Good weekend morning girls. I don't know why I woke up so early this morning. I don't have to be up for another half an hour to get things going for our day with Thomas. I am really looking forward to it.

I have one sleeve and the side seam to sew up then the organza ribbon to buy and sew on and I am done with my dd's birthday sweater. I even figured out the I-cord bind off all by myself. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, in fact it was pretty easy. The sweater is pretty cute and I love the purple color. The only bad thing is I have to take out my contacts and sew it without glasses. It is the only way I can see the dark stitches to sew them up properly. I have really good close up vision without my glasses or contacts so I just take them out and do the sewing up.

My mother's 84th birthday would have been today. She has been gone 10 years now. On top of that, I have a birthday coming up a week from Friday, UGH! You sure don't look forward to them like when you were a kid, do you? I don't have a problem being older, just that it keeps coming back around again! I always know summer is over when my birthday has come and went.

Jack's one year anniversary on his heart surgery is Tuesday. I can't believe it has already been a year. Seems like yesterday we went through all that. Sure is amazing what they can do in medicine these days. His parents' generation died what what he had with no help.

Well, I want to go ahead and get the rest of the sweater sewn up and my morning chores finished.

Have a good Saturday and do something fun today!
Faye

Good morning gals! We had a ball with Thomas. Since we don't see him often, I sure notice big changes in him. He is one really, really smart cookie. We played this game called "Pass the Pigs" and he was score keeper. You played to 100 points and that child would write down your first score, then keep a running total for both of us IN HIS HEAD! He would add double digit scores like it was nothing and I originally said to him, "Thomas, don't you want to write the scores down?" He told me no that he could just keep them in his head! We also played Monopoly with his granddad, which he won on his own, and the kid has memorized every rental price on every property on the board and knew who owned what, etc the whole game! The one funny thing that would tell you he was still a little kid is he would bid outrageous amounts when a property would be auctioned. We would make him slow down and do small bids at a time. I found out from his mom he has been excepted into a gifted program (big surprise) and will start I believe in a week or so with what Thomas calls his "challenge" class. Kelly and Tom stayed for dinner when they picked him up last night (we had "Faye's Stuff," Susan) and she was telling me his teacher told her Thomas shouldn't be in 2nd grade but about 5th and that he was the only kid who got her jokes even to the point of rolling his eyes at the ones he thought were silly, etc. I am also amazed at how far he has come with his piano lessons. He said he is working on "Hedwig's Theme," which is the theme song to the Harry Potter movies. He plays using the pedals now and had to tell me all about how much harder it is to play using the pedals.

We went to Micky D's for breakfast so he could have pancakes and sausage, then we came home and played "Sorry" then went to PuttPutt and played golf, went to the store to get some more stuff for dinner, then came home and we played the pig game then went out to the movies, came back and played Monopoly for about 2 hours. He told us when we were playing that he is the "Tominator" when he plays Monopoly and no one wins against him! lol We just had a grand time with him. He is like having fun with a little adult that isn't quite grown up.

Here are a couple pics of Kelly's finished sweater for her birthday and Jay's Chicago Cubs scarf for his next month. I still have his hat to do and I am going to try my hand at duplicate stitch on his hat. I still have to get the organza ribbon to sew on Kelly's sweater before it will be done. The sparkle is water droplets, not sparkle yarn as it is being blocked. I think the neckline came out great and it was my first attempt at icord bind off.

Jean: You don't walk all over Sam's in high heels do you? We used to stop at the store on our way home from church and walk all over then stand in line and my feet would be killing me by the time I got home.

Better get some morning chores done, I guess and start my load of laundry for the day.

Faye

Good morning gals! I want to get back to work on Jackson's little sweater for Christmas so I got up early so I could get things around the house done first. Gotta get those chores done!

I am going to Indiana next month to see my little Jackson. I am not flying, but driving and going for a week, but the kids are paying for it for my birthday, which is a week from Friday. I "talked" to Jackson on the phone yesterday. Jay says he is standing now with locked legs and grabs at everything. He was just making all kinds of talk yesterday on the phone. Jay said he was complaining because Dad had had him all day and he wanted to see mommy, who was working. I can't wait to go now. I am going to leave Oct 18th and come back the next Tuesday. That Monday is Jay's birthday so I thought it would be nice to spend it with him. I sure hope I get the yarn for his hat today so I can get going on it. I am going to do duplicate stitch on the folded up brim with CUBS on it and I have never done it so I need to get the stuff so I have time. The hat won't take buy a day though. I think I will then just get him a gift card to Land's End or Eddie Bauer or something like that. I got a Macy's one for Alicia so maybe I will do the same for Jay.

