Fuzzy Love

This Shouldn't Have Been So Unexpected

I'm leaving for Halifax again this afternoon because my father isn't doing very well and I have to go say good-bye. Mark and the kids are staying home. I say it shouldn't be so unexpected because, well, he has ALS and has been sick for some time, but he is the self-sacrificing type and didn't keep us informed because we were still so wrapped up in my mom. It was obvious to some others but not to me because I didn't want to see it and the denial part of my brain is very strong.

I don't have a picture of my father on this computer, so I have to direct you to the bottom of here, to a picture taken in the seventies (it's one of my favorites).

I'm having a difficult time right now and I have to keep reminding myself of the good things. Like Olivia , who insists on wearing Liam's underwear (over a diaper, of course).

And Liam, who has just learned to wink.

And then this guy:

I'm keeping it together, I think. But I probably won't be posting much over the next little while. Take care of yourselves and your families.

Lots to Report; Lots of Pictures

The last week has been quite event-filled around here. First, Connor arrived last Wednesday night. He's eleven, and not really into the same toddler/preschooler activities that we are so accustomed to, so it was a bit of a challenge (and a compromise) to keep everyone entertained. I hope he had as good a time as he tells me he did.

Note: the kid's from Florida and wore a coat the whole time.

Connor is really in to magic, and not simple little coins-from-behind-ears tricks either. He loves Criss Angel-type stuff and repeatedly confounded us with things like putting a nickel into a closed soda can and moving around the images on a real dollar bill (he proudly told anyone that would listen that he was committing fraud). So we made sure to pay a visit to the Wizard's Chest, a toy store with a serious magic section.

We also took a tour of a real-life candy factory. Now Willie Wonka's it ain't, but candy is candy and it was interesting to watch how it is made by hand.

We went to Hammond's Candy Factory in the north part of Denver, where we met up with a group of friends, watched a video, took the rather short tour, and were deposited in the gift shop.

It was a great gift shop.

[Connor's parents: if you are wondering how your child managed to blow all his spending money and have virtually nothing to show for it, now you know. I'm sorry. But it was damn good candy. I hope at least a little of it makes it home to you.]

Anyway, the time flew and soon it was Connor's grandmother's turn to have him, so we dropped him off on Saturday night.

Then we missed him.

And then it was Father's Day. Now, Mark didn't end up with his very own gnome (isn't one enough for any household?), but he did get this:

His very own giant mug from the pottery place (the blue one). It has Olivia's print on one side and Liam's on the other. By the way, that beautiful blue paint job was NOT cleverly designed to look like it was done by a little kid; apparently there is some technique to all this that I do not yet understand.

The yellow mug in the background was my gift from Liam two years ago (while midly-pregnant with Olivia). Let me tell you, knowing that Mark spent a long time in a highly breakable place just to capture a two-year-old's hand print on a mug for me...well, it has to be one of my favorite gifts of all time. And so Mark deserved one of his own.

He also got some other treats as well, of course, including little notes from Liam on what he loves best about Daddy like "When he puts me up side down." And then we spent the morning at a farmer's market/street fair, had a somewhat peaceful lunch at a little cafe (as peaceful as it gets with the kiddos), and he got lots of meat and a beer for dinner. What more could he want? You know, since he has us, of course.

So Happy Father's Day again honey. Life is so good with you in it.

He Did It!

I was so nervous for Liam - his first test ever - but I didn't let him know that. And I don't think it even occured to him to be nervous. So he knocked it out of the park.

Just after that last picture was taken, Liam, who was supposed to be standing still, feet together, hands at his sides, said, "I just have to go give my Daddy a hug," and took off running to the parent pen. He got his hug, then ran back into line.

Only of Interest to Knitters

Because it really just won't make sense to anyone else. The only exciting thing going on around here is that my 11-year-old nephew Connor is coming from Florida to stay for a few days. He arrives tonight, after the kids are in bed, but the household is full of anticipation nonetheless. I do promise kiddo pictures and a story tomorrow. Hell, check out a picture of Olivia before you surf on.

Now. Knitters: I got my swift today. It had to be ordered in to the store and really didn't take very long, but still, I was there shortly after the door was unlocked to take possession of my new toy. Since swiftless winding was a bit stop and go (and therefore my tension was wonky), I was excited to swift up everything I own. Olivia went down for her nap and Liam was raring to go, so off we went.

