Greyt Balls Of Yarn

Tammy's Obituary

2011-01-13T04:58:00.000-06:00

Tamara “Tammy” Lynn Crew, 46, passed away on Monday, January 3, 2011, at her home in Yukon, Oklahoma.

Tammy was born in Oklahoma City, OK, on January 14, 1964. She was the daughter of T. K. “Ken” Crew and the late Shirley Crew. Tammy graduated from Putnam City West High School in 1982 and accepted a softball scholarship at the University of Oklahoma, where she attended until 1987. Throughout her life, she remained the Sooners’ number one fan.

In order to fulfill her desire to serve, Tammy entered the Oklahoma City Police Academy in 1989, and graduated with academic honors in 1990. Her 21-year career as a police officer allowed her many opportunities to utilize her intelligence, wit, and excellent people skills. Tammy had taken and passed the OCPD’s Lieutenant’s Exam and was in line for promotion. In her final months as an officer, she was a Crime Scene Investigator, which presented her with new and exciting challenges.

In addition to her law enforcement career, Tammy was involved in numerous other activities. She was a passionate animal lover and was active in the local Westie Rescue organization. She was an avid bowler and was recently inducted into the Oklahoma City Bowling Hall of Fame. She was a participant and instructor with Operation Boot Camp. Tammy also loved to participate in bicycle races and other athletic events.

Tammy is survived by her father, T. K. Crew, her sister, Keri Bowers and husband, J.C., two nieces, Ryanne Seay and Hunter Bowers, and her very special friend, Sheryl Janes, all from the Oklahoma City area.

A celebration of Tammy’s life was held on Friday, January 7^th, 2011, at the First Unitarian Church, Oklahoma City, OK. The services were conducted by Hahn-Cook Street and Draper Funeral Home and interment followed at Resthaven Memorial Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Tammy’s name to the animal rescue organization of your choice.

LITTLE SISTER

2011-01-05T12:38:00.000-06:00

Words cannot describe how I'm feeling right now. Anyone who has lost someone, someone special who means everything in the world, will understand. Two days ago, I lost my very best friend in the world. My precious sister, Tammy, who has been my hip attachment for the past 46 years, passed away unexpectedly. Many of you might remember that I've posted about her in the past. About a year ago, I was helping her study for the OKC police department's lieutenant's test, which she later passed with flying colors. I have so many other wonderful things I could say about her, but I will save that for another time. I just wanted to share with you, my crochet friends, the tragedy my family is experiencing right now, and I hope you will keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I also plead with you to pull your dear loved ones close to you, now and often, and let them know how much you love them. You never know when it might be your last opportunity to reach out.

Things are busy around here for a few days, as you might imagine, so I will probably not be back to my blog for awhile. I will provide more information in the days to come . . . . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!

2010-12-23T23:01:00.000-06:00

Wow, has it really been this long? I logged on this evening and truly expected to find that my blog had been deleted by Blogspot or Google or whoever the Blog Head Cheese happens to be! I was truly ecstatic to see that pretty much everything was still the same . . . even the same followers. Thank YOU very much!

Not worth going into a lot of detail. "LIFE" has just gotten in the way, and I've had to put my blog on the back burner for quite awhile. I've continued to crochet, but not nearly as much as I would've liked. I'm working two jobs now . . . giving up my full-time work-at-home job for an honest-to-goodness, REAL job, in a REAL hospital! When I took on the full-time job, I committed to my previous "at-home" job through the end of the year, and have not yet decided whether I'm going to continue after January 1st. The extra money comes in handy, but I'm beginning to feel some burn-out . . . working full-time downtown, then driving home and sitting back down at the computer to work another 2-3 hours. It's definitely a bittersweet thing!

Anyway, something prompted me to get online tonight and check out some of your crochet blogs. I want you to know that I've missed you all terribly, but just haven't felt that I've had the time and energy to contribute anything worthwhile to the blogging community. I can't wait to jump back in and catch up on what's been happening with you over the last 4-5 months!

I promise to add more information and pictures soon. Tonight, however, I just wanted to get back on and say hello and wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve . . . lots of things to do with my daughter, Hunter, presents to wrap, last minute grocery shopping, and a big get-together at my oldest daughter's house to top off the evening!

Looking forward to visiting with you all again in the next few days! Hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas!

JUST A FEW RANDOM THINGS

2010-05-25T13:32:00.002-05:00

Hi, Everyone!

WARNING - - - BRAGGING AHEAD!!!

Well, today is Hunter Bean's last day of school. If we keep our fingers crossed, she'll get a good report card and move on to the 6th grade next fall. Actually, I want to share something that happened this morning and caught me totally off guard. I was sitting in my recliner, enjoying my second cup of coffee, and my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and recognized it as Hunter's school. My first thought was that Hunter had forgotten something and wanted me to deliver it to her. My second thought was that Hunter wanted me to get pizza and bring it to her and her friends to celebrate their last day of school. Hmmm, should I answer or ignore? (just kidding) So, I answered and was surprised that it was not Hunter, but it was Mrs. Balderama, the assistant principal.

Being a PTA volunteer, I'm used to getting calls from other PTA parents to discuss one activity or another. But, I can't recall ever getting a call from one of the principals in Hunter's 5 years at the school. If you've had kids in school, I'm sure you remember that uneasy, nauseating feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach when you feel like you're about to hear bad news. Well, I guess Mrs. Balderama could sense my alarm, and she immediately told me that her reason for calling was not bad, but in fact, it was just the opposite.

She had been visiting with some of the teachers at their end-of-school luncheon and had heard Hunter's name come up numerous times, from different teachers. Her homeroom teacher this year, Mrs. Ross, could say absolutely nothing bad about Hunter. She said Hunter was such a good student, she was intelligent and excited about learning, she was always willing to help when asked, she never needed to be disciplined, and she was excellent with all the other kids. Mrs. Balderama then went on to say that the main reason she was calling was to "thank Hunter's dad and me for our hard work and for sharing Hunter with everyone at Wayland Bonds Elementary."

Yes, as you can imagine, I was sitting there in my recliner with my mouth open, wondering what to say next. I thanked her for the call and told her how much I appreciated hearing all those kind things about my 11-year-old. I do realize that I wasn't the only parent called, but it did impress me that one of the principals would take the time to thank ME for sharing my daughter. I hung up and just sat . . . with my eyes a little misty, and reflected on that call. Although my husband and I have noticed an occasional "pre-teen attitude", overall we couldn't be more proud of Hunter and everything she's accomplished. She is a beautiful blessing to us, and she brings us more joy than she could ever imagine!

11th BIRTHDAY

HUNTER AND AUNT TAMMY

Sorry about the quality, but it was really dark inside the restaurant.

This past weekend, Hunter and I stayed at my sister's house to dog-sit. I've decided that between Tammy's dogs and my daughter, Ryanne's, dogs, who needs grandchildren? :) But, while dog-sitting, I got to crochet a little bit and made a couple of fun things.

Supposed to be a crown. I checked gauge and

everything, and I'll be lucky if it fits a newborn!

This pattern came from the same book. It was supposed to be a beanie. I made the largest size available and even went up on my hook size, but it was still squishy on Hunter's head. So, I turned it into a pillow.

My husband, JC, has been putting a lot of work into the field behind our house. Recently, he took the mower back there and made three, long and winding trails. I'm not sure of the total distance of the trails, but each one is three-mower-widths. This is a push mower, by the way, not a riding mower. Anyway, on one of his excursions to his little oasis, he discovered a huge patch of blackberry bushes. I've never made jam or jelly, but I think I'll be learning pretty soon! :)

JC AND HIS BLACKBERRIES

And, finally . . .

Remember Disney and her puppies?

Ryanne kept one of the puppies, and he

is the cutest thing ever!

NEWMAN AND MAMA DISNEY

Well, that's enough random stuff for today. Hope you all are having a super-duper day. See ya soon!!

CONGRATULATIONS, PAMMY SUE!

2010-05-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

Pammy Sue, over at Scotty's Place, is celebrating her Four-Year Blogiversary. In honor of that worthy achievement, she is hosting a terrific giveaway. Check out Scotty's Place for all the details, and sign up for a chance to win some really neat prizes!

Hope everyone's doing well. I haven't been ignoring you. I've just been up to my eyeballs in work, birthday, and end-of-school activities. I need to earmark some time on my calendar to update my blog and put some pictures on here. I'll jot it down on my calendar to earmark some time on my calendar for blogging! :)

Have a great Sunday! I'll be back to visit soon . . . . . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAN!

2010-05-18T15:34:00.000-05:00

Gosh, I'm busy, but I just wanted to take a quick minute to jump on here and wish my baby girl a very happy 11th birthday. She's growing up way too fast, and I don't like it one bit!!! Love you, Little Bean!

THE WRATH OF MOTHER NATURE!

2010-05-12T12:49:00.001-05:00

Not far from my house

We dodged the tornadoes, but got hammered by these!

This one touched down in Yukon, where Baby Sis lives.

This one was 2 miles north of my daughter's house
in north OKC.

Look at the power of the rotation!

This used to be a Love's Country Store . . . totally gone!

It's Springtime in Oklahoma!

2010-05-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Hi, Everyone! I've missed you. I've been in the weirdest funk lately . . . not like my usual "just-don't-feel-like-blogging" funk, but really just a gigantic "oh-woe-is-me" funk. I mean, SERIOUSLY!! And, you know what? Today I really kicked myself in the butt for feeling this way. After riding out the storms here yesterday without a scratch or speck of damage and just some frayed nerves, I looked around at all the other unfortunate souls just a few miles from me who woke up this morning to complete devastation, and for some, the loss of their loved ones. And, once again, I am reminded of the many blessings I have, and I am ashamed that too often I take that for granted.

Yes, it was a wild and crazy afternoon, but we’re all present and accounted for. JC was working and unavailable, and Hunter and I were home. She was sick and home from school, so she had control of the remote and was watching something on Disney channel. Suddenly, we started hearing clunks of hail hitting the windows. We changed the TV to a local channel and discovered that all hell was breaking loose! At that point, even though it was sunny outside, the storms were all around us, so even if we’d wanted to take off in the car (which was Hunter’s suggestion), there really wasn’t anyplace to go.

Right then, the weatherman announced that a tornado touched down in Yukon, which is the little ‘burb just west of OKC, and it’s where my sister lives. I tried calling her a number of times, but the phone lines were all jammed. Then, the tornado sirens started blaring, and the Greyhounds went crazy. About that time, as the hail was pounding the living daylights out of us, it was announced that a tornado was on the ground, crossing I-44 and Hwy 37, which is exactly 2.5 miles west of us. So, Hunter grabbed her bike helmet, flashlight, pillows, candles, and radio, and I grabbed the dogs, and we headed to the bathroom for safety. It seemed like an hour, but it was only 10-15 minutes! J

Sometime while we were in the bathroom, JC happened to call and asked what we were doing. I told him we were hunkered down in the bathroom because of the storm, and he was totally shocked. This was coming from the guy who actually works for our local NBC affiliate TV station and was at work while all this was going on!!! He had no clue all this was happening in south OKC!!

Well, the tornado that touched down close to us had lifted back up and ferociously made its way on to the east, causing unbelievable destruction. As of now, there are at least 5 confirmed fatalities and still more people missing. During just a few hours, there was an outbreak of 30+ tornadoes. We've had a very mild spring, for Oklahoma standards, but Mother Nature made up for lost time in one day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the many families who were affected by the storms

CRABBY TO THE MAX!

2010-04-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

I accidentally typed "CRAPPY", and thought about just leaving it because it really describes my mood! I've been back in my "Not-Wanting-To-Blog" mode, just because I've been in such a rotten mood. In fact, do you know how many days it's been since I've picked up my hook and yarn? I believe it was sometime last weekend, and that is VERY unusual for me, to go more than a day without crocheting something.

So, who popped my bubble this time? Let me see how I can explain this without boring you all to tears. Basically, this is what happened. You all know I was in the hospital a couple of days recently. When I turned in my hours for payroll, I added a BIG, BOLD notation indicating my request to take two PTO days to make up for the days I missed. Well, life was bopping along just fine until this last Monday. I got into Quicken to do my update and give our account a last-minute check before the house payment was deducted. To my horror, I discovered that my request for the PTO days had not been honored, and my paycheck was much lower than anticipated!! Unfortunately, there was not an over-abundance of money in that account, and even less with the smaller paycheck, so charges started coming through, and this led to overdraft charges. By the time I discovered the OD charges from Friday, there were four more that came through on Monday. This fiasco came to a grand total of $210!!!!! If you've ever experienced the joy of overdraft charges, you know how the problem seems to compound, kind of like falling dominoes!

My husband and I went to the bank on Tuesday, in an attempt to plead for mercy, since we have had this account for many years and have had very few screw-ups like this. The assistant branch manager told us she would only reimburse us for three of the OD charges, and I would have to go to my employer to get reimbursed for the rest. GGRRRRR!!! Yes, I realize it was my boss' mistake, and I even have her apology in an email to back it up. But, it really irks me that banks cannot be more customer-friendly. It's not like they manually mailed back checks for non-payment. With everything electronic these days, the OD charges were all generated by a computer. And, it's not like my husband and I, long-time customers that we are, routinely overdraw our account. So, I will talk to my boss about the possibility of getting reimbursed for these charges. I'm just mad about having to take that step.

That got my week off to a rip-roaring start, and it's just gone downhill from there. But, lest you are already dozing off, I think I will leave you for now, and I promise to return in better spirits.

MURPHY STRIKES AGAIN!

2010-04-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

This message is coming to you today, straight from the keys of my brand new Dell Inspiron laptop. You might ask why that is such riveting news. Well, you know me, and you know that I have a way of building the entire clock when you just ask for the time. So, I am going to tell you just exactly what happened .

As you know, I had my heart cath last week. The incision site on my groin has been very sore, and it causes me a great deal of pain to sit at my desk for extended periods of time. Since I work from home and do 95% of my work on the computer, I've been fortunate to have a desktop computer, as well as a laptop, which allows me to be a little more portable. I have the coolest little lap table . . . one of those "As Seen On TV" jobbies . . . and it allows me to work from bed, the couch, or my favorite recliner. On Monday night, I was coding charts, while watching the men's basketball finals, and jumped up to let Hunter in, who was furiously pounding on the front door. I tried to move the lap desk, the laptop's cord got caught in the foot rest, and as I stood up, the laptop went crashing to the floor. No biggie, I thought. It has hit the floor before with no serious damage. Well, not this time. When I settled back in and turned the computer back on, the screen looked like it had been hit with a baseball! I rebooted a couple of times, but no luck. JC walked through the room, and I handed it to him and said, "Turn it on and see what it does." He did, and he just stood there shaking his head. "Wow, you must've dropped it, huh?"

I was so upset. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, and honestly, I wanted to throw the laptop across the room. But, alas, the violent impulse passed, and I went to bed instead. Yesterday, I called a good friend of mine, who is the biggest "geek freak" I know. I asked her if she, by chance, had an extra laptop lying around. She actually would have had one but she had recently loaned out her "extra". Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was accompanying my friend to Best Buy to look at computers.

Now, obviously, this friend is special. In addition to calling her one of my best friends, I have also had the pleasure of working for her since 2005. I have helped her manage her medical coding company, and she has given me her company AMEX card for business expenses. Last August for my birthday, Mary told me to go shopping and spend $300 for a gift. I felt guilty with her generosity and never took her up on her offer. This past Christmas? Yep, she told me the same thing, and once again, I never went shopping for myself. So, yesterday, at Best Buy, Mary told the sales person that she was buying this computer for me as a birthday/Christmas gift!! I just stood there, like a fool, with this goofy look on my face!

