Happy New Year!

It doesn't seem possible that tomorrow will start a new year. This year has just flown past so fast! I guess that's what happens as you get older. I'm looking forward to the new year with anxious anticipation. There will be a lot of different things happening this year and I'm looking forward to the challenges that will confront me.

I plan on trying to do more knitting in the new year. I taught myself to knit in my 20's and did quite a bit back then. Since then however, I've been doing crocheting which I consider myself an expert at doing. That's why I want to get back to some knitting. I want to learn to follow the directions and learn new stitches. I'm sure this will be fun. A new friend of mine sent me the 2008 knitting calendar, so I will be attempting some of those patterns first.

I've lost 50 pounds in 2007 and I want to lose at least 50 more this year! I'm hoping that my knee heals so that I can get back to my walking routine again.

I hope that anyone reading this has a wonderful new year!

Christmas is over already?

After all the hustle and bussel and getting everything ready, Christmas didn't last nearly long enough for me. But it did tire me out! LOL

I actually slept later than normal on Christmas morning, because the girls didn't wake us up early. When I got up, Becca greated me in the hall. ( She's 19 and my youngest.) I went out and put on the coffee, then proceeded to get the onions and celery ready to put into my stuffing. I hadn't been able to do it the night before because Denise was baking cookies. Whe the coffe was ready, my dh came out and after his first cup, started handing out the presents. That's our tradition. Becca had decided to spend the night, because her truck was being fixed and didn't get returned to her until late.

We had fun opening everything, and the girls had gotten together to give their dad and me some very nice things. After all the openings, I went out and stuffed the turkey and got it into the oven which had been heating. Then, as our tradition mandates, I proceeded to cook breakfast for everyone! To appreciate this, you have to understand that I NEVER make breakfast! Only on Christmas to I break my tradition! lol I made hash browns, link sausage, maple sausage, toasted English muffins, and eggs! I had a bowl of orange and grapefruit sections that I had prepared the day before and an English muffin with one small patty of maple sausage!

Our kids started arriving around 1 pm. Denise went to get her brother Sam, because he didn't have a ride. Becca went to get her bf. Then my oldest gd, Jackie, and her bf, Rob, arrived with her sister, Cindy. Jackie is 6 months older than Becca! lol I haven't seen her for quite awhile, so seeing her was a real treat! Shortly after they arrived, her mother, my odd, Ann, and her dh, Bill, arrived. Next came Chris, with his girlfriend, and his brother, Jimmy. Before I knew it, the apartment was full and very loud! It was wonderful! None of us had much money this year, but that didn't bother us at all. Everyone got something, no matter. Denise had baked cookies for everyone to take home.

Before I knew it, the day was nearly over and we were all watching "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation", another family tradition! Then slowly, everyone started leaving. The day was done!

It didn't seem to last very long. It seems to me that Christmas used to be longer! Could I possibly be getting older? Never!

Hope you all had a great day too!

Photos with Santa

Today the Historical Society had Photos with Santa and stories with Mrs. Claus. This is the first year of our doing this, so we had no idea how many kids to expect. We had about 12! Not very many, but at least a few. I played Mrs. Claus. It was such fun reading to the kids while they had their cookies and punch! They wanted to know who made the cookies, and I told them that me and the elves made them. hehe

I love seeing how children react to Santa and Mrs. Claus. Their eyes get so big and they're full of questions. One little girl had to sit on my lap while I read the story! She was so cute! One little boy sat on Santa's lap for over 5 minutes talking to him, then after hearing the story and talking to me, he had to go back to talk to Santa some more. He even whispered in his ear! What a cutie he was!

Christmas is wonderful when you see it through the eyes of children. It's magic to them. Most of these children came for pictures after church, so they are learning the reason for the season too!

I hope everyone has a magical Christmas!

Pass it on

In Aunt Kathy's blog, I read about an idea for not so random acts of kindness. All you have to do is respond to my blog, and I will send you a handmade gift. It won't be sent until after Christmas, because I'm way to busy right now to send things out, not to mention too poor! So if you would like to receive a handmade gift from me, just be one of the first 3 to respond to my blog. Sounds like fun, don't you think?

Well, this week is the Historical Society Christmas party that I've been planning. This weekend, I was busy making sure that we had enough tables and chairs to seat the 85 people who have paid to come. Then I was out gathering pine branches that we will be using to decorate the tables. The vice president of the society was helping me. On Wednesday, some ladies from my craft club will be helping me to sweep and wipe off the tables for the dinner, since I couldn't get all of that done this weekend. Then on Wednesday evening, some members of the society will be helping me to set up the tables and put the pine branches in place. We will also be doing a little more decorating.

I talked to the chorus director this week and she is planning on printing up some sheets with the words to carols, so that everyone can join in singing them. It sounds like a great idea to me. They will also be doing some other songs.

