437: Hard to believe this month is almost over.

Hey y'all.

In three minutes, January will be no more in my time zone. I can't believe how fast 31 days have flown by.

Seems we were just screaming "Happy New Year" and now everyone is gearing up for the Big Game.

I don't know what plans Mr. Bliss has for Big S Day but my Sunday will be full.

Church starts at 10:30 which means I'll be getting up at 9. I'm scheduled to teach my first Religious Education class tomorrow, a task I look forward to with a mixture of apprehension and glee.

Just my luck that I'm teaching the combined middle and high school groups, which includes Baby Bliss and her crew. Hooray.

Thankfully I will share the job with another mom.

Tomorrow is also 1st Sunday Potluck and our Fiber Arts group will meet after lunch.

I don't know what we're contributing to potluck as I didn't buy anything specifically for it and I'm not sure what we have in here that's suitable.

My favorite part of the day will be our Fiber Arts group. We've planned a visit to a LYS (local yarn shop) and I am soooooo excited. I've been crocheting for at least 30 years but this will be my first visit to a yarn store.

Yarn comes in so many yummy colors and textures. The small stash in my office in no way compares to the stashes that some of my friends are hoarding. But I don't have very many "good" yarns.

Before I joined the CPs needlework group, I never paid attention to a yarn's fiber content, just the feel of the yarn. And even that has been a recent preference of only a year or so. Usually I just picked up the colors (and prices) I liked.

For years I picked up bag of mixed yarns at thrift stores. A bag of yarn from the thrift usually had four to six skeins. If I was lucky, two of them would be the same color.

Then we moved several hundred miles away and finding yarn at thrift stores became a chore akin to looking for the haystack needle. But I began to find yarn at the dollar store and Big Lots. Then I began buying yarn at WalMart and sometimes Hobby Lobby.

One day I found huge balls of cotton thread at the dollar store. I fell in love with it and began buying several each time I made a dollar store run. Eventually the same thing happened with ribbon yarn and I still have a ton of both in my stash.

Eventually I began putting more effort into my crochet hobby and voila! Reasons to crochet more (meaning people to crochet for) appeared from every crack and crevice. Then I began to be more discriminating about the feel of the yarns I bought.

Anything soft and reasonably priced came home with me.

But I still didn't know about the "good" yarns. That is my most recent acquired yarn knowledge, courtesy of the CPs.

The "Good" yarns are the natural fibers and their blends: cotton, wool, silk, angora, etc.

Good yarns usually come from mysterious places called Local Yarn Shops, another news item for me because I'd never heard of them or been to one. They have names like Noro and Malabrigo, are often handspun, and come in dreamy colors that make them appear edible.

Initially I felt like a dork, coming in with my acrylic yarns. Then I joined Ravelry.com at the suggestion of some of the ladies. And I began stashing my yarn online. (Stashing is a process where you add all the yarn you own to an online database that's stored in your personal Ravelry notebook as well as one that's for the site in general.)

Stashing online was how I discovered that I too owned some "good" yarns. Aside from the cotton thread I'd been buying from the dollar store (and eventually Hobby Lobby too, when it was on deep, deep clearance), the cottons and wools I had must be leftovers from those mixed bags I'd gotten from my thrift store runs.

It's not very much of it. Just three small skeins of locally made wool and three skeins of cotton made in NY. Don't know what I'll use any of it for as I'm not fond of wool next to my skin and the cotton looks like it will be hard to work with as it's "splitty".

But I'm lookng forward to our LYS fieldtrip after potluck.

One of the Fiber Arts group members got a sales e-mail from the store. It said some yarns are 60% off. The question is 60% off of what?

As much as I would love to crochet something special for myself using a nice Noro silk and mohair blend or eco-friendly organically grown cotton blended with cashmere, I am not paying four or five bucks for a hank of yarn.

My prayer: I will find a baby soft yarn in colors I love and a price I'll be happy to pay.

And so it is.


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436: Pssst... Pass it on! a.k.a. The Small Things Challenge

Hey y'all.

I know I'm late but Happy New Year everyone. Here's to a life of healing and abundance for this new year!

And speaking of health and abundance, wouldn't you like to take a few minutes to help someone else achieve those same ideals?

It's quick and painless and the more of us who do it, the faster we can help others come closer to achieving their goals.

