What would you do?

I was minding my own business shopping at Target today when I heard someone raising his voice.

"Would you just make up your mind!!" said the grumpy husband.
Well, I'm not sure if I should get this one or that one..." said the indecisive wife.
"I've had enough!! PICK ONE!" yelled the nasty husband.
"I just don't know..." said the wife (almost whimpering).
"OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE!! I'M LEAVING" screamed the very mean husband.

It was all I could do not to walk up to the woman, put an arm around her and say "Don't let him talk to you that way. Take all the time you need to decide..." But I didn't. Instead I rolled my cart away quickly and started looking down another aisle and out of earshot of the Bickersons.

Not 5 minutes later, I hear bickering again. But this time it was a different couple. I didn't listen long enough to hear what they were arguing about - I just decided it was time for me to be finished shopping. As I waited in line to check out, I thought about what had just happened. Both couples were older - well, older than me, anyway. I'm just assuming that they were married. Why would you put up with someone talking to you like that if you weren't married to him? All at once, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my husband. He never talks to me the way those husbands talked to their wives, although I'm sure that I have given him reason enough.

I don't know. Should I have said something to those grumpy old men and risked being told to mind my own business? It made me feel the same way I do when I hear a parent yelling at a child in public. Are we supposed to say something or mind our own business? What would you have done?

Confession

I woke up with a terrible headache this morning. My first thought was that I couldn't possibly go to yoga class. That's me...any excuse not to exercise and I will take it. I'm terrible that way. The truth is that I am intelligent enough to know that I will feel better after I exercise. I know that I will benefit from physical activity. Why, then, do I look for any excuse NOT to exercise?

I told Ron that I wasn't feeling good this morning - too achy and a having a headache. He immediately got me a couple of Tylenols. "Have fun at Yogurt!" he said as he was leaving for work. He knows me too well. He knew that I was deciding whether or not to go to class. I sat in bed for another 15 minutes and then MADE myself get up and get dressed. "It's only an hour class, for crying out loud!"

So I went. And guess what? 10 minutes into class I realized that my headache was gone and I was feeling better. 25 minutes later, I was really feeling better. At the end of the class I was sweaty but invigorated. So, what is the lesson here? I need to get up off my a$& and do it!

Truthfully, I have been looking into finding a different yoga instructor or a different class. My current instructor is a bit chatty during class and it's not always conducive to a relaxed meditative state. Unfortunately, the other yoga classes are at times that don't work for my schedule. So, I will stick with this class - it's only twice a week and doing yoga does make me feel better...truly.

Namaste.

The Winners are...

At the last minute, Ron decided that we needed to see Zero Dark Thirty. He had heard that the torture scenes weren't as bad as some people said. He thought we should see it before the Oscars - I didn't really want to see it but I had no strong argument against it, either. As it turns out, it was a fairly intense film. I was very uncomfortable with the torture scenes, but I guess they weren't as bad as I had imagined they would be. Jessica Chastain did an amazing job portraying "Maya" - the CIA agent whose  only job at the agency was to follow leads to find Osama Bin Laden. I assume that she was portraying a real CIA agent but that her name had been changed. I saw a lot of similarities between her character and the one that Claire Danes plays in the "Homeland" series. All in all, it was a real eye opener and a good movie.

So, t's all over for another year. The 85th Academy Awards show is over and the winners have been named. I did pretty well on my selections...Daniel Day Lewis won Best Actor for Lincoln and gave a witty acceptance speech; Jennifer Lewis won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook; Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserable. I missed Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor, but I wasn't upset about the winners.

What's more upsetting is how much anticipation there is for the show and for the awards to be named, but then the production is often disappointing in some way. This year, I thought the set was beautiful but the host was rather a dud. I'm not a big fan of Seth McFarlane's kind of humor and his opening the show with a song about which actresses breasts he had seen was tasteless for the Oscars. I will have to say that he has a decent singing voice, but I hope they bring Billy Crystal back to the show next year.

What I did love about the show this year was the musical numbers from the broadway shows Chicago, Dreamgirls and Les Miserables. Jennifer Hudson was FABULOUS! That girl can sing! I was sorry that the Les Mis number didn't come off a little better, but I still loved it - what can I say - I am a fan. I thought Barbra Streisand's tribute to Marvin Hamlisch was touching, but it made me sad to realize that she is losing her amazing voice.

