I hestitated doing the 10 year look back post for a few reasons. One - our main computer is still not up and running so my pics will be few and far between. I also didn't think much happened that was worthy of dedicating so much time to writing about it. As I looked back alot really did happen.
2000Nicole is entering kindergarten and my life as a mom changes now. She is in school full time and I struggle with working only part time when I could be putting more hours in. I miss having her with me every day, but she thrives and all is well. The fun fur scarf craze is starting and I pick up the needles and with the help of a co-worker get back into knitting. Harry and I make the decision at the end of this year to purchase the house we have been renting for the last 3 years. It's ours and the mortgage payment is less than the rent payment.
2001Now that Nicole is in first grade I no longer struggle with the guilt of working part time. I immerse myself in volunteering at her school and make some great friends. I start to go to knitting night on Thursdays at a small knitting shop about 15 minutes away. I start a sweater for myself which takes years to finish and I start and complete a blue cardigan for Nicole. Our best friends from NY make the decision to relocate up here to New England and we are thrilled. 9/11 happens and I can remember going to the school at lunch to be with Nicole. I am amazed that we didn't know a single person who perished in the towers that day since we both grew up in NY. I can't sleep for days. I lisen to non-stop news
2002Second grade was big for Nicole - she made her First Communion and I cried when I saw her walking into church looking like a little bride. It struck me how fast these 7 years had gone by since she was a baby and knew the next ones would fly by even faster. We learned that year that she could sing. I get teary eyed thinking back at that Christmas Concert at school. The music teacher gave her a mic and she sang Ave Maria in front of 200 people like it was nothing. The entire audience sat there with their mouths open in disbelief that this amazing voice was coming from this peanut sized kid. This was the year we made our first visit to North Carolina to visit my Aunt, Uncle and Grandmother. My dad, me and Nicole drove down and had such a great time. We were in a hurry to get home though because we had a new family member waiting at the house with Harry when we got back
Of couse he was alot smaller back then - about the size of his head.
2003We love having a puppy in the house but realize it's alot like having a baby for the first 3 months. Thank goodness Magnum is so cute or there is no way I could put up with all the things he did. And he was really a good dog. The only damage he did in the house was chew a cabinet corner and my coffee table. For a lab - that's pretty good. Harry was great with training him and he becomes the best dog we could ever ask for. Nicole does her first musical production ever - Bye Bye Birdie - and falls in love with theater and singing.
2004This is the year I start getting the knitting bug big time. I start knitting socks after kniting and ripping over and over again. My first sock could have fit a giant and I still have it. We go back to North Carolina with Harry this time and fall in love with the lifestyle in the country. We start to get more in touch with nature, going a bit greener, and take the time to do what we enjoy doing instead of rushing around in chaos on a daily basis. We make the best investment in the house we ever could
2005Major changes happen this year. We decide to go ahead with the major construction in our house which will prove to be more of a source of stress than enjoyment. We renovate the entire first floor and add a second floor.
The view from the master bedroom
My dad and stepmom move here from NY and it's great having them around. It does, however, make our trips back to see our friends less frequent.
This is also the year we all decide to take a trip to NH to look at some land. I agree to go if Harry will stop off at some sort of yarn event that's going on so I can get some cheap yarn. That even turns out to be the NH Sheep and Wool Fair. It's downhill from there as I leave with some tencil roving and a drop spindle that I struggle with for months. I go online and chat with people who help me to learn to spin and hook me up with a local spinning guild. After one visit I decide I want a Lendrum DT and Harry gets it for me for Christmas. A monster is born.
2006On the Yahoo Knitting Group I get an invitation to come to a spinning group right in my own town. I go and meet the greatest group of ladies - some of whom are my closest friends now. They enable me by introducing me to all the New England Fiber Festivals. I convince hubby that I need a nice new Birthday present at the Massachuesetts Sheep and Wool.
At Christmas I buy myself a present
I get my first ipod and immerse myself in knitting podcasts. I teach Nicole to knit and spin. She does an amazing job - she even gets published in Spindlicity online magazine. Construction is still going on at the house. Everything but the second floor is complete.
2007We make the decision to transfer Nicole from private school to public school. The transition goes well and we are pleased. She enters a contest at school asking for new computers and ends up winning 15 new computers for them. We get to meet some of the New England Patriots (Wes Welker is the greatest) and she ends up on the local news and on the cover of the newspaper.
I start to work more hours, but still not full time. I am coming to the realization that Nicole doesn't really need me during the day anymore. The older they get the less opportunity there is for volunteering at school.
I continue to knit and spin and decide to become a vendor at the first RI Sheep and Wool Festival.
I love dyeing the fiber and yarn in my spare time. I subsequently open a shop on Etsy and get enjoyment seeing others spin and knit my creations. I teach my girlscouts how to spin that year and they are mesmorized by the process. I bought my first fleece at NH Sheep and Wool to process myself. It was a cormo - full of lanolin. I ended up sending it out to be processed the following year! The house construction is still going on.
2008Change. That is how I can best describe 2008. We now have a moody hormonal teenager in the house and we struggle with how to proceed. Then my mother gently reminds me that I wasn't any better. I disagree. I was an angel - my grandmother tells me all the time.
Speaking of my grandmother - we lose her in February and I am devastated. The only thing that lessens the shock is that she had been failing mentally for a few years and just seemed to slip further and further away.
I pretty much close my Etsy shop - I don't have as much time as I once did. I am still spinning and knitting like a woman possessed.
Harry has his first surgery ever - to repair his rotator cuff. It took a long time to heal and I felt awful for him. Everyone I have spoke to said it is one of the worst surgeries to recover from.
I am offered a full time opportunity at work and I take it. It turns our lives upside down. I work crazy hours just trying to catch up and get a handle on everything. I find it difficult at first to find the perfect balance between work and family and struggle to get it all done.
I buy myself a Christmas present for all my hard work.
The house construction is still going on.
2009This is obviously the easiest year to recapture. Work is still beyond crazy but I start to get my footing and feel comfortable. My biggest struggle is that I simply don't have time to knit and spin as much as I did before. I actually "mourn" the loss of time and become resentful for a while. I get it together - learn to be grateful for what I have and make time for me.
I take up the hobby I swear I never will touch.
We now have a teenager in highschool who is loving every minute of it. She gets involved in sports and finds her "place" in a difficult time in her life. We are proud of her as she jumps in as the goalie for the field hockey team without any training or hesitation.
She starts dating her first serious boyfriend, who we adore.
I tackle some new knitting ventures. I learn to make thrummed mittens.
I finally make a scarf for the red scarf project. I tackle an entrelac shawl. I missed Rhinebeck but made it to my first Stitches event. I love my Golding spindle that I got in 2008 and use it more than my wheel.
And in case you are wondering - the construction on the house is still going on.
