She likes wearing it, but boy she would get hot. I tried it on Merlin but he got really wound up and I had a heck of a time getting his legs through those little leg holes!

She really thinks she's hot stuff! Like I said, I'd let her keep it but I'm afraid she'd get too hot. Merlin was pouting at this point but he got over it when I tried to put the sweater on him. I think I'll still try it on Daisy, that poor thing shivers all the time.

BTW-right now it's 0 Fahrenheit, with blowing snow. I think I want to wear Chloe's sweater. My trip to Mazatlan can't come soon enough to suit me!

And They Say Mexico Isn't Safe!

2011-01-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, several people had their houses and cars broken into, including our son's car. Then last night 75 homes were either robbed or the attempt was made. I think ours was missed this time, but maybe we just haven't discovered what was missing yet. Here is the article from our local news station.

It cracks me up, because people think we're crazy for going to Mexico, because "it's so dangerous!" We live in a town of 1500 people and 75 houses were hit last night.... Not to mention the Highway Patrol officer who was gunned down just 10 miles from here about a month ago. Now just where is the danger?

Spanish

2011-01-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

My hubby gave me the Spanish version of the Rosetta Stone for Christmas 2009. What with all those people moving in and out of my house, I installed it on my laptop and set it aside for a more interrupted stretch of time. Yeah, funny joke-there's never such a thing!

But I decided do or die-I'm gonna learn this thing. So I started on Monday after everybody left for work, school and fishing. Why did I wait so long?!! What a cool way to learn a language. I set it up on Latin American Spanish and went to work. I think I just might learn a bit of Spanish before my next trip to Mazatlan. Of course, the only really effective way to learn a language is to go where they speak it and beg for patience, which I hope I can do. The people of Mazatlan are so hospitable and accommodating that they speak very good English, so I might have to ask them to practice with me. I have two months to learn enough to actually practice with!

Well, done with the lesson for today and I just got called in to work, so I'd better brush my teeth, eat something and get going.

Two Months and Counting

2011-01-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Knowing that we make frequent trips to Mazatlan, friends have been asking when our next trip is. I was checking out the timeshare website when my daughter-in-law and I started chatting on Facebook. Don't ask how I got from the timeshare website to Facebook, but nevertheless...

Wonder if the resort iguana will still be hanging by the pool.

Anyway, she was talking about getting away. I asked her if she thought it was feasible for her and my son to go with us, and she said, "As long as we go during spring break." I got on the phone with the timeshare people, and then spent three hours on the Web tracking down plane tickets. We are set to go and I'm not sure who is more excited-my DIL or me. I am so excited that at least one of my kids gets to see my "other home!" I said their four kids might be mad, but we agreed they would get over it! And when their parents get back with all the stories of the fun they had, they'll be ready to go the next time.

Two months from today we'll be sitting on the beach, watching the sunset. DIL sent their passport applications yesterday and is now on pins and needles hoping they come back in time. I have no doubt that they'll get here on time-I bet they take less than 4 weeks. One nice bonus-usually we have to fly out of Billings because it's always been more expensive to fly from Bozeman. We both happened to trip over a better price from Bozeman, so we won't have to drive over the day before we leave and come home the day after we get back. Cheaper and less stressful-we all know flying is stressful enough these days.

A view of our timeshare-nice place, huh!

Now I Can Show You

2011-01-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, now that Christmas has come and passed, I can show you the knitting that has been taking my time. First, I decided to make wool socks for all my immediate family:

Center: Gracie; starting at far left and going clockwise: Sam, Laura, my sis Judy, Sydney, Millie, Isaac, Steve, Christopher, and Jim. A good year's work. Stan's? Still on the needles-I am working furiously and have just turned the heel on the last sock. They're blue and gray like Jim's. Both Jim and Dad are conservative dressers. I plan on tying a ribbon around Stan's and leaving them on his pillow. Should put a note, "Last but not least!"

Then I got a bee in my bonnet to make hats for all the kids, including the great nieces and nephews. What I made for the boys:

I made a pattern that used a double strand of yarn for warmth. The three littlest boys got the camo; Ethan, 7, got the blue and gray; Chris got the red and black Atlanta Falcons color; and Isaac got the blue and orange Denver Broncos color.

For the girls:

Inspired by the movie, Golden Compass, I knitted these hats with a triple strand of yarn. They should be super warm and look really cute!

The kids were on a dead run, so this was the best I could do to get them to hold still for a picture.

And for Gracie's doll, the one I made clothes for? She loved it.

And I did finish all the pajamas, a week late, which was OK because the flu delayed our celebration. The three young ones spent the night on New Year's Eve and HAD to wear their PJs.

The big boys wouldn't model, darn it!

A good Christmas, but I'm glad to move on to other things, like filling out my Etsy shop. I put one of the hats in the shop, we'll see if someone else thinks it's as good an idea as I do!

