In 2 Days

Minnie, the night she adopted us back in 2009

In two days, our little Bella will be a year old.  Yep, I know the exact birthday of our cat.  I know this because Minnie, Bella's mama, hopped up on our dining room window one rainy evening in early September last year while we were having supper and Hobbit pleaded with Pokey to 'save' her.

That night, a year ago, my soft-hearted husband went outside in the thunderstorm to 'save' Minnie - a pregnant cat who was all too pleased in her accomplishment of being adopted.  In the beginning, she was loving and attentive and just a super cat.  We took her to the vet and had her looked at - mostly to verify what my husband said when he picked her up regarding her being pregnant... and she was!  Our vet said she was due in a matter of weeks and to just make sure we had a good place for her to feel safe and secure.  She chose our bathroom closet which worked out beautiful.

Bella - 3 weeks old

Then, on September 28th my husband and I went to bed with 2 girls, a dog and a cat in the house... we woke up on the 29th to two girls, a dog and 5 cats in the house!  The kittens were beautiful - 3 huge healthy babies and one little runt.  Minnie worked really hard to sit on her, she would carry her out of the closet and leave her in the laundry room closet... poor little baby.  I spent more time with her in my pockets then she did next to her mother.

Minnie, it turns out, was not maternal.  She fed them and then worked as hard as she could once they were weaned to get back outside.  We thought it was unfair to her to keep her cooped up in the house so we took her to a horse farm where she could be a barn cat - a life that suits her much better.  Now, let me state that we made an agreement with the girls before the kittens were born that we would only consider keeping the girl ones - boys spray and if there is going to be an animal living in my home that I am allergic to, it's not going to aggravate me in any other fashion as well.  We were blessed to only have one girl in the litter - Bella, the runt who resided in my pocket.

Bella - a year later

We have since found homes for the boys (Shadow, Pudge and Bruiser) and now Bella is the love of the girls' lives.  She gives as much love and attention as she receives... and sometimes she gives it whether she receives it or not... lol.  We are now back down to 2 girls, a dog and a cat - and that is how we shall stay.  

Happy Birthday Bella - you are truly a beautiful girl and hold the hearts of many in this house... now, if I can just get you to stop tossing your litter all over the kitchen floor, you'd be perfect, I swear!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I just wanted to show some love to my boys.

Daughtry - What About Now

I just wanted to share a beautiful song and a powerful message.

Joy & Gladness ~ This Goober's Journey

One of my groups that I co-own on CafeMom is a Christian group.  It has the coolest name - Not a Normal Christian.  Too many times, we had been put down by the Holier Than Thou Society on this site and told that we weren't "true" Christians because of such silly things - like reading Harry Potter or simply having a different stance than they do regarding any topic in the universe.  I love this group and it holds some of the sweetest women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

We are doing a group study - I say we but it is really just myself and another lady at the moment - and it is around Galatians 5:22-23 regarding Joy and Gladness.  Our assignment this week was to be the total embodiment of joy and what we learned... the definition and execution so to speak.  Y'all know that I am a super nerd and love to do stuff like this so I wanted to share that journey with you.

Joy, to me at least, is when your heart takes wings and just soars.  You are so full of love, peace and happiness that you feel you could explode.  Complete and utter joy brings those smiles that make your cheeks ache and those tears you don't mind crying.. joy is just beautiful.  As far as what it means to in relation to God, I think Psalm 51 is perfect.

Joy is definitely contagious.  Have you ever been in a cantankerous mood and then heard the sound of children laughing... all of a sudden your spirit lifts and you smile in spite of yourself?  That is joy being contagious.

I kept the concept of Joy and Gladness in the front of my mind the other day when I was going to meet Tracy.  I approached everything with a positive light, even my running late which is very difficult for me.  Instead of getting frustrated (and I really was starting to), I kept smiling and reminding myself to be joyful and share that joy with my new friend... and it worked!  Our joy even spread to the others sitting near us, as they came and joined our little group.  We lost track of time and spent almost 7 hours together before we had to part.  My new friend and I even made plans to get together again soon.


By my keeping joy in the front of my mind, I kept what could have been a very stressful experience into something that was relaxed and enjoyable.  Everyone involved, even the complete strangers, was smiling and enjoying themselves in our presence.  Just goes to show that a little joy can go a long way.

