Beware!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Another night of light on....tap, tap, tap......light off....for about two hours this morning ending with me just leaving it on and reading at 6AM. Crazy. I suppose I will have to cave in and get rid of it but I definitely want another one and they are really hard to find. There are a lot of them out there but most of them are tacky sports lamps, birds, animals, etc. I just want a plain white one and I didn't even find that this time. They seem to be a lot of money, especially if I have to replace it in less than a year.

One of the worst games ever, unless you are a read SNL nut.

Good, really good.

Christmas is coming....

Friday, December 19, 2008

Here she is, big as life in the Daily News-over to the left of the guy with his hand in the air. This is a picture from the "town meeting" Monday night. A 40 year old woman (that isn't her in the picture) fell off a dock at 4AM yesterday morning on City Island. Our firehouse was fully staffed and they got her out of the very cold water within a few minutes. Not sure if waiting for firemen to come from Co-op City would have had as good an outcome. But then, I am guessing she was probably pretty well preserved with alcohol to pull a stunt like that.

Is this really what we are meant to do? Put trees inside our houses? Every year I can hear my father saying, "What do you want me to bring an old dead tree inside the house for anyway?" A friend of mine who grew up with us says that whenever he thinks of Christmas he thinks of the McIntyre's Christmas tree, all covered with angel hair. Funny, the things we remember, isn't it?

A few hours later it looked like this. Still has no decorations. Many would say that the easy part is done. I think it is a toss-up.

The Three Kings are hanging out on the other side of the room just like they used to on S. Warren. They figured they would hang there with Marguerite since she has the bottle of beer.
That is why they are sometimes called The Three Wise Men.

Speaking of S. Warren, I went to Stop & Shop Monday and looked for the Christmas cookies that Charlies loves. I did find lots of Archway cookies but not those particular ones. However, I did find Windmills! I really don't think I have seen any of these since I lived on S. Warren.

It started snowing this morning and it has been pretty much snowing all day. We are supposed to get about six inches and a little north of here they are supposed to get 6-12 inches. We had tickets to go see Josh dance tonight but that didn't happen. Our cars are pretty much frozen in place out there, it is still snowing and there have been no plows out into our part of the world. So we got tickets for next Friday instead.

It is always fun to take Sylvia out for the first snowfall of the season. She knows she just used the ladies' room out here a few hours ago but she can't find it now.

Small things

Thursday December 18, 2008

As you get older, it is amazing the little things that make you happy. One of the things that I love in my life is the lamp at the side of my bed. It is one of the ones that you touch to turn it on and off, make it brighter, etc. Just touch it. No switch. This is the second one that I have had and it is great. I read every night when I go to bed and when the book falls on my face and wakes me up, I turn over, touch the lamp and that is the end of the day.

This morning at 5:40A, the light went on. Touch, touch, touch---off. 5:48A. On. Touch, touch, touch---off. 5:57A. On. Touch, touch, touch---off. 6:08A On. Unplugged. Wonderful.

"Twilight" came into my awareness a couple of months ago, seems like it was a book that teenagers were reading. More and more and more talk about it. Liz read it and I am reading it now. Liz is now reading the second book. I have to admit it is good. You just keep reading it to see what is going to happen. I keep thinking of Harry Potter, really written for kids. This in no way is comparable to Harry Potter, no way. But it is a good, fast read and, like I said, I just want to see what happens. I don't want to see the movie. Well, not now anyway.

Little Bits

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Josh! The tall redhead. We are seeing him in "Swan Lake" Friday night.

Thanks, Tony. My contractor has a friend who has been working on the new Yankee Stadium and who has "borrowed" a few bricks from the site. He has then turned them into this. It is pretty cool, and very heavy.

'tis the season

Tuesday, December 15, 2008




First and foremost, has anyone ever seen a cuter face than this?












Well, these guys look pretty cute in the yard and it is fun to see people laugh when they walk by but definitely not even close to as cute as Ms. Sylvia.








I think I did 100% of my Christmas shopping on line this year. I finally got around to putting up the Christmas decorations today and the tree will come later in the week. I did throw away a lot of decorations last year, ones that really have no sentimental value but for some reason I had them. The Ikea-project-from-hell has an advantage because it has a lot of shelves and I can put all the stuff there without having to put away all the pictures on top.

Last night we went to a "town meeting" on the island as the NYFD has proposed removing our ladder truck at night. The numbers they based the decision on are pretty convincing that it is pretty low risk. But really, one fire is all it takes.

