Thank you, Andie

I got to sleep in this morning. All the way to 8:15!! Andie came in and worked the first few hours of my shift and I only have to be here for a few hours.
The plan today is to go to Target... Bean needs a new swimsuit and while I just bought her a new one she tried it on last night and it doesn't fit. She's too... um... womanly for it. I need a drink. So we're going to check the adult section and see if there is something that is appropriate. She mentioned that she is developing a little bit of a tummy. I told her that she is an appropriate weight, she just needs to get more exercise so that weight is muscle instead of fat. I think she is afraid that she will end up looking like me. I certainly am. I think I can get her to be more active with me without sending her to the therapist when she's 14. Fingers crossed!!
After Target we're going to the YMCA for some treadmill time and then Bean is going to swim and I am going to knit. I have tinked half of the row I screwed up on my cabled hat. I want to scream.
In the spirit of working out today I stopped at Quik Trip for my daily caffeine and picked iced tea (with LOTS of ice) instead of diet Dr. Pepper and string cheese and a single pack of cashews instead of something sugary or a breakfast sandwich. Good fats and protein. (That was good, right Jackie?? Right? At least better, right Jackie? Right?).
I have learned that I need to "automate" breakfast and lunch... I just haven't decided what that should be yet. And I need to go to the store... it's cold enough that I think I can get the stuff I need at Target and leave it in the car while we're at the gym.
Then tonight is Oscar night. I'll be knitting.

Crap.

My cabled hat is not going well. I made it through row 19. Slowly and painfully through row 19. Then I realized that I had done the whole row backwards.
Crap.
So now I'm tinking the whole row. Stitch by painful freaking stitch.
I can tink five or six stitches at a time before I have to put it down again.
This is going to take forever.

Random Saturday...

Coffee. Coffee will save me. This week, under (potentially questionable) advice from my thin, very nice, and super-healthy friend Jackie I decided to try to cut down on the amount of diet soda I drink. Um, it didn't go so well. Thursday I drank iced tea and water and only one 16 oz. bottle of diet Dr. Pepper ALL DAY. Friday I started with iced tea and moved on to water and then I fell asleep in front of Bean's school (in my car, of course) and took a little nap while I waited for her to get out. I slept hard and woke up groggy.
Then I had a huge diet Coke at dinner and a huge(r) diet Dr.Pepper at the movie. (Bridge to Terebithia. Got see it, take Kleenex).
But I will press on! I will drink some coffee this morning and then switch to water and I will try to rid myself of the soda addiction. (I think I can, I think I can).
******
Has anyone seen the new sandwich at McDonalds? It's a "double" fish sandwich. It sort of gives me the willies. Bleh. It would probably help if I liked the fish sandwich to begin with, but I don't. The thought of two rectangles of McFish makes me feel really oogy.
Moving right along...
*****
Last night on the front porch I killed TWO mosquitoes. Two. What the hell? It was less than zero degrees ten days ago. Now it's been in the 50's and 60's for a few days. In a few days it will be in the 20's again and there is a chance of show tonight even. And there were MOSQUITOES on my frickin' porch. I am a mosquito magnet. I could move to Alaska in the middle of winter and the one mosquito that survived the journey in a shipment of bananas would find me and bite me before he died a cold and lonely death. Stupid mosquitoes.
*****
Um... is next Friday really the first Friday of the month? Shit on toast. It's book club night. Remember last month how I was reading that Thomas Pynchon book and it was hard and stuff?? Remember how I almost didn't finish the 500 pages I was supposed to read? Guess how many of the second half I've read. That's right! None!!
*****
I got my Lucy sock yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts yesterday. That would be the last thing I ordered online before I started my self-imposed sanction on the use of the "clicky finger." It's harder than I thought it would be. Donna got some yarn from an Etsy shop called "Crash into Ewe." The yarn she got was "Proudest Monkey." Dave Matthews, anyone?? Could I LOVE some Dave-inspired yarn? Hell yes I could! So I went to the Etsy site and came SO close to clicking without thinking that I scared myself. When is Lent over, anyway?
*****
Today is K's Pink Party. I'm looking forward to some knitting and some talking and some pink-wearing. I did finish my pink socks. They're a little big, but I think I figured out the problem. When I make the big socks to fit my big feet I need to to the decreases more frequently than the pattern says I should.
Today I'll be working on Andie's second Crusoe sock and my Rowan Calmer hat.
*****
Did I mention that I love this yarn? I want to knit everything in the world out of Rowan Calmer. Though Lia says Cashsoft is softer. (~le sigh~). Andie and I are thinking of making a trip to a small town about three hours away that has a rockin' cool yarn shop (that carries all of the Rowan yarn) and also has a fantastic Greek restaurant. Let me know if you want to tag along!
*****
I have not colored my hair for a few months and (thanks to a slow fade) there is no tell-tale line, and it is as close to my natural color as it has been since I was twelve. There are quite a few white hairs - not gray, WHITE - peeking through and I can't decide what to do about that. Maybe it's time to go red again. Or Manic Panic purple. Maybe after my practicum I'll do something a little wacky. Maybe.
*****
Bean wants to change schools next year. She's had enough of the bitchy little girl who controls the tone and temperature of the room. It's more frequent now that she comes home sad and heartbroken. This little bitchy girl is manipulative and once Bean stopped reacting to her crap the little bitchy girl pulled other little stupid, easily swayed girls in and about half of Bean's friends are under the bitchy girl's influence. I told Bean that little bitchy girls are everywhere and it only gets worse as you go through middle and high school but she said moving to a new school for 5th grade would give her a fresh start. True. She would also be at our neighborhood school and would meet the kids she'll possibly go to middle and high school with before middle school. And she might meet kids from our neighborhood. On the other hand... running away doesn't solve the issue, which is that we all have to learn how to deal with the little bitchy girls of the world, don't we? Why can't I protect her forever?!? Why can't I go smack that little bitchy girl AND her presumably bitchy mother?!?
*****
I just got a call from the student who is supposed to come in at 1 so I can go home (and get ready for The Pink Party). He's sick. He's not coming in. Which means that I do NOT get to go to K's party and it means I will work eleven hours by the time I get to go home. He said, "Should I call someone else to see if I can get someone to cover for me?" I said,"There is no one else. I guess I'll take care of it and I'll see you tomorrow."
FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!
Target is actually hiring now...
*****
Now I'm too mad to think of anything else. I want to cry. And then take a nap. And then cry some more.
*****
At least I'll have time to read the book I hate.