Then I found out this weekend that I will be playing Mrs. Claus for Cookies with Mrs. Claus and photos with Santa, that the society is hosting. We looked at the flea market for a wig, but ended up ordering one online. It will be here Friday. We even found some reading glasses that she might wear. This will be interesting.

If you've read my blog before, you know that the Historical Society was in the local Christmas parade with our entry of the 5 Rings of History. I'm happy to say that we won the Presidents Trophy for our efforts. Everyone had a great time at the parade.

Everyone in my craft club loved the crocheted satin ornaments that I gave to them at our Christmas party. We all had such a great time, and the handmade gifts that were brought for our exchange were even better than they were last year.

Right now, I'm crocheting a capelet in white for Mrs. Claus to wear while reading the stories. The vice president of the society is going to purchase some Paton's Divine yarn for me to use as an edging for it. I discovered after starting it that the yarn I had was actually a light pink instead of white.

Guess that's it for today. Have a great evening.

Christmas Parade is over!!

On Sunday, Belleview held their Christmas Parade. The temp was in the 80's!! Our Historical Society float (if that's what you want to call it) came together nicely! In the front for the 1800's we had two pony carts surrounded by Indians and settlers. (One of my dd's was an 1890 woman and her bf was Chief Osceola) Next came the 1920's with a vintage car with flappers and a golfer walking ( my oldest dd was one of the flappers ). The next era was the 1930's with a vintage car with two ladies from the society dressed like gangsters riding and gangsters walking (my ydd and her bf were part of this group). For the 1940's, we had a jeep filled with veterns with people dressed in vintage military costumes walking along. Last but not least was the 1950's. My dh drove our PT Cruiser with the flames and he wore his leather jacket and I dressed like a bobby socker. Of course there were greasers and bobby sockers walking with us.

We found out today that we won the President's Trophy! Not bad for our first time!

Happy Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving. Time has sure flown by this year. Thanksgiving has changed since I was young. Every year the adults in my family would take turns having Thanksgiving and Christmas. All of the women would be in the kitchen preparing the meal, and the men would be in the living room talking and watching football. There was never a cross word spoken, but there was a lot of laughter. I used to have the job of stuffing the celery with cream cheese and making the cream cheese balls and rolling them in the ground nuts. My sister and I always wanted the big drumsticks ( I think they tricked us into thinking they were the best part of the turkey! lol) Some of the dishes were made at home and brought to the hosting home.

We used to follow that tradition, but as the children have gotten older and moved farther away, it became a harder tradition to follow. This year, it will just be my husband, 2 youngest daughters and probably the boyfriend. I like this because I have 9 children and a small apartment! I don't really enjoy big crowds, which is what my family is when everyone is present. That's not to say that I don't enjoy having everyone together, but it's been a very long time since that has happened.

My youngest son is having my oldest dd and his brother come to his house this year with his new girlfriends family. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time.

I'm looking forward to a nice peaceful day of good food and good company.

Things are coming together

As I've told you, I've been working with the vice president of the Historical Society on the Christmas Parade which is December 2nd. This week has been filled with trying to get that all together. I think we visited almost every thrift shop in the area looking for costumes for everyone to wear. Last night, we visited the man who is going to loan us his antique cars! They are beautiful! I'm so excited about this whole thing. I hope it all comes together the way we want it to. On Friday, we're going to the Civic Theater to rent costumes that we still need, like the Indian costume. I'm not sure what else we will need. I feel like the club is finally pulling together. The only main problem is that most of the members are over 75 and can't walk. So everyone wants to ride!! I hope to get some pictures to post here to show how things turn out.

So now, the newsletters about the dinner and everything else that's going on with the society for December has been sent out as of today! Now we wait for the dinner reservations to come dribbling in. Heaven forbid anyone answer right away!! LOL

Tonight, I'm off with my dd to a Girl's Night Out Undercover Wear party. Neither of us have any money, but the woman holding the party is her best friends mother. It should be a fun night, and I think my other dd will drop by for awhile after work. There's even supposed to be a bon fire, and it will last until midnight----not sure I'll last that long though! LOL

It's going to be a good week!

I hope all of you had a good weekend. They go buy so quickly!! I was only planning on going to the flea market for veggies and fruit with my dd on Saturday, but it didn't turn out that way. The vice president of the Historical Society called and asked me if I could help her make a list of the costumes we managed to get so far for the Christmas Parade. So she picked me up and off we went to the Civic League Bldg. When we finished with our list, we ended up going through paperwork that the president who just left, left at the bldg. We found some very interesting stuff that we will be able to use.



I'm so happy. I was elected treasurer of the society because no one else wanted the job! I never really wanted to do it, but I have been doing it for a year now. I have not enjoyed this position at all!! Last week, a decision was made that I would become the secretary, since the present secretary hasn't been able to make the meetings, and the man who had been the treasurer agreed to become treasurer again! So I have balanced the books and written my final report!! Yipee!! I would much rather take notes than the money!



