Crafting family

Just when my DH is grating on every last nerve and I want to throw him out of the window, he goes and does things that make me smile and remember why I love him. To wit:

My little one has been fairly obsessed with learning to knit since this summer, when he watched Ella learn under the tutelage of her German grandma. I myself never learned, despite Kate's best efforts when I was a teenager; I just could never get it. As one of his Christmas gifts, I gave Sam a knitting kit: needles, yarn, a how-to guide for kids & the promise that we would figure it out together. I was kind of assuming I would need to take a knitting class to really start learning so that I could teach Sam.

So Sam was very excited about the knitting, and immediately wanted to learn. Problem is, with my poor mechanical ability, I can't get beyond "casting on" from the book. Of course I immediately put in a SOS call to the amazing Debbi who has cheerfully promised to assist.

Now, DH had been on the periphery of this whole process. He is not crafty and doesn't really get why Sam is so gung-ho to knit. But the next day, here comes the husband with a little bracelet he has knit for Sam. Calling upon his hardscrabble Mississippi youth that for some reason included learning macrame, DH stayed up until 4 a.m. until he figured out the basics of Knitting 101.

Sam is delighted with his new jewelry which evidently has superpowers, including the ability to shapeshift you into various animals. And I am delighted that his dad made it for him.

150 things

What have you done? Highlighted are mine...

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower (in a pond at night)
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for a day
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Holland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Culebra
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
44. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
48. Shaved your head
49. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

All I can think about

Today I went to a funeral for a relative. Jean was in her 80s and had suffered from Alzheimer's for a number of years. I am close to her daughter Kitty, who is married to my youngest uncle. The services at the church and cemetary were simple and lovely. But I could not stop thinking about another funeral just a few weeks ago, for Gail, David, Meagan and Brandon.

Gail and her children were murdered on Thanksgiving by her ex-husband, the children's father. These kids watched their mother be killed by their dad, and then one by one he killed each child. Gail was family to one of my dear friends. My friend is heartbroken and stunned and shattered. I am so so sad-- for her, for Gail, for the children.

In memory of Gail and her children, please consider donating your time and/or money to the cause of preventing, stopping and healing from domestic violence. An agency in Baltimore that does great work is Turnaround, but there are many other excellent organizations. It is unfortunate that the need is so great.