Overheard at work...

"Her grandson is a little boy!!!"

Babbling on Thursday

I've been having issues with posting for the last few weeks. I hope I have it figured out by now and this one will actually go up.

I'm still working at the ranch with the cognitively challenged adults. I just passed my first year anniversary working here and I have to say it HAS been a challenge. Thankfully, Porter and Celeste are still with me, and having them is a blessing. Two normally-thinking minds in the midst of the abnormal. Celeste keeps everyone in line while Porter lets me know when things like seizures are happening.

Porter has recently begun to let me know about seizures more in advance. There is only one in the house that seizes, and before the seizure starts, Porter sits in front of the person and works to make eye contact with me. He keeps his back to the seizure, I think because it upsets him, and stares at me. He does not move, otherwise. Porter used to bark a lot to get someone's attention, and waited till the seizure was obvious before he did anything. So I am imagining that his understanding of seizures is evolving some.

Celeste is aloof. She has no desire to become involved with the residents of the house. She used to bark at people who had tantrums and yelled, but lately, she has simply sat looking at them, as if to study the behavior.

It appears that I have two canine scholars who are working at their degrees in human bahavioral studies.

As for me, I periodically have to remind myself that I am not defined by my job. I have an idea of how the parents of these people must have felt as they watched their child grow up, knowing that their capacity for learning and functioning in the world would be quite limited. It's sometimes disheartening to realize that as adults, they have no more capabilities than they did as little children. Arrested development. What a thought. As I move around the world of the mentally handicapped, there are so many more than I was ever aware of.

It all makes me so thankful that my own daughter is a gorgeous and normally functioning adult. I do not look forward to spending more time working here, but there must be something else that I am to do here, since I haven't been able to find a different job yet.

And now, back in Wyoming

We're back in Wyoming. Celeste had been staying with people who didn't want to be the "bad guys", so her behavior is a lot like it was when she was about 6 months old - peeing on the floor, screaming like she's being skinned alive when she doesn't get her way, and being generally obnoxious. We have our work cut out for us. reality is setting in for her, though, as she finds herself in her crate when we go out, because she isn't reliable to leave loose in the house anymore. What a pity that all that training went down the drain. At the moment, she's not welcome in anyone else's home because of her street dog attitude and because she feels totally free to pee in the house, anywhere she pleases. I'm hoping that with a little time, Celeste will make a return to being a mannerly girl. She was once a reliable, charming dog that everyone admired and enjoyed being with. I say this just after I clean up her crate mess. It wasn't so terrible that I lost all enthusiasm for having her with us, and I think she will come around.

Porter, however, has been collecting admirers from here to Texas and back. He's not a striking beauty like Celeste is, but he's an outstanding boy. He's a good watch dog, a good friend, and behaves well in just about every situation. He does best when he knows he is someone's personal best friend. And right now, he's my personal best friend. And he's so insecure that he might lose his spot in the house that he slept on my stomach last night. He normally doesn't do that. O thinks it could be that HE is the threat to Porter. I'm not sure, but today, Porter made great strides in showing his trust in O by jumping up on the bed beside him.

It snowed yesterday, and it was O's first experience in a snow storm. He thought he had come late enough in the year that the cold would be over, but - heh - he was wrong. It snowed through the day and put a damper on our plans, so we just stayed home.

And, I have been busy spinning and knitting a bit. I finished a knitted teddy bear for my coming grandson, have a Spud sheep in progress, and have been spinning on my big supported Rose spindle. I have 4 ounces of wensleydale fiber to spin up. All on my camera, ready to post! But, since my camera ONCE AGAIN has a dead battery, I'll have to post this picture instead:


(My daughter and her husband at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. Taken by O on his camera, which does have good batteries)

My Saturday Evening Post

Lots of things are happening here at the Ranch. Last weekend, we went to Denver to a Mammoth game. The Mammoths play lacrosse. That was my first lacrosse experience, and I was totally unprepared. It was kind of like watching hockey players run around with little baskets on sticks and beat one another with them. No ice, but just as volatile and violent. Fist fights on the field. A sponsor of the ranch has a daughter that is a cheerleader for the Mammoths, so he invited all the Ranchers to go and watch the game and meet the mascot, the cheerleaders, and the players. This guy is a contractor who remodeled one of our houses for free. So aside from mistaking me for one of the residents, I think he's pretty cool...now that I'm over feeling insulted and self-conscious.

