March is a lion?

We have had the most beautiful weather this month (at least up until this weekend where we are finally getting some rain per the normal weather patterns). The unseasonably warm weather has brought nature to life much earlier than anticipated. The tulip trees (some of you know them as magnolias) were beginning to bloom in February. FEBRUARY.

Beautiful weather did make for a wonderful time at this year's Rose City Yarn Crawl. Ten of us roamed across the Portland Metro area to six yarn stores (there were 15 participating), enjoyed lunch in the sun and enabled yarn and pattern purchases for one another.

You can clearly see we visited Twisted, Knit Purl and Dublin Bay. But we also saw Littlelamb and Ewe, Close Knit and Blizzard and enjoyed some ice cream at Salt & Straw. I didn't purchase something at every store we visited, but I definitely enjoyed each one.

I have definitely continued to be busy. Even with the Saturday off for the yarn crawl, it was still not a restful day for me. School, work, practicum, and activities continue to keep me hopping.

Health

Still not getting up to exercise. I have managed to get in a walk here and there, but they are not regular activities. I had a checkup and a mammogram though to get some baselines. I am happy to say the girls are in fine form and no issues there. My checkup shows I do need to pay more attention to food and exercise as my sugar levels remain elevated enough to keep me in the pre-diabetes watch zone.

Knitting

I am a poor, poor crafter. I have cast on Rob's hat and have knit perhaps 5 rows on it. I had the original goal to finish it in January, then I pushed it to February. It may become my March goal.

Reading

I have 14 books towards my goal of 75 for the year. I finished the following books since the last post:

• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Alan Bradley)
• Yes Please (Amy Poehler)
• Garden Spells (Sarah Addison Allen)
• The Girl Who Chased the Moon (Sarah Addison Allen)
• Waking Kate (ebook, Sarah Addison Allen)
• Harbor Island (Carla Neggers)
• Rock Point (ebook, Carla Neggers)
• Tapestry of Fortunes (Elizabeth Berg)
• Thanksgiving Prayer (Debbie Macomber)*
• How to Bake a Perfect Life (Barbara O'Neal)*
• Turquoise (Marilyn Griffin)*
• Second Time Around (Beth Kendrick)*

Of those books, the last four are starred because they were also part of my empty shelf challenge.

I'm currently reading the Neil Patrick Harris autobiography and I need to read this month's book club selection, One Good Dog by Susan Wilson. We're working on a BINGO challenge this year.

Spiritual

I have not been very good at doing my study first. I've been lazy, wanting to sleep as long as possible before getting out of bed. Likely from the last year of busyness. This is the last week of the current Bible study and then I'll get a couple of weeks off before we tackle a shorter study on Gideon.

Prayer

My mother-in-law, Bonnie, is in the hospital. She went in on Thursday evening and is struggling with fluids, heart  and kidney issues. She is in her 80s and a lovely, loving woman. My husband and his oldest brother are the children still in the area so they have been with her and Rob's dad, Raye, over the last few days. They have had conversations with the doctors on prognosis and treatment, with each other on their parents and with their spouses on the difficulty of all of this.

My sister-in-law is likely to come out to stay with them once Bonnie is stable enough to move home. Raye and Bonnie had been making adjustments for their age and abilities, equipment in the bathroom, Meals on Wheels deliveries, having their sons come over to do the yard and household chores. But this event takes it into a new place, one where we have to seriously consider one without the other and the care of this remaining parent.

When I asked Rob how his mom was doing, he said she was doing well. She's calm, reading her books and likely still having the quiet life she had before, just in a different setting. She did talk to Rob about Lily, her cat, wanting us to take Lily in when Bonnie can no longer care for her. It feels like she is preparing for her time to come to an end, as gently as she can with her children. But this is my take based on Rob's reports to me and how he appears to be handling it.

I'll be able to see her today when we go down (school and work has kept me busy when he would go). I guess I'll see for myself how she is doing. I am praying for peace for us all through this.

Changing Seasons

I always look forward to the Fall.  The weather cools and I'm more comfortable, kids in the neighborhood go back to school and a new Bible study starts at church.  This year, all of this has still occurred, but has taken on deeper meaning.

With the temperatures finally at a daytime level I enjoy and so wonderfully cool at night, my comfort level has been changing. It's always amazing to me when I see just how God intends to work in my life - it's as if I just woke up to the specifics of His grace at that moment.

