You know, I started this list of questions at the beginning of October and I'm still answering them, I really should think a little more before I start rattling off a list of topics because I couldn't think of anything to post about. Okay, so where did I leave off?

Boy, have I been remiss in my blogging of late. It's already December and haven't made any entries in regards to my knitting since the end of October, this is very wrong of me. I plan to rectify this straight away but first I have a little old business to attend to and then I promise it will be back to regularly scheduled programming, read- more stuff about knitting.


Your twenty year old son is given a truck from his grandfather. It's a straight stick shift and he needs someone to teach him to drive it. Now what? Well, It's gonna have to be me, of course. Having his Dad try to teach him is a recipe for disaster. Putting the two of them in such a confined space would not be pretty. So, I'll teach him; I'm a better driver anyway. My husband would take umbrage at that statement, but it's true despite what he may think, just ask Ani. The only problem now is finding a time when my son's and my schedule will allow said training. So far it hasn't been working out too well, However, he's going to be working the third shift soon so I think we'll be able to schedule more driving time, perhaps in the mornings.

Your daughter's Chamber Orchestra wants to make a trip to Florida and you're having trouble just coming up with funds to get her the instruments she needs. Now what? Well, then you fund raise, of course. You saw that coming, did you knot?
Anne's violin teacher, Caren Simon, ( yes, the Caren for which I am knitting the Winter Sunset Cardigan, see here and here), has founded a new non profit organization: Artistic Youth Ensembles of Minnesota, or AYEM ( pronounced as aim, as in aiming for harmony.)

Caren, unable to suppress the pride and joy she felt in the music that these young musicians in the Uptown Chamber Orchestra were playing, shared her feelings with a fellow friend and director of hers Jonathan May who directs the Florida Young Artists Orchestra in Orlando Florida. AYEM has accepted an invitation by Jonathan May to Caren and the Uptown Chamber Orchestra to come to Florida and perform for and together with his orchestra in January.

In order to make this happen for the members of the who are unable to fund the trip on their own, ( read: my daughter) the members of the Uptown Chamber Orchestra and their families have been pooling their creative efforts to raise the money toward that end. AYEM has set up a fundraiser through Elegant Impressions. A portion of the cost for each note card, calendar or print will goes to AYEM to provide financial aid to it's members. I encourage you to look it over and see if perhaps there is something of interest to you.

Your seven year old daughter thinks she should be rich because she believes she saw God on the bus. Now what?
I have two daughters. Two of the most brilliant, beauteous, and wondrous girls you could ever hope to meet. Each of them brimming over with sugar and spice and everything nice and clearly quite mad. Seriously, they are nuts, Nutters, I tell you. Don't believe me?
One Sunday, Kati came to me while I was out walking the perimeter* and stated that she thought she should be rich.

Me: Why is that?
Her: Because I saw God on the Bus.
Me: You did? Did God talk to you?
Her: No, well it was more like the light of God that I
saw.
Me: I see. Why do you think that now you should be
rich?
Her: Because I was the only who saw Him.
Me: Oh.

I'm thinking I should consider knitting the sleeves on her jackets a lot longer so it'll make it easier to tie in the back. As to her older sister, I will let you decide. Ani: in her own words.

*I've already explain this in an earlier post but for those of you who didn't read it; I often will walk around the edges of my yard. I do this for many reasons really but mostly it's a comforting device. I never said that the girls didn't come to their craziness honestly.

Your sixteen year old daughter is miserably sobbing her heart out in the corner of her room. Now what? I don't have an Ipod. If I did I would include the song, Happy Girl by Beth Nielson Chapman on my playlist. In the lyrics of the chorus she sings, " everybody knows that the sweetest thing that you've ever seen in the whole wide world is a happy girl." Conversely a young girl miserably sobbing in the corner of her room will break your heart, take it from me.
The beginning of the school year was not going well for Ani. She was struggling with her journalism class. Now understand, Ani is a good writer. I'm not alone in this opinion, which is why I encouraged her to try journalism. Apparently journalism was not the way to go, for she hated it. She felt like everyone was getting it, except her. She was floundering in the deep end of the ocean and the sharks were circling. This is very upsetting for a girl who rarely, if ever, has had any trouble with any class before, especially a writing course.( On a side note, Ani was not the only one having trouble adjusting to the new school year. Perhaps not for the same reasons per say but from reading other blogs of her peers, the start of the school year wasn't going all that smoothly. Just sayin') The solution to the problem would require two things of her. First: admitting that she needed help and second: asking for that help. Neither concept of which she had much experience with but which, I am happy to report, that after her tearful meltdown did and has managed to turn it around. Yay, for Ani. I asked her the other day after talking about her writing if she has changed her opinion of journalism and she said no. She still enjoys writing but journalism just isn't her cup of tea. Kati just wants to know what gerbalism is anyway.