We got a new resident last month, who lives in the house I work in. Rodney. He's okay. Like everyone, he has his things. He really likes Marfa and Sthwan (the rest of us know them as Martha and Juan), and that guy who works in the office with Suann (that guy is Art, and he works with Suzzanne.) Rodney has a pretty good personality, loves to joke and tease, and pouts like a 5 year old when he doesn't get his own way, more or less like everyone else who lives on the Ranch. Hasn't a tooth in his head and has a cartoonish way about him.

Last night we had a wing-ding over at the Galeton Elementary School. We put on a supper with chili, ham and bean soup, and turkey vegetable soup. It seemed to draw a good-sized crowd. I ran into my cool contractor and made sure I mentioned to him that I wasn't a "Rancher." It may remain a joke between us, now that he knows I've never been diagnosed as mentally defective and I know that he didn't intentionally insult me.

I'm heading to Texas to pick up O in Houston at the end of March. Mr. P. is going with me. I thought about leaving him here, but I prefer not to travel completely alone. He's not much of a map-reader, but really is a pretty good dog. Anyway, O and I will get to visit with my daughter and her husband. I know he's looking forward to that, and so am I. I wish that I'd had more time to spend with them both when they were out here in December. They seem so happy together. I really want them to be happy.

You know, sometimes family gets so involved in doing what they think is best for their relatives that they actually do more damage than good. I hope I never become one of those meddling, gossipy in-laws who make my kids or cousins or family members sorry that they ever included me in anything. I know it happens, and if I become like that, I hope my daughter will have the wherewithall to tell me to butt out of her business and go find something else to fill my time. And if that comes to pass, I hope I have the good sense and good grace to do just that.

The biggest concern for me, at the moment, is what to do with Celeste, if she gets to come. I don't know if she will be suitable to work at the ranch like Porter does. Her personality is very different than Mr. P.'s...not so calm and patient. I wonder if she can even be at the ranch, since the rule is only one dog per house. So hmmm....

I've been spinning some. I got a pretty spindle with a couple of flowers embedded in a clear acrylic whorl, and have been spindling up some blue wool with white silk carded into it.

I realized last weekend how little I'm working on fibery projects these days. I miss it, although I've got the second sock syndrome with three pairs of socks. I ordered a big Rose spindle from Lisa Chan over at Grippingyarn.com, and really can hardly wait to try it out!

Chilly these days

On Monday, the temperature dropped WAAAAY down below zero. With the windchill, Cheyenne was at -47 deg F. Without the wind, it was a balmy 12 below. Not so bad. There was almost no snow, and it was so cold that no snow stuck to the road at all...I think it blew on east to Nebraska or beyond. My pipes didn't freeze and my house was intact when I got there on Tuesday morning. Porter was so whupped by the cold that he headed right for the bed (complete with electric blanket) and didn't come off it till time to go back to work Tuesday afternoon. At the ranch, the overnight low was predicted to be 20 below, but this morning it was only -12 on the west side of the house and -8 on the east side, at 6:45. I know we didn't break past zero, but at least the sun came out and warmed the inside of the cars.

My big news is that my daughter is getting married!
My little girl
She brought her guy out in December to meet the rest of the family, and we all decided he was a keeper. I think he was relieved, and we were too. He called me last Friday to ask me if it was okay to marry her. I almost bawled right there on the phone. So nice to have a young man be as considerate as that! What he didn't tell me was that I am also on the verge of becoming a grandmother...at the end of July.
The kids!

Really??? Me??? A grandma??? I never imagined myself as a grandmother, although I am looking forward to it. I don't know if it requires an attitude change or if I can go on being the way I am. I look at my older sister, who has become this doting, clucking mother hen of a grandma over her first grandchild, and I know that I am not and never have been a mother hen, and don't know if I will ever be. I am thrilled beyond my own imagination, but wonder if I will be a success at grandma-ship.

