Super Saturday!

The morning started early, as do most mornings. Before sunrise I found myself wide awake, so I dressed and started in on tasks. By 7 the dishes were drying, 2 loads of laundry were washed/dried/folded, and I'd gone through half of the china hutch. I decided I deserved a break, so I started the coffee pot, grabbed my book and sat down to read. I awoke at 8am. LOL!

From there, the day moved fast. Out to the garage to help Mr. Retired, where we found lots of boxes and bags of “toss this”, and now the 2 trash cans are full to the brim. Our neighbor, Greg, came over to pick up the shopsmith and the drill press. Mr. Retired sent him home with tons more “guy things”, and I sent him home with the Christmas dishes. This means I get a new set for Christmas 2006* plus I don't have to pack them for Oregon. :)

I also found all of my mom's china dishes. Now I must decide: keep or give away? I'm leaning toward give away mainly because my mom stopped using these dishes shortly after we moved to California; so they don't bring back as many fond memories as my late MIL's dishes do. I'll decide by Tuesday when we make the Goodwill run.

Greg helped me id some of pop's Air Force stuff, and he's coming by tomorrow to take more “trash” as he'll have room in his cans. He even said if we have a lot of Goodwill stuff to leave it and he'll take it for us after we leave. He has been such a huge help, there's no way we could ever repay him for all his kindness.

*Now about those new Christmas dishes. While Mr. Retired showered and changed, I took a short break and googled “Christmas dishes”. In the process of hitting links, I found myself at the Pfaltzgraff site. There I fell in love—but not with Christmas dishes. I found the perfect every day dishes. Forget the “Fiesta Ware” I was going to buy. I'm hooked—totally and completely on Evening Sun. To me they say, “Welcome. Glad you are here. Join us for a meal and friendship.”

I figure I can fill in with a few pieces of Nuance of Gold and Nuance of Red, and I'll have a wonderful set of bright, cheerful, colorful dishes!

We decided that we needed a packing break, so we took off for some lunch. Stopped at Peet's on the way home for coffee and coffee beans. As we reached the outskirts of town, I talked Mr. Retired into a quick ride to the outlet stores. We went to the Pfaltzgraff outlet and got to look at the Evening Sun dishes. They really are as cheerful, warm and pretty as the look in the picture on the web site. Mr. Retired likes them too, although he says the coffee cups are boats. Once we have our new mailing address, we can order these from Amazon—free shipping too. :)

Hook News:
Last year, I submitted a pattern to Accord Publishing's "2006 Crochet Pattern A Day Calendar™". Rumor has it that the calendar is available in some stores. Strangely, I have yet to see my copy. Now I wonder if my pattern is actually in the calendar.

If you'd like to see the pattern, you can see pictures of it HERE.

I'm still plugging away on my Popcorn Ripple ghan. Gads, I am SO sick of popcorns. I think they are worse than picots. LOL!

One last thing—a link to a picture of packing central. Just a small portion of our labors, and fills half the room!

"The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice" -- Psalms 97:1