Tatting the Twirly

I'm tatting Jane's lovely Twirly pattern. Jane has the nicest patterns - so clever, and a real pleasure to tat!

This is done in Jess's HDT called Queen Anthias. I'm sorry for the color on this - it's taken by my cell phone under fluorescent lights. The thread is really a bright pink, yellow, and purple. Oh, and the top shuttle is one I blinged a long time ago.

Here's another bit with the same HDT. This is my own Dainty Heart pattern.

Here's what's happening on the home front:

Curly is getting Out Of The Pokie on Monday. I have to retrieve him early in the morning, and will be taking him to see his probation officer immediately afterwards, before I come home. And Curly says he wants to take his meds regularly, so I have an appointment for him with his psychiatrist on Wednesday. I hope Mr. Curly has changed his ways. He turned 21 yesterday, while incarcerated.

Larry has moved out! He is now living with roommates in Florida, having taken an enormous pile of crap out of my house. I hope he finds it satisfying and is happy. He tells me that he is a better cook than any of his roomies, so I feel I've accomplished something!

After Larry moved out, DH and Moe cleaned out his basement area, and lots of things were discovered. So that's where all those forks and plates were! Also discovered: a leaky water heater. Sigh. I purchased a new one last week and Moe and DH have installed it. At least I don't have t worry about that appliance...

I am seriously job hunting. No raise in 6 years with the cost of benefits going up exponentially takes a toll on me. Makes it hard to pay the bills, much less feel good about myself. Fortunately, it seems my skills have real value again. I've been doing phone interviews, and I have a face to face interview this afternoon at a company I'm excited about. This is for a full time position and the commute would be better. Cross your fingers for me!

Lily continues to be silly and to be her own bad self. But she's so cute!

Ten Years After

Like a lot of people, I was affected by the attacks of 9/11. Not in the way folks in New York or Washington were, but it still made a huge impact on me. I didn't know anyone personally who was affected, but still it was The Day The World Changed.

We in America had been really sheltered up to that point. We saw bombings on the news, but they were so far away, in another country, so it didn't seem real. It was just television for most of us. Those things couldn't occur here. We were immune.

Until we weren't.

On September 11, 2001 I was at work, when someone rushed up to me and told me an airplane had hit a building in New York City. We all ran to find TV or internet coverage of the news, and when it went from horrible to unspeakable to unbelievable, I left and went home: I couldn't stand it. I wept for days. I'm weeping now.

So many lost. So many lives changed. 

Today as I drove in, I heard a story on NPR about the death of Father Mychal Judge that day. The homily given at his funeral was exceptional, and I wept again in my parking lot. The story is worth listening to. Go ahead, do it now - I'll wait.

I have an aunt whose birthday is Pearl Harbor Day,  December 7. My birthday is September 11. My aunt and I have shared having a birthday commemorating where Thing Changed. For her generation, there was resolution: ten years later, WWII was over and things were much brighter for all.

For we, the 9/11 generation, the misery goes on and on. Since that day, I had a phrase stuck in my head, "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold". (It's from a poem by one of my favorites, W B Yeats.) And it's true, it seems that things have fallen apart around us - my birthday was just the beginning. We are engulfed in 2 wars that seem to have no end, and it seems much of the world hates us. The economy has gone to hell world wide. People are losing their homes. There is mass unemployment. I have struggled with this myself - I had two long stretches of unemployment this decade, totaling 21 months. I developed a brain tumor. My son and my family have struggled with his mental illness. We make less actual money (even less, adjusted for inflation) than we did in 2001, and our expenses are so much greater. Times are so hard.

It's so easy for me to give in to despair. Despair, and fear of what might happen. What if terrorists somehow make a major strike again? What if this recession/depression lasts for another 10 years? What if my health fails or I lose my job? What if some political extremists take power? What if Curly takes his life? What if - ?

And yet - I can't give in to fear. Fear strangles the life out of living. There is a great quote from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" which says, "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free."

I don't want to be a prisoner.

And so, I hope.

I hope. I hope.

And I hope you do too.

So you'll have to forgive me if this year, I don't watch the documentaries and TV specials on 9/11. It's not that I don't care - I really DO care. I care a lot. It's just that I'm tired of crying about it, and I'm ready to move on. With hope for better things.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
         Emily Dickinson

Blessings to you all - in hope.

Happy Easter

He is risen!

He is risen indeed....
(This cross is in front of my church on Easter.  It is a church tradition to bring flowers on Easter Sunday to put on it.)

We've had a nice Easter.  Curly resurfaced late Saturday night and spent the night in the tent in the backyard without complaints.  He got up and shaved off his week-old stubble and came to church with me and Moe, wearing the new dress shirt I bought for him.  Tomorrow he has a job interview at the local Target - let's hope he gets a job and can keep himself out of trouble.  And maybe even save some money!

Hope springs eternal. 

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
    Emily Dickinson

With Curly, as with all my children, I must always have hope.  And faith that God will take care of them.  For it is, after all, Easter.

The weather has been quite lovely.  Warm, almost hot, dry days with pleasant nights.  The azaleas and the dogwoods are beginning to bloom - soon the shrubbery will be exploding with color.

My Ott light arrived - I love it!  It's so wonderful to have such good full spectrum light.  It helps while I'm working on the hairpin lace or tatting.  I'm still working on the Kitty Blankie for my new niece.

And I'm a winner!  Tatting Chic had a giveaway for her 2 year blogiversary. She decided to give away a How To Tat book and a shuttle and some thread.  And I won!  Hurrah!  I've wanted a how to tat book, as I've got a number of folks wanting to to be taught, and this will help them.  Thank you Tatting Chic.  You are very kind, and your gift will be much appreciated.

Tomorrow I am not going to work.  I still have 2 furlough days to take, so I'm going to sleep in and relax.  I may spend some time painting in Curly's old room.  DH has cleaned it out and put patches on most of the bad spots on the walls.  It will be a soothing blue with white trim, a pleasant color for a guest room.  Moe (and Curly) are off this week for Spring Break, and I may see if there is something little I can do with Moe.

For a last lovely bit - look at today's BC comic.  It's a little sermon in the funny pages.

I hope your Easter was wonderful.....