Sheep Shots

I had this episode composed in my head while I was shopping at BJ's for things like bleach by-the-case (3 gallons) and Mr. Clean by the jug (3 of those too) and giant whacks of garbage bags.

It seems that we were out-of-many-things at work and only I am able to realize it andactually go get those things. Just call me "Mom."

It's just one more of the stressors that have made the last couple of weeks a nightmare.

But that's what moms do, isn't it? They take the stress and make things better and remember to buy the goddamned garbage bags that everyone else uses too (and the toilet paper, don't forget the toilet paper)!

But this was a nice post when I composed it in my head.




Things 1 & 2 (aka, the Older Kid and the New Daughter In Law) sent a touching note on a silly card.

We're a Seussian sort of family, so this was appropriate.

The Older Kid called to wish a happy day. It was good to hear his voice.













The Younger Kid followed his tradition and brought home bedding plants (impatiens) .

I'll be planting them (before they die) into one of the flower beds. Just need to decide which one. Front? Back?




Sparky was working on a little giftie, too, but the Other Half and the Younger Kid made her put it back.

She found a bunny nest and was bringing babies home, 2 at a time. One was only badly frightened. Sadly, his sibling was not so lucky. I buried him this morning.



This little pretty decided to show up in the garden this morning.

There are buds galore on the vine, so I expect we'll have the same show as last year by the end of the week.

The roses seen to have a lot of buds as well. Must be the mild winter.






I've made a little more progress on Frenzy, starting back down the spectrum. It's about 31" square now.

I've decided that this yarn is entirely too fuzzy to be a baby blanket. Too many loose fibers to wind up between little fingers and toes or to be inhaled or swallowed.

I'm going to continue with it until I run out of yarn and call it a laprobe. It will be at about 46", if I calculated correctly.

Knowing when to change courses--that's something moms do too.


And speaking of moms--Where to begin? Well, why not at the beginning?

My mom was a single parent in a time and place when women Simply Did Not have jobs, get divorced, raise children alone.

She had a job that paid well For a Woman's Job, but it was Barely Enough. (When the minimum wage was raised, so was hers, if you get my drift.) There was no welfare or food stamp program back then. at least not where we lived.

Her dream was for her daughter to go to college, and to that end, she encouraged me to study hard and get good grades so I would qualify for scholarships. The sad fact is, had she not died young of a condition that is now, in this day, relatively treatable, college would have probably remained only a dream. It was VA benefits, Social Security Survivors Benefits, and her life insurance that assured my education.

She dreamed of more for herself, too. During WWII, she joined the WAVES, I'm sure as much for adventure as for service to country. It got her away from home.

After the war, a newlywed, she followed my father to Philadelphia where he was mustered out and she had me. Then they moved back to his home (Alabama) and divorced. She went to work for the United States Air Force.

She worked her butt off to provide for the two of us, and in 1956 bought her first car and learned to drive so that she could continue working. The Mongomery bus boycott was in full swing. One of the outcomes of the bus boycott was that many white women learned to drive so that they could get to work without using the bus service.

Being the mother of a teenager is tough when you have the support of the teen's father. She didn't. When she raised me alone, it was all by herself. There will be no tribute to my father on this blog next month!

It's been more than 40 years since she died. I miss her.