Thanks to all for the kind words re my daughter - I think she's amazing but then, I'm her mother. And for those who are wondering but are too polite to ask - no, she's not wearing colored contacts. She gets asked that all the time, along with - and this is a new one - are those your real lips? (Yes.) Nobody knows where she got her eye color - her father's eyes were a medium blue, mine are a dark blue, her brother has my dark blue eyes, Girlchld's eyes are a changeable blue-green-gray-gold, they pick up whatever color she's wearing. She was wearing turquoise that day so her eyes look turquoise in every picture. Some people say she looks like me but I don't think so, her nose and mouth are totally different. I can see myself and my husband in her, plus a dash of my cousins on my mother's side, but she's much taller than any of us. The women in my family tend to be short - mostly in the 5'3"-5'4" range. The men aren't tall either. I was the "tallest" woman at 5'5" until Girlchild hit her full adult height of about 5'9". Her father was not exceptionally tall, so we don't know where the height came from either. I just say she got a really good mix of the Irish-Italian genetic soup.

So this weekend is the start of really cleaning out the house, aka Making the Garbage Men Hate Me. Normally I'm a pretty light garbage load - one can a week plus the recycling, that's about all I can generate alone. But now it's time to tackle that damn garage and make room for cabinet delivery on June 1. I can't put out all the garage trash in one weekend so they'll be hating the sight of my house for the next couple of weeks. Goodwill is going to get to know me well, too - I will be driving a trunkload of Goodwill donations to Mass with me every Sunday, since the collection station is right near Starbuck's.

The kitchen project has blossomed into a re-evaluation of all the stuff in this house. I've been in this house for 8 years - it's hard to believe it's been that long - so it's approaching the longest time spent living in one place since childhood. Moving every few years is a good thing for those with packrat inclinations - it forces you to take a good look at your possessions and weed out that which you do not want to haul with you. The problem with staying put for too long is that your possessions go into the closets and there they stay, in the dark, forgotten, taking up space, until the closets are cluttered, the dressers are bulging, the cabinets are falling object hazards - that's about where I am right now. I'm overdue for a good weeding out of every room in this house, followed by painting and redecorating.

I need to create an honest-to-God guest room, because after spending a week on the inflatable Aero bed recently, even Girl's not-quite-21-year-old back was hurting. An inflatable bed is fine for a one night stay but not a visit of any length. This is probably going to mean getting a trundle bed and a dresser, because the back bedrooms are only around 11x10 and even a double bed fills the room. I want to leave enough room to continue to use it as craft storage, because the yarn stash ain't going anywhere.

And speaking of yarn - I'm done with cat blankets, really I am, and later I will weave in ends, pack a box, and take it to the post office either this afternoon or tomorrow after church (I love that automated postal center - I can send packages on Sundays!). Right now I'm on the first experimental crocheted felted tote. Plymouth Charisma in blues and greens, double crochet with a size K hook, around and around we go, and it's moving very fast. Stand by for photos.

Yesterday my friendly mailman brought me my two crochet book purchases from Amazon:
Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet and Family Circle Easy Crochet. I've only had time to thumb through both but I'm really pleased with them. The Kooler book is really excellent, great illustrations and how-tos for both right and left handers. I've been crocheting since childhood but I am always open to learning new techniques, and I wanted her section on Tunisian crochet, because I'm yearning to try it. The stitch library in this book is first rate too, I think it's better than the Crochet Stitch Bible, which as I said, didn't impress me that much. So I have lots to keep me busy now.