KnitKnacks
Curios from the cluttered mind...
Every visit with Maura is an experience in something new. She knows I'm "Grandma"...as in take this to Grandma. I might be Grandma Kitty since it's a word in her vocabulary, I had a kitty on my Halloween sweater when I showed up yesterday AND I have real kitties. ( yeah ok, she doesn't remember those but she will next time she visits in VT.)..and this morning when I came up from downstairs, she said Kitty.
I'm getting unsolicited hugs and kisses...my lap is as good as any ole chair for relaxing and I don't even have to be wearing an apron and sensible shoes!
Maura and I played hide and screech last night...we'd go in opposite directions around the kitchen to dining room...meet and screech..and laugh and do it all again the other way. Then we did tongue blah-ing...she'd throw her self on the floor and laugh in a fit of toddler giggles then we'd do it again and again.
Sigh........I'm liking this Grandmaw business.......
We've had to replace our DVD player. This distresses me deeply on many levels. First it was a gift from our son. Second, we hadn't even used it enough to really learn how to utilize all it's features ..and third...well just because. I suspect one the cats stepped on the remote and activated the "door open" feature. Too bad it was behind a little glass door and couldn't "open" completely. It played the little engine that could until it couldn't and died a painful burning death.
We aren't exactly sure which one of the cats is electronically inclined but it certainly isn't the first time we've seen evidence of their handiwork. One of them opened, wrote and saved a word document. Of course it was written in cat tongue but I'm sure it was something profound. Bound to be a classic...right up there with Hemingway or Stienbeck...or Dickens even. It wasn't the best of times or even the worst...I think it was entitled...
.....a Tail of Two Kitties........snort.
Say Good night, Fran..........I've had a fun evening with Nora and Morgan.
One of us is off to Houston for three days and one of us gets to visit with Maura and her parents and uncle and pseudo- aunite...I lead a charmed life. Now, now..before we get too carried away I do have a price to pay for this. First of all there is the 3 hour drive to Connecticut to Bradley International Airport. Ha! It's still Bradley Field to me. Then there is further driving down to Port Chester... possibly hitting some "traffic". I suppose leaving Vermont is hitting "traffic".
After 30 years, I no longer consider going to CT as going "home" but it does tug at the nostalgia strings. It also reminds me of all the people who are there and will not get a chance to visit with on this trip...I should make more of an effort but the timing just isn't right.
Why do I hear "Cat's in the Cradle" in the back of my mind....we'll have a good time then.
...How is one suppose to maintain an image of giving cool toys for Christmas when my last year's find is being advertised on
Radio Shack this year! Of course, I also had the privilege of spending more than twice the price last year but it was worth it...My family got the added bonus of assembling theirs using directions written in Chinese! By the way...these can also be found at Pier 1 Imports for $3 less and make sure you get different radio frequencies if you are buying more than one per household.
..don't even get me started on Stocking Stuffers...round dice are still being sold out there as if they were a novelty!
KnitKnacks is a whole week old today...I think I've learned a few things during the past week. At least I know where I can go to cut and paste and modify. I still need to get the magic formula for resizing photos..must be some math concept.
One can see that Morgan didn't get his "artist's" eye from me....
I'm surprised I haven't heard " Ok, Honey, you can have a computer, just don't expect ME to use it." this week. ( FWJ to HGJ 1979(?)) I still don't like the techie parts of computing...that is why Morgan and Demian have set things up for me here and in my Photo Gallery...thank you, thank you!
pppsssttt...notice how I'm using my new found skills with my links?
I've shifted some focus this week from my AOL postings to here. I think this coming week, I just might learn to use another email address without it "Pop serving" to my aol one. I said might.....
Make yourself a good day, All.......
Today I'm going to the Porter Music Box company and museum with friends from CT. I have loved Regina Music Boxes ever since I was a little girl visiting a couple in Greenfield MA with my mother. They had a small room off their dining room that held nothing but a rocking chair and this glorious music box which they would play for me whenever we went to visit. The day they allowed me to operate it all by myself was the best visit my mother ever had with them. I had always hoped to have one one day.....
After many years of drooling over too expensive for us music boxes spied at various antique shows and shops, Greg found one for me one Christmas. Resourceful man that he is; he managed to locate one a week before Christmas through a friend of his sister's who just happened to have one as a result of an ad he placed in the paper in Washington DC. The price was fair plus a train ticket for Jake to hand carry it to VT from DC. It arrived the day after Christmas.
