It's a blessing... and a curse...

...Nines is standing, contrite, in the laundry room.... It's 11:00pm, and she's in her nightgown...

"That's the price ya pay, Dan, when you marry a woman with a creative bent of mind..." there's a twinkle in Bill's eye as he says this and I can see his dimples, so I know he isn't too cross with me. There's clothes washer parts scattered about the room- buckets full of fuzzy water... Dan is handing Bill another tool. "Just think Mom, how much you'd have to pay to get this fixed if Dad weren't so handy..." "oh, she'll pay, son, she'll pay..." There's more than a twinkle in his eye now...maybe even a leer... Suffice to say, I paid.

• 1 sweater= $3.50+1 new clothes washer= $350=1 very expensive handbag
• A handy husband to fix the washer for free=priceless

I have come to several conclusions about felting- which is actually "fulling" since the sweaters are already knit...

1. It's sadistic- taking a perfectly good sweater and "ruining"it.
2. It's rebellious- blatantly ignoring the label and not only not "drycleaning only", but plunking the sweater into hot water, using harsh dishwashing soap- no mild detergent, throwing in a couple pair of jeans, and then tossing the sweater into the hottest dryer possible. Goes against all the laws of good laundering.
3. It's masochistic- you're the one who has to pay for a new washer.
4. It's a whole lot of fun! If you leave out the "little" worry of ruining your washer machine.

So... I was amazed at how much the sweaters shrunk up- the purple one is in the washer now. Oh I know, it's dreadful isn't it? But now that I know Bill can fix it... oh this is terrible. But I just can't seem to be able to stop myself... point #5... It's addictive. You never know what you're gonna get. I am saving the red sweater for a laundry mat and that is what I suggest for all you out there who don't have such an indulgent, sweet-tempered, handy man in your lives.

Dan's Feast...

Daniel is 15 and he's a classic. He likes classic cars from the 50's, football, and is an avid outdoorsman. He has the heart of a knight... always looking for the right thing to do and is singularly focused on doing it. He's always been that way. (I remember when he was 7 and a neighbor's little boy came into our yard - we lived in town then, and even though Daniel was younger and smaller, he told the boy to go back to his own yard and not to come back until he had decided to stop with the potty mouth!) As you can see, Daniel's feast was a fast food restaurant... We made up the menu and hung it in the living room- he set up a couple walkie-talkies and the children made their selections. Daniel made lots of static-y sounds and asked for them to repeat their orders- "You want grapes on your cheeseburger?" Then they "pulled up to the second window"- the door of the kitchen! where he had their meals all sacked and ready to take to the table! He had goofy little gifts in their meal bags and the kids had such a blast placing their orders. (The Joe Jr. burger is a joke- to tease his older brother. Joe has had some tummy problems and so we decided to joke about it- sometimes you gotta make light of things that worry you a little bit- Joe loved it and ordered 6 Joe Jr. Burgers!) Daniel put red and green streamers across the ceiling- very fast-foodish! The dessert was apple crisp and vanilla icecream. See? A classic. We all had a great time at a very original feast.