A tiny Irish apparition and the dramatics that can come with my job

I've recently added a few new things to my little ( for now) collection of Catholic odds and ends. I've bought a small statue of Our Lady of Grace, the Shining Lights doll version of Our Lady of Knock, and tomorrow or Monday (depending on when I make it over there) I'm going to pick up a small statue of St. Patrick from Saints and Shamrocks. I'm actually kind of hoping they'll have St. Barbara as well, but if not, that's fine.

I also bought a second Shining Lights St. Nicholas. I figured it would be a good gift for Little Bird, while not being too Catholic, which would bother my mom. St. Nicholas and St. Patrick, she could probably live with. Maybe even St. Francis, though I'm not willing to bet on it. But um....any one else? Especially one of the Apparition dolls (Marian apparitions from around the world)....yeah, no. That's just a little too Catholic for my mother, I'm sure.

She gave away Christmas ornaments from Ettal Abbey because they had the Madonna and Child on them! I mean, okay, so they went to a friend whose family is Catholic, but still! Simple gold colored ornaments with the Madonna and Child. They were a set, two royal blue ones with the Abbey on them, two gold ones with the Madonna and Child. Explain to me why the Abbey is acceptable but the Madonna and Child is not?

Anyway, my huffing and puffing aside, I'm hoping that I didn't make a mistake and misjudge it....but mom knows I like the more traditional St. Nicholas figure (and always have) so hopefully it won't be a problem.

Oh! The drama of my job! So, first off, I'm not a secretary, but, for some reason, the wisdom of the people here says I am to answer the phone. Keep in mind, I don't know half of what we offer here, and I have trouble finding everything for the other half. So, I had a lady call wanting information I didn't have, and instead of someone taking and picking up the phone to take the call, I'm given a convoluted set of instructions on how to get to the information. Needless to say, it didn't work. And then! Not to long ago, I had a lady call her ride, loudly, asking where where they and didn't they realize she needed to be picked up 40 minutes ago, and they know that's when she needed to be picked up!

Ah, such fun.

I'll be honest, I like my job, even if the climate control leaves something to be desired and the communication breakdown is of epic proportions. I do still like my job, but some days.....some days would be better with something stronger than coffee.

Yours always,
Tara

Yesterday and today: Doctor's appointment, RCIA, and why cooking channels are brilliant

I mention the brilliance of cooking channels, but I should add a caveat to that.....they're brilliant until watching them makes you forget to get on and write your blog post. Yep, that's what happened. I got distracted by Chopped, and then an episode of this show on ABC called Forever. An immortal medical examiner who solves crimes.....even if he weren't really attractive and in possession of a nice accent, the concept would probably still be enough to grab my attention. But I'm not going to complain about the rest of it.

So to recap yesterday, I got up late, puttered around the house, went to the doctor's (apparently, I'm in good health and should not need to see her again for another year.) visited my mom and sister, came home, backed chocolate pumpkin muffins, dashed off to class, came home, had a beer, and wrestled with unanswerable philosophical questions.

All in all, not a bad day. Even if the beer wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I keep hoping to find something with a similar flavor to Guinness but without the weight of a Guinness....if that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, today I got up early, went to mass, puttered around Savannah (with some grumbling at my clock for moving so slowly) and went to Saints and Shamrocks. I love going into that store, but I need to be very careful when I do because I want to take half of the store home. And I just can't afford to do that.

I bought a few new saint medals to add to my charm necklace, two laminated prayer cards to go with the chaplet and the rosary on Etsy, a little statue of Our Lady of Grace, and a copy of Gaelic Storm's "The Full Irish: Greatest Hits".

I kind of feel like I've passed a milestone here. I now own a statue of our Mother. Okay, yeah, it's not the biggest, nor the most detailed, but it's still a very nice little statue. It just makes it all a little more real, if that makes sense.

As for Gaelic Storm, what can I say? I love celtic rock.

I'm hoping to get the listings up by the end of the week. I'm not sure how well it will do, but I hope it'll work out. I've got some ideas for more chaplets, as well as a few other crafts. I've got my heart set on a resin kit for jewelry making that I think will be brilliant, but the stuff I'm listing now needs to do well first.

Anyway, hopefully I'll remember to drag myself away from the tv tomorrow night as well.

