Happy First Day of Spring

The season of new beginnings.

Click here for fun facts about cherries, cherry blossoms and photo credit.

Cherry Blossom Day is April 2nd

A Father's Love

Kimberly William-Paisley recently shared a video on twitter about a father trying to put his baby daughter to bed. The video clip is called, A Father Taken Hostage By His Daughter. Touching and funny at the same time... I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Breathe

Is it spring yet?

A hint of spring for Valerie.

I realize the weather is warming up in the south, but I'm hoping this, knitted surprise, will keep the chill away in the evenings.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.
Not sure what's happening in the universe, but it appears many people are experiencing challenges in their lives...the story of my life.
Let's all take a deep breath, exhale...release the stress and worry.
I figure if everyone does this a few times, hopefully without hyperventilating, our surrounding world will be a bit lighter... well, that or, one less grey hair on our head. :-)

ttfn

Trials

Sometimes you just need a little divine intervention to help you make it through the day.

Whenever there's a problem with my car, I panic and stress!
December 2008, I was in a car accident. The teenager that I hit was under the impression she owned the road and was completely at fault. Driving away with a few scratches on the side of her car, my car wasn't so lucky and it was declared a total loss. My insurance company pretty much paid me off and sent me on my way (my car is old and has over 200,000 miles). I should get a new car but I want to drive my car forever and until I win the lotto, it's not happening anytime soon. When the repair company called me to let me know the cost of repairs, they gave me an estimate and informed me it was going to get higher. I thought I was getting swindled and that evening I called someone from my insurance company and shared my concerns... and then... I cried. Bless the poor lady trying to help me out, but my tears might have helped me in the end, well sorta. The following Monday morning I got a call from, Pauly. He had the voice of a cigar-smoking, tobacco-chewing mechanic, but most importantly he had the patience of a saint. He stayed on the phone with me for an hour explaining the procedures and my wreck. He basically told me he was going to tell the guy to put my car back together and that I should drive my car until I run-it-to-the-ground, it's not worth putting more $$$ into it. Fast forward to this afternoon...

Today, after work, I was running my afternoon errands and my brakes gave out...not completely but enough to scare me into rethinking my Starbucks run. Now that is serious! Btw, my car is not a Toyota and I did get my coffee.
I dropped off my car at the neighborhood repair shop and got a ride home from the mechanic helping me out. I was so nervous and stressed about my little car I couldn't even concentrate on how cute he was... yup, he was hot.
Even though everything seems to be fine now, I'm still stressed, but it helps to write it out. Now I understand why so many bloggers share their stories online.
I know this is minor compared to the trials my other friends are experiencing right now and I want to send out good thoughts and prayers to you all. Hang in there! During times like these, I tend to call on the Lord and Archangel Michael for strength and patience. Things happen for a reason, but gosh darn it, why does it have to happen to me when I'm broke?

Anywho, I need to go into my happy place right now and that would be my knitting nook. I wanted to begin this post with a picture of Valerie's beautiful scarf, but it was bumped by my eventful afternoon, so here it is. I hope you don't mind me trying it on or sharing a picture of it, Valerie. Thank you for being so patient with me, I'll be sending it out soon, but I'm working on a second surprise for you.

For anyone planning on knitting this scarf, you may want to consider adding length and another bobble repeat on both ends. Once you slip it through the loop, it looses length and resembles an ascot, it's not a bad thing, just short... but it's very warm.

Have a safe and pleasant evening. :-)

It's Okay

To the USA Hockey Team,
You did good. To quote Michelle Kwan, you didn't lose the Gold, you won the Silver.
Good game!

To the Canadian Hockey Team and all Canadians,
Congratulations! Well done.

(picture courtesy of AP images)

I saw this hilarious picture on the Olympic website and had to share it.

A Sweet Package

...arrived on Friday!

Inside, a precious baby boy blanket with two burping cloths (I don't have the heart to untie the ribbon to show off the blanket) meant for a little someone ready to greet the world in a couple of months. The blanket is adorable and I know the momma-to-be is going to love it. Heck, I love it! Thank you, Valerie! You outdid yourself for sure. :-)

I first spotted this baby blanket on Valerie's blog and quickly asked if I could commission her to make one for me. I needed a baby gift and loved the picture she posted of a similar blanket she had made for a friend. Just to let you know the magnitude of her good-hearted kindness, she didn't hesitate for one moment with her answer, but she wouldn't take a monetary payment, instead she proposed a swap. I have never been part of a swap and was more than willing to give it a try. FYI, Valerie would like to learn how to knit one day because she admires the craft so much, but doesn't have the time since her daily life is filled with family, work, and craft activities, so she asked me for a knitted item. I thought, no problem, I can handle it and more than happy to oblige. Coincidentally, the Ravelympics were approaching and I had been admiring the Drifted Pearl Scarf from afar, so who better to knit this beautiful scarf than for Valerie and take part in this great knitting event - it was meant to be.
So here we are, Saturday - one day left. Between laundry and the Olympics, I'm almost done with the scarf, but I must confess, the week before last, I snuck in a knitted cowl inbetween knitting Valerie's scarf and work. It was a project giving me trouble for the past couple of weeks and needed completion.

Pattern: Spiral Cowl - Ravelry
Needles: cir US 9
Yarn: Noro, that's all I know...the label is long gone. The skein had been lingering in one of my knitting bags for much too long. This is the cowl that gave me trouble and I wasn't about to let a little ol' cowl break me.
Mods: The only modification I made was the picot edge. I decided against it when it turned out a little to stiff for comfort. After the eighth or something like that, attempt at frogging and restarting, a simple garter edge worked just fine.

Good luck to all knitters still working on their projects for Ravelympics.

Now, back to laundry, knitting, Olympics, blogging and watching the news about the earthquake in Chile. Positive thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the earthquake, to Marie Osmond for losing her son and to a local girl, a Poway teenager, gone missing while going for a run afterschool...praying she is returned home soon.