Beezy

I hope you don't mind if I share this, Mom.

Another item that now lives at my house is an old scrapbook, which Mom stashed with the other scrapbooks and photo albums.    Dad never liked it, for reasons soon to be revealed, but it was always a source of fascination to me as a teen, and to my girls.   It starts in 1947 before she met my father,  when Mom was dating an artist or cartoonist or graphic artist.  I am not quite sure what he called his career in those days, but after googling him, I believe he worked in the in the early days of comic books.  Actually, there is someone working today by the same name, but a female, who works as a letterer of graphic novels and comic books.   Perhaps, a descendant?   Anyway, what I love about the whole scrapbook is that it captures snapshots of my Mom, my grandparents, my aunt, their home and their lives in the late 40's.   A time and a place which is history for me, but comes alive on the pages.

It appears that each time they had a date, a new comic would be presented.  Each is hand drawn, painted and lettered and in many ways, they remind me of Archie and Jughead comics.   Here is the dedication page:

The larger pages I plan to photograph, but the smaller ones (most are 8"X8") I will scan into this blog.  To really see the detail and quality of the artistry, click on each photo to enlarge it.    One posting in my blog each week will be dedicated to sharing these pieces, and my assumptions about them.  I am sure Mom will correct my inaccuracies!

Dating today is not very different today from then...look at the telephone, the moon, the record, the high school banner, the malt.   Only the technology and the flavors and locations have changed.

More snow today

Look at the calendar and what does it say: April 17, nearly a month since the first day of spring. Whoever said that March roars in like a lion and out like a lamb didn't live in Colorado in the Springtime.

My last posting which included photos of my Grandma's legacy of beautiful knitting garnered more comments than any of my other postings since I began this adventure more than a year ago. Since I am in possession of many of her heirloom pieces, I think I will periodically share them with you, much in the way that Brenda Dayne has her "Today's Sweater" segment on her Cast-On Podcast. Today I will share a photo of Grandma herself, along with the rest of my mother's side of the family at my wedding.

Please note the flowers in my hair, the dress that required me to be bra-less, my brother's long dark hair (still on top of his head) and the beard. Can you guess what year it is?

.........................................Time's up: 1975!!!!! Grandma is seated next to Gary, and believe it or not, she actually knit her two piece dress. I bet the yarn is sock weight and it was knit on a 1 or 2 size needle! I still have the top and you cannot really see it in the photo, but there is sequin trim around the neckline and the hem of the sleeves. Incredible.

Just getting the album out makes me somewhat misty, because so many of the faces are gone now, but never forgotten. Seated: my grandparents, (David and Yetta Siegelbaum), Top left: Uncle Timmy (Stanley Rosenberg), Top, second from right: Cousin Linda Rosenberg and my Dad, Stanley Botkin, behind me. It was 2 years ago this week that Dad passed away, hard as that is to believe for those of us for whom his presence is always felt.

I was incredibly fortunate to have all four of my grandparents at my wedding and it makes me sad to know that my girls will not have this honor whenever their turn comes up. (No rush, girls, really!) Rounding out the rest of the living family in the photo are my Aunt Jean: top right, Cousin Richard: top row, 2nd from left, Mom: next to Dad, and my brother next to Mom. And you can tell which the bride and groom are! We have all aged a little (!!!) since then but isn't it special when we can remember the moments and the faces and spirit of family together for a happy occasion.

My First Blogiversary!!!

It has been one year since I began this journey with you, my readers. I have also been a member of Ravelry for one year as well. These two adventures, as well as all my knitting, spinning, friends, family, and travel have been the most joyous and positive things in my life, and I have tried to keep my blog upbeat and personal as far as I felt comfortable.

That being said, I am so glad 2008 is over...done....kaput...finished. All the above mentioned joys served to keep me sane in the most stressful year of my life. Well, almost sane, most of the time. I thought 2007 was bad enough with the loss of 83 year old father and my sister-in-law Maggie. I suffered dearly with those losses to be sure and miss them every day.

But 2008 began in January with stress at work (personality conflict with the boss) and I felt the guillotine hovering over my head every moment until late August when the axe fell. Unemployed at age 58 after a 12 year career with a company I love, I sunk deeply. I relied on my positives to keep me keeping on all year. Here is a recap of the good things in my life over the last year:

Family: My two daughters are grown-ups now and taking adult responsibilities seriously. We talk frequently thanks to Verizon in network calling and they give me much joy. They live far away are self supporting with their own benefits (yay) and I was able to spend time with each this year and I am extremely grateful for this. Sometimes I can hardly believe that these two beautiful young women are mine. Yes, I see little girls and am reminded of how much I miss MY little girls, but am also glad that we are done with adolescence and the hating Mom stage.

