Knit One, "Pearl" Two

That's the only knitting jargon I know. I'm not a knitter. I love to sew, and for a few years when my boys were young, I dabbled in cross-stitch. But for some reason, I've always been a bit intimidated by knitting. To me, it seems very hard to do.

My daughter-in-law, however, has become quite proficient with a pair of knitting needles. She has created some really awesome items: scarves, hats, beautiful knitted placemats (which I'd never seen before, but love), and adorable baby booties.

If you'd like to see some of her projects, you should check out her blog, "Mother of Pearls" (http://momofpearls.blogspot.com/). Not only does she post pictures, but she also provides links to help you find yarns, patterns, etc. Her blog isn't only about knitting, though; it covers a plethora of topics, and it's really very entertaining and educational.

(This charming Victorian-era painting is called "Young Girl Knitting," by artist Albert Samuel Anker.)

My Pearls of Great Price

In case you're wondering how I came up with the title for my blog, I named it for my 5 boys. Their high school varsity lacrosse coach (who sometimes had as many as 3 Pearls playing on the team at once) always referred to them as a "string of pearls," so there you have it.

Here is a picture of my 5 priceless gems, rendered in cartoon form by son #4 (we all think he's uber-talented). With a few simple lines, he managed to capture everyone perfectly. We loved this drawing so much that we used it as our Christmas card "family picture" in 2007.

We need an updated drawing, though, because another Pearl--our daughter-in-law--has been added to the string. And soon, two tiny Pearl babies ("seed pearls"!) will be added as well.

Notre Dame Wins Fencing Title

For those of you who think you're dyed-in-the-wool, loyal to the core Notre Dame sports fans, I doubt that any of you can hold a candle to my husband. If ND had an underwater basket weaving team, he would follow it. He follows every sport they play, and I mean every sport.

While the rest of you were probably focused on the Irish basketball and hockey teams in recent days, how many of you were aware that last night, the Irish fencing team won the national championship? My husband was in Europe for work, yet he knew and informed me about it during our phone conversation. (In fact, he asked me if I was going to blog about it, and I said probably not; I told him that I just did a blog about the hockey team yesterday, and I didn't want to talk about sports all the time.) I've already posted one blog today, but here I am again, back at the computer. I just couldn't help myself: I felt compelled to give those lesser-known Notre Dame athletes their due.


So congrats to the Irish fencers! Well done, gentlemen.

(If it seemed like I was lumping fencing in with underwater basket weaving, that wasn't my intention. Fencing is actually one of the oldest gentlemen's sports, and I imagine it requires lots of skill and athletic ability.)

Victorian Artwork

Okay, yesterday I posted something about the Notre Dame hockey team, because I don't want to completely lose the attention of my sons who are following my blog. But today, I'm sharing something more on the girly side! (Sorry, guys.)

This adorable illustration is from a card I found and couldn't resist buying. (I seem to be on a dog kick lately, don't I?) The inside reads: "Friendship is sharing in the same simple joys."

These two friends are sharing a book--I think they've started their own little book club.

I just love Victorian artwork. There is something so sweet about it. (See the illustration from "A Morning Prayer," March 12, for another fine example.) Every now and then, I'm going to post samples of it, just because it makes me happy!

If you like this "Victorian Greetings" brand card, it's from a company out of Lenexa, Kansas called the Victorian Trading Company (http://victoriantradingco.com/). They sell a lot of other cool Victoriana, too.

Irish Skate on to Frozen Four (or: The Puck of the Irish)

If you're a Notre Dame fan, you've probably been down in the dumps since the basketball team's crushing blow last week, a disappointing loss that kept the Irish from advancing to the Sweet Sixteen (see "No Luck for the Irish," March 21). Well, this morning, you're probably feeling a whole lot happier.

As Lloyd Christmas might say, the hockey team went and totally redeemed ND last night by beating the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (who had home-state advantage for the game) 2-1 and advancing on to the Frozen Four. Huzzah!

In a way, the outcome of this game, no matter which team had won it, was going to be a little bit of a win-win for our nuclear family, as we feel an allegiance to both ND and UNH. But the entire extended Pearl family--and it's huge, believe me--is filled with manic Notre Dame fans, and we know a lot of people who are feeling pretty pumped up today.

So here's to a national championship title for the ND hockey team! Go Irish!

A Trio of Canine Cuties

This is my son's dog Allie, on the right, with her two miniscule best friends. (The little ones belong to his cousin.) The dorkie tan one on the left is Charlie. I'm not dissing Charlie here; that's his breed--he's a Dachshund/Yorkie hybrid: a Dorkie. I think Charlie is Allie's boyfriend.

And the one in the middle is not a Beanie Baby; it's a real dog. That's Buckley, and he's a pure-bred Yorkie. I don't think we could ever have a dog that small in our house, because there's a very real possibility that he would be crushed by one of the size 12 or 13 feet that roam around here.

Believe it or not, Allie is sort of afraid of Buckley. Allie is a bit of a scaredy-cat.

You may not be a dog-lover, but c'mon, you have to admit: this is a pretty cute picture.

"Hachi, A dog's tale": Two thumbs up!

My husband was out of town last weekend, and I decided to treat myself to a late-night movie that couldn't quite be categorized as a "chick flick," but is definitely not the type of movie my husband and sons usually prefer. And by that I mean action-packed or sports-related. I like those kinds of movies, too; but every now and then I crave a good 3-hanky movie--you know, something heartwarming and sweet and slow-paced, without car crashes, gun fights, or explosions. (My sons would call that "something boring.")

I got the movie "Hachi, A dog's tale," even though I'd heard so little about it when it came out that I'm not even sure if it was ever in theaters or just went straight to DVD. But it stars Richard Gere, Joan Allen, and Jason Alexander (George from "Seinfeld"); I thought with a cast like that, how bad could it be?

Well, it's fantastic! You don't even have to be a dog-lover to enjoy it. (But be careful: it could turn you into one.) Plus--and here's the best part--it's rated G! Even most animated films these days are PG's, and this movie is a G. I need more G-rated movies in my life! I'm tired of watching a movie and saying afterward, "That was cute--I mean all except the 5% that was entirely inappropriate; the other 95% was great."

This movie is 100% enjoyable and 100% appropriate for all ages. I absolutely loved it.