Yours always,
Tara

Knit, purl, and a very tiny person

I'm hard at work on that baby blanket still. I'm not sure if I'll ever finish it at this rate. It's beginning to drive me nuts. Especially since I still have so much more to work on. A dress, a scarf, a shawl, socks, and on and on and on goes the list. Next year, I'm starting in January!

I spent some time with Mom and Little Bird today. Not as much as I would have liked, but still, some time. I had to run into Savannah to try to find something to make it easier for Mom to nurse, only for the store to be out. And, to add to it, the local Walmart had it. I drove in circles, but it was fine.

Little bird is so tiny. Unfortunately, she's just too long for the preemie onesies to fit her. The newborn stuff swallows her. She does have a few outfits, but still. She's just so tiny!

It's been a rather dull day. I went to mass this morning, which was lovely, and spent time with my Mom and sister, which was great. I'm getting better at admitting that, yes, I do want to hold her. Once I'm holding her, I'm fine, it's just saying that I want to hold her that I have trouble with.

Hey, nobody said I was normal.

Other than that though, it's been a dull day. I worked on my room some, made some tentative plans to get another book shelf and maybe a hat stand, if I can find one. I'm waiting for the beads to arrive for the St. Francis of Assisi/Pope Francis rosary I'm planning.

My computer and I continue to be at odds over Catholic TV. It's getting a bit ridiculous. Hopefully I'll be able to work it out soon, because this constant struggle to get it to do what I want is more than a little frustrating.

So far, I've been doing pretty well with praying the rosary nightly. I'm struggling with the bedtime/morning alarm a bit, but we're getting there. Slowly, but with prayers, surely, we're getting there.

I'm not sure if I want to randomly generate a saint tomorrow, or if I want to do something a little different. I'm tempted to do a post on St. Francis, but I'm thinking about finding a saintly Franciscan instead. I'll figure it out, and if you want to leave a comment with your opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Yours always,
Tara

Long days, poor internet connections, and disappointing schedules

I've been up since this 6 this morning, which I'm sure to many of you is hardly worth note, but given that I usually don't get to bed until midnight/1am, it's a bit of a thing to me. Truthfully, I need to start getting up earlier. I like watching sunrises, though I prefer to be inside to watch during the winter months, but that's not the point here!

Anyway, I was up early today, and I'll be up early tomorrow as well, because I'm going to swing by my mom's and make sure my brothers get off to school while mom takes Little Bird to her first doctor's appointment. Little Bird is doing quite well, especially given that she was just over three weeks early entering the world. She's tiny though, just a few ounces shy of six pounds, and no fat whatsoever on her tiny body. We had to buy some preemie clothes, because all mom had was newborn size. She's really sweet though, and the boys love her.

In other news, the internet connection on my personal computer here at work is continually mercurial and difficult. I can't listen to Catholic Answers Live, or watch EWTN without skipping, pausing, and glitching. Youtube works fine. Oh! And tonight I tried to watch Catholic TV (a new discovery, which is brilliant) and had worse luck with it than I do EWTN! This is getting ridiculous!

My work schedule is more than a little disappointing this week. I guess that's what happens when you can't work a full week, they cut your hours even more, but I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing. I'm going to talk to my supervisor this week and see what's going on with the schedule. The good news here, I guess, is that I'll be opening the shop a bit sooner than I originally planned. A friend of mine is coming over to help me take pictures of the items I'll be listing. I need to finish the Pieta rosary and the St. Patrick chaplet.

I've also got beads coming for the St. Francis of Assisi/Pope Francis rosary coming soon. I ordered some lovely dark wood beads for it. I've got my eye on some other items, including some resin for jewelry making and some drill bits for bottle lamps, but everything is due time. No rush.

I'm hoping, since my last few plans have fallen through, that I'll be able to make my trip to St. Augustine on the 11th. I don't really want to go alone though, and that looks increasingly like it might be the case. I'm used to this, truthfully, my parents, though they tried, were never very good at planning trips like that (hence, why we never went to Paris, Rome, Whittenburg, or the Medieval jousting in Worms despite living in Germany for 6 years.) Even with the trip to Disney we took before my Papa died. That was me planning that, thanks, and if Papa and Granma hadn't been the primary monetary force behind it, we still would never have made it.

Anyway, all of that aside, I'm looking forward to the week. I'm basically broke, and tired, but I think this week will be a good week.

Yours always,
Tara

Little Bird is Here!

So, I was supposed to write a post of St. Nicholas of Tolentino for today's edition of Saturdays with the Saints. This, obviously did not happen because my little sister decided she'd waited long enough and she was going to come, dang it, whether we liked it or not.

