Trish Knits.com

Category: family

  • A Comfy Pillow…

    Tegan finds a comfy pillow
    Tegan finds a comfy pillow
    The sight of this photo is going to make cat lovers say, “awww!” But I know all you Yarnies out there are cringing.This is Tegan, my 16-year-old tabby, curled up on my desk. In a pile of Rowan Kidsilk Haze. My DH quipped that Tegan probably thought my mohair needed “mo’ hair” in it. But alas, this is a definite testament to the yarn’s softness, that she would choose it for a pillow. She’s still sleeping on it now, and I fear that her individually uniquely stripey hairs are now permanently entwined into it.

    Perhaps, in a weird way, this isn’t an entirely bad thing. Tegan is my little shadow and when I am home, she is rarely away from my side. It has always been this way, much to the chagrin of our other cat, but she is my constant companion. Many mothers I know complain that they can’t get peace, even in the bathroom, for their kids following them in there. For me, it’s the cat. She’s always on my desk pawing at me for attention, and constantly walking across my keyboard if I don’t respond fast enough (“fast enough” being a half a second shorter than, “now!”). Of course walking across the keyboard over and over again can cause havoc, especially when I’m trying to code HTML or something, and often I find myself saying something cross in exasperation.

    Tegan is getting older now, and she is thin and not in the greatest health. We do our best to provide for her needs as an elderly member of our family, but we know that the day is coming that I won’t have the constant meowing in my ear or the special coding generated by kitty paws taking yet another stroll across my keyboard. I know that I shall miss her terribly, but at least now I know that someday soon I will have a Kid Mohair wrap to snuggle up with and always remember her. And I am sure I’ll be forever finding tan and black individually striped hairs… and I shall smile when I do.

  • Ode to a Missed Deadline

    Ok, I’ll ‘fess up.

    I missed my Christmas knitting deadline.

    Elf hat in progress
    Elf hat in progress

    Thank goodness it wasn’t a gift, but I was hoping to be able to wear my funky elf hat in Christmas morning photos. The same thing happened to me the last time I knit this pattern. I should know that starting this pattern in November just isn’t enough time, at least not at the Holiday Season. I mean, with everything that goes on at this time of year, there were days when I never even knit at all.

    And this is why I don’t knit occasion gifts. I never make my knitting deadlines. So, I’ve for the most part decided just to never have any.

    The thing is, I’ve started the decreases now, so soon enough the rounds on this hat will begin to go quickly. So will I wait til next Christmas to wear this hat? No way! Let everyone think I’m crazy when I show up wearing it when it’s done. (I was thinking of attaching jingle bells on the pointy end of the hat… maybe I’ll wait til Christmas for that part…) My coworkers already know that I’m weird, what with the other Santa hat and my eyeball scarf. So this one won’t be hard to wear to work, for sure. Except that it clashes with my purple coat. Oh well…

    The weather has been really cold here! Ok, so we’re not below zero like a lot of folks in some parts of the country, but our area has relatively mild winters and it’s cold here! Our old drafty house isn’t helping. almost think I can feel the wind coming right through the walls sometimes. Yesterday was everyone’s first day back to school and work after the holidays, and even though the weatherman swears to me that the days are getting longer now, I don’t believe it. Not even the sun wanted to get out of bed yesterday morning. It’s supposed to get colder before we see normal winter weather again. I can definitely say I’m not looking forward to the rest of this week.

    One thing I’d like to share before I go… my favorite Christmas gift. The kids went on a cruise with my in-laws this summer, and they had a photo taken while they were gone:

    New photo of brother and sister
    New photo of brother and sister

    I love this photo. It’s on my mantle, on my computer wallpaper, and now on my blog. Now I can look at it anytime. I’m such a proud mama.

    Goodnight.

  • There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket…

    Nantucket Road, that is.

