Catching Up!

         It's about time I bring this blog up-to-date. As I say in the description, I procrastinate better than most people. December 4, 2010 was my last post. Way too long between posts.
         Well, gee whiz, I did it! Replaced defective Verizon Broadband equipment with their new and improved Verizon Broadband equipment. One dicey moment when I couldn't connect to the Internet, but all turned out well.
        Christmas was wonderful. Ed, myself, and his three daughters, Jane, Sue & Barb, Barb's husband, Jay, and Sue's special guy, Don enjoyed an outstanding week. Sue outdid herself in food preparation. Food was more than sufficient. Christmas Day dinner highlighted the entire week.
        Ed and I stayed at the Olde Pineapple Inn Bed & Breakfast just down the street from Sue's place. It's the oldest house in Melbourne built in the late 19th century by a pineapple farm. Seems this area was/is a large pineapple growing area. Who knew? I thought all pineapples came from Hawaii?  Live and learn.
        Breakfast at the inn was superb. Every breakfast different, served by the owners of the Inn. Everything from Omelets to Crepes to French Toast, etc.

March 22, 2011

       Gee, how I procrastinate. It's been 18 days, +/- since I started this post. What have I been doing?
       Well, for one thing, I've been a knitting fool. Working on the Endless Feather and Fan shawl. It's on #9 needles and 108 stitches plus 5 on either side for a border for a total of 113 stitches. When I do the usual 91 stitches for this pattern, it seem my shawl is to narrow, so I added an extra pattern repeat. Now I'm sorry. With the border, the 91 stitches would have been fine. Seems I'll never reach the 72 inch length I'm shooting for.

      Other knitting projects are the Wrap Me Up Shawl I started two years ago. This is a series of blocks, all different sizes and patterns, with each one a different technique to learn. Finally, I am close to finishing. I have one block to correct; just a corner. Then the shawl must be washed and blocked before picking up the stitches for the edging. Whew! I've done  a few changes in directions to make the shawl uniquely mine. I'm sure the author of the pattern will understand and forgive me. It's a beautiful shawl,. I know I need a picture of it on my blog but I tried that once and it didn't work out too good. Will try again later when I have  more courage.
      On my needles are two sweater patterns, a scarf, another feather and fan shawl in linen yarn. That's all the OTN's I can remember. ::whew-wiping brow:: One sweater needs to be frogged, that is, ripped out. When I changed to longer circular needles, I used a size bigger needle and so I must frog it. ::rip it, rip it,rip it::  :-D 
      Forgot about Emmaus Class at church last Thursday. I;m sorry to have missed it. Monsignor is discussing the Mass:  Ever Ancient, Ever New, is the title of the class. This is the Year of the Mass in the Roman Catholic Church so there is a lot of discussion about the Mass, what it is, what we learn, what we experience, etc. I find the subject fascinating.
      Duty calls. Must get back to knitting more today. A bit tired  after aquatics class. Will probably fall asleep while knitting. It's happened before. 

                                Joan

      

A tough week, to be sure

A tough week, to be sure! How and when did I get so popular. Something to do, somewhere to go, every day, even Saturday!

Sunday, as usual, went to the 11 a.m. Mass. During the Communion Break, we were treated to a solo of - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - in many variations. So beautiful, that we all wanted to applaud but the solemnity of this portion of the Mass restrained us.

Monday, was tied up with doctor appointments. Seem these all come at the same time. How do I let that happen. Makes sense when I schedule them, but not when the day comes.

Knitting - finished a shawl for my Prayer Shawl Ministry. A creamy color by Simply Soft, a Caron yarn. It is so soft and pretty but I hated doing the pattern. A simple enough pattern but too simple for me. I keep making mistakes because of it's simplicity, my attention wandered. So simple and easy, I thought it was a snap and didn't need to pay attention. Seems I'm always learning lessons. Next shawl will be a more intricate pattern that I have to pay attention to and not think I know it all!

I have several other items on the needles. However, I just found a new pattern for an infinity scarf and just have to make it. Went through my stash but didn't have the appropriate yarn. Found the yarn called for at Yarncountry.com, Aslan's Del Cerro in Glacier Blue. Perfect. Also got 10 skeins of light blue for a sweater. That's for later and after I finish the sweater I have on the needles. Guess I'm just a yarnoholic, eh?

Why is Christmas shopping never fun? I spent an afternoon shopping for the small amount of gifts we have this year. These were outside gifts, like for charity. Gifts for the family were taken care of via internet and shipped to Susan in Melbourne to hold for us. That's easy.