My 2nd favorite gown

My favorite gown - wasn't Octavia elegant?!

All that's left for me to tell you I thought was the best dressed and worst dressed of the ladies for the big event. Not that my opinion matters to anyone - it's just fun to say...

Melissa is a funny lady but I was not a fan of the color or fit of this dress. 

Pretty Naomi, but the dress is just YUCK.

That's it for the Oscars for this year. It was another very long show. I don't know how other people felt about the whole thing, but I'm interested to hear what others thought about the host and show in general, I'm ready for a new batch of movies - bring 'em on, Hollywood!

"How to Knit a Love Song"

The worst thing I can say about this book is that I'm sad that I finished it. As far as I know there is only one more Cypress Hollow book for me to read. I am becoming so attached to this fictional California town that I really do wish that it were a place that I could visit.

Once again, Rachael Herron has created relate-able characters in a lovely romantic story. As in the other books she has written, knitting, spinning and yarns are integral to the story. (By the way, I have been practicing my knitting and have just learned how to purl - I'm hoping there is a handmade sweater in my future some day!)

Abigail and Cade are the romantic couple in this story. He's a cowboy and she's a city girl. Of course they will fall hopelessly in love. The fun in this story is being along for the ride as they learn more about each other. Be advised - there are some steamy love scenes in this story, but we're grown ups and we can handle it, right?

It just so happens that Ron and I went to dinner at Pedro's Mexican Restaurant in Santa Clara last night. As we waited to be seated, we noticed that there were several women coming into the restaurant wearing beautiful, intricately knitted scarves, shawls, capelets and sweaters. I struck up a conversation with one of these women and found out that there is a knitting convention going on in Santa Clara this weekend called "Stitches." This nice lady encouraged me to come to the convention (without Ron) and see all the yarns and knitting paraphernalia. I told her I'm like a newborn to the knitting community and I just wouldn't know where to start. Maybe next year. This knitting thing is really experiencing a resurgence in popularity, huh?

In the meantime, I've only got one more Cypress Hollow romance left to read. I'm going to wait a bit to start that book and hope that Rachael has another book on the way soon!

Catching Up before Oscar

Tomorrow is the big day! You know how I love the Academy Awards - yes, this is my Super Bowl (and yes, I think I have said that before, but it's true.). Before I give you my picks for the awards this year, I want to tell you quickly about a few movies that we have seen recently...

Skyfall is up for about 4 awards - Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Song and Original Score. I finally watched this on pay per view when Ron was sick last weekend. I can't believe how much I enjoyed it! I am slowly coming around to seeing Daniel Craig as James Bond as I am a Sean Connery as Bond fan. If I am honest with myself though, Craig was good. There was a great chase scene, lots of action, but not too much blood or gore. Great action movie, but I did miss the usual 007 gadgets. By the way, there is supposed to be a special tribute to the 007 movies on the Oscars tomorrow. That should be fun!

Denzel Washington is such a fantastic actor. He is one of those rare actors that completely becomes the character he is portraying. This is a realistic depiction of alcohol addition and how desperate a person can become with this illness. He is nominated for Best Actor - very well deserved - but I don't think he will win.

OK, I know I've said that I'm done with Nicholas Sparks movies, but we couldn't help ourselves. Safe Haven is the latest romantic movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book. We have been very interested to see how Julianne Hough develops as an actress - we have been watching her since she was a dancer on Dancing with the Stars. She is a gorgeous girl and has promise as an actress, but she has plenty of room to improve. This movie is not going be one of those classic love stories like The Notebook or Sleepless in Seattle or While You Were Sleeping. Disappointing, but we will give Julianne another chance. Josh Duhamel was very good and does well in the role of the male lead on a love story. Wait til this one comes out on DVD.

So here are my choices for the main awards for the Oscars...

Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln
Best Actress - Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor - Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables
Best Picture - Les Miserables

These picks are based solely on my opinion and the movies I have actually seen. Oh, if only I had a real vote in these awards! I will check in tomorrow night and let you know how I did.