I lost my job in July. I wasn't the employee I needed to be. No matter how unhappy I was, it was still a blow to the ego. But I also rejoiced in it. I had freedom to find what would make me happy, time to see what God would reveal in this next phase of life. So while I'm out of work and the comfort of that steady paycheck, I've also had time to enjoy my cousin and our relationship, time to vacation with my sister, her girls and my parents, time to clean out my house to make room for family. And He has shown me what I really need to be able to live.

Taking the dinghy back to the boat

Fall and kids going back to school has always meant the neighborhood was quieter during the day, but didn't overly affect my home since our children are grown and out on their own. In August, our little household of three (Rob, my cousin and I) grew to 10. We were able to step in and help Rob's niece, husband and children by providing a home to stay in for a time. And they have 4 school-age children and a 9-month-old. And school has taken on a more hands-on approach for the household.

I have also decided to go back to school. I start tomorrow to earn my degree in Social Work. It's only one day a week, for 11 quarters, but it's enough to have me checking my bag to make sure I have everything I need.

Fall Quarter 2012

Thankfully, I have Bible study to keep me grounded. We just started Beth Moore's new study on James and already it's encouraging me.

James 1:2-3, The Message (MSG)
Faith Under Pressure

^2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

I'm headed into a  new season with family, school and comfort levels. It's going to be exciting to see what He does with me and in me.

The End is the Beginning

It's been a difficult day here. I spent an hour on the phone with the daughter who doesn't understand why her father felt the need to ask that she not argue with her brother in the car today. She was insulted and proceeded to argue. Youth always thinks arguing will change the minds of their parents, don't they? Suffice it to say, she was un-invited from joining her father to pick up her brother.

We are struggling right now with adult children (if you can call 19 and 21 adults) who wish to live their lives according to their wants, but who also call us to help them with meeting their needs. How do you support adult children without actually giving them support? Rob and I are trying to lives that embody our Christian beliefs. Trying to love those around us, trying to give over the momentary troubles of today to God in order to focus on the race before us, trying to make right choices on a moment by moment basis. Some days are harder than others and so it is today.

Today brought home to me how much their respect for us and our choices feels like lip service given by them. The expectation of respect for their choices also comes with the expectation we will still provide money when they need it. We are a private lending institution with the names of Dad and Gina.

Don't get me wrong, they love their father. They don't forget Father's Day, they call him on his birthday, and try to give some thought to Christmas gifts for him. But they don't understand they pain they cause him, the grief he has over their choices, his difficulty in sharing his thoughts about their choices.

And, we are so tired. Tired of being taken for granted, tired of being argued with, being told our values, way of thinking, personalities and thought processes are "stupid." Tired of being forgotten (that one is me - no regular Mother's day or birthday greetings for this stepmom). Tired of putting our own financial needs to the side. And you know it's time for a change when you realize you are giving more than a passing thought to moving and not leaving a forwarding address.

We are going to be grandparents. Our son is in a struggling relationship and now she's pregnant. He's determined to be in the child's life, but they have a difficult road ahead of them. They are not married, but living together, can barely make ends meet anyway and now a child is on the way.

Our daughter is in college, but living with her boyfriend. We committed to providing tuition, but all other expenses are hers. There is great struggling for her in wanting to truly be on her own doing whatever she wants and still needing us because she's struggling to make ends meet as well.

When they decided to live with their significant other, we cut off support for living expenses. It may seem harsh, to cut off our children only because they chose to live with their significant other. But as Christians, we will not lend support to sin. But, oh, how we've struggled with it. Who wants their child to have to struggle when it's a simple thing to buy groceries, hiking boots, give money because they lost their wallet?

But, we've reached the point of drawing a tough line and living by it with them. We've felt our hearts being tugged by pity and sorrow for their choices and it's costing us emotionally and monetarily and it is taking a toll on us physically.

We will be putting into action the ability to say no. To say to them "No, we can't help you." To say to ourselves "No, they need to be able to do it themselves." and to say to others "No, they have made the choice to be adults."

We don't know what will be before us once we begin, but oh how glad we are to know we will not be walking this difficult path alone.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day! It's one day after Mom's birthday (Hi Mom! Did you get my voicemail?) and only a couple of days from my birthday.

But today, we celebrate the birth of our nation the best way Americans can: with food, fireworks and family.

On the agenda today:

1) Go to the Red Cross and donate platelets.



Done. It didn't look like I'd be able to since my iron reading wasn't high enough. But they tested on the other hand and the reading came out fine! And once I was hooked up, my platelet count was high enough to do a triple donation. Score! And just because I was willing to come in on a holiday, I received the above t-shirt, a coupon for 2-for-1 tickets to a Portland Beavers game and an apple pie!