My Shop

2010-12-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

Finally put a new item on my Etsy shop. Check it out:

A Christmas Moment

2010-12-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

Just a quick story. Thursday I got a call from the young man that usually drives Santa's fire engine at the Manhattan Stroll. He wondered if it would be possible for Santa to stop by early on Christmas Eve because his mother-in-law was dying and he just wanted to keep the kids' spirits up during this hard time. Turns out he lives next door to my daughter-in-law's sister. Stan stopped by yesterday and saw the man's kids and he could tell it was a really tough time for the family.

Got a call from my daughter-in-law a while ago. The mother-in-law passed away this morning. He told Millie's sister that having Santa come made Christmas for them. What a privilege Stan has to touch lives like this!

Our Day

2010-12-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

It was a quiet day here, with only five of us-Steve, Sydney, Stan, myself, and my sister from Helena. I miss the big group-setting up the extra tables, tons of food everywhere, playing dominoes (Syd got a Wii so there were no dominoes today) and me making lattes for everybody. Hardly worth firing up the espresso machine today. It was a good day though. I could set the table in my pretty linens and goblets, and the meal was easier. Not sure why that was because I made pretty much the same things and the same quantities as always-lots of leftovers for us. A big prime rib, Hubby deep fried a turkey, parmesan potatoes, salads, and topping it off with raspberry cheesecake. Whew! It was surely a lot of food.

We were all so excited about Sydney getting a visit from Santa. You'll never guess who was the last one out of bed-yup, Syd. He was worn out from all the anticipation, I guess! He loved his gifts, especially the Wii that Santa brought him.

We have another get-together with Stan's family tomorrow, and with the oldest son and his family on Friday afternoon. We'll have a long spread-out Christmas, but that isn't so bad. We've done it this way for as long as I've been married, and I think it's better for the kids because they don't suffer so badly from sensory overload. My kids never did wake up at 4:00 to see what Santa brought them because they had opened all their other presents the night before.

Hubby gave me a new office chair for my sewing room-my old one is so goofy it keeps trying to buck me off! He thinks he should have given me a new camera he saw too, something with lots of bells and whistles but tinier to fit in my purse. I said it was OK, I was happy with what I got, but he wants to stop by Office Depot tomorrow and pick it up. What a guy!

I've been knitting frantically, but it's all stuff I can't reveal yet. After Friday I'll post what I made and who it goes to. I'm even still knitting on one gift for Hubby and I'm hoping to get it done by Friday.

Hubby is needing me right now so I'd better finish this. He makes jelly every year and gives it to his siblings and he needs my help with decorating the jars, so I'd better boogie so I can go to bed on time tonight.

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas!

Busy Day for Santa Tomorrow

2010-12-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the Manhattan Christmas Stroll. Of course Stan will be the Santa for it. He will be at the school library first then ride a fire engine (I know-cool!) downtown to the bank where he will pose for pictures with a couple hundred kids. The pictures are compliments of the Manhattan State Bank, something they do every year. They print the photos right away and put them in a nice framed keepsake card.

The cool thing about tomorrow? My three youngest grandkids get to ride in the big fire engine with Santa! The fireman is a good friend of ours and said it would be just fine. The firefighters are super to us anyway, they always give Stan a check to help defray the cost of his Santa goodies and the gas he burns making all his trips. His favorite thing is to show up (prearranged) at someone's house and watch the kids' faces. He loves it, but in recent years he has done more gatherings, clubs, churches, and day cares. He's pushing 70 now and it's just less tiring to see the kids all at once. Of course he's the Santa for the Manhattan grade school program too.

He still does as many house calls as he can, but the number is dwindling. More and more of the parents are opting for the larger group setting. For sure he visits the grandkids and he loves it when a charity group asks him to deliver gifts. He has been asked to be a Mall Santa for years but has always turned them down. This year his good friend, the main Mall Santa, had another important Santa job and asked him to cover for him at the mall. He finally said yes, but they had already found someone. It's fine, he was still not sure about that scene anyway.

I have to work but I get off at 5:00 so I'll fly home, change my clothes and pop in at the bank. I'll miss seeing the fire engine ride but I've been promised lots of pictures. And I'm sure the kids will be so excited I'll hear all about it!

Afterward it's our tradition for just the two of us to have a late dinner at Sir Scott's Oasis, a landmark Mom-and-Pop steakhouse. A good day!

Here he is with Sam, our youngest grandchild. When Sam wrote his letter to Santa this year, he made his dad add a P.S.-"I know you're really my Poppa!"

Tree!

2010-11-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

I asked Sydney when we should put up the Christmas tree and the answer was "now!" So that's what we did today. I also put up my Santa wall hanging, but I'll wait a day or so to put up the rest. Still getting over my 10 hour shift on Black Friday. The tree does look really nice since my redecoration opened up the front window space.

She's Home!

2010-11-27T21:50:00.000-08:00

In her new one, that is. She was pretty nervous and just didn't think she would be able to remember so many new things. The sister from Billings is going to stay with her for a couple of weeks just to get her settled. The girls got her apartment looking nice and homey with her plants and her recliner, then she started to relax. I could see a lot of panic in her voice, as she wondered where her stuff was, like her hair curlers and her nightie. Changing a routine when someone has dementia is really tough and this is her second change. Hopefully it will be her last and she can live quite a while in her pretty new digs. (When I told her that she informed me that it didn't matter as she couldn't see it anyway!) Oh Gram!!!!

