It was Perfect

He whisked in on a chariot, swept me off my feet, and took me away from all of this.

And it was perfect.

Remember? It had been one of those weeks. For several weeks, actually. And at the end of that particular week, he knew. He just knew. He knew better than I did that we needed to re-focus. On each other. Somehow, he understood that if we could just spend several hours, just the two of us, all would be right with the world.

I told him the other day that heretofore the most romantic thing he's ever done was to renew my driver's license without me even knowing it was in danger of expiring. Lest you think that's a small deal, I will divulge that five years prior, I had neglected to renew my license in a timely manner, so--nine months pregnant with my fourth baby--I had to go to DMV and take the test again. The written test. And I failed it. Which made a very pregnant woman cry. So, when it came up for renewal the next time and I was very pregnant with our sixth child,  he snagged it from the mail, filled out the forms, paid the fee, and presented me with a shiny new license a couple of weeks later. And I cried. With relief.

But I digress.

Last Friday, he outdid himself in the romace department. We went out to dinner. When we arrived at the white tablecloth restaurant where they have adults who wait on the tables instead of teenagers (good thing, too, because I'd had my fill of teenagers), they took us to a table set back in an alcove. With a curtain. Our own private little room, just as he'd requested. It was quiet and I could hear every word he said. I could watch his face in the soft light and hang on every detail. The dearest face in all the world looked back at me.

The food was truly delicious. I kept reminding myself to slow down, lest it all be over too soon. The food, the quiet, the light, the privacy, even the white tablecloth. Back to every word he said: I wondered a little about the words. It was a date night, after all. Was I allowed to talk about our children? I mean, it was a date. Just us. Turns out it was fine to talk about the kids, good even. And all the other things I wanted to say? He already knew them, without my even saying a word. He knew them and he spoke the words I so wanted to hear in reply. Spoke them with heart. That dear face leaning close to mine so that I wouldn't miss even the slightest whisper.

We left the restaurant and walked around the Town Center, holding hands and taking in the sights. I reminded him that we'd had two other dates there: one the day Clinton admitted he lied about "that woman." And one when we went to pick out birth announcements before Stephen was born (he's twelve now). We don't get out much. 

On this night, though, we got out. He'd arranged for us to stay the night at a nearby hotel. A beautiful hotel. With crisp sheets and room-darkening shades and air conditioning. Just us. Tangled together all night long without any chance that we'd hear the thundering approaching steps that people so often refer to as "the pitter-patter of little feet." It was just us. And us was more than enough. After 23-plus years of sharing time and space with the people we helped to create, I was a little worried about what would happen when it was just us. We are a team and we work together exceptionally well; we give 110% towards raising these children. It's almost always about them. And rarely about us. So, what would happen when the "them" was taken from the equation?

What happened was magical. Truly magical. 

Perfect.

 I slept so well, so soundly, so peacefully--until 9:15 the next morning when room service rapped on the door to announce the arrival of the lightest, most savory fritatta and the plumpest, most beautiful berries in maple glaze. We breakfasted in bed and laughed at texts from various children left at home. We lingered in the glow of perfect, magical us. 

I returned home relaxed and happy and very much in love.

Still.

Disclaimer: No toddlers were weaned for the making of this perfect date. Sarah Annie survived just fine. 

I'm going to blog;

I am.

I have a dozen or more posts in my head, things I really do want to share here. But. 

But last week was whirl of company, crisis, and chaos--the likes of which I've never experienced in nearly 23 years of parenting. And.

And I went into that week after  solid week of battling--and losing to--a particularly nasty respiratory bug. It lasts forever. I'm still wheezing. And it's still slowly making its way through the family. And it lasts forever. Did I already say that?

Did I mention that our air conditioner died last week and it was 102 degrees outside? It did. I had a fever. And it was 98 in my bedroom at 11:00 PM.

My house looks like I was sick and then I had company, crisis, and chaos.

I never can really sit to write when my environment isn't in order. Even if I leave my environment and go to Panera to write. {Panera, where I have of late received crisis and chaos telephone calls.} Anybody notice that I only posted once last week? And since then, it's only been guests posts? Yep. 