What was more interesting to me was watching the group dynamics. Jimmy Vacca, our city councilman, became a regular little spitfire up there. Excellent at revving up the crowd. We heard from the old timers, current active firefighters, residents, etc. Unfortunately, we lost some of our effectiveness, I feel, when people just kept getting up and talking about losing boats and yachts. What about lives?

I enjoyed remembering being somewhat of a political activist when we were trying to pass the ERA, protesting the war in Viet Nam, booing down Spiro Agnew, burning bras. Goodness. It has been a quiet life for many , many years.

Catch-up

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Last week I heard someone refer to "the acceleration of time compression". Interesting term and definitely true.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was great. It is probably the first year I was not stressed about it and I think I owe that 100% to Maria, my cleaning lady. Although I was never a spectacular housecleaner, I did stress so much about it, especially if someone was coming to visit-let alone 30 people.

I think every person I know who makes stuffing feels like theirs is definitely the best and only tolerates others'. I have made the same dressing for years and years with very little changes to it and any changes I did make were not permanent. I am not sure why but I have definitely been disappointed in mine the last two years. This year Janet brought a huge pan of stuffing and she definitely gets the honors for hers-much better than mine. Excellent.

We had just the right amount of food-although the death-by-chocolate seemed to get wiped out in about 30 seconds leaving me not even a taste of it this year.

The crowd was great. It is always a nice mix but everything just seemed to flow this year.

That seems to be the end of the good news. Everything else is so bleak. The auto companies certainly have everyone worried. It is such a hard issue. We are all certainly entitled to be angry with their very poor management, arrogance and future planning over the years but, at the same time, we cannot afford, as a country, to let it collapse. One of the most consistent numbers I see is that one in ten jobs in the United States is dependent on the auto industry. Having been in a union myself for 20 years, I understand their role and the stand that the union leaders take. But sometimes, just sometimes, a cut in wages is better than no jobs. There are a lot of people out there who would like to go back to their jobs--even with a cut in wages. The question then becomes, if they get the money, if they get the big three up and running again, who wants to buy a car now? I am not sure that I would want to buy a car from a company that may fail anyway in a few months. A difficult time for sure.

Everyone feels the pinch, everyone. Last Monday morning, Liz and her co-workers at the March of Dimes were very surprised by layoffs. Although everyone has the shared anxiety about the economy in general, they were not expecting this. Especially out of the blue at 10A on a Monday morning. When it becomes personal and very good friends are giving you the things they are clearing out of their office, it becomes scary.

Cuts in the budget are responsible for the proposed closing of the ladder company of NYFD on City Island. What it means is that we will still have fire men but not enough to man the ladder truck at night. It has the potential for being very scary although most of the buildings on CI are only two stories high. The exception? Pilot Cover-senior apartments. Could it be any worse than that? One of the fireman from CI decided to try to impress the higher-ups that this was not a great idea and started pulling false alarms on the island. Not the brightest move in the world as he was arrested this week. Let's throw into the mix that he was raised on CI and still lives here. Pretty stupid move over all.

The City Island Theater Group held its annual meeting last week. It has had a successful year and is now making plans and commitments for 2009, its ten year anniversary. Yours truly had the good fortune to be elected to its board.

Finally finished "The Kennedy Women". It was a pretty sad look into this very male-oriented family. I do understand that it was all very cultural-the male-centric Irish culture and all-but it was definitely sad to read to what extreme it was manifested. With the emergency of Caroline Kennedy as a person of interest for the US Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, it makes the book even more interesting.

Our chat book that we are going to discuss tomorrow night. Although it is fiction, it is still pretty overwhelming to think of the impact that one or two foolish hours has on the lives of so so many people. It just seems like more and more people make such foolish decisions any more. This one could be attributed to youth, anger, alcohol. But then anger and alcohol probably are on the top of the list pretty often. It does seem like there are some older people making some pretty foolish decisions lately also-the governor of Illinois. Do they really think no one will find out about any of their stupid decisions?

I thought about that a lot when I was reading the Kennedy book. How Jack and Bobby were such heros of their times and how they would have never survived the public scrutiny that public figures face today.

When my nephew and his wife were here this summer, they told me that Harlan Coben is one of their favorite authors so I am giving him a try. I think this is his first book in this series and I am enjoying it quite a bit. It is definitely moving very quickly.

