Baby Hat Dowry

My Boss Judy got married in August of this year. They are going to start trying to have a baby this Summer. I thought I would make Baby a hat dowry. This is Hat #1 also known as "the Marley Hat". They do not want your basic pink and blue baby stuff, so my goal is to make some awesome funky hats for this yet to be born baby. My goal is one hat a month. I gave this to them the beginning of December. Hat #2 is coming soon.

St. Louis Road Trip

So yesterday my bestest knitting friend Marie and I went to St. Louis to see my hero, otherwise known as the Yarn Harlot. We had a girly sleepover at my house the night before, set the GPS for cruise and left around 7:30 a.m. (merely because my bestest yarn friend Marie thinks she is a rooster and needs to be up before the sun comes up and makes so much noise in the morning that she woke up pretty much the rest of the household including but not limited to cats, dogs, kids and husbands). But I digress, it was a beautiful day and I was so excited my favorite yarn author was coming to an area I could actually drive to (considering she lives in Canada and I dont have a passport) . The drive was awesome, we got to go to a yarn shop, a Barnes and Noble and then to the church for the talk. I was a little put off by the fact that she was speaking in a church. Does the St. Louis Public Library not have a conference room, was there no Barnes and Noble that had enough room to house a room full of women with sharp needles? Oh well we survived, neither of us burst into flames when we walked through the church doors, and other than some mindless mother who decided it was a great idea to bring not 1, not 2, but 3 children all under the age of 7 to this event , Stephanie was awesome. She had us laughing out loud! I love knitting humor. The icing on this trip was that Marie and I got out picture posted on the Yarn Harlot's website because we had her sign our Kindle and Nook respectively! We are awesome and now we are famous.

Thank you Stephanie for a wonderful day and as soon as I get a passport, I am going to your house.

Old Age

Some people will age gracefully, some will not. What I am not sure about is how my mind is going to age. It seems after I turned 40 things started to go down hill. I started putting the jelly in the cupboard and the peanut butter in the fridge. I started wondering why I came into a room and what it was I needed. I have found myself in the shower wondering if I have washed my hair. Just yesterday I caught myself trying to use shower gel as shampoo.
I have found its best to write things down as they fall out of my head as soon as I leave a room.
Sometimes I think someone is stealing my stuff. My glasses go missing, my slippers get moved, and someone is constantly moving my stuff to different places in my room. No one in my family will admit to these acts, but I think they are trying to drive me crazy.
The only thing I can think to do is wear a lanyard with a notebook and a pencil attached to it along with a note that has my name, phone number and address on it. If I get lost someone is bound to return me to my rightful owner.

Toddlers v. Teenagers

To all the parents of toddlers who are at their wits end with potty training, tantrums, and sleepless nights, just you wait.

To all the parents of teenagers who are at their wits end with loud music, missed curfews, smart mouths, and know it all attitudes, God help us.

I always thought when my kids were little, that is when I would be needed as a parent the most. Man was I wrong. Teenagers need more guidance, more attention, more love, more patience and more tough love than any toddler I have ever seen.

Letting go of our toddlers hurts like nothing I have ever experienced. When I took my son to preschool the first day, I was crying so hard in the parking lot, I couldn't go in the front door.

When I picked him up on this 17th birthday because he almost got arrested, I was crying so hard I couldn't even look at him. Boy how times change.

Letting go of our teenagers is thank god, less painful and more liberating. I want my kids to go, I want them to experience life, I want them to travel and see things before they get stuck in the "real" world. So when I tell you "I cant wait for you to leave", I mean that in the nicest way possible, just please go somewhere cold so I can come visit.

The Gift

Now don't get me wrong, I have been given some totally awesome gifts in my life, but the quilt you see here was handmade by my friend Kathy. About a year ago, I admitted to myself that I would never be the quilter I wanted to be, but I had seen this quilt on the cover of a magazine and knew it was mine. I asked Kathy if I bought all the fabric would she do me the honor of making it as she is a gifted quilter as you can see for yourself. Throughout the next year I thought little about my quilt (well ok maybe I thought of it a few times!) but never said a word to her about it as I knew when it was done, I would be be told. She finished my quilt in August and even had her sister quilt it for me. I was presented with my quilt and it was love a first sight. I cannot ever say enough thanks to this truly remarkable woman who made this quilt. I get teary eyed whenever I look at it as it is a thing of beauty and was made for me by a woman I love. I wish there were words better than "thank you" that I could say to her to express how much I appreciate all the time and energy Kathy put into this quilt. My last wish is to be buried with my quilt as I want to sit up in heaven wrapped in it and knit for eternity! xxoxoxo my dear friend Kathy.

Sleep Deprivation

So I decide to take a little trip to Chicago with my friend to see her daughter. While sleeping, as most women of my advanced age are doing at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, I hear my phone beeping:

1:00 a.m. text from teenage son "Mom"

Me: "what"


Teenage son: "I have something I need to tell you"

Me: " What's going on?" (please note I typed that response while heart was pounding, blood pressure was off the charts, I had lost all color in my face, and I started sweating profusely)


Son: "Its a long story I will tell you when I get home, didn't know you were gone"

Me: What the f*&%k! ( I thought this, I did not text this) . "Are you in trouble?"

Son: "No"


The rest of the story is very boring, as I told him to go home and we would talk things out when I got back.

Now I am up, I have gotten my friend up and I think I had a mini stroke all in a time span of about 15 minutes.


I am sure son came home, went to bed, and slept like a baby. Me on the other hand, was up for much longer, slept very bad, and am sure I aged another 10 years from 1:00 a.m. to 1:15 a.m.

Thanks honey, mommy loves you!

Junior/Senior First Day of School.

Its August 18,2011 and this is the last First Day of School Picture for Chase. He is a Senior this year and Shelby is a Junior. Again, I know I should be sad, but I think its awesome. They have so much life to live and so much to look forward to. I want them to got out a live life and travel and be happy. They are ony 18 months apart and no matter what she says, I know Shelby will miss having her big brother in school with her next year.

Enjoy this year Chase!

Shelby just keep moving and doing what you always do and I will always be so proud of you.

Happy Sweet 16

Well its official, today my baby girl turned 16. The pin to the left was worn by Brandon when he turned 16, then a year later Chase wore it for his 16th, and now the last child, grandchild, and daughter wears the Sweet 16 pin and then it will be retired. This day does not make me sad it actually makes me very happy as I can see what an awesome woman my daughter is turning into. She will be driving in two months, has had her first boyfriend for almost 6 months now, is going to be starting her Junior year in high school. She has plans on becoming a nurse and has her head on very straight for a 16 year old! I love you Shelby and I could not be more proud of you. I hope you have a fabulous day :)

1/2 Year Resolution!

It has been 4 months since I have blogged! What it wrong with me, am I that boring, am I that busy, am I that lazy???? Well this is my 1/2 year resolution, I promise to blog at least once a week if not more! There is is now official cause its in writing.

What could have been......

So I recently decided I want letters after my name. To get these letters I think I should have gone to college. I choose Harvard (picture at left) as my college of choice. I would have an ivy league education and could have gotten my Ph.d, M.D. , RN, LCSW, any number of letters could have been mine. Small problem, the only college I attended was ICC. Close to Harvard but not close enough for the letters I wanted. Oh to be young again and realize then what I realize now. I would have gotten up and gone to class had I known I would be sitting at a desk typing reminder letters to clients not to miss their next court date! Oh the injustices of the world, that I was not born to be a great leader to be reveared by all and have letters after my name. So as I sit here at my desk at age 46 1/2 I will have to live with the fact that the only letters after my name will be "WTF" or "RSVP" ..........

Ahhh Boyfriends!

This is Lucas. This is Shelby's "bf" boyfriend, honey pants, sweetie pie........ Just kiddin Shelby!! Seriously though this is my baby's first boyfriend and I could not be happier for her. He is a very nice guy who is very respectful of her, very attentive to her and they have a lot in common. They both are very smart, very athletic, seem to really enjoy each other's company and keep things very low-keyed. There is nothing I hate more than PDA, especially by teenagers. They have a very quiet attentive attitude towards each other and this is a great experience for her.

Enjoy this Shelby, dont take yourself or him too seriously, just have fun. I still remember my first boyfriend, John Hoerr, and still have the id braclet you gave me in 6th grade..........

Happy 17

Today is kind of a hard day for me. This picture is of Chase on his 1st birthday. Today at 10:00 a.m. he turned 17. No nearly as much fun as 1!

Its hard because he is such a hard place in his life and he cannot seem to get himself out. He is stuck between being a boy and wanting to be a man. I watch all the mistakes he continues to make and I cannot seem to help him. He makes such bad choices in the things he does, the people he hangs around with and the fact that he would rather sit on the outside alone instead of being on the inside with those who love him most. It breaks my heart that he would rather stay home than be with his family. The people he hangs with are not his friends and he found that out as soon as he did not have a car anymore. He thinks whats important is how many "friends" you have on facebook or how many texts you get. I need him to under that what is most important is right in front of him.

Swim Suit Edition #1

So as I begin to think about Summer coming, I felt I needed to run through some of the all time great swimsuits that have been worn over the years. The first one with the cover up is from tour 1996 "my first swimsuit collection". I know its hard to see, but there was gold trim at the top with an anchor patch which is just stunning! And what swimsuit model would not have a beautiful terry cloth cover up to keep her skin from getting sunburned.

The Pink one is also from our 1996 "boating" collection. No one owns just one suit for the summer months! This model is for boating as you can see from our stunning beauty on the back of this yacht. Nothing says fashion like a sailor ducky and a white ruffle at the waist.

Stay tuned there are more fashions coming,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Young Love

I am going to say this was taken in 1994. Oh how young we look, how thin I look, how straight my hair is, how much hair Rodney had, thank god my hair has improved over the years LOL! This year we will celebrate 18 years of marriage. Literally they said it would never last. We were friends first, friends second and husband and wife third. I think we have done a good job at our marriage, we work well together, we each have really good points that tend to work off each other well and we are not fighters. I know what its like to be in an bad relationship and a bad marriage so I really hit the jackpot with Rodney and I have a lot to thank him for. I would be lost without him and need to thank him more for always being there for me. Every girl should be so lucky.

Super Sweet 18

Its hard to believe this little boy will turn 18 January 23, 2011. This is Brandon my wonderful step son and he is now able to buy lottery tickets and cigarettes! I told him that he had to do those two things just cause he can. He said no to the cigarettes but yes to the lottery tickets. 18 years ago Rodney and I had just gotten off work at Schooners and were sitting down having a beer. He got a phone call at the bar (there were no cells phones then) and was told Laura had gone into labor and was at the hospital ready to give birth. At 10:22 p.m. we had a son! Its been a pleasure to be his second mom and I love you Brandon and Happy 18th!

January 3, 2011

Well so far the first 3 days of 2011 have been awesome. Lets see how the other 362 days go! This year holds the following awesome events:

1. Brandon turns 18 ! No frickin way!
2. Shelby turn 16! My baby...
3. Shelby gets her driving permit,,,,,OMG
4. Kris turns 50... she is old!
5. Rodney and and I will celebrate 18 years of marriage,... they said it would never last!
6. Brandon graduates from high school.,,,,, we hope so anyway
7. Judy is getting married,,,,, love a good wedding

OK thats enough for now I am exhausted just thinking about all this............