The first skein up was some Koigu. Liam and I took turns, so it isn't exactly perfect, but still highly satisfying. So I jumped right in to the stash pile and pulled out the biggest skein I own: some mystery Fleece Artist mohair-ish stuff that I've had for a few years. It wasn't a mystery when I bought it, but the tag has somehow migrated to places unknown and this yarn doesn't resemble anything on their current web site. So I don't know what it is, but I have a whole lot of it (one pound, eight and one half ounces, to be exact), and it was all in one enormous skein.

So Liam and got to swifting it. At first it went well, other than a slight cramp in my right hand. But then the ball got so large that it began bumping into the guide thingy. Now, a smarter person would have cut the yarn and started a new ball, but I hate to cut yarn, ever, and so I just pulled the guide thingy out a bit and kept on swifting. There was still a bunch of yarn left, but I thought I could make it.

I didn't make it. Suddenly the ball flew off the apparently fed-up winder, right towards my face. I dodged it, but, looking back, I don't think it was really going to hit me.

So I cut the yarn.

That was enough swifting for one day. (Can anyone tell me how I have such weak hand muscles?)

Peace, Quiet, and Vertical Pictures

It is the middle of the day and BOTH my kids are sleeping. Olivia dozed off as we were finishing up some errands this morning and has been down for two and a half three hours; I forced Liam into lying down on the sofa and watching a movie and out he went. Woo hoo! Both kids - and therefore me as well - woke up at the ungodly hour of five, and Liam did not go back to sleep. So you can imagine the crankiness that I got to enjoy this morning. But now:

Blissful peace and quiet. And a bonus post.

Since there's no sense wasting this gift of time on silly things like laundry (actually, I'm caught up) or other sorts of housework (not so caught up), I started a new knitting project. I needed one, since I finished a Monica for Olivia yesterday (did you see that the new Knitty is up?).

This is a pre-blocking picture (it's blocking now), so hopefully it won't curl quite so much or be as, well, poofy. (Mark asked carefully, "Will it always look like....that? It's cute though, and it used up little bits of Cotton Fleece I had around. Yesterday's pink leftover cakes will become another one of these I think.

So, since I actually have some time, I have a dramatic tale of mother/daughter knitting sadness and postal ineptness to tell you (with a happy ending).

At Christmas last year, my mom picked out a present for me. God knows how she did it, since she wasn't very mobile at the time, but she selected a specific Fleece Artist kit, in a particular color, and my brother picked it up and mailed it. It never arrived. Some time after Christmas, I got a letter from the post office informing me that they had an empty box with my address on it and could I please describe the contents? My brother, when asked, said it was "yarn" and of course the post office never found it. I didn't have the heart to tell my mother and she never asked.

Fast forward to May. James and I were settling some of Mom's accounts, which included a payment to LK Yarns. At his suggestion, I sent an email to Louise (the L of LK), asking if she had on record somewhere what Mom had gotten me. She immediately emailed me back: yes she actually remembered, and yes she had some more in stock.

So this Fleece Artist kit - Lady of the Lake - came home with me two weeks ago.

And, with some difficulty (I'm not doing very well with that swift yet), it turned into this:

But with great ease and satisfaction, I've now knit a couple of inches. Mom had included a set of 7mm River John swing needles, so I got those too. The big round bits on the ends pull off, essentially turning the needles into short, stiff circulars. And that allows a knitter to knit one-row stripes without five bazillion ends to weave in. So that's what I'm doing: one row of Kid Aran, one row of Curlylocks. Neat.

Well.

The kids are both still sleeping.

Um...here's a picture of Olivia.

And one of the flowers Mark got me for my birthday (my favorite).

Okay, I really have to go find something to do while there's still time (I know; your heart bleeds). I hope you are all having peaceful days too.

Technical Difficulties

That, my friends, is a four-year-old boy. Unbelievable.

Liam had a pretty great day, with the gifts first thing, playing with them all morning, party all afternoon, and lots of cake. I did take pictures I swear, but I've been having some technical difficulties and can't seem to get them up here.

