One of my fondest memories is of my mother baking cookies with my then 2 year old daughter. They mixed dough from a recipe my Mom knew by heart. As I watched them roll out the dough and cut out the cookies it felt almost like a Norman Rockwell moment. My daughter kneeded her dough, rolled it out, and cut out her shapes. The more she worked the blacker the dough became. I was a little concerned that anyone would eat those cookies. My mother just smiled and sent my little one off to wash her hands in the bathroom. As my litle sweetie turned the corner mom wisked away the dirty cookie tray and replaced it with fresh clean cookies she had cut out and popped them in the oven. The tray my daughter had made was never to be seen again. When the cookies came out of the oven, my daughter was none the wiser and we had wonderful cookies. It all looked so smart and easy. And, beacuse I was expecting our second child any day, watching this wonderful exchange between my mother and daughter gave me chance to relax a little.

Jump forward a number of years. I am now the grandmother of two wonderful children, a girl who just turned four and a boy who is two. The memory of my mother baking with her grandchild is still so sweet that I decided to bake cookies with my grandchildren. I can not pull a sugar cookie recipe from my memory so I did what any modern day grandmother would do. I went to the internet. After a short search I found a recipe that would work. Since the dough needed to be chilled at least an hour, I decided to make the dough the night before. Everything went well. Two batches of dough chilling in the fridge ready for the morning.

Morning came. My daughter and her children were to arrive a about 10:00. At almost ten I get a phone call. The boy is still asleep. He has been woken several times and still can't / won't get up. No problem I say. Let him sleep.come over when he getes up. I decide at this point that the kids will enjoy decorating the cookies so I might as well start baking them and have some ready to go when they arrive. Good thought right? So I start baking. I take out my board and cover it with flour. I have my new rolling pin and the bands that go around it so I can roll the dough to the correct thickness.
( My mom didn't need those). The cookie cutters are out. I have two of each shape we plan to use so there will be no fighting. I take the dough out of the fridge. It is too cold to roll. Maybe that is why the directions said to chill the dough for one hour. I finally get the dough rolled out. Those thickness bands don't work well. I get two trays of cookies cut out. I put one in the oven for eight minutes and the doorbell rings. My family is here. Now I have a dog. She is a very cute boxer who is just a year old. Normally when the grandchildren come over she gets excited but can be controlled. Not today. This dog is so excited that the children can not get into the house. Cookies in the oven, children trying to come in the house and I am trying to restrain 45 lbs of dog while trying to hold the door open. After some yelling for my husband to come help me we get everyone in the house, the dog outside and the first batch of cookies out of the oven with out being burned.
At this point I find out that my daughter was in such a hurry to bring the children over ( not to disappoint me) that the little man hasn' t had breakfast. Everything stops! He needs breakfast. What kind of a Bubbie would I be if I didn't make breakfast. The second batch of cookies comes out of the oven as I scramble up some eggs. (Little man's favorite) After breakfast we are ready to bake cookies. Everyone washes their hands so we don't end up with black cookie dough. My daughter and I roll out dough for both children and show them how to use the cookie cutters. They do a great job. We get most of the dough cut out and leave some for the kids to play with. Time for the little ones to have a break until all the cookies are baked.
I make the icing that will cover half of the cookies and we all wash hands again. The mommy and I frost the cookies while the little ones put sprinkles on top of the frosting. I have been smart here. All of the sprinkles are in little bowls with spoons and each child has their own sided cookie sheet to work on. (Contain the mess as much as possible) The kids sprinkle the cookies. Who knew that blue and red sprinkles would be more popular than all the other colors! They did a good job even if all the sprinkles are on one side of each cookie. Then I spread chocolate frosting on the undecorated half of the cookies and we made sandwich cookies.

The whole process did not seem as easy as when my mother made cookies with my daughter oh so many years ago. I just hope the memory is as sweet for my family as that one is for me.

