the best Christmas present ever . . . .

two christmases ago, while the 9TS was so sick and chilly most of the time, kidlet decided to crochet him a lap blanket for christmas.  she inadvertently underestimated the time it would take to finish the project and as a result, it wasn't quite done when she presented it to her dad on christmas morning. he told her it was the best present ever.  Unfortunately, he ran out of time and the blanket sat in my bottom bureau draw for almost two years as kidlet had lost heart and was having such a rough time coping.

i did notice about a week before christmas, when i went to grab a throw, that the blanket was missing but since my brain is also missing, i just figured i has stashed it in kidlet's old bedroom to have more space.

enter christmas morning, and my present turned out to be the finished blanket.  she decided since she had made it for her father and she knew how much that meant to me, that it should be a family affair.  it is a beautiful blue and white lap blanket and she says she will continue to work on it until it is full size.  i don't care what size it is, i just love that it is one more thing that binds our little family.

p.s.  if i close my eyes, snuggle it tight and inhale, i swear i can still smell his scent on it.  LOVE!

meow . . .

joanie's birthday is december 8th and i actually had her present made on time but unfortunately somewhere between the design process, the fabric and the stuffing, that frankenstein-ish creature with the erogenous tail is now residing out at the curb awaiting the garbage man tomorrow and no, i am not sharing a photo.  it was all too sad.

but yesterday, i finished its replacement(s) and gave them to her after our morning walk through the hood.  

(and yes, joanie, i stole your photo off FB because your kitchen counter is prettier than my workshop space.) 

just so you understand, j has three cats.  a very grumpy black and white cat named Athena.  a beautiful solid gray named Sheba and a small totally lovable, lithe tabby named Annie.

what else for a cat lover who has everything.  

random kelli . . .

jeanne:   I want a dinosaur suit.

kelli:      {snort}  I want a supermodel suit.

jeanne:   How cool would we be!!!!!!

kelli:      About as cool as we are now, silly!!!

jeanne:   Then we rock and don't need the suits.  ST.

kelli:      Ha!  They would come in handy at times.

jeanne:   Think of the awesome powers they would give us.  I could even deal with the tiny front arms.

kelli:     Haha!!!   Instead of Benny and the Jets we could be Kelli and T-Rex.

love this girl.

this.that.and.the.other.thing

since i'm sporting a Minions bandaid on one finger and a sliced knuckle on the next guy over, tonight's stroganoff better be good.  remind me to get the butcher to do the dirty work next time.  actually, remind me to take my knives to the sharpener.  or book a room in the ER.  or all of the above.

thanks, Les.  miss you too.

did i tell you i got a new camera.  i finally broke down as soon as the Canon 70D was released in September.  slurp.  i always swore there was something wrong with my old 50D from the time i opened the box but instead of doing something about it, i kept on using it, whining the entire time.  finally i decided i just wasn't that good a photographer and stopped shooting.

guess what?!  it was the camera.  not that i will ever be on the cover of National Geographic or even the back of a milk carton, but it makes me happy to know i can still get a decent shot now and again.  happy.  happy.

kidlet is still cooking up a storm.  the other day i left her totally to her own devices and she yelled a five minute dinner warning up the stairs.  perfectly grilled swordfish, onion roasted taters and corn.  kidlet you rock.  take one giant step forward.  oh heck.  add one banana step too.  you deserve it.

she's also been crocheting up a storm.  we took goodies over to her favorite staff members in winter park . . . her summer vacation spot.  three baby blankets, lots of hats and purses.

after our jaunt to tampa, we made another one to orlando to check out UCF.  enormous campus.  huge campus.  now all we have to do is wait for the mail lady to deliver the results.  USF, UCF or FSU.  is there an acronym for an excited grandmother?

that's it for now, but i promise to be back with more mayhem.  the fog is lifting.