My Babies Are Growing Up..."sniff, sniff..."

I'll admit it. I wasn't much of a parent to the spider who recently gifted me with so very many little grandbabies. I was never really there for her. She was left to her own devices. She grew up on the streets. Well...on the ceiling. She found herself in a "family way" without the loving guidance of a caring mother to whom she could turn with her questions and fears.

It is apparently her revenge that I raise her children. Seems fair given that, in all likelihood, I squished her.

Those of you with real children and grandchildren are probably aware of how quickly the time passes and the speed with which developmental gains are made. My spider grandchildren have discovered that they have "silk." And that this allows them a new sort of mobility. Now the little "darlings" are repelling from the ceiling and past my line of vision with frightening regularity. If one were to covertly observe The Sheep in her living room knitting or watching the tube they would see her periodically look to the left, shriek and begin flapping at what, to the distant observer, might look like hallucinated attackers. Medication would follow.

Last night, I found one of the critters swinging merrily from my glasses bow. They are so frickin' tiny that it took me a while to realize that this was an actual eight-legged entity and not a spot on my always dirty glasses. Let's all take a minute to shudder together on that one....

I look forward to their teenage years. Spider angst and rebellion should be a hoot.

On to my latest sewing crisis:

I began a new tote bag today. Much to my delight, things were going swimmingly. I was filled with a certain smugness that only comes with mastering a task that has been challenging. Go me!!! I was so filled with self-confidence that I decided to add the grommets to the top as shown in another version of the pattern. I've done grommets before. So what if I can't find the "good" grommet tool? I'll just use this hammery thingie that I have in the crafting supplies. I'm sure it can't be that different...

Here is the bag just before I neglected to test the grommet kit in it's more pristine state:

Not the best picture, but you get the idea...

Now it is a big piece of fabric with holes in it. I just couldn't take the time to make sure that I was truly "grommet ready" and cut the holes with wild abandon. They are even sort of centered. Alas, they are grommet-free. I'll be heading out to spend more of my hard-earned dollars on a more user friendly grommet tool. You know...cuz sewing my own stuff will save me so much money.

I can no longer afford to support my nine million grandchildren. Is there a federal program for this?

SA