The NEW Me!!

Who am I and where did I come from?


After my pregnancy, I suddenly turned into this mother-person! (1982)

 You would have thought I had dreamed of this role my whole life.  I hadn't... at 33 I became a mother overnight.  I guess it has to do with life and species preservation.  To make such a change to my mind-set, I would want more children, but no, I stopped at one, and had no thoughts of a second child.  I attributed that to being an only child of an only child, and relishing the attention one gets as a kid in a small extended family.


Change number two:  Once my daughter was on her feet, I never looked adoringly at babies again. My first change was a very temporary and discriminating change, because I again dropped the mommy act and for 26 years I almost dreaded the thought of becoming a grandmother.  Would I be able to take on another role? After all, I hadn't held many babies other than my own, and I certainly never encouraged anyone to hand over their infant to me to fondle.  Then...


Change number three:  Last July I took a glass elevator up to the fifth floor and there was my daughter with a newborn in her arms... (talk amongst yourselves--I'm all verklempt) (2009)

and I was another person again!  Now my little one is almost 11 months old and I love the feel of her.  Would I again be discriminating and see only one baby in my life? She's too far away to touch daily so have I taken on a substitute? (We skype often. I sing "our" favorite songs and taught her to clap.) But when my good friend wrote that she had just adopted twin boys, I leapt at the chance to hold them. 


Oddly, three days before I got word of the adoption (of course, they had been on a list for years) I heard a review of a book about the sleep habits of twins, and I found it really interesting.  What I gleaned from the interview is that twins are a handful!  Well, duh, you say, but it was recommended that you have a list of helpers, and I immediately knew what I had to do.  I may be a pest, but I'm at their disposal for a few hours a week.  I say, "I'm coming over on ... afternoon. Or would you rather I come some other time?"  So far, I've gotten my hands full, shopped and babysat while mom and dad went out to shop.  I feel useful, and I sure enjoy it!  The new me...(2010)

Lest you think that I'm cheating on my own granddaughter, let it be known that in her first year I have spent exactly 17-1/2 weeks with her.  That doesn't include the hours of Skype and it doesn't mean a few hours of visit time but 24/7 time.  Pretty good for making a connection that is 4,000+ miles away!!  (2010)

That's the NEW me!  (Knitting?  Another blog topic!!)


Call me, 


Grandma

Not so Little...

I love Ravelry... the search feature is the main reason I take time to enter things, like stash, projects, books and magazines.  I searched for "animals" and it showed me that I had a Creative Knitting magazine with a pattern.  It looked so cute, and then...

The only reason I didn't throw in the towel was that I imagine that a cute face will fix everything.  I made the "Chou" figure, and when I got to the ruffle around the face, I discovered that casting on 174 stitches wasn't exactly the "little" thing I expected.  But I bravely went on and ended up with a monstrous amount of ruffle.  

Unfortunately, there are no instructions about attaching it to the head, except "see the picture"... (what kind of instructions is that?) and then it doesn't even show the back of the head.  So I'm going to tack it down and hope that my 11 month old won't mind!

Little Knits

Little things to knit!

Or crochet... This just might make me a crochet'er.

I missed this!! May 1 (Utah)

Selecting Music

The Ivories were complimented yesterday!  Sometimes things just work!!


I heard from many that the music was wonderful, asking for the name of tunes, and it really was something that people wanted to hear.  It makes me feel good. I always feel that part of my job is to make an experience that will bring people back a second time.  There has to be something that will hook a person into returning for another hour, and maybe even bringing someone else with them.


ME is my flutist that pulls off the best sounds... everyone loves flute music.  Sax, clarinet, trumpet, etc. someone can be offended, but flute?  Never.  It wasn't until Friday that I decided that since I hadn't heard from ME, but she was expected to play on Sunday, I better search through my library and find a few things to "suggest".  Rather than finding things that will go with sermons, I find things that will create a mood of uplifting, contemplation, prayer, melodies known and unknown.  (Often I make up titles to fit the mood I want to create. Who's to know? And the title starts the process of an image before the music begins and gives listening guidance.)




I chose music that was rather repetitious but soothing.  Rolf Lovland and his music called Smooth Stones: Secret Garden is written for violin and piano.  Last Fall, I had a violinist try it out and it was amazing--people were very excited about the feel.  It's similar to Celine and Andrea.  (Without all the shouting...)






Neo-classical is the term:  ME does it well, and there's nothing like live music to fit the moment. Not only inspirationally but in length. By this, I mean, knowing when to stop is very important, and when to have enough to fill the moment, too.  Somehow, it came out just right with our phrasing.  There's a certain amount of luck and experience that goes into that happening.

Yarn!

My favorite yarn:  ------------> (See my slide show above right.)

I'm sure I wouldn't have a knitting addiction if I didn't have a yarn addiction too.  You can see how much yarn I have stashed by the screen to the right.  And it's because I'm helpless...HELPLESS, I tell you, when I have the opportunity to put my fingers on yarn.

Like any addiction, you have to keep me away from it.  Unfortunately our local yarn shop, a mere 50 miles away, just closed 2 weeks ago.  Now I have to go to Maine and Norway to get my fix.  (Isn't that a pity?)

Here's (part of) my final purchase at the LYS:

Who could resist????

A MAY zing!

To celebrate the 10th year of official geocaching, about 20 of us grouped and re-grouped to find caches, and play the game:  Caching Scrabble.  (We make up the rules!)