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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Promises, promises

I said I'd post some about my last trip to Texas.  Sorry for making you wait; I know y'all are just about to turn blue holding your breath for this one.  This trip was about as spur of the moment as it's possible for me, since it started with the airline reservation being changed the day after I bought the tickets.  I did have the sense to ask for a wheelchair at check-in -- it's only about a 2 mile walk from the check-in to the gate!  Much nicer to ride that distance, and my assistant got a pre-boarding pass for me, too.  While sitting at the gate, I rewound the Shibui Sock (light green, sorry don't have the ball band handy).  I usually don't do a lot of people watching, but did see two young boys traveling alone (separately).  I showed them some Fuzzhogs, and they each took one.  I had cast on and knit the first few rows of my Jadeite Color Affection, when it was time to board.  After getting situated on board, before takeoff, I took a pic of the shawl.
I think that's about eight rows in.  I knit a bit, and gave away another Fuzzhog, and just before landing I had this much done:
Yes, I had to hang it on the tray table latch to get a picture.  Couldn't do that now!  I have eight of the twelve contrast color A stripes done.  If you've knit this puppy you know where I am.   So, I landed in Austin a little early due to a terrific tailwind.  I had packed all I needed into the medium size luggage, and set that down inside the large size, so really only had one bag to wrangle off the carousel.  And I got help with that -- if you're wagging a cane folks want to help.  I figure that's only right, so I let them.  Sis showed up in Memaw's car (Memaw doesn't drive anymore, thank goodness!), with the Peerless T!  My how that girl has grown up.  She helped her ma get the luggage in the trunk, and accepted a Fuzzhog.  (Are we tired of these silly things yet?)  The three of us went to The Egg & I for lunch, then picked up Pup at his new digs.  Then it was on to the house.  I had a wonderful surprise there, as my brother and sister-in-law had come from Oklahoma to spend a few hours.  I hadn't seen them in several years, so this was a treat.  SIL looks great, she's lost a lot of weight.  Bro is still more or less bear-shaped.  I didn't ask if they objected to seeing their faces on here, so you won't see them.  So, there we were, the three surviving siblings & dear old Pup.  I can't think that there will a lot more such occasions; Pup has dementia and I have my health conditions, so I guess it's a toss up as to which of might shuffle off first.  Well, we had a nice visit, but Bro & SIL had to go home.  Before leaving Bro passed on something our nephew had told him about wanting another puppy.  Nephew had arranged to go to a breeder for a pup, and when he arrived the breeder said there was a second pup available if he wanted it.  So Nephew calls the wife, and gets the skinny, she telling him "It goes puppy, BABY, puppy".  So I guess they're "gettin busy" so he can get another puppy!  Love it!
There was a pool party planned for Peerless and her classmates, and I think 4 or 5 little girls showed up.  Mr. Sis grilled a nice batch of burgers & dogs, and we had sides too.  Pup & Memaw stayed inside, and I stayed with them.  After the party & dinner both our elders went to their respective homes, and when Mr. Sis got back we all just deflated and went to bed.
Sunday after breakfast, Sis & I "retired" to her second closet (!!).  She is a professional, and really works at looking the part.  Piecing together this story, Sis had been trying to lose a good bit of weight, while still wearing her same old wardrobe.  Eventually, some weight came off and these clothes started hanging on her -- not the look she wanted!  At this point she was pretty close to the size I am now, and really tired of wearing old clothes.  So she went shopping, as only Sis the Super Shopper can, buying a lot of clothes but rarely paying more than 50% retail for any of them.  And she was buying nice clothes, Charter Club and various designer names.  Anyway, she started wearing her new wardrobe, believing she'd be wearing these things for a while based on the long slow process she'd been thru to lose weight.  However, as sometimes happens, she suddenly lost about 20 lbs, and then over about a month lost another 10.  And she was back to baggy clothes!  Unacceptable!!  So, she sorted all these too-big clothes into the second closet, meaning to take a lot of them to work to sell to other ladies there.  Then she found out I was to visit!  So for four hours Sunday, we had a marathon sizing session in her closet.  I was in and out of pieces one right after another for four freaking hours.  But  now I have a nearly new wardrobe; actually, some of the blouses still had tags on them.   Two big moving boxes of clothes just arrived via FedEx on Friday last.  I'm going to have to refigure how I'll be storing the yarn stash, since I'll need the closet in the the front bedroom for my own second closet!   I am just thrilled, what a nice gift from my Sis, with whom I used to get so angry because she would raid my closet!  Sis and I figured that with what she gave me and my own puny wardrobe, I could go to work for 250 days (about a year) without repeating an outfit there.  So, if you've been paying attention, you've seen the first 3 weeks of that process here.  I'm gonna need a spreadsheet, I think.
One thing quickly became clear: I needed some better bras!  And appropriate bling to wear with my "new" duds!  On Tuesday, Sis & I went shopping, Sis-style.  First we hit Hancock Fabrics for supplies needed for (oh noes!) more Fuzzhogs -- I'm commissioned to produce one for each of the cheerleaders at Miss A's school.  More on that later.  Then we went to TJ Maxx for some padded push-up bras so I be a sexy Mama.  While there we picked up some bling.  Then we went to the Clothes Mentor for more bling.  I need to call those folks, and tell them that Nashville needs them!   What fun!  Check out these pics (sorry, cell phone & night time shots -- bleh!):


Some of these items came from Savers, which we did not visit until Saturday just before my flight home.  The Plaidman hung up an accordion-style hanger to hold these in the master bedroom, and it looks like an art installation.  
Well, it sounds like dinner may appear soon, so I'll close this & come back to my travelogue in another post.  

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