Needles and Pens

I can still remember that crisp, fall day back in 1972, when I walked into Mrs. Bell’s first grade classroom in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Mrs. Bell first uttered the words that, in time, would be all too familiar: “We have a new student joining us today.” Twenty-four heads turned as I made my way across the room and nervously took my seat. It was my first experience with changing schools. Mrs. Bell picked up where she had left off, with a math or spelling or reading exercise, but no one was paying much attention. There was a new kid in school. Who could resist watching her and wondering… where did she come from? Did she have brothers and sisters? What did she like to do? Where did she live? What was she like? Mostly, she was shy. In the first grade, though, shyness is only a temporary discomfort, relieved fairly quickly by the recess bell. Moments later, freed from the confines of the classroom, a group of chattering girls surrounded me on the playground. By the end of the day, I had l...

My grandson, Aaron, was baptized this past weekend, and though not all of the family we invited were able to be there, we didn't let a major snowstorm take any of the joy from the day. The ceremony was beautiful, and the baby behaved like an angel -- much as we worried that he might throw a major fit. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. When the water was poured over his head, he leaned back, relaxed, as if to say, "What about the rest of me?" Aaron has come to love his baths! The service opened with Aaron's Auntie Emily singing a baptism song by Michael A. Schmid, titled, " Baptized in His Name ." I was so impressed with Michael Schmid's website and music. The song couldn't have been more perfect for the occasion, and Emily did a fantastic job. Just beautiful! I love this photo of Emily warming up before the service, with the sun streaming in through the windows: Taken after the service, here is Aaron with his mom and dad (my daughter, Kaitlin, and her...

Finished my niece's wedding gift today, a cheerful blue and yellow sampler quilt made from a 2007 block-of-the-month project: Lacey and Benjamin, may your life together be richly blessed...

As in, never updating my blog... Never checking my email... Some days, never even turning on the computer (can you imagine???) For the past three weeks, graduation has taken over my life. And it's all over now -- sweet relief! My daughter has graduated and her grad party is a pleasant memory. It's amazing what we've accomplished around here in just three weeks; cleaning, gardening, painting and staining decks, sheetrocking and painting the garage. Much more than I had originally planned on, for sure. Grad parties are great for that. It's a little like selling your house, when you finally fix all of those broken things that you hardly ever noticed before. You look at your home through a newcomer's eyes, suddenly all of the flaws become glaringly obvious, and the mad dash is on. Thankfully, our mad dash is done. Graduation day was a blessing, the party, a success. I couldn't be more relieved, but of course, I'm not the only one: Apparently the posting issu...

May is a big birthday month in my family, and yesterday my "baby" turned 10-years-old. No more single-digits in this house, at least until September, with the onset of our "grandparenthood." Time marches on. Hard as it is, I guess I'll have to let him grow up... The "Bear Paw" quilt did get finished in time -- and it was a hit! Ten years is definitely a milestone, but just a week ago, his big brother celebrated a milestone birthday too, turning 21. That magical age where you can finally "do whatever you want to do," relatively speaking, of course. ;o) Mother and son, 2:00 a.m. (Last call, anyone?) Waaay past Mom's bedtime! All in all, it's been a happy -- if somewhat exhausting -- birthday week. Time to rest up for the next round! ;o)

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "party," and since my daughter will be graduating this year, I've had "graduation party" on my mind. There's so much planning and stress involved in planning a grad party, but when the day finally arrives, it's all worthwhile. Right about now, I need a reminder of that! This group is my son (in the middle) and some of his friends playing bocce ball at his grad party in 2006: Family and friends on the deck, enjoying the beautiful, sunny day: The younger crowd had a blast on the trampoline: A great time was had by all -- and yes, we can do it again!

So yesterday was my birthday. I don't know why I always dread my birthday. It has nothing to do with age. It's more a discomfort with being the center of attention, I think. Yet I am so lucky to have a family that showers me with love on this one day each year. Of course, they love me every day, but on my birthday, they bend over backwards to show me just how much. And not everyone is so fortunate. Yes, I am truly blessed! I woke up to a text message from my oldest son, already two hours into his workday, he took a minute to send a "Happy Birthday, Mom -- and Happy Valentine's Day!" Aww... put a smile on my face, as I shuffled the younger kids out to the bus. Later in the day, I picked up my mom and we went to lunch, and then shopping for my birthday gift -- a new desk chair -- which I love! I came back home to find a voicemail on the phone. It was the entire high school choir, singing "happy birthday" to me, followed by my 18-year-old daughter saying, ...

A little background: Last summer, our 20-year-old son moved out on his own for the first time. This sparked an immediate flurry of bedroom shifting, as the youngest two each moved to what they thought was a "better" bedroom. I supported the shift wholeheartedly, excited about the prospect of finally having a guest room. The kids' rooms came along nicely. First, the 12-year-old daughter moved into the 20-year-old's ex-room. The carpet was shampooed, the formerly black walls, painted a soft blue and green (two walls of each color), and a sweet wallpaper border of African baby animals was hung. The speed at which this transformation occurred disappointed the 20-year-old to no end, but I assured him that we always have room for him if he should decide to move back home. The nine-year-old then moved into the 12-year-old's ex-room. The carpet was shampooed, the formerly pink and green walls painted a very mature and "manly" burgundy and beige (two walls of eac...