Mary, like I said, is very special. She has always said she's blessed and because of that, she wants to share her blessings with others. She did just that yesterday, and I am eternally grateful. Mary doesn't read my blog, and in fact, is the first to admit that she doesn't like messing with computers any more than necessary. But, I didn't want to let her generosity go unnoticed, and I wanted to tell you all about this person who does so much for others and expects so little in return. Thank you, Mary, for being you!

TYING UP SOME LOOSE ENDS!

2010-04-05T10:22:00.000-05:00

Get it, tying up some loose ends? Greyhound running with the yarn unraveling? Okay, maybe it's my own private little giggle! :) Well, I just got the permission I needed to properly credit the designer of my new blog heading, so . . . (drum roll) . . . it was ingeniously created by Pammy Sue and her husband, Barnaby! What a fantastic job they did. I had always worried that people would think I didn't know how to spell the word "Great", so I wanted something to show my love for both of my passions, Greyhounds and crochet. I think the new logo pretty much says it all! Thanks so much to Pammy Sue and Barnaby for taking the time to do this for me. I'm conjuring up something really special for them to show my appreciation.

It's back to the grind here on this gray and HUMID Monday! No more recuperating for the weary. I enjoyed my weekend of rest and relaxation so much and really got spoiled to having JC and Hunter wait on me. I don't want any more trips to the hospital, and I don't want to lie around in recuperation mode, so I'm just going to have to figure out some other way to have more "Rest and Relaxation" weekends!

Happy Monday, everyone! Talk to you soon . . . . .

HAPPY EASTER!

2010-04-04T18:42:00.001-05:00

I'm excited about so many things right now! First, I am tickled to pieces with my new blog heading. I had been working on some business cards with this idea in mind. However, due to my severe lack of artistic talent, I could never make the idea materialize, and I ended up with a boring basket of yarn on my cards. I want to give the creator of my new heading all the credit that is due, but I want to get the proper permissions before doing so. I was so excited with the way it turned out, and I just couldn't wait any longer to show it off. I hope the designer doesn't mind me gushing with all this praise! :) Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Next, I am excited that the Oklahoma Sooner women are getting ready to play in the NCAA Final Four against Stanford. The men's tournament has been full of surprises this year, and it's been exciting to watch (even though my bracket was null and void after all the upsets in the first round)! Oklahoma is not really known for being a "basketball state", and our men's teams had nothing to offer the tournament. But, the women have a good chance of moving on to the finals. Let's go SOONERS!!

I'm extremely excited that I got a couple of days off last week, and my boss wanted to give me some recuperation time, so she gave me ZERO charts to code this weekend! That makes me VERY happy. I can't even recall the last time I had absolutely nothing to do over the weekend except R-E-S-T. Thank you to my very wonderful husband and daughter for taking such good care of me!

Due to all this R & R time, I got lots of crocheting done. I was hoping to have pictures to show you, but I haven't mustered up the energy to put the camera into action. I promise I will do that this week.

Finally, I'm more than excited to report that my heart cath was considered negative. I have some "irregularities" in my coronary artery and what the doctor said were spasms. But, he feels confident that we can get these things under control with medication and a healthier lifestyle. That means, bye-bye Mexican food, love of my life! Well, maybe not completely. I'm just going to have to limit myself to taco salads and give up the enchiladas! :)

I was going to share some of the more humorous highlights of my stay in the hospital, but I'm sure you've all probably "been there, done that" and have some great stories of your own. The nurses and aides that took care of me were all very professional and kind. They did their best to make my visit somewhat tolerable. Thanks to you, my sweet blogging friends, for your kind thoughts and get-well wishes.

It is my wish that all of you are having a wonderful Easter Sunday.

JUST A LITTLE NEWS!

2010-04-01T09:12:00.001-05:00

Happy April Fools Day to you all! I wish I had a silly prank or a funny joke, but alas, I'm not feeling real humorous today. I'll tell you why a bit later, but first, I want to tell you about my daughter, Hunter, and her amazing day yesterday.

Some of you might remember that we bought her a Genesis bow for Christmas because she was showing a lot of interest in archery at her school. Well, she ended up making the team and up until yesterday, she had participated in two tournaments. In fact, in her last tournament about a month ago, she came in FIRST PLACE amongst the fifth grade girls. Unfortunately, the only picture I got of that event was taken with my husband's iPhone, and for some reason, the picture never made it home with us. :(

Well, after lots of practice and hard work, Hunter qualified to go to the state tournament with her school's team. This was held yesterday in downtown Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center. There were over 1700 participants and over 70 elementary schools, specifically. I'm happy to report that the Wayland Bonds Broncos came in 2nd place, and this qualified their team to go to the national tournament in Louisville, KY, in May. Hunter's dad, her Aunt Tammy, and I all took off work so we could be there for the big event. It was really spectacular, especially when the flag was lowered and 280 archers shot their first arrows at the same time. It kind of sounded like a machine gun or a bunch of Black Cat firecrackers exploding! :) So, I thought I'd share a few photos from Hunter's big day.

MIKAELA AND HUNTER

COACH GATLIN AND THE TEAM

HUNTER CONCENTRATING (OR DOZING)

MODELING HER MEDALS

So, throughout the day, there was lots of "down" time. Of course, I had my crochet bag with me, and I started two more squares for Bev. The ones below are the ones I had already finished. The pink one was my first, and I think it's a bit on the ugly side. It was not turning out to be 12 inches, so I just kept going with my DC border. I don't care for all the pale pink. But, I really, REALLY like the blue square. You can see that it's not as big as the pink one, but rather than ruining it with an extra border, I stopped and decided to let Guru Bev deal with the size difference. :)

It looks like I'm going to have a long weekend to get some serious crochet done. I am going in to the hospital today to have a heart catheterization done. Remember all that heart nonsense that started back in November that ultimately led to the stress test and Holter monitor? Well, apparently, the next step is the heart cath, to see if I have any blockages that might be contributing to my symptoms. I have to be at the hospital at 11:00 for pre-op lab, chest x-ray and EKG, then the actual procedure is at 1:00. This means, friends, that I am writing this WITHOUT MY COFFEE!!!! Nothing by mouth after midnight, which is absolutely the WORST part!! :)

The doctor already told me that he wants to keep me overnight, but I'm going to beg and plead to get him to let me come home this evening, assuming everything turns out okay with the test. I hate hospitals and would rest much better in my big, soft, comfy bed! I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, so any warm fuzzy thoughts directed my way would be greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping by Sunday afternoon I'll have some more crochet to show you. Have a great weekend, and I'll be back soon.

In the meantime, GO SOONER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM who will be playing in the Final Four this weekend!!!

OKAY, TIME FOR A FEW PICS

2010-03-23T10:16:00.001-05:00

How many times have I said I was going to post some crochet pictures? I know, more procrastination! Actually, one thing that was holding me up was the fact that I lost my memory card reader that magically moves pics from my camera to my computer. Tragic, huh? It recently occurred to me that I could just use the USB connector that came with the camera to upload pictures. What a novel idea! So, here are a few things I've worked on lately.

HUNTER'S TOES

She loves these furry flip-flops!

ANOTHER CELL PHONE CASE

I've made tons of these . . . easy and fun!

HEART FILET

Had thoughts of doing something with this for Valentine's Day.

Remember the Wal-Mart granny square?

BABY GRANNY

This is the one I made for the lady who didn't claim it until
4 months AFTER the fact! :)

LUCY-INSPIRED GRANNY

I didn't measure, but it almost covers a king-size bed.

I gave this to my in-laws as a house-warming gift. I don't have

Lucy's eye for color, but I'm still pleased with how it turned out!

That's all the time I have for picture-posting today. I've got to get some charts coded. I've got a bunch of squares made for Mrs. Twins' project, and I'm starting to work on some 12" squares for Beverooni. I'll take pics before I mail them.

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!

2010-03-20T12:11:00.002-05:00

What does Pete's love have to do with anything? Expressions are so funny sometimes. I had a boyfriend once who used to say, "Keri, just go scratch your tail and get glad!", whenever he thought I was acting poopie. I would get so spittin' mad whenever he said that, but now that he's a fossil in my collection of past relationships, I think it's hilarious. I find myself using it when I'm trying to get somebody out of a bad mood. :)

Okay, so, back to Pete. The reason I actually said that out loud is because I glanced up from the keyboard and peered outside, and when what to my wandering eyes should appear? SNOW!!!!!!!!!! Yep, that is the gosh-darned truth! Thursday and Friday, here in Oklahoma City, the temperature was in the mid-70's. Today, we are having the wildest, windiest, chilliest Spring snowstorm you can imagine. There's a thin layer of ice on the roads, thanks to the rain that fell in the middle of the night, and now the snow is blowing around and creating drifts all over the place.

Oklahoma City is hosting the first-round regional NCAA "March Madness" basketball tournament. On the news last night, they were interviewing out-of-state fans. One guy from Utah, following BYU, was just amazed at our weather. He arrived here on Wednesday and said he had to buy some shorts and t-shirts for his family because of the warm temperatures. As of yesterday, they had gone back to the store to stock up on sweatshirts, just to get them through today's freak snowstorm! So much for making a good impression on our friends from other states! "Hey, Ya'll, come to Oklahoma for Spring Break. You might get to swim or you might get to ski . . . snow-ski, that is! :)

Just wanted to jump on here for a minute and confess my love for Pete. Please don't let JC in on my secret. I've got some charts to code, and I'm going to go perch myself in front of the TV to watch some basketball. I'll be back later 'cause I've got some "Ta-Da" pics to share with you.

Happy Saturday Spring Snowstorm!!!!

LAST WEEK OF WINTER, BOO-HOO!

2010-03-15T09:41:00.002-05:00

You guys are too sweet to me! Seriously, I couldn't get lost if I wanted to. Not that I ever really WANT to get lost, I just seem to fade away for awhile. Not sure why I do that really. It just seems that I get so overwhelmed with LIFE sometimes that being on the computer any more than I absolutely have to becomes more of a task than a pleasure. That's certainly not directed at any of you. You all are so kind and caring, and I appreciate, more than you'll ever know, your emails and well wishes.

So . . . a lot has happened in my life since I visited with you last. Most of the time, while I've been MIA, I was lurking in the shadows and following your blogs. Occasionally, I stayed away from the computer for a few days and had to play catch-up on my reading. Your beautiful projects, funny stories, and yummy recipes always kept me coming back for more! Every time I would think about signing on and writing a little post, I would talk myself out of it, knowing that my "little" post wouldn't be so "little"!

Well, winter here in Oklahoma seems to be dwindling away much sooner than I'd like. It's not that I'm a hater of spring, although tornado season here can be really exciting, not always in a good way. It's just that when spring arrives, I know it's only a matter of weeks before the scorching heat and humidity are upon us, and that is SO DEPRESSING! Eww, that makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

My daughter, Hunter "The Bean", has been practicing very hard with her school's Archery team. A couple of weeks ago, she was notified that not only had she secured a place on the team, but she also qualified to go with the team to the State competition. Her dad and I are thinking that the bow set she got for Christmas was a pretty good investment. We're very proud of her for all the hard work she's putting into this. KEEP IT UP, HUNTER BEAN!!

Another highlight in my life recently involves my favorite (and only) sister, Tammy. She is a 20+ year veteran of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Back in the fall, she came to the conclusion that although she was actually eligible to retire at 20 years, she didn't feel like she had done enough in her career for her satisfaction. So, she decided she would prepare herself to take the Lieutenant's exam and try to move her career forward into a management role. There were 62 candidates who took the written test over a month ago. Tammy ranked 7th after the scores were tallied. The top 30 from that group moved on to the very demanding part of the test, which consisted of three days of face-to-face interviews and critiques from a panel of law enforcement experts. The top 20 candidates were then selected from this phase. These officers are eligible for promotion to Lieutenant as positions become available over the next two years. I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to my sister for passing all phases of the test and becoming Lieutenant-eligible!

My next bit of news involves my health. Some of you probably remember the little scare I had back in November with some chest pains and a resulting overnight stay at the hospital. Well, the cardiologist ordered some cardiac-specific lab tests, an adenosine stress test, and 24-hour Holter monitoring. This was all done the week of Christmas. Due to rescheduling issues on my part and the doctor's, I finally got in for my follow-up visit this past week. I was not happy with the news I received. The stress test showed that my heart muscle is extremely weak and that my left ventricle is enlarged. The Holter monitor tracked 1607 "extra" beats in a 24-hour period. These are called premature ventricular contractions or PVC's. This condition can be very dangerous, especially if there are a string of seven or more PVC's together. Surprisingly, the doctor said that my weight issues were not actually the culprit, although losing weight would certainly be helpful. He attributes most of this to heredity, knowing that my mother and two grandfathers passed away at relatively young ages from heart disease.

So, what do I do now? Well, I immediately asked the doctor if I could strengthen my heart with some low-impact, aerobic exercising? He instructed me NOT to undertake anything more than a gentle walk around the block until we get the PVC's under control. He started me on two new medications and wants to see me back in a week to do another EKG. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep my heavy-duty crocheting in check so as not to get too winded. I am keeping a close eye on my diet and focusing on putting healthy things in my mouth. I'm getting lots of sleep, trust me, and I'm doing my best to get a short walk in every day. And, I guess I'm just waiting for my next doctor's appointment. I'll keep you all posted.

Okay, so I mentioned heavy-duty crocheting. You guys won't believe what happened to me this weekend. Do any of you remember the blue and white baby granny afghan I started making last year while I was sitting at Wal-Mart, waiting for my oil to be changed? Well, I was watching my sister bowl one afternoon and working on the afghan. One of her teammates saw it, loved it, and said she would buy it from me. She also wanted me to make a second afghan because she had two brand new babies in her family who needed blankets. So, I finished one, started the second, finished it, and was going to take them to the bowling alley for delivery. My sister then informed me that the lady was no longer bowling with them, and she was not sure how to contact her. So, I have had both of the blankets, sealed in plastic bags, for over three months, waiting for the right moment to give them away. Well, this past Saturday, I attended a friend's baby shower and was so happy and excited to finally be able to give my blankets away. On Sunday, my sister was bowling in the women's state tournament, and I decided to go watch. Lo and behold, guess who was there! Yep, her former teammate who had wanted the baby blankets!!! I was so shocked when I saw her, and the first words out of her mouth were "Oh, did you by chance bring my baby blankets?" I think my mouth dropped open, and in my peripheral vision I could see my sister smirking!

Well, at that moment, why I didn't just 'fess up and tell her the truth, I don't know. I mean, SHE was the one who quit bowling and didn't leave any contact information. SHE was the one who requested blankets, then never got back with me to claim them. But, at that very moment, she caught me totally off guard, and I found myself blubbering out some excuse like, "Oh, geez, I sure didn't expect to see YOU here!", and "Gosh, I wish Tammy would have told me you were going to be here, and I would have brought your blankets." Little did she know that I had just given "her" blankets away the day before to a very deserving mother-to-be.

Seriously, can you believe the luck??? I know there are some of you out there who are mentally chastising me right now for not telling her the truth. But, I just didn't know how to tell her that I didn't have her blankets. Throughout the time I was sitting there, watching the ladies bowl and stewing over how I was going to have to be crocheting 24/7 for the next week, my sister kept whispering in my ear, "Are you sure you don't need to leave so you can get busy crocheting?" Oh, the nerve!!

