Geez Louise.
I totally forgot my user name. How did I manage that, you ask? Easy enough. I thought it was my name, totally forgetting that user name was already taken. So, went through blogger support and rediscovered the name I did use. DOH!
But back on, with proper user name taped to the computer.
I have nearly completed my first scarf. Margery talked me into a knitting class a few weeks or so before she flew off to France for the year, and apparently she got totally into it and finished mine (we are making one for each other) in no time at all. Soooo... had to step up the pace. But I think I have figured it out, though I fear I will simply never pearl a stitch. I am pretty sure she'll like it, even though I started with 22 stitches and am now at, umm, 29. Ah well, I'll call it art and leave it at that.
To my teacup girls, I know you are out there, so let me know about the fabulous adventures you are all having!
I am going to close with the column I wrote for you as you all drifted away from the valley... for those of you who may stop by this blog, it will explain the name if it as well.
Peace and love.

Autumn is well and truly upon us, and by mythical tradition, we are entering into a time when the earth slumbers, resting up for spring when life will begin anew.
But I take another view as the crisp air meets my face and gently caresses my soul with her slender fingers.
It is a time, this year, when life begins anew at a time of its own choosing.
There are four young women about to walk out of my life and into their own, leaving behind indelible imprints on my heart.
The first is my niece, my Miss Margery. She flies to France soon, to Dinan, to teach, to learn, to offer her particular brand of wisdom to the world. She graduated from university this past spring, double majoring in French and biochemistry, a fact she imparts with such grace and modesty as to make it sound like the merest trifle.
M has been more like a little sister to me than a niece, and I doubt I could ever really tell her how much my life has been enriched by her presence in it. I thank my sister a thousand times over for giving me such a precious gift in her daughter, a debt I will happily carry for all my days. She is tall, gorgeous, brilliant, steady, and simply too fabulous not to drink in every new experience France will bring her. I go with her in my heart, and will be there beside her in spirit if any day she might need me.
The other three, my Sisterhood of the Traveling Teacup girls, came into my life in a far more unexpected way.
Gerry Taft gave me a job at his gelati shop last September, and I have been far and away his most, shall we say, senior employee. But despite being old enough to be the mother of my teacup sisters, I have found in them such inspiration and affection that I do not think of them as children in any way. Who knew baking scones and making soup would be the path to these joyous meetings?
I should know better by now than to question the universe. Every path, whether painful or happy, is laden with the most precious of gifts, gossamer and delicate until we remove the myopic filter we tend to look at the world through, just waiting for us to slow down and see them, giving substance and strength to them through our acceptance as we extend our hands to lift them up.
Shawnee, Lindy and Lindsay. All have just graduated high school, and are embarking on their own journeys with the coming of the fall. Lindy was the first to go, heading off a few weeks ago to Vancouver and now to Europe. Lindsay made her graceful trip west shortly after, and as you read this column, Shawnee is in the air wending her way east.
My darling girls, were I a coward and known what a gift you were going to be, I might have avoided the place I met you, for with such a treasure always comes the exquisite pain of parting, at least for a time.
You three have entrusted me with secrets, as I have with you, and reminded me what a gift it is just to be alive. Under the auspice of coffee, Red Bull and strong tea laced with heavy cream, between shared secrets, ginger cookies and the unfathomable and intangible, I have come to love each of you so very much, and my heart is aflame with pride as you burst out into your futures with such enthusiasm.
All four of you, such adventures await you. Such possibilities and paths.
I wish for you smiles and laughter, and just enough tears to make every joy richer and more velvet.
You have reminded me of some important truths that I have allowed to be weighted down, and I thank you for that.
My four darlings, my sweet sisters, my diamond girls, take yourselves into the light of your futures and shatter the world with your beauty and brilliance. I trust in you to drink it all in and stand tall when you are feeling on top of the world, even taller when you feel the weight of it on your shoulders. Remember always to be there for one another, no matter where you are, allow yourselves and each other mistakes, because you will make them, always forgive, always embrace, be safe and send me stories of your laughter and heartaches, and above all, know I am here for all of you, always with my teacup, always with my heart reaching out to you.
Be happy.
S

Okay, I have given in and done it.

Allright my darlings, we have to find a better way to stay in touch... so... here it is. The blog for The Sisterhood of the Travelling Teacup.
So Lindsay, Lindy, Margary and Shawnee and all else out there I have not been able to keep track of, tell me all! I just read about Margery's first vacation from work in Dinan in her blog www.dinanbretagne.blogspot.com, and have decided I have to make my way to France in the spring. For those of you who do not know, I am done at Gerry's. It was a sad decision, but hey, had to move on. I took a 15 hour a week literacy position at $18 and hour, which means rather than working 70 hours a week, I will be working more like 45 hours a week... and for essentially the same paycheque... much more human. My boys will have a mom again, and I will be able to keep up with my life!
Have to run for now, hope to hear from you soon.
S