    This is the story of the place where I grew up, and the people who lived there. It was the 1970s. The neighborhood had sprung to life in the late 1940s and early 50s. In fact, my grandparents had moved to this very street when they left Washington, DC in 1951, when my mother was about to turn six years old. My grandparents still lived there, too, when my family moved into the house across the street in February of 1973. This was the house I lived in:

    My childhood house
    My Childhood Home (photo by Bill Barnett)

    I of course thought it was huge. It was bigger than most in the neighborhood, because it had an addition on the back with a larger kitchen (with brand new, state-of-the-art, avocado-colored appliances). There were three bedrooms (also a luxury in that neighborhood) and the typical single bathroom that is barely heard of in today’s American homes.

    Nantucket Road was a really cool place. Lots of other families with kids our age lived there. It was the kind of street where there was always a kickball game going on when the weather was good, the ice cream man always came because he knew there’d be plenty of takers, and neighbors would sit out on their porches until well past bedtime on a sultry summer evening, because it was cooler than being inside.

    Nantucket Road was not a quiet place. Many of us had squeaky chain link fences that announced a neighbor stopping by, the recently completed Washington Beltway was practically at the end of the block, and all in all, it was a pretty busy street when I lived there. But what I remember most is the sound of the children. The laughing, the playtime, the imaginations running wild.

    I didn’t live there long… within a few years my parents had divorced and were remarrying, and I went away from Nantucket Road in April of 1977. Still, I consider this little house the place where I grew up, the place where the people who were my childhood friends lived, and the place where most of my memories of being a child still reside. Over time, each time I went back to visit my grandparents, we would hear that someone else had moved away. Most of the kids from Nantucket Road are now people I hadn’t seen in more than 30 years.

    Until Tuesday of this week, that is.

    Enter Facebook. Someone that I don’t even know started a group for people who grew up in my part of town, called “Hollywood”, though it’s not nearly as glamorous as the name conjures up in most people’s minds. Slowly but surely, I’ve been able to reconnect with lots of friends who I thought were Long Lost. Billy lived next door to my grandparents and since he would be in town for the holidays, decided to have a Nantucket Road Reunion. I jumped at the chance to go.

    Some of the folks had kept in touch with each other all this time, while others had not, but you would never have known the difference. It was as if this group of people all came together and picked up where we left off, laughing and joking, and sharing stories that really couldn’t have been from 30 years ago, could they? No matter. It was a blast. I stayed longer than I thought I would, and truly, I wish I didn’t have to leave. Before we left each other for the evening, we posed for a group photo while our spouses kindly served as photographers:

    Nantucket Road Reunion
    Front Row: Kevin, Trish, Margarita; Middle: Bob, Bill; Back Row: Kathy, Kim, Mario, Pastor.

    We took lots of photos, and there were hugs all around. As I made my way to the door of the restaurant where we met, a blast of cold air hit my face, but my heart was warm and full. We promised to meet again, to not let another 30 years go by. I hope it’s true. And I hope everyone in the world has the kind of memories I do with friends like these.

    Below is a gallery of other photos from the evening. Click on the photos to see bigger images.

  • Panic Time

    Christmas is coming,
    The goose is getting fat.
    Please put a penny in the old man’s hat.
    If you haven’t got a penny then a ha’ penny will do…

    (Well, you know the rest…)

    This is the time of year when I just get crazy. So much to do! So little time! Christmas comes on the same freakin’ day every year, and yet, I can’t ever avoid the last minute hectic feeling. It’s like I’m singing in rounds all the time, except the song’s never over, and I can’t catch my breath. For instance, just this week alone:

    My little boy is sick. Not just a little bit sick. He got sent home from school on Thursday morning, and we took him to the doctor right away, and though he looked awful he didn’t even have a fever and so they just sent us home and said, oh well.. wait it out. So we’re waiting. And waiting. It’s Day 5 now and really? We’d really just like him to be well already. We’re going back to the doctor tomorrow because the fevers that were nonexistent on Thursday? They won’t go away now. Not to mention the whoopsie tummy incident on my den carpet (right behind me, at the computer) that somehow made a red Slurpee live forever in monument on the rug. Ok so the carpet doesn’t owe us a thing, but I had been hoping to replace it sometime after my elderly cats weren’t around to leave their own monuments on a new carpet. Oh well, just my luck. Anyway, I’m really hoping BoyZilla gets well soon… I truly hate seeing him so miserable.