Doing much better today. I got a good nights sleep. I have a good cup of coffee. (Thanks Jan)
And what I hope will be a quiet day to knit. Still need to work on posting pics.

I spent time with the babies yesterday. That helped my day improve. The "Dude" is really doing well on his talking. He says Bubb eee now and sssss for stop. He says peez for please, Mom ee, Da dee and Mim mim for Miriam. I even got him to say a sentence yesterday. It was one word at a time, but he said "Go to Mommy car". It was great. But Mommy wasn't there to hear it.
You can see how hard he works to get out the words he has. The determination on his little face....

I am so lucky to be able to spend so much time with these little angles. To Evelyn, I wish you were here to, just to get to watch them grow up.

too many things going sideways

Today has been a real pain. Things keep going wrong. Or at least not going the way I expected. I hate days like this.
So, since thingsare gling wrong I am going to try to post a pic nere today.
Well, thatdidn't work either. I think if I can get a pic off theweb I should be able to.load it here. But thjs machine says I have too many windows open. So I will have to fivufe that out before I try again.

After that wonderful post about knitting I haven't touched my knitting at all. I have dyed yarn, cleaned house, grocery shopped and done a million other things. But no knitting. On small business saturday I bought some great sock yarn. But it isn't getting cast on. I am afraid it will end up in the stash and be forgotten. (Like so many other skeins)
Today I have tons of cooking todo because everyone is coming here for Shabbat dinner. The Mommy and Daddy people have an office party to go to. So the rest of the clan will be here.

Menu

Soup
Prime Rib
Double Baked potatoes
Some veggie
Challah
Babka for dessert

Everything made from scratch by me today. I really do love cooking and baking. So I am off to start. Have a great day everyone.

I have been knitting. I have made fingerless gloves for 6 people. I have also completed a round baby blanket for my niece who's baby is due in April. I have bought more sock yarn too. I have even started working on my sweater again. So I am keeping busy!

I am starting to get the hang of this new tablet. So you will see posts from me.

We hada great Thanksgiving. Lots of good food. I'll post pics as soon as I can figure that out.

Yesterday was small business saturday, so I did go shopping. I wentto my local yarn store. Becca and our friend Jenn went with us. It was great. Lots of yummy yarns. We also shopped so other stores too. Becca found some wonderful gifts she needed and then we had tea. There is a really great tea shop loosly based on the book "Little Women".
So we had to stop in. It is just the kind of place to take Miss Mim for "High Tea". I am going to haveto setthat upfor after her birthday. In about 3 weeks our little princess will be jturning 4. It's hard to believe but true. She is growing up so fast.

Well, I hadbestgo and get myday started. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of the holiday season. I know I am.

Well here I am using my new tablet to post here. This is a test run.

I guess winter has decided to visit us. This morning for the second day in a row the temp. was below freezing here. Now I am not claiming it is colder here than in other places. My niece, for example, posted a pic to her fb page of the thermometer at -33 degrees. Yup 33 degrees BELOW zero. That's cold. I am just not ready for winter. But, as long as it is sunny I think I can manage. ;)

On a better note,Jan comes home tonight. He has been in the Seattle area all week. I am looking forward to him being home for a while. But having to pick him up at midnight... well normally I turn into a pumpkin about 10:00.


I thought a pic of Miss Mim and two of her favorite men would fit right here. These are only 2 of her favs. She has quite a few favorite men. ;)


But, I must say the "Dude" still gives the best hugs. ( he also doesn't hold still for pictures)

Now that Miss Mim and the Dude go to pre-school 4 days a week I don't get to see them as often as I used to. It's a little sad. They are both growing up so quickly. I have to remember how lucky I am to have been able to play with them almost every day.

Last week was Grandparents day at their new school. We had a wonderful time. We got to watch the Dude play in his classroom and Miss Mim showed us around her classrooms. (Yes, more that one.) Then Miss Mim's class and the older class came into the main room and sang some songs for us.