Well, my first thought was to put out a plea for help from you guys. I thought surely some of you probably have a baby blanket or two lying around, just waiting to sell to a desperate friend. Then, after much angst and despair, I came to the conclusion that I just need to get in touch with this lady and tell her the truth. I can explain to her that I had kept "her" blankets for almost 4 months before deciding to give them away. And, I will offer to make her two new blankets. VOILA! The truth! I know it's the right thing, but it's going to be so hard to go to this lady and eat humble pie! :)

I hope you all have a terrific week! It's the last week of winter (UGH!) so enjoy it before the heat sets in! Believe it or not, I have been crocheting during my time away. I'm finding that I really enjoy making little projects that bring instant gratification and don't take too long, like dishcloths, tawashis, cell phone covers, and seasonal things like hearts, shamrocks, Easter bunnies, etc. Looks like I'd better get my hook flying on some baby blankets, huh? :)

Bad Mother of the Year Award

2010-02-14T12:27:00.003-06:00

. . . . . goes to me, Keri Bowers!!! That's right. You guys will never believe what I did (or didn't do) this week. I'm so ashamed, I can't believe I'm telling on myself, but if I can't tell my friends, who else can I tell?

Today, as you know, is Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day, by the way. Love and hugs and Cupid and mushy stuff would have been the topics of my post today, IF I had not had a flare up of Alzheimer's this week. So, this is what happened. Hunter came in from school on Friday afternoon. I greeted her as usual and asked her how her day went. She said, "It was okay", in a tone somewhat less exuberant than normal. Then, much to my dismay, she got into her backpack and pulled out her decorated Valentine's sack from school. I was aghast in horror. It was then, right at that very moment, that I realized I had sent my child to school, on the day they were going to be celebrating Valentine's Day, empty handed. That's right, totally WITHOUT Valentines to give out to her classmates!! Inside, my stomach churned, and I felt a little bit nauseated. On the outside, as embarrassed as I was, I put on a big smile and let her go through and show me all the Valentines she had received. All the time, I kept thinking how embarrassed she must have felt to have gone through the day and not had any Valentines to put in her friends' goody sacks.

Well, Hunter, being the sweet child that she is, never said anything. I wanted to say something, but wasn't prepared to talk about it right then. It was Saturday morning, sitting around and chatting with her daddy, before I brought up the Valentine's Day fiasco. As it turned out, we all took some of the blame of not being prepared for the Valentine's Day celebration at her school. I mean, she is 10 years old and in 5th grade, after all, so it's not like she hasn't known for some time that she would need Valentines on Friday. She and her Daddy go to Wal-Mart every weekend, so it's reasonable to assume that she COULD have asked to buy Valentines last Saturday. So, she didn't plan ahead, her daddy and I got busy with life and didn't think about it, and Friday came and went, and Hunter went without on Valentine's Day. That still makes my tummy turn, just thinking about it.

But, alas, life goes on, and in the grand scheme of things, this is really just a minor speed bump in our day-to-day lives. It did provide us with a great opportunity to have a nice family discussion so that hopefully, we'll all be better about not procrastinating and we'll be more willing to speak up and communicate better. Hunter and I are going to put some little Valentine's sacks together this afternoon, so her classmates will get something after the fact. She'll just be spreading the love a little bit longer. :)

Here's a little something I made last night for Hunter while watching the Olympics. Her daddy and I finally broke down and got her a cell phone. According to her, she was the ONLY kid in her school who didn't have a cell phone. Hmphh! Well, it was time to renew our cell phone contracts anyway, and we got her phone for free, so we just decided it was an okay time.

I started with 2 chains and 6 sc in the 2nd chain from the hook. I then worked continuous rounds, doing my increases up to 24 stitches and changing colors every round until I had a pouch tall enough for the phone. I then went to rows and did 10 sc, chained 1, turned. I did this for 4 rows to cover the top, before working a sc dec on each end. My next row, I put 3 chains in the middle to make my buttonhole, then did 2 more rows. I went around the flap with a border of sc's, then sewed in my ends. I found a cute Valentiney button in my vast collection, and sewed it on. I think she'll like it, don't you? Maybe she'll forgive me for forgetting Valentine's Day.

I do hope all of you have a delightful Valentine's Day, spending time with people you love and doing whatever it is that makes you happy. Give your loved ones an extra hug today.

2010-02-07T20:59:00.002-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS,

SAINTS

PROZAC, WHERE ARE YOU?

2010-02-05T11:19:00.004-06:00

I told you all a few weeks ago that I am always hesitant about posting when I'm in a crappy mood. But, after a bit of debate with myself, I decided to go ahead and share with you. I actually started this post yesterday and stopped after a few lines, still trying to decide whether to reveal my gloomy outlook on things. I picked up the phone and called a very good friend just to vent a little and to get some unbiased perspective. I felt much better after that phone call (thank you, You-Know-Who!), but still never got back to my blog.

So, here I am today, and I'll have to say that I'm in much better spirits. Believe it or not, the sun is actually shining, and it appears to be melting most of the ice and sludge that has been on the ground for over a week. One thing about living in Oklahoma . . . we don't get much "pretty" snow, but mostly sleet and ice that turns icky brown after a day or two. I've been extremely excited that we've gotten REAL snow a couple of times this year. But, accompanying the snow has been an abundance of gray and dreary days that tend to make me want to go back to bed and bury myself under the covers.

In reality, as much as I love winter and cold weather, this is probably why my mood has not been up to par lately. It's easy to look at things in my life that are not quite the way I'd like them to be and blame my grumpiness on all that. But, truly, I have a pretty decent life, and I have more blessings than I can count, and I really have no excuses for being poopy! So, I'll just blame it on the weather and move on . . . . .

Well, what are your plans for the weekend? Any Super Bowl fans out there? GO COLTS!!!!! I know, I know, a few weeks ago you heard me yelling, "Go Vikings", but that was because I was pulling for Brett Favre and our former OU Sooner, Adrian Peterson. Now that Brett's season has ended, I'll be proudly wearing my Peyton Manning jersey and rooting for the Colts. No big game plans for me. We're supposed to get another round of "wintry mix" late Sunday into Monday, so I'll probably be cuddled up under a beautiful crocheted afghan . . . hot wings in one hand and a frosty beverage of some sort in the other!

Hey, he's wearing my jersey!!

Hunter and I are also going to spend a big part of the weekend at my oldest daughter's house. Ryanne and her husband are driving to Chicago to pick up a new race boat, and Hunter and I get to puppy-sit for her 4 fur kids. Ryanne promised me the pantry and refrigerator would be filled to capacity, AND she bought me a new Keurig so that I won't have to be without my precious coffee when I spend time at her house. What a good girl my daughter is. :)

Ryanne and Joe

Speaking of good kids, take a moment if you can to drop by Hunter's blog. She has changed her background, and she's trying to be a little more diligent about posting. I told her not to follow MY example. :) We did sit down last night, and I scrutinized her technique as she crocheted a granny square. She really wants to make some afghan squares to donate to Sue, but she was worried that hers wouldn't be good enough. I thought she did a great job and encouraged her to make more.

Hunter and her Grandma "Babci",
testing out the new sewing machine,
not crocheting granny squares!

Hunter's first sewing project

I think I have made up for a few days of not posting, wouldn't you say? I have been crocheting some, here and there, and this weekend I hope to finish the multi-colored ripple afghan that I showed you in my WIPs post. That's the BEAUTIFUL afghan I plan to be snuggled under during the Super Bowl!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

SMART WOMEN

2010-01-30T15:52:00.003-06:00

Recently, in a large city in France , a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.) They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia , the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia .. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.

They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they don't have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S.. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,

¨Good grief,

look how smart I am!¨

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

MY BOOK ARRIVED!

2010-01-21T09:49:00.001-06:00

This is the great book I received after winning my bet with Pammy Sue on the Vikings - Cowboys game. The game was played Sunday, and I received the book yesterday. That was SPEEDY DELIVERY! Thanks so much, Pammy Sue. I've been reading through the book almost all morning and have already tried some Entrelac. That's just what I need . . . something new to divert my attention away from the WIPs I promised to get finished! :)

I COULDN'T RESIST

2010-01-20T10:42:00.000-06:00

I used to lay claim to this recliner, but as you can see, Hunter and Mini both think it belongs to them.

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

2010-01-20T10:35:00.000-06:00

I agree with Pammy Sue . . . trying to come up with titles for our posts is agonizing. Most days, it's difficult to organize all the thoughts and ideas mulling around in my head, much less try to figure out a creative way to express them in written form.

With that being said, I wanted to take a quick minute to let you all know that I haven't slipped into oblivion again. I realize I haven't posted since my big football win on Sunday, which I'm sure causes some of you alarm (grin), but things are all good with me right now. I'm not moping around under a big, dark cloud, and I even have my blinds open today and am enjoying the beautiful blue skies. I've just been extremely busy the past few days, and although I've been following you all through my Dashboard, I haven't taken the time to post anything.

My husband's parents came up from Texas on Sunday and stayed with us until Tuesday. Due to our Christmas blizzard, they couldn't make it up then. The week after Christmas, through New Year's, I had the flu, and the following week, my hubby was sick. So, this past weekend was the first opportunity we've had to get together with them to celebrate Christmas and just enjoy some R & R time, visiting.

You all might recall that my mother-in-law was the one who taught me how to crochet that very first granny square on Thanksgiving of 2008. She is so crafty and talented, I wanted to wait until she arrived before pulling out my new sewing machine and giving it a whirl. Yes, I did get to sew a few lines and even tried out the zig-zag stitch a few times. Then, while I was in my office catching up on some coding, I heard the sewing machine sound like it was about to take off. Thinking it was my mother-in-law, I stepped in to take a peek and lo and behold, I saw my daughter, Hunter, sitting at MY new sewing machine, looking like a crazed lunatic. She had this devilish grin on her face, and an unmistakable gleam in her eye, and the child was sewing 90 miles per hour! We ended up going to the fabric store, and my mother-in-law bought her some fleece and matching thread. When we got home, they measured and cut and tucked and pinned, and before long, Hunter showed me her new creation --- a blue and green pillow cover! She is not letting me live this down. I consider myself the crochet queen in our family, but Hunter has now claimed the title of "Sewing Queen", and all because my sister bought ME a new sewing machine! :) GO FIGURE!!

Well, I had better get back to coding some charts. I hope you all have a happy HUMP DAY, and I will visit with you soon. Oh, and my PRIZE, the new crochet book I won from my football bet with Pammy Sue, should be arriving soon. I will be sure to post a picture. Thanks, Pammy Sue. You're a sweetheart!

Hunter crocheted this scarf all by herself. She got tired of waiting around for me to make her one, so the Saturday before last, she got out her yarn and went to town. I may have to relinquish my "Crochet Queen" crown. :)

TONY ROMO GOT SACKED HOW MANY TIMES?????

2010-01-17T15:50:00.007-06:00

Some of you who visited Pammy Sue's blog were mistakenly led to my blog, expecting to find the loser of today's bet on the Minnesota Vikings' and Dallas Cowboys' football game. I am happy to inform you that Pammy Sue is full of hot air, as usual. Brett Favre is not washed up and is still the cutest little hottie on the field. His counterpart, Tony Romo, being MUCH younger than Brett, seemed to have trouble standing on his own two feet today.

If you try to contact Pammy Sue, she will probably be busy, ordering my crochet book from Amazon!

OKAY, I PROMISED . . . .

2010-01-16T21:47:00.001-06:00

Ready or not, here are the pictures of my unfinished projects:

This "thing" was from a very reputable pattern book. It's supposed to be a large table mat of some kind. When I finished the stitch part, I thought it was so ugly I never wanted to sew in all the tails.

These are the pieces of an organizer box that need to be sewn together. Way back in my blog archive, I got on a kick of making these little boxes for Hunter and her friends. Boy, did I get burned out!

Two little purses. The green one is missing a fastener, and the multi-colored one
is missing the strap and fastener.

I made this one night while watching a football game. It's supposed to be a little container to hold my hubby's Sweet-n-Low wrappers by the coffee pot. I never got around to putting the stiffener in it.

This is supposed to be a coaster. The "lights" need to be sewn on, and it needs to be blocked.

This was actually 10 rows larger than this, but I was not happy with my lettering, so I frogged it. It's extremely long and will wrap around the back of a couch. It will eventually say "SOONERS" and be a gift for my sister.

Baby blanket - nice easy pattern but boring

Another baby blanket, made with ILTY sport weight. It's about 18 inches square, and I'd like to make it at least 36 inches.

I REALLY like this blanket and after seeing it again, I'm excited about finishing it. I started this almost a year ago, before knowing anything about ripples and certainly before finding Attic 24. I think Lucy would be proud. :)

Another baby blanket. I'm not really sure why I quit working on this one because I like
doing the round ripples.

These are rectangles that will make up an afghan that was designed by Mary Beth Temple. I have another bag of these someplace with yellow, green, and purples circles.

And, yes, another baby afghan. Do you think I'm wanting to be a grandma?
This one will be an "after-bath hoodie".

Okay, this was supposed to be an adult mitten. I used the hook and yarn recommended but did not check my gauge. Well, Hunter cannot even get this over her hand! I would like to finish it and make another one, but they will have to be for a toddler.

Not a very good picture, but this is a market bag made with red, white, and green variegated cotton yarn. I'd like to finish this, but making all the chains gets SO boring!

Crimson and cream . . . another afghan for my Oklahoma Sooners. I'm making this for the lady who bought the orange and black OSU afghan from me last summer.

These are the squares that started it all! These are the very first granny squares I ever made, a little over a year ago. I have another stack of the variegated squares and 70 total.

I just started this face cloth a couple of weeks ago, thanks to inspiration from my friend, Pammy Sue,
who sent me a couple of these.

I have no clue what this is supposed to be. I got on a rippling kick a couple of months ago and thought about making an afghan with different "chunks" of ripple fabric. This is as far as I got. :)

Okay, these are not really "unfinished". I have wanted so badly to find a neat slipper pattern, but everything I try ends up not being close to the right size. So, I make one and give up on making the second one. If any of you know of a good pattern, let me know!

These are supposed to be part of a Christmas pillow. ICK!

I discovered that this scarf is basically finished, except for making some more curly-ques to use in place of fringe. This pattern came from my friend, Caroline, the Kansas Hooker.

These pieces will eventually be sewn together to be a happy little hippo. It's really a cute pattern that I think came from the Lion Brand website.

I started this and was going great guns. Then, I got to a hitch in the instructions, could not figure out what I was supposed to do, so I stuffed it in the bag and put it away!

Remember these?
I was so irritated at myself. I got in my pre-Christmas FUNK and did not finish the stockings
for all the animals in our family. I needed 13 in all. Max and Mini each got one, but I still needed 2 more.

The picture does not do this justice. It's actually almost 2 feet long and has a beautiful twisted cable going up the middle. You all might remember that I was wanting to have this finished before Christmas to give my daughter, Ryanne. Well, looks like it will be birthday in September instead. :)

And, last but not least . . . Hunter's Spongebob!
I don't have a pattern. I'm just winging it, using a picture I printed from the internet.

I also have two "secret" projects that I'm currently working on, but I can't put pictures on here because they are gifts, and the people who will be receiving them happen to read my blog.

Whew!! I'm not sure my choo-choo train is as long as Pammy Sue's, but I've definitely got my work cut out for me! Hmmm, now what should I work on first?

CHECK THIS OUT!

