One more down

Today was a pleasant Sabbath. The joint Sabbath School trivia was a hit and there was only one student in Earlieens so we did some more trivia. After church I came home, watched the Contemporary Christian music channel while I ate and took a short nap (2 hours is short) on the couch with O'Malley. For some reason she won't come up on the bed at night, but has to be on my lap downstairs. It was worth napping on the couch to cuddle up with her.

Tonight I worked the sound for the Extreme Faith meetings and finished my seventh scarf. This one is made with double yarn--dark red and light grey--and a random pattern (is that an oxymoron?) of knits, purls, stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches. This one is going to the church Crafting for Charity project. I'm hoping to learn how to knit in blocks of two colors tomorrow. One of these days I'll start on the scarfs I need to make for Christmas gifts.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

I'm not sure why, but things have been feeling monotonous lately. It seems like all I do is get up, go to work, go to one of the Extreme Faith meetings at the church, knit, watch about an hour of TV to wind down, read for a bit (just finished a collection of short stories) and go to bed. I don't remember the last time I had a social event to go to or spent a chunk of time just socializing. I did go play games at a friend's house last Saturday night, but I got there late (had to hit up the Extreme Faith meeting first) and was so worn out from the week that I only stayed for about an hour and a half. I've been feeling the itch for one of those all night girls nights out at a club or diner. But since my clubbing and bar days are pretty much behind me and the majority of my friends are worn out at the end of the day themselves (kids, pregnancy, school, family, work, and husbands can really take a toll--or so I've been told), I don't know when it would happen. The fact that I am not comfortable in party settings--I don't talk to strangers--doesn't help matters. As a self-proclaimed homebody, I'm usually quite content to sit at home and chill. But these days being a carefree single gal with a vacant social calendar just isn't what it used to be.

Night Cap

Today was one of those slow moving days that drags on as you stare at the computer screen with aching eyes for hours. Thankfully it was also a rather productive day (a necessity since it was the last day of the month end close). But the best part of the day is right now--curled up on the couch in my PJs with a fleece blanket sipping a vanilla-soy-milk-based hot chocolate having my lap act as a cat bed for O'Malley and Daly sitting nearby waiting her turn for my lap-bed.

Crafting for Charity

As I've mentioned before the Women's Ministry department of my church is making scarfs and blankets to give out at various shelters and halfway houses in the Memphis area. Our goal is to make a total of 65 scarfs. The last count, back in October, was 30 completed scarfs and I know that a few of the ladies have finished scarfs at home that just need to be added to our stock. This means that we are about halfway finished. That's pretty good if you ask me considering that we started in July. To help motivate us to get knitting or crocheting we've displayed them on the baptistery wall. It's an amazing sight.

Section 1 close up.

Section 2 close up

Section 3 close up

And here is the scarf I finished Sunday morning. It's my 5th scarf for Crafting for Charity but my 6th scarf ever. I'm currently working on scarf #7 which is also for the church project. The rest of the scarfs that I'll be making for Christmas will probably be started sometime around Thanksgiving.

NaBloWriMo

Some of you may know that November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo.) You will also know that I am not nearly ambitious enough to even think of attempting to write a novel in 30 days. Heck, I probably couldn't write a novel in 30 years. But today I saw something that I think I could accomplish: NaBloWriMo. The idea behind NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month) is to post a blog entry every day of the 30 days of November. Thankfully there is no blog length requirement. If you look over to your calendar you will notice that I am getting a late start (then again, I've always been a bit of a procrastinator) so I will try to make up for the two days I've missed with a couple of two blog post days to keep with the 30 blog entries in 30 days. If you think that this is something that you might be interested in, head over to their website and sign up. Who knows; it might just be fun. (And yes, this counts as post #1.)

Morocco

Since I've been back from vacation for three weeks now, it's about time for me to update the blog with some of the trip details. I was able to spend 5 days in Casablanca, Morocco with my mother's parents. Nanny & Poppy and I had a wonderful time. The long plane rides (about 11 hours from Boston to Morocco via Paris) were broken up a bit with movies, sleeping, and reading. Needless to say we were a bit cranky when we arrived and were waiting in line to pass through customs.

From Morocco

The innumerable people returning home from their Ramadan pilgrimages to Mecca that morning added to our frustration. After what felt like ages but was probably only two hours, we were met at the airport by our friendly taxi driver and headed to the hotel for some Welcome Tea and a nap.

From Morocco

Thankfully we adjusted fairly quickly to the four hour time difference (5 hours for me) and were able to enjoy all of the sights and sounds Casablanca has to offer for those in their late 70s and their granddaughters.

The first day was full of browsing in the Old Medina and bazaar and getting our bearings. We also made plans to visit the Hassan II Mosque (the 3rd largest in the world) the next day (Friday, the Muslim Holy day). What a beautiful place! I wish that we had worked out our timing a bit better so we could've gone inside--it's an open mosque, both women and non-Muslims can tour it--for one of the scheduled tours.

From Morocco

Next we took a taxi across town to the El-Hud lighthouse. It is not a tourist attraction, but it was one of the most peaceful places that I think we went to. Then again, there was so much calm and beauty in the country that the entire trip was peaceful. (The leisurely meals and daily naps didn't hurt either.) I had to take this pic for my lighthouse obsessed mother.

From Morocco

On Sabbath we walked down to the post office to mail some postcards and hung out at the local park. The afternoon was full of people watching and soaking in the sun. I also started to notice the stray cat population. As much as it pained me I held back and only took photos. I didn't want to run the risk of bringing back some Moroccan Cat Sickness to my girls.

From Morocco

Sunday we took the train to Kenita and Rabat. My grandparents used to live just outside of Kenita so it was a nice homecoming for them. A lot had changed, but the downtown streets were still recognizable 58 years later.

From Morocco

We spent most of the day in Kenita and by the time we got to the King's Palace in Rabat it was closed! Thankfully we had one day left and once again boarded the train to Rabat on Monday morning. We were able to walk to the Palace and take some pictures, but since it is a functioning government building we couldn't go in.

From Morocco

The last time my grandparents had been to the Palace the Sultan was receiving his annual payments from the Berber tribes. The Palace at that time was in the middle of the desert. My how times have changed. I didn't even see any sand! We also took some time to see the Unfinished Mosque and the Mausoleum of Mohammad V. Unfortunately, our luck held and the mausoleum was closed in preparation for the King's visit.

From Morocco

All three of us stayed in the same hotel room for the duration of the trip and as was to be expected we had our frustrations with each other.

From Morocco

But all in all we had a wonderful trip. I would go again in an instant!

From Morocco

To check out all of the wonder pics, (if you haven't already done so on my FB page) just click on the this pic to take you to them.

From Morocco

Quote of the Day

"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart.” --C.S. Lewis