Tour de Fleece 2012

Gonna give this a go here.  Never tried it before, so I'm a rookie but what the heck sounds like it should be fun.  Found it by accident over on Ravelry and figured it would help me get going on my spinning, use up some of my stash, get some good spinning time in and hopefully get some nice yarn spun in the process.  Who knows what the outcome will be, but it gives me an excuse to spin so it can't be all bad, right?!

Need to get outta this funk...

We have something good on the horizon for us. My husband may have a new position which would make things much nicer for us when he retires for good, and that would also come sooner than anticipated when this goes though.

On the other hand we have friends all around us with bad things happening. Marriages in trouble, health problems, financial problems with the economy the way it is, and just general sadness. My heart breaks for those with problems and I really wish there was a way to make their problems disappear. But, there is no magic wand to wave and have everything fine and dandy.

That makes it a little difficult to enjoy what is happening for us right now. It's hard to be happy about our prospects when there is so much sadness around us. It has led to many sleepless nights for me. (which doesn't help my fibromyalgia)

I truly hope things start looking up for those around us so we may all rejoice!

Mother's Day...

One bad thing about getting older is you send fewer and fewer Mother's Day cards. When I first married I sent cards to all the grandmothers, the mothers and even a few "second moms" that I had growing up. Now I'm down to just 2 cards, my mother and my mother-in-law.

That aside, I've had a fairly nice one today. We have gorgeous weather for a change. I was beginning to think we might have to build an ark here with all the rain we got. Today is beautiful blue skies and perfect temps too. I have the house opened up and am enjoying it all.

We found lots of deer tracks in the backyard this morning. Of course we put out deer feed so that helps. I love being able to watch the "wildlife" here. We have deer, groundhogs, foxes, red tailed hawks, eagles, and on and on.

Today has definitely been one of those "Life is Good" days. I have quite a few of those and I never get tired of them either.

I have lots of cleaning to do Mon and Tues since we have company coming in on Wed. So, I'm enjoying the day today and taking it easy. I hope all the other moms out there had a great day too.

Alpaca fun!

This past weekend I went to an alpaca farm and spun alpaca fleece while they sheared the herd. It was soooooo much fun! Their alpacas are so sweet. They had some babies too. The one in the photo is only about 2 months old. They were all so fuzzy and fluffy, then when they got sheared they looked so fragile. They seem to love getting their necks scratched. LOL

The weather was gorgeous and sunny. We had fun with all the alpacas, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and got lots of work done. I was invited to come back again in October to spin while they shear. I will definitely try to make it because it was so much fun!

Too much fun at Dayton

Dayton was an amazing few days. I got to be around "color/winter guard folks", see some shows, meet some new folks and even catch up with an old friend!

I got to Dayton on Thursday and spent time with my daughter and a few of her friends from Sacred Heart. I cannot remember the last time I was in a mall. LOL

Fri was spent mostly at UD Arena. I got there early to watch guards leading up to Sacred Heart. There were some awesome shows this year! Kudos to all the guards who competed.

With this being my daughter's last year it was quite emotional for me. When I looked to see Sacred Heart was in the tunnel waiting to set up for their show I started crying. This could be IT - it could have been her last show ever. The guard did great and she had a fantastic show personally. Once they had performed I left to go wait with her at the hotel to see if they made finals. They made finals!

Friday night the guard was back at the Arena to watch Scholastic A Finals and I went to watch as well. Saw some great shows again, and spent time with my daughter.

Saturday I was in a better frame of mind for the final show. We knew they were not in the hunt for a medal, so they were going out onto the floor to have a good time with the show. (Tina Turner by the way) I did good until about midway through the closing song. I started crying. :o( It was my baby's last time to compete and I will miss that terribly. They had a fantastic show again and in fact, they were the first guard of the day not to drop any piece of equipment. As soon as the show ended, my daughter was in tears on the floor, ran to one friend and they stood hugging and sobbing for a minute or two. Yeah, that really got me crying then.

After retreat and awards I followed back to my daughter's hotel and we had our congratulatory cigars. It's a tradition of sorts in our family. We smoked cigars after finals in '07 when my son aged out of DCI. I had tons of fun with my daughter and am so glad I was able to be there for her.

While in Dayton I ran into an old friend from high school!!! It was great to catch up with her and watch some shows together. I'm hoping to make this a yearly trip and will join her since she comes every year too. :o)

Unfortunately I didn't get enough sleep, and being around thousands of people from all over I ended up getting sick once I got home. I got home Sunday and by Tues I was running a high fever and trying to cough up a lung. Still feel like crap and am almost done with my antibiotics. At least I'm not running fevers anymore.

Hoping to feel normal soon since I get to go to an alpaca farm to spin while they shear their flock this Saturday. I hope to take lots of pictures and post some next week of all the fun.

I'm at a loss for words...

I received the news this morning that my grandmother had passed away. She was my last living grandparent. It's a bit odd to think I no longer have grandparents here on earth with me. My kids are almost 21 and almost 24, so they were fortunate to have a great grandmother as long as they did.

I find myself remembering fun times with her and all my family. The times going to White Sands, the rodeo, and so many others. The time she bribed me with a brooch of hers if I would let my father pull the splinter out of my foot.

I also find myself in some sort of a loss for my "place". For more than 45 years I was a grand daughter, daughter, mom and aunt. Now I'm just a daughter, mom and aunt.

I guess it's the cycle of life and we all move through this. I've been here before and I know I'll pass through and come out the other side fine. It just hurts in the meantime.

Dayton, here I come!

This past weekend I was able to buy my tickets to fly to Dayton, OH for WGI championships! I also got my hotel and rental car. My ticket for finals is bought and I will buy my ticket for prelims/semis when I get there.

This is a bittersweet trip for me. This will be our daughter's last year with WGI/DCI. When our son aged out of DCI in 2007 it was difficult but I knew I still had our daughter to watch on the floor and on the field competing. Now, I will no longer have a child competing in either WGI or DCI.

I'm not totally sure why this is hitting me so hard. I always went to practices and competitions. When we moved to MD and she stayed behind in ME it was difficult to lose that connection with our daughter and the guard world. I no longer had a close connection with the guard world. I guess that must be it.

I continue to work with guards, but I don't have that close connection I felt when working with guards with my daughter and being there like I used to be. I almost feel like I'm grieving for a lost friend. I still have guard there and I can follow DCI and WGI every year, but it's just not the same.

I can't wait to get to Dayton to watch all the shows, but I know I will be a mess of tears once she has left the floor for the last time.