2010-01-15T07:50:00.002-06:00

My friend, Bev, at One Yarn After Another, crochets the most beautiful sweaters. She crochets other items, as well, but baby and toddler sweaters seem to be her specialty. She has been taking her crocheted items to a local consignment shop to sell, but she recently discovered some "shenanigans" going on. So, she brought her remaining items home, and I'm hoping she will soon have them for sale in her own little "online" shop. I think she would do extremely well, and I will support her 100%, which is one of the reasons I'm writing this today.

The other reason I wanted to mention Bev's situation is because she is having a GIVE-AWAY!!! That's right, friends, Bev is going to give away two of her lovely infant sweater sets. Why, you ask? Just because she is a sweet and generous person. All you need to do is go to her blog, which I've linked to above, and follow the instructions for entering her give-away. Then, keep your fingers crossed and hope your name is drawn.

I didn't get Bev's permission to write this about her, but I'm sure she'll be happy to have you stop by for a visit.

I THINK I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!

2010-01-14T17:32:00.000-06:00

You guys have got to check out this blog - http://scottys-place.blogspot.com/ My friend, Pammy Sue, has gone to a great deal of trouble to drag out and photograph her unfinished projects. I started this whole mess and issued the challenge because I wanted something that would hold me accountable and make me start cleaning up my WIP drawer. Well, friends, I have lots of things to take pictures of, but I can't imagine that my WIP choo-choo train could possibly be as long as Pammy Sue's. Seriously, she's got lots of pretty things to look at, and she's willing to share patterns. Take a look and you'll be hooked!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY SIS!

2010-01-14T10:34:00.004-06:00

Tammy's Birthday, 2009

Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish my baby sister a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We went to dinner last night, and I'm kicking myself in the booty for forgetting my camera. So, I had to resort to a photo taken last year at her birthday dinner.

Tammy is a 20-year veteran with the Oklahoma City police department. She is very active in a number of athletic endeavors and is an instructor with Operation Boot Camp. She, like the rest of us in our family, is an avid animal lover and currently has two Westies, Linus and Marci, and a beautiful brown lab-mix, Bailee.

There's a difference of 5 1/2 years in our ages, but we have always been extremely close. Of course, with me being the oldest, I had her quite manipulated from a very early age, and she will tell you to this day how very mistreated she was. She truly believed everything I told her. She was probably in junior high before she figured out that wisdom teeth do not come in different colors, based on how smart you are! :)

Tammy, I love you to pieces and hope you not only have a great birthday but an awesome year to go along with it.

ISSUING A CHALLENGE!

2010-01-13T11:12:00.002-06:00

I have had this planned for quite some time, but am just now getting around to writing about it. Ironically, I've recently read on some of your blogs where some of you seem to have the same problem I have, and I thought this might be a fun way to "work through our problem" together. Has anybody been to a Crocheters Anonymous meeting lately? :)

So, I would like to issue a challenge to all of you crocheters and even non-crocheters to dig in those drawers, root through those closets, reach under those beds, rummage in the corners, and clean off those desks . . . . . . . and confess to us, once and for all, how many WORKS-IN-PROGRESS you currently have, stashed away, waiting not-so-patiently to be worked on again. If you crochet, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't crochet, I welcome you to come clean about any other projects you've started in good faith, only to be discarded in disgust, or lack of time, or out of just plain boredom!

I'm truly hoping I'm not the only one out here in Blogland who has a hard time staying focused on one project. I mean, I'm sure it's acceptable to have a "few" projects going on at the same time. But, I'm talking about those projects that you've set aside, intending to finish on the next rainy day, only the spirit has never moved you to dig those WIPs back out again.

C'mon, be honest. Come clean. Step forward and admit your guilt. Confess your sins. We all want to know, and SEE! Yes, I challenge you to photograph this journey, so that we can all share in our shame together. I've been trying to make up some kind of contest to go along with this, but so far, haven't come up with anything bright and original. My goal, which I guess I haven't really made clear, is for us to bring all these old and forgotten projects out of hiding and FINISH them! That's right, I mean C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E them!

Pammy Sue, are you guilty? Can you set aside those projects on your "To Do" list and join our liberation? Beverooni, set aside those sweaters for a day or two and reveal to us anything you've neglected. Beansie, you may just be the most ambitious person in my little blogging world. But, surely you have a project or two that needs some TLC. Do I need to continue going down my Blog list and naming names? You know who you are. Stand up and be counted!

Seriously, guys, this could be fun. I'm the world's worst about procrastinating. My intentions are good and my goals are ambitious. But, the end result is not as satisfying to me as I'd like. So, I will lead this revolution. I resolve to have a list of my unfinished works-in-progress on my blog, with pictures, by this coming Saturday. Trust me, I am putting a lot of pressure on myself, but once it's spoken, it has to be done.

I hope you will join me and share in this little adventure. Perhaps some of you might have some ideas about how we could turn this into a game or a challenge or a swap of some sort. I'm anxious to hear your comments.

And, yes, Hunter, that means I will have to drag out that Spongebob I started almost a year ago and finish it for you. ARRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

HAPPY SATURDAY, FRIENDS!

2010-01-09T11:19:00.001-06:00

Oh my gosh! I am truly humbled by all of your kind comments. Thank you so much! It's so nice and comforting to feel loved. :) Now, right here and now, I will say that I've made the resolution to get on here and blog, even if I don't feel too chipper about life. So, just take those posts with a grain of salt, and know that my insanity only lasts a short time. There might even be times when I solicit your advice, and I feel certain most of you wouldn't be shy. :)

So, here's what's going on today. I have to work some on my Ft. Smith account. For those of you who don't know, I do at-home medical coding. I've been given an account that is SOOOO boring, and because the medical records are 100% electronic, the coding process is extremely slow. Yesterday, I kept getting booted off the hospital's website, so I finally just said "to heck with it", which means I've got to get my quota finished this weekend. So, as much as I wanted to pull out that new sewing machine today and figure out how to get it threaded, I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow for that little adventure.

Hunter approached me this morning and politely informed me that my yarn drawers needed to be better organized. I have one whole wall of my "office" decorated with drawers and cabinets, all full of yarn, hooks, books, and other miscellaneous crochet/craft items. For the most part, my yarn drawers are organized by color, and I have special drawers for my cotton yarns and works-in-progress. Well, over the past couple of months, the colors have been converging on each other, and I found myself with greens and yellows and oranges and pinks together. Oh, the travesty! So, Miss Hunter has been diligently working on the drawers, moving colors around, squishing and arranging, and rolling half-used skeins into balls with the new yarn ball winder I got for Christmas! There are certainly benefits to extremely cold weather where children get bored from not being able to play outside. (wink!)

Work now, football games later, and hopefully, sewing machine stories and crochet pictures tomorrow! Bye for now, and thanks again for all your kind thoughts.

I'VE MISSED YOU!

2010-01-08T14:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I pondered . . .
I debated . . .
I deliberated . . .
I fretted . . .
I lost sleep . . .

. . . all over coming back on here and writing this post. Can you imagine how crazy that sounds? I mean, it's just a silly old blog, right?

Not so much. This blog has been very special to me over the last 7-8 months. I have shared parts of my life with you, both by words and by pictures. I have read your blogs and looked at your pictures, and have gotten to know each of you in a very special little way. I truly feel like you are my friends.

Over the past month, I have not contributed to my blog, but I have kept up with you. I followed you through the merriment and pre-Christmas frenzy. I drooled over your yummy holiday treats and enjoyed reading about your family traditions. I read your entries right into the new year, and through my fever and flu-induced fog, I silently wished you all a very happy New Year, even if I didn't have the energy to post it on my blog.

And, all this time, the longer I went without blogging, the harder it became for me to "take that first step" and write this post. You know how it is when you've neglected a friend and the longer you put off calling, the harder it is to do it, out of guilt and shame? Well, that's kinda how I felt about this. Sounds silly, but it's true.

I've kept up with Lucy at Attic 24, and I'm so envious of her enthusiasm, her zest, her talent, and just the color and cheer she shares almost every single day. I've wondered at times if she's really FOR REAL. Truly, can anyone be that zany and delightful every day and have the energy to get online and share it with the world? If you've been to her blog, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you need to go on a little adventure to Attic 24. There are times when my world seems dark, dreary, and daunting, and I can take a little journey into Lucy's world and come out on the other side with a smile on my face.

Why did I just tell you all that? Perhaps I just want to confess to all of you that I don't walk on water. I've become a frumpy old hermit, of sorts, and I'm just not happy with myself. I have so many blessings in my life, and sometimes I have trouble keeping those in perspective. In all my fretting and lamenting about blogging, I've come to believe that it's okay not to be perfect, and it's okay to get on here and complain or moan and groan about life if I want to. Rather than keep everything inside, it's okay to share with you when I'm having a grumpy day and when I just don't want to face the world. It's okay to use this space to journal my way through some of the speed bumps I'm facing. I don't have to be chipper and smiley all the time. Right?

So, that's part of the reason I've avoided blogging for over a month. I just haven't felt like it. I didn't want to paint a dismal picture on everyone's Christmas spirit. In years past, I've jumped into the fall and holiday seasons with gusto, having my tree decorated and presents wrapped BEFORE December 1st. For those of you who follow my daughter's blog, you know that this year, I was wrapping presents ON CHRISTMAS! Oh the horror! Poor Hunter was so traumatized due to my severe lack of Christmas jolliness! Turns out, her dad, who fully admits to being Mr. Grinch with a capital "G", stepped right up and helped to make Hunter's Christmas a little brighter. He helped her with the tree, and they actually put lights up on the house. That, my friends, is really something! I love my husband dearly, but Christmas cheer has never been his forte. So, thank you, JC, for bringing a little Santa into Hunter's world.

Okay, so to conclude all this long-windedness, I just want to say Merry Christmas, belatedly, and I hope all of you have the most wonderful new year ever! As we move into 2010, I resolve to get on here and share happy things and not-so-happy things. I resolve to do my best to let you all know just how much I appreciate you sharing little bits of your world with me. I may not have a lot to say, but know that I am here. I will resolve to be a better blogging buddy with my comments and words of encouragement. And, if I miss a day or two of blogging, I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Hopefully this weekend, I'll be able to get some pictures posted. In all my frumpy-grumpiness, I've still been crocheting like crazy and have some things to show off. Oh, and my sister bought me a sewing machine for Christmas. Remember a few months ago when I was going on and on about wanting a sewing machine, even though I have absolutely no clue how to use one? :) Well, friends, she took me seriously, and I'm going to learn. Hang on tight, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

CALLING ALL CABLERS!

2009-12-01T08:15:00.001-06:00

Cablers? Is that even a word? Oh well, hopefully it got your attention!

I am needing your expertise on crocheting cables. My daughter, Ryanne, has given me absolutely ZERO ideas on what to get her for Christmas. I see a nice little gift card in her immediate future! :) However, since last summer, she has hinted around that if I really wanted to crochet her something, she would love a new black, CABLED scarf to match her store-bought and very used brown one. So, I hunted around on various crochet sites and even bought a book from Leisure Arts that has a gazillion cable patterns in it. The fear of crocheting cables has caused me to procrastinate until now, and with very little time left, I'm soliciting any words of wisdom you might have.

This past weekend, I took some white, easy-to-see yarn and attempted 5 different patterns from the book. On each swatch, I crocheted at least 4 rows. I could never seem to make the "cables" look like the ones in the pictures. All of the patterns used front post doubles or front post trebles, which weren't really the problem. It was making the criss-crosses with the front posts and skipping the stitches and going back to pick up the skipped stitches that I couldn't seem to get the hang of.

So, I'm hoping one of my trusty-rusty crochet buddies can come to my rescue. Have any of you done cables? Do you have a pattern that you like? Am I just making this harder than it really is?

Perhaps I can just buy a nice, hand-crocheted, black, cabled scarf from one of you?????? :)

I made this scarf for her last year.

Can't imagine why she would want to wear anything else!!

http://her.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/20/2822173.html

WENT FOR A PAP SMEAR AND TOOK A LITTLE VACATION!

2009-11-24T11:21:00.004-06:00

Hello, Dear Friends!
I hope you haven't totally and completely forgotten about me. I have not been far away, and in fact, I've been keeping up with all of you from afar. But, I've had some other things occupying my time, and I've finally decided to sit down this morning and share with you what's been going on in my life.

I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I guess I'll just jump in, head-first, and we'll see where it leads.

Last Thursday, I went to see my doctor for my "annual" visit, with all the fun and excitement that entails! I sat there on the exam table, pretty much wearing my birthday suit, and clinging to the skimpy paper cloth that was supposed to cover my privates, but not much else. My doctor, sweet lady that she is, bopped into the room, plugged in her laptop, and started firing off questions. We went through my medical history, which really hasn't changed much in the past year, we reviewed the medications and supplements I'm taking, and she then asked me if I had any new concerns to discuss with her. I proceeded to tell her about the previous day, and how I was awakened very early in the morning by some chest pains. She turned to stare at me and seemed to become more acutely interested in what I was saying. Well, I proceeded to describe my day, how the chest pains subsided, then returned, and along with the pains, I noticed some numbness and tingling in my left arm.

Okay, I have somewhat of a medical background, and I know what you all are thinking, which is exactly what my doctor was thinking! In a very high-pitched voice, she screeched, "And, why didn't you call me? It would've taken you just 5 minutes to call!"

I explained to her that I was afraid she would send an ambulance after me, and I didn't want to take a chance of riding to the hospital in an ambulance, only to be told that I was suffering from some nasty indigestion! She then scurried out of the room, and in a flash, the nurse came in with the EKG machine. I had told my doctor that I wasn't really having the sharp pains then, but more of a "pressure" in my chest, with a little pain in my neck. Well, that REALLY got her riled up. While I was being pasted with the EKG electrodes, I had a dose of nitroglycerin shoved under my tongue. WOW! I've had chronic headaches for some time now, but the headache that ensued after the nitro dissolved was almost indescribable.

The doctor said she wanted to send me to the ER by ambulance, and of course, I balked at that suggestion. She absolutely refused to allow me to drive, so she sat with me while I attempted to reach my husband, who was out of the office and had his phone turned off. I then called my sister, the police officer, and sheepishly asked her if she could pick me up and drop me off at the nearest ER. It should've taken my sister about 15-20 minutes to get to the doctor's office, but I think she was there in about 7!!!

On the way to the hospital, I had to go through my story again, and reiterate my explanation as to why I didn't call the doctor about my chest pain episodes. My sister is extremely experienced at ass-chewing, yet she does it in such a loving and caring way! NOT!!!!! :)

Okay, so she dropped me off at the door so she could find a parking spot. I walked in to the registration desk and told the teenager there that my doctor had sent me in to be checked out for chest pains. She told me to wait right there. She skipped through some doors, and returned immediately with a very grumpy looking nurse. I was then escorted into Triage, where once again I had to describe my pains and pressures and tingling sensations. I was told to wait in the waiting room, so I walked out, met my sister, and we sat . . . for no more than one minute, before the nurse was again at the door, calling my name.

Once I got back to the treatment room, things started happening very quickly. Have you ever watched the TV show, "ER", where it looks like the doctors and nurses are stepping all over each other, and it's almost impossible to tell whose hands are whose when they're poking and prodding on the patient? Well, that's about how I felt. The doctor and nurses and techs were all coming at me from different angles, and it was almost impossible to know what all was being done. Questions, questions, questions!! I had to repeat everything again. Had I known I was going to have to repeat my story over and over, I would have typed it all out before going to see my doctor that morning and just distributed copies. :)

You know, I have to interject here that the medical providers who attended to me that day were all very precise and very professional. I have had lousy experiences in hospitals before, but this one was one of the best, considering I wasn't real excited about being there in the first place! And, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the immediate snap-into-action that occurred after I first walked up to the registration desk. Here I am, 51 years old, obese, and complaining of chest symptoms, sent to the ER by a physician. Yeah, I can understand all the excitement.