Last Thursday was the third meeting of the "Ladies Who Knit....Or Crochet....Or Don't". It is such an enjoyable and comfortable night. Vicki, who works for "The Wine Enthusiast" brings one bottle of white wine and one bottle of red wine each time. If we were going to have officers, she would definitely be president. We decided that it is time for us to be more productive so I am going to contact the Visiting Nurses Association of the Bronx which is looking for knitters and crocheters to make things for their patients. They provide yarn and patterns. Like I would need more yarn. This seemed like the best choice to us because they know their patients and they know what they use and it will be distributed locally.

Am pretty much ready for Christmas as far as shopping is concerned. Just have to get moving on the decorating. Have cut back considerably on the baking but still will do the favorites.

The day after....or....the day before

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008

Everyone is stuffed and sitting around and not wanting to eat one more thing today. Or there are the few brave souls who are out Black Fridaying it, with the hardiest of them actually back home by now taking a nap. And then there are those very few souls who are just getting started on their Thanksgiving festivities.

Here goes.....

Happy Thanksgiving......

Today it is Chinese food and a glass of wine. Two of the many, many things I am very grateful for. Way down the list from my family but still on the list.







Preparations are well under way for the 35 people we are expecting on Saturday. Didn't even get out of our pajamas today, watched lots and lots of TV.








The last grocery shopping trip is tomorrow and the upstairs freezer has been emptied out in preparation.

The refrigerator is filling.

The table is filling.

Things are thawing.

And Liz is bagging her jewelry.

Knitting

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008

It seems so cold out so early this year. Maybe it is not but it seems like I have been out working in the yard much longer than this in the fall. I still have a lot to do so I guess I am just going to have to brave it and go out there one of these days.

The book is coming along OK. It continues to be very sad to read about this tortured family. Besides being victims of so many tragedies, the family dynamics are really sad all the way around.

We are getting ready for our big Thanksgiving bash next Saturday. The 16th year. Amazing. By this time I am usually vowing it will be the last as the stress piles up. I feel numb to it this year and that worries me just as much. I am organized, have a lot of the groceries, etc. but just seem pretty calm about all of it. I think a lot of that is because Maria is coming to clean the house on Tuesday. That was always so time consuming.

There are three bags of yarn sitting in the living room-three ongoing projects. #1 is my life sweater. It doesn't look like much of a project at the moment but it is always very much in my mind. #2 is for Christmas and #3 is Asa's sweater which is on hold until the Christmas project is done. So I would guess that the life sweater is also on hold until the Christmas project and Asa's sweater is done. I have to admit that I got my first issue of a knitting magazine this week and it has a sweater in it that would also look great out of the life sweater yarn. Oh, no.

Knitting

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2008

Knitting, my favorite past-time. I think I actually filled our survey the other day and said that. Oh yeah, it was a graduate student who was doing her doctoral dissertation on knitting and had asked for people to fill out a questionnaire.



This is yet another picture of my life sweater. This is the second time around. It is the turtle neck collar and the first shoulder saddle. Even though I used the exact same needles as I used on the first one, the turtle neck was just too big. It was perfect the first time but when I tried this one on, it was just too big and I couldn't live with it.





The second picture is my life sweater now. I am pretty determined to make this sweater and it will be perfect so I will be writing about it for a very long time.

After a couple of false starts and a consultation with Karen, I have started a sweater for yet-to-be-born Asa, who is due in February. It is a size one but looks big. Have the arms done and will start working on the body today. It is a cute sweater and seems to go quickly because you use double yarn. I know it looks like the life sweater yarn but it definitely isn't.

Ladies

Friday, November 14, 2008





All day today I have been thinking that it is Friday, the 13th. Nothing bad has happened, not even close. Hmmmmm. Wonder if it could be that it is all just a hoax or could it be that it is really Friday, the 14th?





Last night four of the women who live on my block were here for a Lady Knitters' Night, A Ladies' Knit, a Whatever Night.





This is the second time we have met. Last month it was pretty nonproductive as we just pretty much sat and chatted. Understand that most of us don't know each other very well at all, talking in the backyards, meeting on the street, etc. I had read a book a few years ago about a woman who owned a yarn shop and every Friday night the women met and knit and enjoyed the company. They always were working on a "community blanket", everyone working on it at some point during the night and when it was done they gave it to a woman who was battling breast cancer. This summer I heard about a woman who lives around the corner from all of us, whom none of us know, who is around our age, and who has been battling ovarian cancer for a year and a half with no family, no one around her, just alone. That seemed so sad. I kind of connected the two ideas and came up with this group. We have met twice now and I am thinking it is time to start the blanket at our next meeting. We will talk about it and everyone bring yarn and we will figure out a pattern and how to proceed from there.