The aquatics group went out to lunch on Friday, The Countryside Inn, Swathmore,PA. Friday is the only day free of classes. Jerry, a swimming classmate, thought up the idea and made all the arrangements. And he picked up the tab! What a generous guy!
We were all prepared to pay out own way but he made his arrangements ahead of time and they gave him the entire check! We'll get back at him sooner or later.

The restaurant is located inside a deli and market. The tables are in the middle of the store, with the deli counter and all its wonderful meats and cheeses on one side, while on the other side, are all sorts of tchotchkes on the shelves. All sorts of stuff like the almond cookies served with your lunch along with dolls, Christmas items, teapots, and myriad other things that just clutter up your house.

Today we have lunch with old friends of ours. We'll be going to Appleby's. Hope they are happy with the choice. And I won't elaborate on this further.

Trouble with the TV...I bit on an offer from Verizon for more, better service at a lower cost for 3 months, the price goes back up to our former cost. Too good to be true. So far, I haven't noticed a upswing in our internet connection and I can't get the On Demand free shows...the popular ones from the networks that are available a few days after their scheduled time.

I went into the big, new shiny Verizon store at the mall and told them my problem. "Oh," she said, the problem is with your settop box and remote control. You need to replace your old set. I'll just put it in this nice red, reusable bag and you can easily change it at home." At my look of dismay, she continues, "You just have to put this cable here and that cable here and plug it in." Oh sure.

Gave the nice red bag with the new equipment to the DH who immediately went into paroxysms, screaming all sorts of blue words. I left the room. Friday when I got home, there he was on the floor. I didn't see him there when I came in. He hollered for me to help him. "I'm here on the floor." Ever feel your heart drop? I did then. I raced around his usual sitting places but couldn't find him. In a panic, I run into the living room and there he was lying the floor in front of the TV, with the settop box hanging out of the credenza. With relief I helped him get the box and the DVD box back it's little compartment in the credenza.

Now to turn on the TV and have it go through it's gyrations of setting up. Only take about 20 minutes I was told by the smiling salesperson. Uh huh! No such thing happened. After a prolonged call with the tech person at Verizon, we learned that the new connection, HDMI, is not working correctly throughout Verizon's entire system and he couldn't tell us when it would be fixed or how we would know it was fixed.

Ed decides to unhook the the cables and go back to what we had. Well, we had picture and sound but it was noisy when there was information being feed across the screen.

I gave up and went to bed to read. This morning, Ed, who must have pondered the problem all night long, decides to rehook the HDMI and unhooked the original "TV In" cable. Have sound and picture but I still can't get my programs from the On-Demand service.

It's been a tough week. I did buy a Christmas wreath for the door, but it's lacking a bow. I'll get around to it this week. Oh sure, something is scheduled for every day this week, too! How did I get so popular?

Spending, Thanksgiving, Christmas thoughts

For the most part, I am a sane, responsible, thoughtful individual. Except after I make that first purchase at the Mall. Then I know, it could be downhill from there. At this point, one might think, walking out of the mall, putting the one package in the car trunk, and driving home would be the better part of valor. Somehow, this never occurs to me.(Does it occur to any woman? Most women? Some women?) After this first time, credit cards seem to fly out of my wallet.

My eyes see so many things I think will make life better. Creativity spills out of me, decorating rooms, clothes outfits fall into place, and beautiful shoes grace my feet. But, alas and alack, I don't not go into high-end spending. $800 Jimmy Choo shoes never touch my toes. No, not even from the sale rack. I have my limits and Jimmy's lovely, no make that gorgeous,shoes never see the inside of my closet let alone walk up the street with me. Jimmy's shoes don't make it into my shopping bag. (I love shopping bags!) Oh, but Jimmy's shoes make one salivate for wanting the beautiful, strappy shoes, shoes with all the sturdiness and use forced out of them. The straps entice the eye in with beautiful feathers floating down the center of the shoe, letting your feet enjoy the slight tickle. Other Jimmy's dazzle the eye with the glimmer and shimmer of glittering stones, twinkling in the artfully placed lighting of the store, further enhancing their brilliance, pulling us ever closing to opening up our wallet. This is where the sane part of me steps in, finally, to say, "Oh Ho No! This is not the shoe for you!"

And sure enough, it is not. One reaches the age where wearing shoes such as Jimmy's is a long ago remembered thrill. Nowadays, it the flat Geoxx shoe for me. Much more reasonable. Or perhaps the new MBT Mary Janes (waiting until this latest bill is paid off) Yes, walking without pain is number one of my list these days. I'm fortunate to have good feet that can still wear pretty shoes in a more reasonable design, even with a little kitten heel at times. Then, I feel, ever so glamorous and sophisticate, just like my mind felt looking at the Jimmy Choo's. Hip pain, not feet pain, is my big concern now. The style of the shoe doesn't make a difference, so with careful selection, pretty shoes line cover my shoe rack. Aquacize, twice weekly, and a special five minute floor exercise, twice daily take care of the hip pain, making the pain bearable.

