Aunt Margaret . . .

My favorite aunt was my mother's sister, Margaret. There are mixed reports, but from some sources I'm told that her real name was Margaret Gertrude, but I'm not sure what it really was. I probably should settle those rumors by checking with County records and confirming it one way or the other. There were similar conflicting rumors about her mother's name . . . was it Bertha Ellen or Ellen Bertha? Someone, I'm sure, knows the truth. Probably my cousin, Tim's wife, Anne. Bottom line is it really doesn't matter to me--she'll always be my sweet Aunt Margaret. And I miss her.

Oh, oh, oh . . .

I had such fun at Jacob's Reward Fiber Farm yesterday. What a great experience. It's hard to say just what I enjoyed the most because it was a multi-sensory experience. There's so much to talk about . . . the coffee was excellent (Cindy, you're my kind of girl); Cindy was so welcoming and warm and approachable--I think she's my new best friend; the Little Red Barn was cool and smelled so good; Smokey was soooooo sweet--she purred and cooed at me several times; Peggy, Linda, and Holly were fantastic (how blessed am I to have the opportunity to meet such fantastic, creative people???!!!); the spinning went ok--I certainly need to practice, but I think this is something I could get used to); the fiber was FABULOUS--yikes, the barny smell on some of the fleece was so out of this world perfect!!); the sheep were adorable; the new alpacas are so beautiful--they fleece is so different than I thought it would be like--I loved it--I think Micah is my favorite :o); and I think Zacchaeus is my favorite--and I love the name of the breed: BABYDOLL!!--how adorable is that???

Ok. So I can't go on forever talking about this and that--all over the map. I think I'll go on to the party, but I also think I need to blog later in depth about all the stuff I love about JRFF--stay tuned for that.

But the party for my birthday/father's day was so much fun!! Erin was there--she got ready for her date after dinner and Ryan, her date, picked her up here--he's such a nice guy. We've known Ryan for many years (he's Steve's best friend), and we've always liked him. Anyway, Erin was there, Steve and Riann and Rowan were there, and Phil and me. Phil barbecued chicken--he did a great job on it--it looked and tasted like it had been roasted, not grilled--and it was fabulous. We had watermelon, macaroni salad, potato salad, cherry pie, New York cheese cake. And we swam a LOT. Rowan loves the water--we all do, but she really likes it. I like that she shows her enthusiasm for things. Riann shows her enthusiasm, but I think Rowan gets that more from Steve. When he enjoys something, he enjoys it with gusto. Riann is a little more subdues. Anyway, Rowan really shows her enjoyment. She also finished her acrylic painting she's been working. It's drying now, so when it's dry I'll frame it and give it to Riann and Steve. They'll like that. I think the next painting we do I'll pick one group of colors and let her go with that group only. This one is a mix of ALL colors and it's great, but think I'll try just groups next time.

Ok. Gotta go. I know this is so rambling. I'll post more maybe later and tomorrow for sure. Got things to do, though--like SPINNING my green/blue fiber!!! Yay!!

Knitting . . .

I used to love to watch Knitty Gritty on the DIY channel. But, alas, they're gone. So . . . guess what I found????? Knitting Daily appears to be a television show, but I've found all their programs on You Tube. YAY!!!!! I've only watched a couple of them, but I'm going to love, love, love this!!! I needed inspiration, and now I've found it. Go to YouTube and search for "Knitting Daily." You'll love it!!!

Gracie

What a crazy girl she is. She runs up and jumps into my lap, laying her chin on my chest, and looks at me adoringly. She continues with that posture forever . . . just keeps staring adoringly. Really strange. Every once in awhile she'll dart toward my mouth or my nose with her nose/mouth--and she has little pointy hairs around her mouth, which stickers/tickles me. She's a crazy girl.

She loves being in the pool. She'll go the side and act like she's going to jump in. She can hardly wait for me to put her in my lap. She'll sit in my lap floating around the pool for hours if I let her. She's just as happy as a clam. But I'll push her off once in awhile to let her get wet . . . she swims away, turns, and circles around to swim back to me--only to get back into my lap to float around some more. Again, though, she'll lay her head on my chest and look up at me adoringly. Sheesh . . . very strange.

But we had a real victory today! I've been trying to walk her for weeks and weeks. But it was more like her being dragged around the neighborhood on a leash. She just refused to budge. I was afraid I was going to skin the bottoms of her feet (or her bottom) or choke her to death. Everybody has told me to just keep walking her and she'll figure out she's going to have to walk to get me to quit dragging her. Well, tonight she walked--she really walked!!!!! I jiggled her leash a couple of times to keep her moving along, but I didn't have to drag her AT ALL! Isn't that unbelievable??? Yesterday I dragged her like a bedraggled stuffed animal, and today she walked just like a real dog being walked--she pranced just like the pretty girl she is.

I'm really happy for her. I think she'll enjoy her walks with Mac (he's crazy about his walks and is like a machine . . . his little legs just keep on truckin'). Big daddy will be glad they're out walking more too--makes for fewer piles of poop he has to clean up in the back yard. Yay!!!!

So everybody's happy!!!

Hunger . . .

I'm back at work and am so convinced that I need to lose weight!!! It was easy at home to just eat anything I wanted, whenever I wanted. But it's time to pay attention to what I'm eating, plan what I'm going to eat each day, and get this extra weight OFF OFF OFF!!!!

I also know that starving myself is a total no-no. But if I forget my lunch in the a.m. or don't have time to make it, I hate eating at the cafeteria as their salads aren't the best and I just love mayo on my sandwiches to much. So . . . like I said above, I need to starting planning. Think I'll spend some time this weekend planning our meals for next week. Phil would love to have his lunch packed also. So, that's in the works.

Really thankful to be back at work. I like it here!!!

So far so good . . .

I had one more day of freedom than I expected. Seems they had to do another background check and it took a day longer than they originally expected. But . . . I started Tuesday instead of Monday, and I'm so happy to be back!!! Don't get me wrong. I loved being home for those four'ish months . . . but I think I'm a worker and just feel so much more focused when I'm working. Really glad TI called me back, too, because I like the work, I like the people, I just like it!!! It's close to home, little to no stress. It's just a good place for me.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you -- to whomever is listening -- thank you, thank you, thank you!!!