SEPTEMBER 2008
09.20.08 | A CELL PHONE COZY FOR FALL
Yup, even cell phones want to be cozy when the weather starts to turn.
I don't have a link to the pattern I used to make this, but it was pretty simple. I started with a chain of 15 stitches, then joined them together in a loop. I crocheted in the round with the half double crochet stitch, changing colors as the mood struck me. I went along until the cozy was long enough, then sewed the bottom together.
I hope you're getting cozy as the weather gets cooler. We sure are.
09.11.08 | THERE AIN'T NO DOUBT I LOVE THIS LAND
From Mount Rushmore...
...to Glacier National Park.
From San Antonio, Texas,...
...to Kalaloch, Washington. I love this land.
On this national day of remembrance, my prayer is that our country will share its abundance rather than hoard it, offer freedom rather than force it, and work to ensure that even the least among us has enough.
God bless the U.S.A., and the rest of the world.
09.07.08 | KEEPING UP... OR AT LEAST TRYING TO
That's what I'm doing these days — just trying to keep up with my life.
It's such an exciting time, but boy howdy are we busy.
Work, school, dishes, exercise.
Violin, choir, groceries, Sunday school.
Cooking, cleaning, laundry, laundry and even more laundry.
Oh yeah, and blogging.
But I'm also remembering to breathe. In and out. Over and over. To smile, to snuggle, to be.
09.06.08 | TWIN-DERGARTNERS
Well, I did it. I dropped my babies off at school.
Yes, I shed a few tears, which actually surprised me a little. I hadn't really been too sad about them going to school, and I'd been so busy with my own new job that I hadn't even had time to contemplate the last six years. And how fast they've gone by, and how much they've meant.
But when I watched my little Ani march into her classroom on the first day of school like she owned the place, waves of emotion came over me.
She looked so confident and ready, and for that I was proud, but I couldn't help my heart from hurting a little as I realized that I'd trained her to leave me.
I'd given her the skills to go out into the world without me. “This is how you tie your shoes. This is where you'll go potty. This is where your snack will be. Because I won't be there with you at snack time.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
Then there's this one. The one who wasn't ready for the world on the day she was born. The one who wouldn't nurse or even wake up at times. The one who turned yellow and stopped breathing in the middle of the night.
This one clung to my leg a little as I dropped her off, and I fought back the tears so that she wouldn't cry too.
After a few minutes, she let go of me and took her seat at her table, and I walked away. I cried for a couple of blocks. I felt the empty ache in my heart. And I slowly drove to work.
We're all spreading our wings a little these days and it feels good. We have a new schedule and a new set of to-dos and new stresses and so many new joys.
We have a workin' Momma and a dinner-makin' Daddy and Sonja the Silly Second-Grader. And we have two eager, ready, happy Kindergartners.
Oh, and we had this sunrise on the first morning of school. I couldn't help feeling like it was the dawning of a new day for our family too. A wonderful new phase, an exciting new time, another beautiful season.