That's Miss Mim second from the right. They sang 5 or 6 songs.


This is the Dude playing with the train table at school. In the background you can see some of the Grandparents getting ready for the program.
The boy loves trains. Well anything with wheels.

The school also had a book fair that day. So of course we had to buy new books. Hmmm Grandparents Day and and a book fair. Do you think that was planned???? (LOL)

I know I don't post here very often. There aren't mind blowing recipes either. But ever once in a while could you comment. Just a note to say something like good pics.
I have nine followers. I know each and everyone of you. There aren't thousands of face less people. I know I write this for me, but you said you read it too. If I am off base for asking, let me know.

Thanks

Rainy days

We are here in November already. It's hard to believe. Here in Chicago that means chilly and rainy. Snow can't be too far off.
Yarn show season seems to be over until Feb. So, you would think we have a breather. But, that's not quite true. There are some business issues we thought were taken care of that seem to have gotten worse. So, we get to deal with those again. But otherwise the business is doing well. We are in 9 stores across the country and are still doing on-line sales. Things are looking good. We have some plans to expand our lines of yarn too. So there is research and testing to do. But enough about that.




Here you see our little man dressed up as an "ight" for Halloween. He thinks he is a knight. Yes I know he is a Roman soldier. You try telling him different.


Miss Mim was of course a princess. She had a scepter and everything. We went trick or treating with some friends. They brought a wagon. After a several houses Miss Mim decided she didn't want to walk anymore. So, she rode in the wagon and was pulled by the eldest boy in our group. Princess treatment alright.

Halloween was a lot of fun. Now to start planning for Thanksgiving!

I can't believe it is the end of October. The leaves are beautiful shades of gold, orange, red and purple. This has been a wonderful and long fall. I know the cold and snow will be here soon, but I do love this time of year.


As you can see, Miss Mim likes being outside too. It's a little hard to see, but she is playing hop scotch in this pic.

She and I had a wonderful time playing outside. The Dude is there too. He just would not hold still for a picture. That boy does love to move around.

I hope to get some good pics of both of them in their Halloween costumes Monday.

I am taking a break for a few minutes. So, I thought I would post something. I have all the yarn ready for this weekends show. Becca is sleeping upstairs. She has an awful bug of some kind and her furnace is out. Since it is 41 degrees outside I kidnapped her. The Grand kids are on a play date and will be dropped off here. Having heat is a very good thing here in Chicago land.


This is Miss Mim playing in the puddles a couple of weeks ago.


This is a really bad pic of our booth at our last show, Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival.

I am home! Over the last few weeks we have done a couple of yarn shows and made a trip to California for my niece's wedding.

This is my niece and my brother.

My sister in law, Mother of the Bride and one of her sons.
I also have pictures of some other family members.

This is another of my brothers daughters, she is a sister of the bride.

This is my sister's daughter, the boyfriend and my sister's son on the right.



Here we have my eldest brother's son and his wife.

One of the Bride's brothers and his wife.

My sister and her hubby.

This doesn't ever cover everyone. I have another brother and and sister who couldn't make the wedding as well as nieces and nephews who were not there.
It was a great party and so wonderful to see them all again.
If I missed posting anyone's picture I am sorry. But, I will leave you with a very cute couple, the bride's nephews.

I have only 9 more skeins of yarn in the house to dye. It is 9 am and I have 14 skeins to rinse. (I dyed them this morning.) My day started before 7 am. If I get these done I can rest a little before the next shipment arrives. I think I am busier now than I was when I was teaching. But I miss teaching. I miss having a classroom full of students. I don't miss writing lesson plans, grading papers, writing and grading tests or dealing with parents. I don't miss "no child left behind" and all the craziness that caused. So, I guess I don't miss as much as I thought. I just wish it had been my choice.

