thanks to you all

You’ve all been kind, in comments and in emails, and I appreciate it greatly. This is still hard, and I guess it’ll continue to be so, in lots of different ways and for a long time. I still have several things to deal with, too, as far as promises I made to Dad, and other issues that came up that I hadn’t expected, but that’s ok — there’s time, and I have my own stupid little ways of dealing with pain, as well as being blessed with my family and friends. So…

Today was the first day we were all home again and were able to just *stay* home and try to get back to normal. It’s been very peaceful, and I think we all needed it. I notice that we all slept a lot, too, which I’m sure helps soothe our bodies and minds. I’ve spent some time crocheting, and Jeff and Danny have been able to lose themselves in their computer games, and later tonight we’re going to settle in together to watch the first episode of “Deadwood.” That’ll be a treat, and it’s one of our favorite rituals, so we’re all looking forward to that.

I made a big pot of chili this afternoon, since the weather is unseasonably cool and rainy, and I have a rhubarb pie in the oven, so the house smells homey and comforting. It’s funny how relaxing it can be just to do little domestic chores like chopping rhubarb, or stirring a fragrant pot of chili.

my dad has died

He was found dead on June 4th, and I’m just not ready to post anything else right now. Will be back soon, but for now, I need to take a break. Some of you were aware of what’s happened, and dropped me cards or email, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and compassion. It has meant the world to me.

while I have a minute…

Danny is outside mowing, and Jeff isn’t yet home from work, supper is in the oven, and I actually have a little time to write a blog post! Not that I have anything earth-shattering to report, but hey, “post is a post is a post,” or however that line goes.

Seems like it’s been a full day, and I’m not really sure why. It isn’t as if I did all that much. Went to town to pick up books at the library, stopped for coffee at Coffesmith’s, did a load of wash and hung it out to dry, piddled around on the ‘net for a while, and so forth. I haven’t even gotten in any crochet yet! Will have to do that tonight, while watching some Buffy on dvd.

I got a hankerin’ for meatballs, so we’re having turkey meatballs in a sweet/spicy sauce, over brown rice, with steamed veggies on the side. I also have a hankering for lemon meringue pie, but I’m not even gonna try to mess with that right now. I may just order one for Father’s Day from Kathy’s Pies (the best damn place in the eastern Iowa area to get pies, outside of homemade. Hell, better than a lot of people’s homemade, to be honest.) I hate screwing with meringue in the summer, when the humidity can cause problems with it. Lemon meringue is Jeff’s favorite pie, so I try to make it for his birthday in December, but June? Maybe not…

My Serafina shawl is growing at a rapid pace, and I expect to be done with it sometime this weekend. I know I keep promising to post pics on here, and I swear, I really will, one of these damn days. One of the first will be a pic of the shawl, simply because I’m so happy to have figured it out at long last.

I realized the other night one of the things that so pleases me about working that shawl — it’s the mathematics of it. The whole pattern is really a mathematical exercise, and once you understand how the math is working, you don’t need to look at the pattern again. It struck me the other night that the reason for this is that stitching this shawl is basically making a fractal — or at least, that’s what it looks like to me, although heaven knows I’m not really any kind of a math whiz. I wish I knew someone who is both a crocheter familar with the pattern, and a math-y person, so I could ask if my assumption is correct.

Gotta go — Jeff’s home!