The Scottish Lamb

A Good Time Was Had By All

The boys and I had a great Thanksgiving in Garmisch.  Three years ago we hiked half way up Kramer Mountain with our long-time friends to find snow and have hot chocolate at the St. Martin Hutte half way up:

We did it again this year:

I'd say the kids have grown a little, wouldn't you?  Good thing because Joe was not riding on my shoulders most of the way like he did on Dan's three years ago.  These pictures were taken in the exact same spot.  It was almost 60 degrees when the boys and I left Garmisch yesterday.  Not good for the skiing tourism.

Here's a view from St. Martin Hutte where we had a nice cold beer (soda for the kids) and pretzels fresh out of the oven:

Meanwhile, Dan was having a fantastic Thanksgiving of his own.  Country Music star, Aaron Tippin, surprised them at Bagram with a concert.

We have about ten Saturdays until he comes home!  I can do that standing on my head.

Last Tuesday night the Spouse's Club had a "Make it, Bake it & Take it night to raise funds for the club.  Everyone baked or made something (most brought gift baskets of some sort) to be auctioned off.  Here's the large tote bag that was my contribution:

Both fabrics came from a German thrift store.   I'm positive the yellow is quite old.  Love it.  I found the flower tutorial at Wisecraft.  The pattern for the bag is from this book:

String

The last few people that I've taught to knit or sew have called the yarn and the thread "string".  Drove me nuts.    I haven't been posting lately because I haven't had any knitting to show.  It is a knitting blog after all.   I don't know what it is.  I went through this once before and it lasted about two years.  I have been sewing like crazy though.  Then yesterday I was thinking (I know.  Scary.) in the end isn't all just string? Then I started thinking again (must be something in the coffee).  I think most knitters like anything made of fiber.  I know I do.  And besides...  It's my blog and I'll sew if I want to.   Just think of the thread as really thin yarn. 

So until I get that knitting feeling back....  Here's what I did yesterday:

I made a crayon bag for a three-year old's birthday.  The inside is lined with the bandanna fabric.  I saw a pattern for the bag at Connecting Threads but didn't have time to wait (the party is today) so I winged it.  Pretty easy.  Here's the pattern link at Connecting Threads.

His dad works in Dan's office and they are moving back to the States this week.  I thought it'd be perfect for the plane.  A Tonka Truck wouldn't have been good since they are all packed out and ready to fly.  If I didn't think Preston would get upset when I walked back out with it, I'd bring one in as a joke.

I did another happy little girl bag and accessories for Pam's daughter (Amy Butler's In Town Bag): 

Her birthday party is tomorrow and I can not wait for her to see it.  It's very similar to the one I made before.  Madison, the five-year old that I made the last one for saw this one and was not happy about it.  I assured her they were a little different and she seemed okay with that. The little zippered bag and tissue case were made with scraps so that I didn't have to cut into a new fat quarter.  The zipper bag is lined with the white flowered fabric on the sides of the purse and the tissue pouch is lined with the orange lining in the purse.  Usually a little of the tissue pouch lining shows up on the opening edges but the piece of fabric was a hair too short.  I used a pattern for the zippered pouch from this book:

Pam and I are doing Thanksgiving Dinner for the kids tonight. On Wednesday we are all headed to Garmisch for the Holiday Weekend.   Another family that we were stationed with here in Germany before are meeting us down there.  Can't wait.  I hope there's snow on the mountains because, not that I'm complaining, it's been REALLY warm here for this time of year.  I planted bulbs in baskets to give out in February... I think I'll be giving them out for Christmas instead.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

Here's my recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole.  It's always a favorite and really low in fat (not).

The Quiet Veterans

My gratitude and thanks goes to every single person who has sacrificed to serve our country.  The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen. 

And the families that are left behind ....

Last year I thanked my own personal veteran.  This year I want to thank the quiet heros.  And it's only fitting since November is Military Family Month.  I want to thank the families of those that are deployed.  The spouses and the kids.  Especially now when we're getting into an age where multiple deployments is becoming the norm.  And actually, it's not just the deployments... there are schools and training that take away the soldier for months at a time.

So this is to the spouses, men and women, that hold everything together back home while their Soldier, Airman, Sailor or Marine is serving so far away.  To the spouses left behind that play mom and dad to the kids.   That try to keep their own sanity through the hectic days and lonely nights.   They try to keep up with the never ending battle of making up for a parent and partner being gone, keeping the home fires burning and just taking care of all the little details alone.  All along trying to put it all on with a brave face and a smile.

So many of you have kept in touch with me via email telling me how strong I am and giving me support.  I know you won't believe it, but I have it easy this time.  Really.  I've been on the other side, too, so I know.  I have experience behind me now.  My boys are at least somewhat self-sufficient this time.  They are at an age where I can leave them for a couple of hours to run errands and go on a little mini vacation to the commissary alone.   And I'm older.  Let's face it, things are a little easier when you have a few years behind you.  I also have it easier because Dan has been in a while (19 years in March) so the money is better. I can take the boys on trips to see where Harry Potter was filmed and go on a weekend trip to Athens to run a 10K race for an hour.  I realize that I'm lucky in those ways and am very grateful for it.

