finishing yesterday

Ok I know I said I would be back but it didn't happen. Not sorry about the lapse as I spent it ingood company doing something creative. Four women, old seaters, batting,foam wreaths and geegaws. The results are on my FB page and my door.So with outside lights up I am done decorating for the season. For may the tree is the season but for me it is in thelittle things, cards, hellos, coffee time ---these are the things that make the season bloom.

One more sleeve to put a 2 row band on and I will wear my sweater vest tomorrow. Black and orange cap is nearly done, and so next on the list is the sleeve to the bohaus so I can join it and move on to its fair isle pattern.That will be a challenge but I hope to have it done by 2012 or very early in the new year. The cap has some self designed fair isle so I could play with the pattern and the method. Enjoyed but the bohaus will still get to me as it has three colors of yarn. I also plan to cast on the gansey so I can knit the " fancy damn sweater" as heather often called it. I will remember her with every stitch on the piece.

Writing happened this vacation too and Herb Lore is beginning to take shape. Oddly eough I am having a change of heart about Odd bit of fluff( working title) may bring the man out of time to our century rather than sending her back into the past. Plan on doing something withthat today and tomorrow. College classes wind up by the 8th of December so I will have time to work on these pieces.

So tomorrow it is back to the real world and work I love even with its frustrations. Back to time schedules, lesson plans, grading and the hope that some of the students will value the class. The routine gives my life structure; the hope gives me a purpose in life. Teachers not all of the classroom type touched my life and maybe just maybe I have and can do that for the year or two left to me on the high school level.

So I have been blog lazy. No good reason Just not much to say,or just plain lazy.Have been working on knitting. One more sleeve band and the lace insert vest is done.Have to look for a new challenge pattern, traditional gansey here I come. Only two ufo's( unfinished objects) on the needles. Bohaus cardigan is another one is on the block to finish next and to break the tension I am working on my kimono sweater in remix.

Actually put pages onto Herb Lore and the plot is about to become more complex. The evil is about to enter the text but at the moment it is a bit amorphus in the brain. When it gels a bit, I wll be able to get it into the story.

to be continued.......

day before T day

Well I made it through the Tuesday before Thanksgiving once again and found it easier.For those reading I lost my Mom 1992 the Tuesday before Tday. For the first few years it was really tough as Mom And I had been close.She was the central figure of my life and Dad was the other half. Still as Dad was a travelling salesman , Mom I faced frozen pipes, unwanted lambs, hectic shopping and a myraid other minor troubles together. Faced a few big ones too, Dad's death, my divorce to mention two. She talked to me everyday, fed me on weekends, cooked for me when I taught in Nebraska, babysat the kids, joked with me and reprimanded when I needed it. Sometimes I will see something she would enjoy, and I actually find myself reaching for the phone.

Thanksgiving is my holiday alone. Girls are too far for the few days we have off and often travel weather is not good. I miss family at this time but am content with way things are. Essentially it does not bother me to be alone, and I bet many only children would say that. We learn early to entertain ourselves. Being alone does not equate lonliness. Though I admit when they call it is as Martha S. says it is a good thing.

Christmas is different. We usually manage to get the Neb-Kan contingent together. The vacation time is longer so weather can be coped with. This year I may have done it in as I am scheduled to spend New Year's in Belize. Just could not turn down a free trip to a new place.

I cannot count how many times I think of family in a day.Sara is the ultimate mommy and her house is open and loving. The Other girls run thier houses as family and friends havens too but they have less family. Dana has done well in her career and he truck driver husband makes life intereting trying to remember just where he is. She like my Mom has to face things when he is on the road. beckyand family are more urban than the rest of us and she is busy with jopb ,family and school. I am proud of them all and of thier offspring. I am interested in their comings and goings but try not to meddle. they have their lives to live andcan include me inwhat they wish to share. They are strong,independent women,and I like to think I had sommething to do with that.

So when I am gone, I hope that they will also reach for the phone or Facebook to share something they think I will enjoy. That is the best type of memorial.

Finally the term papers for the college are done. On the whole a better set than most as there were no failures if they were handed in. Honestly I do not think I even blessed one with a d. Maybe I should regrade them.LOL.

Dogs are sleeping and Eric is gatherring the leaves up. A load of whites just finished in the machine and I should be grading or making a list for the grocery run. NO big meal to prepare for this holiday, no rush to travel aywhere. I may just be in fleece pants and tshirts all vacation. Not really, I plan on Mass and a class at Yarn--- making a wreath out of an old sweater. The challenge there is deciding which sweater to recycle. Could go to Good Will I guess.

