Patty's Ramblings

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T11:27:00.001-05:00

It's the 24th of December; whoa....this year has flown by. I became a grandmother and on November 28th, I also became a great aunt. This means that my sister is also now a grandmother. I can totally understand and appreciate her enthusiasm for this wonderful event having experienced it not so long ago myself. My nephew, Ryan, is now a dad to Sydney Rose. She is a tiny bundle of joy that I will hopefully get to meet sometime after the beginning of the year. They live in FL so I am not going to be able to know this baby in quite the way that I would like; but we will make every effort to be part of her life, even if it is from a distance.

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn's first Christmas. And like the song, for Christmas she is getting her two front teeth! The poor child actually got the two on the bottom when she was barely 4 months old. She was a drooling machine for a few days and then without any fanfare there were two little white teeth pushed through her gum. Not so this time; she has been very unhappy with the impending arrival of what appears to be both of the top teeth at the same time! Her checks are flushed and she is so cranky. She rarely ever cries so this has been an emotional time for all of us. Scott and Jessie are beside themselves at not being able to soothe her and there doesn't seem to be enough Baby Oragel on the planet to make this poor child comfortable. I just hope that Santa delivers and by tomorrow the teeth will be through and she will be the happy child we love so much.

Speaking of Christmas...this has always been a tough time of year for me. Christmas seems to bring about all of those emotions about the folks that are no longer with us. This year they seem to have subsided a bit as the focus is on those that have joined us this year. I am somewhat practical and have tried not to spoil Kaitlyn with too many things. Instead I have made sure that she has a new car seat (totally boring gift) that will actually function for her until she no longer needs to have car seat and started to save for her education and left the 'fun' stuff to her parents. Not that I am a total Grinch, I did purchase books and she has her first diamond earrings. Diamonds are her birthstone after all...

It's the time of year when we take time to reflect on what we have and I am so grateful for Ben, Scott and Jessie, dear Kaitlyn and all of my family. We are blessed with more than most and I am happy that we are all together. Tonight we will be with extended family as we begin to celebrate Christmas. I hope that wherever you are today, that you too, have more than enough. Many your Holidays be happy; and you have all good things in the coming year.

Almost the First of December

2009-11-27T14:50:00.003-05:00

When I started this, I wondered if anyone would ever read it and thought it may be more than a bit self-indulgent. However, I was recently asked why I had not updated my blog so here for at least that single reader who finds this amusing, is what I have been up to (in the short form) for the last couple months.

Kaitlyn is growing and changing day by day; I guess that is to be expected. What I had not planned for was how much joy I would feel at each little, new thing she would learn. Be it a new noise, an expression or reaching her little arms out to me to be picked up and held, my heart nearly explodes and my tear ducts most also do. I find myself thinking about my own mortality as I play with this tiny little girl, will I be here for this or that in her lifetime...God willing I will.

Yesterday was her first Thanksgiving! We had guests, who are really more extended family than friends. We told them to come over anytime and were woefully unprepared when they did. Neither Ben nor I had even showered when they arrived and the house was in it's typical disorderly, dog hair covered state. The turkey however was in the roaster and the food was well on it's way to being done. Since they are more family than friend, they just rolled with it and never blinked an eye about my pajamas and Ben's sweats and one at a time we excused ourselves to shower and dress. The food was good and too plentiful. There will be left overs this evening. Kaitlyn was fun and experienced her first tastes of things like real peas, squash, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, turkey and cranberry sauce. She was not too impressed with the texture of the mashed potatoes and although we expected that she would find the cranberry too tart for her tastes she wanted more of that. Our friends have two granddaughters but they are not local and they did not get to experiece lots of the baby times with either, so it made me very happy to see Pat on the floor on a blanket with Kaitlyn and a load of toys, reading a book. It's so nice that Kaitlyn will have surrogate grandparents in these folks in her life. I am looking forward to Christmas for the first time in many years and can't wait to see Kaitlyn tossing bits of paper around, since I am sure she will be far more interested in that the contents of her gifts at this point.

