My Favorite Month

 September used to be my favorite month, and I still love it a lot, but it has carried those feelings of loss and grief for 8 years now, and it's hard to just embrace it like I used to.  I'm going to try to change up my haphazard method of writing and try to go for a theme several times a week to see if I can get interested in recording my life again. 

One of my problems with working with a computer and phone for pictures is that I sometimes can't find what I want and have to spend too much time digging around.  I'm going to dedicate one post for just what's in my latest week's pictures, silly or not.  

Noreen and I follow a Facebook app about finding faces in mundane things.  I've never seen one until today when I looked up and saw this really weird creature sitting in a chair across from me.  Sloth?  Panda?  Pig?

On closer observation, it becomes fairly clear that it's my library bag that I threw down after we got home from the library and getting milkshakes at Burger King.  

Okay.  Maybe stretching it a little.

So one day will be old memories back before they were even stored on my phone.  Real photos.  In boxes.  I'll have to scan them or take pictures of them, so they won't look as good, but the idea is just to get something down.  Emily is struggling now trying to decide which of the old letters and documents and pictures to keep and which to get rid of.  I wish i could help.  She's so sentimental, and the burden has fallen on her to decide what to keep for the girls to remember their family before they were here.  I seriously doubt they're going to have that much interest in several generations back unless I sneak it into something they might read anyway.  We're already overwhelmed with pictures now, so how could they ever have to wonder about a thing!  Emily and I enlisted Alan and Kathy's help with identifying this lovely lady.  We learned that it's the girls' great-great-great grandmother, Mrs. Wilburn Miles Windham - or Minnie MacDougald Windham.  They have her little rocking chair at their house.

One thing I like to do is see a couple of my favorite bloggers and their Five on Friday favorites.  I'm sure I don't buy five things a week and certainly not things that people would be interested in, but every once in a while I'll find something I like and would like to remember.  

I can't say I really like this vase.  I've pretty much detested it all my life, but it was something that Mama treasured.  I think someone gave it to her before she was married, and she always loved putting roses in it.  It's not a rare piece, but it does have the maker's name on the bottom and has been known to be worth a little money.

I asked Emily if she liked it and wanted it, and she said she didn't, but as I started to put it back in its usual spot in a drawer, I looked at it with new eyes.  It went through about 60 years of being displayed in a busy house with kids and cousins running around without having a chip on it.  Like Emily said, "It has just a few too many curves," but there's something about running your hand across all those curves that's soothing.  I think I might keep it and try some flowers in it myself sometimes.  I just have to hope a cat doesn't knock it off and break it now.

And maybe I'll do a recap of the week on Saturday.  All my days seems to run together now that I don't have a lot of activities on my calendar and not much energy for going out and doing things. This will force me to keep some notes.

Before I do a few pictures, let's see if I can remember what I did this week.  I know it's Monday, and it's Labor Day, so I'll  call it my weekend.  

Four days a week, Graysen will have cross-country practice after school, so I usually won't see her at all those days.  And her days start at 7:30, and she rides the bus.  This first week has been nice for her, she says.  Her two good friends in cross-country dropped out after the first few days, but she was not tempted to do so herself.  She feels like she is pretty good and enjoys running, so she's sticking with it.  It makes for a long day, especially when she gets home just in time to grab something healthy to eat and head to soccer practice.  She a determined little girl, and I'm so thankful for her dedication.  I do worry about when she will get homework done, but they'll work something out.  On Fridays, they get out of school around noon, and she might get dropped off near here sometimes, but last Friday, she had a friend go home with her.  Ryan walked them over here and picked up Katherine and Carly, and they went and got a yogurt at the Swirl.  Ryan is a good dad to put up with all those giggles and craziness.  So I'm just seeing them in bits and pieces.  I do need my Graysen time though.  

Katherine hasn't said much about school, but she likes her teacher and has some friends in her classes.  She walks to school and gets out at 3:36 except for Fridays when she gets out at 1:36.  So even though her friend Carly has moved a few apartment building over, they still get to play for a while in the afternoons and longer on Friday.  

She has DMW twice a week, but it's late so I walk her downtown and watch her across the street, and Ryan or Emily pick her up.

This happened last week.

I inherited a cat that I didn't ask for or even  want, long story, and I'm not sure how long he'll be with us.  I don't even know his name, but once I remember it was Wolfie - or Wuffie as we call him.  He's a very social cat and loves to be around people, but he also is used to his independence, so we've had a few rules to try to work out.  On Thursday, Katherine and I started our little walk to her DSW class, and I was listening to her chatter on about school and her belt testing and other things.