Well, my sister was finally able to reach my husband, and he was quickly by my bedside. The EKG looked okay, and the first set of cardiac enzymes came back okay, but they wanted to put me in observation, in order to do two more sets of enzymes. They said I would probably be able to go home that evening. Soon, I was whisked off to the "Medical Decision Unit", where I would camp out for the next several hours.

Things were humming along, I was fed lunch, and I even crocheted awhile on a baby afghan that I had taken along to work on at the doctor's office. My headache from all the nitroglycerin was unrelenting, but otherwise, I felt decent. Then, something weird happened. I don't know what it was, and the doctor and nurses never really figured it out. But, I started feeling like my body was literally glued to the bed, and it took every ounce of strength I had to lift my arms off the bed. I had difficulty talking and turning my head from side to side. My husband noticed this almost immediate change, and he summoned the nurse. She said they had been keeping an eye on my blood pressure from the desk, which was extremely low. In fact, my diastolic pressure (the bottom number) never got above 60, and was consistently in the 30-50 range. Other than that visible sign, my weakness, and the horrendous headache, they could not determine what caused that episode, which lasted well into the evening. Because of this new "symptom", the ER doctor wanted me to stay overnight and be seen by the cardiologist the next morning. To be honest, at that point, I didn't fuss and argue because I was a little worried about this strange feeling I was having.

So, I know most of you have spent time in hospitals, as have I. But, I've never had to stay in a room that was in such close proximity to the Emergency Department. There was commotion and shenanigans all night long . . . screaming babies, moaning and groaning patients, and medical personnel, scurrying to and fro, ALL NIGHT LONG! In addition, my night nurse, who was very nice to visit with, seemingly didn't want me to sleep. She kept coming in to chat and everytime she left, she would leave the door open. The machines I was hooked to were so annoying and uncomfortable, especially the blood pressure cuff, which was set to go off every 15 minutes. Needless to say, no sleep for the weary, so I got to watch a lot of "Food Network". :)

The cardiologist visited me on Friday morning. He was nice, but pretty typical of a "specialist" . . . very brisk and direct, with no dilly-dallying or small talk. He, too, was concerned about my low diastolic blood pressure, which he said could be the sign of a leaky aortic valve. Well, that caused my husband to just about drop, right there on the floor! I was scheduled for an echocardiogram to see if there was any valve damage.

A funny little side note here is that Friday was the day Hunter was scheduled to arrive home from Camp Classen, for those of you who follow her blog. My husband was just about beside himself, trying to figure out how to be at both the hospital and at Hunter's school at the same time. It makes me chuckle now to think about his anxiety, although I'm sure he didn't think it was funny at the time.

Well, I was taken to Radiology to have the Echo done, and of course, the Sonographer would not tell me anything. She just kept me talking about everything under the sun BESIDES heart conditions! She rolled me back to my room, wished me a Happy Thanksgiving, and said the nurse would be in soon. Again, my husband was so fidgety, not knowing whether I was going or staying. Finally, the nurse burst into the room and exclaimed, "You're free to go!" All that drama, and it was finally over. She wouldn't really tell us what the Echo showed, but instructed me instead to call the cardiologist to make a follow-up appointment (which I've yet to do)!

Hubby took me home so I could bathe and get into bed, and he made it to Hunter's school probably two minutes after their busses arrived. They stopped off at Sonic to get some "heart-healthy" lunch to bring home, and then Hunter came flying into my room, excited and talking non-stop about her week at Camp Classen.

So, dear ones, that is how I spent a good portion of last week. I didn't post this earlier for a couple of reasons. One is because I would not let my husband or sister call Ryanne, my oldest daughter, to let her know I was in the hospital. Yes, that was probably a mistake, but I truly felt like I was okay, and I didn't want Ryanne dropping everything in her busy schedule to run to my bedside. Since her dad's passing, she tends to freak out if she gets wind that I'm feeling "under the weather". I was afraid Ryanne would read my blog before I got a chance to talk to her. I have now discussed everything with her, and I certainly got a tongue-thrashing, and I probably deserve it. The other reason I've waited to post is simply because I didn't want to sound whiney and moany-groany, and come across as a sympathy-seeker. That is truly not who I am, and in fact, it's probably why I didn't let everyone know earlier that I was having these chest pain symptoms. I just don't like to complain.

Now, I'd like to take a moment to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope you're doing whatever it is that makes you happy. If you are traveling, be safe. If you are spending the day with your family, give them all an extra hug. And, regardless of where you are or who you're with, be thankful.

I have some crochet projects to show you, but I haven't uploaded any pictures yet. For now, I'll leave you with this funny shot that Hunter got of her dad, who fell asleep, snuggling with our Greyhounds! Forget the chest pains . . . he's going to kill me first! :)

EQUAL TIME FOR THE BEAN!

2009-11-09T21:50:00.002-06:00

. . . or all's fair in love and sisterhood! Or something like that. :-) My last post was dedicated to my 27-year-old and her new haircut. I think my 10-year-old, or The Bean, as you all know her, is feeling a little slighted. So, with that being said . . . . drum roll . . . . I hereby dedicate this post to my darling daughter, Hunter Lyn "The Bean" Bowers! This is what Hunter has been doing lately . . .

WORKING ON A PILLOW FOR HER TEACHER

ONE HALF ALMOST FINISHED!

HUNTER AND OUR FRIEND, KAITLYN,

WHO WAS CELEBRATING HER 13TH BIRTHDAY

MODELING THE PSYCHODELIC MITTS I MADE FOR HER

AND OF COURSE, THE PUPPIES!

Hunter Bean, you are my joy and the apple of my eye. You are such a sweet, talented, and special young lady, and I love you very much. - Mom -

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

2009-11-06T11:50:00.000-06:00

Gosh, between being sick all week and my mean old boss still making me work, I've had very little time for computer fun. I've been reading and keeping up with you guys, just not commenting a lot or doing much posting myself. I've been doing a little crochet, and I'll get those pictures posted this weekend. But, my primary reason for posting today is to share with you some pictures of my daughter, Ryanne.

Ryanne's daddy lost his battle with colon cancer two years ago. Since that time, she has been growing her hair out in order to donate it to "Locks of Love", in honor of her daddy. As of Wednesday, I thought she might be on the verge of backing out, as she told me how nervous she was and that the anxiety was making her nauseated.

Well, she definitely wanted to go through with it, so I went with her yesterday to be her hand-holder and her official photographer. Following are some photos to help describe her experience:

BEFORE

LOCKS OF LOVE REQUIRES 10 INCHES

OF "VIRGIN", UNTREATED HAIR

MIGHT AS WELL USE THE SHEARS!

NO TURNING BACK!

I'M GOING TO VOMIT!

NOT SO BAD!

I'LL SURVIVE!

Ryanne's proud papa is looking down on her now with a big smile on his face, knowing what a sweet and thoughtful little girl he raised. Oh, okay, I guess I'll take a smidgeon of credit for that, too. She really is a blessing to all of us who know and love her.

Love you, Baby Girl!

LOOK WHAT THE POSTMAN JUST BROUGHT!

2009-10-27T13:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I'm just a posting fool today, huh! :) I'm just trying to make up for lost time, I guess. Anyway, I just finished posting about my "award", and was settling in to start on my "real work", when lo and behold, I looked out and the postman was walking up to my door with a package in his hand. Oh, how I love packages, especially if I suspect they're for me! :)

Well, I ripped the box open and pulled out the goodies inside, and here is what I got.

This is what I ordered from Joann's, in response to Gloria's request for help in making squares for her IC Awareness Afghan. Okay, so I don't really need ALL those hooks to crochet the squares, but they had a good deal on them, and I couldn't resist. I had never used the bamboo-handled hooks until I tried the one Gloria sent me in my "goodie box". I absolutely love it, so rather than put these on my Christmas list, I went ahead and bought them.

Okay, Gloria, I'm ready for the gauge, hook size, etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THINKING ABOUT ME!

2009-10-27T12:34:00.001-05:00

I received an award from two of my very sweet blogging buddies, Sally at Suburban Hooker and Bev at One Yarn After Another.
The rules for accepting this award are fairly simple.....

It is my mission to reveal 6 things about myself that you don't know, then award it to six other gorgeous bloggers.
Now to try to dig up some old skeletons out of my closet . . . . .

1. I spent over two years of my life fighting anorexia. GO FIGURE!
2. I played sports like a boy and could've probably been the first female to play quarterback for the OU Sooners! Seriously, I could throw the ball farther and more accurately than any of the guys I ever played with.
3. I bowled my first 200 game when I was 9.
4. I really, REALLY dislike people who say mean and hurtful things behind other peoples' backs.
5. I don't desire great wealth, but I would like to have enough money to be able to retire comfortably and do things for abandoned babies and animals.
6. I could eat Mexican food for every single meal. (See #1, and this is why it was only 2 years!) :)

I am now passing this on to:
Gloria at Hooked On Yarn
Pammy Sue at Scotty's Place
Kaitlyn at The World According To Kaitlyn
Janet at Janet Happy Girl Has Happy Hook
Kathy at Kathy's Crochet Cabin
Carolyn (come out of hiding) at The Kansas Hooker

MAKIN' GRANNIES AT WAL-MART!

2009-10-27T08:35:00.004-05:00

Hi, Ya'll! Hope everybody's week is going well so far. Hey, I wanted to tell you about my trip to Wal-Mart yesterday. I'm sure you have all seen those recent emails called "People of Wal-Mart". I think there are at least three editions so far. Well, I don't want to offend anybody, but truly, some of those characters who are supposedly shopping at Wal-Mart just HAVE to be actors! I mean, you've got the dudes in the tight, crotch-grabbing spandex, and the "large" women with their cracks showing as they're bending over the produce, and the wanna-be "Miami Ink" stars who are tatooed from the tips of their earlobes, down to their little pinky toes!

Well, yesterday, I could have easily been one of those "People". I was way overdue getting my oil changed and tires rotated, so I thought I'd stop off at Wal-Mart to get that done and maybe get a little shopping done. The grumpy guy at the automotive checkpoint said it would be about an hour, so I went inside, grabbed a basket and headed off to points unknown. I really needed to do a little grocery shopping, but alas, the yarn aisle was calling my name. My husband has grounded me from buying more yarn, so of course, I was just going to "browse". I happened to find some really neat, soft Bernat baby yarn, and I was struck with a marvelous idea. I tossed a few skeins in my basket, along with some Peaches and Cream "Peppermint", a package of hooks, and I even found a "how-to" beginner's book on knitting, which will be the topic of a later post.

Anyway, rather than head to the groceries, I whipped my basket around and headed straight back to the automotive department. I paid for my goodies and plopped myself down in the waiting area, alongside a couple of good ol' country boys who were reading mechanic magazines. Okay, if you're addicted to crochet like I am, then what I did next will not surprise you in the least. But, my sister and oldest daughter claim they don't know me when I tell them about my crochet antics. :) Anyway, out popped a skein of yarn and the package of hooks, and I decided to just bide my time, working on a granny square and see how much I could get crocheted before my car was ready. Got the vision? Fat lady, sitting in the automotive department with a couple of "real men", fingers flying feverishly, while being watched constantly by the young girl behind the counter, who FINALLY got up the nerve to ask me what I was making, and if I always took my crochet with me on my visits to Wal-Mart! I kept grinning to myself, thinking how silly I must've looked, but you know what? I didn't care. I was able to use all three colors, and I was pretty pleased with what I got done, while hanging out in the automotive department waiting room. I guess I'll just keep going on it and give it to someone with a new baby.

I also took some pics of these little scrubbies that I made over the weekend. They're super fun to make and quick and easy! My husband even asked if he could have the purple one, so I know I've done something good when he comments on my crochet. :) I'll post the link to the pattern later today.

EDITED TO ADD: Here is the link to the dish scrubbies. Again, super quick and fun to make, although I would've rather used nylon scrubbies, versus the copper. I have a hard time finding the nylon ones around here, though. (Maybe I should have done a little more shopping at Wal-Mart! :)

http://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-scrubber.html

CHEESY POTATO CORN CHOWDER

2009-10-21T17:00:00.006-05:00

I had some requests for my soup, so I thought it might be easier to just post the recipe. I've made this for many years and have yet to find anyone who didn't ask for seconds. It is so easy to make and works up very quickly. My baby sister always requests this soup and especially when she's got the sniffles. In the past, if I've had difficulty finding Mexican Velveeta, I've just used regular Velveeta and added a little Tabasco. A couple of times I added some crispy bacon pieces, which gives it that baked potato flavor and besides, what's a few more calories?! :) If you've got a big stockpot, you can easily double the recipe. It's always better the second day (if there's any left over!) :) Enjoy!

2 tablespoons margarine

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles

1 (2.5 ounce) package country style gravy mix

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded Mexican-style processed cheese food

1. In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

I GOT TAGGED BY HUNTER!

2009-10-21T12:27:00.003-05:00

THIS IS HOW I FEEL TODAY AFTER VISITING MY TAX CONSULTANT!

I snitched these questions from Hunter’s blog (at her persistent requests) :)

A - Age: 51

B - Bed size: King, Sleep Number (I LOVE my bed!!)

C - Chore you hate: Anything in the bathroom

D - Dog's names: Maximus aka Max and Mini aka Minimus

E - Essential start your day item: Coffee from my Keurig

F - Favorite color: Most days it’s red, but today it’s BLACK!

G - Gold or Silver: Gold to sell, silver to wear

H - Height: 5’8” and shrinking daily

I - I am: Sick at my stomach after meeting with our tax consultant

J - Job: Medical coder

K - Kids: 2 darling daughters, Hunter, 10, and Ryanne, 27 (yeah, I know I was insane!)

L - Living arrangements: Home in far south OKC with Hunter, Hubby, and 2 Greyhounds

M - Mom's name: I called her “Mom”, but her name was Shirley, named after Shirley Temple

N - Nicknames: Big Sis, Cro-Mama

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Complications from tonsillectomy, pilonidal cyst, pneumonia, shattered left leg, gallbladder, and two hospitalizations with baby Hunter

P - Pet Peeve: I have quite a few, but today the one on my mind is my husband setting his alarm clock an hour before he’s ready to get up and having to hear the radio come on every 7 minutes until he turns it off.

Q - Quote from a movie: From “Twilight” – “Better hang on tight, Spider Monkey!” (Edward to Bella before he dashes up a tree with her hanging on his back. I don’t know why that cracks me up so much!)

R - Right or left handed: Right, but I deal cards left-handed and sometimes eat with my left

S - Siblings: One baby sister, Tammy, age 45, OKC police officer

T - Time you wake up: Whenever my husband’s alarm goes off (See “P” above!)

U- Underwear: Always! I think my daughters call them “Granny Panties”!

V - Vegetable you dislike: BEETS! (ugh, makes me shiver just thinking of them!)

W - Ways you run late: Trying to get Hunter ready! Oh, and playing on the computer when I’m supposed to be getting myself ready.

X - X-rays you've had: I was very athletic as a youngster, yet very clumsy. I think I was up to 16 broken bones before shattering my left leg in a horseback-riding accident. Therefore, lots of x-rays!!

Y - Yummy food you make: Cheesy Potato Corn Chowder (leave me a comment if you’re interested, and I’ll send you the recipe)

Z - Zoo favorite: Monkeys, and white tigers, which our zoo doesn’t have.

