Sweet Victory

I've been meaning to blog since the election, but life got in the way.  I think I was coming down with a cold last week.  I stood out in the mist last Tuesday and handed out materials to those coming to vote at my school.  It was interesting to see the voters.  The neighborhood is extremely diverse with many non English speakers.  Many of them had questions and all seemed very excited to vote.  It is an overwhelmingly democratic district.  

I stayed up until 2 a.m watching the election returns and commentary. I was a nutcase the next day as I was totally exhausted. That's okay. It's not often that one gets to experience that type of victory!

My sale book order from KnitPicks arrived on Thursday. Check out the goodies:




I love all of them, but my favorite is Boutique Knits. It has some very unusual accessories. Also--check out this scarf from the Nicky Epstein scarf book:

Of course that page would catch the eye of the Crazy Cat Lady!
I also started the Silken Scabbard. No photos yet, but soon!

Saturday, DH and I headed for Pittsburgh to celebrate Ems' birthday which is actually on November 11. We got there around 3:30. Her street was covered with leaves. I love the houses on her street. They are rather large brick or stone homes with neat architectural details. Many have stained glass windows as well.

Here is the side of Em's house. Her apartment is on the second floor and she has the curved windows that you see.

Everytime I go in that house I see details that I missed before. Check out the plaster work on the ceiling:



We met Bird at the Double Wide Grill on the Southside for dinner after which Bird went to work. Ems, DH and I ended up meeting Ems' friends at the Forward Lanes in Squirrel Hill for a couple of games of ten pin bowling. I have to admit that it's been over 40 years since I've bowled ten pins! It was fun. After bowling, we took Ems back to her place and we checked in our hotel. Sunday morning we met up with Ems and Bird at Ritters which is a diner in Friendship. After a trip to Joanns, we took Ems home and we headed for the road, arriving home around 7:30 p.m. I paid a sitter to take care of the kitties so they were well provided for.

I think things will get back to normal for a short time until we hit the Holiday madness.

A bit of Nostalgia
"It was twenty years ago today . . ."
Here are some pictures from Ems' 5 year old birthday party. She just turned 25! We used to have wonderful theme parties at our house. This one was the Wizard of Oz! Can you guess who Ems was?

That's right! She was Dorothy! And of course, I was Glinda!

I just knew I'd find a place to wear that flea market 50's prom dress!
And no party at our house was complete without the special birthday cake that Nannie made. This one is of the Emerald City with Wizard of Oz figurines:

All the party guests received a goody bag with a "Doctor of Thinkology" diploma, a heart ornament and a medal of courage!

Bushism of the day:

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

Ouch! I think we are figuring out now!

Kitty Cam: We got to meet Ems' little baby, Chelsea. She's a wild thing, but she is absolutely gorgeous! She has beautiful markings!