2) Go eat and blow things up at the BIL's. They live out on Sauvie Island and there will be bbq'ing, lots of food, target shooting (for some), knitting (for me) and lots of family. Four generations stuffing their faces and enjoying the heck out of one another.

3) Keep knitting on Mom's sweater. The second sleeve is almost done on her CeCe and about ready to join all the pieces to finish the yoke.

4) Share yarn-y things.

This is the yarn I bought at the Dancing Ewe the last time I was in Ellensburg. In the clearance for only $3 each! 100 g skeins of Allhemp6 in an awesome shade of green.



And these were knit last month for a baby shower. The happy parents opted to not know the sex of the baby so what to make that could work for a boy or girl? How about Blu jeans? Easy peasy to knit and a definite hit with the parents. This may become my go-to baby gift.

My head is spinning!

So much going on. So much that defies understanding.

The daughter is wrapping up her first year of college. School until Spring Quarter was going well with an A average. But now . . . now . . . it's changing all too quickly.

Once engaged to be married in December, it was broken off in April. Once planning to move in with 3 other girls into a campus apartment, now moving in with a new boyfriend and another couple. Once a strong student, well, still a strong student but one that's going to repeat a class and take an incomplete on another in order to "keep the A average."

Rob and I have always held that we would not provide living expenses should she make the adult decision to live with someone. Adult decisions require adult responsibility. She will now be taking on all expenses for herself with the exception of medical, vision and dental coverage. She knew this, expected it. Except she forgot two other things: Her cell phone? Hers. Her car insurance? Hers.

These last two were shocks to her system. She hadn't planned on paying for those. But, they are part of an adult life and as an adult living with her boyfriend, they are part and parcel as well.

What does this mean for Rob and I? Well, a lot of prayer for our kids who are not following the path we'd hoped they would follow. A resolve to stand for our beliefs as Christians and not underwrite their lifestyles (both will now be living with significant others). A desire to show love to our children while encouraging them to rediscover the faith they've abandoned.

And maybe a few more weekend getaways. For peace of mind, you know.

Happy Mother's Day

Mom - who raised 3 daughters and a son



My sister Chris - raising two daughters of her own


My sister Kim - just starting out with her first, a daughter

Pictures of the recent fun

Our vacation location: The Plan Sea out of Chula Vista



Plenty of room for 6 adults and 1 baby. As long as most of the time is spent on deck!

Rob's favorite plants appear to be palm trees. He loves taking pictures of them or being photographed with them. This is out along the jetty where there's a park and path. It was a beautiful morning and we passed a couple of groups doing tai chi in the park.



Dad made sure they had a PFD for Giselle on board. Is she conveying an acceptance to wearing it or astonishment over Dad's hair?



Mom also got quality time with Gigi. Here they are, both in their fleece. Although I think Gigi's was footed and Mom's was only a jacket.



Here's the entire Barrera clan: Tony, Kim and Gigi. They got to enjoy nicer weather than what was happening back home in the Mid-West.



Mom & Dad had a kayak moored along side the boat. Rob spent some time tooling about the harbor. I'd hoped to be able to give it a try myself, but the wind was picking up with Rob came back in. Maybe next time.

Where has the time gone?

It's been over a month since I last blogged. Facebook has taken over my life. It's so easy to hop on and see what little things people are doing. And I'm totally caught up in Hatchlings (find an egg! watch it hatch! feed the pets!).

But much has happened in the last few weeks.

March
* I went to Chicago in March and had a lovely time with my newest niece. Since she's only 4 months old (at the time), I also was able to spend time with her parents, my sister and her husband.
* I returned to Vancouver in time to sleep in my own bed and then head out to Ellensburg to visit our daughter. We spent quality time with her in the emergency room where she was checked out for a concussion from a car accident the night before. We went over items for her to do for her upcoming trip to Scotland, paid for Spring quarter and returned to Vancouver on Monday in time for me to . . .
* Teach at bible study that night and again on Tuesday morning
* I vegged out the next two days and then cleaned the house in time for my other sister to arrive with her girls for a quick visit. We had my brother's kids, her girls and our son overnight for a very full house.
* I was happy to return to work for the last two weeks of March.

April
* We went to San Diego to visit Mom and Dad and had the opportunity to see Kim, Tony and Giselle in SD as well.
* We learned first the delay of our daughter's wedding and then the cancellation of it within a 24 hour period
* Rob just celebrated his 46th birthday

I'm looking at the calendar and we still have an upcoming visit from my brother-in-law, 3 more weeks of bible study, another week off in May for me and an anniversary trip for us to Eagle Crest.