This means it's a very good thing I didn't go to St. Augustine today, though, given how long it took, I probably could have made it. Even so, I'm glad I didn't go because I'd have been a mess....well, more than I already was.

Despite saying that I was going to hide out at DQ, I actually did go. No, I did not watch, and no, I did not drink (though God knows I really wanted a whiskey!). What I did do was knit, pace, pray, cook, and clean.

I also got to dress my sister in her first outfit, which wasn't as awkward as I had thought it would be. It's been a long time since I dressed a baby, and I've never dressed a newborn before. I was 12 when P was born, and I think he was 3 or 4 months old before I helped change and dress him.

She was really tiny, Much tinier than I've ever held, being just shy of 6lbs, and so incredibly adorable.

The hat that I made to match her outfit did fit, but because she was nursing, it kept falling off.

Anyway, the birth went well, according to the midwife. Both mom and sister are doing good, and assuming I get to bed in the next hour or so, I'll still get to mass tomorrow.

Good night all!

Yours always,
Tara

Babies, blankets, and the fun of waiting

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know my mother is pregnant and ready to deliver any day now. This means a lot of waiting, and a lot of worrying. Because, you know, that's kind of what I do. Especially when family is involved. There's still no news on that front, but we're literally waiting for her to go any second now. Oh the joy.

In other news, I think I've just about finished the blanket that I started at the end of last month. I had hoped to finish it quickly, but I've been knitting non-stop since she found out she was pregnant and I'm having trouble slogging through projects. Even my socks, which I'm thrilled to be working on, aren't coming along as fast as they should be, even with me working on them sporadically. 

Adding to the problem is the fact that my knitting isn't done. One of my brother's requested a pocket watch for Christmas, so I abandoned the thought of knitting him socks in favor of the watch. That still leaves me with four pairs of socks, because my mom wants a pair, a baby dress, a shawl, a scarf, my socks, a large afghan (made in pieces) and a scarf that I've got rattling around in my brain. 

I've also got my eyes on some resin for jewelry making, more rosaries, and a knitted advent calender. 

Suffice to say, I'm a little anxious. 

I've also got my music boxes. 

The good news, I guess, is that I'm not going to St. Augustine this weekend. Like a lot of plans I try to make, it fell through. Aunt D won't be back from her home town until early in the morning, and she won't feel up to going all the way down to St. Augustine. 

This, truthfully, is probably a good thing. With Little Bird waiting in the wings for her grand entrance into the world, it's probably best I stay close to home. Even so, I am still a little disappointed. Instead, I figure I'll run into Savannah and do a little shopping, then get some craft projects hopefully knocked out, and see if I can't finally get the enormous box out of the middle of my room. 

My step-dad has a mini-fridge that he's going to let me have, so I also want to get a piece of vinyl or stone tile for it to sit on so it's not sitting on the carpet in my bedroom. This is fantastic because I'll finally be able to have a cold drink when I get home without having my alcohol in my grandmother's fridge. Given that she's a tee-to-taler, I generally prefer to keep my drinking to a minimum, and keep it out of her space. 

I might also stop by Goodwill, and see if I can't find any good jackets, cardigans, skirts, and jewelry that I can recycle and reuse. I've got a million ideas, and a million things I need for them, and very little money to spend on them. My hope is that, once I get the shop up and running, hopefully in late October/early November, just in time for the holidays, I'll be able to turn the money that comes in around and sink it into more crafts. Making things is almost addicting because there's always a new idea running through your head, a different way to color it, a different stitch pattern, or even a new technique that you're dying to try out. 

So yeah, hopefully, that's what I'll get out of it.

Yours always,

Tara

Long days and sitting on edge

Last night was a longer than usual night, which means that today has been a very long and tiring day. I have been tired and short tempered all day, and my vocabulary has sounded like a drunken sailors....sadly, no alcohol was imbibed to aid my colorful language. Nor will it be for a few days, at most, because my mother is expecting to go into labor either tonight or tomorrow.

Apparently, my little sister has decided that she's waited long enough, thank you very much, and she's quite tired of waiting. Mom hasn't gone into labor yet, but she's in the early stages, so she's expecting it to start up very soon.

I'm both excited, and terrified.

I like kids. I will swear up and down, left and right, that children are monsters and I want nothing to do with them, but the truth is a little more complicated.