    Second, the Christmas Cards. The cards are here, but still in boxes. The newsletter that I had been skipping the last four years suddenly got done this year (my daughter volunteered) but now it means an extra trip to Kinkos at some point for copying. Sigh. And is there anybody out there who can run to the post office for me? I need about a hundred stamps, quick. Thanks!

    Third, the office potluck, scheduled for Wednesday, at a time when I already had a meeting on the top floor (a big deal where I work). I struggled all weekend to find something I could make in the crockpot for ease of carrying. Except the group couldn’t decide whether it was going to be breakfast or lunch. If it was breakfast then there are others who are the queens of breakfast casseroles and quiche, so I needed a sort of side dish, that was festive, and good for either situation. Not as easy as you’d think.

    I settled on Potatoes Au Gratin with Asiago and Gorgonzola and cream cheese with turkey kielbasa. (Did I mention that people in my office don’t eat pork?) So I send the poor husband on a cheese hunt in the market (We’re simple cheese slice people and typically can’t even spell Gorgonzola) and after much searching he was successful. Yay! Gourmet cheesy potatoes! Except you know what? The boss tells me today that our potluck has been postponed. So has my meeting on the top floor, by the way, so I’m feeling all cheesed up and nowhere to go. Harumph.

    My wedding ring has been broken since before Thanksgiving and it has been repaired and is waiting for me at the jeweler, except I can’t seem to get there, what with the sick kid and cheese quest and all. I guess it’s ok, though because my nephew already has the book I bought him for Christmas so I have to go get something else this weekend. One last trip to the mall. I guess I’ll pick up my ring this weekend.

    So, as you can imagine, I’m a little stressed out. So much, in fact, that I got all teary-eyed at one of those Folger coffee commercials, you know, where the missing family member gets home for Christmas, and starts a pot of coffee for his sleeping mom and dad? Yeah that one. Totally bawled. I think I need a cuppa and a hug.

    But, it’s not all bad… today the mailman brought this:

    Gedifra Cashmere pink yarn
    Gedifra Cashmere pink yarn

    That’s right, Trish. Go pet the cashmere. It’ll all be over soon.

  • A Day of Beauty

    Wow… what a difference a little sun can make. The sky was a cloudless bright blue today and the weather was warm. I think I feel better today than I’ve felt all week. I hope I can somehow squeak in a couple more days like this one before Fall gets here in earnest.

    It started with a yummy dish of Shrimp Alfredo (The Lean Cuisine variety.) After weeks of eating beefaroni from a can and other less than wonderful things, it was good to eat something at least somewhat tasty for a change. Then I went off for a long-overdue haircut. The stylist was running late, but my mom and daughter and I made the most of our unplanned half hour and headed for the Merle Norman store. We went to buy some concealer and face powder for the daughter (Tuesday is school picture day), but I wound up with some eye shadow and blush for myself. How’d that happen? I rarely wear makeup.

    The haircut was great! Except when the chick did up my hair with product, it looked a bit like Kate Gosselin, which all at once scared me a little, and made me say, “Oooooh that’s cute!” But we’ll see how I do it when I have to rely on my own hair styling skills tomorrow.

    Then it was off to Hecht’s. (Oops, I mean Macy’s; old habits die hard.) The daughter needed a top or a dress or something to wear for the picture. I’ve gotten off easy for the school pictures thus far because they wear uniforms, but because she’s in 8th grade this year, she can wear what she wants. Anything, apparently, as long as it’s black. Her taste, not mine, but she did pick a cute top to go with some pants she already has, and a dress. I guess she’ll decide what to wear on Tuesday morning. So, it was a successful shopping trip.

    I then went to the makeup counters at Macy’s, intent on completing my face. At the end of the day, I had all of this:

    Eyeshadows, blush, foundation powder, and lip glosses
    Eyeshadows, blush, foundation powder, and lip glosses

    Hey, when I go after makeup, I tend to get a whole face full all at once. It’s not the cheapest way to go, but it makes me feel good to start fresh every so often.

    So, look for me tomorrow, all prettied up with cute (yet scary), Kate Gosselin hair. And I’ll be smiling. Hey, the sun’s out.

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    Listen to this article

  • 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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    Listen to this article