Erica’s Blog

Well, Bobcat got a call from Mrs. G’s nurse the other day, and Mrs. G’s probably only got a couple of weeks.  That’s what Bobcat & her sister Cindy thought, but it’s much more official when it comes from the hospice nurse.  Bobcat went up yesterday.  MarkyMark and Andrei went up today, so Sammy came for a last-minute sleepover.

Finished the shawl today, as you can see.  Unfortunately, knitting into the wee hours of the morning while still on the dopey post-surgery meds appears to cause one to do things such as make the shawl get wider as it goes.  I didn’t notice this unfortunate situation till this morning when I was weaving in the ends.  It really looked bad.  No way I could frog it and fix it.  Sooo, I wished I had a copy of KnitFix, and had to come up with a rather unorthodox repair job.  If you looked at it while it was on or while it was lying down with the right side up, you wouldn’t really know.  The wearer will be able to tell, though.  Oh, well.  It will still be special anyway, and I KNOW Bobcat will cry when she sees the card I put with it.

Party went well.  I’m still exhausted.  I’ll upload pictures from the “pre-party” with Poppa, Nana, and Auntie, but not right this particular minute.  All the kids at “Nancy Drew and the Case of the Happy Birthday” seemed to enjoy themselves.  All nine of the kids she invited came.  Three of the parents stuck around; the others did a drop-off, which was fine.

We went simple on the food (dogs/sausages, salad, chips, beans, juices, sodas, and beer).  Made a chocolate chunk fudge cake in the shape of a magnifying glass.  Kept the kids busy with games:

• Who am I? (book character name taped to back, have to guess who you are)
• Guess the Guests (multiple-choice game with trivia about all the kids at the party)
• Several Rounds of Hot/Warm/Cold (pick two kids each round, send ‘em out of the room one at a time, hide something, time how long it takes each kid to find it)
• How Many in the Jar? (different kinds of M&M’s, prize was the jar of M&M’s)

Goodie bags were “Detective Supplies”:

• Disguise (sunglasses, two mustaches, ugly fake teeth)
• Magnifying glass
• Flashlight on keychain
• Play money (for paying off informants)
• Trail mix bar (for energy on long stake-outs)

Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Gil watched remotely via webcam.  Poppa got overwhelmed by the kids and ended up lying down on Thing Two’s bed.  Nana snuck out with my knowing (she says she didn’t want to make others think they needed to leave; I suspect she was just eager to beat a hasty retreat after all her time here, playing Florence Nightingale).

Even Thing Two declared later “That was a great party!”  I think it was a success.  I also think I overdid it b/c I’m a hurtin’ pup today.  Oh,well.  It’s only twice a year, eh?