I am probably about a third into this book and it is basically so sad. A family with so much money, so much talent, so much personality, so much everything and so dysfunctional. Rose Kennedy was totally wrapped up in her religion and her children but felt that you only touched a child to bathe them, never to show affection because that would make them weak. When her second oldest daughter, Kathleen, married her long love in a quick civil ceremoney during the war, Rose sent her a letter telling her that she was condemned to hell because she was not married in the Catholic Church. I don't know if they ever make amends but they haven't at this point in the book.

Joe Kennedy was extremely proud of his oldest son and was pretty close to the other kids but definitely more so the sons. He was a terrible womanizer but Rose and the daughters ignored it while the sons thought it was great and saw it as an example of how to live their lives.

Probably the most tragic part so far is the story of Rosemary, the mentally challenged daughter. She was born at a time when doctors absolutely demanded that the baby wait for them to deliver it and often that meant the nurse holding the woman's legs together until the doctor arrived. That is what happened in Rosemary's case. This results usually in the umbilical cord being compressed and little or no oxygen getting to the baby's brain for periods of time, resulting in all kinds of damage. The Kennedys chose to not recognize that Rosemary was challenged, putting her into regular schools, etc. Eventually she was privately tutored but as she got older she apparently had a more and more difficult time controlling her emotions, especially her temper. Joe Kennedy unilaterally decided that she was to have a lobotomy to the absolute disagreement of his wife and all of his children. Rosemary was left with no emotion, nothing, no personality, nothing. The family placed her in a home with nuns and were never allowed to speak of her again.

The same thing happened when Joe Jr. was shot down during WWII. Once they were initially told of it, the siblings and parents never spoke of it again and never cried, except in private.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008

There is a place when you are driving northwest towards Niagara Falls on Route 17, that you pass through PA for short distance. Just before you come to that point you come upon a beautiful valley that opens up in front of you-suddenly, out of nowhere. It was exquisite this trip with all of the foliage in their autumn finery. You are only at a place where you can see it for about two minutes or so but it is breathtaking for those two minutes. I drove through there on a return trip from MI a few years ago and it was early morning. It was just as breathtaking as it was early morning, the sun was coming up and there was fog in a lot of the nooks and crannies of the mosaic in front of me.

It is one of those views that you know you just cannot capture with a camera. Although you can take wonderful pictures with wide angles, etc. there are just some scenes that you cannot capture-- the ahhhhhh moment. I felt that way in Death Valley and I feel that way in this spot in northwestern New York.

What is with this anyway? Cross the Canadian border and the speed limit becomes 100. Of course is it kph as opposed to mph and the conversion is simple-miles =6/10 of kilometers, hence 100 kph = 60 mph. But then you wake up in the morning and it is 11 degrees. And you get silly $1 nd $2 coins. Why can’t it all be the same? I don’t even care what it is, just make it all the same.

Speaking of crossing into Canada, I was all prepared for the usual long, long wait. But there I was at the Niagara Falls crossing, the only car at any of the booths. It was so empty. Border Person: Where do you live? MM: Bronx, NY. BP: Where are you going? MM: Mayville, MI. BP: Do you have anything in the car that you shouldn’t have? MM: No. BP: OK, go ahead. Crossing from Canada into MI: BP: Where are you going? MM: Mayville, MI. Where do you live? MM: Bronx, NY. BP: Did you stay in Canada last night? MM: Yes, in St.Catharine’s. BP: Show me some ID. MM handed over passport. BP looked at it, handed it back and said, “OK. Enjoy your day.” Wow. Homeland Security at its finest.

Amazing

Monday, November 10, 2008

Talk about a pivotal moment. Much has been made about Americans electing their first non-white president. Many say that we can be proud because we did not vote based on race. but that probably isn't entirely true. I am sure that Barack got votes and did not get votes-a significant number in each category-based on race. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that this settles the race issues that so divide this country. Actually, the world. Was it the president of Italy who said that our president-elect looks "well tanned"?????

It did not take very long for the likes of Rush Limbaugh to write even more hateful things than they wrote during the campaign.

I, for one, am delighted to have a young man and his young family in the White House. An intelligent man, a calm man, a man who seems to surround himself with even more intelligent and more experienced men and women. The only negative I can see is that I don't understand why any person would be crazy enough to want this job at this time.

A friend of mine from Canada who is very well read about American politics, says that he reads often how Barack is usually the smartest person in the room. I would imagine that is true as long as Michelle isn't in the same room. Then it would be a toss-up.

