Trish Knits.com

Category: Happenings

  • Before and After

    It’s been ages since I’ve blogged, and I have a good reason. We’ve been busy! The kids have been on vacation with their grandparents, and John and I decided to undertake a cleaning up/redo of the most used and messiest room in the house–our den. We’ve still got a few little tweaks here and there, but it’s pretty much done and I wanted to share the results before it looks too lived in again. So…. drum roll, please:

    Desk, before
    Desk, before
    Desk, after
    Desk, after

    My desk was the biggest challenge. Getting rid of clutter, having the important stuff where I can reach it, having it well lit and the right height and all of those other ergonomic considerations… this was the best solution. We used elfa shelves from The Container Store. The printers are at differing heights so I can reach the glass on the all-in-one, and we have under-counter kitchen LED lights over the monitor so the bleary-eyed blogger can see what she’s doing.

    Bookshelf, before
    Bookshelf, before
    Bookshelf, after
    Bookshelf, after

    The bookshelf we had in the den was a sorry little thing that could not hold all of my knitting books and magazines. So, they tended to pile up on the floor. Now, the elfa shelves cover the entire distance under the window, and I have room to spare.

    Sofa, before
    Sofa, before
    Sofa, after
    Sofa, after

    The sofa area was also an issue. It’s where I sit to do most of my knitting, and it’s always cluttered with stuff, and usually, no one could sit on it. But, even if they could sit on it, it was looking worn and old. So, rather than buying new furniture just now, I bought slip covers and pillows to dress it up. Oh, and the ottoman? It was a last minute find at Target, and all the yarn for my active knitting projects is safely hidden inside (instead of being all over the sofa!).

    Last but not least is the media area:

    Entertainment center, before
    Entertainment center, before
    Entertainment center, after
    Entertainment center, after

    What can I say? It was time to bring the media center into the 21st Century. The old media furniture had been with me since college. And our TV was old and broken… with horrible lines in the picture. So, it was time to redo. Once again we went with elfa shelves with storage bins for the huge collection of DVDs. We pared these down a lot (for example, no one here watches Sesame Street anymore, so all those videos have gone to a new home), but of the plethora that was left, there was a place for every one. And we still have an empty drawer, because we know there will be more. How cool is that? Room for growth!

    So THIS is what has kept me away from the blog for so long. Hopefully regular knitting will resume soon and I’ll settle in to my new clutter-free zone.

    Much thanks go to Lynn from Clutterbusters, who helped us organize, sort, pare down, and find a place for everything. This was all SO wonderful, and I’m glad it’s done!

    Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ve got some relaxing to do.

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  • The Joys of Summer

    Mouth watering and delicious
    Mouth watering and delicious
    I can’t tell you the number of ways that I love summertime. There are so many! But, chief among them? The FOOD. That’s what summer is about to me. All those lovely, fresh fruits and vegetables which are tasteless and colorless at other times of the year come alive with color and flavor in summer. Tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet corn on the cob… oh, just thinking about all of it just makes my mouth water. Some summers go by in a blink around here and I miss some of those great flavors before they pass me by. This year, I’m going to make a point to savor it all. The best thing? My favorite thing about summer is fruits and vegetables… practically guilt free, and good for me too.

    Yesterday I spent most of the day nursing a lingering migraine. Spending the day in a dark room with my eyes shut was not my idea of a good time, but it was necessary. Even though my headache was not gone by evening I was itching to get out of the house for even a few minutes, so I went to the store to pick up a couple of essentials, then we stopped as a family at the Rita’s Italian Ice stand. I wish I had brought my camera, because by the time we were done, BoyZilla was dripping in sticky grape and was a perfect vision of what summer is all about. I do confess that for me it was a chocolate custard, but next time I will get a lemon-cherry combo ice. Yes, I am already hoping for a next time, though I know that I cannot expect that any other trip this summer will be on an evening as lovely as last night. We’ve been having warm weather with no humidity this week, and that is truly a rare event worth celebrating.

    Ok, it’s time for work! At least it’s a short week.

