Hello! Well, it's the last week of Christmas in July for 2023, which is kind of sad, because I do enjoy this. But like Christmas Day itself, it doesn't last forever, right?
Anyway, this week is something a little bit different - leaving a comment will enter you into the giveaway for this prize:
OK this was a stock photo, you will not actually receive a box that looks like this, in the interest of full disclosure. 😂
BUT, it gets the point across - this week's prize is a mystery. I always like to end the month with a mystery, you know, kind of like a grand finale. I can guarantee you that it is knitting-related, and that there will be more than one thing in the package. But otherwise, my lips are sealed.
And what do you need to do in order to be entered into the giveaway? Well, I thought about all kinds of different questions to ask, but decided to go with something that relates to the box above:
What is/was one of the best surprises in your life?
Please comment on this post ONLY, by midnight EDT on Tuesday, August 1 (YIKES, July will be over!); I'll announce the winner the next day.
My answer harks back to one day when I was in the fifth grade. I came home from work, and my mom was already home, which was odd since she was usually at work until 4:30. But anyway, she was home and when I asked why, she said, "Well, I took a half day of vacation today, because I had to pick something up for you. It's in the kitchen." And I went into the kitchen, and there was a PUPPY!!!! It took me a while to even be surprised, since I didn't actually believe what I was seeing. He was about 8 weeks old, and we named him Toby. A friend of my mother's had a dog who'd had puppies, and she had decided to get one for me, because unlike my sisters, she knew I was responsible and would actually walk him and feed him. He wasn't a tiny puppy but oh he was wiggly and sweet. He was a poodle-Airedale mix, and just such a great doggie! My sisters and the cat were disgusted, because he was "drooly" (my sisters), and a dog (the cat). Oh how he loved the cat - we decided as time went on that he thought she was his mother. My dad's only comment was, "Look at those feet - he's gonna be big." But within a few weeks he was just one of the family. We had him for six years before he was stolen right out of our backyard (he was really friendly, and would happily go with anyone). I even saw him once and yelled his name, and he was so excited to see me, but his new owner came over, grabbed him, put him in the car and drove away. (I have no idea if it was the person who took him, or if someone took him and gave him to someone else.). So, yeah, the ending of Toby's story with us is not happy, but he will always be one of the best surprises ever for me. And I hope he lived a happy life wherever he ended up. ❤
*****
This morning I got all of my chores done really early, since I knew it was going to be a miserably hot day. I'm glad for once what I thought I would do and what I actually did were one and the same! So now I'm hoping to finish the actual knitting part of my Stripey Summer Sweater, saving the weaving in of ends and blocking for another time. But getting the knitting finished while it's still July would please me.
Other than that, I am on the foot of one of the socks I'm knitting, and it's time to add a third project - I think I'll start one of the holiday gifts I want to knit. Since tomorrow is going to be another stay-inside-or-you-might-die day, I think I'll probably get a good amount of knitting done this weekend.
Now it's time to go and take a look to see what I can fix later for dinner that will not require a lot of kitchen time or turning on the oven. Then the rest of the day is MINE!
Have a good weekend and take care to stay safe. See you next week!
8 comments:
Right before I retired from the University, I had a meeting scheduled to talk about issues with the graduate program. I Zoom into the meeting, and instead of 'real' meeting, the head of the graduate program had invited all my PhD advisees to a Zoom to share their congratulations about my retirement. It was a huge surprise and so very, very fun and I was so touched.
What a story about poor Toby! How terrible do you have to be to take someone's beloved pet.
My biggest surprise was when I had Daughter. I was already the mom to two boys and of course wanted a girl but after a sonogram they told me she was going to be another boy. I resigned myself to it. Named her Luke. I even had her nursery done up in Star Wars stuff. When they handed her to me and told me she was actually a girl I was dumbfounded. My poor daughter had all blue stuff for her first year until I had time to knit her some pink sweaters and make a few frilly dresses. No I didn't name her Leia but I call her Pete as a nickname to this day because Luke didn't fit. She seemed more like a Pete. My little Petey Pie. She'll be 40 in two weeks...lol.
Happy Christmas in July! The best surprise I ever had was given to me on my 50th birthday. My husband took me to a romantic b&b for the night and when we returned home the next day, all my family, I’m one of 7, were there for a birthday party. Everyone had written lovely things about their relationship with me and I was presented with a great scrap book. He did good.