I remember what our first deployment was like when the budget was thinner and I was younger.  Daniel was two when Dan went to Bosnia and I was in my early thirties.   Daniel was seven and Joe a toddler when he went to Afghanistan the last time.  That was hard enough.  I can't imagine having three little ones and holding it together like Erica.  Go thank her.  She's serving her country just as much as her husband is being down in Iraq for the 2nd time with only a little over a year between deployments.  It's kind of ironic because her most recent post as I type this is titled, "Superheros".  Erica, *you* are the superhero.   And let's not forget the fact that she's a heck of a knitter too! :-)

My good friend, Pam.  What a woman.  She has brought me so high after a serious blow to my confidence and self-esteem right after Dan left.  She has three kids and a full-time job.  Her husband was home for eight months before leaving for another year in Iraq at about the same time Dan left again for Afghanistan (we had 2 1/2 years between deployments).  Her kids are in 6th grade, 1st and Kindergarten.  Her youngest barely knows his dad.  We just ran in the Athens 10K together this past Sunday.  It was awesome and she's the one that got me to do it.  I never would have done that for myself without her.  Over this deployment we have built a solid friendship that will last the rest of our lives.  We know that we are there for each other no matter what.

For the woman that cries herself to sleep at night from the stress of being alone and wondering if their husband is okay.  For the man that puts his little girl's hair up in a crooked ponytail because his wife is off in a desert somewhere.   And let's not forget the little Patriots.  Through their courage they have a parent missing their birth, first steps, first words, Tooth Fairy visits, first day of school, soccer games, birthdays, Christmas, sledding in the new snow, trick or treating and Saturday morning Playstation games.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Athens Was Awesome

We may have only run the 10K but the whole trip was a Marathon in itself.  Pam and I got on the plane Saturday morning in Munich.  We landed at Athens Airport outside the city to the East at 3:00 Athens time.  We took a 45-min bus ride to get to the other side of the city where we had to pick up our bib numbers and race packet.  Then it was a 45-min tram to our hotel.  Our BEAUTIFUL hotel which you can check out here.  Too bad we were only there one night.  We got there just in time to drop our bags and go find dinner.  A woman on the plane told us about a restaurant near the Plaka.  We found it but opted for a more lively one across from it instead.  We figured you couldn't get bad Souflaki in Athens.   We were right.  Our table was full of all our favorite Greek dishes and we PIGGED OUT!   We obviously aren't athletes worried about our time in the run (good thing).  We walked through the Plaka on the way back to the hotel to find a jacket for me to run in.  We weren't expecting how cold it was there.   Weather.com was WAY wrong.

The next morning we arrived at the Stadium and got ready for the run.   Since we signed up for the run we were worried about the course description, "the first part of the run is rather uphill." 

Rather?!  What the heck is rather?  I'll tell you what it is... it's 300meters in 3 miles.  That's what it is.  Every time we hit a hill in the first half, we thought, "Okay.  This is it.  Last one."  We were dying to say, "It's all downhill from here."  The last hill was a whopper, but we could see the 10K turn around point at the top.  We ran the first half in 40 minutes and the 2nd half in 30 minutes.  Not bad for two middle-aged moms that hadn't been training like they should.  But we did it and it was SUCH a good feeling to cross that finish line in the first Olympic Stadium to the sound of Queen singing We Are The Champions!  I'm so ready to do the Berlin Half Marathon in April now!

See the old man running next to us?  He crossed the finish line ahead of us.  *My* story is that he was only running the 5K.   There was also a homeless man who joined in the last little bit and crossed the finish line.  He was throwing a fit because they wouldn't put a medal around his neck.  If I wasn't in such a fog and didn't realize what was going on, I would have given him mine.

We walked the 10 min. through the National Park back to our room, showered and were on the train back to the airport within an hour and a half of finishing.  We were walking like two old women but we had HUGE smiles on our faces.  It was like we had a big secret.  People were looking at us like we were morons.  lol. 

We got to the airport early enough that we sat down for a leisurely lunch.   When we pulled out our boarding passes the first time I noticed there wasn't a ticket on Pam's like mine.  We figured it was just because we were traveling together.  As we're in the LONG line for the security checks we realize our boarding call was ten min. early than we thought!  Four minutes ago!  Uh-oh.  And everything had gone so smoothly up until then.  So we get to the gate in the nick of time and they stop Pam because there's no ticket on her boarding pass!  They made me get on the bus to the plane and they told Pam to go look for it.  We told them we never had it but they didn't believe us.  It was obvious she'd checked in and had it an hour before.  Smart girl that she is she wouldn't leave the desk.  They finally had to let her go.  The flight took off fifteen minutes late because of it.  Whew.  We were wiping sweat off our brows as we looked at Athens disappearing below us.

I learned something though.  It may have only been 6.2 miles...  but those hills nearly did me in.  I kept going because I had my friend by my side.  We may not have finished first but we didn't finish last either.  There were at least a hundred people behind us but they stopped the time at an hour and a half so we made it and I'm so proud of us.