Here's the deal: We can help Intel help raise funds for Kiva and Save the Children by taking the Small Things Challenge and clicking on the link of your choice.

If you want to help for just a few minutes of your time, it's the "We'll Donate 5 cents For You" button. If you have more to give, then please choose one or more of the others as well.

So get clicking folks and remember, pass it on!



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435: My name is not Oprah.

And no, I don't play her on t.v.

But like Oprah, I also have a list of favorite things.

Some of them are new things, some are old favorites. All are good and wonderful. :o)

My current favorite things are:

1. my glass teapot - How did I ever get along without it?
2. my toasty warm and super soft knit slipper socks from WalMart.com - Mmm... like walking on cashmere.
3. glass fish bowls in varying sizes from the dollar store - I'm using mine to re-pot all my plants.
4. Tazo's "Passion" tea.
5. body butter in "Ginger & White Tea" and "Ginger Lime" by Habeebah's Herbals - This woman has managed to put magical bliss in a jar! The scent is divine and the creamy texture of the butter banishes the driest of dry skin. (Mine!)
6. yarn: Bernat Baby, TLC Amore - Ahhhhh... Soooooo soft.
7. Baby Bee Dusting Powder by Burt's Bees - Silky soft and yummy smelling too.
8. two black, semi-sexy, "maternity" dresses I bought at Goodwill - I absolutely love them. They're wash-and-wear, air dry over night, and can be accessorized for day or evening events. Wish I had several in a few shades.
9. sweet potato chips - I have no need for chips from white potatoes ever again.
10. lemon-flavored Perrier - Always on my list.

What about you? What are some of your favorite things? I'd love to know. :o)


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434: Bliss has been crocheting for charity.

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Yep, that's what I've been doing for the past month or so.

It's been fun as well as a learning experience for me.

I've been crocheting for over 30 years and for most of that time, I've had an aversion to reading patterns. I'm not sure why.

Many many years ago, I made a cardigan for a baby cousin. I don't recall any problems reading the pattern and the cardigan looked like a cardigan when I was done.

But since then, I believe I've only made things I haven't needed patterns for.

Until now.

I don't remember how I came across Save the Children's "Knit One, Save One" campaign. After I read all the details, I decided I was gonna dive in and make some tiny little baby hats.

Although I was told that I made a hat for the same baby who got the cardigan all those years ago, I don't remember making one.

My first hat was flat panel that I stitched together and gathered at the crown. The idea of crocheting a circle was scary. I don't know why

But it was a pain doing it that way and I wasn't very happy with the way it turned out. So I made the remainder of the hats following the pattern for the round hats.

I completed nine (9) baby hats and a friend from one of my needlework groups gave me four (4) that she'd knitted a while ago.

The hats had to arrive by December 31. With the Christmas holiday falling in there, I thought I should mail them out at least two weeks early.

Well that didn't happen.

I got them over to FedEx on December 23.

Now I'm making scarves for the 2009 Special Olympics Winter Games. I'm almost done with my first one. I have enough yarn left for at least two more, maybe three. I'm doing a simple long panel, single crochet in the back loop only, to produce a stretchier item.

The scarves are due by January 15. Hopefully, I'll be mailing them no later than January 9 (a Friday).

I am so thankful to have the time, materials, skill, and motivation to work on projects for charity.

So many people have helped me in my life... I'm grateful for the opportunity to give back.

Amen.


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433: Busy Bliss

A sista has been so busy that blogging has just fallen by the wayside for a bit.

One of my cousins dragged me back to Facebook and I've been hanging out there for a while. lol

I've also been hanging out on Ravelry.com, which I joined at the suggestion of a few members of one of the needlework groups I belong to. (Which now number three.)

Of course we were busy getting ready for Christmas. I haven't celebrated by giving gifts in a while but this year I decided to change that.

God is always helpful and it was evident on December 16 when I logged onto Walmart.com for a little browsing.

The clearance section had a ton of stuff for $5 or less. I could not believe my eyes. So I ordered a bunch of stuff that I decided to give as Christmas gifts to my family and myself.

Now, I've been know to take the occasional side trip into the Land of Expensive Things I Want But Don't Need. However, I am truly Frugal and Practical in my heart of hearts.

Consequently, I didn't buy anything frivolous.

Yes, I know children don't want undies, socks, pants, backpacks, and tee shirts. But those are all the things I bought for Baby Bliss. I also bought her toiletries from the $1 section at Target.

