Remembering simpleness . . . .

My chenille bedspread drying in the breeze

About a month ago, our dryer broke on a weekend, no less.  It spun and spun, but no heat  - on any cycle.  I had a damp lump of colors just tossing around in air.  Being obsessive/compulsive as I am, I was determined to get my laundry done.  Plus, I didn't really know how much the repair would cost and if we could afford it that particular week.  So I was on a mission to hang a clothesline just to get that load dry.  My first attempt was to string crochet yarn in the basement and I made some pretty tight lines.  Only problem was that when I hung up my laundry, the lines either sagged or broke.  So off to Super Walmart.  I found the laundry aisle easily and picked up a package of clothespins - the clip on kind.  I spotted a roll of clothesline, tightly wound and wrapped in plastic.  I scanned all the available hooks and there were no empty ones, but also none that had any kind of gadget to hang the clothesline on.  Over to the hardware department, same result.  I saw the manager and asked him and he said they didn't have anything like I was talking about.  How can you carry clothes pins and clothesline, but nothing to mount it with.  My husband was waiting in the car, and I told him we had to try Lowes.  What they had was one of those umbrella tree things, and a retractable line, which I bought.  He mounted in in the yard and it was great, I hung all my wash out and it dryed quickly.  The repairman came and the dryer needed a part, about $200 so we were set.  So today, I was washing my bedspread, and saw that the line was down.  My husband said, why aren't you going  to use the dryer - and snapped the line up tight for me again.  It reminded me of 36 years ago when I moved to Jackson as a young bride with a 2 year old son.  We had a T-Bar clothes line pole at each end of the yard, with a tight line that stretched from one end to the other.  Mrs. Hack next door had an awesome line, her T-Bar had about five separate lines on it, so that she could hang a whole day's load of wash on it.  Many days I would hang the wash before leaving for work, hoping that it wouldn't rain.  Often when I went to retrieve my wash it was still damp, if it was a humid day, or fresh and clean smelling if it was a breezy day.  You could virtually tell the weather by the feel of your line dryed towels!  When winter came, the towels would be stiff as a board, but would loosen up after coming back in the house. My daughter was born in January, cold and snowy, and I draped lines in the basement so I could dry our clothes when the dryer again inexplicably failed.  On a summer day, the kids would love to run through the wash, sometimes pulling it from the line, or using it as imaginary walls for their dream castles.  Times were different, much simpler, not packed with so much stuff to do, so many places to run, so many appointments to keep, so many electronic gadgets to look at ,  and so many bills to pay.  We had time, time to enjoy the simple things, time to hang wash on a backyard line and to draw it to our face for the smell of freshness while taking it down.  Take some time today to bring back simple. 

 

Great Weather for Crocheting

I love to crochet, but particularly when the cool weather arrives. Planning often starts on Saturday when the new ads arrive in the Saturday paper from Michaels Stores, and AC Moore, and now a new Hobby Lobby has opened in our area. Looking over the ads inspires great ideas, such as Lion Brand Homespun yarn in rich fall colors. I was at a craft show last week and noticed a knitter busy creating lush, soft, thick and bulky scarfs all in homespun. The entire table was piled, same stitch, same pattern, same soft texture, just beautiful. Lion Brands makes 61 colors, and if you can't find them in Walmart, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or AC Moore, buying your colors on line is really easy. Check out the below link, and just look at all the beautiful colors. The Lion Brand website also has great free patterns for knitting and crocheting. I usually like to record most of the television shows I like to watch, and then sit with my crochet hook, yarn, a cup of coffee and remote and catch up on my shows on the weekend while I crochet.Check out the below pattern for a bulky warm scarf, this is really easy and can probably be made in one afternoon. I am going to explore some more yarns and patterns soon and will let you know what I find out. Happy Hooking!!!


Those links again are:

for the 61 colors of yarn:     http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/homespun.htm,

and for the pattern:

https://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/register.fcgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lionbrand.com%2Fpatterns%2FL30175.html%3FnoImages%3D0

or just go to Lion Brand.com 

Would you like to learn to crochet?