What's new

The next few weeks are going to be busy for me. With Rosh Hashana & Yom Kipper (the Jewish Holidays)starting this week. We have two orders for stores to fill. Both before the 9th of Oct.when I leave for my niece's wedding in California. Then we have a show the very next day, after I get back,in Southern Indiana. The following weekend we have a show in Michigan. I need to do all the yarn dying before I leave on my trip. I should be busy. I need to start cooking for the holidays ASAP. Fun times for busy people in my world.

I have my computer back! Son in law and daughter worked their magic and it's fixed!!!!!



So here is a picture I hope you haven't seen before.


The cuties spent 3 days with us recently. So I thought I'd post pics from that weekend.

I am up early this morning with a goal in mind. Getting some pics on this blog. My computer was acting up so I couldn't get pics up. My computer go to person came by and cleaned up my mess. (Thanks Becca) so now I am going to try it again.


I thought I would start with one of "The Dude" to brighten everyone's day!


This is one of the falls in Great Falls Montana.


This is "The Gates of the Rocky Mountains" just outside Helena, Montana. I am not sure which is more beautiful, this place or the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. I'll post those pictures later.


I couldn't leave without a pic of "Miss Mimm". Here she is playing soccer in my hallway.

A friend reminded my that I ,once again, have not been posting to this blog. I must hang my head in shame. I have been lax about posting. If you have given up on me, I understand.

As you know I went on a trip "out west". I saw lots of wonderful things and enjoyed myself. I reconnected with an old friend and a cousin. I sold our yarn to 3 different shops in 3 wonderful cities, The Dalles; Oregon, Helena; Montana and Great Falls; Montana. We also bought lots of goodies for the grand children. Miss Mim now is the proud owner of pink cowgirl boots. The "Dude"s cowboy boots are black with red stitching.

When I got home I had one week to dye all the yarn to fill those orders.

After that it was time for Stitches Mid West. That is the biggest yarn conference in , you guessed it, the mid west. I took 2 classes, knitting backwards and design your own sweater. My daughter, a friend and I shopped the market to get ideas for our own knitting. (We bought all sorts of stuff) We also shopped for ideas to make of both at shows better.

From there we had the grand kids spend a 3 day weekend with us so their parents could get away for a few days.

And, I am dying yarn again for our next show later this month.

I have just spent the last 10 minutes trying to upload pictures. But, my computer will not cooperate. It may be a problem between the computer and the chair. LOL
My computer wizard will be here tomorrow so maybe after that.

"On the road again"

"For the last two weeks no one's been home" That's a line from a country western song by Garth Brooks. It kinda fits for me because I haven't been home for just over two weeks. So I'll update.

Hubby and I have been on the road.We left here and went to Minneapolis so he could do some audits.(The whole trip was about audits.) From there we drove to Montana. While there I got reacquainted with 2 people I went to High School with. They are now married and living in Helena.



This is a view from very near where they live. We took a boat ride "Gate of the Rocky Mountains". The views were spectacular.



We pushed on from there to Spokane. I have a cousin living there whom I had not seen in over 30 years. He and his wife were wonderful.The showed us an amazing grad hotel which has been completely restored. I'll post pics of that later.

We pushed on through Idaho and in to Washington. I got a chance to go back to Pike Place Market. It's always fun to watch the flying fish at the fish market.

Then it was down to Portland for Jan's last audits and then we headed home.

We did a lot of sight seeing and shopping. Both Miss Mim and the Dude got cowboy boots. Miss Mim's are pink. I had pics but now I can't find them. So I'll have to post those another time.

I am off today to another yarn festival. This is the Wine and Wool festival in Jackson Mich. After that we will be off on a two week excursion through the northern parts of the mid west and the west as Jan heads out for two weeks of audits and I get to tag along. We are going to stop along the way and see some high school friends of mine in Montana and one of my cousins I haven't seen in something like 40 years.

