Have you ever?

Dialed 911?  For a valid reason?  Multiple times?

Well, I have a few times since living in this house for a dozen years.  Mostly for neighborhood safety reasons.  Like one time we heard people and questionable conversation, so I dialed to call in just in case something was going on or someone was being bothered.  It probably was a social thing among friends, but my conscious would not let go of the "what if".  Our bedroom window faces a busy street and we live on a corner, so that may be why I have dialed 911 a few times; we get more foot traffic.

Oooh - I remember before I was married, living in a basement apartment. I totally had to call 911 for domestic violence.  There had been a few times when I opened my door and a cute kitty, wearing a black, studded collar, dashed inside.  He/she ran right under my bed or couch and trembled and shook and would not come out.  A couple of times I returned the cat to the very unfriendly people living above.  Another time the female of the couple knocked on my door and asked for a ride to her fast food job.  I had a MN friend visiting, so I declined.  I was not that comfortable with the situation, anyways.  THEN, one night there was a LOT of yelling.  And loud footsteps above.  My back door exited to the rear exit of the building.  People were scrambling/fighting and running down the back stairs and WABAM, smacked into my door.  That is when I called 911.  The police came, and they had been there before for the same people and were aware of the situation.  I heard a knock at my door, and was scared to open it.  They convinced me they were police, and just wanted to verify my call and my information.  The above people eventually moved out.   That was the most directly-affecting-me 911 call I have made.

A couple of weeks ago . . .
I sort of noticed a strange gray sedan parked across the vacant house across the street.  I usually know frequent cars for the busy street side neighbors who park there.  Nothing I had seen before.  And it was there ALL afternoon.  Then, a friend and a mom of one of Simon's friends, called asking me if I happened to be aware of the police activity.  That's when I noticed several police down our street and down the busy street.  I saw police on foot walking down the sidewalk and looking at houses.  My friend told me that dog-walkers by her were directed elsewhere by the police.

Then I saw two guys sitting in the strange gray sedan laughing and pointing across the street the possible house in question.  And a grey SUV pulled into the driveway of the vacant house; a lady with long blonde hair got out and started talking to the 2 guys in the strange gray sedan.  I was on the phone with my friend, she thought that calling 911 was not a bad idea.  So I hung up with her.

I dialed 911. I was put on hold.  Who calls 911 and gets put on hold?  The other line beeped in, I ignored that call.  I waited . . . .

AND,  I found out that they were undercover police on a case.  I called in the undercover police!!!!! Shortly after I hung up with 911, they drove away. The SUV parking on the wrong side of the street across from the house in question, the strange grey car gone.  Ok.  So, do I feel safe or not?  Eric was gone.  I needed too leave in about 30 minutes; I didn't want to walk my children outside with all of that going on.

I looked out my window, and I saw policemen arresting a man.  He was handcuffed and put into the squad car.  So close to home.  I see that house every time I look out both of this house's bedroom windows.

The police blotter on the following Friday informed us that a 47 year old man was charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault and battery, at the address across the busy street.

That is one of my reasons why I am not yet comfortable with letting my son ride his bike around the block.  Or walk the rest of the way to his friends house by himself after crossing the busy street (he has to walk past this house).  You just never know!!!

Check Out and Tote

Simon has a great friend who lives across the busy street and down 3 houses.  They met each other in preschool. This year, 2nd grade, is the first time they are in the same class since. Simon has been invited to his birthday party.  This boy has no siblings; he has lots of toys, just had Christmas, and then a late December birthday.  We thought long and hard about what to get him for a gift.  I do not like to spend too much money on friend birthday parties; and do not want to give junk that is forgotten or thrown away soon after the party.

This is what we came up with, a "Beast Bag".  (Not the best picture, but it IS a picture.  And pictures have been lacking here.  So, this is what time allowed.)

We went "shopping" in my fabric bin and found all we needed.  I did purchase a "Beast Bag" pattern. It helped me with dimensions and to sew the parts in the right order. I did change it up by adding an inside layer, sewing a seam halfway down the outside pocket, and using felt teeth instead of the called-for craft foam teeth.  Thanks to previous sewing projects, I knew what to do.  Except for one little bunch up, I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I learned how to make straps without turning fabric inside out.  The fold, iron, and sew-on-the-edge trick is slick.  Simon now wants one.  The next bag may include fusible interfacing or a thicker fabric to make it sturdier.

 I personally like the inside pocket perfectly sized for a library card.  The pattern called for ric rac for the teeth, which I do not have.  We trimmed white felt with pinking sheers, and it is the same felt as the eyes and teeth.  A decent substitution.

