It's Time

It is so time to go home. I've been here too long. Thank goodness I have my granddaughter, Alyssa's birthday party to look forward to on Saturday.

Today was sort of draggy. I had an appointment with my financial guy at 2:00 and that went well. Yippee!! I can afford to carpet my upstairs and my steps. That is exciting. I'm working on the Wopper Topper hat - got that pattern at Haus of Yarn. It's so cute. Don't know which grandbaby will get this one - but one time making it is enough.

I went over to say goodbye to my friend, Dolores. They are leaving tomorrow for SC. It's Will's birthday - I got him this keyring that you can attach to your belt loop that says - Old Fart. He loved it. What elsc an you get for an 83 year old?

Fun experience this morning - I went to the laundermat. Yuck! Hadn't been to one of those in ages - but I figured it was the fastest way to get my dirty clothes washed and dried. It wasn't, but I got a lot of knitting done. I also went to Border's and Barnes and Noble today - those coupons that came in my email this morning... had to spend them.

I did read a really good book this week - The Glass Castle. It was one of those you can't put down.

Well, guess I head back up to my room and watch a bit of TV and see if I can finish the hat tonight.

Wednesday in Raleigh

And it's Wednesday!!! Yesterday I spent with my friend, Dolores. We went out to lunch at Olive Garden - yum - ate way too much salad. Last night we had our Tuesday night craft group at my friend, Boni's. Four of us - and we laughed so hard, we cried. Just like old times.

I am going to meet my friend, Rose, in a few minutes at the synagogue. She'll be there to help with the mailing of the monthly bulletin. I hope I don't get roped in to helping - I really need to sit and knit on the "big whopper" hat I'm making for Ruthie. It's way too cute. I've finished Jake's hoodie - except for the never=ending I-Cord. I'm working on it - sort of. Rose and I are planning to go out to dinner - then I will go and play with her two pugs - Max and Jakie and get my doggy fix.

Nashville seems like a million miles away - wish I were home.

It's Monday

It's been an interesting day. I got up about 6:00 - can't get off Central Time - and knitted on my sock for awhile. Figured it was pointless to hang around the hotel room, so I got ready and drove to Cary - a suburb of Raleigh - to go to ToysRUs to find a basketball hoop and stand for my granddaughter, Alyssa. Got there at 9:15 - store didn't open until 10, but there was Kohl's across the road, so I went and did some damage there. Two outfits for Jake, two dresses for Alyssa, and of course, two for Ruthie. I found what I was looking for at the toy store and then headed to the yarn shop. Oh my goodness - I wish I had had my camera with me. That shop was a disaster. It's an old and very rundown house. There is so much yarn - most in plastic bags that I tried hard not to trip over. The very wrinkled rug in one room almost got me. Finding anything was near to impossible. I did get two 16" Inox circular needles, two sock patterns - one to send to my daughter, Karen - and a skein of sock yarn. It was all too much for me. The lady there wasn't terribly helpful, but she did wind the yarn. Then I drove back to Raleigh and went to the other yarn shop. Oh dear - it wasn't great - but I knew that. Sock yarn was almost non-existent. I asked about it and was told that there isn't a great demand. Surprising - because socks are so big in Nashville. I did find a Minnow knits pattern that I will send to Karen - it's a little girl's sweater and one for a dog - and the dog shown is a Soft-coated Wheaton like her dog, Petals. She'll love it!! And she can knit it, too!!!

I got a surprise phone call from my Jen's mother in-law. She left here yesterday, got home after a bumpy plane ride to Minneapolis and never bothered opening her suitcase until this morning. She discovered that she had left half her clothes here in the hotel dresser drawer. Luckily, that room was still empty and I was able to retrieve her stuff which I will mail off to her tomorrow.

This afternoon, I took my good friend, Dolores, to the Gynecologist - my old doctor from when I lived here - she hadn't been in 12 years. She was scared - but all went well. Tomorrow we're having lunch out and then to our old stitch group.

