S. O. S.

Now that conjugers up all kinds of things

· A ship or plane distress call needing assistance
· That wonderful gravy on a fat fluffy biscuit
· An old abba song from my youth

But in this case it was something quite different . . .although I guess you could say it was a distress call . . . a panic type call if you will . .. one made by my daughter to my hubby – we’ll just call it “S.ave O.ur S.on” or SOS for short.

My grandson just turned a big 3 years old and is to start his first year of pre-school this year – quite a milestone in his young life as he has watched his big sister and cousin take this step. His sister and cousins were all invited to a back-to-school shopping and lunch fun day and he was left out. So Stefanie placed the SOS call to Grandpa and he gladly answered the call to pick up the little guy for a boys’ day out.

I’m still not sure who had a better time – Grandpa? Or Grandson? But a grand day it was! They went to the park . . . went to lunch at McDonalds . . . went to the play area at the mall and back to the park. Nathan carried Grandpa’s thermos of coffee that he called a “teapot” and off they marched. Grandpa showed him how to skip rocks and just what rocks to pick and after a few “kerplunks” there were a few successes too.

What started out as an SOS turned out to be a great day for both the fellas! After all – what little guy wouldn’t rather skip rocks and climb on monkey bars and eat at McDonalds instead of shopping with a bunch of girls? No feelings were hurt and everyone had a good time. I’m sure this type of thing won’t happen again – and while I’m equally sure that Nathan will probably not remember this day, Grandpa sure will! He loved it and most of all loved being the one to answer the SOS! After all don’t we all love being needed and being the one to come to the rescue!

It's fall and I'm back

Well . . it’s certainly been a long time since I’ve been here . . about time I got back to it . .summer is about over and Fall is here . . been so wrapped up in Sew Happy . . and what a summer we have had . . added aprons to our line . . . and just started a new “vintage” outfit - - never did get the flip flops into the mix but something for next year. The aprons were a huge hit and really increased our sales in a way we never dreamed – and so all my extra time was spent sewing.

I’ll try to go back and fill in some highlights . . .well at my age there aren’t many of those . but we’ll do what we can . . .

At any rate fall is here . . . and with it some cooler days and nights . .I love the fall . . .its my favorite time of year . . the days are still nice and the nights cool enuf to sleep . . it gets dark at a decent time . . .and it’s time for baked apples, pumpkin desserts, roasted pork and soups and stews. I best get that crock pot out and dusted off. The only bad thing is that I’ve begun to notice a few of the smaller and more fragile spiders creeping inside for protection . . .those I can deal with . . .it’s the big fat furry ones that will soon be seeking shelter that scare the bejeesuz out of me that I’m not looking forward to!

The kids will be back in school soon - -I can’t believe Hallie starts kindergarten and Nathan preschool. I’ve enjoyed making a lot of Hallie’s back to school clothes. I know these days are numbered. . .. all too soon she’ll be saying “Mom, please don’t make me wear any of those dorky clothes grandma makes” and then in the blink of an eye she’ll say “oh remember all those clothes gramma used to make me?” with fond nostalgia. Hope I’m around to see it all . . .

Well to another great fall . . hmmm . . .come to think of it . . .guess it’s a good thing that fall is my favorite time of the year . .. seems I too am in the fall of my life . . . .

Daughter/Mother~Mother/Daughter Weekend

What a nice weekend! Friday, Stefanie and I went to see South Pacific at the 5th Avenue Theater. It was wonderful! The music, the singers and the costumes were great! We thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Now I’m all enthused to see about getting more tickets for Nineandahalf and I. It was a nice Daughter/Mother outing – She planned and got the tickets and best part . . she drove in that awful Seattle traffic and parked. That was a bit of a head ache . . It was hard to find a place to park and we squeezed in . . and I do mean squeezed in. I got out before the parked and then she had to crawl over the seat and get out the back door. I was laughing! She rarely wears a dress and wouldn’t you know that when she does she has to climb over a seat! ~ something to remember!

Phine came out Friday night to spend the weekend with us. She brought the dog and cat and stayed in stayed in the cute pink room upstairs. Nineandahalf got it painted earlier in the week and it really is cute.

The animals all got along and we enjoyed a weekend of checking out the local haunts. We all had a great time and it was fun to have her at the “Arthur Inn”. It worked out much better than expected so think we’ll do it again!

Roadtrip!

It was a great road trip . . . Off to Pullman we went to celebrate an extra long weekend and Valentine’s Day with Furrbait and Megan. We got up early on Friday morning and left the house all packed with food for Furrbait’s requested dinners, dog, blankets etc . . and left before sunrise. I was tired and not pleased about getting up so early on my day off but we wanted to get to Pullman early to have the whole day . . .

As we went over the pass, the sun was rising . . . .what a breathtaking sight . . The snowcapped mountains with the rising sun and pink and lavender sky behind them . . it was incredible. It was a great smooth drive and we got there in plenty of time to enjoy the day.

