Friday Photos

A few pictures of the baby blanket I knit for a friend - remember the shower where I was glad for the booze? That one. And then of course - Boomer. The other dog is Boomer's cousin. She's a feisty little thing and you may not believe it based on her size, but she dominates Boomer. Or you could look at it as he's just being a gentleman.

Four years later

It doesn't hurt as much anymore. I'm not as sad, but I'm still sad. This is a bit of a difficult day to get through still. It wasn't just the loss of a baby, it was the loss of a dream.

Happiness is....

...another finished object. I'll post pictures later. It's the blanket that I gave to the mother to be at the baby shower I whined - okay bitched - about earlier. I've got a whole list of other things to knit - some started, some waiting hopefully. I had thought I would knit a baby surprise jacket for the baby to be of one of A's co-workers - until I found that 3 of the wives are expecting. Now - the one I was planning for I have met and spent time with and I like her. I have never met the other two - but it might be kind of awkward for A to walk in with a present for one, not the others. So, I'm switching gears to making a few baby hats and bibs. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to knit extras of those when I've got nothing in particular that I want to knit. I want to do this square a month afghan knit-along - but there's other stuff I want to do as well and I kind of promised the dog I would knit him an afghan. The knit-along one would be just to pretty to put on the dog's bed though. Oh well - it's good to be busy.

Thank God there was booze!

That's all I have to say - thank God there was booze. I just went to my first - and last - baby shower. (I'm not counting those work ones where all you do is have cake and give one group present -I've done one of those.) 3 hours of making small talk, knowing only 4 people there - one being the mother to be - and at least an hour of "oh, these are our bottles" "this is our mattress cover" "what a cute onesie" and my favorite "this is our dishwasher rack". I love the mother to be - she's generally a no nonsense type and probably did not enjoy the whole present opening process, but she did the best she could. I called A on the way home shouting "OH MY GOD! It was so BORING!!!!" (There may have been some words describing boring that belong more in a sailor's vocabulary than mine - but I cleaned it up for the blog.) Anyway - for me - never again. I'll send a present, but will not go through that agony every again.

No Photo Friday

No photos today. I guess I haven't posted any in a while - but then I haven't taken any since Christmas. I was going to post some of those today, but decided on no photos. We heard last night that the brother of one of A's fellow firefighters in Rescue 1 was killed in the war yesterday. He had been able to make it home for his brother's wedding this summer - so good that they have a happy family memory. And last night some of A's other brother firefighters from R-1 were at Stewart Airport waiting to fly out to Haiti on a Rescue & Recovery Mission. Dealing with collapses is one of the things Rescue guys train for, so their skills will be helpful. So, God speed and God bless.

Happiness is....

....a warm blanket. I'm sure that's what Boomer would say if he could talk. Not that I don't love a warm blanket too - but Boomer - oh let me tell you. The dog is spoiled. I'll admit that right off. He likes to be warm. At night, we put a blanket on him to sleep. Well, as he tosses and turns during the night, it will fall off. Without opposable thumbs, he can't exactly get it back on himself. So, what's a dog to do? He gets up from his bed (which is on A's side of our bed), comes around to my side of the bed and puts his chin on the side of the bed. He keeps doing that - without a sound usually - until I get up from bed - then he quickly walks back to his bed, sits there until I put the blanket on him, then promptly curls up and goes back to sleep. Is he spoiled or what! He is ultra-cute though, so I don't altogether mind. I just wish he would try to wake up the human on his side of the bed first sometimes!

Choices

I have a personal theory that so much of life is about choices. Sometimes you hear that we, as a generatio, are worse off financially than our parents' generation was. I don't think it is necessarily true that we are poorer than our parents. I think we have chosen to seek more at our age than our parents did. For example, my parents did not own their own home until I was 5, my brother (the eldest) was 10. I know families that owned home before they had children or when their childrne were younger. That's a choice they've all made. A choice that comes with a cost - benefits as well - but definitely a cost. We also choose the kind of cars we have, the vacations we take, the clothes we buy, etc - how nice they are, how frequently we replace them - all at a cost. We choose a lifestyle. That may be a lifestyle that can not be maintained with only one parent working. So, both have to work and you have to find childcare - mostly likely pay for it. Sometimes you have to choose whether or not to have another child based on what it means you can afford in terms of the lifestyle you want to have or even the ability to afford the basic needs you have to provide for the children you already have. Sucky choices - but choices none the less. Some people acknowledge having had to make those choices. On the other hand, there are those who don't seem to acknowledge that it's their choices that put them where they are. And then there are those who did not make the choices that put them where they are - outside circumstances forced them there. But, those are not the norm. Most of it - you made a choice that has put you here. You could make different choices. They may not be palatable to you, but it could be done. I just wish people would more frequently recognize that they made choices that put them where they are. Like me. I chose not to try to have children on my own before marriage. As a result, I was trying desperately at 40+ to have a baby - not easy. A & I also chose not to borrow money to adopt a child. We felt that the cost of repaying the loan would mean having a family that couldn't be a family because we had to work extra jobs to pay for getting a family. So we are childless and at a certain level, it was a choice.

Happiness is...

Another UCONN Bowl Win! Yes folks - that's right - little ol' UCONN beat up on an SEC team - South Carolina. It was fun. It was cold, but it was fun. Those USC people - well they thought maybe their team was as good as that other USC team - you know the one out in Southern California? Not so much boys. UCONN dominated. I mean DOMINATED. The defense was outstanding. They blitzed! OMG UCONN BLITZED!! That was not something we saw much of this season. As usual, our offensive line just cleared out some big holes and Andre Dixon went right through them. He got more playing time than Jordan Toddman - which I think was right, since this was Dixon's last game with UCONN. At the end of the game, we fans were chanting Dixon's name. He encouraged it for a bit, then showed his thanks. We then chanted Jasper Howard's name. That still makes me teary. What a special season this was. This team went suffered painful losses on and off the field, but they held it together and played hard. They gave it their all. They played every play like it was the last play they'll ever play. I'm sure Jazz was proud. At the end of the game, as we in the stands went nuts - the team came over and just kind of basked in the glory a bit - shared the joy with us. Then some of them went down the lines of fans who had crowded against the fence and they shook and slapped hands with the fans. After getting the MVP trophy, Dixon came back to the fence to share it with the team. As we exited the stadium, I took great pleasure in stomping on a sign someone had abandoned. It said "I love the SEC." Good for them. I love the Big East. I don't think the South Carolina fans will ever make the mistake of underestimating a Big East team again.
On the way home, we were on the same flight as some of the players. We thanked them for the good game and the good season. In turn, we were thanked for our support. I'm proud to be a Husky fan. Damn proud.