Jean: We are going to be near 90 today again. It isn't too bad this morning yet. It was nice on Saturday. We didn't cook playing putt putt, but it was windy. I am not a Monopoly fan either as I always lose too, but it is always fun playing games with T. His parents play with him a lot as do his other grandparents and his aunt when she sees him so he gets a lot of game and card time. I guess I shouldn't be surprised he is so good. I found a couple cute card games for him for Christmas I think he will like. I am now in the gift buying mode so I can get all their gifts for Christmas. We aren't buying at all for the adults anymore so I am spending a little extra on each boy. I found some really cute stuff for Jackson and this cool thing from Hammacher Schlemmers I brought home from the Skymall mag on the plane. It is an ATM bank. Thomas hoards his money like Silas Marner so I thought he would like it. You can make deposits and withdrawals and you have your own atm card to use and everything. It is pretty cool. It is the one time Kelly won't be upset about me giving him money I think so I will contribute to his bank balance this year.

I guess I better get going and get the rest of the work done. I need to make a hotel reservation for Christmas too as we are going to Indiana for Christmas this year.

Have a good Monday.
Faye

Good morning everyone! It should be a lovely day here again today though still quite warm by fall standards.

I got my yarn for my son's hat so want to get started on it today. I am kind of having trouble deciding on a pattern, but I think I have what I want now. I want to make him a simple fold up brim watch cap style stocking cap and everyone wants to do it differently. I am one of those pattern people and so I don't really make stuff up for myself. If I was knitting for myself or Jack so that I could try things on for size, it might be different, but this has to be right without the person trying it on first. I have found most patterns for hats cater to women and not men, so I want to be sure the hat is big enough. I want the fold up brim to be wide enough to sew CUBS on it too. I will just play it by ear and use Jack to measure the length I guess.

Not much going on in my world. I am waiting for Jay to get back to me on an alternate date to go to Indiana since the weekend I picked is not good for them. I will then go in and change the dates on my car rental.

The animals were up and down last night and Fortune won't jump up on the bed by himself so you have to get up and put him on the bed when he barks. I have doggy steps I paid a king's ransom for and should just keep making him use them every night I go upstairs until he is comfortable with it. Maybe I will start that again tonight and give it a longer period of time for him to get used to them. It took awhile for him to use our stairs when we moved in here. He was afraid of them.

I should get going gals. I have lots I want to get done today.

Faye

Good morning, ladies! My first post disappeared just as I was finishing so I hope for better luck with this one.

The quilt shows were a lot of fun. Had a great time with my friend.

Sunday Stan and I went look for refrigerators. I wanted to be sure he'd be able to reach things from his wheelchair. We ended up with the bottom mounted freezer drawer (as opposed to door). Everything is very accessible. He can get ice out from the icemaker (couldn't reach it in the top mount), and we have filtered water dispenser in the refrigerator compartment (not in the door). It's being delivered today. We went to Home Depot and Lowe's but the best buy was still with the little appliance store I have dealt with for 20 years. And the best after sale service as well.

Boss is gone on another vacation so now I am busy keeping things going while he is gone.

Finally started knitting on a pair of socks for myself...but I really hate to think about having to put my sandals away and donning shoes and socks again.

Faye, as always, your knitting projects are beautiful. Lucky recepients!

Good Wednesday morning girls! We are going to have another hot one today, near 90. I sat here and paid bills this morning, which is always fun. I do like the ability to pay almost everything online though. I don't have to be addressing envelopes and stamping and writing out checks. Now that our stupid utility company has moved into the 21st century and allows you to pay online for a fee, I pay everything but one bill online.

Susan: What would the men in our lives do without us? I told my friend in Indiana that I could stay up there as long as I liked but I would come home to poop all over the house and cat and dog skeletons. Jack has never once cleaned out the litter box, changed it out or anything and he promised he would take care of the cat back when he found it if I would let him bring it home. I pretty much feed and take care of all the needs of both pets including vet visits and such. I am laying down the law while I am gone and I told him he has to keep the cat box cleaned out everyday or the cat will poo on the floor and with Jack being at work, Fortune might get into it again and back to the vet we would have to go. Hope you enjoy your new fridge. We have the cold water inside the fridge too. The only bad thing is making sure the glass is right under the spigot! Susan, after Christmas, I am going to attempt socks. Do you think it is easier to do a top down sock or a toe up sock to start with? I am thinking of just going to a yarn shop and taking a class, what do you think?

