60 Years

Late in November W and I traveled to Illinois to celebrate with his parents their 60th Wedding Anniversary. They were thrilled to have reached this milestone and thrilled to have us there with them.


Also for 60 years I have enjoyed S'mores. Late in the afternoon before leaving on the drive home, my BIL built a fire in his patio firepit and we indulged. A wonderful treat before the long drive. Yuummmy!

Moving Day

What a perspective...



I am so little and my truck is so big.


The truck was quickly unloaded and many of the boxes were stacked in the back yard.

W packed them into S's very generous storage areas. It was amazing to see how everything fit so well. I didn't get to my camera soon enough to show how many there were as this is just part of the boxes for storage. And what a pleasure to be working outside in November with the temperature hovering around 80 degrees. I loved it!

After a hard day of moving in, it's always good to chill out with a triple popscicle and a bath in the new bathtub.

Moving On

My how the time has flown. Since the last post I've been back to Texas. W and I drove S's SUV to Texas for them. Their dog was our traveling companion. About 1800 gorgeous miles of the USA. The fall leaves were at their peak in Tennessee. Since we "gained" two hours in one day (change to Standard Time and then change in time zones) we had enough time for a side trip. Can you guess where???




through the French Quarter in New Orleans. Neither of us had been there previously.

We were the first car stopped at an intersection and before us passed a wedding procession.

Complete with a Dixieland band and all the guests waving white hankies. A fun, quick look at New Orleans.

Then on to Texas.

October Summer

Last week was summer all over again... temps in the upper 80s and low 90s... warm sun on my face, sweat running down my back... yup, I wasn't in Maryland. S and the Peanut and I traveled to South Texas to find a house for them to live in. In the location where they will be there wasn't much available. Luckily we found a rental that will be suitable for them. The rest of the time we spent exploring San Antonio and visiting with one of S's friends.

First stop... the Alamo for pictures. I guess to prove we are really here...


Of course we had to do the walk along the San Antonio River. San Antonio is one of my absolutely favorite US cities and I have lost count of the number of times I have been there. It is always a pleasure and this time was no exception. We strolled around the city and took a river "cruise."

Peaceful and restful...



The Peanut made a new friend on the trip - the daughter of S's friend... she was a preemie also; born nearly as early as the Peanut. Look how healthy they are!


If you want to help insure that all babies born too early have the same opportunity at health as they have and to reduce the incidence of prematurity, please go to the March of Dimes website, sign the petition, and support March of Dimes research.

There is a relatively new sculpture in downtown San Antonio - the Torch of Friendship Sculpture. Fifty tons of red steel rising above the river and gifted by the Association of Mexican Entrepreneurs of San Antonio.

Potpourri

Saturday was the Peanut's second NICU reunion. S asked me to go with her this year. How awesome to see these little ones doing so well. Medical advances have been amazing in saving babies' lives. M was reading one of my college textbooks (copyright 1957) and learned that babies born at the age the Peanut was had a 5% chance of survival. S has a book now that says the survival rate is about 80%. What an improvement in 50 years. And not just saving lives but so many of these babies now do not have long-term health consequences from their prematurity. Here is the Peanut and one of her NICU-mates at the reunion.

I have been following a couple food blogs and picked up some good recipes along the way. This has become one of our favorites - Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. So easy and so yummy! I served it to company the other night complete with from-scratch Margharitas and fiery Fire and Ice Salsa.


Two more pairs of socks have joined my "collection..."

Twinkle Toes by Cookie A in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock (heavyweight) Muddy Bottom Breakdown colorway. They're perfect with my handpainted Swedish clogs!

Special sock pattern for Summer of Socks 2008 by Wendy Johnson in Shibui Knits yarn.


I have several sock patterns calling my name and a Clapotis and the Mystery Shawl #4 on the needles. I think I'll knit this afternoon...

Today Is...

...the day that many of us have spent time thinking about where we were and what we were doing seven years ago. Some of us don't want to dwell on it; others ponder it at length. I'm one who doesn't think about it too much. Not because I don't want to remember or don't care about what happened. It's because thinking about it does neither me nor anyone else any good. I can't change things and I can't prevent it from happening again. I remember with honor those who lost their lives this day, those who worked tirelessly in the search and recovery, those who suffered deep grief and those who helped them through it, those who are working in the hopes that this will never happen again. I also don't think about it much because doing so leads me to the possibility that something like this may happen again, and, because I can't stop it and I can't prevent it, not much good can come from deep thinking about it.

If you're interested, seven years ago W and I were wrapping up a mini-trip to Atlanta for his USAR retirement. The last days of his military service. With a flight scheduled for mid-afternoon, we decided to visit the Martin Luther King National Historic Site. We arrived at the site and the building was nearly abandoned. Wondering why, we were looking around the room when an employee yelled "they've hit the Pentagon." Still having no idea what was going on, we raced to the employees. They were watching television on their "movie room big screen" and we sat down to watch with them. Shock, disbelief, fear took hold of us that day. The irony of being in the presence of someone who championed peace and justice while this act of terrorism was going on was not lost on us. With all flights canceled, we found a hotel and hibernated there for three days until we were permitted by the rental car agency to drive the car back to Maryland without a one-way penalty. Airline flights resumed sometime after that. We had talked to all three children every day. S was teaching at a school a mile or so from BWI airport and M was attending a college about 10 miles away. C, of course, was far away in San Juan.

End of August

We were so lucky to have our niece Sara, her husband, and her son visit us this past weekend. They were in town for a wedding and we babysat for Aaron. He's a darling! We're glad we had this chance to spend a bit of time with all of them.



He's such a sweet cuddle guy!

I have a few knitting projects finished as well...


This sweater for Aaron.

A sweater for the Peanut...

A pair of summer socks... I was only able to make two pair during the entire Summer of Socks 08.

My gorgeous Wollmeise scarf...


My lace AeRang shawl... which is really a lovely dark navy and not this blue color...