On the knitting front....well I spend far too much visiting with folks on Ravelry but they have become, in some abstract way that I can't really explain, good friends. Ben and I went to the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival in late October and actually meet some of the folks that I know from Ravelry. I even brought SPAllison with me; SP stands for Sock Puppet and she is the sock puppet version of her owner Allison who could not attend the festival. We had fun and made new friends who found it amusing that a middle aged woman was wandering this festival with a sock puppet on her hand. SPAllison left the festival with someone else and went to visit her family and tour the Washington DC area before heading off on another adventure. We came home with only a small amount of yarn, a few bottles of wine and great memories of meeting new friends. And I confirmed a valuable lesson...I am too old and impatient and maybe claustraphobic to be in a festival setting like this with thousands of people and not walk away a bit frustrated. I need to go earlier in the morning to hit the places that I most want to visit before the crowds are so thick that you can't move. That being said we have already made hotel reservations for next year's festival and plan a visit to the Culinary Institute as well.

We also attended the wedding of one of Ben's cousins in the Baltimore MD area. She is one of those completely lovely people who take on a million tasks, complete them with perfection and succeed at everything they attempt. I am sure that none of it is easy; but she certainly makes it seem that way. She created and hand made all of her invitations, the table arrangements and the gifts on the tables for guests to take home. We were greeted at our hotel with a gift bag of things like bottled waters and snacks, a list of interesting things to see and do and directions to the venue for the wedding. She thought of and executed every little detail; including knocking on our hotel room door to welcome us before the chaos of the event began. We wish this couple the very best and thoroughly enjoyed our visit and their wedding.

The project for the Three Irish Girls has come back to me; but the details of the project have not been made public yet. I can't wait to see what everyone else created and what is being done with the photographs that were taken.

On another topic, I have joined Facebook. This is not something that I ever thought that I would do but many folks I know have invited me to join them there and who am I to turn down an invitation. I don't completely understand what happens there and have been hit with snowballs and asked to join the Mafia, but for what it's worth it's nice to know that I can find friends there that I have not been in touch with for years.

And that, for what it's worth, are the highlights of what goes on in my world!

The Great NY State Fair

2009-09-01T14:16:00.003-04:00

And I use that phrase loosely.....I had never been to the State Fair until last week. I had this notion that the state fair was a showcase for all things New York! I couldn't have been more wrong. The first thing that we came across as we started our trek through the fairgrounds was a group of trained bears; never mind that the thought of these bears with garlands around their necks riding bicycles caused me to shudder with embarrassment for these large and majestic animals, they were in fact from Canada! The next stop we made was to watch a group of 3 aerialists; 2 men and a boy of about 11 who was the child of one of the men. While I fearfully watched as they did stunts on chairs and poles and a rotating wheel about 80 feet over my head all I could think of was why wasn't that young boy in school and not risking his life working on a pole with no safety provisions in sight. And to top it off when they took their bows I learn that they are from Tampa, FL! You could of course see a butter sculpture in a building where you could also buy a baked potato with a multitide of toppings for a dollar or a glass of milk for a quarter. There were touches of agriculture throughout but for the most part it was a giant carnival with vendors selling everything from Sham-Wow to pots and pans that cooked with no water on every corner. Both days that we were there it rained at some point during the day and we were soaked. One day we took refuge in a giant exhibition hall that was labled something like 'Progress for the Home', in the center were a few men working on a giant sand sculpture of a ship that has recently been commissioned and was constructed of metal from the twin towers, it truly was interesting and very large. But the entire rest of this exhibit hall was lined with rows and rows of vendors!

We camped at Green Mountain State Park; the view from the park was lovely. The park however was not the greatest. We didn't expect much because as a state park there are typically no hook-ups for things like water, sewer or electric but we did think that there would be more than one source for potable water and that it wouldn't be in the other loop of campsites. We had a bit of a challenge as the site was at the bottom of a slight hill and our camping partners were on the site at the top of that hill. And since it rained and water does run down hill we were in something of a swamp by the end of the first day. But we enjoyed their company and the trip to the fair was an experience I won't soon forget!