Jean: I hate to Christmas shop in the stores. I hate fighting the crowds and all the pushing and shoving and waiting in line and rudeness and the whole thing so almost everything I do is online anymore. I found the most adorable rocking dinosaur for Jackson. He will be too young for it for a few months, but I like to kind of get a little of that sort of thing so they have toys to look forward to. Thomas made me a list of video games he wants so we will probably get him two of those. He showed them to me online when he was here, but I did ask him if his mom had approved of them all and he said yes. When they got here for dinner and I was telling her, she said, let me see the list. Well, I guess he picks games that are "E", but one of them she said no to because it is $50 and he has already played it by renting it and completely went through the whole thing and conquered it. She said if I could get it used for about half that then ok, but not to pay new price for it.

I guess I better skedaddle as I would like to finish Jay's hat today so I can work on the duplicate stitch tomorrow and I have upstairs cleaning to do today.

Have a good one everybody!
Faye

Good morning, ladies!

Well, the new refrigerator is installed and working so that is a load off my mind. I really like the water dispenser - Stan and I both drink water a lot. The filters are a little pricey but I figure I'll find them discounted somewhere online.

Faye, as much as you knit, I don't know that you would need a sock class. I think top down is easier to begin with. It's pretty straightforward. Do the shops in your area answer questions for you if you buy the yarn there? That would probably be all you need. You'll love it - and it gives you another thing to knit for everyone!

Jean, we are the same way - like to get home earlier now that we are older...not that we go out much at night anymore.

Everyone in our office is going out to lunch today - nice seafood restaurant so I'm looking forward to that.

Good morning gals! I am having one of those insomnia nights so I gave up and just came downstairs for awhile. I need to work on Jay's hat anyway. I had the whole thing done and was even working on the duplicate stitch, had Jack try it on and it was too big for him so I ripped the whole thing out. It had turned out really pretty too! Ahh well, not everything works the first time out.

Susan: I think I am going to venture to one of the local yarn shops here and check it out. I haven't been in it yet and they have a small website I found yesterday and they seem to really want customers to be happy, unlike the other two I visited so far. They are cheaper for lessons too if I decide I need any. They do one on one's for $5 an hour or you can take classes. They also have a Monday night sit and stitch where you can just come in with whatever you are working on and knit and visit. I can't really knit without watching what I am doing, but it might be a way to make friends. Glad you got your fridge all set up. I would imagine the filter cartridges are cheaper than buying bottled water though.

Jean: We have Navy Federal Credit Union and have for years and they don't charge for online pay. Now some of the sites themselves charge, like I said the utility company charges .85 and the car quite a bit more, but it is worth it for me. I have never had any problems, but then I keep an eagle eye on my bank account doing the balancing everyday so I would catch something right away if it wasn't right. The only thing bad about the credit union is the distance from our house and that there is only one anywhere near here and that is out by the Navy Base, which is 25 miles away. I would have to drive through the base and out the other end to get to it or go all the way around the base and come back and it isn't worth it. We do have some no name credit union close by, but half the time the atm is out of money! That is really all I ever use it for anyway as all Jack's checks, work and retirement are direct deposited. Sure hope Bob gets to feeling better. I know what misery Jack was in when he had the hives stuff. He hasn't had one pop up in months and months now, but still has the flushing from the niacin they have him on and that is pretty miserable as they seem to be increasing in the amount of time each one lasts.

I guess I am going to sit and knit for awhile then try and catch a few more winks.

Have a great Thursday everyone!
Faye

Real quick post this morning as I have sat up all night with Fortune. He is back to vomiting and diahrrea again so back to the vet he goes this morning. I am going to let them know I am not happy that just two weeks ago while he was kenneled they ran another test on him and said he was well and now he is throwing up and having diahrrea bouts about every 45 minutes. I have had no sleep and am about to keel over. I am not even waiting for an appt. I am marching in there right when they open and telling them I want him taken care of, then come back home and crash for a couple hours, hopefully. I am wondering if they left him outside or something or around another dog that had something while he was kenneled and he caught something again. Believe me, they are going to get an ear full because the last two vet visits have cost us nearly
$400.

Everyone have a good weekend and I will let you know what I find out about the poor little guy.
Faye