Today is a day of to do's. Review days for French,car service, grading, knitting maybe. Coffee with an ex- student to help her edit a paper. Nice to know she values my input and I value her friendship. Car just called and it needs alignment. I thought it might so I am thankful I can get it done today. Well actually the car didn't call; the dealer did. Another crossed off the list.

The weather is dim today or sunless.Not really gray and rainy but not bright and definitely not sunny. Some may say the weather is nasty but I am, as I said before, rather fond of it. In some other life I must have lived on the Atlantic shoreline because the Puritan soul in me comes alive in such conditions. My spirit sings and things get done.

Christmas light are up and I shall be tracing the prophecies of and fulfillment of His birth once again. It is never old and new insight comes each year due to the lessons living has taught me during the year. Enuff said for today.

a quickie

The 25 till christmas films are on.Pretty sappy but a wonderful tradition and good family viewing. One of my students was counting down until they came on. It is nice that some one can get excited about family entertainment.,

Just got reminded that my only aunt from either side who is still alive will be 97 in February. However she no longer is the sharp knife in the drawer and hardly knows her own child. While a long life is a gift, when you cease being a true part of it I wonder. Still it is not ours to choose. Mom lived until she was eighty and passed away the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 1992. She was pretty alert and fiesty until the end though I had begun to detect some changes. At any rate the anniversary is near and each year I recall how much love she gave me and hope she knows that I returned that love.

Time flies by with jet speed now. As a child it took forever for the holiday season to come. Now it seems I turn around and find I am thinking of gifts and travel and all the rest of the folderal that goes with the season. The enjoyment of the season has changed since my girls are grown and the grands are all 12 or older. Less baking etc as I live in the middle of the tribe and not close to any, and that is good since I have to say no to most of it anyway.It has become a time to relax reflect, and to recharge physically and spiritually.

saturday before t day

Two day week next week and I seem to be in vacation mode already. This not a good thing for classroom productivity, but from another view starting new material before a 5 day break in a subject is not productive either. My classes are all at that point---especially French 1 and 2. So I will spend this weekend pulling up review exercises for material covered. Do not plan to have homework over the vacation either as it is either not done or not done well. My vacation plans are simple.Stay in Hutch no long drives which saves gas,money and nerves. I will knit, read, hibernate and readjust my moods and body. Some people are aghast when I say this but my family is too far away or too busy with in- laws. Actually the time alone after teaching 5 days a week and three nights is welcome. No dealing with whiners or silly questions.It is not a selfish thing in my mind,but as an only child of older parents noise and fuss and such were never much of a factor in my life. I love my work and love my family even more but battery recharge time is necessary. Now this not mean pals can not drop in , call or have coffee dates. It is just that being alone does not mean I feel abandoned or lonely and I even at times welcome the quiet of myself and the pups. Speaking of soul( battery) recharge I often wonder about the people who are in a social whirl that leaves them little time to just sit. Just sit and reflect--- no video games, no television, no distractions form the outside as they read a book or become quietly aware of their surroundings. These times allow one to know oneself, to assess one's progress in life, to readjust or just to be. I need these moments. I wonder if others do to. When I re-oin life, I am ready to so whole heartly. Laundry today and perhaps a stop at Yarn to purl some stitiches on an unfinished project(hereafter known as an UFO) and coffe with a pal if the occasion comes up.Yet of none of these happen, I am content. Like St.Paul who learned to live in any circumstances content because of his faith in Christ, I am stiving to be content with life as it is not as I hope it is or will be.

THURSDAY random thoughts

So I am a bit dis-organized today as I broke my routine yesterday Funny thing is I do not think I am a creature of habit until I do this and my world implodes. By second hour I will be back on track but getting there will be a small adventure. On Facebook last night one of my students thought humans should go into hibernation for the winter as bears and other animals do. I am with her except for the extra weight required to make it work. I probably would over do and actually gain weight as I slept. Still the suggestion brought up an idea that runs through my mind every year at this time. Did we when were in the cave state actually semi hibernate during the dark days of winter? It seems that as the days grow shorter I retire to bed earlier. So is it something many of us do and is it related to days when warmth and safety was found in the cave after dark so less hours equaled more time in the dark. Somewhat related to that is my love affair with polar fleece. A t-shirt and a pair of these pj bottoms on cold nights with hot cider or coffee in a cup is nearly heaven. A favorite or new good read completes the nirvana on earth. It does not take 300 purses and 1500 heels to make me happy. Cool in summer, warm in the cold,food,and books are all i need. Polar Fleece is the icing on the cake--warmth and no weight. To be truthful contentment is something that comes from inside not from things. If you are not happy with yourself everything is tainted with the unrest in your emotions. Not being bitter is a tough action to manage but if you do life is so much happier. Let go and let God.