Updates

2009-08-26T16:03:00.004-04:00

On the Kaitlyn front; our Princess had her doctor's check up and weighs in at 14 and a half pounds and she is 24 inches long. The doctor says she is a bit on the short side...but the poor girl never had a chance in that department; not a one of us has any height! She got her first tooth on Sunday; Ben had mentioned a few times that her bottom gum had white marks but we all believed she was too young to get a tooth. She sure fooled us, she had been doing a fair amount of drooling but never was cranky or had any rash or fever that often is a part of teething. I hope that everything is this easy for her!

Ben and I are leaving tomorrow for the Syracuse area to camp and attend the NY State Fair with his step-father and his wife. I have never been to a state fair and I have no idea what this will be like but we plan to attend on two different days because there is so much to see. I will be interested to see if there are any folks there that spin wool or make any hand-dyed yarns.

I am waiting for a package of yarn in the mail any day from Sharon at Three Irish Girls. I will be knitting a small project for her that will be photographed for her website. I am a bit nervous about doing a good job and having it finished in a timely manner, the finished project needs to be in her hands by the 22nd of September. When she is done with it she will send it back to me and also send me a gift certificate for her website. I feel a bit guilty about that part. I am just happy to be included in the project and will be thrilled to have my project when she is done with it.

There are some things that need to be finished before we leave tomorrow.....

Travel

2009-08-04T11:00:00.002-04:00

First, I should preface this by sharing with you that Ben (my husband) is not fond of air travel, or boat travel or frankly any travel where he is not the one in charge. (See previous posts about camper ownership) I can recall only a handful of times in our 20 years that I have been the driver and he has been the passenger. That having been said.....

Ben needed to travel for his company this week; and not a short trip. He had to go to San Francisco. Thank God another gentleman was also going to go which made the prospect of this journey slightly less awful. But it did not go at all as planned...

Ben left at 4 a.m. Sunday morning to pick up his traveling companion and get to Albany for a 7 a.m. flight to Newark....about 8:30 when I attempted to call him to make sure he was about to board his flight to San Francisco, his phone began ringing in the bedroom....Scott, Jessie and I just looked at each other with this 'Oh Crap' expression on our faces. Ben had forgotten his phone...about 10 minutes later Ben calls to tell me the obvious...he forgot his phone and the not so obvious... that the flight was delayed until about 11 a.m.....he would get back to me when he could, but his co-worker only carries a trac phone and Ben didn't want to use all his minutes so was only calling when he absolutely had information to share....didn't hear from him again until about 7 p.m., which I thought was going to be the call to tell me that he had arrived in CA.....sadly, no, he was still in Newark...and after a long and somewhat weird day with a $500 voucher off his next Continental travel he boarded a plan to San Diego. He called about 2 a.m. our time and was being put up for the night with his co-worker in a two bedroom suite in a hotel that he didn't even tell me the name of in San Diego....they were being put on a commuter flight Monday morning to San Francisco. So on Monday I dutifully overnight his cell phone to the facility he will be working at, and wonder how things are going.

There has been a news update that a Continental flight in FL has 26 injured passengers due to not having their seat belts on during turbulence. Not sure that the $500 voucher will ever be used at this point ....oh yes and let's add to that earthquakes in San Diego....it just couldn't get any better. My hopes for some chocolate from Ghiradelli are evaporating before my eyes.

Finally have a call from him about 10 p.m. on Monday night. The day went pretty well but not without some speed bumps. They took a taxi to the San Diego airport and were let out at the Continental terminal, only to realize that Continental put them on an American Airlines commuter flight to get them to San Francisco. So off they go to find the correct area so that they can actually depart and get there with a whooping 15 minutes to spare. Arriving in San Francisco was much the same headache, they deplane at an American Airlines section of the airport and then have to trudge through the airport to find their luggage which is at the Continental Customer Service area, then find out that they have to go to the total opposite end of the airport to get their rental car. From that point on things go smoothly, they get to their hotel, check in, regroup and make their way to Flowmedica by mid-morning.