All of these things going on and I need to take my health back in hand. I keep going back and forth about doing WeightWatchers again and trying to get up the energy to workout. I need to, but the "want to" aspect is running quite low.

I have pictures. I need to upload and share.

2 weeks off? Yeah, right

So, I had two weeks off from work scheduled. I'd planned to work on my teaching for bible study, catch up on knitting and TiVo, working on items for the Women's Retreat and just enjoying myself.

Instead, I'm in Chicago, without knitting (I know!), watching very few shows I would normally watch (change can be good), wrapping up my teaching notes, trying to remember the time change so I can call people regarding the retreat and trying to stay well.

Sis Kim put out an SOS last week; she had strep and a cold and Gigi was getting out from under a cold bad enough to have them worry about pneumonia. Tony had his hands full with them and work so Mom went first and then I went out and took her place.

Gigi has been a sweetheart. Sure, we battled by the River of Endless Tears one afternoon (hers, not mine!) but we've managed to bump along just fine. She has the sweetest smile that I can't seem to capture on camera. And she's started rolling from her back to her tummy. When she rolls to her right side, her arm gets trapped under her. But for some reason rolling to her left worked better.

She's a drool bomb. Good gravy! She woke up from a nap one day and the entire side of her face was wet - even her hair!

I've got pictures I'll upload later. In the meantime, I'm glad I had the opportunity to come out.

Catching up

Let's see . . .

1) We've found The Dress. It's been purchased and taken back to E-burg to be altered.

2) I've been entering my books into LibraryThing. I'm just over 400 books and I have more to go. However, I don't think I have over 500. We'll see, I guess.

I've just finished Polly Evans' book It's Not About the Tapas. Great travel book about her cycling around Spain solo. I'm trying to keep the sidebar updated with books read.

3) I've knitted some dishcloths.

The usual kitchen cotton. The leftover yarn that's nearly gone. I think I have only bits and bobs of colors and 1.5 balls of white remaining.

4) I finally sat down and wove in the ends for the Little Sister's Dress.


I decided to add 2 different colors for the buttons to make it a little bit more fun.


5) In order to meet a March deadline, I finally started knitting slipper's for Chris, Erin's fiance. I'm using Cascade 220: black for the sole and edging and a heathered green for the top.


6) I'm trying to get over a cruddy cold likely caught from Rob. Who caught his from Kruz and Khylee. And speaking of Kruz, here's what he's learned to do:


This was easier to capture on film than him pretending to be a Jedi and making light saber noises and using the Force to move objects around.

Now we start looking for The Dress

Erin is coming down this weekend from school (3 day weekend) and we'll begin the search for the wedding dress.

Early in January, there was a small (very small) wedding convention at the county fairgrounds we dragged the happy couple to.

(Chris caught with his eyes closed!)

There were a few dresses being modeled by young women walking around the show. We didn't take too may photos, but did manage get shots of a couple of dresses that caught Erin's eye. Of course, I haven't uploaded them yet.

I did manage to upload this pic of Erin modeling a tiara. It's not the photo with the Minnie Pearl aspect, but it's a great one nonetheless.

End of January?

I'm not ready for the month to be over. I haven't done anything!

I've only read one book: Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Fun mystery with sheep trying to figure out who killed their shepherd.

Completed knits for January: two whole washcloths!


Now this site, CubeeCraft, looks like fun. I may need to print some of these out for my cube at work.

And lastly, a photo from Christmas. The nephew mugging for the camera while his Auntie Chris tries to open the Nerf guns she bought him.

Love is in the air

We have two weddings to look forward to in the near and far future.

Our daughter Erin and her boyfriend Chris became engaged this past week.
(Must take picture of them - I have one from Christmas but it's not a "couple" picture)

Chris is from Scotland and the wedding is currently planned for this summer in his hometown. Looks like Rob & I will be getting our passports soon! They could get married where he currently works, Lands of Loyal, or possibly the Scone Palace near Perth.

They have been lovely to watch and the engagement is not unexpected. He spoke with Rob prior to Thanksgiving about asking Erin to marry him and received our blessing then. We've been waiting for the past few weeks for the good news to finally come about.

The other couple getting married is my brother Art and his long-time girlfriend, Kendra. Yay! She's been an absolute blessing and I'm glad her place in our family will be permanent.

This Christmas Day, May You

Have loved ones to spend the day with


Be rich in blessings


Have a warm place to be


And food to eat


Merry Christmas!

A knitting FO and some weather

First, the good news: I finished the Christmas stocking.