Tears Giveway to Enlightenment

Some people are just cruel.  They seem to take pleasure in creating pain for others.  We teach our kids that those types of people are called bullies and that the best way to deal with bullies is to simply ignore them... we teach our kids wrong.

I ignored my bully.  I removed myself from the same places as the bully - no matter how much I enjoyed the area.  I refused to get sucked into the meanness and become that which I despise.  I did as my mother taught me - I walked away.... no one told me what to do if they should follow!

The level of self-esteem a person has makes no difference.  The degree of patience a person has is of no consequence.  Little can be done when the bully refuses to acknowledge that they have no effect... they beat on you relentlessly until there is nothing left but tears... and those tears make the bully feel better - superior even - and they are sustained for a moment.  It's like a drug addict searching for a fix... they are fine for a short while until the monster starts scratching to get out again.

The tears this time gave way to enlightenment.  I don't have to simply take it.  I don't have to keep trying to ignore all the nastiness... I can disappear in my cocoon and reemerge as the beautiful butterfly I know myself to be.. and I have decided that it is time to break free and fly.

103 days, 15 hours and 58 minutes

That's how long I have until Christmas morning.  I have three projects sitting next to me that I haven't touched in days.  I just haven't felt like working on them - I got a bit discouraged when I had to frog Peanut's scarf because I lost my place and when I tried to figure out where I was and picked up working, it was backwards.  I don't want to work on Pokey's present when he's home because then he'll see it and I'm worn out on Hobbit's stitch work with almost 300 stitches to work it through.

I needed a bit of motivation and I'm thinking that having just over 100 days to finish all three is going to do it for me... except, now I've gone from unmotivated to panic mode - I wonder if I can finish all three in such a short amount of time.  Oh goodness, now I'm down to 103 days, 15 days and 52 minutes.. gotta go.. see ya soon!!

Nibbles & Needles

That's what I'd call it.  Call what... my yarn store/coffee shop.  It's been my dream to own a coffee shop and a local yarn store (LYS) so one day during daydreaming I decided to combine them... and Nibbles & Needles is what I created.

It's a beautiful store.  You walk in the front door and are immediately hugged by the aroma of fresh baked cookies and muffins.  The sumptuous smell of coffee kisses you hello.  Looking around you notice that it feels like the home of a good friend.  Buttery soft leather chairs to curl up in, pillowy sofas to lounge on and little wooden craft tables to sit and sew your creations together.  The lighting is peacefully soft but still conducive to knitting and reading patterns.  The color pallet is earthy but feminine - mossy greens, sky blues, sunshine yellows and petal soft pinks.

The walls are lined with diamond cut boxes and filled floor to ceiling with yarn.  It's an organized, functional piece of art.  The logic behind the system is simple - lightest weight to heaviest and the rainbow follows along from red all the way through to indigo and back again.  The color of the wood used to house the section of yarn also helps newer guests learn where to look - light sand all the way through to a golden putty.

Notions and accessories are found in the back section of Nibbles & Needles.  Everything from the obvious to the obscure.  Prices are affordable because the purpose of the store would not be to make items unobtainable.  I have some yarn - the total price was well over $100 - that I was going to make into a short sleeve sweater... I'm afraid to use it because of the astronomical price.  Nothing in our store would ever cost so much that our guests would be too scared to enjoy it.  The purpose of it all is bring joy, relaxation and veritable oasis for knitters.

So that is my "retirement" plan... to open Nibbles & Needles.  I look forward to seeing you there.

Oh So Excited!

That's right - I am oh so excited because this coming Tuesday at 10 a.m. I will be meeting up with my friend Tracy to teach her how to knit!  This is doubly exciting because I have never actually met her before - we have a mutual friend on Facebook and hit it off on his page... lol.

The plan is to meet at a halfway point since we live an hour away from each other.  Her sweet husband did all the research for us and we are to meet at a new shopping complex that is 30 minutes from us.  It is a new facility so I'm excited about that as well.  I might take the kids over on Saturday so I can actually find it on Tuesday.  Yes, yes, I am that anal retentive but let's just call it detail oriented and conscientious, okay.

Once we get there, we're going to meet at the Barnes & Noble Cafe where we can grab some coffee and then hunt out some squishy chairs in which to plant our patooties for several hours to learn how to knit and get to know each other.  I have since learned that her favorite colors are pink and green (see why I like her!) and so I'm going to create her a starter kit with some essentials for her journey into knitting.  I hope she likes it and we can do it like once a month or so... and with it being in public, we might get more people to join our group and then who knows... oh wow - the possibilities!!

