A purchase for future Grandbaby

    Last week when I was shopping with Sara in Target, I spotted something. The first thing I saw was this adorable face:

I went right over, and there was the cutest little three piece set, in newborn size. I fell in love with it! It comes with two onesies, a short sleeve one:

 

 

     I thought this was appropriate, since her hubs Mike is in a rock band. He plays the drums. Then there's the long sleeve onesie:

    It was so perfect, I threw it right in the basket and bought it. It's OK if I show it here, Sara saw me with it in the store. But she can't have it yet. It's mine to play with!


    On a different note, I somehow managed to fix the problems I was having with my laptop. Even the USB ports are working now, hence the photos! In desperation, I was looking around in the programs in there, and found a free trial version of one of those "cleaner upper" programs. I ran it, and it fixed the problems! I'll worry about it again in two more years.


    This means I can now show you the photo of my home made laundry detergent, when they were turned upside down, and it separated after twenty minutes:

 

     TAH DAH! There it is! One more thing, then I'll not tell you about the detergent any more. I used it again today when I washed our sheets and pillowcases. It worked very well, I'm convinced. And that's the last you'll hear of it.                                                                               

 

 

The highs and the lows

    All weekend, I was really looking forward to going to Kingston with Hubs. We were going to hit Walmart, Sam's Club, Gander Mt., and Michaels. I wanted to hit that Michaels in particular because the last time I was there, They had the yarn I want to use to make a baby thing for the new grandbaby. I didn't buy it then because we didn't know the sex of the baby yet and I wanted to wait until we knew for sure.


    So now we know it's a boy, and I'm ready to start knitting. We go to Walmart first, Hubs needs new jeans. Then at long last I get to go to Michaels, while he's in Gander Mt. I search the whole fracking store. Not only do they not have the yarn they had for the baby stuff, they don't even have any JIFFY that I want for my arm warmers. I walk over to Gander Mt, practically in tears. I tell Hubs I'll be waiting in the truck. He is outta there in less than a minute. (that was the low...)


    We finally get to Sam's Club. We got the most awesome Rib Eye steaks from there last time, they were the best steaks I've ever made at home. We were there for more of those, as well as a few other things. As we wandered through the store, I spy with my little eye the most awesomely colorful display. I go over to it, and it's a display of brightly colored coffee makers and toasters. They come in red, blue, bright pink, yellow, orange, purple and more!


    Hubs actually let me get a coffee maker! I am so happy that I now have a purple coffee maker. I took a couple of photos of it, on my counter, which is not cleaned off, so don't pay attention to anything but the awesome coffee maker...

    Isn't that cool? Behind it is my red rice cooker that my son Jesse got me for Christmas a few years ago. He really likes sticky rice. I don't think I've used it since he moved out last year.


    I can't wait to get the coffee maker all clean and use it. I have to read the manual yet....


    As for the yarn, I will be making a trip to my local Michaels to look for the yarn I wanted. Maybe even tomorrow. If I can find some gas money....

Maiden, Mother, Crone and Other Thoughts

    All women go through these three phases of our lives. Maiden means youth, inexperience, naivete. The joys of discovering the world, falling in love, and eventually becoming an adult.


    Motherhood is perhaps the most challenging of the phases. It certainly lasts the longest, at least it did for me. Being a mom is the best and hardest job we can ever do. To teach your children what they need to know about the world, without sheltering them from it too much. They have to experience some things for themselves. We can't keep them protected, but we make sure we are close enough to pick them up when they fall, kiss their boo boos and tell them it's all gonna be OK. And even then, they need the space to grow into themselves. It's all about balance.


    I knew when my youngest moved out just over a year ago that my time as an active mother was at an end. We raised him well, with good values, and he has one hell of a work ethic. We let him loose on the world, and he seems to be thriving.


    But I was in denial about becoming a Crone. It suddenly dawned on me yesterday as I was at the Police station that the young officer I was speaking to probably viewed me as  < gasp >  a senior citizen..... after all, I'm nearly 60 now. And about to be a grandmother for the third time.


    That was a hard realization. I mean, I always had a hard time being taken seriously or even heard, but now I think it's going to get worse.  I just don't see myself as "old" or even "older".


    On another front, however, I have great news! It has been officially confirmed that my new grandbaby will be a boy!! No need to trim anything in pink that's already finished. I can't wait to go shopping for masculine colored yarn!!


   I'm making slow progress on the hand/arm warmers. It was so humid yesterday it felt like I was breathing water when I went outside. The air was very heavy. No wonder I got so tired. It sucks getting exhausted just from the effort to breathe.

   


   

What I'm Doing Instead, and Why

    Since I have confessed that I haven't been crafting, I must state that I haven't just been sitting around watching TV like a zombie. I've been reading. Now, it's been my habit for many, many years to keep a book in the bathroom. When I will be in there for an extended period of time, I pass the time by reading.


    For the past few years, the bathroom has been the home for my nook. It's like having an entire library in there. I read all the Game of Thrones books, and discovered a new series, The Iron Druid, by Kevin Hearne.


    While waiting impatiently for the latest Iron Druid book to come out, I decided to reread one of my favorite books. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice. She used to be my very favorite author, but then she went and got all religious on me. But even though I liked her vampire books, I have always thought that the books about the Mayfair Witches were better. And The Witching Hour, I consider her master work.


    One day before the anxiously awaited new book came out, I finished The Witching Hour. Unfortunately I didn't know that. So I decided to reread the second Mayfair Witches book, Lasher. I was hoping I would like it better the second time around, since many years have passed since I first read it.


    So now I'm trying to rush through Lasher, so I can read the newest Iron Druid book. But I'm savoring the waiting too.


    It's like with my all time favorite series, Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter by my very favorite author, Laurell K. Hamilton. I have all of the series in hardcover as well as on my nook. The twenty second book is due out soon. I can't wait! So she's getting twice the money from me. In fact, when I first got my nook, my goal was to buy all the Anita Blake ebooks. And I did, a few at a time, and reread them all. It took all of that summer, but I got them all.


    Ms. Hamilton writes another series about Merry Gentry, a fairy princess. I have read most of them also, but the Anita Blake ones remain my favorite. I recommend these books to anyone who will listen.


    As to why I've been reading and not knitting or crocheting, it all has to do with this future grandbaby. I swore I wasn't going to make anything else until we knew for sure the sex of this child. And my daughter and son-in-law want to know before the actual birth. So I'm anxiously waiting, crochet hooks and knitting needles at the ready. I'm even planning on making something on one of those round knitting looms.