Kathy, does the shawl ever get done, and, if so, what do you do with it?  Lol.

earlier, Kathy Du Bois, wrote:
>Hey Guys,
>         I have no particular reason for sharing this, except to let you
> know that
>I do have a life outside of what is going on with Chris.  Besides, I'm kind
>of proud of myself.  I like to share victories as well as defeats.
>
>         First of all, I  have  been fascinated with the idea of a prayer
> shawl
>ministry for a long time and I kind of wanted to get involved, or maybe
>even start one at our church.  Problem, well, I kind of know how to knit a
>straight stitch, but that's it!  When it comes to domestic stuff and hand
>crafts, I'm kind of a disaster, but I really wanted to figure out a way to
>do this.  Well, I finally started talking about it with the ladies around
>our church.  Of course, I was immediately intimidated because, all these
>ladies are great at knitting.  I could tell from their
>enthusiastic  response that I was probably in  over my head
>already.  Anyway, three of these grand-motherly ladies stayed after church
>and managed to teach me how to pearl and, I got it!  Yea!!  Now, for those
>of you who do knit, I need to tell you that these ladies had a real
>challenge on their hands because, not only couldn't I see what they were
>doing so that I could imitate it, forcing them to put their motions into
>words, but, I'm also left handed, which means that I already knit backwards
>from them, but pearling is backwards knitting and so these pour ladies had
>to try to figure out how to do a double reverse.  Anyway, hurray!  I
>finally got it.  Now, I've been sitting around, driving our cat crazy by
>continuing to practice.  It looks horrible, but I continue to be determined
>because I just love the concept so much.
>         For anybody who doesn't know, a prayer shawl is a shawl that you knit
>while praying for someone.  Some people pray to one of the members of the
>trinity for each row, but I'm not into that.  I just like the idea of
>concentrating on somebody in prayer and then being able to give them
>something to let them know that they really have been prayed for.  There's
>nothing mystical or anything about it.  It's just, kind of a neat
>gesture.  Anyway, I'm knitting and pearling now and, since it's the prayers
>and not the looks that count, I'm excited.
>         The other accomplishment of my weekend, I actually  sealed
> today.  I've
>sent out my first querey letter to try to have one of my dramas
>published.  It's  a skit based on the parable of the four soils.  I'm kind
>of nervice about it; especially since the publishing field is paved with
>rejection letters, but I just felt that it was time for me to begin moving
>forward.  Oh, isn't the enemy already attacking me on that one.  Oh
>well.    I put it in the mailbox and told God that it is in His hands now,
>and I mean it.
>         In other news, Chris did do some partying on Friday night.  Now
> too, he
>has a girl friend, so the plot thickens.  He was okay about Greg not
>letting him drive though and, in general, I think that we're all just
>trying to lay low, on both sides, for now.  Chris is actually being much
>more polite since he came home from Cromwell, over all.  Greg and I
>continue to lay plans for therapy for him and suring up our base of
>support.  Who knows where Mr. Christopher will be in 191 days, when he
>turns 18.  All I know is, where he will be, will be a result of his
>choosing, good or bad because we're not going to protect him from his
>choices.
>         In an earlier post, Matt had mentioned that he had done partying
> in high
>school and is still shaking off the effects of those choices.  Well, yes, I
>suppose that if there were one time in most of our lives that we wish that
>we could change, it would be our teen years.  The deal is, now, that  I'm
>seeing those years from the other side and having to lern how to be the
>parent of a teen, especially when it means protecting other minor children
>that you are responsible for is daunting at times.  Greg and I are probably
>growing more now than we did as a result of our original, individual
>stupidities as a teen.  If all you have to worry about is letting your kid
>sleep in, get  to school late  and serve a detention as a result, you are
>blessed indeed.
>Have a good one, guys!
>Kathy

John

   My girlfriend said I never listen to her, or something ...