Truth is, until my parent's got divorced, it literally never occurred to me that I might not get married and have kids. I certainly didn't plan on going out and settling with the first fellow I found and having a litter of little people, but I did think that, one day, I would find some one and have an undetermined number of kids.

My parents got divorced, forcing me to question pretty much everything I thought I knew about love and marriage, and I swore left, right, and center that I was never getting married and never having kids to any one who even remotely suggested that I might one day want that.

Honest truth. I want that. I want to get married and have kids. I want to have that. Especially now, as I'm entering the Catholic church, because there's so much that I would love to experience. Christening and first communion and all those lovely little milestones that parents prepare their kids for and that I'd like, God willing, to one day prepare my own kids for.

The thing is, it's been so long, and I've said it for so long, that I actually feel a little awkward around kids now. And I'm not willing to admit it out loud to my family that, yes, I would one day like to have kids. But I'm going to have a little sister and I'm torn between being excited and being scared out of my mind because I haven't taken care of a baby since P was born ten years ago, and yeah, I won't be taking care of her all the time, but I will take care of her occasionally.

I want her to grow up to be what I'm not. I want her to be strong, and confident, and easy-going, and to be the kind of person that people love to love. I want her to have every opportunity in life because there are so many things that I never got to try and I wish that I could have tried them.

I want her to be the person who always makes the world better.

I also don't want to step on my mother's toes any because we already have a slightly precarious relationship, largely because we just don't operate on the same wave-length. My mother is emotional, and I'm more logical, and the two do not always go well together.

All the fun.

In other news, tonight was the second night of RCIA classes. Monsignor O'Neal was teaching us tonight. It was actually really nice. The teaching bit was a bit dull, we were going over the order of mass, but not in a way that really helps me. What would help me is a comprehensive understanding of when to sit and when to stand. I've about got the standing and kneeling bit figured out completely. I don't always have to look at the people around me for that part, but the earlier part I haven't got a figured out. Anyway, it was more of a breakdown of the different parts of the mass. The best part was the Monsignor himself. He's an older Irish gentleman, and he's got a great sense of humor.

Anyway, I'll talk to ya'll again tomorrow.

Yours always,
Tara

Inking bust, blanket progress, and rosary news

Saturday was a long, long day, and it was made longer by the fact that I was supposed to be getting a tattoo done....and it never happened.

I'm incredibly disappointed, not only that I didn't get my tattoo, but also that no one had the decency to call and let me know that they wouldn't be there. I had an appointment for 1pm, and of course, I showed up about 15 minutes early. The shop was closed, with a sign that said "Appointment only". Okay, no big deal, like I said, I had an appointment. I knocked. I waited half an hour. I called three times. The place looked like it had pretty much been cleared out. No one called me and said "Hey, we need to reschedule." or even, "you need to find a different tattoo parlor."

So, instead, the money I set aside for my ink is going to a trip to St. Augustine with Aunt D. We're going to go see the shrine to Our Lady of La Leche and the Mission there, and maybe see the Cathedral Basilica while we're there, if it's opened. They're restoring it right now, so we won't see the full splendor, but I heard it's worth visiting anyway.

I guess that's just how life works. I've already started putting back a little money again, and I've got a place in mind for the next time I care to try. Maybe I'll be able to go by the time my sister comes down to visit again. I'll probably head in about a week or two before with my mock up, and a few questions.

In other news, the blanket is still coming along at a slow but steady pace, which wouldn't be a problem except that Little Bird seems very anxious to enter the world. I'm expecting to get a phone call any day now saying that my baby sister is making her entrance into the world. I'd like to have the blanket finished by then, but I've got at least seven squares left, plus the final stitching to make sure it holds up.

I also bought the yarn for my mom's Christmas present today, as well as buying H's Christmas. I was going to make him socks, but he asked for a particular pocket watch, and as a lover of pocket watches myself, it's hard not to encourage that. I'm also looking at maybe visiting my dad this holiday season, which would be nice, except for the fact that I hate the cold.

Of course, I'll be honest and say I don't hate it near as much as I say I do. I just like to whine about it.

In other news, I got the beads for one of the rosaries I have planned today. Black glass pearls and dark blue drop-shaped crystals will look great with the Pieta center and the crucifix that I have to go with it, which depicts Jesus being taken down off of the cross. I'm hoping to get the beads for the Pope Francis/St. Francis of Assisi rosary tomorrow, and then I'll set them aside for my Etsy shop. I still have two crucifixes that I'm not positive what I want to do with them.