Now that all the travel 'stuff' is over I am hopeful that he is enjoying some local flavor and seeing some things (at least on the way to and from the facility) to make the trip enjoyable. So I ask what he had for lunch; completely hoping that he got information from the folks at the facility about some great local food.....first I should mention that these folks are all going to be unemployed soon as the company that Ben works for has purchased this company and they are moving the production of the product line to the NY facilty....guess they really don't feel good about handing out tourist tips. So lunch is at the local SUBWAY.....I nearly choked when he told me but held out hope that for dinner they found some wonderful seafood place and had gorged themselves on fresh seafood. They did have seafood; however he and his companion were both exhausted after the long travel, the time change and the work day and opted for the first 'safe bet' they saw that wasn't too far removed from the hotel....yep, you guessed it...RED LOBSTER!!!

Not sure how this will all play out....but I am sure that there will be stories!!

Caught up in a Sea of Yarn

2009-07-27T15:16:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time I would check my email to see if anyone had sent me a note or surfed the web to see what might be going on in the world or checked card making sites for ideas; now it seems that email and the world at large have become secondary issues. Now, one of the first things I check is the Ravelry website to see who is on and what they have going on in their world today. I don't use Facebook or Twitter but this community of folks that like fiber have invited me in and I have joined them with enthusiasm. Many times the conversation is over my head.....discussions of various types of wool and yarns and roving and techniques. But I am learning....so many things...and the lessons are not remotely limited to fiber. The world is a very small place and the commonality of the folks here defies their borders. Ironically, I found my very own next door neighbor was a member of the site and a girl who sings with the opera in Switzerland but actually went to school at Crane in Potsdam is also a member.

Soon there will be a gathering in Oregon called the Sock Summit; there is no way that I can cross the country to attend this event. And frankly if I did I would be standing in a corner slack-jawed with wonder at everything it promises for those that attend. There is even a contest among those that hand dye yarn called Dye for Glory. They win nothing but the honor of winning; though on a practical front I am sure that the publicity for those that win will change their businesses tremendously. I am voting for Sharon, who dyes her yarns as Three Irish Girls, they are beautiful and inspired and I am truly impressed with her gift for interpreting something like an everyday peach and creating a yarn that makes you feel as if you just bit into one and the juice is running down your chin.

In October there will be an event in Rhinebeck, not too far from where I live and if time and money allow, maybe we will camp there for a couple days and take in all of the sites and sounds and textures that the NY Sheep and Wool Festival has to offer.

Knitting for Three Irish Girls

2009-07-20T15:27:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago on Ravelry a lovely woman know as the Yarnista asked for volunteers to knit with her yarn and produce an item that would be suitable to be photographed for her website...though I am a novice at the craft I threw caution to the winds and submitted my name and said that I would love to try this and indicated that I was currently knitting socks and baby things. There is an entire thread on Ravelry dedicated on the forums to this subject and we have all been anxiously awaiting her decisions. I have been asked if I would like to knit gloves or mittens for her. I am certain that she is asking me to do so as an act of kindness so as not to discourage a novice knitter but I have told her that I would love to knit whatever she would like....so I am now waiting to hear from her about a pattern and yarn choice so that I can begin knitting for her. Hopefully I will do a good job and the next time she makes an offer of this sort I will have proven myself to be worthy of a more demanding item. But it all starts with baby steps....

Is It Summer Yet???

2009-07-14T13:39:00.002-04:00

I am reminded almost daily of the Carpenter's song about Rainy Days and Mondays...will this rain ever end? I long to sit outside beside my pool and enjoy a tall, cool drink; sadly the pool is now a habitate for frogs and tadpoles as there is some small hole in the liner that we can't find and the water level is so low that my husband decided to drain the pool, find the leak and then have the pool refilled. With the less than stellar weather, it has not been done and now each night as I go to sleep I am serenaded with the chirping of what must be a million little frogs. I am shocked that the neighbors have not come knocking with a large rope and a noose to string us up!

