Gratefully grateful...

Time for the usual things to be thankful for... family, friends, food on the table and a roof over the head. While I am thankful for all of that, here's what really makes me smile...

Programable thermostat, circular knitting needles, Ghirardelli chocolate, covered cat-litter box, french press, vay-cay knitting, fresh roasted coffee, MacBook Pro (thanks Steve), fresh bread, merino yarn, my Heart Sister and her patterns, iTunes, cheese, Guinness, blue sky, smell of autumn on a misty morning, hand dyed yarn, Grantie status, Cat-Mate's purring, knitting by the ocean, time-warp TV, air miles, Ravelry, online shopping, Alpacas, farmer's markets, knitting on a plane, saskatoon pie, Muppets, sourdough bread, comfy knitty chairs, voting, Girl Guide chocolate mint cookies...

I love my family, my friends and all that I have but sometimes I do forget the little things. We get bogged down on what we don't have or what's going wrong that we sometimes forget the everyday things in our everyday world that is right. This Thanksgiving... lets be grateful for those everyday moments that make an ordinary day great!

I miss your blog...

... At least that's what a knitty buddy told me. Made me wonder... did she miss my ruckus ramblings... my preachy prattling... my kooky comments... pics of my precious projects?  I must admit... I was a wee bit flattered. Then it got me to thinking just what it is we do to find the positives in our lives when the world around us is crazy town. I haven't been writing for a while because of all the crazy town stuff going but it's when I feel least like doing it that it's even more important that I do. It's a way of releasing inside the negative and finding a creative way to search for the positive.

I had been so scared for my heart-sister that I dared not write...  about her, her designs or my test knitting for her. I didn't want to write... just knit, for in my wee mind if I stopped knitting her designs the worst would happen... see, crazy town! On the bright side... lots of gorgeous projects completed and some of them are even Christmas gifts! You heard me, Christmas knitting and it's not even November! Now there is a positive... four gifts done and ideas for others. Another positive... heart-sister will be around for a good while to bother me with designs to test up and long chats about family antics! I can bother her about all my orange knitty projects... my favourite colour but her least!!

I guess we find the positives in little things... simple compliments, gentle teasing, shoulders to lean on and loving words... spoken or written. It may be crazy town but we're in this together... may as well enjoy the ride with panache!

what to do... what to do...

I'm having a stay-cation... you know... a vacation where one stays at home. Very restful and very much needed. I never understood the folks who always claim they can't get away from work to have a proper vacation. Really.... you think you're that indispensable? 

Well, the hard part for me is not about taking time off but what to do while taking time off. This was one of the few times that I never went anywhere... I stayed home. It was kinda odd at first. I wanted to fly somewhere... anywhere. I just wanted to be on plane with passport in hand, wondering down streets and enjoying lattes at a sidewalk cafe. Well, didn't happen but what did happen... a few lattes at my favourite sidewalk cafe, wandering down streets looking at local wares, going to ethnic food markets and doing my favourite thing... deck knitting!

One can have a great rest while discovering new things at home! I rested, I discovered, I latte'd, I completed a pair of socks, a shawl and if I had 3 more days off... would've had my second shawl done. I felt more productive away from work than at work... huh! Next time tho... I'm going somewhere that's gonna require my passport!!!!

Discombobulation...

Every so often life throws a curve ball that can just discombobulate everything in your world. Exactly five years ago this month I travelled to Ireland alone while running away from a horrible curve-ball moment. That moment changed my world forever! No, not the horrible curve-ball moment but my journey to my heartland moment. It opened my heart with new friends and new experiences which started the healing.

Curve-ball moments force us to rethink our world. Sometimes those curve-ball moments frighten us to our very core... sometimes they help us redirect our energies. My heart sister was delivered a curve-ball of all curve-balls but through the fear she re-directed her energies to not only healing her body but to designing incredible knitting patterns. The joy they bring to Meagheen as she sees her designs come to light is also healing. As we both continue on our journey we are stronger for the curve-balls that have been thrown at us... but the best gift... our love for each other!

Five years later and no longer discombobulated... well, maybe a little but I think that's just me.

San Francisco Treat...

Are you old enuff to remember the little jingle for Rice-a-Roni... I certainly am. And after learning that Sweetie arranged for a wee get-away in San Francisco for a week in June, that jingle has been playing through my mind to distraction. That and what to wear! That is... what to make to wear! So... without distraction and in less than a month, I whipped up a shawl and some socks, designed by my heart-sister Meagheen. It's like Christmas last minute knitting (better start sorting that now to avoid Christmas Eve panic knitting).

If only I could be more focused in other things in my world. You know the usual... be more kind... be less frenzied... exercise more... worry less... ack! The list goes on. Maybe it's because in my knitting I can actually see progress from the get go... exercise? Well, that's another matter. Don't get me started on the worry bit... how will my great-nephews cope with the education cut-backs? Will my dear heart-sister be strong enuff for the next phase of her treatments? How long does Mum have to wait for her knee surgery?

My knitting, like the Rice-a-Roni jingle, is my distraction and like any good vacation... both are necessary for my soul. So, with my new shawl and socks it's time for a wee distraction from the real world. All the worries and frenzy will still be here when I get back but maybe, just maybe, the distraction will have calmed the mind enuff to get through it all with a little kinder heart.

'Vog luv...

I blame my heart sister Meagheen, for cranking up my love of Fluevog Shoes. If she'd just stop giving me great sock patterns to test knit, I wouldn't have to find the proper venue to showcase them for her! Oh, one could flay a sock across the ol' shag rug and hope that people will purchase the pattern. I'd get distracted by the ol' shag rug and not notice the gorgeous pattern.

I get distracted a lot by unimportant things... ooo-what is that shiny thing... and oft' times fail to see what I'm really supposed to discover. My first journey to Ireland was just that. I was distracted with a broken heart (ok, that was an important life changing distraction) that it took me two weeks into the journey to realize that I accomplished a childhood dream... standing on my great-grandparents homeland and discovering their stories! Their life changing journey guided me through mine and from that point on my world got better. It was like someone threw a peat log at me and knocked me off my un-Fluevog feet!

We're all on a journey of sort. I gotta remember it's not about the destination but about how we journey through it all. We just need to put our best foot forward as we travel towards the best in our lives... what er' it may be.

Now... back to the 'Vog site and see if Miss M and I continue to order the same shoes!

Certain Uncertainty...

Nothing like year end blues to dampen the spirits... I mean fiscal year end from work! "Hurry up and wait"... is not a motto to live by... but it's the world I live in right now. Start a project... no wait, stop... no, do it this way... no, wait. Yup, the spirit truly dampened. But then, out of the blue a knitty buddy gifted me with the most delightful 'Ode to Ireland' fingerless gloves. I giggled with delight and the blues were magically lifted. To bring it over the top... the following day I received in the mail another gorgeous pair of green lacy fingerless gloves... perfect for my Jane Austen weekends... from another knitty buddy! I have to say... my beautiful friends do know what I like!

Sometimes that's all it takes... one small gesture towards another to help lift the spirit. In this world of uncertainty... you can be certain of one thing... kindness goes a long ways.