Where I’ve been…
I’ve never been a hugely prolific poster since I decided to do this blogging thing, but it’s really been a while this time. I’ve had so much going on that I don’t know if I know where to even start.
Part I – Knitting…as good a place as any to start
I’ve started a pair of socks; I went to Webs one weekend and bought a couple of hanks of Trekking sock yarn so I’ve got at least got one pair on my needles, though it’s been a little while since I worked on them. I’ve been working on a wrap for the last few weeks. It’s a simple wrap, all knit stitch with YOs to make the increases. Absolutely easy stuff, right? I thought so. I even spent <
I did finish a felted purse for my step-daughter, Becky, and another felted bag to carry my XM radio stuff in – pix with the post. Not much else to report on, knit-wise, as I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding time to get some knitting in. Of course, it’s summer, so it’s kind of hot to knit for some of us. I really can’t use that for an excuse, though, because the house is air-conditioned. There just seems to be so much more to do that knitting takes a back seat most of the time.
Part II – Kittens in my life!
I think I already told you that I adopted a lovely kitty named Gracie on January 11 and that I was going to try to talk Mike into a second kitty so she wouldn’t get lonesome while we’re at work. I guess I can be very persuasive… :o)…Gracie now has two little ‘nephews’, named Ed and Gene, after my uncle and my Dad. The boys are brothers and even Mike couldn’t resist them; that same good friend Sue who found Gracie for us took them and their mother into her home to foster them so they wouldn’t have to go to a shelter. Once Mike saw them, he was sunk and we had to take them home. Who could resist? Not me, certainly.
I told you they are named after my Dad and my uncle and it’s kind of a longish story, but it does explain the names. Dad and Uncle Ed, for some odd reason that only they knew, called each other “George” for as long as I can remember. Think conversations that went like this, “George, grab me a beer!” and the response, “Sure, George. Cheese and crackers, too?” Anyway, I don’t know why they did it, but they did it. We even called Uncle Ed “Uncle George” and my cousins called Dad “Uncle George” as well. Odd, I know, but the names work because I dreamt I had cats named George and Gracie…get it? “George” being Ed and Gene together, and of course, my Gracie making up the group. So now I do have “George” and Gracie, but it’s really three cats and the house is lovely with all of them.
Part III – the scary bits…
Let’s see, what else has been going on in my life? Besides getting married? A bit of a fearful time as I wait to hear how things are going for me, health-wise. I’m having some gynecological issues and waiting to hear how I’m going to end up dealing with them. It’s looking more and more like a hysterectomy will be in the offing. All I have to do is wait for test results, watch, and wait, and wait, and wait….It seems like forever to me. I’m not going to elaborate too much until I know more, but I’ll post as I know more. Another visit to the doc in August and I should know what’s what, I hope…Keep your fingers crossed!
Part IV – Inked!
Under “Life Change #1” you’ll find a picture of Shaun the Sheep knitting. He now resides on my left wrist! When I was 15, I used india ink and a needle wrapped in cotton thread to ‘tattoo’ a small heart on my wrist. I always wore a watch, so no one really knew it was there. My Mom didn’t even know about it until I was in my 30’s. I always wanted to fix it somehow, you know, put something prettier or more meaningful over it to cover it up, but never had the nerve. Becky has a few tattoos and she overheard me tell her Dad that I wanted to do that some time. The rest, as they say, is history. She told me she’d buy me a ‘tat’ and get the same one as a Mother’s Day present and I said, what the hell, I’ll do it! So there’s the picture so you can see what I did.
Part V – Connubial Bliss…I hope!
Mike and I have been living together for 21 years and neither of us ever figured we’d be married to each other or anyone else, for that matter. So go figure; on May 29th I turned 52 and Mike and I were talking and marriage came up. Surprise, surprise…I thought we were just talking so I didn’t think any more of it for a few days. Then one night we were at the mall bookstore and I asked him if he had been serious. He was…so we started to make plans. We weren’t going to tell anyone until the deed was done, but things kind of got in the way of that. We went to buy wedding rings and when we came home, Mike’s daughter Becky was at our house. She has a key and had come over to watch tv, thinking we’d be home. When we did come home, Mike and I looked at each other, both nodded, and tossed the jeweler’s bag into her lap. She was just so happy, she cried. She’s a great kid, works hard, and has worked her way through nursing school to work at the local major medical center in the Coronary Care Unit as an RN. I’m very proud of her.
Anyway, now the secret was out, at least to one person. The next day being Saturday, we planned to do some garage saling. Mom had asked me to make a deposit for her at her bank, so we did that first thing that morning. I also wanted to make sure I had enough cash in case I found something really good at the garage sales. Becky wanted to go with us and was waiting for us at the house; we were on the way back there from the bank to pick her up. In the meantime, she called Mike on his cell phone to tell him that there was someone at the house we had been trying to avoid. This guy has been trying to buy our woodstove for ages and won’t take “NO” for an answer. Anyway, I turned the car away from the house, deciding to check out one of the local garage sales in our neighborhood. Becky said she’d get rid of the guy and give us a call when he was gone, so we decided to shop until we heard from her.