Off I Go

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I guess it might be easier to pack to fly because all you have to do is keep saying, "No, no room." Driving, I just keep adding things because there is room. But it is OK because I figure I am going to leave half of it at Karen's anyway.

Making progress

October 21, 2008

The IKEA project from hell is moving right along now. The cabinet pieces are together and Liz started to put the glass doors on last night but I did hear some pretty strong mutterings, well, actually not mutterings, statements about .....never again, NEVER again, NEVER, NEVER again. Once all of the DVDs, photos, etc. are returned to their places and I get back from MI the next project will start-buying the TV.

Over the weekend I went to see the CITG's production of "The Dining Room" which Liz stage managed. I found it to be almost endearing, bringing back many memories of my childhood home as well as my home when the kids were young. The entire focus of the play was the dining room and all of the activities of many different people who had lived in the old house. The direction was wonderful and all of the actors were excellent. Some scenes were very touching (when Mother just didn't know where she was at Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to go home) and some were very funny (the children's birthday party that Mother was trying very hard to control every second while also trying to have a conversation with her lover whose wife has found out about their relationship). There were six actors in this play and I think something like 27 roles. I expected it to be confusing but once it started, it didn't matter who the character was or who was playing him or her. It was the sentiment that was making the play flow and provocative in its own way. After the play Liz took me backstage. It is a little surprising to me that with the involvement I have had with this group, I have actually never been backstage. It served to only increase my admiration for what they do about a hundredfold. The space is small and all of the costume changes take place there. The props are all there and there are sheets about different peoples' roles, the props list, etc., etc. It is amazing that the plays go as smoothly as they do. Kudos to all of those stage managers who make it seem effortless.

Way to go, Tampa Bay. Amazing. I would be delighted to see them go all the way. Sorry, Boston. Cannot feel an iota of sympathy for you. You are all of those things that everyone says about the Yankees and then some---dirty, unkempt, sloppy. You do have a lot of talent. Wish I could have a little more respect for you but it is difficult although Francona is an excellent manager.

Tomorrow I am leaving for MI, driving, actually. Am going to drive through Canada on the way there, staying overnight at St. Catharine's, ON on the way there and in Clarion, PA on the way back. For years I have heard about my brother and sister in-law's Halloween party and have never been there. For four years I have heard about my nephew and niece's pumpkin launch and have never been there. Well, this year I will be there for both. And in between will visit my sister and brother-in-law in the Lansing area. Also expect to meet up with a couple friends from high school for dinner one night. I am actually going to be there for over two weeks and Karen and Charlie will be putting up with me staying with them all of that time. Since I am driving I am taking lots of things to do-knitting, reading, crossword puzzles. It will be a good time.

Andrew

October 18, 2008

Looks so little compared to Big Daddy Dave until you really look and see how he fills the bassinet.

I think he will be walking out to the car from the hospital.

Finally finished the "Hmmmm" book. Am taking this one with me on my journey. It is big and fat and has very few pictures. Maybe it will last me the whole trip. Should I take another one, just in case? I am asking myself a million similar questions. When you fly, the answer is always-no, not enough room.

Timing is Everything

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I finished the baby blanket on Thursday night and Dave called yesterday to say that the baby was born. I am thinking that now I am going to dive into my "life" sweater again. There are a number of different cable patterns in the sweater and you are supposed to knit a test swatch of each pattern to figure out the needle size and gauge. I just went with what the designer used to make hers and I think it was OK but since I am redoing this I am going to see if I have the patience to do it "by the book".

The IKEA hell has eased. While I was gone Liz worked on it and when she looked at all of the pieces she realized that they had sent two of the main cabinet boxes. Fortunately they also sent two of the side cabinets like they were supposed to. It is together and in place except for the second side piece which hopefully will go up soon. Then the boxes can be unpacked and we'll see if we have a place for everything.

Time to buy the TV. Keeping the economy strong.

Misc

Friday, October 17, 2008

Liz received tickets to see Daniel Radcliffe in "Equus" as a birthday gift so we saw it last night. I had seen it with Al in about 1975 when Anthony Perkins was the lead role. I was either naive then or I have forgotten a lot about this play. At the end of the performance I was drained. It is such an intense drama that it is very exhausting. You could tell that the two main actors were also totally depleted and it makes you wonder how they can do this day after day after day. I think when I first saw it, it was the first Broadway play I had ever seen. I told Liz last night that it is probably in my top five favorites now and that is saying something at this point.

