Second Thoughts

I would never phone a friend to whom I hadn't spoken in a long time, and say, "Hi, I'm alive and well, and busy. Goodbye." and hang up. And that's exactly what I did in the earlier post. So, I hurried through my work and made it a point to show you what I have been doing.

Renovations: That sort of went on hold over Christmas, but right after Christmas, I did the suspended ceiling in my basement kitchen, while waiting for the plumber and electrician.

Behold:
It was really easy, took only a couple of hours. After I had completed it, and one of the flourescent lights went out, I realized that I hadn't dropped it low enough to work on the lights easily, so, this is what I did. (Remember, the ceiling grid is suspended by wires, and supported around the edges by an L-shaped track) I drew a line all around the edges, 1" below the track. Then I lifted up the panels and released the screws and rescrewed them along the new lines. Then I released the wires and lowered it to the right depth. Voilà, 30 min. later, the ceiling is in its new place. Light changed. Fini.

The cabinets are coming in on Monday. I bought more of the same wall tiles as upstairs, since I had to open a new box of grout to use only 1 out of 10 lbs. I love those tiles. Will post later about upstairs.

Knitting/Crocheting/Embroidery

Madli's Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia, for my cousin's wife (Germany) who sent me a batch of lovely sock yarn for Christmas. I will be making a pair of socks for him, too.

Rainbow Baby Shawl. Although crocheting is not my favorite pasttime, I love making this shawl. Two evenings of work. It's for a very special young lady who is expecting at the end of February, it will be blessed at church--it is a joyful prayer shawl.

Cross-stitch Christmas Tree Skirt: before I retired, I made up my mind to give each of the kids a Christmas tree skirt. While I still had a paycheck, I assembled the materials. So far I have one all finished, and have been working on this one in 2010. I want them all finished by the next Christmas. I also want to have a cross-stitch Christmas Stocking for everyone. The four grandkids got theirs last Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures.

Wedding Update: The wedding plans had been all finalized for Labor Day Weekend, then my daughter got the news that the groom's mom, who is a radio announcer in Fiji, could not get the time off work, due to some special event for the Muslim population. So we tried August 14--the caterer wasn't available; Aug 7-- the hall wasn't available; July 31--Maid of honor can't get time off work; Aug 24--no caterers available, local town's 100th anniversary; so now everything is (I think) all set for July 17. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Till next time: You can't wrap love in a box, but you can wrap a person in a hug. (Author unknown)

Wee sign of life

I am alive. I am well. I am very busy. I love blogs that include pictures, so I would like to include pictures, but that's the time factor--due to dial-up I need to resize all my pictures smaller, then post them. My internet line is unreliable at best. And now what was once news, is somewhat old hat.
Please keep visiting me, I will try to do better.

Happy Birthday to me!!♫♫♫

As a gift to you on my Bday (Jan. 9), I will share another story with you that I wrote for the local paper some time ago. Some of the references are somewhat dated.

In Praise of Difference
When my DH and I still lived in the city, we had a "different" neighbor, named Shirley (changed to protect her identity). Shirley and I were born the same year.
We both had favorite expressions which we used to guide our children into adulthood. You might say we each had our own brand of wisdom.

I would say, "You want a ride to school? In my day, I walked thirteen blocks to school, rain or shine (true, but I never said uphill both ways in a blizzard).
She would say, "I'll be glad when you're old enough for your license. Then we can hit the road together on our Harleys."

I: "Pull down your miniskirt!"
She wore a miniskirt.

I: "Who's M.C. Hammer?"
She dances like M.C. Hammer and no joints creak.

I: "Curfew is midnight."
She: "They're only young once."

I: " Work before you play."
She: "Let's give it a lick-and-a -promise then we'll boogie."

I: "Walk before you run."
She: "Take a risk."

I: "A penny saved is a penny earned."
She: "Let's put a few bucks down and enjoy it while we pay it off."

I: "Make a plan and stick to it."
She: "Hang loose (be flexible)."

I: "Modesty is a virtue."
She: "If you've got it, flaunt it!"

I: "Isn't Sean Connery's smile sexy?"
She: "I sure like Mel gibson's cute toosh."

I just bought a body shaper: an "I-can't-believe-it's-a-corset".
She burned her bra in the sixties and still hasn't replaced it.

My husband shows me his holey socks, and I say I'll darn them on Friday.
She tells her hubby, "I"ll darn your socks when you fix the runs in my panty hose--buy new ones."

My adjectives are "groovy, neat, and cool".
She describes things as "totally awesome, rad, and like-funky."

I: "I love you, kids♥♥!"
She: " I love you, kids♥♥!"

My neighbour Shirley and I didn't always agree with each other's ways, but we both survived child-rearing.

Our kids all turned out to be responsible citizens.

But I never could figure out why everyone always thought I was older than Shirley.