Time seems to fly by in a hurry. I have noted that the older I get the faster time seems to move. Trying to explain how far in the future something is to Miss Mim seems to be impossible. She has no reference point. While I on the other have too many reference points.



So enough seriousness! A little chocolate goes a long way!




And a Giant Slide!

I haven't posted in a while

I haven't posted. I really don't have anything to say. I am still looking for a job. I know that teachers are being laid off. I also know that at my age, with my educational level and years of experience, my job prospects are not great. I keep trying though. I have applied for lots and lots of jobs. I have not had one call for an interview. I am running out of ideas. My yarn business is growing, but not enough to pay the bills when my unemployment runs out.

A third of July

I can not believe it is July already. Time seems to be flying by. This year it is going to be a very quiet 4th. Just Hubby and me. We plan to have a relaxing day, kick back and grill out some brats. No running anywhere. We will watch fireworks from our own yard or on T.V. We have talked about going to our local parade ( we have a Norman Rockwell type parade) here in town. But that means we would have to get up in time. I think step off is about 10:00. I don't see that happening.

Sleeping in is such a luxury....

So, Enjoy your Independence Day however you choose to celebrate. We have lots to be thankful for, even if it doesn't seem like it all the time.

It really is summer here. You would not be able to tell from the weather. It has been raining quite a bit. It's also been humid and from time to time hot. It's hard to plan anything when you can't predict the weather.

I have been traveling around some too. We, my business partner and I, went to a yarn convention just outside of Indy. We came home repacked and took off for D.C. While we were on the east coast we headed down to Colonial Williamsburg. Down there the temp was well over 100 degrees. We had our families with us so it was a vacation. We had a load of fun.



This is Miss Mim in her new hat. It had to have a red ribbon!



The Momma wanted to by the Dude a cute three corner hat. He would have none of that.

It has been a very busy summer so far.

I am about to start cooking for Shabat Dinner tomorrow night. I would like to have as much done ahead as possible. I will be making peanut butter soup. Sounds bad but tastes great. I have only had it served hot, but I hear it is great ice cold too.I am going to serve it cold. I am also going to make princess chicken- chicken with crab and Alfredo sauce.Today I am making the soup and the pecan pie dessert.So I had best get to cooking.

Starting off on a summer of yarn festivals. We leave tomorrow early for one outside of Indianapolis. We are doing about one show per month between now and October. I guess you could say we started last month. Things are doing well and picking up. I hope I will have pictures from this one. (I forget to take them)

Today my grandson starts speech therapy. Everything works: hearing, understanding, thought processes. He just can't seem to talk. My daughter is teaching him to sign some words so he can get his ideas across. This has opened up a hole new world for him.

We are hopeful that with a little help he will be talking soon. There always so much to say.

I am on my way to collect his sister. She and I will be out for the day so brother can have his session with out her help.

Smile

The world was supposed to end yesterday. Well, at least for some people. But as you can see I am still here. No rapture for me. I am to stay here until the end. There is no moral here. Just a chuckle at foolish people who are so desperate for happiness they will believe almost anything.

For today

Ten years ago the words "You have cancer" changed my world. With the help of my Family, Friends and wonderful Doctors I was able to fight and win the battle.
Today I am healthy and cancer free. Here is the challenge for you.... For today, sing out loud, dance to the music you hear, laugh louder, hug someone just because you can. Eat dessert first! Or like me tonight, just have dessert! Do the little things you have always put off, the fun ones. The adult world will still be there tomorrow. Today we CELEBRATE! :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has come and gone. Mine was wonderful. I got to play with my grandchildren, visit with my children,and spend quality time with my hubby. We had a wonderful seafood dinner cooked by my family with a awesome chocolate dessert. It really does not get any better than that.

It makes me reflect on all the wonderful things in my life. I have a lot to be thankful for. Yet I seem to dwell on the bad. I guess that's just human nature. I am going to try to focus on the good from now on. It won't be easy ... but then good things never come easy.

