Caden's Gansey

Here's the sweater I knit in my knitting class. See the Needlework album for the upclose pictures of the upper chest, and his initials at the bottom.

Beginning of KJ's Scarf

Here's the scarf I've started for KJ.

Knitting Update

I finished NJ's scarf last night, and I've started KJ's. I am getting less done than usual because I've been taking a knitting class (Christmas gift from N !!!) to make C a gansey (fisherman sweater). All I have left is the neck so I was able to get some work done on my other projects. I have so many projects floating around in my head right now that I am really excited to knit, knit, knit.

Thoughts, Feelings, Actions

Thought-wise I'm having a bad day. My thoughts whirl around my head, and I try to chase them down, make them stay in line and behave. It's a lot like chasing C, my external whirling dervish. Anyway ....

I am thinking that I need to construct some kind of vision statement. Spend some time putting my thoughts down on paper. Kind of organizing my thoughts so that I can quit struggling and find alignment. Develop a structure so I can see how my life today fits into the whole of my life. I am tired of surviving the day. I want to thrive and really appreciate all my blessings, instead of dwelling on my failings.

So I ask you ... do you have goals or a vision for your life? What kind of actions/steps are you working on to meet your vision? How do you maintain your focus when a bad day or a rotten circumstance cloud your thoughts and feelings? Am I just crazy? Perhaps I should just let go in the whirling thoughts that swirl and swirl around my brain?

Just one of the lessons I've learned from G

On the train coming home from NYC, I realized how friendly I found most of the people in NY (although we didn't have to drive anywhere. Typically, I find people in Baltimore friendly until I get behind the wheel of a car. Back to the topic ...) The people were friendly because I was friendly and I talked to them like they were people. G is really the one responsible for teaching this to me. Ever since G was born, she has liked to be talked to. In fact when she was newborn, the only I could get her to stop crying was to talk to her. She is a chatterbox, and really always has been, but she really likes to be talked to and she likes explanations even if she can't always understand. It was hard for me to learn to keep up the running commentary when she was a baby. Now it is easier because she just keeps asking me questions. I think that G feels the most loved when I talk to her, share things with her and so forth. I am learning that others like to be talked to as well. Out and about in NY, N and I found many friendly people and we wouldn't have known that they were friendly if we didn't talk to them, usually we talked to them first. Of course, part of talking to people is listening to them when it is their turn to talk.

Now I just need to continue to talk to G and help her to understand that sometimes Mom needs a break from the talking and the listening.