No order. No blogging.

Ducking out now, to think and think and think.

While I vacuum.

And mop.

And fold laundry.

Maybe tonight I'll write. 

Or maybe not?

Just wanted you to know I have been thinking about you.

Hope your summer is off to a calm, peaceful, orderly beginning. :-)

Patrick Reflects on Soccer So Far

About a week ago, my mom was asked by one of her readers if I would write guest post on her blog about how to achieve the success that I have in soccer. My first thought was, “why me?”  Then I thought about the year I’ve had and I realized that I’ve become a role model to young players. That’s a very cool, very scary feeling. So here it is: the keys to my success in soccer so far.

I’ve played soccer since I could walk, kicked anything and everything I came across that resembles a ball and I’ve watched countless games. I don’t remember choosing soccer, but rather it seems to have always been part of me. To this day, about twice a year, my dad asks me flat out, “Do you want to play soccer anymore?” My response has always been "yes" and I can’t see myself not playing any time soon. That brings me to my first key to success: I love to play. 

When I started my soccer career at age 4, playing for the under-6 “Blue Devils,” I couldn’t wait for Saturdays because it was another chance to “make the other team cry.”  Yes you read that right, I loved to make other kids cry. Today as I sit here I have (almost) the same thoughts going through my head. Only a few more days until I get the chance to win. The phrase that comes out of the mouth of youth sports coaches that annoys me most is, “It’s not about winning.” For me, its a little bit about winning; winning on the soccer field, winning in basement hockey, winning in backyard soccer, and even this past year, winning in the classroom. Now I realize that is not the perfect attitude for youth sports and I probably shouldn’t have that mentality; but I do and that is the second key to my success: I’m a competitor.

The third key is something that has always been totally out of my control. I was born with a tremendous amount of God-given talent. Raw talent can take you a long way; I’ve seen it. However, you will most definitely hit a brick wall if you rely on talent alone.  In my very first years of travel soccer, I played with a kid who had even more talent than I did (although I would have never admitted it). We were the ultimate duo-- we won every tournament there is the win in the Washington, D.C. area. It wasn’t so much the winning though; it was how we were winning- nobody could play with our team and we won almost every game by 5 goals or more. That was from U-9 to about U-12. Right now he is a high-school dropout and doesn’t play soccer anymore. So what was the difference between the two of us? I had a huge support system behind me. He didn’t. That may be the most important part of my success. I have parents, siblings, coaches, friends, and one special priest who have pushed me to my limits and told me that if I worked hard I could achieve my dreams.  This was the most important part of my success. Without people who have your back you have no chance at being successful. 

My dream has always been to play in a World Cup and I had a chance to do that this year. I left my family and moved to Bradenton, Florida to train with the under-17 National Team all year in preparation for the U-17 World Cup in Mexico this summer. Last week, they cut the preliminary roster of 28 players down to the 21, who will represent the United States in Mexico in a few weeks. That’s where I was let go. I trained hard all year and in the end, I was told I wasn’t good enough. Bummer. I sat in Bradenton and thought about what to do. I didn’t sit there very long. Reason one: I love to play. Reason two: I am a competitor.

Baby Surprise Jacket: Nearing the End

Guest Post by Elizabeth DeHority

 

I'm sorry it's been so long since we've posted another installment of "how to do the stressful rows of a BSJ the easy way"... 

 

Many people have gotten through the part where you knit back and forth on the center 90 stitches, for 10 ridges... 20 rows.  I always like that part, because it's fast and easy and it means that we're almost ready to turn this oddly shaped piece of knitting into a real sweater.

 

If you are making your sweater longer, perhaps you added extra rows here.  If that's the case, you also need to pick up extra stitches.  You will need to pick up one extra stitch for every two rows, AND when we talk about stitch counts later, you need to remember to add that same number to your counts.  For example, if you wanted an extra two inches and you were knitting in bulky yarn, you might have knit an extra ten rows, or five ridges.  When we tell you in a minute to pick up ten stitches, you will need to pick up 15.  AND you will have five extra stitches before your first increase and after your second increase.  Don't worry, you'll see in a minute what I mean.