I have a wonderful husband who has stood by my side for more than 30 years. (Trust me, it wasn't easy.)

I have two wonderful daughters who have grown into women I am proud to call my friends. They both have college degrees. I am so proud of the hard work they did to earn those. They also have husbands who love them deeply.

I have both a granddaughter and a grandson who are growing up way too quickly surrounded by all the love they can handle.

I don't want to forget my grand dogs either. A very friendly bunch if I do say so myself.

I have a good life. What more can I ask for!

May ?

I can't believe it is May already.
I haven't posted here in a while. Since I write here for me I guess when I'm busy I forget. I guess when I want to sound off or have something important to say I come back.
Today I am unhappy with a "young man" I know. I know the things he says are aimed to bate me. But, I am tired of him looking for the negative in what I say.
He will never read this, for which I am happy. It is getting harder and harder to blow off his snarky comments. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else, and maybe he is. But his comments are cruel. Perhaps when he is "older" he will understand.

To lighten the mood, here is a pic of Miss Mim in front of the wheel of a tractor at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Welcome Passover

Passover starts tonight at sundown. I have been cooking and cleaning for what seems like weeks. Here at 8:00 am I have a sponge cake in the oven and matza balls cooking too. Tonight's main course and tomorrow's main course are already cooked. They just need reheating. The fish course, chopped liver and everything else that can be made ahead has been made. Tonight we will be 15 people for a 5 course sit down dinner. Tomorrow we will be 22 for the same. Please understand I am not doing this alone. Both of my daughters are doing the same amount of work, cooking and cleaning. We have divided up the cooking chores, but each of us does our own housework. Tonight it all gets put together. Those of you who read this post and are joining us... Welcome.
For those who can not join us... You will be missed.

"Let all who are hungry come in and eat"

Thoughts

Today would have been my mothers 93 birthday. She died 13 years ago just days before she turned 80. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I grew up in an abusive household so her passing didn't effect me the way many other people are effected by a parents death. I guess the best thing I can say here is... May she rest in peace. God knows she never had any when she was alive.

Here again

As it always seems to be, things have been busy. Last Friday we went to a yarn retreat and sold lots of yarn. I will post a pic of our booth at some point. I am bust=y getting ready for Passover. We are holding the two Seders at my daughters house this year. It is strange to be carting stuff between houses. But, it's the only way it works. This year on the first night 15 people and the second night there will be 22 people. Think about that for a minute: 15 one night and 22 people on the other for a multi- course dinner cooked and served by my daughters and me.
By multi- course I mean we will be serving 5 courses each night, not including the Seder Service which has a few things to eat. We start with hard boiled eggs, followed by gifilta fish/ chopped liver, then chicken soup with matzo balls. Then the main course with all the trimmings and of course a dessert. WOW!!!!!

Kona, my dog, is doing really well.



You can see she has put on weight. Her ribs aren't sticking out anymore.



And who doesn't love that face? She is very playful and sweet. She is becoming a great dog for us. However, she thinks Asher tastes great. She is always licking him.

Job search

Looking for a job is depressing. But, I keep filling out applications. I would really like to be retired. I can do that in a few more years. Until then I keep filling out apps and going on interviews.Send me some good vibes.

Things are starting to calm down here. The new puppy is doing fine. She has been to the vet, who says she needs to put on about 10lbs. When we got her, her weight was 33lbs. Today the vet said she weights 37lbs. 4 pounds in 5 days. Not too bad.



Miss Mim says she is "a little dog". Mim could be right. Even though Kona stands 28" tall compared to Mim's dog Butterfly (a Saint Bernard) and Aunt Megan's dog (80lbs of Lab) Kona is a "little dog".

Now all I need is to get pics of the kids and the dogs together!