House and Garden Projects

My house is beginning to come together. I had some months of feeling depressed every time I walked in, but I think I'm making progress, at least in my attitude toward it. The upstairs bathroom is still not operative, but the living room now looks like a living room. The bedroom is almost finished and so is the kitchen. All I lack for the 3 rooms is baseboard trim. The bathroom - well, I can't hold the 2-piece pedestal sink together and bolt it to the wall all at the same time, so I need some help with that and I don't know how to install a toilet. But not much else is needed aside from those two key pieces. I need to sew up a couple of sets of curtains and find a couple of area rugs for the bedrooms.

One of my greatest pleasures is to spend time in my own home. It's my escape from the insanity of what's "out there." I have always made my home, wherever I was, my sanctuary. I was looking at a recent copy of "The Herb Quarterly", and it had an article about making an outdoor "room" with some blinds to create "walls", potted plants, maybe an indoor/outdoor carpet, and lawn furniture. I have the perfect space for that! I already have the lawn furniture in my dad's shed, so I'm halfway there. It's not that I don't like my neighbors - I do - but I like my privacy, too. This might be my summer project!

I want something like this, in my dreaming mind...I'll never have a pergola since I already have a nice roof over my patio, but I think I could dress it up a bit and make a nice space anyway.

In my backyard, I have the old bathtub from my bathroom renovation. It's languishing back there, waiting for me to paint it some pretty color instead of it's current chipped, ugly yellow. I think I could paint it lavender or green, and paint little flowers on the side, to make it look like a garden, even if the live garden fails. I plan to fill it with compost and soil, then plant herbs and flowers in it. I also need to replant one end of my clothes line. Argh. Leftovers from the renters. I also need to cut the tallish stump of the dead tree very short, and replant another tree somewhere. I want a shade tree out there. I wonder if I'll live long enough to see one actually provide shade. My roses are recovering nicely, and all summer they tried to spread.

We had a little wedding...

Yes, just after Christmas we had a little wedding. My nephew Andrew, and his girlfriend of 10 years, Randee, finally broke down and tied the knot.

The proud mama, Woolyworks.

My daughter and her new beau, center dance floor. And below, Andrew and Randee taking their vows.

Randee and her dad, walking down the aisle:

My side of the family (yeah, that would be the WOOLY side of the fambly, heh):

Here's the official wedding cake:

...and here's the unofficial one:

I think we've got some tears here....

But not here:

Heheheheh... :o) We had fun!

Oh no. Don't let it snow snow snow.....

So everyone was bemoaning the lack of snow for Christmas. Guess what happened yesterday...mega snow. WE HAVE SNOW. More snow than we needed or wanted. The news expected up to 10 inches of accumulation. We may have gotten that, but with the wind as it is, most of it has blown off to parts unknown. And it didn't come alone. Wind came with it. They are pretty close companions around here. Their best friends are Mayhem and Road Rage.

This morning we had to shovel our van out of a snow drift...the driver tried several times before she finally got it stuck really well. The guys in my house made me so proud by working till we got it loose. The driver jumped in, backed out of the drift area, gunned the engine, and promptly buried it in a different drift. Grrr...
but wemanaged to extract her from that one, too.

Aside from that, we've have below zero temperatures and terrible wind chill. We stayed inside for the majority of the day, and are beginning the weekend with movies and popcorn. I'll be going home for FOUR DAYS!!!...if I don't get stuck in a snow drift myself somewhere.

Merry Christmas to All!

I've got to work this Christmas week, starting tonight, so I'll do my posting now. I'm finished with gift wrapping and shopping, and if I missed anyone, I'll try to catch up for birthdays.

O called me this morning, and we wished each other a happy Christmas. I miss him. But we are both well and happy and employed, so those are blessings to be thankful for this year. I have a home that is nearly paid for, too, with a payment low enough to be made even in the event that I become unemployed. Porter is snoozing on my bed with the electric blanket turned on LOW, and he's not even snoring. So, YEAY! Life is good!

My daughter will be coming out on the 26th to attend the wedding of one of my nephews on the 28th, and bringing the boyfriend who apparently is so excited to come he is beside himself. I'll be glad to see and - really - happy to meet him. I will probably only see them at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding (damn those 24-hour shifts!), but that will be alright. I have no vacation yet, but am free to attend both events, as long as I take my "loquitos" (little crazies, as O calls them) with me. Luckily, the little crazies are invited to both events too.

We haven't had snow yet, but I'm okay with that while I'm driving the 50 miles to work. After I get there for the week, it can snow, snow, snow! So I hope you all have a beautiful white Christmas if your're hoping for one, and drive safely if you're traveling!