Camping has been limited; we took the trip back to our home area near Olean, NY in early May and got home to find that one of the leaf springs on the camper had broken on the trip back....so there was repair to be done. When Timmy came we spent nearly a week in the rain at a State Park, which the guys didn't mind, but it was a challenge for me at points. And then Ben went back to the same park for five days with his best friend and his sons right before the 4th. Again they didn't have the greatest weather and when they returned from this trip we found that one of the tires on the camper was shot! The cords fell apart and the tire could not be repaired; just very grateful that it happened close to home and didn't go flat until the camper was safely parked at the house.

Kaitlyn gets more charming every day! I swear that when I tell her that I love her she coos it right back to me. I know that it's only in my mind, but I will happily spend the rest of my life living with this small delusion or at least until she can actually talk! She is not at all fond of time on her tummy; she wants to be able to see everything around her and she seems to take it all in with such a sunny, smiling face.

I am doing better with feeding her and don't get nearly as nervous about things. That said, I have yet to take on a feeding alone or see one through from start to finish. She doesn't like to give up the bottle in order to burp and I can't bear to have her cry, so when it gets to that point I hand her over to someone stronger.

Hoping to take her tomorrow night to sit at the Yacht Basin in Ft Edward and listen to the Hartford Community Band. That is of course, weather permitting......

Back from the Woods

2009-06-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

My wonderful 12 year old nephew, Tim, made his first solo trip to visit us from FL on the 14th and we took him to Moreau State Park to camp for most of the week. I am not a 'real' camper and like to camp where we can plug in to services like water, cable, wifi, electric etc. so this was a journey for me. We had no services and to make matters even more challenging it rained off and on most of the time we were there. No big deal for Ben and Tim; fishing is good even in the light, but constant rain. I sat under the awning at the camper with our dog and knit and listened to a battery operated radio for hours. Finished a good deal of knitting and actually enjoyed the peace but would have been much happier if it wasn't so damp!!

Later in the week my sister, Tim's mom, and my niece, Katherine came for a long week-end so that they could meet Kaitlyn. It was wonderful to have them all here for a visit and to have them see Kaitlyn and how absolutely perfect she is....

Lots of photos were taken, many of fish that were caught by Ben and Tim. I will have to bug him to put them on a flash drive for me so that I can see them as well!

Now I am back to the regular grind but had two wonderful Ravelry Swap packages arrive in the last couple days. It is such fun to exchange things with the lovely folks that frequent the Ravelry site. I am in awe of their talent. And if I ever get access to the camera I may actually get to post photos of the wonderful things that come my way....but don't hold your breath!!

The Best Part of My Day

2009-06-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

This is Kaitlyn sleeping on me after I got home from work last night. Her tiny little hands amaze me and as I sit and hold her and listen to her tiny little snoring noises I can't help but touch them. As soon as I do her little fingers curl around one of mine and my heart soars. Of course these times don't last long and soon she's awake and chattering with Ben or with her parents. She is so alert and knows our voices and follows where they are and sometimes her little baby noises actually sound as if she is taking part in the conversation! I love every minute of my time with her!

Rainy Tuesday

2009-06-09T12:24:00.000-04:00

Didn't sleep well last night; there was rain most of the night which I usually don't mind. However, someone positioned one of the B-B-Q grills under the dump spot of the rain gutter and all night long I listened to the rain hitting the grill. Never mind that I could have gotten out of bed and gone and moved the dumb thing; that would have made sense and in the middle of the night it didn't occur to me.

Last night I had dinner with friends at a spot that I really like in Saratoga Springs. There were 12 of us so it was a big group, the food was good and the company better. I had planned to take the camera but it was not available so no photos were taken. When I got home I had a visit with Kaitlyn and then we did a casting of her hand prints. It was quite funny to watch her dear little face looking at us as if we were all mad when we put her tiny hands in the goo. Of course, she wanted to make a fist so we had to try more than once to get and keep her teeny little fingers straight.