Kid-Friendly

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to spend the day with my favorite 6 year old in the whole world. Because he is a dynamo and constantly on the move, I had to be creative about keeping him busy and entertained for the afternoon. Our first stop was to IHOP - he loves pancakes for lunch. We played Tic Tac Toe while we wait for our food...

After lunch it was on to the movies...we opted for the 3D version of Escape from Planet Earth. The best thing that I can say about a kid's movie is that it kept his attention for the entire movie. Cute characters, a fun story line and good animation. It's not Pixar, but it's ok. I will have to say that I think the whole 3D gimmick is such a rip-off. Viliamu loves wearing the 3D glasses and in the beginning of the movie there are a few things that come toward you, but after that, you forget about it. 3D is just an excuse for the theater to charge more for the movie ticket and it's just not worth it - especially when you have to pay $6 for a small popcorn and $4.25 for a small water...RIDICULOUS!

After the movie, we decided to go to the bookstore. Thank goodness that our Barnes and Noble is still open! I told Viliamu about how Buddy and I used to take our girls to Borders and let them look through all the books until they decided on one book that they could take home. He liked this idea a lot and went about the business of deciding what book he really wanted to take home. I decided that I would pick one as well. He chose Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Cabin Fever  by Jeff Kinney. He loves the books especially since they've started making movies of them.

For myself, I chose The Fantastic Flying Books if Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. Mr. Joyce is absolutely one of my favorite children's authors and this is another beautiful book. The story inspired an Academy Award winning short film (I have to try to find it!). As usual, the illustrations are stunning and the story is very sweet. The theme of this book is that "Everyone's story matters." It's written for children ages 4 to 8 and Viliamu loved the story. This is a good book to purchase as a gift for a friend's child - and remember it makes all the difference to hold the book in your hands to really appreciate the illustrations. This is not something to buy to read as an e-book. Trust me.

Finally, to end our afternoon date, we decided to go to the park for a bit. I am thrilled by how easily Viliamu makes friends. He made friends at the bookstore and at the park. Unfortunately, our time there was cut short because it was so cold. All in all, it was a great day and a lot of fun spending the day with  this bundle of energy...

A self-driving car?

Yes, apparently this car is able to drive itself...really! Twice in the last week, Ron and I have seen one of the Google self-driving cars on the road. The first time was last Friday on the streets of San Francisco. Today, we saw one of the Google self-driving Lexus cars on our way home while we were driving on I 880 N. Both times there was actually someone sitting in the driver's seat. I can't be certain, but both times it appeared that the person sitting in the driver's seat did NOT have his/her hands on the steering wheel. Tonight, the person sitting in the car was on her phone. Is that ok? I mean, she wasn't burdened with the task of keeping her eyes on the road I guess. Are there different rules for people in self-driving cars?

I'm not sure why we need a car that will drive itself. Sure it would be great for people with vision or mobility problems, but since it's very unlikely that these people will be able to afford what is sure to be  a very expensive car, why is this practical?  Some people argue that driver-less cars will reduce traffic accidents and wasted commuter time. Other people think that this is fairly impractical. It seems that the UK is getting in on the act and a team at Oxford University is working on  a less expensive version of the driver-less car and will be competing with the US technology.

I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. I will say that it has made me feel uncomfortable to be driving alongside these cars. I don't think I like it. Besides, whatever happened to idea of flying cars? I think I would feel a little better about seeing this car flying above the road....

What do you think?

"How to Knit a Heart Back Home"

In honor of Valentine's Day, I want to tell you about a book that I just finished reading. Yes, it's a LOVE story! Rachael Herron is a wonderful author I discovered thanks to Beckie. Earlier this month, I told you about Rachael's memoir "A Life in Stitches." I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to find out if she had written anything else. Besides writing a blog called Yarn-A-Go-Go, she has also written three novels in the Cypress Hollow series. There was also a Cypress Hollow short story that I could only get on my Kindle called "Honeymooning."

I think I am reading the books out of sequence, but maybe it doesn't matter too much. The stories take place in a fictional California town called Cypress Hollow. The residents there are quirky and funny and definitely the kind of people I'd like to meet. The common theme is that most of the people in the town are knitters. Knitting is a central theme, but not so much that it takes over the story. Lucy and Owen are the main characters in this passionate love story. I was surprised by the steamy love scenes...not smutty but definitely erotic. It's been a long time since I've read anything like this. Whew...hot stuff!