She happened to look behind us, and here came Wuffie just ambling along the sidewalk behind us.  He wasn't saying a word, just walking like we had invited him. You can just about see my apartment through the trees in the upper right-hand corner.  It put me in a dilemma because I didn't want to pick him up and have him get scared downtown with all the cars (well, the 10 or so he might see), but I didn't want to leave Katherine to cross the street by herself without a light.  She's good about standing there until the car is fully stopped, but I don't trust anyone with my babies!  She said, "I guess I'll just have to take him with me!"  She really wanted to, but I think the 20 or 30 screaming and running kids would be too much for even that cat.  I compromised and let Wuffie come to us and then watched from a half block away as she crossed the street.  I love how she waited patiently for one car to turn and then when another one stopped for her, she held up her hand and acknowledged it.  Sweet girl growing up so fast.  

So our neighbors above us have moved from Apartment H to B, which is a short walk away.  I've been there for dinner twice already, and they have a nice 3-bedroom first-floor apartment with plenty of light.  The only trouble with that is the two cats and a 3-year-old wanting to wander.  The addition of a nice cattio keeps the two cats safe, but Ida just takes off running sometimes, and it takes a sharp eye to keep up with her.  So much sunlight though.  I'm envious.  

And my next-door bestie Noreen is moving too!  Still next door but on the other side.  We now share a wall in one building, but then we'll be across a little walk from each other.  I think we can probably sit at our dining room window and talk, and I know our porches are close enough to visit easily.  She is getting an upgrade on her sun quota too and another bathroom, plus new floors, paint and appliances, so she's happy.  We pay enough rent to be deliriously happy!  So far, we haven't found another place that's cheaper and as convenient and homey as this complex, so I guess we'll hang out here a while longer.  

I'll post a few pictures I see and try to get a few hours' sleep.

Cat interactions.  

Changing sheets is enough of a pain without having to displace a huge cat, but he refused to take a hint.

He brought a furry plush bed with him, but he much prefers sleeping on my bed, so the other cats take advantage of his old one and love it.

I'm not sure Layla meant to be sharing this space with Wuffie, but she's pretending not to be afraid.  She's the one who growls and howls the loudest - not because she's afraid of him, but because she wants to remain the queen and have the others afraid of her.

I not only inherited a cat but two new chairs, and Layla claimed this one immediately.

I think Bowie thought he was about to snuggle up with Layla until he noticed that clipped ear.  He did a slow-motion backing up maneuver that was painful to watch.  I wish he wasn't such a fraidy cat.

One of the rare times they were all three in the same room without one of them being dramatic.

I'm still trying to get Emily and me on the same page to go furniture shopping to replace these awful pieces that ended up here, but there are no furniture shops within my driving range, and our schedules are packed full usually.

I did see this pop up on Facebook though one day and decided these might "do" until I find what I want.

They looked like nursery rockers, but that doesn't bother me.  I need teeny furniture for a teeny house anyway, and they looked fine.  Ryan was going to pick them up for me in his truck, and we decided he would go alone because he wouldn't mind turning them down if they were in bad shape or something was wrong with them.  Knowing me, we both knew I would probably take them anyway and tack on $50.  

Luckily, they were a good fit and in excellent shape.  I'm still scooting furniture around to see where I want the desk, but so far, so good.  It gives me room for a little shelf for taking off shoes at the door too.  Two negatives that aren't deal-breakers but make me realize I might still keep on looking.  The girls love them - TOO much.  They immediately jumped in and started spinning around and tend to sit on the arms and fall into the seats - all the things kids do.  And now that I need to use my arms more to stand up, the chairs feel like they're running away from me.  Same with my grownup friends.  But we don't sit inside a whole lot, and we'll be fine.  It does look better than the other two I had in there.

The Queen Chair is surprisingly comfortable and easy to get up from, so I think I'll let it live in this corner for a while until I decide if I want to bring it back to the living room.  We could use an extra dining chair if I ever had anyone over for a meal.

This one is fairly sentimental.  I got it an an antique shop when I was pregnant the first time with plans to rock a baby, I guess.  Once we got him home, it was not that comfortable, and we had just bought a recliner, so it has always been just an extra wherever we've lived.  Emily is deciding if she wants it, but, like me, she just doesn't have the space.    

And this table came home.  It once was a light-colored oak, I think, that belonged to Mike's parents.  I loved the table but did not like the color of the wood.  Once Mike retired, he got busy painting it black, and I love it now.

In the other apartment, it was my cutting table in my sewing room, but when I went from 3 bedrooms to 2, Emily took it in temporarily and gave it a home.  Now was the perfect time for it to move back, just when they're running out of room.  I need a cutting table again if I can get started on my quilts again.

It will look better with a normal-looking couch instead of that flowered thing, but who knows when I'll get a chance to go shopping for one.  

For years, I've had a little blue table with all the girls' art supplies and games and puzzles and school books behind the couch.  Now I'm gradually having to find home for all those things.  It's not easy!  

September 13th is the big Spring Garage Sale for Snoqualmie - spring and fall being the only time you can have sales - and Emily and Ryan are supposed to be working along with me to clear out more things.  I think I've mentioned before how much I love simplicity now.  I'm close to being happy with what I have and will be happy with a little less!  

Well.  This might be my entry for September, but let's hope I do better with some sort of plan.