Thanks to my experience using thick/heavy Pellon and my newly learned skill of making straps, I combined both methods and made two coordinating bookmarks.  No tassels and no ribbons; this is for a boy and Simon ordered it that way.

Would you smile if you were an 8 year old boy and this greeted you when you opened your gift?

Now he will be ready to check out chapter books and tote them home!

NOT EVEN ENOUGH . . .

1. to shovel
2. to build a snowman
3.  to make snowangels
4. to throw a snowball
5. to go sledding

But it is cold enough to go ice skating, there is ice outside.  I just heard one of our own village's parks has flooded an area for skating. We'll have to go check it out.

But, there is hope . . . lake effect snow is in the forecast.  Prediction of a few inches.  Let's just hope we live close enough to the lake!

See for yourself below!

Tom Skilling's 7-Day forecast

Thursday HIGH/LOW 22°/17°

Waves of lake-effect snow are likely to come and go into the afternoon across lakeside counties from southeast Wisconsin southward to Cook, Lake and possibly far eastern Will counties in Illinois into sections of northwest Indiana. Quick, localized 1 to 2 inch accumulations possible in heavier bursts of lake snow, but amounts diminish quickly outside the snow belt. A few lakeside locations, affected by multiple bands of snowfall, may see higher accumulations on a local (limited coverage) basis. -Farther inland, from Joliet and the Fox Valley north into much of McHenry and Boone counties and west, a sun/cloud mix is forecast. Greatly reduced chances for flurries there. Thursday's blustery, frigid open with sub-zero wind chills eases a bit as wind speeds diminish fairly rapidly by and during the afternoon Lingering lake-effect snow flurries later today into early Thursday night continue winding down while cloudiness moves over the remainder of the area overnight. Wide-coverage light snow develops late Thursday night.

 

Friday HIGH/LOW 28°/10°

Steady overnight snow continues, possibly accumulating a couple inches or more before ending in the afternoon. High temps in the upper 20s. Partly cloudy at night. Winds shift to the northwest late.

Things in the mail

The mail has been quite fun lately.  I received a pair of Aerosoles (love, love, love this brand) of shoes from Eric for Christmas.  The receipt came with a $10 off of another pair of shoes.  Of course I "need" another pair of shoes.  Actually, my brown work shoes were purchased for Simon's baptism.  I recently deemed them worn out and done.  I was sad to see them go.  But now, I have a new brown pair of shoes that I love.  They arrived in the mail today.  I am now set for another 7 or so years?!?!?  That's how long the last pair lasted.

Then, I purchased wooden knitting needles.  I needed some sizes for a year-long project I would like to make, using my yarn stash and buying as little yarn as possible to complete.  I also did not have the size needed to make a scarf with some awesome yarn that I purchased at the closing sale of the best yarn shop ever in St. Paul, MN.  I will now have a nice set of knitting needles. PLUS, I found an on-line coupon code and paid less than $2.99 per pair of needles and I believe free shipping.

I ALWAYS search for a coupon code before ordering ANYTHING online.  ALWAYS.  And I usually find some sort of a deal.  I like a percentage off with free shipping the best.

Then, I am waiting for this lovely tray to give to my sister-in-law for her birthday.  She enjoyed my Swedish Almond Cake recipe so much, that she purchased her own pan.  I found this lovely tray for her to use with the cake.   My recipe changes flaver; I make orange, vanilla, lemon, and almond.  So yummy!!

So, the mail has been good.

Today . . .

 . . . is 40 degrees.  Tomorrow's high is forecasted to be 60 degrees.  We are to expect rain and possible thunderstorms on Saturday. And our grass continues to be greenish-brown.  The bikes have been brought down from the rafters, for outside play in the midwest during January.

BUT,

Today . . .

. . . .  I bought a green saucer sled for $3.99.

You know,

Just in case 2 or more inches of snow decides to fall.

And then we want to go sledding.

But we don't have enough sleds.

And the store runs out because selling sleds is out of season or everyone flocked to buy one because there actually is snow, and none would be left for us. Anywhere.

So we have another sled.

Just no snow!  (yet)

There you have it.

I will only complain about a mass snow fall if it negatively interferes with our March 17th travel plans!  For the record.

Seriously, where's the snow?

Check out this almost record breaking fact!  319 days without an inch of snow!!!  Read all about it here.  And to think, we have 56 degrees and showers with a possible thunderstorm to look forward to on Saturday!