This Thursday is the society meeting. I will give my final report, then start taking notes! I can't wait to see what the membership thinks of our idea for the Christmas Parade. The theme is "The 12 Days of Christmas", so we're doing "The 5 Golden Rings of History". The first ring will be the 1900's, with a horse and buggy, pioneers and Indians. The second ring will be the 1920's with an old car and flappers and people in period dress. The third will be the 1930's gangsters with an old car. The fourth is the 1940's veterans, possibly some from the VFW, but we do have some costumes. And the fifth ring is the 1950's bobby sockers and greasers! My dh will be driving our PT Cruiser that has flames on the sides. He has a leather jacket to wear. We are trying to get sponsors for each ring for $100. So far we have two. I think this will be so much fun! We're getting the old cars with drivers for free!!



I think I'm fighting the cold that my ydd has had, only in a different way. I have been so tired lately, and food hasn't been staying with me for long either. I'm still feeling tired, but other than that I seem to be doing ok.

Tomorrow is my craft club day. My Red Hat Club is going out for lunch, but my friend and I decided that we don't want to go. So we will just go to the club. I made my friend two pair of crocheted flower earrings that have pearls for the centers. I don't have the wire parts though.

Time for me to start dinner, so I'll go for now. Today my microwave decided that it will only run for about 20 seconds! I never liked this microwave, but at least I had one after my nice one broke. Now it looks like I won't have one again! Darn!

Have a great evening!

November is here!!

Time sure does fly by doesn't it! It's hard to believe that today is the first day of November. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas!! I'm not ready for either one. Usually I have a lot of Christmas presents made by now, but not this year!!

Right now I'm working on a set of golf club covers for my daughter's boyfriend. They're not your usual golf club covers though. These look like men wearing hats and they have mustashes! They're so cute!

Yesterday I bought a bag of satin Christmas balls. I plan on decorating them with crochet. Hopefully there will be enough there for me to give them to my friends at our Wednesday craft club Christmas party. We always exchange hand made gifts, and some of us make little gifts for everyone at the party---like party favors.

Guess I need to get off this computer and go work on my crocheting. Sometimes I wish there were two of me!! One could be playing on the computer, and the other could be crocheting! hehe Since there's only one of me, I'm going to have to sign off of here and go start my crocheting.

Do you dress up for Halloween?

Today, we had a party at my Tuesday craft club. It was for Halloween. Since I wasn't feeling all that great, I opted not to try to figure out a costume. I also had to be there early to help get the table set and decorations around. I'm not very good anymore at costumes, but some of the ladies came in looking great. I actually thought that one of them was someone's husband! lol
When we lived in Virginia Beach, the neighborhood where we lived loved Halloween. All of the parents got involved in dressing up even if it was just to answer the door. It was great!

Tomorrow night, I'm going to be a witch at the Civic League Bldg, where the members of the historical society are going to hand out candy. We have a large cast iron caldron that we're filling with dry ice. It will be so much fun!

What are all of you doing for Halloween?

How do you like the new look?

I wasn't really happy with the way this blog looked before, so I decided to change it a little. Now it's my favorite color! How do you like it?

Do you believe in ghosts or spirits?

This time of year, a lot of people start talking about ghosts and spirits. I got thinking about this because our town is having a ghost and historical walk this Saturday and next Saturday. Then I found out that the Civic League Building that the historical society owns was on the tour as an historical site. Since I'm a member of the society, I was happy to hear that it was included.

Yesterday (Saturday), a group of us had been at the building cleaning for an upcoming chicken pileau dinner next Friday, and decorating for Halloween because we plan to hand out candy to the local children. The vice president of the society was joking about walking around in the building with some dim background light to imitate a ghost lurking in the building as the tour came around. It sounded like fun, but then she decided against it.

As it turned out, someone brought more decorations to the building late, so she was there as the first tour arrived. They were so happy that the building was open and that they could go inside to look. She even sold some of the calendars we're selling as a fund raiser to pay for the new roof on the building. After they left, she called and asked me to join her because there would be two more groups that night. So even though I was tired, I went over to keep her company.

Around 7:45 pm, the second tour group arrived and again came inside. As one woman was leaving, she commented that she had seen a group of ladies sitting around the fireplace sewing and chatting and having a wonderful time. There was no one there except myself and my friend! The place were she said she had envisioned these women was the place that women of the Civic League used to gather. The building had originally been petitioned off into a large room, then a room for the men, and a room for the women. I feel that she may have actually seen a vision of these women, but my friend things she just imagined it. We got into a lengthy discussion of spirits.

I would love to hear how you feel about this.

What is a Friend?