Let me rephrase, I don't have a finished product in mind yet. The centers I have will work fine with one of the crucifixes, but I think the other one might need something a little different. Either way, soon as I figure it out, I'll get the beads and get it made.

I've also got a few ideas rattling around for auto-rosaries, including one that can go on the steering wheel, which I liked because I don't feel comfortable handling beads while driving, but I also lose count if I'm not physically touching something. This is why I like to have an obvious difference between the Aves and the Paters. It makes it a little easier to use. The one I saw that hooked onto the steering wheel seems like it'd be a good alternative to my usual practice of using the knuckles on my fingers.

I'll be back on tomorrow to fill you in on my second RCIA class and my adventures with trying to find the right beads. Aunt D will be out of town, so I'm not sure if I'll hang around Downtown or not. I do want to get a wall crucifix, and I've been eyeing a couple of different ones at Saints and Shamrocks. We'll just have to see how willing I am to kill time tomorrow.

Goodnight all!

Yours always,
Tara

THe Approach of Autumn

It's September (not that anyone didn't already know that) and autumn is here! It is, technically, a little too early to start on Halloween decorating, not that that stops people. Almost every store is drenched in orange, brown, red, and yellow in one corner, and Orange, slime green, vibrant purples, and black. There's pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, leaves and creepy looking dead trees, empty fields and full grave-yards.

Now, I am a huge fan of Halloween. I love acting, love dressing up, and love an excuse to watch dorky kid movies (Scary Godmother! It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Spookable Pooh! The Nightmare Before Christmas!...good for two holidays, that one!) So Halloween, with costumes, candy, and a decent number of kiddie movies, is brilliant! This year, I won't be able to take part in my favorite tradition of passing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I love passing out candy to kids in costumes! So cute. Any way! Not the point!

The point is, my favorite season swiftly approaches. The annual torrential down-pour we get every winter hasn't started, the humidity has blessedly retreated. (This fact can make even hardened atheist praise God). The weather cools off and I can wear long sleeves, cardigans, sweaters, and leggings without risking heat stroke.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the beginning of the Christmas season (which, in my mind, officially begins at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade because that's when my mother would permit Christmas carols and movies to be dusted off and brought out for our enjoyment.) all come in autumn. 

Also accompanying autumn is Christmas shopping, frantic knitting, school (SCHOOL! *sobbing*) and an over abundance of sweets that demand to be tasted.

I love food. And the foods that are best for the colder months, soups, stews, roasts, heavy pastas, and almost anything with pumpkins or potatoes are my favorites. This is why I fight year round to maintain my (fairly) slim figure. I've already mentioned my great love of Irish food, which tends, as a general rule, to be hot, heavy on potatoes, and made with (really yummy) cheap cuts of meat. Although I may argue that last point on the basis of the price of stew meat the last time I went to the store.

My point is, autumn is here! (basically) and there's a lot to love about the wonderful season we find ourselves in. There's also the impending birth of my sister, the birthdays of both my parents (within a week of each other) and plenty of time to bake as many desserts with pumpkin as I can stand.

This has been an ode to autumn from your friendly neighborhood blogger. Regular posting will resume tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

Yours always,
Tara Hills

 

I finished the pumpkin baby hat, with little I-cord vine and leaves. You can just barely see my long-suffering St. Patrick sitting underneath it in the picture. He goes with me to work every day, poor fellow. It's not too bad, I hope. He sits on the desk, smiling gently from his perch.

 

I've also almost finished reading The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey & Song, which means I'll be moving on to The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living.

 

I get back to working on the baby blanket tomorrow, and I'm so thankful that the weekend is here! I have work to do on my room, more clothes to go through and so on, and I'm going to try and go to morning mass this coming Sunday. I usually attend the 10am mass, because I'm lazy and like to sleep in. It also makes it easier to avoid going to my family's Baptist church.

 

I'd like to start getting everything in order for Christmas soon. Presents, decorations, and such, all prepped and ready for the upcoming holiday season. I know I'm starting early, but I have too, with most of my gifts being hand-knits and with my appalling lack of decorations of any kind, I need to start now so I'm not perpetually broke when the holidays season does arrive.

 

I've got several books on my to-read list, including the Cape Light series, and a variety of Catholic books. RCIA classes start the week following next and I'm excited.