If I were to compare this book to a movie, I would compare it to something like The Notebook (one of my all time favorites). If it were made into a movie, I would definitely go to see it. In fact, I could see the same actors from The Notebook playing Lucy and Owen as well! So, now I am on to my next Cypress Hollow Yarn - "How to Knit a Love Song." In the midst of all this reading, I am also learning how to knit...mostly I am teaching myself from videos on YouTube since my knitting class turned out to be a crochet class...oh well. Anyway, if you enjoy a good romance novel, I do recommend this book.

The End of the Valentine's Day Curse

I realize that it is February 13th, but I thought you'd be interested to know that Valentine's Day started a little early for me this year!

I was going about the business of completing my chores for the day when the doorbell rang. I'm a little paranoid about answering the door when I'm home alone, but I looked through the peep hole and saw someone standing there with something in his hands. He looked safe enough so I answered the door. There stood a young guy holding a beautiful flower arrangement.

"Laura Beeson?" he asked with a big smile on his face.
"Yes?"
"These are for you!"
"Oh! What a surprise! Thank you!" I took the flowers and shut the door. Wow! Flowers!

If you know my history with Valentine's Day, you won't be surprised when I tell you that I truly didn't know who the flowers were from until I opened the card. Inside the card was the sweetest sentiment from my very own husband. I know you are thinking, "well of course it was!" but sometimes I am a little slow.

Ron and I are approaching our 30th wedding anniversary this August and a total of 34 years together. I honestly have never doubted how much he loves me although I have often felt undeserving. After what I put him through during the last few months, I would say that he has definitely earned a pass when it comes to things like Valentine's. He has gone above and beyond proving how much he loves and cares for me during my recent illness and recuperation. But there was the delivery boy holding this gorgeous token of my husband's love for me in an arrangement of roses and orchids. After 34 years, he can still surprise me and make me cry (happy tears). Is it possible to love someone more than you did when you first fell in love all those years ago? Yes. I can tell you honestly that you can...I do.

And if all that weren't enough, tomorrow, on Valentine's Day, we are going out to dinner with friends! There might even be a little dancing involved. I think it's quite safe to say that the curse has been lifted!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This girl is on fire!

What follows here is a rant about menopause. I am telling you this upfront in case any gentlemen readers would like to bow out of reading this post. No hard feelings...really. I'd skip talking about this on my blog altogether because it's a bit personal, but at the same time, it's a fact of life and something absolutely universal.

So, I just woke up after another night of hot flashes, night sweats, and getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night repeatedly. Yuck. All night long I peel the covers off and can literally feel the heat rising off my skin. Miserable. I lie in bed with the covers off, and two fans going - the ceiling fan and a small personal fan on my nightstand until I start shivering and have to pull the covers back on. Worse yet are the times I wake up with my head drenched in sweat. Hot - Cold - Hot - Cold...this goes on all night.

Then there is the issue of trying to figure out how to dress for this time of year and this time of life at the same time! It's generally cold outside right now so I dress in layers. I do get genuinely cold so I put on a long sleeved shirt, a vest, maybe a scarf (you know how I love a good scarf) and a fleece jacket. I will be going about my business when all of a sudden - POWER SURGE - and I feel like I have flames shooting out of the top of my head. Off comes the scarf and the jacket and the vest and then I roll up my sleeves and try not to pull my shirt OFF. I am not looking forward to dealing with this situation during the summer.

In an effort to do some unscientific research on the matter, (asking my friends and family of the same age), I have found out the following facts -

1. I have no idea how long this is going to last. Menopause can go on for 1 1/2 to 10 years or even longer! I talked to a friend that started having hot flashes at 40 years old. She is now in her 60's and is still having them! So, there is nothing to do but to just endure.
2. There is NO magic pill to cure menopause. Just like any other malady, herbal remedies or drugs work differently for each person. I have been taking black cohosh for about a month - this was recommended by my primary care physician. At first I thought it might be lessening the severity and frequency of the power surges, but now I'm not sure. Some one told me that sage helps. Haven't tried that one yet.
3. There is a camaraderie that exists among women of a certain age. We understand each other and can commiserate about this as just one more of the hardships and indignities that come along with being a woman. It's not all bad. I have shared real laughs with my sisters-in-sweat when we talk about our common experiences with this latest chapter of our lives. Sometimes I do find it funny...well, sorta. At least there are others who understand and this does help.

