Happy New Year Everyone!

Oh what a "beautiful " Monday....

It's Monday again - and it's almost over. And what did I do today? Well, I went to Weight Watchers - gained a half pound. Nice way to start my day. I can't complain, I lost 3.4 pounds last week. Must be water retention - who knows - could be poop retention. I've stayed pretty much on course today.

I spoke with my parents this morning. Yesterday Mom was upset because she couldn't find her Florida phone book. I was driving home from the grocery store and told her I would help try to find her friends on the Internet. The one, it turned out, lives in Atlanta. I did manage to find her number and then Mom was able to get the other one's number from her. After our conversation, I remembered another conversation we had a couple of months ago about some nice folks in Buffalo, NY who were are neighbors. I told them then that I thought most of them had passed away. But, I forgot about it, until last night, and then I began my "research." Luckily for me, the Buffalo News keeps death records for 10 years. My last trip to Buffalo was in June 2000. Sadly enough, I typed in several names and each came back marked deceased. It was sad for me, too. I knew all these folks - grew up with their children. The most recent death was that of my brother's old friend, Charlie. His mom, Marilyn, died just a month ago. Seems that in reading the obit, Charlie had also lost his wife and a daughter. So, I called my parents with the bearings of sad news. They take it in stride. Just two weeks ago, I found out that my cousin, Ken, had passed away in a mall in San Diego - several hours before his mom, my Aunt Betty, had to be evacuated from her home in Rancho Bernardo, where the flames of the fires were destroying house after house. She was spared - her house was not damaged at all. But, she lost her youngest son at the age 55.

The second Monday of the month is always Knitting at the Library. It's a wonderfully diverse group who meet, eat lunch and knit. What more could you ask for? There is a wonderful little restaurant in the library called Provence. Delicious tuna and chicken salad, different sandwiches and if you're not worried about calories, the desserts are to die for So, I go in a drool a little.

Monday evening knitting group is at Angel Hair Yarns. We had a small group tonight, but we always have such fun and lots of laughter. I made a darling, dark green hooded vest for either Jake or Ruthie. Also bought a red, yellow and blue yarn to make another. Both will need zippers - which I purchased today - and I will take them to an alterations place in Brentwood to have the zippers sown in. Photos will be coming soon.

My trip to Denver

I just spent the most wonderful six days in Denver taking care of my granddaughter, Ruthie. What a little doll! She was such a good girl while her mommy and daddy were vacationing in Hawaii. And what fun we had! Grandma Kate, Jon's mom, was there until Wednesday. I arrived on Tuesday. A 19 month old sure can keep you busy - it was pretty much non-stop.

Wednesday, after our trip to take Grandma Kate to the airport, we stopped at WalMart on the way home. Oh dear, I should have known not to take Ruthie down the toy aisles, but what are grandmas for if they can't spoil the kids a bit. We ended up getting a really cute Fischer Price chair with a side table and lamp that has a story book on it. It plays music and does counting and alphabet too. To go along with that, we got the cutest Leap Frog train - all the cars connect by magnets and it, too, is a learning toy. Ruthie loves sitting in her chair - it's just her size.

On Thursday, I took Ruthie to the zoo. This was her second time in a few days, but of course, she didn't mind. It was a beautiful day and we spent over three hours walking around and looking at all the animals. We rode on the train and the carousel and ate animal cookies. I am certain that Ruthie's favorite area was a huge room with a step where you could go up to the glass and watch the Orangutans and the Gorillas. She was fascinated by what was going on and with the step. Up and down, up and down - for an hour! It wasn't easy getting her out of there.

















On Friday, we went to the Denver Children's Museum. Oh my goodness, this place was wonderful. Ruthie's curiosity and sense of adventure is fabulous to watch. She tried out everything. The museum has different rooms with different activities. In one room, there is a veterinary office with stuffed dogs and cats and "medical equipment." Here is our "Dr. Ruth"!

We also saw a real fire engine there. Here is Ruthie - the fireman...
Last but, not least, Ruthie had her first painting experience. To my surprise, she is quite the little artist and here is her first painting, which I framed for her mommy and daddy.

And here is Ruthie's framed masterpiece:

I can't finish off the blog today without a few more photos:

Ruthie is the sweater and hat that I made for her!

Gertrude aka Gertie

Hirschel

The big wait for the Sprint bill is over....

After all my fussing and fuming, worry and even more gray hair than I already had, the dreaded Sprint bill appeared online this morning. From the look of the minutes used and the fact that they never charged any to PCS to PCS, I was certain that this bill would bankrupt me for sure and then how on earth would I be able to buy more yarn. God Forbid!! I was shocked - to say the least! The bill was $167.94 = even less than the previous month. Hooray!! Now I can buy more yarn!!