There didn’t seem to be anything much of interest out front at the sale we stopped at, so I decided to see what was on the porch. Lo and behold, there was a sign on the porch…“For Sale: Diamond Engagement Ring, never worn, $300”. I couldn’t resist, so I asked to see it. It was a really beautiful ring; a solitaire with eight diamonds channel-set, four on each side of the centr stone, and it fit like it was made for me! Mike hadn’t got me an engagement ring; it was just too much for the budget; finding this ring was total serendipity. He looked at me and I looked at him, and we offered $250 and she took it! As we walked away, her boyfriend in the house could be heard to say to her, “I can’t believe you just did that!” I’ve since had the ring checked out and it’s really a nice diamond ring and more than perfect for us! We just couldn’t have afforded anything like an engagement ring, especially one so nice; it would have been too much for the budget in this age of gas being over $4 a gallon, among other things.
Now to get to the good stuff: Mike and I decided that since we go to the 1941 Historic Aircraft Group’s Airshow in Geneseo, NY every year, we would go and get married there and make it our mini-honeymoon. We decided to keep it kind of quiet and not invite anyone because we’re like that. Geneseo is our place and it wouldn’t be fun anymore if others discovered it. I don’t mean to sound selfish, but we wanted to do things our way. The last wedding I went to was so huge and impersonal that it was just no fun and I wanted to have fun at mine. Mom was a little disappointed that she couldn’t come, but her health wouldn’t allow it anyway. She’s 74 and severely arthritic – in a wheelchair for travel – and the airshow is outside, usually hot and in case you’ve never been to an airshow, there is no shade unless you’re under a plane’s wing. It would have been hell for her, and would have made the entire day awful for us because we would have been worried about her the entire day. She understood and didn’t push the issue.
But once Mom knew, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the family knew. We decided to tell our favorite family members in person after we told Mom and we did that. Since we were getting married in a matter of weeks, there really wasn’t time for anyone to make any plans for all the extracurricular ‘crap’ that seems to go with weddings, so I think we’ve gotten away with that bit. I mean, really, how many wedding showers do you really need when you’ve been living with the same person for 21 years? It’s not like we really need anything and I’d be uncomfortable taking other gifts, so it worked out great as far as we are concerned.
We got our license on Friday, June 13 – don’t get all superstitious now, ok? – and brought it with us to Geneseo. We left home on Friday morning, July 11 and drove out to the airfield. It’s a bit of a drive, about 4 to 5 hours, especially since we make frequent stops to stretch our legs because I do all the driving b. We arrived in to Geneseo at about 12:30 and checked into the local Quality Inn, where we had made reservations a year ago. We always make our reservations the day we leave – we know we’ll be back next year.
In the meantime, I checked the Historic Aircraft Group’s website (http://www.1941hag.org/) and contacted someone about finding a judge or a justice of the peace in town so we could get married out there. They didn’t think I was nuts at all; turns out there was another couple renewing their vows on the 12th and they didn’t think the judge would mind performing two ceremonies. Mike and I met the folks from the airshow and the other couple on Friday at the fly-in day. I had spoken to the judge on the phone a couple of times since we found out what we were going to do. The other couple, John and Lia, who were getting married at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday in full World War II military regalia at the WWII re-enactor’s site were really nice. John was going to be married in military garb and Lia was going to wear a 1940’s period white satin dress. It was so cool and so not us. Once we had everything figured out, Mike and I went off to buy our own wedding garb. We wore 2008 airshow tee-shirts and jeans. I was not going whole-hog on a dress and a tux and all that junk just because we were getting married. I mean, really, that’s just not us! We knew we’d be spending the day on the field; we knew the weather report usually said ‘hazy, hot, and humid’ for that weekend; what on earth was the sense in getting dressed up in hot sticky clothing?
We got to the field on Saturday morning, and the line of traffic was so long, I didn’t think we’d make it to the ceremony on time. Once we got out towards the parking area, I rolled the window down and spoke to the first person directing traffic I could find. I told him that I was supposed to be at the WWII re-enactor area to get married and we were late. He was great! He told me to drive across the parking area and park over near the re-enactor area near the tents. We got there just in time and since we’re rarely on time for anything, that was a feat for us! We only caught the very end of John and Lia’s wedding, but we didn’t miss the judge!
There is one woman that we know from going to Geneseo every year; her name Is Jean and she drives the shuttle every year at the airshow. We always look for her at the show and she always looks for us. We’ve become ‘fixtures’ to her, I guess, but she’s a really nice person and I thought that since she’s really the only person we know and look for every year, I’d ask her to be a witness at the wedding. She wasn’t there on Friday, but we found her brother and he got my cell number to her so we could meet on Saturday. She was thrilled to stand up for us; you’ll see her in the bright green “Free Shuttle” shirt on my left in the slideshow.
Did I tell you I put up a slideshow? It’s under the heading, “Life Change #2” so feel free to check it out. Mike had his camcorder set up on a tripod, so we did have a video, but I don’t have that anywhere yet. You’ll have to be satisfied with the pictures for now. So that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing for so long….
Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