This New Year’s Eve, I went through my photo albums and reminisced about all the holidays, birthdays, weddings, and other events of 2007: - My husband and I reached 41 - Our children turned 20, 9, 18 and 13 – lots of milestones! - Three new babies joined our extended family. - Two new pets came into our home. - We celebrated the weddings of family and friends - We saw our two oldest children dressed to the nines for prom... If not for photos, I wouldn’t remember a thing! Fortunately, I do keep records of certain things, too. Heaven knows my memory needs a backup: - My weight fluctuated from 175 pounds, down to 134, then back up to 149 by years’ end. - I quit smoking – for one month. It was my longest smoke-free period in 26 years, and provided lots of insight for my eventual, final, once-and-for-all quit. (Which WILL happen!) - I completed 13 quilts, five were rescued from my UFO (unfinished objects) pile, another two, for charity – and I finally have a homemade quilt on my own bed! - ...

The "Simple Gifts of Christmas" program was a big success! No one forgot their lines, all the costumes fit, and the kids (and the audience) had a great time. I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture, but with the low lighting and the huge group of kids, this was the best I could do: Best of all, after the program... carmel apples! See the little bits of "camel fuzz" all over his shirt? I'll be vacuuming that stuff from my house for weeks... lol

As of yesterday, at 3:51 p.m., my next-to-youngest is officially a teen. Emily and five of her friends celebrated with a sleepover, involving very little sleep, but lots of singing, eating, Guitar Hero, and just general goofing around. She had probably the least attractive birthday cake I've ever made -- a Chocolate-Covered OREO Cookie Cake -- but was it ever tasty! The day was made extra-special by her big sister and the small-ensemble high school choir, who visited Emily's middle school choir class and surprised her with these gorgeous roses. The high school choir has been rehearsing a song for the upcoming holiday concert with the middle school choir, so Emily didn't suspect a thing when they showed up. But when they started singing "happy birthday" and each handing her a rose, she was definitely surprised. What a great memory for her... I'm so happy that after years of sibling rivalry, my girls are growing so close. And with this being the second consecut...

Last week, my daughter performed in her high school musical production of "Little Women." The talent in this group of young people is amazing! That's Kaitlin, at the very top, in the black and white peasant top and red skirt. She played "Clarissa," the heroine in one of Jo's stories. And here are the characters in Kaitlin's scene: The endless rehearsals and pre-show stress are now history, and things have calmed down considerably around here. One more senior-year memory on the road to graduation...

She did it! Emily won the grand prize in our church's first annual talent show last night. Wow... it was great, too. Our church is blessed with a load of talent, and I did NOT envy the judges. We heard several singers, a harpist, an accordionist, even a rock and roll hymn with a Led Zeppelin-style guitar solo. Lots of fun! I'm so glad they're making it an annual event. The grand prize was a $50 gift certificate at Grizzly's Restaurant -- looks like the whole family wins! ;o)

The trouble with blogging is that I never feel like I should post unless I have something somewhat important to say . I haven't quite got the knack of just rambling on about whatever's going on in my life because, frankly, I doubt that anyone really much cares. On the other hand, when a few days pass without a post, I feel like I'm shirking my blogging duties. So if you're out there reading, bless you, and here goes the rambling... Yesterday we went to our school Halloween carnival. I have no pictures to share because I forgot my camera, and also because it was four days before Halloween and I wasn't really in the spirit. I promise to take a picture on the actual day, even though I could probably get by with just copying last years' pictures. (Tim's dressing up as a ninja -- again.) Does it show that Halloween isn't really my favorite holiday? Nah. Honestly, I haven't always been such a stick-in-the-mud, but twenty consecutive years of making costume...

Last night my daughter rescued a baby red squirrel from the jaws of our cat. The cat was caught in the act and fortunately dropped the goods before she ran off. Seeing that the baby was still alive, Emily scooped it up and brought it to me. My first thought was, he'll never make it. We bundled him up in a pet carrier with a heating pad under it to keep him warm, then went online for info on baby squirrel rehab. If there was ever any doubt, now I know it's true -- there is a website for EVERYTHING. There is actually a site called Squirrel Rehab.org . The most important thing we learned was that infection from cat bites is common, severe, and fatal to small animals, so if the little guy survived at all, he'd need antibiotics within 24 hours. I met Patty Farr about a year ago, through our local Freecycle group. I had offered a small animal cage to the group, and Patty contacted me and told me all about her wildlife rescue efforts. This totally piqued my interest, and of cours...

My quilting friend, Linda, made this leprechaun comment to me, since I’ve had such a streak of random luck going. I love it! Another stroke of luck: I won a pair of tickets to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert, in a random drawing of entries with 95.7 The Bridge radio. The concert was last night and I took my mom, who was dying to see him (and might have disowned me had I taken anyone else). The concert was awesome! I’m in awe of his stamina, still doing concert tours at the age of 68. And he still sounds great, too. But that's not all... Part of the radio package was tickets to the pre-concert party that included lots of free appetizers and drinks -- and more drawings. The very last prize awarded was a pair of passes for a “meet and greet” after the concert. I about passed out when they called my name. Meeting Gordon Lightfoot was very cool. He’s sweet and gracious and doesn’t make you feel like a pest when you ask for his autograph and to pose for a picture. (grin) My mom was in ...