The treasures tucked in a hope chest to be shared lovingly with succeeding generations are often those crafted from patient fingers who weave fabric and yarn into memories and family history. Observing an experienced crocheter with their labyrinth of fibers twisted among their fingers, many believe that learning to crochet is an impossible task. But like any work of art, a crocheted masterpiece begins with a single stitch. There are many resources for learning how to crochet. Crochet lessons are often offered at craft stores, community schools, church groups and yarn shops. Joining a local crochet guild or crochet club can be helpful in learning new crochet stitches or patterns, Asking an experienced crocheter to demonstrate the basics is often the best method, but sadly with our busy schedules, that is not often possible. Books and leaflets are available at the library and craft stores, and many will give explicit directions with stitches and patterns for beginners. Finding an old crochet pattern book at a yard sale, flea market or thrift shop is an unexpected bonus, especially when it contains a vintage doily or retro poncho pattern. The time constraints of our busy society unfortunately are very limiting to today’s beginning crocheter if they rely on the methods of learning that their grandmothers leisurely enjoyed. The modern crocheter’s best resource for learning how to crochet, learn new stitches and discover patterns has become the internet. Youtube in particular offers how to crochet videos which allow you to learn to crochet on line and master stitches, both simple and complex, with on line crochet tutorials that are easy to follow. Several virtual crochet sites offer encouragement, lessons, patterns, and how to's as do many blogs. Facebook also has some crochet groups that can trade information, hints and ideas almost instantly. Several crochet magazines now offer a digital web version which allows you to view the patterns on the computer, print out what you need, and save the entire magazine in a tidy PDF format. I presently subscribe to several of them, including Crochet World, Crochet Today and Inspired Crochet, which is a fairly new digital magazine that features talented crocheters and trendy patterns. RAKJ patterns just started a new feature where they will email you a digital PDF pattern of the week for a very nominal monthly fee. The resources are there, videos, digital, patterns, graphs, it is limitless. So if you want to learn to crochet, come back soon, and I will get you started with links to webpages and videos that I especially rely on!

Would you like to learn to crochet?

Those of you who know the un-virtual me, know that wherever I go I usually have a hook in my purse, random pieces of yarn stuck to my clothing, and my trusty little bag with whatever project I am working on toting along with me. Often when I am sitting at the lunch room, or at the doctor's office, people will say, "what is that - knitting?" Or "my grandmother used to crochet, we have an afghan for every day of the week", or "I tried that, but never could figure it out." In the past, I would be the one asking those questions, and like many have tried over and over to learn to crochet without success. If you saw one of my very first posts about crocheting, you can relive the agony of trying to learn this art from the master, my husband's grandmother, Ella Tietke, and the years of trial and error until in the past 10 years or so (since becoming a grandmother myself), I finally got to where I can somewhat read a pattern and make something other than a lopsided square. I am still learning, and continue to learn, but today's crocheter has a lot of resources that I didn't have when Ella Tietke was guiding my clumsy hands. I by no means profess to be a good crocheter on the level of Teresa of the Art of Crochet, and in all my efforts to teach someone to crochet my only perfect pupils were Lisa F., and Marigrace M. I recently started sort of an informational tutorial about crocheting with the hope of someday making an ebook out of it, but like many of my plans, that is kind of stacked up in the big basket of things I want to do. Since I did put somewhat of an effort into it, I am going to provide, my loyal and faithful readers, with snippets. But as a sort of disclaimer, this is not a resource in and of itself, of how to crochet, more of a reciting of what works for me, and the resources that I use to figure things out when I am stuck. You will know that the post has to do with learning how to crochet when it is titled, "would you like to learn to crochet". Posts that are just my random, banal silliness will have their own crazy titles, just as before. So spread the word, I hope to use the tutorial posts as an exchange of ideas, a dialogue from crocheters of all levels as to what works for them, so that we can teach each other. Rushing off to visit my baby grandson, but have to pick a few strands of Red Heart petal pink out of my hair first!!! Have an awesome day, and I hope it involves some crochet!~