This is the Silly Spending Season"that promises to get worse with the coming of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I think this year, I'll check into the internet and just see what goes on. I have to admit I haven't clue on how to do this, but I'll give it a go. Hey, it's a learning experience, eh? I've managed to avoid the stores and the internet on Black Friday so far. Not this year. I'll be online.

The DH and I are by ourselves this Thanksgiving. We have a dinner reservation at lovely, old restaurant nearby. Christmas will be spent with family at Susan's summer/fall/winter abode in Melbourne Florida, along with Don, her SO, a singular great guy (most of the time ) All of Ed's daughters will be together on Christmas Eve & Christmas. Jane, the oldest of the three, is flying down with us on 12/20. We will arrive in Orlando and pick up the car Jane has rented and drive to Sue's in Melbourne, FL.

The DH & I are staying at the Pineapple Inn, a B&B a bit down the street from Sue's. Jane will be staying at Sue's place, middle daughter. Barb, the baby,;-) & Jay will be down Christmas Eve and will be flying back on 226 or 27th. They are in a hotel a bit away from us.

I love this season. It's a time to reflect and realize all that we have to be thankful for and how blessed we are by God to live in this great country, the USA. Outside, on a cold, crisp dark evening with the stars shining bright and the moon rising anywhere it wants to rise, I can't help but feel the power of God. His power and his love spills out from the heavens, there for our taking. God sets no limits on His love and how much we can ask for or what we can ask him. No limits, no questions, just his love. All you have to do is ask. So simple.

God Bless you all. And if I don't make it back here before Christmas, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sore throats; knitting woes; clutter slaying and general malaise

Tuesday last, the Prayer Shawl Ministry shared celebrating with a member’s family, their bereavement of the death of husband and father. The church setting was simply stunning. Found in the early 1800’s, St. John’s Calvary Episcopalian Church was set high on a hill, as churches usually were in those days, surrounded by an orchard probably began at the same time. Time, wind, rain, and snow, those tough elements, oblierated the information on many of the graves. The grounds were hilly and uneven, making walking upright a personal best for some (like me!). 

The Church building, original to its beginnings, is limited in facilities. The minister periodically gave instructions to the people gathered in the nave on how to find the necessary facilities. “You exit the pew, turn around, and exit the church. Then turn left and then left again to go down the hillside on that side of the church. A door under the church proper on the left will lead you to your destination.”  Or words to that effect.

It was a classic autumn day. Bright sun and vivid blue skies. No clouds. Wind was calm. Our friend’s casket was placed on the hilltop, overlooking the valley, east towards the Atlantic and down to his beloved Cape May.

Afterwards, we continued to celebrate at one of the oldest, original taverns in the United States. I forget now the original name of the tavern and for that matter, it’s present name. That was one powerful Perfect Manhattan I had before lunch.  Gotta watch that, eh?

That evening I was high with a fever and woke the next morning with a classic sore throat. Finally saw the MD/PA on Friday. Armed with a cache of cortisone, antibiotics, and Mucinex, I crawled home and pulled up the covers. 

It is now a week later. I’m still under the malaise of the sore throat; tired, sleepy, and achey. Don’t want to do a thing but have to.  Gotta get rid of books so my DH [dear husband] will be happy for a few days with less clutter staring him in the face. As I sat here, doing my best  procrastinating , I realized that I can’t do my knitting, which I love doing more than most things, because the work isn’t done. That is, I have not cleaned up my desk and all the other junk trails I’ve following me around. “You can’t play until your work is done” haunts me from my childhood (when do these memories stop bugging you?  thought that happened when you grew up?  which begs the question:  when do you grow up?) Knitting isn’t exactly play, now is it?  But it’s fun and something I like to do. Ergo…it’s play. At least in my mind. Which means unless I clean up this mess, I can’t knit. So around I go.

It’s another beautiful Fall day here in the Middle Atlantic States. From the weather forecast, we will have the same for the balance of the week. I look forward to sitting on the patio perhaps for the last time this year. But then, I’ll have the sun in Melbourne, FL in December.  If the gods, that is, don’t bring rain on me per usual during winter months in the sunny state.  And I’m on the way to the patio right now to call my dearest, oldest friend back in Whitney, PA. 

Happy Halloween!