Mr. Bliss got a nice shirt, toiletries and a backpack. He didn't need anything else.

For myself, I got undies, tee shirts, a backpack, and a pair of shoes.

Other family gifts were soft and warm socks. They came in lots of two pair for $4. I bought red, black, dark brown, heather blue and heather gray. Some came with one long pair and one bootie-style pair. I split all the pairs up, put each pair in gallon plastic zip bags, and tossed them all in a big bag.

I also bought two educational games from Amazon.com, Blokus and Bananagrams.

Mr. Bliss and I had played both at church one Family Game Night and agreed we wanted to get them for home.

Since she pestered us to no end, we let Baby Bliss open one gift on Christmas Eve. And since I told her Blokus was the only gift in the house and she couldn't prove otherwise, that's the one she opened. (I lied. The Nintendo DS that came from her dad and stepmom was here but I wanted her to save that for Christmas day.)

We played several games of Blokus that night before Christmas.

Mr. Bliss woke me up on Christmas Day as he was sneaking out to his truck at 5 a.m. to retrieve our gifts. I got my favorite candy, a cookbook, a stuffed animal, and my all-time favorite gift to receive for any occasion, cash. :o)

Baby Bliss's gifts from him were the same but different.

Later, the three of us went to Grandma's, where the two Bliss opened their gifts.

Dinner was at an auntie's house, breaking from the "dinner at grandma's" tradition that has been in existence at least since my birth.

And there was no turkey either. No complaints from me. I'm sure grandma loved it too as she's always the turkey cook and we'd had one for Thanksgiving.

The socks I bought as gifts were only for the ladies in the family. Each person was supposed to pick a pair of socks from the bag and feel free to trade them if they wanted.

If my aunt's daughter had come with her two girls, each person would have gotten one pair with two pairs left over. They didn't show so everyone should have ended up with two pair.

I think each of my two aunties took two pair and I know Baby Bliss and I only took one pair each. If grandma had taken her two pair, that would still have left an additional two pair to be had. Grandma ended up with the original bag at the end of the evening so I assume she has the two extras.

Saturday, Mr. Bliss came home with a game thingie for Baby Bliss's DS. It wasn't the game she'd been trying to con out of me but she likes the thingie well enough. Apparently it has over 40 games on it and she's found some favorites already.

I sure hope it keeps her busy with that DS because I don't intend to buy any games, accessories, or batteries for it. Ever.


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432: Time Keeps on Slippin'...

One of my favorite songs is "Fly Like an Eagle".

The version by the Steve Miller Band was my favorite as a young girl. Today I love Seal's version as well.

I don't know why I liked the song back in the 70s. But learning the lyrics all these years later has given me a real understanding of how I relate to the song.

First, it's timeless. The requests -- or demands, depending on how you see it -- made in the song are eternal. Or seem to be. I'm guessing that babies have been hungry, children have been shoeless, and people have been homeless in every era known to human kind. And people have been asking for (or demanding) remedies to those ills since the conditions have existed.

Secondly, it inspires me to action. I can't save the whole world but I know what I can do to help and I do my small part as often as I can.

Lastly, the song also inspires me to transcend my current physical body for what lies beyond. It reminds me of dreams of flying and of emotions I can't explain in words.

431: How Well Do You Wear Your Genes?

(my soundtrack: "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver)


Mr. Bliss wears his exceptionally well and I'm jealous.

Not that I would ever think of dying my gray hair, but it gets me kinda pissy that he was seven years old when I was born and his gray hair is almost invisible. Mine seems to sprout in the wee hours, while I'm doing laundry or blogging.

He also looks really young, that Mr. Bliss. He's welcoming 50 with open arms but his face could be mistaken for late 30s. No joke.

I saw a picture of him taken when he was 25. He looked 15. Seriously.

So I know his momma dyes her hair. But she still has a lot of it at 70+. (And everyone already knows she's best friends with Miss Clairol so I'm not revealing any secrets.)

When Father-in-law Bliss died at 74, he had a head full of thick silky strands of silver with a whole lot of coal black still visible. And he didn't look a minute older than 60 or so.

Now I'm not hating cuz my family has young-ish genes too. But Mr. Bliss inherited the Fountain of Youth genes.

Lucky him. *snarl*


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