Clang Clang Clang goes the . . . . crochet hook

Happy Valentines Day! Today, for one day, I will really try very very hard not to annoy my husband with the sound that makes him grit his teeth, hunch his shoulders and sometimes emit a gutteral sound through his clenched bearded lips. You see, we are a - well, I guess you would say, a mature baby boomer couple. After dinner I change into my jammies and perch on the couch with my puppy sleeping on my lap,various crochet patterns strewn to the right, my kindle and Iphone balancing on the arm of the couch, a large basket of good ideas at my feet, puppy's afghan to the left with survivors of various unfinished projects stuck like magnets to everything. Typically, I have my glasses perched on my head, or to my side, since I can't see with them and can't see without them. So to crochet, they are absent, but if something peaks my interest on the tv, I have to use my hands like scurrying mice to try and locate the glasses, usually unsuccessfully to pay attention to what my husband might have commented on by saying, hurry up Ellen, look at this, did you see that, oh geeze! Well anyway, this is quite a lot of paraphernalia that I have surrounding me, and yes, paraphernalia is the right word because that is associated with addiction, and I have already admitted that I have an addiction to anything that is crochet. Oh, and I also have this other weird habit, I can't drink in the living room because I have a fear of spilling on my stuff! So from my spot on the couch, there is occasionally a need to get up, or to move, to take my turn on Words with Friends, or get a drink from the glass on the kitchen counter, put the puppy out or bring the cat in - well you get the idea. Now if you look at the beautiful picture that forms my banner, it is a painting of Lydia Crocheting in the Garden, and just so you are not romantically thinking of a Downtown Abbey dowager writing this post, let me inform you that I look nothing like Lydia. So much sitting at work, so much sitting to crochet, and the inactivity of winter have changed my front porch into a multileveled parking garage. As my grandson Marcus likes to say, Nanny, you are fat. I have continually corrected him to say, I am not fat, I am just fluffy. So invariably, there comes a time in the evening when Nanny has to move, perhaps for one of the many reasons recited above, or maybe because I have fallen asleep, hook in hand. Whatever the reason, this sudden shifting of the mountain will usually be preceded by the search for the crochet hook. This is in deference to my husband who equates the sound of a crochet hook hitting the hard wood floor with nails on a blackboard. I check the various tiers of the multilevel garage, dig my fingers deep into the recesses of the couch, move cushions, lift afghans, shift patterns, check behind my ear, really a scanning that rivals the 20 point check at the car dealer. Not finding the hook, (which should be my first clue of trouble) I carefully rise from the couch, only to hear it! The slow motion, surround sound, tumble to the ground of my favorite Boyle J hook, twirling, schussing, the triple jump, flying camel, the futile attempt at a catch, and then it is done, hard metal hits hard floor. Clang! I quickly apologize, yet again, to my poor husband who has begun his ritual reaction to this horrid sound. I truly am sorry, because there are some sounds that just chill me to the bone as well, so I can appreciate his distress. Honestly, I kind of like the sound, but then I am weird when it comes to crochet implements. So today for this beautiful Valentine's day, no candy for my love, just a clank free evening. Hmmm, I wonder if I could crochet a cover for my crochet hook?