Where is the snow???

A Day of Errands

So, today was a day of errands.  Lots of errands.  First, Norah played in the child care place while I worked out in a challenging class. I predict major soreness tomorrow.  Then, we returned a few un-needed items at Jo Ann's.  Picked up dishwasher soap (I had been using liquid dish soap in the dishwasher for a couple days.  Stash was depleted.) and laundry soap (the only place I can get a 100 load size of laundry soap for $4.99).  Then we headed on over to Aldi for the bulk of our grocery list.  After that, we crossed the street to Pete's Fresh Market for the last of our produce, and deli and meat.  Our last stop was at GFS where we purchased whole coffee beans, hot cocoa powder (not in individual packets as sometimes we only want a bit of hot cocoa rather than a full mug), and bulk meatballs.  Whew, that was a lot.  And my errand girl was a great big help!   We came home for a 1:00 lunch and a restocking of the fridge and cabinets.  We were almost to the bare shelves.  It is amazing what can be made and served when you think you have nothing to eat.  There seems to be always something to eat; it just may not be desired, but it will fill tummies.

I think we have not grocery shopped since before Christmas.   And back to work I go tomorrow.   It has been a wonderful break.  I always enjoy my time with Simon and Norah and a break from the weekly routine.

At Least I'm Not Procrastinating, (yet)!

So, I am already thinking about our Advent Devotions for this coming December.  I do believe that this is a bit crazy.  But we so enjoyed our devotions and count down chain; I put it together quickly.  We have another idea for how to display our countdown/devotions.  I am contemplating this Advent garland (free pattern on ravelry.com).  At least I have time to make it, December 1st is quite a ways away! Plus I'l learn a lot about reading knitting patterns with small projects!  Then, it will coordinate with any devotion we decide to study.

H.D.F.K.

My kids know the first Saturday of the month.  They know the plans for the morning of the first Saturday of the month and mark H.D.F.K. on our monthly calendar.  They know we will be in Home Depot the morning of the first Saturday of the month.  That is because we all love Home Depot For Kids.  We enjoy going there to spend a couple of hours hammering, painting, building, and creating.  Home Depot has a free project to make every first Saturday of the month.  We have been going since making our first project at the MN State Fair.  That is where my kids received their Home Depot kids apron.  We sit on upside down orange Home Depot buckets, and work on tables created by placing large boards on more buckets.  Upon completing the project, the kids show their items to the Gina, she is there every month, and they receive the project pin to add to the apron.  We love and look forward to Home Depot For Kids.  It is a blast!

On the Ices

This sums up what we all thought of ice skates and ice skating!  We all received ice skates for Christmas!  Even Aunt Christina received a pair.  This picture was taken during our third adventure of skating.  Back row:  Becky, Grandpa, Aunt Christina.  Simon and Norah are in front.

Our first adventure was downtown Chicago at Millenium Park.  Norah took about a half hour to round the rink once.  Second time was a bit shorter.  Then she was off, running on the ice and controlling her fall.  I was a bit shaky at first, but kept up pretty well.  Simon took a nasty fall and has the bruise to prove it.  Eric enjoyed watching from the sides after a couple of rounds.

Our second adventure was downtown St. Paul, next to the Landmark Center, on New Year's Eve.  Free ice skating, a warming house, and great ice.  Aunt Christina joined us.  All skating ability had improved during this second time on the ice.  I let the kids roam as they pleased, quite a bit less crowded than Chicago.  Norah has a love for skating in the middle and going against the flow of traffic, not great combinations for a beginning skater.  Norah enjoyed skating with a new buddy and a birthday girl.

Our third adventure was at Curtis Field, a park very close to my parent's house. Free ice skating, a warming house, a hockey rink, and a side rink.  We were there on a day the warming house was closed, a bit chilly.  Grandma was with us and enjoyed watching the lil' miss skate around.  After that adventure, we learned to appreciate the zamboni.

Our fourth adventure was at a family's house.  Dad knows a family that lives about a mile from him and has a rink in their backyard.  A warming house, boards, goalies, helmets, hockey sticks, pucks, and fresh ice.  All skating was greatly improved.  Norah did not stop skating; she even stepped over a hockey stick and kept on skating.  Both Simon and Norah enjoyed holding hockey sticks taller then them and hitting pucks.  Norah started to figure out how to glide without falling.

We also enjoyed sledding, another great story.  More stories and pics to come.

I have the promise of adding memory to our downstairs computer, which brings hope of easier downloading of pictures.  Then, I'll show you more!