Happy New Year, Everyone!
Hello, I am back! I cannot believe it has been two-and-a-half-months since I've been on! I have been busy....I believe I had just moved into my new Pasadena place in early October when I last blogged and then right after Thanksgiving I moved again! (Same place, different and oh so much better apartment). I am so much happier in the new place. I don't have internet access yet in my place, so can't work on blogging at night. Also, I was taking a class at USC and there were a few papers that I had to turn in. AND, I have decided to apply to the doctoral program (maybe I shouldn't talk so much about this because I might jinx it) in education. I bought a GRE book and started studying it this morning at the gym. Yes, I can multi-task!
Not much knitting going on.....Today is the 29th and I still have to finish the IOUs for my co-workers. I am making them shawls...they are beautiful....made out of germaine. And I am probably going to spend the New Year's weekend in stormy San Francisco. I have been thinking like crazy how to get out of it, but my cousin from New York has threatened my life if I don't show up, since she spent a lot of money on the ticket to fly there (at my urging, I might add. But how was I to know it was going to rain? And how was I to know that my father and daughter would fly in from the Philippines on December 31st?). Yikes. I don't want to drive in my rickety old car in a thunder and rainstorm to San Francisco. But I do want to live.
THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS NOT ABOUT KNITTING, IT IS ME VENTING, SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD.
Speaking of my father, boy oh boy is he in deep doo doo. My grandmother died at 97 (can you believe that my father, who is 78, still had a mother at his age?) and my father flew to the Philippines to see his family that he hadn't seen in 15 years. My younger daughter went with him. My Dad's wife, the evil Lita, was already in the Philippines living the good life. Anyway, my daughter called me out of the blue around Thanksgiving to apologize for not believing me when I was vehemently against my Dad's new marriage because his live-in seemed to be a gold digger and just an all-around terrible person. My daughter then proceeded to tell me all about Lita and her shenanigans in the Philippines. My father owns a large farm that my cousins run and apparently it is very successful and making a lot of money. This farm has been in the family for about 100 years (I'm basing this on the fact that my father is almost 80 and his father owned the farm before him) and so is separate property, but oh no, when Lita sees this farm, she thinks she is the owner and starts walking all over people and acting like she is Imelda Marcos. And then she starts snooping around and asking people what else my father owns. You see, in the Philippines, some of the people there have a tenuous grasp on truth and legality and fiduciary responsibility and all that, so it is quite easy to forge new documents that would put Lita's name on my father's property. She has already tried that on my father's house here in Los Angeles, and it would be so easy to do that in the Philippines and actually get away with it. And she has been alienating my cousins by moving into their house with an entourage of six people (her children and their hangers-on) and sleeping in their bedrooms and eating all their food and using all their cars. And she moved in for 6 weeks! My cousin and his wife had to sleep in a cot at his office. Out of respect for my father, my cousins have put up with it, but they are so sick of her. And sick of her attitude, too. My cousin told me that Lita called my father stupid and old and goes on and on until my cousin stood up and yelled at her to stop talking to my father like that. Her daughters, he said, call my dad "Papa" in sarcastic tones, like the bar girls (prostitutes) in Olongapo (a U.S. Navy town) call their elderly customers. My father is so lonely and so pussy-whipped by this evil woman that he just sits there and takes it. I've suggested divorce, but he told me that he never wants me to mention that word to him. I have two younger brothers (44 and 38), but they are so naive that they cannot even consider that a woman could be so manipulative and evil. Oh yes, ignorance is NOT bliss! Ignorance is trouble! In fact, against my advice 4 years ago, my stupid youngest brother even encouraged my father to be with Lita. He said he "wanted Dad to be happy". Well, I could see right off that my father was not going to be happy with this gold digger (this is not really an appropriate word, since my father is working class and doesn't really have any money, but it really is what she is). And now my youngest brother George (I am not going to mask his name, let the world know who the stupid one in this family is!) is actually blaming ME for the marriage! When he said this, I sputtered and said, how in the world can you