Another crazy crochet story

Boy, they say time flies when you are having fun, but three years since I last posted!!! Unbelievable! We have a lot of catching up to do! But tonight I wanted to tell you a bit about crocheting through a hurricane! You may have heard that back in October/November the Jersey Shore was hit with a megastorm called Sandy. Now, I have to admit, that I was one of those people who downplayed it, bragged that we lived through Irene and Gloria, and that the media was superhyping this storm. In fact, the day it was scheduled to hit, we were leisurely driving around winding our way down to my daughters in Historic Gibbsboro to babysit so that she and her husband could go to a concert for some English group whose name escapes that was playing in Philadelphia. About halfway there, we got the call to turn around since the concert had been cancelled due to Sandy. Well, the wind was whipping, the rain was pelting, and all through the night it seemed that a freight train was zipping through our neighborhood. Plus, before we had gone to bed, we lost power, and a tree or two. Being less than ten miles from the beautiful beaches of Ocean Grove and Belmar, we opened our door in the middle of the night and smelled salt in the air. It was a bad one. The next day, still no power, we drove recklessly dodging flying limbs (from trees, not humans) and detoured around police cars blocking lightless intersections, seeing if we could get batteries. I had an ulterior motive, in tagging along, in that I had heard that Lowes had free internet wifi! My husband ran into the store, and I dug my Kindle out of my purse. Of course, before checking Facebook, or my email, or the weather, which would have been smart, I went right to my etsy shop. I had been having a nice conversation over the past few days with a customer who had seen one of my teddy bear blankets. This is one that I make with my super favorite, Red Heart Yarn, using several different crochet stitches and three colors. The customer was from California and wanted a special gift for her daughter's baby shower which was scheduled for November 11. In our last post, I had told her the blanket was done, but I had to add the frog faces that she wanted to make it fit in with her daughter's theme. I quickly sent her an email from my etsy page, that said "No power, no internet, text me on my cell" and gave her the number. The Kindle soon powered down, out of juice. The next day, no power and no heat, I rushed to dress and report to work. Not than I am a dutiful employee, but I had heard that they had full power. I packed my kindle, cellphone, chargers and my crocheting things into a bag and off I went. I plugged in my electronics to supercharge them and took my lunch break to crochet some frogs. After a quick side trip to AC Moore, it was back home to crochet by flashlight and finish up my order. The following morning, wakened by the rising sun and my cellphone alarm, I rushed back to work, mostly to recharge my phone and Kindle and get a decent cup of coffee. Next on my agenda was to take a cellphone photo of the frog blanket for my California customer. Several more texts with paypal information and delivery instructions, I was half way there. Day three without power, I arrived at work, armed with my box of packing supplies and scale, and packed up my shipment, printed out the postage, and used my lunch hour to send the package off to California. I told my customer she certainly would have a story to tell at her daughter's baby shower! Nine days without power, and in the middle of it, a freak 12" snow storm. But the frogs were delivered! Stay tuned for some more crazy crochet stories!

Day Seventeen, January 22nd, 2010

Today was an amazingly happy day. I picked up Chinese Food for my favorite cousin and we celebrated her birthday together while she was babysitting her grandchildren. She will kill me if I tell you how old she is, but let me say that it is the beginning of a decade that has the same number in it as the year I was married, which is 1972. So you can safely guess that she isn't one or two, so that leaves just two options! Anyway, her granddaughter made us super special iced coffees that she especially created at her job at Dunkin Donuts and they were beyond awesome. She has her own secret formula and customers ask for her just so that she can make it for them. Some of the ingredients are extra caramel and heavy cream, don't ask about the calories. From there I headed to historic Gibbsboro for my grandson Damien's first penance. (On the way, I made a little detour but will save that for another time). Damien was really nervous about his First Penance, but after a very lovely play, video, sing a long, and church service the children got to pick their priest, either one behind the traditional closed confessional, or face to face. Damien chose the Pastor, a very kindly looking man with a thick Irish Brogue, who was hearing confessions face to face behind a glass door. He was the next to last to go, and his parents watched very curiously on the other side of the door as he celebrated this important sacrament. When he came out, he was beaming, and professed that it wasn't bad at all. I asked him how it felt to have a clean soul, but he said it didn't feel any different. The children all looked so cheerful that for a moment I even thought about perhaps going to confession myself. Not quite ready for that yet, the trauma of the stern priest at Sacred Heart Church in Jersey City, in 1963 asking me, "is that all" in his booming mean voice just hasn't left me yet. Thank goodness things are different in many ways, and seeing the peaceful joy on Damien's face was the happiest part of today.