Her mom went back to work today. Her daddy is at home with her today and I am sure that he is totally enjoying his one on one time with the little princess. I on the other hand know that when I get home tonight her mommy will have missed her all day and I won't get as much cuddle time as I typically do....but I would never try to take her away from her mom tonight for even a minute. I am sure she is having a difficult day being away from her.

My nephew is arriving on Sunday from FL for a week long visit. We will be camping with him while he is here so I have lots of yarn etc to take camping with me for the times when he and Ben are off doing boy things. Digging in the dirt is not a favorite pastime of mine...

I might even pick up some supplies from the bead shop so that I can make stitch markers while I am 'in the woods'. And so another craft is started and another addiction is begun...

Sunday Morning

2009-06-07T13:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a bit since I have posted so I thought I should catch up. Last night I went to a dance recital for my friend's daughter, who is also a Cate! She is now 16 and I so appreciate what a lovely girl she is; she has wonderful parents and all of the right support to succeed in life. I hope someday I will be able to sit with friends to watch Kaitlyn dance or act or sing or play an instrument. I would love it if she loved the arts! But even if she doesn't I will love whatever she loves and support the things she chooses.

We have been camping again with friends since I last posted and though the weather wasn't great for the entire time the company was wonderful. While we were away Kaitlyn had her ears pierced, the tiny little earrings are so dear and I actually have a photo on my phone that her dad sent me right after they were done, she was yawning. If I ever figure out how to get the photo from my phone to my computer I wll post it. Her birthstone is diamond so I have made sure that she has some little diamond studs when she can take the starter set out.

I have not been knitting for her of late. I have taken to using cotton and knitting dish cloths. I have found a wonderful group on Ravelry where we swap and using cotton has been nice in the warmer weather. I am also going to try some other summer fibers but haven't ventured to those yet.

Tomorrow after work I will be seeing friends to celebrate a birthday in the group. We are going to one of my favortie spots and I have promised to take photos and actually put one of them on this blog.

Til then.

Another Camping Trip

2009-05-22T10:55:00.001-04:00

It seems that my husband has decided that we are going camping when I get home from work today. Not that I don't enjoy being with him and I am really looking forward to time with friends and a trip to VT; but Kaitlyn is changing everyday and I hate the thought that I will be away again for a few days.

We are going to Norwich VT and visiting the King Arthur Baking Center; we have wanted to go there for a number of years and just never gone. Tomorrow, finally, we will go. I understand that it isn't particularly large but that it is packed with wonderful baking goodness and they (of course) have a bakery and a cafe' on site.

We will be coming back closer to home to stay in Dorset (near Manchester) and I am sure we will visit the JK Adams kitchen store and the Orvis Headquarters Store where there will likely be a huge tent sale!

On the subject of my dear granddaughter....I am learning that I am a very nervous grandmother. She has two wonderful, capable and caring parents but I am a mess when I try to feed her. She seems to struggle with me but no one else when she has her bottle so I have stopped feeding her and just take her after she's done to love and cuddle. I guess she probably senses that I am nervous and gets that way herself. She is so comfortable with Ben and her parents. I need to work on that!!

Home Again

2009-05-14T16:25:00.000-04:00

Well...the trip was nice, but being away from Kaitlyn was horrible. It was good to see Ben's family and friends back in the Olean NY area but I did miss her so badly. We did get to cuddle with Rahland, the 4 month old son of one of Ben's cousins. He is such a good little baby and we did enjoy him very much. While we were gone Scott was called to a job in FL and had to leave Jessie and baby on Mother's Day :(. So rather than stay in the otherwise empty house Jessie and Kaitlyn have been with her sister and her children and we will finally have her back with us sometime this evening. I can't wait to see her and kiss her little face and hands and toes and tummy and tell her how very much I love her! I can't imagine how hard it is for my son to have to be so far away with his work, but in this economy you can't say no when they want you for a big job!

