Looks Like Winter Today

 
It was raining again this morning but at about 12:30 little tiny snowflakes started blowing around.  Then they got bigger, gathered together with friends, and kept coming.  It didn't get much colder; it was nearly 4 o'clock before the wet flakes started to freeze, and even after Friday Night Knitting the roads were only slightly slick.  Whew.


 


I forgot to show you what my writing friend, ACJ, gave me for Christmas.  It's a pretty mesh bag filled with silver packages of Blooming Tea.  I don't think I have a clear coffee mug and I know I don't have a clear tea pot.  I'll dig around on the shelves under the stairs.  Maybe it'll look pretty in a white mug...



Well, I had my assessment with the YMCA trainer this afternoon.  It was a whole lot less than I thought it'd be, just seven different balance exercises and joint flexibility tests, so the whole thing took only 17 minutes.  (yes, I checked my watch when we finished.)  Which meant I had almost 2 hours to kill until KW arrived to walk in the pool with me so I worked on the machines, walked a little, and spent a few minutes on the elliptical machine.  But first I visited with my knitting friend, TG, who works at the desk at the Y.  I hadn't seen her in quite a while so it was fun to catch up.


When I got home I went downstairs and made another webbing and Velcro watchband for DS because the one I made last week was about an inch too short.  Good thing I had plenty of raw materials.  Stash is good!  You leave the pins in the watch and slip the Velcro through them, then you wrap the webbing around your wrist and secure the hook part with the watch on it to the band.  It holds tight and is hard to break.  I used to make them for our dive watches because the fabric tolerated immersion in all kinds of water.



I'll deliver it tomorrow because tomorrow is the groundbreaking for Zambaldi Brewing's building and I'll be there.  DS and DIL1 have worked so hard for so long to make their dream a reality and it's finally starting to materialize.  They've been brewing beer at a contract brewery for 2 years, selling it to bars and restaurants to build a customer base, and within 2019 should have their own brewery and taproom.  Hooray!  I tried hard to win the lottery so they didn't have to take out a loan but had no luck.  Since I don't really drink beer (I don't really drink anything anymore except water and coffee, oh, and Spreckers Ginger Ale [thanks to Lala]) I can't get a job there but I can do all sorts of other things to help.  Nobody would turn down free labor, right?


I didn't do any prompt writing last night but ACJ and I did a prompt on Wednesday so you get that.

28 December--We ate Chinese.  No one wanted to cook that year.  Mom died in October and we had all gone to our in-laws for Thanksgiving.  Now Christmas was staring us in the face like a loaded, double-barrelled shotgun ready to scatter pellets all through the family.  Em spoke up.  "What should we do?  Same as always?"  Heads shook, some nodded.  With seven of us there was sure to be an argument over what was the right thing to do.  Jack spoke first, "I think we should have one more Christmas the way Mom always did, kind of a farewell but keep the traditions alive."  Three people--Em, Mark, and Livvy--started crying.  Sam stood up saying, "No, nothing should ever change."  "Sit down, Sambo," said Ann, "things change, get over it."  I sat there ticking off all the things that would have to happen to make Christmas the same, starting with Mom coming back to life.  I looked across the table at Paul.  His red-rimmed eyes held mine, then he cleared his throat.  Talking and crying stopped.  He looked around at us and said, "Let's order Chinese for Christmas."  A collective sigh went up.  Heads nodded and shoulders relaxed.  "Good idea," said Mark.  "Yeah," said Livvy, "but get extra eggrolls.  Jack hogs them."

Well, it's longer that what I usually manage at night but it took about the same amount of time.  I worked hard at the Y today and I'm tired.  Nighty-night.
--Barbara