blame ME for this marriage, when I have been opposed to it from the beginning???? And he said, well, you badgered Dad about this marriage. Now let me tell you, that is an absolute LIE. The last word I mentioned to my Dad is marriage, because I did not want that concept to enter Dad's mind, especially in relation to Lita. Because of my opposition to this relationship, my brother went around telling everyone that I was a mean-spirited woman who didn't want my Father to be happy. That is the furthest thing from the truth. I DID want my father to be happy, just not with this particular street-wise, manipulative, evil woman. Because of her, my father did not talk to me for two years because I refused to call her Mom or Auntie. Her position was that I did not respect her if I didn't call her Mom or Auntie. I told my father, Dad, I am forty, not fourteen. I don't have to call ANYONE Mom or Auntie. I will call her Lita, since that is her name. My father was sympathetic to my position, but he was so dominated by Lita, he didn't talk to me for two years, even through my cancer treatment and chemotherapy. That really hurt. What hurt even more was when he didn't invite me to his wedding, even though he invited my brothers. I asked him about it a while back and he said I wasn't invited because I didn't approve of his bride. DUH. ANYWAY. One of my New Year's resolutions is to spend more time with my Father, since it seems that he is lonely and pushed around by Lita and gets bad advice from my stupid brothers. Oh, and let me tell you his house (MY MOTHER'S HOUSE!!!!) is filthy now! When my mother was alive, we could eat off the floor. Now, it is filthy and smells like cat. There are clothes and boxes and stuff all over the house. There is one path from the kitchen through the dining room through the living room to the bathroom and bedrooms. The rest of the house is filled with clutter. No, worse than clutter. Filth. The whole place is a health hazard. THIS is taking care of my Dad? I am going to tell my Father that I am willing to live with him so I can take care of him, but he is going to have to get rid of Lita and the clutter. I am not sure if he will get rid of Lita, but I can stand firm and insist for health reasons that the clutter and filth has to go. Okay. I could go on and on about the evil Lita and her spell on my Father, but I want to talk about other things. And anyway, my ex-husband just called to let me know that Lita will also be arriving from the Philippines on December 31st. She will be on an evening flight, while my daughter and Dad will be arriving in the morning. That's bad news, as I had hoped to have a couple of weeks to try to de-brainwash my Father, but at least it gives me a good reason to cancel my San Francisco trip!
(SAFE TO READ FROM THIS POINT ON. NO MORE VENTING!)
Oops, I lied. Now I am going to vent about how some people do not appreciate knit items. I am making beautiful shawls out of germaine yarn, and I could sense a lack of enthusiasm from my closest friend, Liz. If someone told me they were going to knit or quilt or sew or bake or draw or paint or donate to a charity in my name, I would be thrilled! Those gifts are unique and take time (except for the charity gift) to do. There is always room in my house for crafted items by loved ones. But no, not Liz. So, I went to the Coach outlet in Camarillo last night and bought her a Coach makeup bag, or something like a makeup bag. It's cute, it's name-brand, and it was on the clearance table. So it actually was cheaper than my shawls, which will cost me between $40 - $60 in yarn alone. But only you and I will know that!
Speaking of New Year's Resolutions, I will post mine later this week. I really enjoyed reading crazyauntpurl's resolutions and will probably model my resolutions on hers. (although I've already got mine written out and told my best friends about it, crazyauntpurl's resolutions are much more comprehensive).
Okay, I've got to go....have a wonderful New Year's, everybody, especially to my favorite internet knitting buddy, Sonja! I'm sending you an e-mail, Sonja!
Not much knitting going on.....Today is the 29th and I still have to finish the IOUs for my co-workers. I am making them shawls...they are beautiful....made out of germaine. And I am probably going to spend the New Year's weekend in stormy San Francisco. I have been thinking like crazy how to get out of it, but my cousin from New York has threatened my life if I don't show up, since she spent a lot of money on the ticket to fly there (at my urging, I might add. But how was I to know it was going to rain? And how was I to know that my father and daughter would fly in from the Philippines on December 31st?). Yikes. I don't want to drive in my rickety old car in a thunder and rainstorm to San Francisco. But I do want to live.
THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS NOT ABOUT KNITTING, IT IS ME VENTING, SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD.