 

There are no Irish dance classes for beginning adults so far, which is disappointing, but not an insurmountable problem, by any means. Man made instructional DVDs for a reason, after all, and it would be more enjoyable than pilates I'm sure.  

 

There's a festival coming up that I'd like to go to. It's on the same ay as my appointment with the tattoo artist, but I'm sure I can work with that. I can go after the appointment, though it'll be nice if I can get a ride, and therefore enjoy the more spirited aspects of the fun without breaking my rule of no drinking after imbibing...even if I am still well under the legal limit. Unfortunately, I live with a tee-o-taler, and I hate putting my mom out. (Besides, if she wasn't pregnant, I'd be the Designated Driver. Or step-dad would be...)

 

There's not much else to say today. Hopefully there won't be any interruption in Saturdays with the Saints, but tomorrow will be kind of busy, so no promises.

 

Yours always,

Tara

Livestream issues and pumpkin baby hats

As usual, I pulled up the EWTN radio link to listen to Catholic Answers Live, only for what ever reason the link did not want to work, so I had to find a different link. Thank you Ave Maria Radio for your handy live-stream.

I set the baby blanket aside. I just don't have enough time to finish it, so I've casted on a baby hat in orange. I'll add a stem and leaves and make it a pumpkin hat. Little Bird is supposed to be born a little more than a week before Halloween, so it's appropriate.

I've just about finished reading The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey & Song. I love this book! So does H, based on what she's heard from me. Apparently, the 7.1 liters of alcohol consumed by her Slavic ancestors at a normal wedding is something to be proud of. I can't blame her, I feel great pride at shenanigans of my Irish ancestors (as chronicled under Irish Cream, among other entries.)

I am so looking forward to the weekend, and, other than my mother's baby-shower, I have no plans what-so-ever. That sounds nice. I'm going to knock out this hat, work on that blanket, and sleep!

I'm not sure if I want to get up and go to mass in the morning or not. I'm tired, but I don't know if that's because I didn't get enough sleep, or if I've gotten too much sleep lately. All the joy of the human body.

My granma thinks I need to mention it to the doctor when I go on the 12th, but I really think it's just a cycle that I need to break. Get ten minutes too much sleep and you might end up feeling even more like a zombie than if you got ten too few.

I feel better when I drag myself out of bed, but I'm a lazy bum and don't get up if I don't have to. All the fun.

Of course, adding to my lethargy is the weather, with it's on-again-off-again raining. This is good at bedtime when I'm trying to go to bed, but not so much when I'm bored out of my mind at work.

There's a new program on EWTN tonight that I'm looking forward to called Catholics Come Home. It looks like it'll be good.

Anyway, I'm signing off for the night.

Yours always,
Tara

Feverish knitting and up-coming baby showers

Coming up very shortly, my mom is having a baby shower, courtesy of her friends. The following Sunday, she has another one, courtesy of her church. I have nothing held in reserve for either of these showers, but have already said I will attend the first. (I might skive out on the second, or buy some felt and make a birdie baby mobile or something.) However for this up-coming shower, I am frantically attempting to finish a baby blanket.

Not the giant patchwork afghan that I'm making that I hope to have finished before her first birthday at the latest. But I have, instead, started a new blanket to hopefully finish this week. Of course, rather than do the sane thing, that is, pull out the circulars and knit it in one big piece, I'm working it in several pieces. Several cabled pieces.

Basically this blanket will be a great big cable sampler that will wrap Little Bird up all snug and give me all sorts of practice on needle juggling. So far I've made four of the as yet unspecified number of panels and have used the honeycomb cable, the Stag horn cable, and the chunky braid.

I have about six colors in play, primarily in blue, with cream, tan, and silver. I'm going for an ocean feel. Besides, those are the colors my mother prefers.

I can't believe I'm defending my color choices on here. No body cares! Except apparently a lot of people care and I think it's ridiculous!

Anyway, it goes with out saying that my socks have been put on hold for an undetermined period of time until I finish.

Yours always,
Tara

p.s. I've been having a hard time getting to sleep lately. Any one have any suggestions?

Powered by egg-rolls

Or at least my step-dad seems to think we are.

I went over to my mom's this morning after mass to make egg-rolls and just spend time with her. She scared the crap out of me, with her standing on her head and all. Apparently, Little Bird is still laying sideways when she needs to turn her little tail feathers around and lay head down, you know, to get ready? And so the mid-wife had advised my mother to lie with her butt up on the couch and her body on pillows on the floor. While she was doing this, my mother started laughing, which apparently hurt really badly and scared the tar out of little old me.