A Great Evening at Angel Hair Yarns

Tonight was simply wonderful!!! Thanks so much to Andrea and Pam who hosted a fabulous evening with Cheryl Schaefer of the famous Schaefer Yarn Company. Cheryl is a delight - her stories are so interesting and very amusing. I laughed so much I finally had to go pee or there would have been a puddle on the floor. Cheryl arrived in Nashville not feeling too well, but thanks to Tina Meares (hope I spelled your name correctly) and her husband who is a doctor, Cheryl was feeling much better and her voice was pretty strong.
Despite the heavy rains, Angel Hair was pretty crowded and I think we all enjoyed ourselves - especially being able to stay and shop afterward. That is always a joy!!

Maybe I need to talk about my knitting projects...

I haven't talked about my knitting projects in a long time. Let's see....can I remember all of them? I've been knitting a cute little black and pink Minnow Knits sweater for my granddaughter, Ruthie. I ran into a snag - ran out of yarn that I purchased in Rhode Island. Lucky for me, they had the dye lots and sent me some more. I got the yarn several weeks ago, but it's still in the bag. I have a couple of scarves going. One is a Brioche Rib with Schaefer Esperanza - color way is Kermie. It's beautiful. I made another one just like it in Edith Piaf. At The Knaughty Knitter, we are doing a "hat along"- it's the King Harald Street Hat from The Art of Fair Isle Knitting. We are using Jamieson Shetland Wool. This is a fun project and very addicting. I've started a Wallaby Sweater for my grandson, Jake. And then there is the cardigan from Sirdar. It's intarsia - which I am making for my granddaughter, Alyssa. And the several pair of socks that are started. Oh dear. Where will I find time??

The week from hell!!

This really has been a more than bizarre week. The Sprint saga goes on. I've given up trying to find out any more. When the bill comes out next week, we'll just have to work it out. They are in the wrong, that's for certain. On top of the billing issue, a couple of weeks ago, I broke my "bluetooth." Not thinking clearly about it, I went to the Sprint store on Franklin Rd. in that little shopping center where Threaded Bliss is. I thought maybe I could just get the part for the ear that broke, but no, I ended up getting a brand new one. It wasn't the same kind, but I was assured that this one was one of the best. Within a few days, the silly thing kept falling off my ear. I was really afraid of losing it. Also, I had a very difficult time pairing it with my phone, but thanks to my friend, Catherine, it finally did happen. Aggravated with the headset, I went back to the store on Tuesday and explained the problem. Because I didn't have the box - yes! I was dumb and somehow it ended up in the trash last Friday - they refused to take it back. He did agree to let me have another one just like it. So, I took it and off I went. Don't you know - the same thing happened - it wouldn't stay tight to my head. Meanwhile, I still had the broken original headset, so I took it yesterday to Sprint store in Cool Springs where I thought I had bought it. Turns out, it was still under warranty and they gave me a new one. I went back to the other store and asked for a refund, but was refused. Talk about MAD!!! It wasn't pretty and now I think I should contact the BBB and report the him. Fair warning - there are only two corporate Sprint stores in the area - Cool Springs and Green Hills. All the others are just "fun phone stores."

To add fuel to the fire, last Friday, Quicken locked me out of my Wachovia bank account. Couldn't download or pay bills. I called the 24 hour bank help number and was told there was nothing I could do until Tuesday after 2 pm. The horrors of it all. Most of yesterday I was out, so I called last night and got a gal that tried to help me. After about 45 minutes, we did manage to get a download which showed I had a balance of negative 46 thousand dollars. (I don't think so - especially since it couldn't even be that to the positive) She told me that I would have to call Quicken today at 8 am EST. Why did I know that this would be a futile effort? First call - Indian guy who's English was very hard to understand. He helped for a bit - then the call suddenly disconnected. Call number two - different Indian guy - I asked for someone who spoke English - he said he did speak English -yeah right. He was better, helped me, put me on hold, and again the call disconnects. Call number 3 - oh yes, again an Indian - must be they outsource to India - sure enough - after a bit - call disconnects. By then I was close to being a raving maniac. I called Wachovia again. New gal this time - so nice and patient with me. We got the problem solved. Not a negative balance - everything was there and normal. A bit later, I tried the download again - and was locked out again. I thought about calling again, but then thought - why not wait until after 2 pm and see if that makes a difference. Yes it did - and that's a story that ended well.