Day Sixteen, January 21st, 2010

I admit it, I am addicted. I have wasted more time playing this game than I will ever own up to. I sneak a few games in before work, and as soon as I get home, play a few. I keep telling myself, it's only one minute, in fact the guy in the computer says One Minute when the game starts, so I am really not wasting a lot of time. Except I keep clicking play, after one minute, and one minute becomes 40 minutes. My goal is to not be embarrassed by my score. I see all my friends with these awesomes scores, like in the 100,000 and 200,000 range. I have even messaged them on Facebook, and asked for their secret. Shannon's mom Janet is always on the top. I asked Shannon, and she said, I don't know, but she is always playing it. I asked my soninlaw who worked at Ubisoft in Romania, he said it has to do with the cascades, you have to form cascades. My friend Janet had a very detailed three point explanation involving hypercubes and flaming gems and stuff like that. Joanne F told me that you just have to keep moving your mouse and when you see a cluster click on it. She offered to come over and show me how to do it. That would be pretty lame. So each day I attempt to get a high score, I try cascading, I try the three point theory explained by Janet, I try just playing the game over and over like Shannon's mom, and I tried just moving the mouse around really quick like Joanne suggested. Today, I tried turning the sound off. That was hard, I like the sound. I like when the man in the computer says, Awesome, or Excellent, or Good. It is reassuring that I am doing something right. Plus the sound of the explosions is really cool! But the downside is that you get that annoying beeping kind of sound that tells you your time is almost up. That is a lot of pressure, because I then realize what a loser I really am when I see the puny score that I have achieved. But then something phenomenally awesome happened. My time was up and my score was 179,000. How could that happen, I have no idea what I did! But I am #2, right under Shannon's mom. I can't believe it, this is the most exciting thing that has happened today. This is the highest score I have ever achieved. Only thing is, I have no idea how I did it! Gotta go, I have three minutes till I have to catch the dryer., maybe I can beat my own score!

Day Fifteen, January 20th, 2010

Wow, I have been looking forward to today! My precious niece and godchild, Katie, and her brother, my amazing nephew, Tommy, drove down to my office to have lunch with me today. Katie lives in South Orange where she is taking her final class for her masters degree. Tommy lives in Illinois with the rest of the Sheldons and was here for the week to visit his sister. I was so touched and honored that they wanted to spend some time with their old aunt!~ We used to spend so much time together when they were little. They lived in Jackson and I saw them every week at church, every Sunday after church for bagels, and several times during the week too. Ten years ago, my brother took a job in Illinois and took all the precious little Sheldons with him too. I think it has to be about two years since I have seen Tommy and last summer for Katie. I was so impressed at how beautiful, sophisticated, mature and grown up they are. What a wonderful lunch, with great conversation. I was just in awe at these amazing adults that just not too long ago were little babies. How did that happen! It was so hard to say goodbye to them after lunch, I miss them so much and love them so dearly. Katie and Tommy thanks for the joy you brought to my day!

Day Fourteen, January 19th, 2010

My friend Joanne has to be the luckiest lady in the world because her awesome mom, Sara, lives with her part of the time and part of the time with her sister. When she is at Joanne's house, she usually has her cobbler apron on and is always cooking something delicious. (That's Sara in the picture, dancing at my daughter's wedding!)Joanne wanted me to come over and take some pictures of her upstairs with my digital camera because her fatherinlaw just moved in and is contemplating moving upstairs and he wanted to see what it looked like. She emailed me at work to see if tonight would be good, and also, said, why don't you come to eat, my mom is cooking sausage and peppers. You didn't have to ask me twice! When I got to Joannes (a long walk across the street!), her mom had everything set up and served me too! She made her delicious sausages with three different colored peppers, baked sweet potatoes, and pasta with butter. She also had a great salad with oil and vinegar (what else) and Italian bread. You know, the kind that is crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. What a treat! I never knew my grandmothers, they died before I was born. Being at Sara's tonight, I felt like a little girl must feel in her grandmother's kitchen. Great smells, delicious foods, and extra big ladles of love. Thanks Sara~!

Day Thirteen, January 18th, 2010

What's better than getting an order on your etsy shop! Buying the yarn with a 50% off one regular price item at AC Moore! I printed out the coupon, cut it out and raced to AC Moore. There is was, my Boucle Bernat yarn, sole ingredient for my own creation, my dark baby cocoon, regular price $3.99, use of 50% off coupon, cha ching, $1.99!!! Plus it counted toward my AC Moore Awards! I love AC Moore, I love yarn, I love a bargain! Good day for happy!!!