I think just about everyone in my little blogging world has been tagged. If not, and if you'd like to snag these questions, feel free. I love to read everyone's answers!!

I'm off to sulk now. NOT good news from the tax guy. But, heck, it's only money, right? I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a happier face on.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYBODY!!!

2009-10-18T11:00:00.005-05:00

I'm back finally, after a crazy week! I kept peeking in on your posts, but didn't have time for much posting of my own. While working from home, I took breaks every now and then and got a little crocheting done and here are some pictures to show you.

HUNTER, MODELING FIRST TRY AT FINGERLESS MITTS (AND MATCHING BEANIE)

HUNTER, AGAIN, MODELING DIFFERENT PATTERN OF FINGERLESS MITTS

HUNTER, ONE MORE TIME, GLADLY MODELING THIRD PAIR OF MITTS

I've been inspired after seeing all the neat patterns for fingerless gloves/mittens, so I thought I'd give 'em a try. They're fun to make and super easy. For the life of me, I can't recall where I obtained the patterns, and I'd really like to give the designers credit. I'm bad about doing a copy/paste in Word, then forgetting where I was. I apologize, and I promise to do better. Anyway, I wanted to post pictures of these, in spite of my husband, who really dislikes fingerless gloves. My husband, who will eat and drink just about anything put in frong of him, rates his dislike up there with "green noodles" and Starbuck's new instant coffee. The "green noodles" were a dish I made early in our marriage that he detested, but was afraid to say anything until months later, after the honeymoon had worn off! As for the Starbucks-To-Go, he was NOT impressed and said the concoction tasted something like swill. (I'm not sure what swill is, but he uses the term to describe anything that tastes disgusting!)

STOCKINGS FOR PUPPIES AND KITTIES

As you can see, my other little project this week was to make Christmas stockings for all the fur kids in our family. I think I decided that I will need 13, so I have a few more to make. But, this is what I got done in a couple of days. The bright colors were inspired by Lucy at Attic 24. If you haven't yet experienced Lucy's remarkable blog, please check it out!

PRACTICE SQUARE FOR GLORIA!!

And, finally, in my collage of pictures, I thought I'd show you a practice square I made last night, just to see if I could follow the pattern. Gloria, from Hooked on Yarn One Stitch At A Time, is going to put together an "Awareness Afghan" for Joe Daczko, of Mantua, Ohio, who will be running a race and representing those people who suffer from Interstitial Cystitis. Check out Gloria's blog for all the details. I volunteered to help with the squares, so I thought I'd better practice before starting the real thing. :) I didn't realize that filet patterns were so much fun!!

So, I hope you all are having a fun-filled and relaxing weekend. My poor Sooners lost again yesterday . . . to TEXAS, of all teams, so I was sad about that. But, it's just football, right? Life goes on, I suppose. :)

See you all soon!

MEETING MYSELF, COMING AND GOING!

2009-10-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday evening, Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I was pretty darn busy, and it seems like the weekend got away from me somehow, but that's quite the norm these days.

I'm mainly writing at this late hour just to let you all know that I will be doing more lurking this coming week and less commenting and participating. My work situation is really crazy. I actually have two bosses right now. My boss, Mary Jones, owns her own medical coding company. I've been doing contract coding work for her since 2005. Back in April of this year, we lost our largest contract, mainly due to the sucky economy. With the loss of that contract also came a tremendous loss of income for me. I went for over a month with very little paid work, although I sure got a lot of crocheting done. :) Unfortunately, we are not wealthy by any means, and we have to have two incomes to survive, so I had to find more permanent employment. I was hired by a company called Phycon, Inc., which specializes in medical coding and billing for emergency room physicians all across the US. I've been working for this company for three months and love what I'm doing. The best benefit is that I'm allowed to work from home, and that goes a long way to make up for the huge cut in pay I had to take.

Well, anyway, my other boss, Mary, got a call from one of our former clients who had not used our services in over a year. This client asked Mary if I could come out to do their coding Oct. 12-16, while one of their coders goes on vacation. Mary, bless her little pea-pickin' heart, didn't have the nerve to tell this lady that I now have a REAL job, but instead, she said, "Sure, Keri will be happy to fill in for you that week!"

So, when Mary told me about the plans she had made for me, I had to go in to my current boss and eat humble pie. I explained the situation to her, and also explained that I could really, REALLY use the extra money for Christmas. So, she said it would be okay for me to work both jobs this week, and that she would try to insure that my work load would be a little lighter than usual.

Needless to say, I have a VERY full week ahead of me. I doubt I'll get much computer time, but I will do my best to read everything you all write. I just may not get to comment as much as I'd like. I'm sure Hunter will take up the slack for me! :)

By the way, thanks to all of you who have written to Hunter and have been so kind to her. She's having a ball, messing with her blog and making new friends. You all are the best!!!

I MISS YOU, MOM

2009-10-08T11:33:00.017-05:00

SHIRLEY CREW

BELOVED MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, DAUGHTER, AND FRIEND

SEPTEMBER 16, 1934 - OCTOBER 8, 1996

Mom behind her desk at work. She hated having her picture taken, but she actually liked this picture and gave it to me as a gift one year.

KERI'S BIRTHDAY AT ESKIMO JOE'S

AUGUST, 1996

This is me on the left, my sister, Tammy, and Mom. It was taken about two weeks before she went into the hospital for the last time.

Okay, before you all get your tissues out, I'll let you know right up front that this is not meant to be a sad and dreary post. I hope I got that nonsense out of my system about three weeks ago, on Mom's birthday. My post today is simply to let everyone know that I miss my Mom terribly, and I want you all to know what a wonderful, loving, generous, funny, and caring person she was.

Mom was born on September 16, 1934, in Healdton, Oklahoma. She was an only child, due to the fact that her parents divorced when she was 5, and my grandmother never remarried. She, instead, devoted the rest of her life to Mom and to my sister and me after our arrival.

Mom was very popular as a teenager and looking back at her highschool yearbooks, it seems she was just about "Miss Everything". She was the band majorette, she was homecoming queen, she sang in the glee club, she presided over the Student Council, and she was voted "Miss Healdton High" her senior year. Due to limited funds, rather than go off to college, Mom attended secretarial school in Oklahoma City. After graduation, she was hired at Pan American Petroleum Company. That is where she met my dad, Ken. In 1952, they were married. Six years later, yours truly was born. (Me!) In 1964, my sister was born, and our family was complete.

I look back on my childhood, and I could not have asked for anything more wonderful. My sister and I grew up in a warm and loving home, with two of the most incredible parents anyone could ever ask for. One week after my 16th birthday, however, my dad destroyed everything our family had come to enjoy. He left us "to get his life figured out", but we later found out that it was because of another woman . . . one that was about 10 years older than me. They ultimately married, but that didn't last long, and he spent the next 10-15 years, searching. He went from job to job and woman to woman, but I think in reality, no one could compare to my mother, and therefore, he never settled down with anyone again. Today, he is a hermit . . . sad and depressed, lonely and pitiful, who finds really nothing of joy in life except his liquor, cigarettes, and television.

Well, now that I got off the subject . . . . . . back to my mom. What a beautiful person she was. When my dad left, my mother's heart was broken, I think literally. She never got over the loss of her first true love, and years later, it was the failure of her heart that led to her demise.

Mom was not perfect. She had her flaws just like we all do. She would not put down her beloved cigarettes, which she started smoking when she was 16, back when it was okay and cool to do such things. After her heart failure resulted in three-vessel heart bypass surgery, she still continued to smoke those damn things. Her cardiologist finally sat her down and flat out told her, very bluntly, that she was going to die . . . soon . . . if she did not stop smoking.

Alas, she finally stopped. But, it was too late. The cigarettes contributed to her lung problems, which of course, exacerbated her heart disease. Ultimately, the cause of her death was attributed to a collapsed valve, which they said could not be replaced because of the poor condition of her heart and lungs. I mentioned in my post on Mom's birthday (Sept. 16) that I took her to the hospital on September 16, and after three weeks in the ICU, she very quietly passed away on October 8th, 1996.

I don't really know how to explain it, without it sounding cold and callous, but I was somewhat relieved when the nurse told me that Mom was gone. She was dependent on a ventilator, and was being fed through a stomach tube. By the end, I don't think she recognized us, and we were unable to really communicate with her. I know Mom would not have wanted to live like that. So, it was somewhat of a blessing to know that she wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

So, today is not as difficult for me to get through as you might expect. It's always there, in the back of my mind, like a really scary movie or a horrible nightmare, but after all these years, I prefer now to focus on the beautiful person my mother was, and to remember her generosity and her love for my sister and me, her grand-daughter, Ryanne, and all her furry friends.

Thank you for letting me share with you. It's good therapy for me to express my thoughts, and I hope I didn't bore you or depress you too much. I would just like to end by saying that I hope all of you tell your family and friends you love them often, give them hugs whenever you can, and be patient and understanding, even though it's incredibly hard sometimes.

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!!

2009-10-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much to those of you who checked out Hunter's blog and signed on as followers. She is so excited and already so addicted. (Maybe that's not such a good thing, huh?) :) She mentioned this morning that she loves blogging and "meeting" all her new friends, and it even keeps her off Club Penquin, which is really something. She has been busy checking all her posts to see if there are new comments, and I think she is writing comments back if she can find who left the comment.

Anyway, I just wanted to say "thanks" for being so friendly and accomodating.

FAVOR

2009-10-05T14:07:00.006-05:00

To all my Blog buddies:

My daughter, Hunter, has created her own blog. She got really interested after reading a lot of your blogs and comments to my blog. I mildly encouraged her, just because I thought it would be good practice for her, learning new things about the computer, plus getting some writing experience. (She definitely needs help with her spelling and grammar.) Well, she's got her blog, and she's excited about it, but she's disappointed because she doesn't have any followers except for her teacher and me. Our other family members don't have access to Blogger and are having trouble even leaving her coments.

I'm wondering if any of you would be willing to check out her blog and perhaps sign up as a "follower"? I don't really want her to search out other blogs on the internet, for safety reasons. But, I think I can trust all my crochet buddies. No obligation, and even if you do sign up to follow, there's no obligation to leave comments all the time. I just thought it might encourage her to keep up her online "journal".

Hunter's blog is called A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE BEAN. She's pretty much all about PUPPIES right now, but I'm sure she'll move on to other things soon. :)

Thanks for letting me share!

I SNITCHED AN AWARD

2009-10-04T11:56:00.006-05:00

Good morning, All! I visited Beansiebabbles this morning and snuck this award from her site. Not necessarily because I agree with what it says, but because I thought it would be fun to answer the questions. I, like Beansie, would like to pass this on to anyone who would like to participate. If you read this and would like to "swipe" the award and then answer the following questions, I would love for you to do so. I'd like to see how you answer them.

HERE ARE THE RULES:
1. You can only use one word to answer each of the following questions.
2. Offer this to your fellow bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award.
4. Have fun!!!

Okay, on to the fun part!

1. Where is your cell phone?   unknown
2. Your hair?   messy
3. Your mother?   deceased
4. Your father?   depressed
5. Your favorite foods? Mexican
6. Your dream last night? forgot
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal?   thin
9. What room are you in?   office
10. Your hobby? crochet
11. Your fear?   mirrors
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?   alive
13. Where were you last night?   home
14. Something that you aren't?   rich
15. Muffins?   blueberry
16. Wish List Item?   retirement
17. Where did you grow up?   Oklahoma
18. Last thing you did?   breakfast
19. What are you wearing?   robe
20. Your t.v.?   off
21. Your pets?   adorable
22. Friends?   some
23. Your life?   short
24. Your mood?   fair
25. Missing someone?   YES
26. Vehicle?   Escape
27. Something you're not wearing?   make-up
28. Your favorite store? yarn
29. Your favorite color?   red
30. Last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? awhile
32. Best friend? Michelle
33. One place I go to again and again? Dreamland
34. One person who emails you regularly?   Michelle
35. Favorite place to eat?   Alfredo's

SORRY I'VE BEEN BLOG-LAGGING

2009-10-03T18:53:00.001-05:00

Wow, I created a new term . . . blog-lagging! LOL I like it! Anyway, I'm going to try to get on here tomorrow to update my blog and bring everyone up-to-date, but for now, since it's exactly 23 minutes until the OU Sooners - Miami Hurricanes kick-off, I'm going to be brief. Hunter and I and our best friends, Michelle and Kaitlyn, went to see my oldest daughter Ryanne today for some much-needed PUPPY TIME! I had not actually snuggled with them or seen them for a couple of weeks, other than the pictures Ryanne emailed me last week, which were in the previous post. So, I think we took close to 100 pictures today, all very cute, of course. I'm going to pick out a few of my favorites for your viewing pleasure. I know this is a crochet blog, but I just can't help myself. These puppies are just too darn cute to keep them hidden.

HUNTER DOING HER BALANCING ACT!

KAITLYN GETTING LOTS OF PUPPY LOVIN'

PILE OF PUPPIES

RYANNE AND HER FURRY FAMILY

Hope everyone is having a terrific weekend. Be safe, and I'll see ya'll tomorrow.

GO SOONERS!!!!!!!!!!!

LATEST PUPPY PICS!

2009-09-24T14:47:00.001-05:00

If you've been following my blog for at least a few weeks, you shared my drama with the great-grandpuppies. We started with 9, but nature unfortunately took its course, and there are now 6. My daughter just sent out an email with some of her new pictures. I just couldn't resist posting them. This is Ryanne and the babies . . . Brutus, Bo, Tigger, Lenny, Kodiak, and Sam (the only female).

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?

2009-09-17T11:24:00.000-05:00

Wow, yesterday was a very hard day for me. When I get on here to post something, I always do my best to keep things upbeat, even if what I'm talking about is on the dreary side. I just couldn't bring myself to write yesterday. Then, today, I decided it would do me good to share my sadness. I had a boyfriend once who would say, "Just go scratch your tail and get glad!" It used to make me so mad at the time, but now I can see what he was trying to say.

Yesterday, September 16th, would have been my beloved Mother's 75th birthday. Mom left us way too early, at the age of 62, on October 8, 1996. Since her death, her birthday has always been a much harder day for me than the day she died. It was on this date, in 1996, that I took her to the hospital, and she never made it back home. She spent three-weeks in the intensive care unit before finally succumbing to heart and lung failure. So, I guess I always look at this date as being the "beginning of the end".

As in years past, I prepared myself as September 16th approached. I knew it was going to be a difficult day for me, so I did my best to stay immersed in my work. I had even asked my boss to give me extra work, just so I could keep my mind occupied on mundane things, anything besides death. I guess I did okay, considering. I got through the dreary and gray day, shedding my usual tears and allowing myself to be sad. By evening, I felt better and knew that this dreaded day was, once again, almost over.

Then . . . . . . . I watched the 10:00 pm newscast and heard the heart-breaking news that Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, had passed away, after her long fight with leukemia. Well, there went my resolve to not shed anymore tears. I loved Mary Travers. I grew up listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary in the 60's and 70's, and I still listen to their music today. I think it was either three or four years ago that I heard they were going to be appearing in Las Vegas. I made flight and hotel arrangements in order to go out to see them. Their concert schedule was unexpectedly cancelled when Mary was diagnosed with leukemia and had to undergo treatment, including a bone marrow transplant. Well, she did well from her treatments, and the group eventually resumed their concerts. Once again, I bought plane tickets and made lodging arrangements, and my husband and I flew out to Las Vegas to see them. It was wonderful, and it brought back so many happy memories from my childhood. I will always cherish that trip.