So here are the items that I am going to get for her ~ it's like a mini Christmas in September... lol.

 

Gibbs'd Defined

After I wrote the previous post, I realized that some might not know what it means to be Gibbs slapped - or Gibbs'd. Please enjoy this fabulous video, outlining the different techniques used by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, as he is the master and creator. I know, I know ~ he truly is awesome.

The Hidden Monday

Yes, I know it is technically Tuesday but all that really means is that it is a Hidden Monday. What is a Hidden Monday, you ask - oh my... please, let me explain.

Mondays, to most in the universe, are days of dread where the work week begins and time seems to sludge by almost as slowly as Christmas Eve night for a child. A Hidden Monday is the same effect placed on a Tuesday because you were blessed with being off on the actual Monday... see where I'm going with this one?

I've decided to trick the Hidden Monday though. Most people walk around with a false sense of accomplishment that today is Tuesday and they have outwitted Monday only to have it smack them in the back of the head (affectionately known as being "Gibbs'd") by the fact that two days worth of work needs to be accomplished in one day.

Instead of walking around with that silly feeling, I'm going to embrace the Hidden Monday and freak it smooth out. It won't know what to do. It will be confused and perhaps, just maybe, I won't get Gibbs'd... it's worth a shot in any event and if I'm lucky ~ I'll Gibbs the Hidden Monday instead!

Thanks Disney

I honestly think that if I had not been a cast member for so many years, I would not have known what to do with a day like today. We are in the middle of a three day weekend. The plan was to go swimming and spend the day outside... well, woke up to snuffly kids and rain. What to do, what to do!!

Problem was quickly turned into positive. We grabbed the tent and set it up in our living room - complete with sleeping bags and a small kitty version. The kids are currently sitting in it and watching the Disney Channel. They were so surprised and excited at the possibility to spend the day in a tent in the living room - to be a child again.

Happy Saturday

I've got a lot of knitting to do and a very short time to do it... oh goodness, now the song from Smokey and the Bandit is in my head... lack of sleep, caffeination in progress and rammy kids makes for a crazy day indeed.

Peanut's Christmas Scarf

White lace scarf - Rory has one and I always thought it was so grown up and beautiful. I can still picture it clearly in my head to this very day... then again, I do have Gilmore Girls on DVD so the amount of times I've watched it probably has something to do with it as well... nah, it's just a phenomenal scarf!

I decided that Peanut needed a scarf just like Rory's - one that says "Hey, I'm classy" and yet whispers "Elegant and practical ~ look out world"... it's a very yappy scarf but that's okay because Peanut isn't... it can talk all it wants!

So I started the pattern - K2, P4, carry the 1, divide by Pi - and was impressed with how well it is going! I am normally too scatterbrained for intricate stitch work but this time, I might actually make it to the end... all 71 inches of it!

My Corner of the World

In my CafeMom group, Nutty Knitters, we had a post going about our "spots" - the locations in our homes where we have planted our needles and claimed ownership. So many of these spots look like their inhabitants... I wonder if mine does?

Flat or Round?

I have been working hard all day - no, not cleaning and doing chores but researching! The sad part is that I am no better off now than when I first started this journey.

I want to make Pokey a sweater vest for Christmas that I found in my Deborah Norville pattern book. I have a beautiful hazelnut beige to work it in that is creamy beyond belief and a joy to work with but I hesitate to cast on... you see, I despise seaming. I do, I said it and I'm not ashamed. Seaming is not something I excel at and if I can figure out a way to convert a pattern and not have to do it, I'm all over it.

So this sweater vest, which is actually elegantly simplistic in nature, has become a mental juggernaut for me. How many stitches to actually cast on, do you ignore the salvage edge in your count, what to do when you reach the armhole shaping... ugh, my blond brain can only handle so much some days and when you add a ponytail to the mix, well let's just say I have yet to figure this out.

I am thinking that since my pattern calls for 98 stitches to be cast on for the front, that if I were to work in the round, I should cast on 196 with a purple marker after the first 98 and a blue marker after the second 98 but before joining the round... then my brain goes into overload and I wonder how will I know if I am on the front or back once it's being worked because the position of the markers is all relative and perception could change as to their location during the knitting process ~ no lie, I actually went there.

I have a sneaky suspicion that I just might be over-thinking this one a tad.