In honor of my sisters-in-sweat, I'd like to leave you with a song by Alicia Keyes. I don't think she intended this song to be about hot flashes, but every time I have one, this is the song that goes through my head...this one is for us, Ladies!

http://youtu.be/J91ti_MpdHA

Hey, before I go - is it hot in here or is just me?

Fabulous February

There are so many reasons that I love February not the least of which is that it's not January any more. After all the warmth, color and excitement of the holidays, January just seems to drag on and on. I do get to celebrate the birthdays of 3 of my favorite people in the world in January, but so soon after Christmas, it's always a challenge to come up with any kind of fantastic gift idea for Ron, Mandi and Beckie. Besides that, it's cold in January. No, not Minnesota cold, but cold enough to be uncomfortable and not want to play outside.

Even if the groundhog did see his shadow this year (did he? I didn't hear...), February is still just that much closer to spring and the beautiful temperate weather California is famous for. Not to mention all the fun and exciting events that this month brings.

Even if you are not a football fan or if your team doesn't happen to be in the big game, there's always the half-time show and the commercials to look forward to...This year, it was an EXCELLENT game, even if the 49ers didn't quite get it done. The half time show was pretty good and so were most of the commercials.  I'm still squirming about the GoDaddy.com commercial with the extended kiss between the model and the awkward young man...yech... Anyway, I can't remember the last time I watched the Superbowl all the way to the end - it was great!

The Grammy's are on the 10th this year. Although I've gotten to the age where I don't know many of the musicians nominated and I don't care for some of the music that is performed at the event, I still love to watch and see what everybody is wearing. I admit it - I am an awards show addict. Besides, from time to time, there will be an amazing performance of someone I'd never heard or seen before. I think that it was a Grammy's show where I first saw and heard Adele. Embarrassing, but true!

JB's birthday is this month. Although she is miles away, I am always grateful to think about how she changed my life when she came into the world and made me into the only thing I ever truly wanted to be...a mom. She will be 27 on the 12th! Where does the time go?

Ok, it's true that I have a troubled history with Valentine's Day. However, red is my favorite color and I love the way the stores decorate around this holiday. Even if Valentine's Day has been turned into a day that florists can charge 3 or 4 times the amount they usually do for a dozen roses or a day that you can't get into a restaurant unless you made a reservation weeks ago, I still like the idea of a day set aside for love and romance.

Thanks, George and Abraham! Who doesn't love a 3 day weekend?!

And last but not least, one of the reasons that I love February is the Academy Awards. This is MY Super Bowl every year. I can't wait to see all the movie stars dressed to the nines in their finest duds and their borrowed jewels. Yes, it's a bit silly, but I love it anyway. Ron and I still have a few movies to see before the winners are announced - not that it really matters, but we like to see all the nominated films before the big day. The show is on the 24th so we have a couple of weekends to see the rest of the movies.

As I am finishing up this post, the sun came out from behind the clouds. It's going to be a little bit warmer today. Warm enough to hop on my bike and get some exercise! Yes, I love February!

Superbowl Sunday

You won't find too many posts about sports on this blog (unless it's about March Madness), but since it is Super Bowl Sunday, I do have a few thoughts on this big day.

I wasn't terribly aware of any professional sports as a young girl. I was a Dallas Cowboys fan by default because I grew up in El Paso, Texas and my Uncle Roger was a BIG fan. I spent a lot of time at my cousins' house during the days of Coach Tom Landry and Roger Staubach and when the Cowboys were America's Team. I remember seeing Uncle Rog standing in front of the TV cheering the Cowboys on when they made good plays and hollering at them when they goofed up. It was quite a show!