And then I had my birthday. My thirty {cough} third. It was good too, although Mark left my wrapped presents on the kitchen table and went off to work before I woke up, essentially torturing me all day. Just like Mother's Day, there were some sad moments, but it was a nice day (Friday is a girls' night out, so that should be a nice day too). One thing I got:

And the technical difficulties continue.

Not the yarn, of course, but the winder. Now try to expain the need for one of those to a non-knitter. A swift is on order, and then I expect the fun level around here to really skyrocket. (Really).

Oh geez, what am I doing? Okay, I just switched to a Mac and I have no little idea what I'm doing. It's been a long time since I used one and there are some basic things (like, oh, rotating pictures and having them stay rotated) that I just can't seem to figure out. Rather than play around any more, I'm just going to leave them this way until I have a fresher brain. But I still love this thing more than my last five PCs put together. Lookie:

We've spent a great deal of time in front of the little camera thingy. Isn't this one especially lovely?

Out Of Touch

My name is Katherine and it has been two weeks since my last post.

I've gotten a few calls and emails that have basically said, "Ahem. What is going on?" so I suppose I should hop to. I haven't posted, basically, because all I've really wanted to do since I got back from Halifax is to be around Mark and the kids. Meaning really physically around them (sort of like smothering), and not on the computer or even the phone much.

Instead of the usual Halifax hangover, which involves about a week of exhaustion and general bitchiness caused by time zone changes and cranky children, I've actually had extra patience and a need to suck up my family's presence. Plus it was the end of the preschool year and Liam's birthday (more on that tomorrow), so I had a lot to do.

It sort of goes without saying, but the trip was tough. Almost everywhere I looked in Halifax held a memory of my mom and, while at home I can forget that she's missing for whole blocks of time - half a day even - Halifax would have none of that. Couple that with a tangible ache for a hug from my husband and sniffs of my children's hair and, well, you can just imagine. I kept busy.

By the time I left for Denver, my brother James and I had touched virtually everything in my mom's house and made lots of piles (piles make me feel productive). We piled what we wanted: stuff I wanted, stuff he wanted, stuff too emotionally difficult to wade through (pictures, letters, and the like). We left what we didn't. Then I packed up the piles into moving boxes while James re-landscaped the backyard, which was beautiful before but lately neglected. We talked through the window while we worked. During such a difficult task, I'm quite impressed that James and I didn't fight once (bickering doesn't count).

(But then this past weekend James had to fill a dumpster with the stuff we didn't want and make several trips to Value Village. Thankfully he had Sam and mom's friend Judy to help him.)

While James continued in the garden, I walked (with my mom's littlest sister, Judy).

Twelve times around a track for Brain Tumors and, thanks to so many of you, I was the number two fund raiser in Halifax, with an astonishingly grand total of $1350. My god, thank you. I was also surprised to see one of Mom's earliest caregivers there, walking for Mom, along with a nurse that also cared for Mom along the way.

One of my friends mentioned that she wished she could walk with me, and that got me to thinking. So, just to make sure I remembered how blessed I am, I took y'all with me.

Thank you, thank you.

The walk was good. It felt productive and honor-filled. Although, strangely, it took some work to show off my honor. My aunt Susan had done the Spring Sprint in London a few weeks earlier and, not wanting me to arrive empty-handed, warned me that there would be a tribute wall. So of course I prepared a picture complete with tear-jerker quote (laminated, no less, in case of a Scotia rain storm) to add to the wall. But when other aunt Judy and I showed up to do some walking, the tribute wall was no where to be seen.

I asked about tributes while checking in and was told something along the lines of, "Oh yes, a spot for tributes will be up in a few minutes." Well, it wasn't up in a few minutes, and not even in a few minutes after that. So I asked again and was again told the tribute wall was coming. Again with the waiting; again with the asking. Still no wall. Finally, when the announcement came to line up for the start, and STILL no wall, I marched up and demanded a goddamn tribute wall. The slightly-exasperated response: "You know, you're the only person who brought anything."

I got my wall.

Honestly, I was very restrained for such an emotionally-charged set up. And the result? Pretty much every person there strolled over to see what the heck the big-yet-virtually-empty sign was all about.

And look what I got to bring home to the kids:

Stress brains. (I know, it's out of focus, but for some reason all eyes were upon me, even though I felt the picture made perfect sense. So I rushed).

There's more to tell tomorrow (as always). And you know, I've missed blogland. It's good to be back.