Am pretty close to finishing this book and I still say--"Hmmmmmmm".

Dave Kong called me to tell me that his wife Ji had given birth to a 9 lb 6 oz. baby boy this evening. Dave was Nick's roommate in college and has been around us for 16 years now. I had been chatting with him6on line yesterday so I knew it would be soon. But 9 lb. 6oz! My goodness-so big. Dave is a big guy but Ji is a pretty little lady and she ended up having a C-section as she was laboring and not making any progress.

My real point in sharing this is that it is wonderful to watch all these guys grow up, get grown up jobs, get married and now they are having babies. It is so amazing to me. I know, I know, that is the way the world works but when you see your kids and their friends doing it, it is pretty amazing.

The weather has turned cold here so it is time to start tucking in for the winter. The leaves haven't really changed yet. I am driving to Michigan and maybe I will see pretty foliage as I drive went and then north over towards Syracuse.

Nick called yesterday from Tokyo. It sounds like he and Janet are having a great time on their trip. He has taken over 1000 pictures so far and they are not even 1/3 into this trip. I am thrilled that he is enjoying his new camera so much.

Out of here

Saturday, October 11, 2008

I am waiting for Liz to get home from taking Nick and Janet to JFK and then getting her haircut. If I had my way I would be gone before she got here but she used my car to go to the airport and doesn't have enough time to come home in between. You can not imagine the hair cut situation. OK. I will give her this. When she went to get it cut six or seven weeks ago, she went from below her shoulders up to her ears. It was a radical change and we all know how we all do with change. The tears, the misery, the cursing, the drama. Went on for days but in the mean time everyone who saw her loved it. I think she got used to it because she made an appointment to get it cut again today, the picture looks like it may be even a little shorter. Oh, dear.

In the meantime, Liz has figured out that the drawers on the entertainment center will close if you take the front off of them. As soon as the front goes back on you are out of luck. This is how I am leaving it but I have all the faith in the world in Liz on this one.

IKEA hell

Friday, October 10, 2008

It has been a long, long time since I have written and although it feels like a lot is going on nothing much seems to be happening. We are in the middle of the two step process of buying a new HD-TV. Of course, that means we need to get a bigger entertainment center first to put it in. I ordered it from IKEA a month ago or so and after a screw-up with the delivery it finally arrived today. We had to finish dismantling the old one and put it outside. Liz and Susan have been working with the hundreds of screws, dowels, etc, etc, etc. for about three hours now and it is looking like a piece of furniture but it is easy to tell that the enthusiasm has taken a hike. But they are definitely persevering although it seems that it is time to call it a day. BUT THE DRAWERS WON'T CLOSE!!!!! Nick can be ever so glad that he is flying off on his honeymoon for three weeks tomorrow. But in my heart of hearts, I know Liz will keep at this like a dog with a bone.

In the meantime, I am sitting with Ms. Kelli on the couch and trying very hard to teach a left handed person how to crochet. The mirrors don't work, sitting across from her doesn't work. But she is getting it and I think now all she has to do is practice, practice, practice. The baby is not due until the beginning of February so I think she will get a receiving blanket out of this, especially since she went and bought the yarn today.

My life sweater? I absolutely know that I am the only person in the world who would ever have noticed that there is a mistake in a cable on the back of it but I saw it every time I picked it up. So I didn't pick it up all summer to see how I felt about it. No different. Ripped it out I did.

Even reading has been pretty weak lately. I just finished Nora Robert's "Irish Born". It was long and predictable from the very first page. I am guessing that she is probably classified as a romance writer and that usually isn't my style. What I did realize and the reason I probably kept reading it is that it did make me want to go back to Ireland again.

Book chat book. Hmmmm.

Last night was the first meeting of five of us from the neighborhood to knit/crochet or whatever. We didn't accomplish much last night but did a lot of talking, drinking wine and tea and eating. We are hoping to meet every month at my house and Vicki, who works at "The Wine Enthusiast" will bring the wine. Next month Rosa is bringing cheese and crackers. The hope is to keep it simple. We all had such a good time last night so hopefully that will continue and we will be more productive.

I was in Albany to meet my brother and his wife for dinner the beginning of the week. Stayed overnight, had breakfast with them and drove back home. It was a nice time. I had looked forward to the drive thinking the leaves would be beautiful but probably only about 30% of them had changed. Tomorrow I am headed for DC for five days and then I will be home to rest up for the drive to MI and the Halloween parties.

Be safe and enjoy your next three weeks, Nick and Janet.