My cabinet was found locally...it and it's music box were of two different color woods and no matter how much I chided him, the dealer would not sell me the cabinet separately. I told him to call me when he sold the music box and was left with the cabinet...*I* knew no woman would buy mismatched furniture.
I have yet to acquire original discs for mine but the Porter Company does make replicas. I have made the concession that I can purchase new discs, but only Christmas tunes. Maybe today I can find " O Holy Night" where the holes line up exactly as mine do. I'm taking along one of my discs to compare. Stay tuned....so to speak.
~~~~~~~~~update~~~~~~~~~~
We were privileged to have Dwight Porter himself conduct our tour of the museum. He played music boxes for us that no one else is allowed to touch much less play, as well as heard stories as only he can tell them. Every music box has a story, you know.
In the you learn something everyday category: I told Dwight of my problem with newer replica discs "sticking" on my music box and he instructed me on the proper seating of the discs for play.....I never knew that! I bought O Holy Night and don't think I was home for more than 5 minutes before I had it seated properly on my music box...it is beautiful. Took me 5 minutes to get it out of his protective wrapping! Now wouldn't it be lovely if my Grand-Daughter ( or someone else) wanted to march down the aisle to Lohengrins Wedding March on my Music box...
Let's see....
The other day I made reservations for a trip to Dallas...too bad he's going to Houston. So I made reservations to Houston. Same days...close to the same times...same Airport...different Airlines. Remembered to make car rental reservation changes. Made changes in MY Palm Pilot. Deleted reminders to call for upgrades ( wrong airline). NOW all I have to do is remember to make hotel reservations and beam changes to his Palm. Oh yeah and show up at the right airport next week.
Today I went to the dentist. Made appointments for next visits. Switched His appointment on the 4th with mine on the 6th and added extra time for me on 4th and hopefully another one on the 7th. Made changes on MY Palm Pilot. NOW all I have to do is remember to beam changes to his Palm.
..and these are only two piles of clutter in my mind at the moment.
Lurking in there are issues like sorting out snow tires and summer tires for 4 different cars with 2 cars gone ( one was Morgan's but we have his tires and one we sold) Half one set of tires are too bald to use but it doesn't matter because they are summer tires anyway. The snows for that car should be good anyway because we never got them on the car lat year...it ended up with the old cars summers we took off when we put on it's snows. Now we have a new car..it has no snows. Maybe I should just leave a car in the garage all winter...
Oh no wait...the garage has too many recycling piles in it to fit a car in there too...hhhmmm
Well, we do have a full basement in this house...it is.
sigh........just call me Scarlett..Tomorrow.
Who made that mess in the kitchen??
Who wants to play with her Photo Gallery?
Who has company bookwork to do?
Who wants to write on her Blog?
Who has to clean the laundry room to make room for the AC to come in?
Who wants to go to the craft store?
Ok,Ok the art of deal making is alive and well...I'll get to go to the craft store AFTER the AC comes in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So ..........guess who had the window wide open and couldn't manage to get the air-conditioner back inside onto the table.
Guess who has great neighbors to help.
Guess who will go to the craft Store tomorrow.
..........well this IS my Blog..of course it's all about memememememe.
I have used an AOL account since 1995; my main email address is aol and I have posted on a message board nearly daily since February of '95. How I wish now I had those posts...7 years of major and minor events in my life were reflected in those posts! I guess this is why this concept of blogging appeals to me.
But has my participation on my aol message board run it's course..is it time to move on? It's hard to think about it; it's more than a habit, it's a comfy place to go and be with "friends" who know me pretty darn well even if I've never met some of them in person. There was a time when missing reading the board for more than a day meant being 100 posts or more behind..it was nearly impossible to catch up if one went away on vacation and didn't have computer access. Through that board and common interest, I met well over 100 women from around the country, attended many gatherings in cities like NY, Chicago, Seattle and even hosted a few of those gatherings in my own home. We've seen each other through each other's highs and lows..graduations, weddings, births, divorces; been Dear Abby, Erma Bombeck, Martha Stewart, and Heloise to each other at the drop of a remark or question. We've even managed to hold online wedding and baby showers! ( Believe me, it can be done) How in the world does one give up something like that....
