I'm Still Here

Ginger has the right idea. Hiding under a blanket and not coming out until good and ready seems like the way to go. The past month has been busy with spring activities. Gone are the weekends of hoping for snow, but knowing that you wouldn't have to mow whether it snowed out not. We are mowing EVERY weekend now and probably should more often. Old Faithful, our mower of years past, decided that it wouldn't mow one more summer. I felt the same way, but I didn't have a choice! Off to the store for a new fancy, smancy mower. It even has a hose hookup to clean the blades of your mower without flipping the mower over! I laughed at that feature in the store, but apparently RL really likes it. It started on the first crank and I thought RL would have a heart attack! Do you know how long we've been around anything that starts on the first try? Too long to remember, that's how long!

Mom decided she was fighting a losing battle with her blinds covering her sliding glass doors, so we decided to head to town to see what we could find. She found some very pretty curtains that were a little too modern for her taste, but she got them anyway. They are insulated, which is a very nice feature, especially in the winter. Very nice. Her cats don't know quite what to make of them. The slats aren't falling off every time you get too close to them, so that is a vast improvement. While we were at the store, I thought I would also like to give up the losing battle with our blinds. I hit the bargin bin and found some pretty red tab curtains. While we were putting the hardware up to hang them, they disappeared, along with R. Then it hit me - she was messing with those curtains and I KNEW exactly what she was doing with them. Sure enough, out walks Scarlett O'Hara - ala Carol Burnett! She had put the curtains on the curtain rod and fashioned herself a dress that would have made Carol proud! Never a dull moment!

I could have used a dull moment recently. I haven't been in the knitting mood lately. I tried making a Swiffer cover and used the wrong size needles - I know, gauge, yada, yada, yada. Then I found Interweave's KnitScene Easy magazine with some 'Easy Peasy Slippers'. I knew I could handle those. WRONG! The pattern was such a jumbled mess and didn't make any sense. I picked Rs brain and we figured it out. I wrote to the magazine and was informed that is was an 'easy' pattern, not a 'beginner' pattern and maybe I ought to find a more experienced knitter to help me. I was so mad! Luckily I have found others on Ravelry having the same issues that I did, so at least I know I'm not a moron.
I'm still waiting for life to get back to normal since Daddy died. I'm beginning to think it will never be the same. Things have definitely changed and I need to learn to change my outlook. I've heard all my life that if you can't change your circumstances, change the way you look at them. I finally understand what that means. I don't like it, but I understand it. I realize I take everything too seriously. Why do peoples opinions bother me when they are just that - their opinions and not mine? The past few weeks our neighbors have been outside a little more often. Their little girl will be two next month, which seems absolutely impossible! This afternoon I went over to play with her and her Mom while her Dad was busy. We kicked a ball around, blew some bubbles, pretended to talk on the cell phone. She got chalk on my phone which upset her parents - it wipes off - don't worry. She was pushing numbers - I didn't mind as long as China wasn't on the other end. She was blowing bubbles and spit bubbles all over me while trying to blow them. They were afraid she would make me sticky. I told them I wouldn't have to use as much soap tonight when I bathe. I don't know when I got to this point. I certainly wasn't like this when I had little ones. I was in their shoes, nervous that my kids would hurt themselves or something that belonged to someone else. It just doesn't matter. Life is too short to worry about those things. I think the best part of my entire day was when I was sitting on their front porch with her Mom and little Miss M saw a healing scar on my hand. She stopped what she was doing, said, "Oh, a boo-boo." Then she gently leaned over and kissed my hand. What a sweet, innocent gesture on her part. It made my day.