Did I mention that I don't do well with loved ones in pain?

Thankfully she was okay and she no longer has to do that.

The egg-rolls turned out good. The recipe is a traditional Vietnamese recipe that my mom got from a friend of hers who's husband was Vietnamese. Apparently it's his family's recipe. Either way, we've been making them forever and they are delicious. No photo's I'm afraid, but believe me when I say these are better than any egg-roll you've ever had a you local Chinese place.

My mother ate 3 and then had a energy boost, so to speak, P ate a belly full of them, and I ate 3 and got a move on myself, hence why my step-dad thinks that egg-rolls are apparently a power-boost.

I didn't get around to the boxty or the onion marmalade, so I'll have to do those tomorrow.

Sunday we're celebrating my birthday. We're going to go out for lunch after church, so that'll be nice. I spent  about an hour trying to decide where to go because I live for food that's good and cheap, and sadly that's not something you find in restaurants. I've settled on an Italian joint in Savannah, but I won't say where until Monday.

I went to mass this morning, although I almost didn't. For some reason I had a really hard time getting to bed last night and I did not want to get up this morning. I did though, and as always I'm glad that I did.

I'm headed to bed now, but I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Yours always,
Tara

I wonder if this is how my dinner feels

We have no air conditioning tonight, which means that the internal temperature of the building is a balmy 95*F and slowly dropping as it gets later.....and I do mean slowly.

Roasting alive aside, (which makes me wonder if this is what it feel like to be a chicken baking in the oven), let's talk about everything that's happened since Saturday. Well, Friday, really, since I didn't do a personal post on Saturday. Mainly because nothing really happened on Saturday. I got a birthday card from my dad (Thanks Daddy!) and got started on going through the enormous amount of clothes I have amassed.

Sunday was much more interesting. I went to the Latin mass at the Cathedral. It was really interesting, and I'll probably continue to go occasionally, but I enjoy the regular mass service as well. Next time, I'll be sure to grab one of the missals on the back table. I didn't even know they had them until right as service was beginning. Great time for them to make that announcement.

I stopped by the mall after church and had a gyro, then hit the craft store and bought some ribbon for the Cabbage Patch baby hat my mom asked for. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow. After that it was home for dinner (pizza) and a movie. I mixed up a quick little drink that I'm calling the Irish Mob. It's a twist on the Godfather (Amaretto and Scotch) that I made with Amaretto and Irish Whiskey. After eating, I settled down with my drink and The Boondock Saints for a late evening in.

This morning, I went with my mom and her friend to a 4D ultrasound. I don't know if any of you have seen a 4D ultrasound before, but it's really cool! You can see so much detail! We also found out that Little Bird isn't all that little! My sister is so long that she's pretty much folded double across my mom! She literally always had her knees up on her chest and had no where else to put them!

It was really cool though! She has a head full of hair, and a button nose and chubby cheeks and pudgy hands and it was awesome!

How cool is it that we have the technology to do that? To actually look into the womb and see a child with that much detail! We could see that she had her eyes open for crying out loud! We could see and recognize all of her little fingers and toes! We could see her face! Every little feature of her face, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, her ears!

Sorry, I didn't do much gushing at the time because I was too busy watching the screen. It was really cool.

Of course, now I'm a little worried that none of the mittens I made will fit...might need to buy a little more yarn for the Christmas dress too.

But! Little Bird is healthy, active, and adorable!

Anyway, I'm listening to Catholic Answers Live while sitting here waiting to go home. I've got two pairs of booties, one pair of mittens, and another hat to make for Shawna, a chaplet for Our Lady Star of the Sea to make, I'm planning on making a Christmas rosary, and all of my Christmas knitting. I'm going to start on Granma's shawl as soon as I finish Shawna's baby knitting, which will hopefully be Friday, and hopefully I'll be able to start on the Angel dress for Little Bird after she's born, give me a little bit better idea of what the size will need to be, and until then, I've got five pairs of socks to knit.

Still haven't figured out what to do for mom, and I've got a shawl I'd like to make for myself. Plus a hat to go with my yellow socks.

The good news is that I have plenty to do when there's nothing going on at work. The bad news is that yarn can be expensive. I've got my eye on some yarn at knitpicks. Next time they have a sale, I'm stocking up!

Yours always,
Tara