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

2010-11-23T22:29:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing here since last Thursday. Every day Mother Nature dumps several more inches on us. And now, as the snow might be letting up, the forecast is for very cold temperatures. Interstate highways have been closed in the area on and off all day, and right now I-90 is restricted to essential traffic until morning. I am so over this! The one bright spot is we don't have to travel for Thanksgiving and by Black Friday, my first official day of work, things should start getting nicer.

It is very pretty, though:

Good News

2010-11-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

They have determined that Gram is doing well enough to be released to an assisted-living facility. She is so strong-she wants to die but her body is too tough!

She'll be going to the Bozeman Lodge on Saturday. All her kids will be here to help. I have to work a long one on Friday, so will miss out on the furniture moving, but am hoping to help with Gram's actual moving day. We have decided to start Hospice care, mostly because we don't think she can get along by herself with just the care they have there. Just because Hospice is involved doesn't mean she'll leave us any time soon, but that she'll have more people doting over her.

She is really ready to get out of the rehab center. I stopped in at noon on Saturday and she was fuming over the cold food! She's very nervous about the new place but realizes it's necessary. My sister in law from Billings is going to stay with her for a couple of weeks just to help her transition into the new routine. They have a beautiful dining hall but she can't see well enough to find her own way, and if someone doesn't take her there, she'll sit in her apartment and starve. She can't believe that she doesn't have to do any housework, even though we constantly reassure her. With the slight dementia, it's going to be a slow transition, pray it works well for her.

A Little Something to Get Us in the Mood

2010-11-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

Just had this video posted by a relative on Facebook. As far as I'm concerned Christmas can't start until I've heard this piece a few times. I've requested that it be played at my funeral. (In 30-40 years!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU

Our Thanksgiving Tradition-With a Twist

2010-11-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

My husband's family is very, very close-even down to second and third cousins. We have had a tradition for as long as my husband can remember of renting a big hall and bringing all our food. We can have anywhere from 20 to 70 people. We carve our turkeys-2 or 3-make the gravy and give thanks. It's a great time to catch up on relatives who, even though they mostly live in the area, may not have the time to get together during the rest of the year. After the dishes are washed, we bring out the games-the oldsters play Pitch, the kids do Uno or Apples to Apples, and the rest of us gather around our favorite games.

This is when the important part of the day happens: My sister-in-law brings out her homemade popcorn balls, a tradition started the year they were married and didn't have money to make anything else; I open up my homemade Almond Roca, a required offering-I'm not allowed in the building without it; and the rest of the family sets out various other goodies and nuts. We start our celebration about noon, and we play games and snack all afternoon and into the evening. Then someone decides it's time for "Turkey Buns," turkey cut up into gravy and served over my husband Stan's homemade rolls, topped with a big slice of onion! Nobody's hungry but we know it's a precious tradition, so we all make a valiant effort to eat just a bit more.

Then we clean up the hall (for many years it's been the Belgrade Senior Center) and go out into the cold, hugging and promising to "do this more often!"

Our Thanksgiving is the stuff of legend, and anybody is invited-my son's friend from Brocton calls every year to see if it's still on!

This was the story that I submitted to our local TV station. They decided I won, and turned it into a skit to broadcast on the Friday Evening News. This is the revised version of our celebration:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=593209107266&oid=94711736971&comments

Hope you all are on Facebook so you can see this!

Employed!

2010-11-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

2 1/2 years ago, I made the decision to quit my job and stay home with the retired hubby. The plan was to sew my brains out and make the circuit of the local craft shows and farmers' markets. Well, that didn't quite work out as well as planned-people in Montana just aren't giving up their spare change for crafty stuff. I turned to Etsy thinking I would reach a broader audience, again with no results.

Money was getting tighter-had to trade in my beloved Buick since she was burning oil, and our health insurance took another big jump. So for about a year now, I've been scanning the job market, looking for something with some freedom in case we wanted to travel but fun to do.

I stopped to visit with a former Bon Marche' co-worker last week in the mall, and she asked me if I wanted to come back to work for them-now the store is Macy's. I jumped at the chance, so today I did my paperwork and next Thursday I will do my training. I think I'm going to work in accessories, but any department is fine.

The only thing is-Macy's people wear all black. I have some black clothing, but not nearly enough. They gave me two coupons for discounts on a couple of items to get started, but I think I'll wait a bit. I did stop by Jo-Ann's and got 3 1/2 yards of a nice stable black knit that would make a soft jacket or a swooshy skirt. Used my Jo-Ann's coupon on that one.

I won't be blogging as much, maybe, but I'll try to keep up on it because I love this way of expressing myself. The job is part-time Christmas for now, but I'm sure if I impress them with my hard work, I could be considered for permanent down the line-there's lots of turnover in retail.

Well, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm very excited to have something of my very own again, and I won't be in the house all day with a retired man-LOL!