Step into my china cabinet

I love my china cabinet. It's not an old family heirloom or an antique. I think it's just a cheap copy of something more expensive. But I have a few significant things in there that hold sentimental value.

You've seen some of them before - the little Peruvian dudes (there's another one over to the right)...

...and maybe some you haven't seen, like the tall celebratory glass (I once read that the taller and thinner the glass, the more you think you're drinking, but you really are not. I think it has more to do with the taste of the drink than anything else for me. But that's what the psychologists and diet experts say anyway). Anyway, O and I had a set of very similar glasses that we drank our champagne from when we got married in Trujillo. They were stolen from the table immediately after we drank our wedding toast to each other. Everything was stolen. we have nothing to remember our wedding, except a video tape and 3 photographs. Seven years later, I discovered the cake topper from our wedding cake on the coffee table of one of O's friends. It still had our names written on the bottom of it. Aaaaah yes, life in Peru...
...the green glass creamer that my dad gave me from my mom's stuff and the teapot that I saw in Pier One and just had to have although I have only had one cup of tea from it since I got it 5 months ago...
...the tea pot and little set that came with it that I bought from a lady at the farmer's market this summer when I had money burning a hole in my pocket, and the souvenir wine glass from my daughter's high school graduation party...
...the cardinal ornament from Hobby Lobby that I bought because "Cardinals Rule" when I should have been shopping for someone else, and the dishes that my parents found for me in a flea market on the south end of College in Ft. Collins, because they knew I loved the pattern and it had been discontinued. They said it was fun to find them...I think the hunt is often
more fun than the actual find. They found enough of them that my daughter now has almost a complete set, too!

There's an incense burner that my daughter sent me for my first Christmas in Lima, and a stick of my favorite incense, Drrrragon's Blood (affecting an Irish brogue).

If you enlarge the last photo, you'll see a little pink petal dish; I think it's meant to hold a tea light. That's also from my mom's stuff that my dad couldn't look at without crying after she died. And the last little item is a tiny, lidded pottery dish that I found in a second hand store after I returned to Cheyenne and discovered that I needed clothes but had no money to speak of. I splurged and bought it for 50 cents.

Next time I'll post pictures of some mittens that I've been working on for my daughter's boyfriend. He's from Houston and has never seen snow. They're coming out for a wedding at the end of the month. It's December and freezing here every night and most mornings. His thought is, "How cold can it be?" Well, let me tell you, dear man... :o)

Week's end update

Back at work today for the start of a long week. It's Friday, and I work until next Friday. Luckily, I'll get the next weekend off.

So, I came back and the furnace was sending out cold air, and wouldn't you know, this is the first week we've had frost at night every night. My two guys will be grumpy and cold tomorrow. One of them gets to go home tomorrow for the whole weekend, so that's good. If it gets too cold, the other one will go spend the night in one of the other houses tomorrow. the maintenance man said he thought he could get it fixed tomorrow, so I have my fingers crossed for a warmer house sometime tomorrow afternoon. I had planned to take my two to the movies tomorrow afternoon, but since I went full time, I have the whole weekend as the "Staff on Duty", which means I have to take everyone - all 10 of the residents - wherever I go...so no movies this weekend, I guess. Maybe I can work in an afternoon matinee for my two sometime during the week. They want to see the movie about the owls - "The Guardians" or something like that.

My two days off were yesterday and today, and I worked on a sweater. I've got one going here at work and one going at home. Hopefully, I'll have two sweaters pretty soon. There is a little yarn shop going out of business in Cheyenne, called "Georgette's", and I bought a good amount of Lopi wool yarn to start in making my hats again. And, I want to make some felted mittens, too. Hopefully, I'll get motivated and photograph the couple of hats that I've already finished, and get them into my Etsy shop.


Here's the one you've seen before...I have a couple more that are languishing in the cabinet at home.

I've got one sock done for a friend's Christmas present, and I'm suffering from SSS...second sock syndrome. I love the first one, but have lost my go power for getting the second one done. And I've promised myself that I'll do a pair for my daughter - and a pair of mittens for her, too. Those sweaters might have to be put off for a couple of weeks while I catch up on my Christmas commitments.