Fast forward to the fall of 1983 - I had just married the love of my life and was ready to settle into "Happily Ever After." Unfortunately for me, it was now football season and I lost my husband. Barely weeks into my marriage, I became a football widow. Ron was/is a lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan - don't laugh - they have had a few good seasons in the past. Anyway, it seemed as though our lives revolved around football. He watched college games all day on Saturday, NFL games all day on Sunday and Monday night football. In our first year of marriage, we moved from Indiana to Texas. Because one of my cousins was the drum major of her high school marching band (Yay, Lisa!), we started attending high school football games on Friday nights. There was no way to escape it.

You know the saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"? Well, I made a conscious decision to learn about football so that I would have something to talk about with my husband. Somewhere along the way, I learned to love it. I learned about the game which was pretty easy to follow - touchdown = 6 points; point after = 1 point; field goal = 3 points; safety = 2 points; 4 downs to advance 10 yards...pretty easy stuff so I understood and started to enjoy it. Even though I considered myself a Bengals fan by marriage, I developed my own opinions about my favorite teams and players and teams that I didn't like. For example, I LOVED the Chicago Bears during the time of Coach Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton and William "The Refrigerator" Perry. I have been anti-Pittsburgh Steelers forever. I have to admit I rooted against the 49ers whenever they played (and almost always beat) Ron's beloved Bengals.

Fast forward again to today. Living in the Bay Area gives us a great opportunity to get caught up in a variety of professional sports. Since we are not native Californians, we enjoy the successes of all the area teams. We didn't grow up with a loyalty to either the 49ers or the Raiders or the Giants or the A's. I apologize to die-hard 49ers fans, but I think I might have been as excited if the Raiders had made it to the Super Bowl. Well, maybe not. I did buy a 49ers t-shirt when we were in San Francisco the other day, but I think it would be disingenuous of me to claim to have been a 49ers fan or a Giants fan all this time due to their recent successes. I will be cheering for the NINERS today.  I think the whole idea of the "Harbaugh Bowl" is going to make this a very interesting game to watch. Can't wait to see the commercials and the halftime show as well.

Well, time to get started preparing our Super Bowl feast. On the menu today - Burgers and Dogs on the grill, homemade potato salad and pineapple slaw, baked beans and chili con queso. All notions of healthy eating are discarded today - tomorrow is another day. Carpe diem!

Oh yeah, and "Go NINERS!"

"A Life in Stitches"

I love to read and I don’t do it often enough. A couple months ago, Beckie handed me another book to read. I have to tell you that many of Bec’s selections are beyond me – she’s a much more sophisticated reader than I am and often reads things that I just don’t get. So when she handed me this book, it sat on my nightstand for a while…months, in fact. Every so often, I pretend to clean off my nightstand and really look at the books just sitting there. On the top of the pile of unread books I found A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss and Laughter by Rachel Herron. It looked like a quick read and I needed something to take with me while I sat in different doctor’s offices waiting to be seen. I also have to read whenever Ron and I are in the car together since his driving makes me crazy…but that’s another story…

A Life in Stitches is a memoir of Rachel’s life told in 20 lovely chapters. Each chapter is titled with a knitting term. For instance, the first chapter is “Casting On.” Through each chapter the reader is introduced to her family and loved ones – I so admire how honest she is about her relationships with her parents, sisters, her wife and her friends. I am so impressed by how passionate she is about writing and knitting. I love to craft and sew but I just never got around to learning how to knit. Now that I’ve read this book, I really feel that I HAVE to learn to knit.

When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be a cute little story – a quick read and something to keep my mind busy as Ron was racing down the freeway. I didn’t expect that this book would make me cry, but it did and it touched me deeply. The love she has for the people in her life and her fellow knitters is so heartwarming. Rachel strikes me as a very sweet person and a good friend to have. She reminds me a bit of one of my daughters. Since she lives in Oakland, I hope to meet her someday. She writes a knitting blog called Yarn-A-Go-Go – I intend to put it on my reading list.

I was sad when I got to the end of this book just like I am whenever I read something really good. So I did something about it. First I signed up for a knitting – crocheting class (it starts on Thursday!) and then I went to Amazon and ordered the rest of her books. I will let you know how I progress with class and the rest of Rachel’s books. Until then, I think you should read it...even if you don't know how to knit!