Going Away

2009-05-05T16:09:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are going on a camping trip to the Olean, NY area to see some of his family and friends. I am usually the first one to the vehicle for any sort of 'going away' adventure...but so much has changed in the last 10 days and I am not sure if I want to leave. As much as time with Ben means the world to me, the world changed when Kaitlyn arrived and I can hardly bear to leave. And I am sure that he feels the same way. But we are luckier than most grandparents; we get to see her everyday and I should just put my big girl pants on and go away and have a wonderful time and just love her up all the more when I return!

Kaitlyn's Visitors

2009-05-04T12:19:00.000-04:00

In case this wasn't clear before; my son and daughter-in-law are sharing our home as they are saving for a down payment on their own home. I am happy to have them here and they can leave when they get a significant down payment accumulated or when Kaitlyn graduates, it's all good with me! Friends and neighbors are stopping by to see our beautiful girl and have been so kind to all of us. I had mentioned to some dear friends that I seem to tear up for no reason at random (and often ridiculous times) and she brought me a box of anti-bacterial tissues for my own personal use. She also thought of my daughter-in law and brought her some lovely lotions and potions which she really appreciated.

My next door neighbor is also a Ravelry user, sewstylish, and she and her children came by with a basket of lovely things for the baby including appliqued onsies, a personalized quilt, slippers and a great tote bag.

I am go grateful for everyone's kindness and their generosity!

If Only I Could Retire

2009-04-30T10:40:00.000-04:00

Kaitlyn visited me at work on her way to her first doctor's appointment. I know that I am partial; but really, she is the most beautiful little girl in all of the world. I love my son dearly, but this is something so different and so special and I wish that I could just sit and rock her all day long. Her mom and dad have told me that they have to live with her and that we can't spoil her that way. I am trying to be respectful of their wishes...but it is so difficult! My husband and I are supposed to go camping next week....I am not sure if I can stand to be that far away for that long. :)

Kaitlyn Elizabeth has arrived

2009-04-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

I am now officially a Grammy!! My beautiful grandaughter arrived at 12:09 p.m. on Saturday, April 25th! She weighed in at 8 lbs. 11 0z. and is 21 inches long. The delivery was not especially easy as she seemed to want to play hide and seek with the world but her Mom did well and gave us this beautiful child for which we will be eternally grateful. Since this is my first and only grandchild and I had not given birth myself for 31 years the process has changed dramatically. No more daddies in masks and gowns and visitors only through a nursery window. She was exactly one hour old when she and I had our first picture taken together! Sadly it's on my cell phone and I am too techologically challenged to get it off of the phone.

So I need to start knitting larger items as I am quite sure that the little things that I have made her will soon be too small. And so this new and exciting journey begins!

Still No Baby

2009-04-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

As of today Kaitlyn has refused to leave the womb and come out to meet us. They have an appointment to induce labor on Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., of course there is always that small hope that she will decide to join us on her own before then. I am somewhat convinced that if that does happen it will be on Sunday just in time to make it impossible for me to go to Trumpet Hill for a class on the Henry scarf.....I can take the class anytime...I will be happy to have her safely in this world whenever the moment arrives. And I am sure that my son and daughter-in-law would prefer that would be sooner rather than later.

Another Monday

2009-04-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

We are still waiting for the much anticipated arrival of our granddaugher....I am so impatient and can't wait to hold her. Over the week-end I kept myself very busy at the anniversary celebration of the Yarn Angel and on Sunday went to Trumpet Hill to purchase supplies for a class that I am taking there next Sunday. Hopefully by the time I go to take the class there will be a baby!

First Time

2009-04-17T14:06:00.000-04:00

Well...this is my first time writing in a blog. Can't imagine that I have anything of great interest to share with the world but here goes....

I am about to become a grandmother; it will be the one and only time that this will happen in my life and I am quite excited. Wanting to be a proper grammy I thought that I should re-learn to knit and be able to give my granddaughter things that come from the heart. To that end I am now knitting and really finding a great deal of satisfaction in the process. I have also joined an online knitters page, Ravelry and you can find me there as rugersmom. I have completed some sweaters and socks and posted those photos on that web site. Nothing unusual or fablulous but it was great fun to make them.

Not sure what the future holds for further posts but I will be back!