Pay it Forward
I found this here, who found it here, who found it...okay, I won't actually continue any further back, but I am going to take the challenge up.
Here's the deal:
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days. That is my promise. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
Hopefully, I've got enough folks reading that three of you will want to continue this on...I guess we'll just wait and see. You know you want to be involved.
Safe Haven for Wandering Pets?
TheBoy and I currently have no pets. Fish! went to the big fishbowl in the sky last August at the ripe old age of 2.5. We really want a dog but alas, they're not allowed where we currently live. We could have a cat, but while we like cats, we're not so sure we want to be cat owners. Plus, there's no good place for a litterbox and we'd have to pay a $300 fee to have one. Yeah, no.
However, word seems to have gotten out that our apartment is a good place for the cats of the apartment complex to take shelter from the cold in. Wednesday night as I was preparing mashed potatoes we started to hear a yowling cat outside our door. Thinking he might be hurt we let him in to give him a once over. It was only after letting him in that we had no idea what to do. We decided to call the apartment manager's cell phone. Luckily the apartment manager recognized our description of the furry visitor. Turns out his name is Ollie and we were instructed as to where he lives. I carried a very happy, very large Ollie all the way to his apartment only to discover that his owners weren't home. Deciding that I couldn't leave him outside without knowing that he was a wanderer [it is not required that cats stay inside in our complex and several cats have the run of the place] I carried him all the way back to our apartment where we called the manager again and confirmed that he would be fine to turn loose. We let him sniff his way around for a few more minutes before sending him out. He protested a few times then headed home.
This evening, TheBoy and I decided to order a pizza for dinner. Just after the pizza was delivered, I was dealing with the pizza in the living room when TheBoy yelped in surprise. When I asked what was wrong, he told me that we "had a visitor." Now, having grown up in a house with a wood stove and a chimney in a rural part of the world, "we have a visitor" generally meant bird, bat or mouse. I was really hoping it wasn't any of those but couldn't figure out what it might have been. Turns out that a big, fluffy orange cat [one I had seen wandering the complex before] let himself in while the pizza was being delivered. I picked him up and petted him for a few minutes before I let him out again. He was very sweet and seemed indignant about being turned out in the cold but I'd rather not steal someone's cat tonight.
One thing that struck me as weird about both of these wandering cats is that neither one was wearing a collar. Although I suppose if you're naive enough to let your cat wander loose in an apartment complex located on a busy road you're probably not very concerned with collars and tags. I can't make them do so, obviously, but it sure seems like the smart thing to do, since we live in a medium sized complex and most people don't talk to each other.
Thankful.
I'm thankful for many things, these days, but most of all I am thankful that I am lucky enough to have this man in my life. That he is my husband, and I get to spend every day for the rest of my life with him. I'm also thankful that I never have to plan or have another wedding.
I'm thankful for my family and my friends, for my generally good health, the roof over my head, the warm bed I sleep in every night and that I have enough food to eat. I am thankful that Nanie did not have to suffer and though we miss her terribly, I am thankful that I got to know her for even the relatively short time that I did.
Thank you, everyone reading along at home, for being a part of my life. It truly makes things more interesting.
Welcome to the World Little One
I'm a bit late on this one, but there's been some wonderful amidst the crud recently. My husband's niece and her husband [there's a generation gap between TheBoy and his half siblings] welcomed their first child, a son into the world on October 29th. It's wonderful news, he's happy and healthy and I can't wait until we get to travel to meet him. In preparation for his arrival, I began what would become one of many baby related knitting projects.
This is Kate Gilbert's Pea Pod from Interweave Knits, knit in the six month size from Knitpick's Shine Sport in Turquoise. I really like high contrast buttons, and when I was searching for buttons at JoAnn's I thought these would be perfect...And machine washable. Highly necessary when dealing with baby knits, in my opinion. I haven't gotten this mailed off to them yet, at this rate it might end up going as a Christmas gift, but it won't be cold enough for him to wear it until about then anyway, nor will it fit for a bit yet.
In general baby news, there are babies everywhere in my life. First was a daughter for a friend of mine from high school in September. Then, our great-nephew. And coming up, three babies in the month of December. One for one of my dearest friends from undergrad, and two will be born to friends from graduate school. All told, my knit goods tally for this round [plus gifts for a not-so-much-a-baby-anymore little boy I know] should include three sweaters, two hat and mitten sets and a stuffed elephant. Clearly, it's a good thing I didn't plan to knit holiday gifts for anyone.
Pet Peeves.
My family had strict traditions about holiday decorations when I was growing up. The Christmas tree [and other decorations] were on display from the Sunday before Christmas through New Year's Day. No more, no less. The best years were when Christmas was on a Sunday because then you got a full week of the tree before Christmas. We never put up lights on the outside of the house, largely because no one would have seen them, but we enjoyed every minute of the festive decorations, probably in large part because we knew how short their lifespan would be.
My own decorating guidelines are a little less strict. I believe my tiny blue Christmas tree was technically still on display until April or so, in large part because I do not have a "Christmas decorations box" to pack it away into. However, I wouldn't dream of November 1st being the day on which I pulled out the decorations to set them up for the year. That's just...Well, it's just Too Much Festive. And with the commercial aspects of Christmas starting before Halloween even takes place, it seems like it's a little too much for me. I love Christmas, I love the wonder, and the sparkle and the family but I don't love it two months worth. And I really don't love it ridiculous advertisements for two months worth.
In spite of my hatred for far too early Christmas advertisements and decorations, there's one apartment in our complex that we walk by to get to our car, whose early decorations don't offend me. We each have one very large aluminum slider window in our "dining area". My neighbor has raised their blinds about 6 inches in order to take advantage of the display space the window ledge provides. And on that window ledge is a rag-tag bunch of Christmas figurines, that get progressively more...interesting...as you walk past. They start with the traditional, snowmen and the like. However, the last two items? A random tin that looks like a gingerbread house--kind of--and a mug printed with candy canes. The whole window is ringed with small, multicolored lights. And there's just something about the ridiculousness of it all that makes it so I just can't help but smile every time I walk by. Maybe there's a little magic in the twinkle lights. You won't catch me putting mine up until after December 1st though!