Sewed up - 1/10/99 4:46 PM

The trouble always seems to begin on Friday. Starting her weekend while I'm still imprisoned at work, she's sort of a latchkey housewife on the loose. Each of the last two Fridays, I've drudged home from work to be introduced to the newest addition in her growing collection of sewing machines. She collects them as easily as a teenager collects boys at the beach, which is precisely how she came to collect me; perhaps she's learned that lesson and will stick to collecting the machines. We're up to six, or as she counts them, five sewing machines and a Serger. What's the difference? Being an old farm boy who still has trouble with the plow, I tend to think of anything which more or less joins two pieces of cloth together as a sewing machine, but the Serger also cuts the cloth as it goes along, so it has earned a separate niche in the jargon of her world.

Two weeks ago, I was introduced to her new Brother "light weight" Pacesetter, a low tech, nearly Lilliputian machine designed for travel. Why would anyone want to sew while on vacation? How can she possibly sew without that room full of paraphernalia she has so haphazardly collected over the years? Now golf I can understand; a noble pursuit which solely requires a set of clubs while providing new courses with new challenges; plus it provides her with abundant free time to site-see all those sewing stores that I generally prefer to avoid. Happily, we go on separate vacations together.

Speaking of travel, Sharon is getting ready for her Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington for four days during March. She will be close enough to Kirkland to be able to spend some time with Daryl and Julie. This Expo offers about 74 "classes", and of course Sharon wants to attend them all; the last I heard she had narrowed her choices down to about 27. I am worried she will not leave time to eat; thankfully they don't have classes scheduled all night or she wouldn't get any sleep either. As it is, she's concerned that she will not have enough time to do sufficient therapeutic shopping in the sewing stores which are imported from all over the country for this event.

This summer we will be back to the big Island in Hawaii, where well get a chance to spend some time with Natalie and Mort. Were hoping that my brother, B, and Margo will join us along with Cyber-Grams. (For those of you on the other side of the family etc., Sharon's mom is a new aficionado of cyber-space.) Even though this weak offering of travel doesn't compare with the Stanley's jaunts to Venezuela and Japan, we have started thinking about a London/Scotland etc. sojourn for next fall. We still have a bonus week from our time-share to use within the year. The trouble with the time-share is that you have to pay for it and then its "use it or loose it".

On the 15th, Daryl and Julie depart for a couple of weeks of island hopping in the Hawaiian Islands. They'll hook up with some of their friends over there, which should be great fun without the "parental generation" along to slow them down, as we did a year ago. I still haven't figured out what I said last week to restore Julies faith in our generation, but carrying the responsibility for the reputation of a whole generation certainly is a withering chore. A final note; they'll be in Paradise for Daryl's birthday - so here's an early Happy Birthday if we fail to catch up to you on the 17th.

Back to Fridays troubles. This week I was introduced to Sharon's "new" Singer, model 128. It was manufactured in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Veterans Day, November 11th, 1941, making it older than she is! I find it amusing that she knows the Singers origins with more precision than say, the street number of our first apartment. The machine is on the threshold between a Collectable and an Antique. (No, I wont even go there!) It has a wooden carrying case which has a rounded top; it reminds me a little of a wooden covered wagon without wheels. Frankly I still don't have a clue what the fascination is, but her new found appreciation of things which are old is reassuring, perhaps my hard fought for status, just beneath the household pets, will remain secure as time continues its onward march.

Moving on to the mundane housekeeping and other items:

The grass is in and growing well - the lawnmower cost more than the sod, but less than the tractor rentals.

Broncos win - life is good. 

People keep talking about Dave Berry, modesty prevents me from mentioning that I taught him everything he knows.

Bad news for the coffee lovers - Java Central has closed their doors - the space is empty.

Like Susan, Margo shares a single email computer with an entire office, so B has volunteered to printout letters for her.

We have added more SD Olander's (Mike, David and David's wife Tracy) to the list of family spam recipients, but luckily for Mike, his modem is fried - saving him from this unsolicited mail.

Does anyone out there have an address for Rick?

Well, considering the main subject of the topics above, tonite it would be advisable for me to fluff up a toss pillow and throw another afghan on the couch to ward off the nites chill.

Love to all of you from the warmth of Phoenix, 
Sharon and the guy asleep on the couch.