One time I bought a skin care item in a department store and noticed a poster saying to enter name, details, receipt number etc as there would be monthly draws for beach gifts, bags, product etc, and one final major prize. Mmmm I thought, Christmas taken care of for the girls in the family. Each month I checked online hoping to see my name. Alas. It wasn’t to be. Ages later I was driving home from work when my phone rang and the person said they were from an advertising agency and I had won the major prize. I had to think what it was about, and always scoff when people say that - but it's true! I asked them to phone me back in half an hour on my land line as I didn't believe it could possibly be, and then asked for an email to make triple sure!
I won 7 nights for 4 people at an exclusive resort on Aitutaki Island, which is part of the Cook Island group in the pacific - you know, coral reefs, sparkling clear lagoon full of amazing sea life including huge turtles, white sand, warm breezes. Airfares and transfers included, also $2000 to cover incidentals. That was in 2016 and we still pinch ourselves that it actually happened, plus we have amazing memories of a place we could never have hoped to visit. Dreams can come true.
I’ve been trying to decide what was my best surprise. I finally realized that I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life. Lots have been good. But some have been really bad. But probably one of the more recent ones comes to mind. I grew up with my mom, dad and a sister who is 10 years older. I knew my parents story of how they moved from a small village in Newfoundland to Ontario. A place close to US border. Specifically close to Detroit. I was born in the 50s. Now fast forward to 2016 and I’m having a girls weekend with my cousins sister and niece and my daughter. Always a very close family with what I thought was no secrets my one cousin blurts out your mom had a baby before your sister was born. I’m utterly stunned. So is my sister. It has been verified I had a brother who died at birth or shortly after. Now you’d think this would be no big deal for someone at the time close to 60. Well it surprised me. Stunned me. My parents never told me nor my sister. Was some big taboo apparently. They are both gone and I just think how different it may have been with an older brother. We’ve honoured his presence and put a memorial with my parents grave. Not much trumps that in my world.
Thanks for having this little game
Cheryl (aka seajaes on ravelry)
Perhaps my best surprise was my third pregnancy. We already had two daughters, one born in February of 1997 and the next in April of 1999.
We were unsure of if we were 'done' - I still felt like I wanted another, my husband was less sure. The baby was 10 months old, still breastfeeding and I hadn't had a period back yet. We were busy (husband worked shifts, and you know, the whole two little ones thing going on, so not a lot of, ummm, baby making opportunities happening!)
I woke up one morning with a very strange metallic taste in my mouth and I just knew. My husband was skeptical, but went out to get me a pregnancy test anyway. Yep. I was pregnant and daughter #3 was born just 19 months after daughter #2, and 3 months before daughter #1 turned 4.
I'm pretty sure that whole first year, or 5, were a blur, but I wouldn't change a thing. The girls are now 22 (nearly 23), 24 and 26 and are very close. I couldn't imagine anything different.
One of the best surprises of my life was a sterling silver necklace/bracelet set of cameos that belonged to my Great Grandmother.
I don't remember when I first saw them (GrGma died when I was 16 or 17), but I always coveted them. Great Grandfather was in the navy, and he was one of those who "had a girlfriend in every port" so whenever he came back, he brought a present from GrGma - probably out of guilt. The cameos came from England - where in England, I don't know.
And I don't remember how it came up, but after her death I was talking to my Grandma (GrGma's daughter, my Mom's mom), and she said she had given the cameos to my aunt. (One of Mom's two sisters).
But then a few months later, Grandma surprised me with them. I don't know if aunt had given them back, or Grandma had lied about giving them to her (with my grandma, it could be either... but that's another story).
I was so surprised and happy, I actually cried. There's only a couple times I've been so happy, I've cried, but that was definitely one of them.
I have a lot of jewelry (none of it is very expensive, though a lot of it is decent quality silver and semi-precious gems), but the cameos remain one of my most treasured sets.
I also have GrGma's double strand pearls (another gift from the philandering GrGpa) - I used to wear them quite frequently. The last time I wore them was my wedding to Dave. The clasp broke when I took it off that night and I haven't repaired it.
My favorite surprise was just last week. My daughter and best friend surprised me with a SURPRISE Retirement party!! It was on a Monday night, so that really made me unsuspecting......After being a teacher for a long time, it was really great to retire from teaching. It was a career I was blessed to have but also soooo hard. Now I have more time for crafting! and reading!
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