Waiting for Rain

If you're on Facebook they have a memories function that  goes back to that date for various years. Mine kept going back to the Pittsburgh Yarn and Fiber Festival, one of the biggest shows in the country and that will lead us back to Mary - one of the strongest women I've ever had the honor of knowing. This festival has classes and people send in a request to teach, but sometimes they ask you and when they do it's like having your art work win first prize. I'd entered an intricate lace shawl I'd worked on for months at the local festival - only to lose to one of the judge's daughter in law who had (I kid you not) produced a plain crocheted scarf. She also won second place,hmmm. Anyhow as I was stewing in my tiny pool of knitter's hate I got a call from the person running the Pittsburgh festival asking me to teach two classes! Me! She has come down to the festival and saw my work, she told me how impressed she was, I was so flattered.  I went to the yarn shop we all shopped at and asked the owner if I could pay her to  give me a class on how to teach a class - and got ripped apart with the owner telling me she had no idea how they'd picked me, it was a horrible idea and she knew I'd fail. (Mary suggested later on it might have been the owner had been upset because she'd never been asked). Needless to say at our knitting group I was deciding to not do it and Mary told me to wait. She called me the next day to let me know we were going to her friend's yarn shop that weekend and they would both teach me how to teach a class. I had the best day - it was such a confidence booster. The day of the class Mary and  my other friend Stephanie met me up there, they both had signed up and gave me so much support, walking me through the parts I faltered, I have never forgotten their kindness that day - they made it a once in a lifetime experience I'll always treasure.

I met Mary in a knitting group outside of Pittsburgh, when I started with Bayada it was a few miles from my office - I knit with that group for over five years, every week. We had some people come and go, but we had a core that always showed up. I met Mary when she was in her 70's, she was a retired ortho nurse so we had some common ground. She was married to someone not likeable (not abusive, just not likeable) but she loved to travel and she collected yarn from all over the world. She was such a  precise knitter and would often be found walking us through some of the more complicated patterns, she never got annoyed or short with anyone and yes, she too taught. One night when she came in she announced she was getting divorced - we were floored. But she said she was not going to spend the rest of her life miserable with someone who didn't appreciate her. The following months she regaled us with tales of the divorce which went anything but smoothly often having us laughing with her antics. After we moved I kept in contact, but not as much as I would have liked - we were all over the place the first year. And then Mary passed away in her sleep unexpectedly - I felt so terrible. She had finally gotten the divorce and was getting on with her life, I know she passed peacefully, but how unfair that was. 

This pattern kept coming up in Ravelry and I know my former knitting pals will recognize i, it's called Waiting For Rain.We all have one of those projects we drag our feet to finish and this was Mary's albatross, as far as I know she didn't finish it  - or maybe she did. All I know was it seemed to make numerous Guest Star Appearances at our knitting group once in awhile. She frogged parts of it on occasion as she was a perfect knitter but it never seemed to be done! We would sometimes laugh when she pulled it out once again - I think she just didn't want to finish it. The yarn I used I dyed myself and somehow managed to get three colors from the same yarn and the same pot! It was not really a hard knit and I am not a perfect knitter so the few teeny bobbles are left in it. But I knit it in memory of Mary, I think my thoughts of her went into every stitch. I still miss her and when I find a fun project my thoughts will go to her, gone way too soon.

 

Short But Sweet

Jackson finished up his tour in Guantanamo Bay  and Amy finished up in Italy, they are finally going to be stationed together. That only took forever didn't it? We didn't expect to see them , I knew they had a lot on their plate coming home. They had to wait for Amy's dog to arrive, then off to Arizona to see her parents, get started with the cars and then off to Whidbey Island to see the girls. But he called on Thursday to let me know they would be down for a short visit with the girls - bonus! This time of year is the long stretch we don't see them as they're in school and there's no vacations to plan. I had to cancel plans with Kim and Steve, but they didn't mind, they know how infrequently I see either one of my kids. They planned to leave at noon and arrive around 5 but didn't leave til two and 5 potty breaks later they arrived about 8pm, the girls were excited to be showing Amy and Jack  their things here. We will have lived here 4 years in June (I can't believe it either! In August I'll be at the four year mark at my job!) but they've never been down to see the house.

I didn't take too many pictures - I know,weird for me! I just wanted to enjoy this short time with my family. Bee and Dutch were over the moon to have  so many visitors at once, Bee was hostessing her butt off and managed to sit on everyone's lap. Jack grew up with Vizslas and is used to their overly friendly antics, Amy was playing with them all weekend. We didn't do much, I had no time to plan anything and I think with all the traveling Jack and Amy have been doing staying put was not objected to. The whole house was full! The girls slept in their room downstairs and Bee somehow managed to sleep with the guests taking her hostessing skills to a whole new level. She did get under the covers and shared pillows but no one seemed to mind. Saturday we just hung out, it was fun getting to know Amy better and of course seeing Jackson - we are so proud of him!! D took him and Amy upstairs to play Barbies and C played video games and showed off the Office that they seem to think belongs to them and not Nana. They also managed to squeeze in a tea party even though I was out of marshmallows that they don't like.  But they feel the Not So Hot Cocoa needs them, who am I to judge?

The girls had school on Monday so they drove them to the halfway point to meet Brandi, I offered but Jackson wanted to spend all the time that he could with them. After this they will be down in March for the girls 7th birthday - I know! SEVEN! They came back for the rest of the day and evening and on Monday left to return the rental car and then fly back to Arizona to register the car and get Amy's dog. I had taken a few hours of personal time on Monday so I could see them off but then I took another two vacation days this week. Even though I've had time off - it was all non-stop. Christmas, over 2 weeks with the girls, the flu, emergency surgery.........I feel like I need a little time to regroup. Today David and I did Costco (we're completely out of fruit and Vegetables) and I took the hydro unit completely apart and scrubbed the bejesus out of it. Yes it's a pain but I only have to do it a couple of times a year and I think I finally figured out a faster way to do it. Tomorrow I have a few phone calls to make but I am going to take one day to do Absolutely Nothing Of Value. Because we all need to breath once in awhile.