Hi from Raleigh

Hello from Raleigh, NC!! I'm here for the week to visit old friends from the 26 years that I lived here. But my main reason for coming was because all my children and grandchildren were here for my Ruthie's baby naming which we had at the synagogue my kids grew up in. That was at 9 this morning. Friday evening was fantastic. I got to keep Ruthie for the night in the hotel while her mommy and daddy went to a wedding rehearsal party - my daughter, Jen, was the matron of honor. My son in-law, Jon's mom came in from Minneapolis, and she and I took Ruthie out to eat and then to the Temple for the worship service. I worked there for 10 years prior to moving to Nashville, so I know most of the families in the congregation. Everyone made a big fuss over Ruthie and of course, we grandmas ate that up. Ruthie was good - she loved the singing and "sang" along too. What was really funny was when the rabbi read in Hebrew, Ruthie seemed to think it was her job to help. We finally had to take her out for awhile. The best was after the service there is a social time. The noise level was quite high and I looked down and there was Ruthie in her stroller with her fingers in her ears. She didn't take them out until we got out the door. We all got together yesterday at Pullen Park, which is in the center of Raleigh. They have a great carousel and we took all the kids on it. Alyssa, who will be 4 on Wednesday, Ruthie, who is 1, and Jake is 7 months. They loved it. Of course, we had two grandmas and a daddy holding the kids - Ruthie even rode the up and down horse. I should have put Jake on one too - he seemed a bit bored on the non-moving one. At one point we were all sitting at a picnic table with the littlest ones sitting there on top. Jake started crying and Ruthie stuck her finger in his ear - we think she thought that would make him quiet. What a hoot. When it didn't work, she stuck her fingers in her ears. We all took the train ride around the park and Alyssa did the boats. Afterward we all went out to lunch. Ruthie got her first tast of wine this morning - and she liked it. She's too much - we went out afterward to eat and she sucked on a piece of lemon and then ate the rind too.

I'll be in Raleigh until Saturday - then I'm driving to Charlotte for Alyssa's birthday party - grandma has some major shopping to do this week!!!

What Fun I've Had in Denver

Here are some more of my Denver "adventures"! I spent Friday taking care of Ruthie - yikes! poor Grandma is getting old. She is one precious little girl. The "big" excitement for the day was to take her to the doctor's office to meet my daughter and son in-law for Ruthie's one year checkup. I put Ruthie down for her nap about 1:30 and woke her up at 2:30 so we could get ready to go. She was mad and refused to sit up in her crib so I could get her out. The mattress is set way down low because she stands up now and this grandma is short and so are my arms. I finally convinced her to reach for my hand and so we got up and out. Got her changed, she was not a happy girl, and I knew she needed a bottle. Went downstairs and she wouldn't let me put her down, so I sat her on the kitchen counter with one arm across her lap and somehow made the bottle. She was happy with that, so I went and tried to dress her in the new coat and hat I knitted for her and that wasn't exactly what she wanted either, but I was successful. Picked her up with the bottle, grabbed my purse and knitting bag (I never go anywhere without that) and walked out the door, locked it and we were off - sort of....

Jen and Jon have 2 steps down from their front porch which was fine - I had something to hold onto. Then came the 4 steep steps down to the street where the car was parked - oh dear - I'm not good at walking down steps where there isn't a railing - especially scary with a 20 lb. baby in my arms. It was snowing and I figured no one was looking, so I sat down on the sidewalk and made it down the steps on my tush with Ruthie on my lap. Whew!!! Getting her strapped into the car seat wasn't so easy either, but again, I managed. Off we went - I forgot the directions, but I sort of remembered them. About a mile into this journey, Ruthie starts screaming. I have no clue because sitting backward in that car seat, I can't see her. I kept trying to comfort her and finally turning up the music seemed to help. When we reached the doctor's office, I saw why. The hat I had knitted her fell down over her eyes.

Yesterday was Ruthie's birthday party. About 25 people came - kids too. Ruthie loved her cake and went into it with both hands. She was the cutest mess I'd ever seen. Ruthie's daycare mom came by right before the party. She lives just across the street from them and proudly announced how she saw me crawling down the steps on my bottom with Ruthie! I got caught!!! Jen says she doesn't miss a thing.

Last night we went for dinner at a Brazilian steak house. Miss Ruthie was in 7th heaven with all the food. She loves watermelon - not to mention the mashed potatoes, bits of hard boiled egg, lamb and steak. And what a good girl she was.

This trip has been so much fun - and lucky Grandma - I will see Ruthie in 2 weeks in NC. Maybe I'll finish her Victorian T-Shirt by then.

I'll be back soon.

Greetings from Denver, CO

Wow! I haven't blogged in such a long time. I keep thnking about it and then I go back to my knitting. Been doing a lot of that lately - I made the Girlfriend's Swing Coat for my granddaughter, Ruthie, who just turned 1 two days ago - which is why I'm in Denver to celebrate. The coat needed a hat - so I knitted a tam to match. It's way too cute. I will post photos when I get back to Nashville. I also knitted Ruthie a really cute vest and hat. Right now, I'm knitting her the Victorian TeeShirt. It's out of hand dyed sport weight yarn from www.knittingnotionsonline.com.

The plane ride was long last night, so I started a pair of socks out of Opal on two circular needles. I've surprised myself that I could do it without too much frustration. It was a noisy flight - one little girl screamed almost the entire way. I felt so bad for her and worse for her mom.

Happy knitting everyone!