So, today I am doing better. I appreciate you all giving me this forum to share my grief and sadness. I hate to be a sad-sack, and I promise to be more cheerful and uplifting when I return.

Oh, I also realized last night, in my pitty-pottiness, that I do not even have a picture of my mother on my computer. Of course, I have thousands of photographs, but I've never taken the time to scan anything in. I really need to do that. That will be my next rainy-day project, and I will have some pictures of Mom posted very soon.

Thanks again for listening.

STILL WORKIN' ON THE BLOG

2009-09-12T11:50:00.001-05:00

Thanks for all your comments and helpful critiques. I liked the bright colors of the other blog background, but I agree that even with the bold, black font, it was still hard to read. I decided on this one to get me into Autumn. Tina, you'll appreciate that, right??? Anyway, I've got work to do today, so I won't get time to mess with the text colors until later in the weekend. Hope you'll bear with me. :)

Another Organizer Box

2009-09-08T20:02:00.008-05:00

Hunter took her organizer box to school to keep her supplies in. Some of the kids asked her if I could make them one. I said I would get some whipped up "as time permitted". Well, I worked on this one over the weekend. I'm not real fond of the camouflage, but due to the fact it's for a little boy, and I didn't think I would find any other use for the camo yarn, this is what I picked. I made 2 "M's". The first one, using my "H" hook and RHSS yarn, was WAY too big. I made a second one, this time using a "G" hook and Peaches and Cream cotton. It was still big, but I squished it to get it all to fit. :) Another thing I did differently on this one was to use plastic canvas on the inside, rather than a discarded tissue box. I thought this might hold out a little longer. It took more time, but I'm much happier with the results.

So, anyway, just wanted to let you know I've been keeping my crochet hook busy. I'm getting ready to get started again on my OU afghan. I've been holding off, waiting for some helpful advice from Carolyn, The Kansas Hooker. Now, I think I'm ready to take off on the graph part of the afghan. I'll keep you posted on progress.

Tomorrow is 09/09/09, my baby girl's birthday. She'll be 27. ARRGGGHHHH!!! Makes me feel really old!

I STILL LOVE MY SOONERS!

2009-09-05T22:30:00.000-05:00

I'm in mourning at the moment, since my Sooners were just defeated by the Brigham Young Cougars. But, life goes on, and I'll have my smile back by tomorrow. I just pray that our quarterback, Sam Bradford, is not seriously injured. He's an unbelievable athlete, and just a great human being. Get better soon, Sam!

I'VE GOT SOME NEWS TO SHARE!

2009-09-02T12:41:00.011-05:00

First and foremost, I want to tell you all about my very special friend, Gloria, at Hooked on Yarn One Stitch at a Time. Not too long ago, Gloria had a little contest on her blog. I somehow ended up winning the contest, and my reward was a surprise package from Gloria. Well, I drove up in my driveway the other day, and to my utter delight, saw a HUGE box on the front porch. I brought it in and couldn't wait to open it. When I pulled back the lid, I was literally in shock as I peered at the contents. I have taken pictures to share with you, but I will list the unbelievable goodies that waited within:

1. Four crochet pattern books - "Dog Sweaters to Knit and Crochet", "More Crochet Stitches", "Plus-Size Sweaters to Crochet", and "Crochet Made Easy"

2. Susan Bates bamboo hook

3. Decorative tin that included a scented candle and a package of big-eye needles

4. Metal wall bucket decoration

5. JoAnn Fabrics tote bag

6. "Doggie" scrapbooking sheet

7. Artwork matting frame

8. Three colorful fabric swatches called "Quick Cuts"

9. Umbrella party straws (Hunter has already gotten into those!)

10. Three skeins of metallic crochet thread

11. Ten skeins of beautiful yarn, one of which I have already sampled by making a beanie :)

Oh my gosh!!! I am overjoyed and so very grateful for the wonderful surprise box of goodies. I apologize that I did not get this posted sooner. I had left my camera at my Ryanne's house in order to get puppy pictures, and just got it back on Monday. So, Gloria, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You are a sweetheart. I know you are in the process of moving and may not get this message for a few days, but just know how much I love the very thoughtful surprises!

The other news I have to share is a bit sad. We lost one of the male Corgi puppies the other night. They had been to the vet on Monday to have their tails and dewclaws docked. The vet gave all nine of them a huge "thumbs up" and said they all seemed to be very healthy. He also said Mama Disney was in extremely good shape for having just delivered such a large litter. He said she was producing much more milk than he would have anticipated. Ryanne brought the puppies home at noon and went on to work. She came home at 5:00 to check on them, and they all seemed fine. She got home again at 8:00, and she noticed that one of the little males seemed to be lethargic and was separated from the rest of the litter. She called the vet, and he suggested that she bring him in. For the next 2 1/2 hours, they waited, and the little pup died. The vet, after first seeing the puppy, was not encouraged about its chance for survival, so he didn't want to put Ryanne or the puppy through extensive labwork and xrays. He did check its urine and stool and both showed blood. He said it was very possible that Disney stepped or laid on the puppy, causing internal bleeding. He said it was really not that uncommon. Ryanne, understandably, had a really rough day yesterday. She is such an animal lover, and it broke her heart to have this happen. But, there are still 8 more hungry little mouths to feed and lots of puppy excitement in the days to come. :)

Oh, I almost forgot . . . and since this is actually a crochet blog, I guess I should mention that I got a little project finished this weekend. Hunter wanted a little crocheted "box" to keep her supplies organized at school. So, I went back to a tried-and-true, tissue box pattern I had used before and created this little box. It was easy and quick to make, which is a good thing because she already has requests from kids at school for boxes of their own. :)

9 GREAT-GRANDPUPPIES!!!

2009-08-28T22:35:00.007-05:00

They finally arrived, although a bit reluctantly . . . . .

Seven boys, two girls . . .

Mama Disney was so very tired. Two puppies were born naturally, then the doctor intervened with a c-section because the progress was so slow. She had to endure labor, birth, surgery, then there were 9 hungry mouths to feed!!

The puppies have to be fed every two hours, so there's formula to mix and bottles to wash.

Hunter was beside herself all week, waiting for their arrival. She, of course, wants to keep all of them!!

STILL WAITING FOR PUPPIES!

2009-08-25T10:17:00.002-05:00

Hi, Everybody! Still no puppies! :( I'm at Ryanne's house right now, waiting for the happy moment. Poor girl is so miserable, we thought surely she would have the puppies this past weekend. But, alas, she's holding onto them as long as she can.

I apologize that my posts have been few and far between, and I've also focused more on the fur kids in our family than my crochet. I've been side-tracked, to say the least. My computer took a power surge early last week, and I thought it was gone for good. But, my techie husband found a breaker switch on the back of the CPU, flipped it, and it came back to life. Anyway, during the few days it was down, I was borrowing Hunter's laptop just to be able to do my work. I didn't spend much time posting on my blog. But, things are going to get back to normal, once those puppies get here. I have been working on some neat crochet projects that I will share with you when I get pictures.

For now, keep your fingers crossed that puppies will arrive SOON!!!!!

PUPPIES ON THE WAY!!!!!

2009-08-22T14:16:00.007-05:00

Ryanne, Disney, and Dillon

I just wanted to let you all know that I will soon be posting pictures of my new great-grandpuppies! My previous post had a picture of my daughter, Ryanne, and her new Australian Shepherd, Sasha Grace. In all my excitement to get Sasha's picture posted, I was a bad Grandma and totally forgot to mention that one of Ryanne's other dogs, Disney, is VERY pregnant and will soon be bringing new puppies into the world. Disney is a beautiful tri-color Pembroke Corgi. She's very spoiled . . . quite the Mama's Girl. But, she's a sweet little thing and oh so miserable in the last days of her pregnancy. Ryanne, who is a Special Ed teacher, started back to school on Thursday. She asked me if I would run by her house and let her dogs out and check on Disney. The poor girl, she seemed so weary and miserable, I ended up staying at Ryanne's almost 3 hours as it was just so hard to leave her.

Anyway, we expected to get a call last night with a "puppy status report, but alas, no puppies yet. Today is day 62 (in a 63-day gestation period), so it will be any time. I can't wait to report back in with pictures! :)

MY NEWEST GRAND-DOG!

2009-08-14T08:26:00.005-05:00

If you follow my blog, you know that my daughter Ryanne has a new addition to her family. She is Sasha Grace, an Australian Shepherd, who is now 10 weeks old. Ryanne has just been accepted into the Animal Behavior College, where she will take classes to get certification as a "Certified Animal Trainer". Her husband got Sasha for her to go through her training with her. Sasha joins Disney, a beautiful and VERY pregnant Pembroke Corgi, Bear (the Daddy), another Pembroke Corgi, and Dillon, her ever-faithful and loving MUTT. Lord, how I love my kids and animals! :)

NEWS TO SHARE . . . SOME HAPPY, SOME SAD

2009-08-12T21:35:00.004-05:00

Getting the sad news out of the way first, I'm sorry to say that my 22+ year-old cat has gone to live with Jesus. "Pup", as we affectionately called him, came to live with us in 1990. He had been abandoned by his owners when they moved, and he quickly became attached to my daughter, Ryanne, and me . . . or perhaps it was the Cat Chow and fresh water that he loved so much. At any rate, we took him in and turned a loud and crabby Tom cat into the most lovable creature you can imagine. We took him to the vet to have him neutered, and the vet estimated he was AT LEAST 3 years old, based on his size and teeth. Over the years, Pup got to know at least 6 different homes that I can remember, yet he remained loyal and loving through all the upheavals.

I married again in 1998, to my current husband, JC, and Pup came along for the ride. JC, however, is horribly allergic to cats, so Pup was relegated from the house and his favorite litter box to the great outdoors. He never seemed to wander too far and would always come running whenever we stepped outside. He loved everyone and was the best lap kitty you could possibly want. He got along great with our Greyhounds, even though many Greyhounds are not "cat friendly", due to their chase instinct. Pup, however, nuzzled and snuggled with Max and Mini, just like he was their best buddy.

For the past 10 years or so, I found myself wondering if this would be Pup's last Christmas or summer or whatever occasion, but he was like the Energizer Bunny . . . he just kept going and going and . . . well, you get the picture. It makes me very sad to know that he won't be running up to me when I walk out into the backyard and disturbing our neighbors with his VERY loud "I'm hungry" meow. He was such a good little friend, and I like to think he is in Heaven, with my dear mother and all of my other loved ones and pets that are on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, waiting for me.

Pup and Hunter, enjoying some snuggle time!

Mini, sharing her bed with Pup!

Last but not least, I did mention some good news, as well. Today I am celebrating my 51st birthday! I'm thankful to be alive, I'm thankful to be fairly healthy, and I'm thankful that God has blessed me with wonderful friends and family to share my life with. I look at every day as a gift, better than any birthday gift I could receive.

Love to all of you!

A LITTLE GAME FROM BEANSIE!

2009-08-09T17:23:00.003-05:00

"They would have noticed if Benton found a card."

Makes me a little curious to find out what Benton and Scarpetta are up to in Patricia Cornwell's novel, "All That Remains". Tina, from Beansie Babbles, invited me to try this out.

Here's what you do:

1. Collect the book you have most handy.
2. Turn to Page 161.
3. Find the 5th complete sentence on this page.
4. Cite the sentence on your blog.
5. Pass it on to 5 other blog friends!

Sounded like fun, so I grabbed the book by my recliner and the above sentence is what I found. I'm going to forward this to: Caroline, Gloria, Shana, Terrie, and Lorena. Play along if you like.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!

2009-08-05T21:24:00.006-05:00

Well, the moment of truth is here. I'm sure you all are tired of hearing me moan and groan about the orange and black OSU afghan I've been working on. I am a die-hard OU Sooners fan, and working with this orange and black has about taken its toll on me. :) But, tonight, I gave it it's final "haircut", and tomorrow I will present it to the lady at work who is giving it as a birthday gift. I'm SOOOOOOOOO happy to have it finished! It didn't take the skill that Carolyn's KSU afghan took because this one is just made up of granny squares. But, it took patience and persistence. Now I can put the orange and black yarn back in the drawers until October! And, Carolyn, I still want to get your suggestions for making a crimson and white OU blanket. :)

I do want to take this opportunity to graciously thank my mother-in-law, aka MIL, for helping me get this afghan completed. The lady at work was putting undue pressure on me to get it finished way ahead of schedule, and it was getting to the point that I honestly didn't want to work on it anymore. So, I broke down and asked MIL to help me make some squares. I mean, geez, she's the one who started all this madness by teaching me how to crochet last Thanksgiving! :) Well, I bundled up some orange yarn and sent it her way, and her hook started flying! I really have to give her credit for making well over half of the orange squares. Thank you, MIL, Peggy, Mom . . . I love you and truly appreciate you for all the wonderful things you do.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the finished product, being shown by none other than my daughter, Hunter, and her friend, Kenneth. I told him his picture was going to be posted on the internet, so that's why he's hiding. :)

QUESTIONS FOR ALL YOU EXPERT BLOGGERS!

2009-08-03T07:34:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday, Everyone! How do you like the new blue background? I was getting a little tired of the green and thought it was time for a change. I added some new pictures of my family, and am still trying to find one of myself that I'm willing to show the world. I hate having my picture taken and avoid cameras with a vengeance! But, I will break down one of these days and post a picture of myself, just so you can put a name with a face. :)

I am new to this "blogging" thing, and am learning as I go. I have a couple of questions for those of you who know what you're doing. First, how do you find all those neat blog backgrounds? I'm using Google Blogspot, and the choices of backgrounds are limited. Some of you have really neat, unique blogs, and I'm wondering where you find all your "elements". And, my other question . . . Is there a way to put in an "alert" so that I know when someone has left a comment on one of my posts? I was reading through some of my early posts this weekend and came across some comments that I didn't even know I had received. I would've liked responding to these comments, but a couple of these were over a month old!! If any of you have suggestions on "Blog Etiquette and Tips for Beginners", please let me know.

And, finally, thanks to those of you who left messages for Hunter. She was absolutely thrilled to read your comments. In fact, she picked some yarn from my stash this weekend and made 4 granny squares, getting better on each one as she went along! She's wanting to post pictures, but I've told her to make enough for a scarf, then I'll teach her how to whipstitch, and she can post her completed project. Your encouragement is very much appreciated!

Have a great week, everyone!

Help Gloria Celebrate Her 100th Post!!!

2009-08-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

Here is her crochet site - http://gloria-uncinetto.blogspot.com/. She will be giving away some neat prizes. Stop by her site for a visit!

LOOK AT THIS EVERYONE!

2009-07-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

My 10-year-old daughter, Hunter, was actually in the mood to sit with me the other night and crochet. Usually she gets bored after a few rows or rounds, but she was on a mission to make me something. I am posting a picture of her creation, which is a rainbow, sitting on some puffy clouds. She learned to crochet last Thanksgiving, just like I did, but she certainly hasn't been putting the time and effort into it like I have. So, I am very proud of her . . . not only for doing such a great job on her "rainbow", but also for setting a goal for herself and finishing it. I hope you all will take a quick moment to send her a comment with some words of encouragement.

