Viva Pinata

I like to finish projects, but I have a lot of them going on right now. I am finishing them, little by little. Since Jenny has finished her work on the Viva Pinata site, I thought we should take a look at what a finished product actually looks like, just for reference, of course, in case you have never seen one.

Just click on the apple.
Tell your young friends, too.
(turn the volume down first)



Go here
to learn more about Jenny.

A Mother in Salem

For Gramma, on her birthday, I attempted to write a pantoum in her honor. Please don't laugh, I do not pretend to be poetical. I found this an awkward form, probably because it goes against my tendencies to have everything match. This doesn't, but here goes. Laugh at another post today.

MOM
A mother in Salem, so true and wise
From islands to continent she flies
A thousand tales she pens
Her heart so cheerfully gives and spends

From islands to continent she flies
From near and far her children do hail
Her heart so cheerfully gives and spends
She reaps what she did sow

From near and far her children do hail
Proving to all that prayer does not fail
She reaps what she did sow
Grandchildren and their children abound

Proving to all that prayer does not fail
Quilting, cooking and tilling the ground
Grandchildren and their children abound
The family tree she lovingly tends

Quilting, cooking and tilling the ground
A thousand tales she pens
The family tree she lovingly tends
A mother in Salem, so true and wise

Gramma's Happy Birthday

I wonder why she calls us gooney birds. We had so much fun and all the more because we were able to pull it off. Nobody snitched, not even Snutch. We were afraid to surprise her too much for fear that she would have another heart attack. But she didn't.

Tuesday night somebody retrieved Snutch from the ONT airport. Wednesday morning I got Knittery from the SD airport. I dropped her off at a grocery store where Chuggy retrieved her in the middle of school pick-up rounds. I tootled over to pick up Gramma (and Bobby) for our regular Wednesday afternoon quilting session. We quilted away the afternoon, (actually just cut fabric strips). Then Kedge came by after work to take Gramma (and Bobby) home.

Kedge (1) had arranged to take Gramma out to her favorite restaurant for a quiet dinner, just the two of them, on the night before Gramma's birthday. Unbeknownst to Gramma the rest of us watched from a nearby parking lot. We watched them drive in and park and hobble into the restaurant. Gramma's back was really hurting because of the afternoon spent quilting. We gave them time to get seated and settled.

Then Da and I (2) walked in and over to their table. We said we had heard they were coming here and we were hungry, too, could we join them? Sure, let's just move to this adjoining table for four. Okay. We admired a larger table obviously set for a much larger party, all decked out with flowers and ribbons and balloons. But then Ladybug (3) walked in and there just wasn't enough room for her so we told Gramma that that special table was really set up just for her! She painfully, but cheerfully, got up and started to move to the pretty table.
But before she could get up to move to the larger table, Chuggy (4) traipsed in carrying a large basket of flours sent from Snutch. It had all sorts of flours, whole wheat, gold medal, cake, even some corn meal. None of this real flowery stuff, that was too mushy and girly. Gramma was tickled that Snutch remembered her that way and went to the trouble of sending it.

We all found our seats and were getting situated when a heavyset waiter offered to refill Gramma's already full water glass. She politely refused saying that she hadn't had a chance to drink any of it yet. He insisted on topping it off anyway and she looked at him slightly irritated, then turned back to get settled. Then she whipped her head back around to get a better look at this pushy waiter. She did the classic double-take. Yep, she had recognized him. It was her son, Snutch (5), all dressed up as a waiter! He had flown all the way from northern California to be here. (I was enjoying this too much to watch it from behind a camera, sorry.)


That's when the tears started, she was so pleased and over- whelmed.

As we were perusing the menus Kedge's cell phone rang. It was Knittery (6), calling from Canada to wish Gramma a very happy birthday. As Gramma talked to Knittery on the phone, Knittery was walking up behind her and finally just put her arms around Gramma and gave her a hug. Then she hung up the phone. Gramma had all six of her children around her for her 80th birthday dinner.



And she never had a clue!

Jamestown and Williamsburg

Okay, Kedge, you win. I really should have done something already with all the pictures I took on our trip back east. I still have all the makings of its scrapbook waiting in my project room. It is such a big job, but the longer I put it off the less likely it is that it will ever get done. Maybe this will jumpstart the process. I can relate to SAJ when she says she gets overwhelmed with vacation pictures. So here is a tidbit.

Da and I had wanted to go back to the historic sites in Virginia for a long time. True, I lived near there for a brief time, but I was just a kid and besides, residents of a place don't appreciate what is in their backyards. We visited when En was just a year old, but how much sightseeing can one do with a toddler in tow? Years later we breezed through on a cross-country trip, but Da didn't meet up with the lot of us until we were well past the area.