Seems I get the urge to blog on holidays. Well, holidays are for fun and goofing around. Goofing Around?? That's why I never finished a book. I looked at writing as "goofing around", nothing to take seriously. Can't finish a book that way, can you? Nothing I do is important enough to seriously it seems. I find excuses or say, "It's nothing. Anyone can do that." Well,no that's not true. Not everyone can do what I do. Some people can but not every one.

Halloween has come and gone now. It is November 5, 2010 and I am down and out with a severe sore throat. Finally called the doctor after 3 days suffering. I can barely talk. The DH responds with "I can't understand you. Talk louder!" Why does he not understand I can't talk louder. It hurts! Do y our husbands respond this way when you're down with a sore throat or any other type of illness? I'd enjoy comments.

Maybe if I'd stayed in bed,I'd be taken seriously. But since I'm up and about, taking nourishment, I'm fair game for household stuff. No, no, not me. I'll just go back to bed.

My computer tech is coming today with MS Office 2010 so I can have Outlook for my appointments, etc. MS2007 (version I bought cause it cost the least), doesn't have Outlook on it. So for another $200+ I'll have Outlook.

Computer has been acting up and he and I worked on it last week. I want to change to MS Windows 7 but he talked me out of it. Said no need to. Guess it's just as well....several hundred dollars saved.

Knitting...have much on the needles. Finished some. OTN: Lickety-Split shawl in cream Simply Soft for the Prayer Shawl Ministry; 4th Flounce scarves; top down sweater in Plymouth Colorspun red tweed for me, along with other projects I can't remember. Oh yeah! The Wrap Me Up Shawl started May 2009. I have 3 more blocks plus the lace edging then it will be finished. To tell the truth, I just simply forget about this project.

On the Top Down Sweater, I think I got the sleeve increases out of line. Will be going up to see Anita at Garden Of Yarn for her analysis. If I did mess up, that's about 10 rows to frog. Anita doesn't put up with mistakes and/or sloppy work.

I finished the Summer Umbrella shawl for myself out of Noro

Labor Day 2010

Labor Day...sounds so un-American to me. It sounds like a holiday in the old USSR. Why do we celebrate labor? I know it's to honor honest work of our citizens, but it still seems so Socialist to me. Why not a name like American Celebration or Honor Americans? After all, that is what this day is about, isn't it? Honoring all of us who work honestly and hard all year long, not only to make a living and survive, but to make this country even greater than it is....

So much for my rant of the day. There is so much more to rant about but I will avoid those controversial subjects. This is not the place for them. This blog is about what I like most of all.

Most of all, I love, love family, especially mine. God blessed me with a wonderful husband and along came the Broge family. Not only his three daughters, but a boatload of family members who opened their arms and took me in. Immediately, my family had grown fourfold. Now not only did I have my sister and brother's super-duper folks, I was now part of a huge family that accepted me and took me in without exception.

From the first, I felt as one of them. Their easy going ways and family stories enchanted me from the first. My husband's two brothers and sister, not to mention his mother, who welcomed me with "You're nice even though you're a Catholic" opened up a new chapter in my life.

October 16, 2010

I guess this proves I'm one of the great procrastinators of our time. I'm finally back here to update my blog. Not much has changed in my life. Except for the addition of aqua therapy sessions from which I graduated to Aqua Water Aerobics at the same pool. The dates at the therapy pool fit my days better. Tuesdays and Thursdays. I could go Monday & Wednesday as the fee covers 4 days. Heavens forbid I should do 4 days of water aerobics. Not because I couldn't do it, but Mondays & Wednesdays are occupied with the Prayer Shawl Ministry group. However, the ministry meeting alternate each week, so it's conceivable I could go three days a week to aerobics. I'll take this under consideration.

Fussing with my computer. I keep getting a message from ASUS about fan speed. Searching the ASUS support site, I learned that this is a glitch in my computer series. There is a download to correct this from popping up,however, when I try to use it, extracting it via WinZip, I'm told I need administrator permissions. I am the administrator of the computer and also noted this on WinZip. Checked out WinZip s

upport forums.

Ever notice how difficult it is to navigate computer software support forums? I could cry! I know these forums are using English, but why do they use such formal talk? Why not put the answers in easy to read forms? You know, like they would if they were talking to us face-to-face. But the talk in cryptic language only they can understand and react as if we're the crazy ones.

However, I found a nice tech support man. And not only does he knows what he's doing, he talks in English, not tech speak.


The glitch is still occurring....fan speed bad! Oooooooooooo! Horror! Doesn't seem to affect the computer. It's working just fine, relatively speaking, that is.