Day Twelve, January 17th, 2010

My husband cracks me up. Now that we are empty nesters, he has gotten used to having all my attention devoted to him! Poor man, he waited 38 years for the last little bird to leave the nest so he could jump back in his spot! Very patient so he is. Well, today, we were planning a big exciting trip to Lowes when my daughter called. I was chit chatting for a while and he was kind of giving me "the look" like he wanted me to get off the phone. I said, you can go without me if you want. I knew what his answer would be, because these days he doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything without me. He says he is lonely and he misses me! Hey, we even moved the computer back upstairs so I can be a little closer to him while I am playing bejeweled blitz and tracking everyone's updates on Facebook. I told my daughter I better go because Dad gets lonely and wants me to go with him to the store. He said, "yea, your mother is my arm candy!" Arm Candy! I am still laughing!!!

Day Eleven, January 16th, 2010

When I tried to evaluate the joy quotient for today, I found a thread that ran through the whole day, neighbors that have become life long friends. I have lived in my house for almost 32 years, and forged friendships with other young moms, that have lasted to this day. Anna, Peggy, Kathy, Ronnie, Janet, and Sandy moved on, Cathy and Frances passed away much too young, but from the old crew, Joanne F, Bonnie and Pat and I remain. Newer neighbors just as dear are Sharon and her mom, Johanna, Joanne W, Renee, Julie and Julia. Today I rode with Joanne F to the wake for Julia's daughter who died after a courageous battle with cystic fibrosis. Before we left, Sharon and Johanna offered a ride as well. In the parking lot, Joanne and I met up with Pat and her daughter Lisa. I drove Pat to the hospital when she was in labor with Lisa with the emergency brake on all the way, a fact that we love to laugh about to this day. Pat's daughter Lori was on her way down from NY with her new baby, Victoria, and I hoped to stop by to give her a little cuddle. When I got home my husband told me that my daughter had called and was meeting up with her old friends from the neighborhood, Melissa, Jessica and Colleen and before going out for dinner she would stop by. The friends grouped at my house and the little girls now have babies of their own. My grandson didn't want to go out to dinner with the girls and the babies since his bestest friend from when he lived with us in our neighborhood was over to play. So Rebecca and Damien hung out, ate dinner, made cookies and explored my junk room with their hard hats. Rebecca was proud to tell my daughter's friends that Damien was her oldest and best friend, that they had been friends since they were three. Damien corrected her and said, no Rebecca, I think since we were two. Big seven year olds with a lifetime friendship. Just like me and my good neighbors, just like my daughter and her neighborhood pals. Someone once wrote that you can't go home again, in our neighborhood, that just isn't so, it will always be home and always be the place where lifelong friendships are formed and last. And that thought is what brought me joy today.

Day Ten, January 15th, 2010

Todays joy is not mine, but belongs to my cousin, Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Brien is the ultimate Jets fan. Hey, his email address is KevOJet! (That's Kevin on the far right in his Jets uniform with his buddies!) I know absolutely nothing about football. My husband has tried to explain it to me hundreds of times, I must be dense. I can understand every aspect of baseball, but football floors me. Anyway, the last few days or so I have been noticing a lot of excited posts from Kevin on Facebook about the Jets. He usually posts about his tailgate parties and if you look at his photos, there are some delicious looking foods that he makes at those shindigs. Kevin is in San Diego now for a Jets game. My husband tells me it is an important one, and I am guessing for a Jets fan this game pushes excitement to the top of the meter. Even more awesome is that my cousin, Susan, Kevin's sister, just happens to be in San Diego too for a nurses conference. My husband tells me the Jets have been waiting a long time to get back into the SuperBowl, and I think this game has something to do with that. I just realized that Joe Nameth played for the Jets, and I guess he was around the last time they won a Super Bowl which was in 1969 or something like that. (Boy I am football ignorant!) Anyway, today's joy is for my cousin Kevin, he is a great guy, and a devoted Jets fan, and if they win this game in San Diego, I don't think there is a camera with a wide enough lens to capture his smile! Kevin, enjoy the game, and if they win, you can have a sit down with me and explain the game of football - Jets Style!