Have you ever thought about what a friend is? I think about it alot. I think I'm a good friend, but sometimes I feel like I've let my friends down. But have I really? Probably not. This is my idea of what a friend is so you can take it for what it's worth. A friend is a person who you can talk to and tell anything, and they won't judge you. They will listen and say they know how you feel, or don't know how you feel but can understand how you're feeling. A friend will lend you their shoulder to cry on when you need to cry and will never complain that you're making it wet. A friend is beside you through the bad times as well as the good times. They celebrate with you and morn with you. They lift you up when you're down, and fly with you when you're up! They may forget a birthday or anniversary, but not usually. They're interested in the things you do and who you are.

What do you think a friend is?

My newest creation

This is a baby blanket that I made for my youngest daughter to give to her friend who just had her first baby, a boy. She did his room in Tigger, but was going to add some Pooh. I found a graph online for a knit Tigger and Pooh, but I'm better at crochet. So I used the graph as a cross stitch pattern. The blanket is done in the afghan stitch, with Pooh and Tigger cross stitched on the top.

Hurt my knee

Last Friday, while I was at the mall with my youngest dd, I tripped and fell while coming back into the mall from an employee entrance. My left foot went one way and down I went on my right knee with my right ankle buckeling. My right leg was still from my knee down, and my left foot was black and blue below my ankle. On Tuesday, I felt somewhat better, so stiff knee and all I went with my other dd to do the Freedom Walk for Sept. 11th that our town was holding. We had registered earlier and I really wanted to do this walk.

My dh had his doubts that I would be able to make the walk, but I told him not to worry I would go slow and be ok. I was wrong!! After about a mile or so, I heard a "pop" from the back of my knee and if it hadn't been for my dd and another walker, I would have been down on the pavement. They helped me to the side and someone got me a golf cart ride for the rest of the walk. Disappointment was my name!! I held back the tears, but the pain was severe. When I got home I put it up and put ice on it.

Everyone has been telling me to go to the dr, which I can't afford, so I went online to make sure I was doing what I should do for treatment. And to find out exactly what I had done to my knee. I discovered that I had torn the ligaments in my knee at this site:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/publicsite/index.aspx?puid=3DA46228-905A-47BB-BB1C-A8478D57422B&ContentID=305029&ContentTypeID=57&contentPage=2&searchTerm=

It told me that it will take 4 to 12 months for it to heal, that I did the right treatment and that I need to wear a knee brace and probably get physical therapy. My ydd bought me a brace, and she's going to ask a physical theapist that she knows what I should do.

Can't wait for it to stop hurting!!

My Journey

This is a picture of me taken around Christmas 2006. I started Weight Watchers in January of 2007. Since this was taken, I've lost 38 pounds. I feel so much better since losing this weight.

Yes, there are nice people!

Sometimes don't you wonder where the nice people are? Well I found one today. I was at the mall with my dd and had just gone out to her friends car to get something. We had gone out the employee exit, so we went back in the same way. As I was entering, my foot caught and I fell. My left ankle turned and down I went on my right knee which has been sore. So there I sat! Feeling really dumb and trying to figure out if I could get up. My dd is a small thing, but strong. As we were trying to decide the best way for me to get up, a very nice lady came over and offered her help. She told us that she had to help her mother up all the time. I got on my knees and she told my dd to grab under my arm, while she did the same on the other side. Easy as could be, up I went feeling very embarrased! I thanked her, and she said no need.

Yes the nice people are here when you need them!! Thank God for that!

Poncho that I made

This is a poncho that I knit using Rainbow Boulce yarn. It was made holding two strands together. You can't really tell by the picture, but it's done in a chocolate brown and a varigated green. This was the first thing I had knit in quite awhile. The model is my youngest daughter.

First Time Blogging

This will be my first attempt at doing a blog, so please bear with me. Let me introduce myself. I am Mary Ann and I live in Florida. I crochet for fun, charity and profit. I usually have a crochet hook in my hand. I also do a little knitting. I enjoy reading when I can put my hook down. I have 3 step children and 6 to whom I gave birth. They range in age from 41 to 19, 4 boys and 5 girls. I belong to two craft groups in my area, one of which I'm the leader.

I belong to a charity group for Munroe Regional Hospital in Ocala that provides boxes of layettes to babies born to the midwives. All items are either hand made, such as blankets, receiving blankets, sweater sets, etc., or newly purchases, such as onsies and pampers. We met about every 3 months to pack boxes that are then given to the newborn's mother.

I am also a Red Hatter. My name at the club is the Countess of Crochet. It's a very nice group of women who get together and do something at least once a month.

Also I'm involved with the local historical society, having recently been elected the treasurer. We are busy trying to raise money to restore the Civic League Bldg. that was built around 1912.

And last but far from least, I'm going to Weight Watchers.

Guess that about covers who I am.