Knitting and weeping and knitting and cookies

Look! Andie's knitting a sock! After two restarts she completed one full row. She didn't even throw it across the room and yell "Fuck this fucking sock!" like I did with my first sock. I was knitting my cabled hat (two whole rows of easy cables... the hard stuff comes later) and she was knitting (and re-knitting) her sock and we were not watching TV. No worries, though, my DVR is my favorite thing in the world. I'm watching Gray's now and I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched yet, but there is this scene with Derek and Meredith's mom that made me cry. And it's still early in the show. I'm screwed here. I haven't even watched ER yet.
It's kind of an emotional night anyway... I've been trying to ignore it, but I'm tired and this show is making me weepy. I ran into a guy I went to high school with (his boys go to school with Bean). He and his wife just adopted a baby girl. She is beautiful and soft and so unbelievably small. This baby want will pass. We've been down this road many times before and it will pass. It's not practical, it's not workable and it is certainly not a realistic want.
Now I need cookies. And xanax.
Time to keep knitting and stop thinking so much.
Gray's is over... I'm going to watch My Name is Earl and The Office before I wade into ER.

***Update***

Of COURSE My Name is Earl is all about babies tonight.
Of course.
Vodka anyone?

My Pink Socks

Here are my pink socks. I love them. They need to be finished soon because my Socks That Rock should be here soon. Also, my friend K is having a Pink Party on Saturday and I would like to wear them. The pattern asked for size 2 needles... I'm knitting with 3's because I have big ol' feet. There are other reasons why I need to hurry and finish these socks.
My Rowan yarn came for my professor's hat. I cast on and am almost finished with the ribbing. I love (love love love) this yarn. It is incredibly soft and the color is so much prettier than the pictures show. Trust me, order some of this yarn and knit something for yourself. There are other reasons I need to finish my pink socks.
This is the sock yarn I ordered to teach Andie to knit socks. (Knitpicks Memories in Morning Glory and Geranium). Andie has a thing for red that is very similar to my thing for purple. I found my ball winder and my swift and before I go to bed these will be wound into nice little center-pull cakes. Yay me. But there are other reasons why I need to finish my pink socks...
These are just a few of the books I purchased recently. In true "Nap Lover" form, I was flipping through the You On a Diet book while eating half a box of Girl Scout Cookies (peanut butter sandwiches).

I'm off to knit... or read... or knit... or read...

Dude, Where's My Chi?

I rearranged my bedroom. My head now points west.
I am trying to increase the balance and flow of positive energy in my life...
Actually I was trying to increase the likelihood that I could get into and out of bed in the dark without tripping over something. And now my dresser isn't placed over the light switch, so we can turn on the light without scraping our knuckles.
But I did sleep really well last night.
A smart girl would have cleaned the crap off of the floor before she tried to move the heavy furniture... I, on the other hand, just shoved things around. It took more energy, all of the shoving, but it certainly took less time. I did, however, step on an ice pack that was no longer ice and it erupted clear gel all over the room. So that was fun. I thought I cleaned it all up but today I'm finding it in the strangest places.

Now I need to find storage options for my rapidly increasing yarn stash.
Hehehehehehe.