Day Nine, January 14th, 2009

This has been a tough day. Not much to be happy about. It started off a little good when Nancy brought in Dunkin Donuts. She used a gift certificate that she got and treated the office. I asked her whose birthday it was, but there was no reason, just being nice, which Nancy always is. Turns out it was someone's birthday, Cathy D., but I didn't know that when the donuts came. I had a half of a blueberry one and those little crunchy sugar crystals on top made me pretty happy, or as happy as you can be at work on the day you get your paycheck with the new health insurance premium amount deducted. Yikes, there were a lot of gasps and tears when that happened. Nancy brought me a tissue, that was nice of Nancy. Maybe that's why she brought in the donuts, she knew we would need some cheering up. So on the way home, I was thinking that was probably going to be the only joyful thing that happened today, but there was another one coming, probably equal in joy to the donuts. This one like the other day, came in the mailbox. Grabbing in the dark I felt a small package, something the size of the box of checks you get from the bank. But this was a little soft and squooshy. So I saw the return address and it was from my sisterinlaw's daughter, I guess that would be my niece, its a little complicated, you see, oh well, let's just say she is my niece, Donna. She had emailed me a few weeks ago to ask me if I got the new Ann Rule book yet. I introduced her to Ann Rule and she is hooked, just like me. Ann Rule is probably the best true crime author out there. She wrote the Stranger Beside Me about Ted Bundy, who unbelievably she knew personally when she was a Seattle policewoman. In better times, I would rush to buy her newest book in hard cover, as soon as it came out, but these days we are all watching our pennies. When I told Donna that I hadn't read it yet, she said, I will send you mine. And that was what was in the mailbox today. Donna hasn't had it easy, she lives with many medical problems, a tracheotomy, and has lost two siblings in the last year. I was really touched that she sent me her book, and I have to remember to pay that forward. So a low joy day, but joyful nonetheless because two very nice people shared. Thanks Nancy and Donna.

Day Eight, January 13th, 2010

I have been looking forward to today for quite a while. My grandson, Damien, entered his first science fair. Tonight was the actual event and I asked to leave work a half hour early so I could get there in time. The judging of each project was done and the doors were set to open at 7:15 for the public viewing and presentation of awards. Damien was right in the front, at the first table, and he was beaming. He demonstrated his project, which was static electricity and gathered quite a little crowd. His favorite example was rubbing a balloon on his head so that his hair would stand up. He did such a good job that the balloon stuck onto his head! After viewing all the projects, which were awesome, it was time for the judging. Each child got a nice plaque, a certificate and a green ribbon. Damien was the only entrant in the second grade, so he easily won first place for the second grade with a nice certificate and blue ribbon. The other grades were presented with their winners and it was time for the overall prizes. Damien won fourth prize overall! He looped all three award ribbons around his wrist! It was a great evening, and I am so proud of Damien! He worked very hard on his project and presented it beautifully. He also had a very good grasp of the science behind static electricity. Just before I left, he was telling us that next year he wants to do a project about the earth's natural resources! When did he get so big! Good job Damien, you were the happiest part of the day!

Day Seven, January 12th, 2010

Letters, we get letters! When I got home from work today, in the dark, carrying four plastic shopping bags on one arm, and juggling my purse and lunch bag in the other, I jabbed the mailbox open with one elbow, grabbed the mail, tucked it under my arm and tripped through the front door. Feeling the urgency of that 5:00 cup of coffee, I almost didn't take the time to look at the mail. But when I threw it on the table, the first upright envelope had the familiar handwriting of my cousin. I have been waiting for this letter for about six months. I tore open the envelope and carefully unfolded the single yellow legal page crammed front and back with his combination of cursive and printing, blue ink, familiar style. We have had quite a correspondence going for the past several years, often exchanging letters weekly. I have them all saved, in a box, in their envelopes. Life got busy for me, although it rarely changes for him, and slowly the weeks became months, and for a reason that I know very well, he has not answered many of my last letters. He apologized for that, but I know that for him there has been little joy and little reason to seek the door to happiness which opens out, even if that door doesn't really let you out of anything but your mind. But for me today, his letter, that I can fold and unfold, read and re-read,was my moment of joy, and I hope for him it was the beginning of rediscovering joy. Gotta go, I owe my cousin a letter!