So now we did it for real and on our time for our 31st anniversary and Da's birthday.

Late March is still pretty drab in Virginia, but you can tell spring is just around the corner. The forsythia was just beautiful here near the James River. Not much else was blooming at first, but daffodils abounded. On our drive from Dulles airport to Williamsburg I often saw whole hillsides of them, but I'm not good at driving and shooting pictures at the same time.


Here Da is trying on a helmet outside the armory in Jamestown. He is such a good sport.
My timing was perfect when I got this shot of a re-enactment in Jamestown. I know I jumped out of my skin at the noise but it came out okay.
I love maps like this one. So does Da. This is at the visitor's center in Williams- burg. After a day there, Da and I were getting disoriented. This helped straighten us out a bit. Click on the picture to see all the little itty-bitty houses.

A little tavern where we had lunch one day. Serving period food. We shared a very salty ham sandwich, quite tasty.

The obligatory picture. I would have posed for this if Da was any good at aiming a camera.
No, really.


(DC and Maryland will have to wait for another post.)

the Procedure

Well the "procedure" went fine. I have a clean bill of health and don't need to have this done again for ten years. Any blood relatives take note: your risks just went down because I came through with nary a polyp or pocket. It is good to be related to someone like me sometimes.

The worst part of the whole thing was the second dose of the "stuff". Drinking the first dose was just tolerable. Then not being able to eat anything but clear liquids for a day was tough. I do like my food. I don't consider jello a food. It's like 7-up, it's for sick people. I like ginger ale, though. I have been depriving myself of soda pop for several years because of what it does to my blood sugar levels. Ah, but now, I was told to have only clear liquids. Give me an inch and I'll take a mile so I drank ginger ale till there was no more. Let's just say that I did not have a problem with low blood sugar after nearly starving to death on clear liquids.

The "procedure" was a walk in the park. Very easy, simple, quick. (Except the LVN learning how to do an IV.) I even got to watch on closed circuit TV. I never saw the inside of me before. (Except my mouth.) I was in and out of there in less than an hour and a half. I even got pictures to take home. Anybody want to see?

I was perplexed on how to arrange the logistics of this appointment. Kaiser would not do the procedure unless I had a designated driver to take me home. They also wouldn't release me unless I had a responsible adult to accompany me. Da was all set to check us into a motel for the night but then I didn't just find one, driver I found two! Or they found me and volunteered. Sisters are so valuable! One left her sick kids at home and took me in. Thank-you, Chuggy. The other came straight after a hard day's work leaving Gramma to fend for herself and picked me up. Thank-you Kedge. Da came with me because the clinic closes before Kedge could get there. Kaiser considers Da responsible. We know better.

We even had time to have a yummy and leisurely meal at the Black Angus across the street. I was very hungry. I'm not silly, with a thoroughly cleaned out gut I started slow with just soup and salad. We decided to forego going to reading meeting though. I felt fine and dandy, especially after the large, hot mocha with whipped cream, but they pumped me full of air. It was clean air but it wanted out, and not just a little at a time. And not just once. Nothing like being in a quiet room full of serious people when that happens. So I stayed home.

Matchy, matchy (edited)

See, see, see! I match! I love things that match. I especially like blue things that match. Now I'm all ready to blog in the winter. Knitterykate knitted me some socks to match my favorite afghan. (Click the picture, it's better close-up.) It's the one I wrap up in when I'm up late in the winter after Da has turned the heat off and gone to bed. That happens every night. He's a lark, I'm an owl. What can I say?

My feet and ankles always got cold 'cause I would take my shoes or slippers off so I could sit Indian style in my computer chair. Then the afghan would slip and my feet would peek out and get cold. Then I would have to rearrange everything and then my shoulders would get cold. But Knitterykate has saved the day. What a great solution to my dilemma.

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.

Now I only have to wait 'til it gets a little cooler than 106 degrees. That is what it has been outside lately. It's not quite that bad in my computer room, but it is the room that is the farthest from the AC/heating unit and it doesn't seem to get very cool or warm compared to the rest of the house. That is good in the winter, Da likes the thermostat set higher than I do. But we get along.

Here they are, on my feet with the blanket in my lap. Not a very good picture but then it is quite warm yet. They fit just right. A little snug going over the heel but that way they won't be falling off when I run down the hall to answer my cell phone that I'm always leaving somewhere besides where I am.

(My matching compulsion makes Gramma crazy because I have to have the quilt fabrics match just so, too.)