The board still exists although one would hardly recognize it. On a good day, there are probably 4 or 5 posts to read...most likely one of them is mine. Even I don't post everyday anymore as days can go by with nothing but empty space. Certainly, it would not be hard to catch up if one went a whole month without dropping in to see what was going on. I still "see" my fellow posters on my Buddy List, so I know they are still online somewhere. I get email from those who have left aol and mass email from others who don't post very often but want to stay in touch. Just when I think the board has breathed it's last breath, some event or incident occurs ( like 9/11) and it comes alive! "The Board" is still the first place we all go to express ourselves and feel connected, secure and safe...it's the first place we go when we want to share some happy news. As horrific as the events of 9/11 were, it was very nice indeed to see so many familar posters back to drop a line or 12. But they are gone again....
The sociologist in me recognizes the evolution and demise of groups. Familiarity may not always give rise to contempt but judgements and expectations are formed. The freedom of expression anonimity affords diminishes. For most this was too hard to deal with espeically when times got hard for them and they just disappeared. Other's developed new interests or families got too active so time to post was a factor.
Regardless of the reason, the board is no longer what it was even to me. I guess if I even have to question leaving AOL, I have my answer. Asking my sons to create my physical blog is an answer..I certainly need someplace to go all ready before I leave aol for good.
So what's holding me back? hhhmmm....it's not like I use aol itself for much. I generally go outside aol for surfing and game playing. I have instant messengers up the whazoo so I can still keep in touch with all my "buddies". I have multiple email addresses although I usually use my aol one. That's it! If I leave aol, I will have to learn a new email system..I'll have to notify everyone of an email address change and I just might miss something! But worse, it's allllll those places that I probably couldn't even remember, that have an association to my email address...woe is me...what shall i do?
I wonder if there really was someone in room 1114 of the Summerfield Suites this morning to appreciate the wake up call message I left at 6:15am. Dyslexia rules.
Today's agenda includes going to the "Travel Clinic" at the hospital. Since we are going to South Africa in a month, we called our regular doctors to get anti-malaria drugs since that's what the CDC travel immunization site had for precautions. Apparently it's just not that easy; we were referred to the Travel Clinic. I was sent a 2 sided information gathering sheet to fill out ahead of time..like I really have a record of when I had my polio shots as a kid? Does it date me when I also remember getting one dose saturated on a sugar cube? (Remind me to give their immunization records to my sons.) I also remember one childhood visit to Dr. Pomeroy for a check-up. His office was at his home and on this occasion there must have been quite a discussion about my size. I remember his opening an adjoining door and meeting his daughter who was my age and she was a "giant". I wasn't thrilled with the back to back measuring...somehow even then I knew that this was just not professional.
But I digress........
The procedure at the Travel Clinic is to undergo an interview based on my information sheet; take a prescription to the pharmacy in the building; pick up the medication and bring it back to the Travel Clinic for them to administer to me as indicated. I'm beginning to feel like a hamster in a wheel. They state the vaccines can cost from $60 - $500 and for their service, which includes personal evaluation, counseling by the practitioner, administration of the vaccines and written educational material, a cost of $71-$200($71?)
So if I walk out of there with nothing more than what the CDC travel immunization site had to offer, I won't be all that thrilled with the service, thank you. Stay tuned...I'm now awaiting a call back from my Dr office with my immunization records...plague? yellow fever? Japanese encephalitis?
~~~~~Update~~~~~
I was joking about the yellow fever but apparently it's one of the vaccinations I got along with the reams of informational literature on them. Yellow Fever..Hepatitis A and Polio shots and malarone tablets (anti-malaria drugs)...the non psychosis inducing stuff. Pppssstt...the polio shot stings as much as it ever did. Now I've got a niffty yellow International vaccination card to carry in my passport...wow, way cool.
...I had plenty to say before I had my own blog. My goal for today is to rename this creature; so I figure if I tackle one task at a time here, I just might end up more successful. ooooo it's so hard...it's right up there with naming a pet. It has to FIT! ~Knit Knitknacks? Knitwife Tales?
...I can see where I just might have to make deals with myself. I can play on my blog and in my gallery after I finish some chore or another. Speaking of which...time to get the next few week's intineraries into the palms and synched ( see Nora, *I* can do it) and pack one suitcase for DC. Hmmmm...now where did I put that kevlar vest.
Maura Video!
So am I here?
Thanks Demian!
Morgan, I would like some flamingo things...and of course I will need lessons!
..and I need a name for my blog.
..and learn to put in photos and resize them
I guess the fever has caught you. Here's a new Web Log to get you started. We can't wait to see what you can do. Hopefully Morgan will help you find your style.