Day Six, January 11th, 2010

There is nothing joyful about Mondays. When I was a kid, it would start with the Ed Sullivan show. You knew it was Sunday night and that the fun was over. Monday's are hard, but then I guess if we had Monday's off, Tuesday's would be hard. The common denominator is work, but as someone once said, if it was fun, it would be called fun, thus it is called work. So before even getting out of bed I knew it was going to be tough to kill the gloom today. What could there possibly be to bring joy to the day. Getting to work, I blew off the music. Yea, that did make me pretty happy the first day, but I was being a pollyanna then. This little project is not even a week old and I am out of joy. So I scanned my email, and realized that I had forwarded to myself at work the pictures from my camera taken on Christmas. I opened them, and shuffled through and came across this one of my adorable baby grandson, Marcus. Immediate warmth and joy flooded me. What can be more joyful than a baby's first Christmas. So I kept looking at it throughout the day, restoking the joy fire with that little face.

Day Five, January 10th, 2010

On Saturday, shortly after posting about my discovery of the magnetic wand, my husband noticed that my computer was "doing that thing again". This is going to be hard to describe, but try to picture this. You are trying to read The Guttenberg Bible, on a roller coaster, with a hangover and vertigo, each time you think you have focused on the words, the roller coaster dips and dives and you have an extreme case of the hiccups. The words start spinning and rolling, portions are light, portions are dark, and flash across the screen like bolts of lightning. I knew I was in trouble. So being totally non technical, I switched the surge protector on and off a couple of times, played with all the connections, plugged and unplugged stuff and then started to panic. I was having flashbacks to a year or so ago when I lost 3,000 plus pictures when my hard drive crashed. I thought maybe if I let it rest, it would feel better in the morning. I got up on Sunday, went to 7:00 a.m., Mass and after communion, I am ashamed to say, prayed for my computer. When I got home, I realized God was busy with other problems, real problems. I went on my husband's computer thinking maybe I could troubleshoot by googling a description of what the computer was doing and that brought me to the Dell website and a phone number for technical support. Okay, hope springs again. I grabbed the phone and dialed the number and after all the appropriate prompts and holds, I hear a voice that I immediately recognize as based in Mumbai. My heart sank. If you have ever had the fun of dealing with an outsourced call center in India, no explanation is needed . So we begin and I attempt to follow all the directions, but I have to tell you the accent is making it hard to understand. He starts saying something like forty dead leafy walnut trees, or more clay lace currants please. He keeps repeating, I just can't make it out. I handed the phone to my husband and all of a sudden, his face is beaming. Four days left on warranty! The computer is still under warranty for four more days! They will send someone out to fix it and it is all covered under our warranty. Yippee the joyful moment of the day!

Day Four, January 9th, 2010

Quiet day, hubby off to work for half the day, and a long put off project started, tackling my messy craft room. And I do mean messy, it could qualify for an episode of Hoarders. If the police came to my house they would think I was robbed, with my craft room totally ransacked. Try to picture it: A volcanic explosion of yarn, scrapbooking papers swirled and tossed as if they were in Hurricane Andrew, fabric everywhere, buttons and pins and needles and hooks and looms look like they were shot out of a Ringling Brothers Cannon. There is no order to this disorder, and that is mostly the reason I have been putting it off so long. It is downstairs, I can shut the door. If I have to get some yarn, I tie a rope around my waist, anchor the rope around the drain pipe for the washer and dive in. I leave post its with pleas to come look for me if I don't return in one hour. It is bad. Embarrasingly bad. So I was able to clear a small portion of the floor in about two foot increments so that I could put one foot in at a time through the clutter. Then I saw it, the sewing basket filled with pins and needles, open and upside down. I grabbed the handle and they sprayed the room, landing some up, some down. This is not going to be good. I started picking up the pins, I felt like St. Theresa, one by one picking them up. I know I have not been so good, but this much penance I don't need. And then I had an Aunt Alice moment. Bingo! Bingo! It was so easy to find it, Aunt Alice's old red plastic container with the magnetic bingo chips and the MAGNETIC BINGO RETRIEVAL WAND!! Tethered by the rope, balancing in the footholds, I whipped it out and swirled like a maestro! The pins were defenseless, drawn like moths to the light, bees to the honey, metal to a magnet, well you get the picture. I scooped them up, and into the trash they went. And that was the most joyful moment of the day!