Archive - 2012

I don’t actually have a whole lot to say today, but the opportunity to post on this particular date is too rare to pass up.  So hello, how are you?  I am fine.

Did you ever write letters like that when you were little?  Once upon a time I had a school assignment to write a letter and mail it.  I wrote to my cousin who is 3 months older than me.  We became steadfast penpals and best friends.  For the first couple of years, though, our letters were pretty much all, “Dear Annie, how are you?  I am fine.  What did you do in school today?  I had a math test.  Do you like math? It rained today.  I am running out of room, so goodbye.”

I wasn’t always the riveting writer than I am today.

I was thinking of my cousin Annie today because I learned that Davy Jones of the Monkees had died.  We loved the Monkees, my cousin Annie and I.  Sometimes she’d come and stay with my poor lonely, only child self for a week over the summer.  Both my parents worked so we’d be at home watching TV pretty much all the livelong day.  The reruns of “The Monkees” were our favorite.  One year, she actually  brought her tape of a Monkees album with her and we’d dance around my room, singing Monkees songs at the top of our lungs.

I might have to head over to iTunes and download me some Monkees Tunes like the rest of the world, so I can once again sing them at the top of my lungs.  It’s probably more fun when you’re 16 and home alone with your goofy cousin-turned-best-friend than say, home with a bunch of kids that are depending on you for an education, and I don’t mean of the pop icon variety.  Oh well, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.

And speaking of which!  The next time Leap Day rolls around, assuming that the world doesn’t end this December, Pipsqueak will be 5, Bip will be 11, Pumpkin Girl will be 15 and Boo will be 17.  And driving! Driving, I tell you! Wonder if he’ll be blasting some Monkees tunes in his car?

Pipsqueak is fortunate to have some awesome quilters in his life.  My friend Shanti made him this beautiful quilt and I just had to share some pictures.

And it’s got a fun Eric Carle print on the back.

My mommy has the best friends!

His godmother made him a cute quilt, too. I’ll share pictures of that one next.

I had a post all written up last week and I just needed to take some pictures.  But it wasn’t my best writing and I kind of felt like I was phoning it in, so I didn’t publish it.  Then a friend of mine died.

It wasn’t unexpected.  She’d been fighting cancer for 3 years and had just entered hospice care.  Still…it hurt.  Sandy (not Falling Like Rain Sandy) was one of my many e-maginary friends – people I’ve met through various internet forums.  She was a fellow homeschooling mom of two boys, 9 and 11 years old.  She was also a knitter.  After she died I spent some time looking at her Ravelry (an online knit and crochet community) profile.  I recognized a few of her finished projects as being gifts that she made for others while she was going through chemo.  She was just that kind of a person.

I also looked through her queue of projects she had wanted to make.  It was sad, seeing the hope for the future there in a line of anticipated projects.  Who were they going to be for?  Feeling rather morose, I looked at my own Ravelry queue and got even sadder looking at the projects I’ve never started.  Sweet baby projects that I’d intended for Pipsqueak who grew too fast, as babies tend to do, and now it is too late for those sweaters and hats. Hope and loss, life and death.

I got to thinking Sandy leaving her children and what sorts of things she wished she had the time to do with them. I thought about leaving my own children – but I just couldn’t go there.  I did think about the many things I’ve promised to with or for them.  I thought about how Sandy was just one year older than I am.  I’m sure she once thought she had all the time in the world.  So I declared 2012 to be the Year of the Finished Project.  Home projects, craft projects, projects for the children.  I’m not going to stress myself out with deadlines, but I am going to keep a running list of things I want to do.

Most importantly, I’m going to do them.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Happy Lunar New Year!

2012 finds us once again in the year of the Dragon, which is fun for our family because our very own Pumpkin Girl is a Dragon (as is her uncle and her grandmother).  Which also means that she will turn 12 this year and I’m not too sure how I feel about that.  The most recent Years of the Dragon are:1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988 and 2000.  Are you a dragon?  If so, how well does this description fit you…

Those who are born in the dragon year are innovative, self-assured, brave, enterprising, conceited, passionate, and quick-tempered. The Dragons are often referred to as the free spirits of Chinese Zodiac. Their creative sparks get destroyed when they are restricted. Hence dragon people always look to be free and uninhibited.
A beautiful creature, Dragon happens to be flamboyant and colorful. Dragon personality traits range from being energetic, irrepressible and gifted. They are fearless and confident and ready to take up any challenge. In most cases they happen to be successful.

Helping others is something that they find pleasure in. One can always count on the dragons for help. They make friends very easily because of their generous personalities. Yet they can be solitary reapers at heart. Those who are born in the Year of the Dragon have a love for outdoor activities and nature. They are extroverts who have a deep love for nature.

Having an explorative spirit, the dragon people are very imaginative. They are suitable for any occupation owing to their adaptable nature. They like spending money for charity. When it comes to finances, they are ready to take up risks and big chances. They are very straightforward in their approach when it comes to matters related to financial dealings and can therefore be trusted.

In a fun little twist, if you were born early in the Western calendar year, in January or sometimes February, before the Lunar New Year occurred, then you  go with the sign of the previous year.  Take me, for example.  I was born in January 1970, so I am a Rooster (17 February 1969 – 5 February 1970) rather than a Dog.  I am eternally grateful for that.

I’ve got Chinese chicken wings (my MIL’s recipe) in the crockpot, with bok choy, rice and pot stickers for dinner tonight, plus almond cookies for dessert.  Not really traditional Chinese New Year fare, but it is authentic and homemade, so it’ll suffice.  I might even make the kids eat with chopsticks!