My Mom is healthy, strong, still living on her own with a vast network of friends and activities. She is even posting online to meet some new friends (read: men) for companionship! You Go Girl!!! I helped her upload this photo to the chosen site and we looked over the male candidates. Her only comment was that they were all too young for her (late 60's-70's). The funniest part of that is we fibbed slightly about her age and probably most of the men did as well! My husband is healthy and active at home with the fix-it chores and outdoor duties. I can always count on him being home and he supports my fiber craziness and indulges it (he bought me my first Golding Spindle and ignores the fluff that invades every room of the house!) My brother seems to be getting along well, as does my niece who is graduating high school this year and has been accepted into the same college where her mother went. Their loss is unimaginable and I keep them in my thoughts all the time.

Friends: I have very good friends who have been a terrific support to me, both old and new. Through Ravelry, I have made many friends, some of whom I have met in person, like Iron Needles and Peaceful Knitter. Through knitting locally, I made a good friend, Stacy (SSKStacy on Ravelry), and we have knit together in and out of classes and have taken some very fun "field trips". Those include going to Estes Park for the Sheep and Wool Festival, Boulder to check out Spindles, Shuttles and Skeins and to the Black Forest in Colorado Springs to check out Table Rock Llama's shop. I also have many non-knitting friends who have been a great support as well.

Knitting and Spinning: I have become an adventurous knitter

and I have learned to spin with a spindle.

I look through my projects on my Ravelry page to know how busy I have been this year. I included projects primarily begun this year

and I am very proud of the posted results. You can read through my blog for the progess reports on most of them. I learned to spindle spin with confidence and I have made everything from thick and thin "art yarn" at the beginning to 3 ply sock-weight yarn. My spindle collection now numbers 6 and my stash grows in many ways. I may be itching for a Spinning Wheel, but I need to wait till the finances allow it.

I visited with the Yarn Harlot, for the second time, and this time I got a photo! She is holding my sock (yet to be finished) and I am holding hers which I am sure she has finished by now! My Nantucket Jacket is from 2007, but the photo is this year.

Travel: As stressful as the year was, I had several blessed escapes. In April, I traveled for my annual reunion with college buddies to Carmel, California.

Three weeks later, my Mom and I, went on a river cruise in Europe. Then, in October, I traveled to NY and CT for my High School Reunion,

to visit family,

friends,

and Rhinebeck for the Sheep and Wool Festival.

Luckily, this trip had been mostly prepaid in advance. All the trips were wonderful, a time to relax and soak in good stuff with people I love. Again, finances will dictate when I am able to travel again.

Thank you, readers, for your comments, support and good wishes throughout my first year of blogging. Your support was felt intensely and the blog provided me with the respite I needed when I needed it. I hope to continue on as before with mostly upbeat and positive postings because everyone's lives are stressful in many different ways and catching up with friends on their blogs should not be a downer all the time. I am now employed. It is a job, not a career and I continue to search for that career I need to work for the next several years until a real retirement. Everyone is feeling the economy intensely and I know I am not alone. As we continue in the new year of 2009, with a new President, hope remains for better things for everyone.

I love you all. Happy New Year.

PS: Don't forget to check out yesterday's post for details about my Blogiversary contest and prizes. Can't wait to hear from lots of you.

Crazy weekend to come

I am picking up Amanda (#1 daughter) at the airport at noon, but except for the car ride to and from the airport, I don't know how much we will see of her. It is much like High School when she passed in the night and if we saw her car outside, we knew she was home...usually.

Hopefully we will find some time to go over and visit with Mom as she really enjoys the kids around. How lucky we are that my folks moved here when they were young enough to make a new life (after 35 years in CT) and to really have a good relationship with my kids. I was the rebel who moved away from the east coast at 23 to Colorado and never went home, except for visits. Once I married and the kids were here, I was at such a loss not having any of my family here. When you are young you don't think about those things the same way you do when the kids move away themselves. We are now scattered again, and Dad is gone. The family is shrinking and I now know how my parents must have felt with me being so far away. Now one is in New York, and the other in Kansas City. At least we have cell phones and the Verizon family network. But it is not the same.