In the Pink Again...Almost

"Think Pink" days continued through Friday. You may remember that Mandy made mittens for Dolly and surprised her with them on Monday.

On Tuesday, Vroni and Mandy decided they need some exercise, which is part of a healthful lifestyle, important for cancer prevention. Park City is a great place to enjoy the outdoors, with lots of hiking, biking and snowshoe trails, as well as the ski resorts, but there are two problems. 1) Mandy’s coat wasn’t finished yet, and it’s too cold to go for a hike without one, and 2) This is what the locals call “mud season.” (Actually, there are two mud seasons. Other places call them “spring” and “fall.” The snow melt causes the mud.) All the girls have snow boots, but no wellies, and I’ve ruled out running their…um…running shoes through the dryer, so I ruled out a hike, even if they all had coats. “Let’s go to the Fieldhouse!” I suggested. Little kids go there to run around in the indoor field and jump around in the blow-up castle, but older young people and adults can walk or run on the track. The girls have the proper attire for that, as well as their new pink water bottles. A cardigan is all you need to hop in the car and out again.

While they were getting ready, the girls decide to stop at the library, which is very close to the Fieldhouse, so they could get some books for Dolly, who was feeling better but still in bed.

All the girls love dogs, and Dolly really enjoyed the big picture book, Sorry, I Pooped in Your Shoe, although it’s a little difficult to turn the pages wearing her new mittens.

Mandy was rather annoyed when the nozzle came off of her special water bottle. She showed me when we got home:

"Get out your glue gun, Mum!"

By Wednesday, Dolly had stopped coughing and was feeling “in the pink” again. She was out of bed and dressed.

The theme for Wednesday was diet and food, so the girls decided to have a tea party to celebrate Dolly's recovery and the fact that no one else has caught the cold. They had a discussion about what they should serve at their tea party. Mandy wanted to know what Dolly wants to have, since it’s in her honor.

Dolly says that she thinks they should each bring their favorite party food. Mandy made a list.

Dolly said she liked chocolates.

Gabi said cookies.

Mandy added raisins as her favorite party food. 

Vroni said, “Well, unlike chocolates, cookies and raisins, MY favorite party food requires actual cooking...but I know how.

Vroni  put on a makeshift apron (the girls keep giving their actual aprons away) and assembled her supplies and the cookbook.

She spent at least five minutes slaving over a hot microwave to produce her favorite party food: popcorn.

The girls set the table. Gabi said they needed another chair. “I’ll get it when I get the package of cookies,” she said.

Mandy started putting raisins on a plate, and Dolly opened the box of chocolates, a gift from when she was sick. Vroni said she would pour the tea.

Tea! we all forgot to make the tea. Oh, well. Pretend tea is good at a pretend tea party.

On Thursday we received word yesterday that our new addition, Charlotte Anne, would be leaving for the US on Friday, along with her dog. Her immigration paperwork is in order and her pup had his rabies certificate and health certificate, so they could both fly together and enter the US with no problem. Vroni and Mandy were so excited, they stayed up way into the night, talking and planning.

Mandy was working on a sock for Charlotte Anne, and Vroni had planned to read in front of the fire (in honor of Diwali and the light at the end of the tunnel), but it’s hard to talk and read at the same time. At one point, while I was still up, Mandy came to me with a mistake in her work. (I guess it’s hard to knit and talk when you’re excited.) "Put on your glasses, Mandy!"

They were still jabbering when I went to bed. I guessed they would sleep late the next morning, and they did. Mandy didn’t wake me to fix her knitting again, so I knew she had it sorted out.

I wished Charlotte Anne a safe trip and hoped that she wouldn’t think all those shoes are just for her. Or that her puppy wouldn’t chew on them!

Friday came around, and the girls and I talked about what we should do for the last day of THINK PINK, which was a day of celebration. The girls decided we should post a photo of each of them. I handed them my album—um, iPad—so they could go through the photos and decide together what to post. Here are their selections: 

Dolly looks so young here. That photo was taken almost two years ago.

Gabi has had several pink items, including the jacket for her Everyday Play dress, but this is her favorite.

Mandy has a lot of nice clothes with pink somewhere in them, but this outfit was the closest thing to a best pink outfit. It reminds her of all the fun they had outdoors over the summer.

Of course, Vroni has her lovely Dirndl, but everyone has already seen that during “THINK PINK” days, so here she is in her best Sunday wrap dress, also a favorite.

Of course, the “Cotton Candy Gracie” (made with slightly longer sleeves) has made the rounds among the girls, because they all love it. 

I’m glad the girls have been having fun, because I had to sit them down and tell them that, Charlotte Anne is now bringing two horses with her, and because of the horses, she can’t just hop on a plane. It means her arrival will be delayed perhaps two weeks.

After a few minutes of glum silence, Mandy left the room and came back with the belt for her new coat.

“Here,” she said. “You only have to sew the buttons on and attach the belt now. Please finish my coat so I can go outdoors and play.”

We all looked at her…

“Well,” she continued, “I’ve learned two things in the past 10 days: Waiting is long, and life is short. Stay well and get a mammogram once a year. And live it up!”

I think Mandy’s right. We really should “THINK PINK” all year long. Celebrate life!

Mandy did get to go outdoors for a bit. Here she is in her new coat.

It was nice of her to be so patient for the photo shoot, because she was really anxious to run off and play. 

She was outdoors for all of 30 minutes when it started to rain, which later turned to wet snow. Mandy says, "I guess you have to take the bad with the good."

I didn't go to Common Threads this week because of my cold, but I'm much better, so I hope to be able to make Vintage Stitchers on Thursday.

I've changed my disclaimer (below) to indicate that no dolls were harmed, either. My regular blog will be back next week.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.