Massive Update

Yes, yes, it has been awhile. Suffice it to say that soooo much is brewing that I simply couldn't settle on what to feature that I would not regret months from now. So here is a safe update on all that's been cooking for the past few months.

#1 Son's Semester off

My oldest son is an actor. Has been all of his life, however, I wasn't one of those stage moms so he was not a profesional child actor or model. Last summer, as he was about to enter his junior year at college, he decided to actively pursue his career - for the summer. He was casted in a bunch of films and he was the standin for Corbin Bleu in a HBO tv series. Now he is working on another HBO show, How to Make it In America and I hope he gets on camara for that one.

#2 Son graduates high school and goes off to college!

The dreaded dorm shopping

Last day at a Savannah riverfront hotel before dorm move in

Vegas with #3 son

Jonathan played in a national basketball tournament in Las Vegas. That place is the debil.

Why does my child take coaching from his coaches with his full attention and I have to threaten bodily harm just to get him to stand still and listen?

A weekend vacation to French Town, NJ

I took a long weekend away to French Town. It is a really pretty place. I also drove to New Hope and Lambertville and they were nice too but it was in Frenchtown where I found this:

Visited the Spinnery

Spent quality time with dear friends

My Pal Phyllis and cat

My oldest friend, Amir

My buddy Deb

My foreign phantom friend Duma. I met Duma almost 30 years ago when he lived in the US in exile from apartheid South Africa. He returned after Mandela became president. Whenever he visits here on business, he always finds the time to give me a shoutout.

So you see, a lot has been going on. Have I been knitting? Oh sure,

Noro silk garden sock, yarn gifted to me by my pal Phyllis

A really grainy picture I took with my camera phone of my Malabrigo bolero. I love this! Fast and knit in one piece!

Whelp, that's it for now. Time does fly!

Jonathan, Marcus and Andrew - a long time ago

Marcus, Andrew and Jonathan - June '09

One on one with #3 son

This is my darling 3rd son.

Many years ago, while the two older boys were away at school for the day, he and I would hang out in my garden.

He is now 14 1/2 and nearly 6' 1" tall. We don't spend a lot of time one on one anymore. He will not even play one on one basketball with me anymore!

A couple of weeks ago, I kidnapped him and took him out to dinner. Just the two of us. He spent most of the time asking why I was doing this and the other half of the time txting his friends. I resorted to other diversions...



The two girls in the booth in front of us were the complete opposite of us. While my son barely spoke to me at all, one of the girls in the booth in front of us NEVER STOPPED TALKING! I couldn't help myself, I had to film it. As you can see, it did get Jonathan's attention.

Even though the outing didn't go as planned, it went far better than this disaster, below:

Silk garden socks, way too big!

Prom Weekend survival guide

My pal Phyllis called me up over the prom weekend to get me out of the house. She is so clever. The ruse? The sun is out, she had to buy plants for her garden, she had to drive way upstate New York and she needed a gardening friend (I'm really her knitting friend).

It was a lovely drive to this beautiful garden center she found. I didn't know where to look first - perennials, shade garden plants, trees, shrubs...


I spied lots of shrubs that wanted to come home with me

a beautiful smoke bush that I resisted

a sweet almond bush I couldn't resist

No matter how tempting, I did walk away from the wisteria. Giverney will have to wait for another life, in another garden, in Paris perhaps?

While I meandered about checking out the waves of fauna and enjoying the blazing sun that I was beginning to think was a phantom notion never to return to our planet, Phyllis was taking care of business with the garden guys



If it wasn't for the neat key to Phyllis' plans that kept our focus, we would have been wandering around this place all day just gawking at all the possibilities, well at least I would have. I have such trouble with ADHD, OCD and all the other hoarding disorders yet to be named brought on by the short fuse I've acquired dealing daily with teenagers and dumb politics, sorry, i digress...

Hungry and dehydrated, we set out to find food. While enjoying a nice lunch in a tavern that had a nice outdoor garden, Phyllis and I got to eat, knit and plot her planting schedule when BOOM!

Free Entertainment!

A car wreck where no one was hurt brought what seemed like the entire town and every first responder on and off the payroll, in and out of uniform and some who didn't bother to finish getting into uniform!

When I got home, I got a call from the prom dude that he was coming home early, yes! So, in celebration, mamma baked him a cake and made so much barbecue that I swear my hair is permanently infused with smoke. No matter, my son is safe and was all prommed out!

LIFE IS SWEET!

Prom Nite, middle child

Well, I survived another prom nite. Will I survive the weekend? I'll tell you when he comes home from the shore. Supposed to be today, Sunday. Traditionally they stay out from prom nite through Monday morning. Don't ask. I graduated high school in the dark ages, 1977. I can't imagine what my parents would have said if I said, "Mom, Dad, I'll see you in a few days."

Another tradition here in my town is to have the pre-prom party. One of the families graciously lends their home for all of us worn out parents to come and wear out their lawns.

...and block their traffic

Then we attempt to line the promies up to get group shots.

So easy to find your child in a crowd when they have the darkest tan

parents playing paparazzi

It is amazing how much they actually look alike!

...and they took off, with the $150 tux, $150 limo, $200 prom tkts, $250 beach house rental and $25 dollar hair cut (he went two days in a row).

I was a little worried, of course, so I tried working on this back home

Piece of advice, don't try working on any lace project when something is on your mind. Even if it is a simple two line repeat, you'll regret it...

Another College Road Trip

My Andrew is graduating high school next month. He has decided to go to college in Georgia. He has also received an academic scholarship to go to school in Connecticut, far closer to home. No manner of coaxing or bribing would sway his decision but I thought it would be a good idea to at least SEE the school.

We left on the Sunday after his spring break, problem #1. We left on a Sunday, problem #2. We left 3 days after he spent several days in Georgia looking at the school of his choice, problem #3. It was raining, problem #4. It was the Sunday before finals so there wasn't a soul ANYWHERE on campus, problem #5.

After Andrew decided that he would rather see the rest of the school from the car window, I went into my favorite building of any college campus - the library. There they were, all the good children, cramming for finals. But my Andrew didn't get to see any of these scholarly while hip hipsters. We left after only 40 minutes! It took nearly 4 hours to get up there and 40 minutes for the child to decide. Actually, he was decided before we even loaded up the car the night before.

My pal Phyllis, who is a repository of great advice, suggested that we stop at the Mark Twain House after Andrew got bored (how did she know?)




In a constant drizzle we walked along the grounds of this lovely restored home. I got to see wisteria in full bloom

Why is this important? I nursed a wisteria vine for 8 years with visions of Monet's gardens at Giverny in my mind. 8 years! Not a bud, nada! So, whenever I see a vine in full bloom, I stand in awe.

Inside were various exhibits of Twain memorabilia and lots of facts about his life and work. Displayed were the many poignant quotes and irreverent views he published on just about everything.

Andrew is a huge baseball fan and he was excited to see an old time exhibit on display.

But there was this...

This note was posted on a screen you had to go around to see the full exhibit. Inside were sad pictorial depictions of how nasty white america perceived blacks -



















Well, it is looking backward after all and as long as we remember the history and are mindful of the odious signs, we can continue to move forward toward a better understanding

Moving forward while others prefer backwards...