Mailed it out to Chicago so that Miss G could have her first Christmas with a handknit stocking made by Auntie Gina. Knit on Denise size 8s with Wintuck and Red Heart yarns. Gingerbread boys are knit in Reynolds Utopia and the faces used the Red Heart. Red gumdrop buttons and the string of candy and the other little candies are miniature ornaments from JoAnn's.

Since I mailed it out, we had a little bit of snowfall that melted quickly in Vancouver.


But since that early snowfall this past week, we had a bit more yesterday:


Definitely not as much as one sister was expecting in Central Washington (12 inches!), but this morning we had a coating of ice as well.


Not what we wanted since Mom was driving up from San Diego. I tried to get out of PDX yesterday to fly to Sacramento and drive up the rest of the way with her, but had my flight cancelled due to Southwest's lack of working de-icers. Mom figured she'd then spend the night at her sister's home and drive up today.

Instead, she kept driving and ended up at my brother's home in Gladstone at 2am. She did stop along the way to put on chains and she'll drive the rest of the way to our house today. It's only a 30-minute drive in good weather, so it'll probably take twice that today.

But it sure is pretty when you don't need to go out.

Taking it off for charity

Mom raised money for St. Baldrick's and shaved her head. Doesn't she look great?

A friend said craziness must run in the family.

I've been lost in Ravelry with the knitting projects, but seem to be knitting less.

I've taken far fewer pictures than I want to.

I've read far fewer books than last year.

Seems like less is happening but I'm not sure where the big time suck is.

But Erin graduated high school in June with her HS diploma and her AA from Clark College. Here's Rob and Erin on that very chilly June night.


She left for college in September. This is actually two photos side by side to show how small a room she has.


Rob and I escaped to the Oregon coast for 5 days in October. Here's a sunset outside our room.


We kept driving past this window:


Had to take a pic of it for you, Mom!

Three times this week and I couldn't claim a headache

I managed to make it into the gym Monday, Thursday and this morning. Sooo tempting to stay in bed instead of crawling out at 3:30am to drag on gear and head out the door.

But! I do feel better for having done it.

And! It's a birthday weekend! This guy is 3 today:


He's 14 months in this picture. He's coming over with his big sister tomorrow so I'll have new photos for the grands.

And this couple:


Will both be adding a year to their ages this weekend. Happy birthdays, Sis and Hubby!

We have another family birthday on Tuesday and one more at the end of the month. March is a pretty popular month!

I'm seeing a trend here

It was the beginning of August (the 1st to be exact) the last time I blogged and it was a month before that when I'd blogged. There's plenty to say, enough to photograph, but man, I'm lazy.

I did go to my 20th high school reunion. Leslie (2nd from the right in the picture below) and I hadn't intended to stay long. 2 hours, maybe 3 and then we'd go. We got there around 7pm and I didn't get home until 1:30am.

This is a picture of a group of friends who were all in the same kindergarten class together - Dan, Megan, Leslie and Eric.

The nut in the back row is Jim - I can't remember when he arrived in BG, but like me he was a transplant from somewhere else.

I'm still pondering the decision by the committee to have dancing - they dimmed the lights and turned up the music (just like a high school dance), but no one was really interested. Oh, there were a few couples occasionally moving out there, but most people preferred to talk to one another.

It was nice to see the people who came, and I certainly didn't a chance to talk to everyone I wanted to catch up with, but I'm glad I went.

I've done some knitting as well.

Those are Coffee Cozies knit in Debbie Bliss Merino DK with size 5 needles. One done in pink with a mock cable and the other a simple rib decorated with a couple of ribbon flowers I had on hand. Tribble chewed a hole the purple one and it had to be repaired quickly since I had less than an hour to the time I was supposed to gift it. I filled the cup with chocolates and tucked the pink cozy inside.

The white and blue hats are knit in Cruz Azul colors for someone who works with Mom. The new mother is part of a family of soccer fans and Cruz Azul is their team. Knit in Bernat Baby Soft on size 4s. I used the basic patterns out of Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.

The blanket is the result of the picture Miss S drew for her birthday blanket. Knit with size 17s using Caron yarns held doubled. It has a seed stitch border on all edges and it wasn't until I was done that I realized I could have carried the yarn up the sides for those skinny brown stripes. D'oh!

The last picture is the 2nd Pirate hat, knit for a friend of Erin's and gifted in time for Talk Like a Pirate Day. Knit with Wool-Ease on size 5's, it's more of a beanie type of hat. It's knit as a reverse of Erin's hat which was also modeled by Rob.

I'm in the midst of other knitting as well. But I haven't taken any pictures of those projects.

Here's one last picture for Nanny: