Happy Socks

Look what I found in the mail yesterday!! They are from Fluffy. They are a perfect fit and comfy as can be. These socks have just put me into a whole new sock bracket. The only problem with that is that I have never knit socks and I am not sure that I can pull that off. They are not easy to do. I think that as soon as I get some of my other projects finished, I will have to give it the old college try.

Fluffy named the socks Happy Socks and yes, they do indeed make me feel happy. You can't really see the design in these pictures. They have a nice design knitted into them that I like very much. She has also in the past sent me a pair of fantastic mittens and smaller versions of the Happy Socks for Hannah and Abby. Those little Happy Socks are adorable. Now I can match!

Thank you ever so much Fluffy. That made my day.

Purple Nurple

Hold still Hannah! I eat you ten I pinch your nipple.

Dere, tat was not so bad was it?

Now you hold still Abby while I taste you! You OK wit tat?

There are always sunny patches. They pierce the darkness. The warm light comes in many different manifestations. It comes in the form of grand kids and it comes in the form of friends and it comes in the form of t-towels and in particular, t-towels with chickens on them. Priceless! I don't think that I can express how happy this pair of towels makes me. They are positively sunny. You can not imagine my surprise to receive them. They were unexpected. Thank you ever so much to the ever so talented Fluffy. If you were here I would give you a huge hug and if you did not want one that would be too bad cause I bet I can run faster than you.

Out For Lunch...

Another title for this post could be: Just A Couple Of Ladies Out Doing Lady Things, but I think I will go with : Out for Lunch And Supper And Dessert... What a perfect day! I was out on the town for 9 blissful hours. The afternoon started with a delightful lunch at one of my favorite places. It was hard to make a decision on what delectable item to indulge myself with.

Follow that with a little shopping in adult company. I love my grand children and do enjoy being out and about with them but shopping in ladies dress shops tests them to the max and consequently tests their mom's and grandma's sweet loving natures. It does not matter very much that I couldn't find even one nice top. Hmmm...I really hate the styles out there right now. Everything is way too form fitting. That is fine if you have a lovely form. I do not like every roll and dimple to show. Ughh! That was the only imperfect part of the day but I did find a new pair of jeans and will take them in to get hemmed next week after I wash them. I did not pre-wash the last pair and ended up with a pair of flood pants which I can now get rid of and no longer have to feel like such a complete dweeb.

We had supper at a wonderful Thai restaurant. I have not had a girls night out for a long, long time. It was fun to be able to girly talk. After that the night became even better. We had a private concert that a dear friend gave for us girls. She sings like an angel and I enjoyed every song she sang. We were served girl food. What could be better than decadent chocolate cake and coffee.

I decided not to participate in the outdoor hot tub festivities. The company would have been great but it is too FREAKING COLD for my fragile constitution! I am convinced that they are just a little crazy. The first thing that makes me dig in my heals and say "no thank you" is the fact that you have to walk from the house semi naked to get to the tub. Just the thought of this makes me shiver. Anybody who sits out in minus twenty something in water and and laughs at the outrageous hair styles they can create due to the fact that their hair freezes instantly has to be just a little nuts. I do hope that they took pictures. Maybe I should have gone watched from the house. I must admit, that would have been very entertaining!

What Fun!

The phone rang...

"Hello" I said.

"I am just turning down Yale Avenue now" she said

"I will be right down" I said

Just as I walk out the door her blue van pulls up to the curb. She waves. I open the door. We both have smiles as wide as the Mississippi! I am still smiling. This is what it is like when two blogging friends finally get to meet. Yup! I finally got to meet Sheila, aka theinvisablemo. Now visible! What fun! How nice to be able to sit down and have lunch together. I just wish our visit could have been longer. Hopefully the clinic won't book us solid for Wednesday. Sheila will be back in town. I forgot to take pictures of this momentous occasion. Next time I will put the camera right where I can see it so I won't forget. I just wish that Eve could be here too. That would be so perfect!

I found this so if you have a moment, maybe you will find it as funny as I did!

The Naming.

Part Three

After the rain stopped I went outside to check on my box playhouse. All that was left was a sodden mess of cardboard, duct tape and sticks. Oh well! I was resigned to the fact that a playhouse was not in my future. Off I went to do the things that children do when it is not raining.

My father at this time decided to take pity on me and went into action. He got on the phone and ordered some lumber. He devised his own plan. He did not consult me for blueprints. My father was not a handy guy with tools. Secretly, I think that is why my persuasion and that of my mother's went ignored for so long. Building things usually was a recipe for frustration and disaster. Whenever he decided to take a shot at being a handyman, my brothers and myself and I am sure my mom knew that it was best to disappear. I can just imagine the helpless expression on his face as he searched through the house hoping to find anyone of us to become his carpenter's helper. I don't know if he found anybody, all I know was that it was not me.

He choose a new plot of real estate for my house. It was on the other side of the garage. A few years before, he had poured a concrete patio up against the garage and built a roof over it. He decided to sacrifice a portion of it for me. It was his easiest option. All he had to do was build three walls, a window and a door. The floor and the roof were already there. He went to work. He managed to build it without amputating any of his limbs or smashing his fingers to bits. He got so involved with the project that he wired it with a light, built jail beds, a table, shelves and even put a lock on the door. My mom staged the place. She brought out a floor mat ,a hotplate , dishes, a pot for cooking and a vase for flowers. I began to wonder if they wanted me to move out there permanently. My dad painted a sign and hung it over the door. It said Chris's Coop.

I felt disappointment but I did not let it show. It in no way resembled the pretty little house of my friend but my parents had worked very hard and I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt that my dad had outdone himself. That night I was allowed to invite my friend Linda over to stay for the night. We cooked our very own supper on my hotplate and dined with the flowers on the table. We brought our sleeping bags and rolled them out on the jail beds. We felt safe and secure with the door locked plus the fact that my parents kept their bedroom window opened.

We very rarely played in my friends playhouse again. Why have pretend lunches and teas when you can have the real thing. Chris's Coop became a hang out for all the neighborhood girls. NO BOYS ALLOWED! I could not think of any name for my blog that would or could be better. It brings back sunny summer memories of laughter and friendship.

I Have been Awarded! and You Have Been Awarded!

I received one YOU MAKE MY DAY award from Eve!

I received another YOU MAKE MY DAY award from Sandy C. at Momisodes!

What I really want to say is that you guys have made my day a few times over!

I am instructed to give this award to 10 other people who in turn are instructed to give it to 10 other people who are instructed to give it to 10 other people. So here are the 10 people who I choose to give the award to: drum roll

1. Eve- back attcha...because you have really made my day! How you may ask?? I enjoy your blog because it is fun...level headed...kind...caring and interesting. You have made it a friendly place to come and visit. Its like coming over for a cup of coffee.

2. Sandy C.- back attcha...because you stick with us all in sickness and in health. Really! I have never seen such blogging stamina! When the rest of us would just give it up...roll over and die figuratively speaking! you are like the Energizer bunny and just keep going. I appreciate how you comment back to me regarding my comments in my e-mail and look forward to receiving them. How do you do it?

3. Jeintje- What can I say? Domestic goddess...photographer...traveler...imaginative...friend to all who visit. I love to come over and see what on earth you are going to be up to next. I just never know...you are full of surprises!

4. Fluffy- Knitter extraordinaries! She says that she is up the creek without a paddle but I say she has both paddles in the water plus we both like Pavarotti. I would love to spend an afternoon with you. We could knit and listen to music and talk about books and old movies. Plus I love her cats...they crack me up!

5. Becky- your blog has made my day for years now. You also own two of my grand children. You created my blog template and got me going. You encouraged me to join NaBloPoMo! You have some of the best pictures I have ever seen...are a good writer...are very creative and hands clapping here...appreciate my sappy ramblings.

6. Melissa- because of your commitment to do 365 days of consecutive blogging and because you are back blogging after taking a long break plus you also own one of my grandchildren. I love all blogs that feature pictures and stories of my grandchildren. I am very biased. I love the honesty of your blog. I love the shopping posts...yea to shopping!

7. Margaret- because of your commitment to post after I tag you! I will warn you that I have just been tagged by Momisodes. I have not gone to see what the tag is yet but for sure I will be passing it on to you.

8. Jen (Aspergertopia)- because you inspire me. I am sure you inspire anybody who stops by your blog. You are an incredible mom and an incredible person.

9. Angela- always worth the wait. Quirky and highly entertaining! Funny...funny...funny! Strange...odd...sometimes slightly disturbing but never ever dull!

10. My better half- even though you number your posts and refuse to give them proper titles the content of your posts...what can I say...how can I describe? Cream of Wheat? I think others will just have to go and see for themselves. Anyway...you always make my day and I wish you would post more. Nobody can make me laugh like you can.

Take a bow...pick up your award...pass on the love!

Ode To A Childhood Friend

Oh...how I love Google, in particular...how I love the World Phone Book! Yesterday while checking the World Phone Book to see if the phone number my mom gave me for my brother was the correct long distance number I would hate to have the following conversation... Me: "Hello? Scott?" They: "Comma ce va? Sprenkedi Espanole ? Bon Jour ariva don la ooooh sur la table!!!" I had an epiphany! Yes...about every four years or so I have one! I realized that if I could so easily see if Scott's number was correct, I could easily see if my long lost childhood friend had moved and if so maybe find her. To my shock she was still at the same address and phone number! Whoo Hoo! I gave her a call.

Talk about stepping back in time. It was like I never left. We were such soul mates as children. We still are. The only thing better than this spontaneous phone call would have been if I could have spontaneously appeared on her door step! What a great chat. What great memories! The phone bill will be worth every dollar. We are both still squealing!

She had been in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago and had took a walk over to our old school. She had stood on the spot where the snow cone guy used to be. She said if she closed her eyes she could imagine us still there buying our suicide cones. (these had every flavor added to the snow)

We met before Kindergarten. She was riding her tricycle and I was riding mine.

I remembered filching Kool-aid, mixing sugar with the powder, putting this mixture into a container, putting the container into a basket and attaching the basket to a long rope. We would climb the large tree in Sweedster's back yard with the rope attached to one of our belts. When we got to the top of the tree we would haul the basket up. We would eat this concoction by sticking our fingers in it and licking it off them. Our mouths and tongues would turn what ever color of Kool-aid we managed of pilfer. We never got away with this. The dye would tell on us.

She can play the piano like an angel. She was a child prodigy. I used to lay on the couch at her home and close my eyes an listen. She teaches piano today. I am glad she is passing on all her piano knowledge.

We fought like real sisters. One of us would usually end up stomping off home only to be back in half an hour or so. One time our moms decided to make us take a week off from each other. They never did it again. They decided that it was too cruel plus it did not achieve the result they imagined plus I think they each suffered a horrible week. Hahaha! We never held grudges.

We slept over at each others homes. We ate together. We went to school together. We dreamed together. We sometimes went to church together. We held hands.