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  • McMorial Day Weekend

    That’s what our daughter used to call it, “McMorial Day.” This was probably when she was about three years old, and it’s one of those phrases that has a permanent place in our family lexicon. And it was a good weekend, too! Busy, but really, unusually wonderful.

    After the Stitch n Pitch on Saturday night, on Sunday, we had the pleasure of visiting with Marc, Jen, Caitlin and Calli, who we’ve been missing terribly over the last four years since they moved to Michigan. I’ve known Jen since she was 5 years old, and by some twist of fate, our two oldest children were born on the same day, 88 minutes apart. So, one of my oldest friends and I had birthday buddy daughters. How cool is that?

    When they lived here we all even lived in the same town and our kids went to the same school. We all even used to hang out at the swim club together, so it seemed only right that since this weekend was opening weekend for the swim club, that, weather permitting, we should all hang out there, like always. It was such great fun to see them again and to let the kids play together. Of course I’m not the only one whose kids have gotten bigger over the last four years. It was fun to see how everyone has grown and how Jen and Marc’s girls are becoming such beautiful young ladies.

    Jen and Trish
    Jen and Trish
    This is Jen with me. Of course, as I suspected, I didn’t get the hot pink scarf done in time, but I worked on it and she said she’d like to have one in that color. Phew! She likes it. Of course I’m really bad at keeping secrets and I told her she’d have it in about three weeks.


    Diana and Caitlin
    Diana and Caitlin
    The birthday buddies, together again.


    Baby Claire
    Baby Claire
    I also got to meet little Claire, for whom I made the February Baby Sweater last year. She’s a happy girl! (She’s the daughter of our former pool manager, and they happened by to say hello!)


    Our time at the pool was cut short by a thunderstorm, but luckily there was a family-style restaurant just up the road that could handle a large group on short notice. So it was our two families, plus some other friends of the girls and their parents, for a lovely impromptu dinner party after the pool.

    Calli
    Calli
    Look how big Calli is getting! She is as sweet as ever!


    Marc
    Marc
    Marc! With Hair! (My kids didn’t even remember that he HAD hair, as he used to sport the shaved head look.)


    Caitlin and Mara
    Caitlin and Mara
    Mara and her mom were able to join us at the pool and at dinner.


    Emily, Diana, Caitlin and Mara
    Emily, Diana, Caitlin and Mara
    Four friends, together again. The cameras were flashing and there was much giggling going on at their end of the table. Afterward, Emily’s mom drove the other girls to Caitlin’s hotel so they could enjoy a night swim at the hotel’s indoor pool. I’m so glad all our girls had the chance to spend so much time together. I’m really hoping that we can all get together again soon.


    Today was the annual Memorial Day Picnic at our swim club. It was sunny off and on (mostly off), and we were able to get some swimming in before the promised thunderstorms brought and abrupt end to the party.

    BoyZilla strikes a swim pose
    BoyZilla strikes a swim pose
    BoyZilla is quite proud of himself that he can swim in the shallow end of the pool by himself this year. When he saw me come over to the pool with the camera, he said, “Here mom, let me do my best swimming pose for you.” Nope, that one’s not camera shy!


    BoyZilla shows off his underwater handstand
    BoyZilla shows off his underwater handstand
    BoyZilla was eager to perform his feats of daring do for the camera. I think he figured out how to do the handstand just this weekend.


    Her Highness the Teen
    Her Highness the Teen
    The girl child is quite a bit more camera shy, however, and she thought that if she stayed far enough away from me that I wouldn’t be able to get her photo. She thought wrong. Haha!


    Hot dog... yum!
    Hot dog… yum!
    Call me weird, but I love taking closeup photos of food. This was my lovely grilled hot dog, shortly before it found its way into my mouth.

    So, we had a very full weekend! I was so glad to participate in so many fun activities, and will be sorry to return to a more “normal” routine tomorrow. I’m having my usual Sunday night dread of work, except that it’s Monday. Which is a good thing, I guess, because that means it’s a short week coming up. Thank goodness for that!