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

2009-07-25T07:41:00.000-05:00

Lots going on in my life lately. Will update you soon. But, for now, I'm on a mission with this particular post. My 10-year-old daughter, Hunter, sat down with me the other night and asked if she could crochet something. I was surprised, but delighted. She learned to crochet on Thanksgiving, same time I did. Being 10 and much more active than me, her attention span won't allow her to do more than a couple of rows or make more than a round or two. I told her to make something small that she could finish at one sitting, like a coaster. Well, low and behold, she made not just one, but THREE coasters, plus some little white "puffies", and then she sewed them together. She gave them to me as a gift and said it was her version of a rainbow peeking out from the clouds. I had a little difficulty seeing the rainbow, but I was just totally amazed at what a good job she did, with her very minimal experience.

So . . . this weekend sometime, I am going to post a picture of her "rainbow" for you all to see. I really hope you will take a moment to leave a comment, so I can show these to her and perhaps it will keep her encouraged to stick with her crocheting. Thank you all so much in advance for helping out. :)

TOTE BAGS FOR BEANSIE!

2009-07-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

I mentioned to Beansie that I had made a patriotic tote bag last week, but after seeing her adorable windsock, I was embarrassed to post my plain Jane bag. But, she persisted, so here it is, being modeled by my shy 10-year-old. The tweed and cream bag was made using the yarn that was given to me by my sister's grumpy lieutenant at work. (See my previous post.) Hunter, my daughter, said it looks more like a baby carrier than a tote bag! :) I don't really see the lieutenant carrying this bag, but it's the thought that counts, right? I also made her a very pretty winter scarf with the tweed yarn, plus an orange and black striped Oklahoma State drink koozie. Hopefully she'll know how much I appreciated the gift of yarn.

Happy Last Day of June!

2009-06-30T18:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I was tagged by Beansie, so I was supposed to go to my photo

folder, then go to the 6th folder, and select the 6th picture. My 6th

folder is full of a bunch of little cartoons and jokes that were sent to

me in an email. They were cute, so I decided to save them. Some of

them are a tiny bit risque, but fortunately, the 6th picture was decent

enough to post.

I'm now supposed to tag 5 bloggers to play the game. I've got to run

right now, but I'll get back to "tagging" a little later.

Speaking of family . . . . .

2009-06-19T19:39:00.001-05:00

Since I mentioned how much I love my family in my last post, I thought I would throw in a picture of my girls. They just got off one of the water rides at our local amusement park, so they are "au naturale", so to speak. But, I just love the picture. I told them that it actually looks like they're enjoying themselves and that they might even like each other a little bit. :) Ryanne's 26, Hunter just turned 10. I had two people at work today mistake Hunter for my son, which I'm sure would thrill her to death. She likes to wear her hair short, just to antagonize her big sister.

2009-06-19T18:53:00.001-05:00

First and foremost, muchas gracias to Caroline for presenting me with the Kreativ Blogger award. I was shocked because I am such a newbie at crocheting and blogging, but I'm so very appreciative. I will only be able to fulfill the first two "requirements", mainly because I'm only linked to 8 or 9 other blogs, and most of these bloggers have already received the award. :) So, on to the first rule:

The rules with this award are to:
1) List 7 things you love.
2) Link back to the person who gave you the award.
3) Pass it along to 7 other bloggers

Seven Things I love . . .
1. My family- I have a very small family which includes my husband, two daughters, one sister, my dad, and my mother and father-in-law. I lost my dear mother, who was my very best friend, in 1996. My life has not been the same since, and for that reason, I cherish every member of my family and every moment I get to spend with them.

2. My Greyhounds - I love animals of all kinds, but my Greyhounds are my special fur-babies. I did research on Greyhounds a number of years ago, and quickly fell in love with these beautiful, gentle creatures. I became involved in Greyhound rescue, which helps find good homes for the thousands of wonderful dogs that would otherwise be euthanized after their racing days are over.

3. Autumn - Yes, I've lived in Oklahoma/Kansas/Texas all my life, but I'm partial to cool or cold weather. In fact, many people get the "Winter Blues" because of having to be cooped up inside when it's cold. I'm just the opposite. I am so energized and much more active when the temperature is below 50 degrees! Oklahoma has beautiful weather in the fall . . . cool and crisp and the wind finally stops blowing for a few months. :)

4. Coffee - My husband calls me a coffee snob! He bought me a Keurig coffee brewer for our anniversary in April, and it's one of my very favorite possessions. I will say that I've only been to Starbuck's once or twice since getting my Keurig. :)

5. Music - I love all kinds of music . . . easy listening, pop, folk, country, classical, and anything instrumental. Music relaxes or invigorates, whatever the situation calls for. To me, it's what makes the world go 'round.

6. Holidays - I especially love Christmas, but I love all holidays because they usually give me an excuse to spend time with my family (see #1).

7. Last but not least, I LOVE CROCHET!!!!! Nothing more really needs to be said because anyone reading this will understand. :)

I don't have 7 people to send this award to, but I would like to say that I appreciate all of you and cherish the friendships I am building with each of you through your blogs.

Happy Saturday!!

2009-06-13T07:37:00.000-05:00

Well, my long-lost family will be returning tonight from their little vacation to Seaworld, San Antonio. It's been nice having the house to myself, with my 2 spoiled greyhounds, but I do miss my hubby and daughter. I spent my last evening alone doing something really exciting. While watching the finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I cut up plastic bags and made "plarn". I've been reading about it for some time, but kept thinking it would be too tedious, with all those plastic strips. But, it was quite enjoyable, and I created a nice little ball of plastic yarn. :) Now I just need to decide on a little project to make with it.

I forgot to mention something neat that happened to me this week. My sister is a police officer. She has a really grumpy, female boss. The other day, my sister got to work and found a huge bag of yarn in her seat. A note was attached that said, "Thought your sister might be able to use this." Baby Sis almost fell over!! She sent me a text message, and I was in shock, also. I figured her lieutenant wanted me to make something for her. But, when she went in to thank her for the bag of yarn, her boss told her that she had come across this while cleaning out her mother's house. She had seen some of the projects I had made for my sister. So, she thought I could figure out something to do with the yarn. The yarn is really nice. There are 8-10 rolls of two colors, one a brown tweed mix, and the other one is a cream color. Both are wool. In the bag, I also found a little WIP, perhaps the beginning of a knitted sweater. I got little tears in my eyes, thinking about the little lady who was probably making that to give as a gift and never finished.

Anyway, that was a huge highlight in my week. When things seem so dark and mean sometimes, it always amazes me and does my heart good to see these little acts of kindness.

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

NEED YOUR ADVICE!

2009-06-12T14:19:00.001-05:00

Hi, everyone! I've been amiss at posting for a few days. My husband and youngest daughter have abandoned me and taken a little trip to Seaworld, in San Antonio. I've been taking the opportunity to work extra hours. Other people have felt sorry for me, being home alone, so they have taken it upon themselves to try to keep me entertained with offers of eating out, shopping, etc. Little do they know that I actually relish these rare days when I can come home to my 2 greyhounds, just the 3 of us, with no schedule to follow except for whatever the heck I feel like doing. Unfortunately, I've been so overwhelmed with sympathy calls and activities, I haven't had much time to myself, especially for crochet and blogging. :)

Anyway, I have a question for anyone who happens to read my ramblings. I have a problem knowing how to handle the situation when someone wants me to crochet something for them. Usually, they are admiring something I've made or am making. It's rare that I go anyplace without a tote bag full of yarn and hooks! Of course, I love it when people comment on my crocheted item, and I especially love it when I find someone who knows a little about crocheting and/or knitting. But, the problem arises when the admirer says, "Oh, I love that purse you're making. You could make me one if you want to!" Or, "You're an OU fan, but I need an OSU afghan for a friend's birthday. Something really easy and simple. I'll buy your yarn if you'll make me one."

That's when I get tongue-tied and don't know how to respond. As much as I love to crochet and show off my work, I don't have time to crochet for every Sam, Sue, and Sally who asks me to make items for them . . . and especially for FREE! Does that sound hateful??? Part of the problem is that I have no clue how to charge for my work, understanding that people who don't crochet have no clue how much time and effort goes into even the simplest of projects. But, even to get just a small return on my investment of time . . . well, I guess that is my goal, and I don't know a proper way to go about it.

Have any of you faced this dilemma, and if so, how have you handled it? Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Have a great weekend!!!

2009-05-29T16:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday Everyone! Geez, this has been the longest 4-day week ever!!! I'm ready for the weekend! I am going to be at my sister's house until Tuesday, taking care of her dogs, while she goes on a little vacation to Reno/Lake Tahoe. We have the 2 greyhounds, and her 3 dogs are much more rambunctious than ours. So, I decided it would just be easier on everyone if I just stay at her house. She only lives 30-40 minutes away, but sometimes it seems like she's in a different state. :) Anyway, I hope to get a lot of crocheting done over the weekend. Speaking of . . . crochet . . . I just finished my 12-point, round ripple "Sunshine" lapghan. My best friend is going through a messy divorce and needs something to put a smile on her face. So, this lapghan will hopefully signify that brighter days are on the way. Hope she likes it! Everyone have a great weekend.

Ready for Hump Day!

2009-05-26T22:20:00.000-05:00

It's only Tuesday, and I'm already looking forward to Saturday! The long weekend wore me out, and today was a killer at work. Now I'm just looking forward to some downtime.

Well, I can now post the pictures of my crocheted "organizer boxes". The pink/blue one was my first, and I have gotten so much use out of it. I decided to make one for my MIL for Mother's Day, which we were just able to celebrate yesterday because we've all had the respiratory crud the past few weeks. I didn't want to post a picture until after I gave it to her. But, anyway, she loved it, and I hope it will encourage her to get her hook flying. She's the only one in my family who seems to appreciate and encourage my new "addiction"! :)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!

2009-05-25T09:36:00.000-05:00

My thanks goes out to all the brave Americans who have unselfishly given their lives for our country. And, my thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers who are there now, ready to lay down their lives for our freedom. Today, I also like to take a special moment to remember my friends and relatives who have left us, especially my dear mother, who was my best friend in the whole world. She left us way too early, and I miss her every day. Love you, Mom!

As for the pictures above, I am still trying to get caught up on posting pics of my early projects. These are newborn hats that I really enjoyed crocheting. The one at the top makes me laugh. It said it was for a newborn, but my 10-year-old can wear it. It's still a cute pattern, but I think I'll not give it at my next baby shower. :)

I'M POOPED!

2009-05-21T20:39:00.001-05:00

I think I mentioned I started my new job this week. After being sick last week, with the cough and headache lingering this week, all this excitement is wearing me out! I've almost been too tired to crochet. Almost, I said! :) Well, I'm still going back and playing catch-up with posting pictures of my early projects. The first pair of shoes are granny slippers. They're kinda cute, but the picture isn't helping them out too much. The second "single slipper" is one of a pair, but the other one ended up being a dog chew-toy. :) The last slippers are Baby Uggs. I should've put my ruler up next to them . . . they're about 3 1/2 inches long and so adorable. I made them one weekend for a guy at my husband's work . . . well, not for the guy, but for his new baby boy . . . but after I finished them, I didn't think there was any way his hefty newborn was going to fit in them. So, I'll have a gift for the next baby that comes along.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

2009-05-20T07:10:00.000-05:00

I was trying to go back and post pictures of my early projects, but I thought I might ought to throw in a couple of recent pictures to show that I have at least ventured further than caps and scarves! :) I made these little guys for my mother-in-law for Easter. The small white and milk chocolate bunnies were my favorites.

Hope everyone is having a great week. I'm busy at my new job and loving it! I can't wait to start working from home in a few weeks.

First Day At My New Job!

2009-05-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

Yep, I started a new job today! I've been doing contract medical coding

for the past few years, and our biggest contract was cancelled as of April

3rd. So, my fingernails have taken quite a beating the last few weeks,

nerves from not having any work. But, alas, I started working today.

After some in-office training, I'll be able to work from home. How cool

will that be??? :)

Well, this picture is of one of my first scarves. I wasn't sure how to

photograph it, and the picture really doesn't do it justice. It's made with

Lion Brand Homespun, and it made up really fast, even though it's

quite long. The pattern came from the skein wrapper.

Good night, my precious 9-year-old!

2009-05-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

My baby girl will be in double digits tomorrow. My goodness, is she ever excited!! It's actually past my bedtime, but I had some last-minute presents to wrap, so I thought I would do some nips and tucks on my new blog and add another picture or two. I've crocheted tons of stuff since last November, and I'm really kicking myself now for not taking pictures of each and every thing I've made. There were countless coasters, koozies and wash cloths created during my first couple of months, but none of them were photographed. Oh well, I'll just have to be better about keeping track of everything from here on out. As I try to catch up on posting pictures of my projects, I think I'll start back from the beginning and work forward. Hopefully, we'll see some improvement along the way. :) The pictures above were of my first two hat and scarf sets. I crocheted these in December and gave them as Christmas gifts.

I'm Making History With My Very First Blog!

2009-05-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday, Everyone! That sounds funny, considering there might be one or two people who read this. :) Anyway, I thought maybe I should figure out how to do this blogging thing, so those of you who have found me following your blogs won't think I'm a stalker!

I'm excited about creating this blog, and I hope you will be patient with me. I consider myself to be computer-literate, but for some reason, I've never developed an interest in the "Myspace", "Facebook", and now "Twitter" crazes. I was drawn to this blogging community through my searches for crochet information. After reading some of your blogs, I decided I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and begin sharing my passion for crochet.

Here's a brief history . . . All the females above me in my family tree have been very crafty, especially with needle arts. My mother and grandmother made beautiful clothes for me when I was a child. My mother was very skilled at sewing, knitting, and crocheting. When I was a teenager, she patiently tried to teach me how to crochet, but I could never get past a few rows of single crochets before getting bored to tears! At that time, I thought crochet was just about making afghans and doilies. (Anyone heard that before?) I never dreamed you could actually make something CUTE and useful with yarn and a hook.

Well, years went by, and my mother made countless afghans that she gave away. Fortunately, my sister and I were the recipients of many of her labors of love. Mom is with Jesus now, but I know she looks down on us approvingly when we snuggle up with her beautiful handiwork. I can also appreciate now just how much work she really put into those little projects!

So, how did I get to be where I am today . . . absolutely obsessed with crochet and yarn and hooks, and other tools of the trade? Back in October, 2008, I got something on my homepage that said, "How to Crochet a Granny Square". When I read that, a little lightbulb went off in my head, and I thought, "I could crochet a baby blanket for my first grandchild." Well, this is funny for many reasons. First, I was envisioning a granny square magically becoming a blanket . . . . just like that! This was also funny because not only do I not have a grandchild, but my almost-newlywed daughter and son-in-law have no plans of giving me grandchildren in the near future. :) So, I'm not really sure why I had this little vision, but oh well . . . I just took off with it.

I emailed my mother-in-law, who also happens to be extremely talented and crafty, and asked her if she could teach me how to make a granny square. It was almost Thanksgiving, so she told me to get some yarn that I liked, and she had hooks, and we would make granny squares after our big turkey dinner. So, do you think I should hold my mother-in-law responsible for turning me into the obsessive yarn addict that I've become? :) The couple of granny squares I made that day turned into 25 by the end of the long weekend. Funny thing is, I've got about 75 squares made now, but they're still sitting in a drawer, waiting for me to decide what to do with them. I've moved way past those original grannies, and have decided that if/when I get my first grandchild, he or she will deserve something very cuddly, not my first attempt at crochet with scratchy acrylic yarn!

Okay, so that was not such a brief history! But, it tells you how my crochet journey began, and I hope each of you who finds this blog will join me and share your thoughts and ideas along the way.

By the way, the picture is of a scarf I made the week after I mastered those darn granny squares. So, it was officially my first completed "project". I've taken lots of pictures this weekend, and I'll get them posted in the days to come.