New addition

We did it. We got a new dog. Her name was Ezra. Not good, not good at all. That's a man's name for starters. She needed a new name! So..... Kona, (Jan chose the name) is a 10 month old boxer. She is cute as can be. They say she is red, but she looks brown to me. Kona has white stockings and her face is black and brown. She is soooooo cute. At some point in her life she was burned. There are a couple of long scares along her spine. They make her look a little like a ridge back. She is also way too skinny. You can see all of her ribs. There is no fat on this dog at all. But, I am sure I can take care of that.



She is really sweet. So far she walks well on a leash and is happy to do anything I ask of her. She was neutered yesterday so she is still kind of sore and out of it. But, I just know she is going to lover her new forever home.

Rant

Things keep getting.....frustrating.
I try to sign in to this blog and need to jump through hoops. They re did things back in oh...2006 and now want me to type in my info. I haven't changed anything since then. But they don't like my sign in now. After the 6th try they decide that my sign in and pass word are ok. I am using the same one each time. This time the problem is not between the computer and the chair.

This all happens after I have spent time on my job search. Yes, I am looking for a job again. Does anyone else get stressed when looking for a job? I ca feel my stress level increasing as I fill out applications.

Don't get me wrong, being "retired" is fun. But, unemployment doesn't pay very well. Also, at my age I need health insurance. So, I am once again looking for a teaching job.


I thought I'd throw in a cute pick 'cause you didn't come here to read a rant you came for kid pics.

However I started this blog for me, so you get whatever I feel like saying.



Seeing these cuties makes me smile. One of the best parts of being out of work is the time I get to spend with them. I also get to volunteer at "The Museum of Science and Industry". I was there this morning to preview a new exhibit, "Body World". It is plasticine bodies and body parts. This is the 3rd time this exhibit has been at the museum. I learned a few new things today. I want to share one or two that really got to me. To be healthy we need to continue to learn, throughout our lives. We also need to mean something to someone else. I guess these are things I already knew. However the exhibit reminded me. So, no matter how frustrated I get at blogspot or at applying for jobs, I know I will learn something everyday I spend with my grandchildren. I also know by watching their faces that I mean something to someone else. All in all a very good day.

New Pics

When I started this blog I meant to write on it every day. I had a plan. This was going to be something I did for me. Everyday!!!! I didn't make it. I still try to write everyday. But, my life seems to get in the way. I also don't seem to post pics every time I blog. I am going to try to change that. But, to be honest, when a little girls says "Me need you Bubbie, me need you now" well, I will put off almost anything.

Then there is the techno side of all of this. Trying to upload pictures from my phone and other devices isn't as easy as everyone thinks when there is a problem between the computer and the chair. See, sometimes I forget to do things like plug the phone into the computer.

Today I am going to post some pics that are long over due.



This is our sweet girl getting her very first hair cut.



Here is "The Dude" getting his very first hair cut too.
They were both so cute and well behaved.



We have little man in a box!



And mugging for the camera, with brother in tow.



We get together on Friday nights for dinner, Shabbat. Miss Mim gets to see her "boy friend", Uncle Nate.



And "The Dude" gets to do one of his favorite things.... eat.

I hope these pictures of my grandchildren brighten your day. I get to play with them almost everyday. That really does make my day.

We did it. The "Sheep in the City" yarn get away was wonderful. The first day was slow, but it really picked up over the weekend. We sold a lot of yarn. Here it is Wed. and I'm still tired.

We met up with my son-in-laws sisters for dinner one night. We asked them to find a good sushi restaurant. Boy did they ever find a good one. We ate and ate and ate, drank and drank and drank. We chatted about most everything and had a blast.

Sunday night as we were driving home the traffic stopped on the expressway. It seems there was a rollover accident up ahead. A nice truck driver gave us directions about how to go around what seemed like it would be a three hour stoppage.

Today as I am driving home from the City, traffic was stopped again. Another rollover!
That's two rollovers in four days. Is my "karma" trying to tell me something?