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  • Sounds of Spring

    I was going to do a quick post this morning, complaining about the dark and dreary state of this Monday morning, something evoking an old Carpenter’s song, you know… “Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down…” But then, I opened my front door, and heard this:


    Spring is here. Enjoy.

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  • Fog

    Trees through the fog
    Trees through the fog
    FOG

    The fog comes
    on little cat feet.

    It sits looking
    over harbor and city
    on silent haunches
    and then moves on.

    Carl Sandburg

    This is the view from my yard this morning, looking not much past my next-door neighbor’s yard. Every time I see a foggy day, I think of Carl Sandburg. “Fog” was the first poem I ever had to memorize. It was third grade, in Mrs. Goldstein’s class. So on this dreary, gray morning, here I sit with a mug of tea, brewed VERY black for extra punch, trying to gather what’s left of my energy for this last work day of the week.

    The fog of course isn’t helping my energy level. My toes are still cold and I’d really just rather crawl under the blankets and sleep til noon. This kind of gray, damp weather really doesn’t lend itself to a high energy sort of workday! But at least I know that the grayness of my sky is a small sacrifice compared to what the folks along the Red River must be going through right now. I suppose I’d take a little fog any day over that.

    Thankfully, there’s a bit of knitting time before I have to sign on for work. I’d better get to it, before it slips away. Happy Friday! Here’s hoping for a sunny afternoon.

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  • The Thirteenth Year

    Hello, World! Newborn Diana's Arrival, March 7, 1996
    Hello, World! Newborn Diana’s Arrival, March 7, 1996

    The Night You Were Born

    On the night you were born
    The moon looked down
    Like diamonds on a blanket of deep velvet blue.
    The stars were singing an ode to joy
    And the snow crunched like clanging bells.

    On the night you were born
    The hands of angels
    Lifted you apart from me
    And you cried, “Welcome me world! I am HERE!”
    And tears of thanks rolled down our cheeks
    As God Himself delivered you safely to our waiting arms.

    © 1998 Patricia Day

    The day has come! Who would have ever thought that this little bundle, perfect in every way:

    Newborn baby Diana
    Newborn baby Diana

    Would one day, just a mere 13 years later, become this:

    Diana at 13
    Diana at 13

    A beautiful, smart, funny young woman that I am so proud to call my daughter. I love you, Diana!

    But today is not just about being all mushy and sentimental. (The Birthday Princess respectfully requests that I can the mush, like NOW!) It is a day of celebrations. Actually, it is the culmination of several days of celebrations. And I’d like to share with you some moments that helped us mark the occasion.

    We had our first celebration at home on Wednesday. My mom and Tony are on a fabulous cruise that started today, so we had a lovely little birthday dinner with them. Of course there was cake:

    Diana, blowing out candles
    Diana, blowing out candles
    Budding photographer snaps a photo of the birthday girl
    Budding photographer snaps a photo of the birthday girl

    Then last night we had dinner at Diana’s favorite restaurant–Olive Garden. Grandma and Grandpa were able to join us and there was much good food, many presents, and lots of fun. Oh, and singing:



    Riding Lessons for the Birthday Girl
    Riding Lessons for the Birthday Girl
    Then today we went with her friends to a horse farm, where we held a horse mini camp. There was education, and riding lessons for everyone! Some of the girls had never been on a horse before and had a little bit of trepidation. But, in the end, everyone did great! The weather had warmed into the 70s, which was nothing short of a miracle, considering the snowstorm we had last weekend. And the riding instructor was totally awesome. I overheard several of the girls asking their parents for riding lessons or the chance to come back to the farm for summer camp. Yay! I am so glad this all worked out.

    Diana works on her balance
    Diana works on her balance
    The horse poses for a photo
    The horse poses for a photo
    Riding Lesson
    Riding Lesson
    Learning to Balance
    Learning to Balance

    So, it has been a fun-filled few days around here. Although, if you ask me, I’m still not old enough to be the mother of a teenager. I’m not sure how this happened so fast.

    slice of birthday cake
    slice of birthday cake

    Happy Birthday, Diana. I love you.

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