I cooked Shredded Pork Tacos (which are incredibly good), made a strawberry pie, and had a nice steak dinner for Valentine’s Day. Furrbait made us some of his fried chicken legs - - they were really good . . and he fell in love with my cast iron pot! I’m lucky to have gotten it home with me! LOL

Nineandahalf, Leo and I did a nice volksmarch in Pullman on Saturday afternoon. It was a wonderful sunny day and the walk was really nice . .. all on a paved trail. We really enjoyed it .

Friday night we went with Furrbait aka Cub Reporter to a couple of Pullman High School basketball games. It was really fun and we enjoyed it. High school sports are so fun! We enjoyed seeing him taking notes – he has a great system he made himself, interviewing the coach and reading his story. He really does have a flair for it and does really well.

We watched some movies, played Kyle’s favorite game (Monopoly), ate good food, visitied, went shopping . .and just had a great time . . nothing special . ..but then again . . .everything special! These regular old days often make the best memories!

If it ain't broke . . .

then don’t fix it!

So how many times have I heard that . . .and yet I didn’t lesson. Sayings like these are here for a reason . . . and at my age you would think I would learn to listen . . .

When we bought my sewing machine, we included a maintenance and warranty package for 4 additional years. The price seemed right and the sales person told us that we should have the machine serviced yearly. So we bought into this logic. We were busy over the Christmas holidays and I wasn’t sewing so we took the machine in even though I’ve only had it for 9 months.

The first of the year hit and I was anxious to get back to sewing. Already the shows for the 2010 season were getting scheduled and in place. I picked it up and right away it didn’t seem right. The automatic thread cutter wasn’t working all the time . .. but then it worked some of the time. I contemplated taking it back in but I was anxious to get to the sewing of some of our new fabrics. Then it seemed to work more and more and so I forgot about it.

I try to sew each night after work so there will be plenty of stock this spring and summer when the shows are every weekend. I had just proudly finished my 3rd dress for the night (despite working overtime) and was starting the 4th when the machine made a loud clunk and locked up. The computer message on the machine said that the machine had been stopped for safety reason due to tangled thread. But . . the thread didn’t seem tangled. I took off the plates and unscrewed the screws and couldn’t see any tangled thread.

Nineandahalf took a look see and called the store. We are to bring it in tonight but it will take a week to be sent out and come back . . . so the yah-hoos that goofed it up in the first placed will fix it . . .I’m not happy . .I’m in production mode! And well . . I should have left well enough alone . . .

It wasn’t broke . . .. so I shouldn’t have fixed it! Lesson learned . . .at least til I make this mistake again!

Dirty Laundry

What a day . . .and what a long weekend . . . .hmmm . . so much I want to type here . . .something about blogging that is cathartic . . but in the essence of not wanting to air too much dirty laundry . . and at least having some pride . . I’ll just speak in generalities . . .

Being a mother can be one of the most wonderful experiences in the world .. I’ve never been so proud of anything more than the accomplishments of my children . . .be that their first steps or graduating from college . .. and sometimes it’s the littlest of things that you know they worked so hard at and struggled so much to achieve . . . and then there’s the flip side . . . .It can be the most painful experience of all . . .

Today’s crop of young adults certainly is different . . .and I suppose everyone says that . . .but this seems so much different . I would never . . .not ever . . .say some of the things to my mom that have been said to me .. . and I hear that from other people my age as well. The lack of respect is astounding . .

So? Where did we as parents go wrong that our children feel they can use gutter language with us and tell us what to do and refuse to accept any responsibility. Wish I knew . . .and then wish I could go back and change it . . .but it does seem to be the epidemic of the times . . . It is indeed a sad day for me today . . . as once again my failings as a mother come home to roost.

Wednsdays

We started helping out the “kids” on Wednesday nights . . .Superman is off to school and Stefanie (in keeping with her 101 goasls) is off to an exercise class. So, Nineandahalf and I get to spend the evening at the Steffensen home with Hallie, Nathan, Lucy and Charlie. It’s really a pretty good deal from my perspective . . . I either make tacos or Stefanie puts one of her delicious concoctions into the crock pot and we get to spend a couple hours with the little ones.

Last night was a hoot. There is nothing quite like seeing simple things thru the eyes of a child. Oh and the memories for us older ones of times of our childhood. So, we played Old Maid. Hallie had never played before but caught on quickly. Nathan was in charge of the matched pairs. I smiled at her delight when Grandpa had the “old maid” and oh how she squealed and giggled. When she got the card she was of course devastated. It was funny to see how she positioned her cards to tempt you to take the right one. It was amazing how every time she got the old maid . . .well Hammy was so unlucky! I managed to get stuck with it every time! . .. well until the end . . when Lo and Behold . . .Grandpa had the old maid. Hallie was tickled!

After dinner we played Yaghtze. Well . .. a modified version of course. Hallie and Nathan didn’t have much concept of the game but sure enjoyed using the cup to toss the dice.

So we played old maid, watched Dora, ate dinner, made a banana cream pie, played yaghtze and heard about life from the eyes of a 4 year old while Nathan got to spend some time with YEEOH, our dachshund.

So while we are helping Stefanie achieve some of her goals from her 101 . . . .I am crossing off some of mine as well!