In my life there have been a few moments that have taken my breath away. As I write this I know I will miss a few, but here are some of those moments.

Graduating High School, Marring my husband, the birth of my eldest daughter, all of the firsts with her, The birth of my second daughter and all of the firsts with her, Earning my degree, Getting my masters degree, Seeing both daughters graduate high school, Having both graduate College. Getting serenaded by a Sousaphone, Walking both daughters down the aisle when they got married, Watching both of my grand children come into this world, Watching my husband wake up after his second back surgery,(we didn't think he would), and yesterday I got to watch both grandchildren get their very first hair cuts.

It has been said that life is not about the number of breaths you take. It is the moments that take your breath away. I count myself as one very lucky woman because I have had so many moments that have "taken my breath away"

Ramblings.

Here is a picture to start off with because the rest of this is depressing!

A woman I know has fought and beaten stage 4 reproductive cancer. However she is back in the hosp. She has been having stomach problems and they are doing more tests. 1/3 of them come back neg. 1/3 come back positive and the last 1/3 come back inconclusive.
To make things harder, her partner is pregnant and due in 5 weeks. It breaks my heart for them to be at both ends of the emotional spectrum at the same time.

On another note, two people I went to high school with are getting married next Friday. I am very happy for them! They reconnected a few years ago. They were going to wait a couple of years before getting married. But, they found out he has stage 2 prostrate cancer. They decided to get married now "in case". Another roller coaster of emotions there.

My daughters hand is healing from her burns. The Dude is trying to get potty trained. Miss Mim is regressing a little. I think it's because he is getting a lot of attention. So, I have been helping out over there. ( I think my daughter would like her house back and her Mom out for a little while)

State testing in school is coming up. So my other daughter is stressed. It all seems strange how we judge teachers on how well kids do on one test. Do we judge a dentist on how many cavities the patient gets?

It is also tax season. Hubby is very busy. So, the state in it's wisdom has decided now is a good time to call him for jury duty. They do this every couple of years. It's not like his clients can wait until, I don't know June, to file their taxes.

I am up to my eyeballs in dyed yarn. I think maybe I will take a day off this coming week and do NOTHING!

I have been busy. I guess I say that a lot. But, it's true.

Becca burned her hand. So I have been helping out at her house quite a bit.

The little guy is trying to get potty trained. It's kind of funny. He runs to the bathroom and almost makes it on to the potty. Sometimes he doesn't make it. Then he cries and cries and cries. It makes him mad. (I think he is mad because he is wet, but also because he doesn't get M&Ms when he doesn't make the bathroom.)

I have also been working 2 days a week at the Museum. It keeps me busy.

Let us not forget that I am dyeing yarn for a yarn festival the end of next week.
At the moment I have 16 skeins of yarn in process. That's just in the last 2 days.
That's about half of what I have to get dyed.

But all in all life is good. Now if someone would just leave me tons and tons of money everything would be wonderful.

Wed. in Chicagoland

We still have quite a bit of snow on the ground. But, the snow has stopped. Now we have bitter cold. I hope for only a few days.

I worked at the Museum again today and got to ride a Segway. It was really fun. Foe the most part the Museum was quiet. We had a few school groups. I'll bet most people stayed home because it was so cold. We have single digit temps and wind chills in negative numbers. This is the second set of neg. wind chill this winter. but it will all be over in a couple more weeks. SPRING will get here if we can just hold on!!!!!

Today's picture is the "Dude" reading. That isn't so unusual. What is different is that he is sitting in the toy basket. Notice all the toys are out and only he is inside the basket. And of course that is his Fav. book, Tomas the Train.

Super Bowl Sunday was great. We did watch some football. BUT.... Uncle Nate, Joey and Deglan made an igloo in the back yard.



That's Miss Mim's back.



That's Deglan coming out of the igloo.



Joey is coming out.



And let us not forget the little Dude.

I great time was had by all!