 

Many people worry about picking up stitches... they see examples on ravelry that look quite sloppy, or they've tried and aren't pleased with the results.  I pick up stitches with my work flat on a table, so that I can see right where to go.  I made a video of my failure-proof method,

 but you'll need to forgive the george noise in the background and my pneumonia voice... 

 

You can, of course, pick up your stitches any way you want.  With my method, you'll need an extra end of yarn, which may mean extra ends to weave in at the end, but since it's otherwise so easy, I think it's worth it.

 

Here we go:

 

Knit your last row of the 90's, which should be a right side row.  Then lay your work down on the table and pick up ten stitches from the side of the flap of 90s that you just knit.  Now you're to the 34 stitches that you put on a piece of yarn or a spare needle a long time ago.  Put those onto any spare needle you have around, and knit those stitches onto your working needle... so now your working needle has the 90 from the flap, the ten you picked up, and the 34 from before. 

 

Take a breath and turn your work around to knit the next row.  Knit the 34 that you just knit, then the ten that you picked up, then the 90 across the bottom.  Now you need to pick up ten stitches (or however many rows of the flap you made) on the other side of the flap.  Then you can guess what comes next... take the 34 stitches from the other yarn or holder, put them on a needle, and knit those onto your working needle. 

 

You did it!  If you made it regulation size, you should have about 178 stitches on your needles. 

 

One common question:  what if my longest circular needle isn't working around all those stiches and around the corners?  Answer:  You can squish the stitches together and just struggle around the corners for a bit, and it will get easier, or you can put your work on two circular needles, one for each half, and transfer it to one needle later when it's easier. 

 

Next you need to plan your next rows.  See your pattern for where to put your markers for increases.  Basically they go in the corners where you turned from the bottom of the flap to the edges of the flap.  If you are making regulation size, your first marker would be after 44 stitches (34 from the stitches on waste yarn, ten from the picked up stitches...) but your number will be higher if you added rows to the flap.   You'll be working only a few rows until you do buttonholes, and then we're almost done.

 

If you're making a big sweater with bulky yarn, you're not going to want to follow the pattern exactly for the buttonholes, because they will be too far away from the edges.  I would work them after four or five ridges, and then only do one or two more ridges before casting off. 

 

Do you tend to cast off tightly?  That would pucker in the edges of this sweater... so you can either cast off loosely or you can use a needle several sizes bigger when you cast off. 

 

We will have one more post, on sewing up and weaving in ends... and then the post about the prizes... perhaps I'll have time this weekend to get my two halves to meet and then I can post pictures of my sweater.  maybe even on george :-)

Yarn Along

Just real quick, because real life is a bit overwhelming these days.

A lot of people living in this house this summer.

Ahem.

I am very, very slowly finishing this Baby Surprise Jacket. We have no air conditioning upstairs. It's 98 degrees outside.Pretty close to that inside. The whole knitting in bed during the NBA finals routine went pffft until the repairman comes next Tuesday. Instead, I'm dedicating my life to perfecting the art of lemonade iced tea and choosing and placing the ideal fan.

I've finished up around the outside of the jacket. (Mary Beth was the one brave enough to pick up the stitches and just get on with it already.) And then, emboldened by our success, we moved on to lengthening the sleeves. I see a bit of a closure problem on the horizon. Because I used the baby pattern with chunky yarn and made a jacket that will easily fit my four-year-old, the buttonholes are definitely off. Following theh pattern, I knit buttonholes on both sides. I am supposed to close holes on one side by sewing buttons over the holes I don't need. Problem is, that would truly throw off the lines of this sweater. The buttonholes are too far in from the sweater's edge. Pondering this one...

I'm reading Alethia, a new literary magazine by and for Christian Teens. I do hope this venture is successful, so please  take a look and help to inform the Christian youth of this resource. I have three magazines to give away, so if you'd like to receive one, leave a comment below and I'll announce three winners next week. 

That's all I've got for the day. Stay cool, my friends!