Speaking of my father, boy oh boy is he in deep doo doo. My grandmother died at 97 (can you believe that my father, who is 78, still had a mother at his age?) and my father flew to the Philippines to see his family that he hadn't seen in 15 years. My younger daughter went with him. My Dad's wife, the evil Lita, was already in the Philippines living the good life. Anyway, my daughter called me out of the blue around Thanksgiving to apologize for not believing me when I was vehemently against my Dad's new marriage because his live-in seemed to be a gold digger and just an all-around terrible person. My daughter then proceeded to tell me all about Lita and her shenanigans in the Philippines. My father owns a large farm that my cousins run and apparently it is very successful and making a lot of money. This farm has been in the family for about 100 years (I'm basing this on the fact that my father is almost 80 and his father owned the farm before him) and so is separate property, but oh no, when Lita sees this farm, she thinks she is the owner and starts walking all over people and acting like she is Imelda Marcos. And then she starts snooping around and asking people what else my father owns. You see, in the Philippines, some of the people there have a tenuous grasp on truth and legality and fiduciary responsibility and all that, so it is quite easy to forge new documents that would put Lita's name on my father's property. She has already tried that on my father's house here in Los Angeles, and it would be so easy to do that in the Philippines and actually get away with it. And she has been alienating my cousins by moving into their house with an entourage of six people (her children and their hangers-on) and sleeping in their bedrooms and eating all their food and using all their cars. And she moved in for 6 weeks! My cousin and his wife had to sleep in a cot at his office. Out of respect for my father, my cousins have put up with it, but they are so sick of her. And sick of her attitude, too. My cousin told me that Lita called my father stupid and old and goes on and on until my cousin stood up and yelled at her to stop talking to my father like that. Her daughters, he said, call my dad "Papa" in sarcastic tones, like the bar girls (prostitutes) in Olongapo (a U.S. Navy town) call their elderly customers. My father is so lonely and so pussy-whipped by this evil woman that he just sits there and takes it. I've suggested divorce, but he told me that he never wants me to mention that word to him. I have two younger brothers (44 and 38), but they are so naive that they cannot even consider that a woman could be so manipulative and evil. Oh yes, ignorance is NOT bliss! Ignorance is trouble! In fact, against my advice 4 years ago, my stupid youngest brother even encouraged my father to be with Lita. He said he "wanted Dad to be happy". Well, I could see right off that my father was not going to be happy with this gold digger (this is not really an appropriate word, since my father is working class and doesn't really have any money, but it really is what she is). And now my youngest brother George (I am not going to mask his name, let the world know who the stupid one in this family is!) is actually blaming ME for the marriage! When he said this, I sputtered and said, how in the world can you blame ME for this marriage, when I have been opposed to it from the beginning???? And he said, well, you badgered Dad about this marriage. Now let me tell you, that is an absolute LIE. The last word I mentioned to my Dad is marriage, because I did not want that concept to enter Dad's mind, especially in relation to Lita. Because of my opposition to this relationship, my brother went around telling everyone that I was a mean-spirited woman who didn't want my Father to be happy. That is the furthest thing from the truth. I DID want my father to be happy, just not with this particular street-wise, manipulative, evil woman. Because of her, my father did not talk to me for two years because I refused to call her Mom or Auntie. Her position was that I did not respect her if I didn't call her Mom or Auntie. I told my father, Dad, I am forty, not fourteen. I don't have to call ANYONE Mom or Auntie. I will call her Lita, since that is her name. My father was sympathetic to my position, but he was so dominated by Lita, he didn't talk to me for two years, even through my cancer treatment and chemotherapy. That really hurt. What hurt even more was when he didn't invite me to his wedding, even though he invited my brothers. I asked him about it a while back and he said I wasn't invited because I didn't approve of his bride. DUH. ANYWAY. One of my New Year's resolutions is to spend more time with my Father, since it seems that he is lonely and pushed around by Lita and gets bad advice from my stupid brothers. Oh, and let me tell you his house (MY MOTHER'S HOUSE!!!!) is filthy now! When my mother was alive, we could eat off the floor. Now, it is filthy and smells like cat. There are clothes and boxes and stuff all over the house. There is one path from the kitchen through the dining room through the living room to the bathroom and bedrooms. The rest of the house is filled with clutter. No, worse than clutter. Filth. The whole place is a health hazard. THIS is taking care of my Dad? I am going to tell my Father that I am willing to live with him so I can take care of him, but he is going to have to get rid of Lita and the clutter. I am not sure if he will get rid of Lita, but I can stand firm and insist for health reasons that the clutter and filth has to go. Okay. I could go on and on about the evil Lita and her spell on my Father, but I want to talk about other things. And anyway, my ex-husband just called to let me know that Lita will also be arriving from the Philippines on December 31st. She will be on an evening flight, while my daughter and Dad will be arriving in the morning. That's bad news, as I had hoped to have a couple of weeks to try to de-brainwash my Father, but at least it gives me a good reason to cancel my San Francisco trip!
(SAFE TO READ FROM THIS POINT ON. NO MORE VENTING!)
Oops, I lied. Now I am going to vent about how some people do not appreciate knit items. I am making beautiful shawls out of germaine yarn, and I could sense a lack of enthusiasm from my closest friend, Liz. If someone told me they were going to knit or quilt or sew or bake or draw or paint or donate to a charity in my name, I would be thrilled! Those gifts are unique and take time (except for the charity gift) to do. There is always room in my house for crafted items by loved ones. But no, not Liz. So, I went to the Coach outlet in Camarillo last night and bought her a Coach makeup bag, or something like a makeup bag. It's cute, it's name-brand, and it was on the clearance table. So it actually was cheaper than my shawls, which will cost me between $40 - $60 in yarn alone. But only you and I will know that!
Speaking of New Year's Resolutions, I will post mine later this week. I really enjoyed reading crazyauntpurl's resolutions and will probably model my resolutions on hers. (although I've already got mine written out and told my best friends about it, crazyauntpurl's resolutions are much more comprehensive).
Okay, I've got to go....have a wonderful New Year's, everybody, especially to my favorite internet knitting buddy, Sonja! I'm sending you an e-mail, Sonja!
posted by knutty4knitting @ 12:03 PM
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