I am in a socky mode - which is good because my Socks That Rock should be here very soon. I am a little intimidated by the whole thing because I am not the most accomplished knitter and I worry that the patterns might be too difficult. Anyway, I'm almost done with the pink socks... and in true *ME* form I have misplaced the pattern. Of course. I did find Andie's pledge drive socks.. well, sock and yarn for second sock. As soon as I finish the pink socks I'm going to cast on for her second sock and then with any luck my hat yarn and my Lucy sock yarn and my Socks that Rock kit will be here. Oooh, and the piggy pattern book.

Shit. I must stop shopping online. Especially if we're going to go on this Chicago trip. And we are.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BRIAN'S HAIR?!?
Who decided that sexy Brian should now have short hair? Fucking idiots.
(Sorry, I'm watching What About Brian).
He's still cute but it's not the same.

Apparently I need to give up online shopping for lent. Kerri's giving up fast food... surely online shopping is easier to stop than fast food.
Right? I mean, it's not like I'll die if I don't order something.
I guess I'll let you know. Of course ordering Cubs tickets and plane tickets doesn't count. And neither does anything trip-related. Or Avon.

Time to knit... and then time to sleep.

Vacation... Maybe?!? Please?????

In answer to the comments:

Donna- our bedroom is very cold and we're not entirely sure why. It's not "see your breath" cold, but it is colder than the rest of the house. We have theories... the heater vent is not well placed - and there is only one. Also, the windows and siding on our house are old and need to be replaced and our room has three windows. My friend Andie's husband said that the warm air was hitting the windows and cooling rapidly causing what feels like a breeze in the room. I am inclined to agree with him, as the thermal curtains have made a HUGE difference. New siding and windows are on my list of house priorities.

Lara- I hadn't thought about it that way... going to sock camp DOES mean less money for yarn.
I feel totally better about not going... and also entitled to spend more money on yarn. Score!

Not going also means a less pouty husband. He feels like I "get to go everywhere" and he has to stay home. True, in the four years we've been together I've been to Chicago, New Orleans, Disney World, Austin, St. Louis, upstate New York and L.A. All without him. On the other hand; four of those trips were for work, one was for a wedding and the Chicago trip was an over-nighter. AND I haven't been anywhere in the last eighteen months or so! So we have decided to plan a trip together and include yarn shopping for me and a baseball game for him.
We're thinking late May - his birthday is at the end of May and mine is in the middle of June - and The Cubs just happen to be playing a home game on his birthday. There's other stuff to do in Chicago, right?!?

I'm getting excited just thinking about it. We didn't even go on a honeymoon because we were both working for the station and couldn't get away at the same time, so this is our belated honeymoon. Cool.

But someone has to help me figure out the "rules for flying with knitting needles" as I haven't flown since I picked up the habit again and while I don't remember what I did on the plane before I was carrying needles full-time (I have a vague memory of carrying six or seven books in my carry-on bag) I do know that I MUST have a sock with me on the plane, if only to photograph in progress a la The Yarn Harlot. I can see that my Knitpicks sharp-as-hell metal needles might be problematic... but what about bamboo? And is there a length issue? I have a set of the stubby needles but I've never used them...

I have time to obsess about this. It's February, after all. Our alleged vacation is MONTHS away.

I am so tired. I couldn't sleep last night and while flipping though the movie channels last night (after SNL, by the way) I saw that Saw II was on. Rather than thinking, "Hmmm, I ought to record that because right now the responsible thing to do is sleep since I have to get up at 5," I thought, "Cool, I haven't seen that yet!" Then I ate half a box of Girl Scout Cookies (peanut butter sandwiches, dipped in milk) and googled yarn shops in Chicago. At 3 I thought, "Girl, you are not twenty. Sleep you idiot, sleep!" So I slept for a few hours and now I'm drinking coffee (with vanilla soy milk in it) and waiting for it to be time to go. There is a big sale at my favorite bookstore so my friend S and I are meeting for lunch and then we're going to buy books. And then I am going home to my dark room and flannel sheets.

If you are a coffee drinker and you like cream in your coffee and you haven't tried soy milk this is the way to go. I am drinking more coffee now, because it tastes so good, but that means I am ALSO getting more soy. Win/win! I tried to get my family to switch to soy milk full-time but it was a no-go. I know, the time to convince your kids that soy milk and soy hot dogs are good is when they're babies and don't know any better. Oh, and it also helps if your husband doesn't wrinkle his nose and say, in a loud and fairly petulant tone, "I am not eating that. Gross!" when you add soy milk to macaroni and cheese.

Mmmm. Macaroni and cheese.

Cozy, Warm and Impossible to Resist

I can not even begin to explain to you how much I did not want to get out of bed this morning.
Our bedroom has been all "winter on Little House on the Prairie." Seriously. We had three comforters on the bed and the husband has been sleeping in a knitted hat. It could take up to twenty minutes to get warm and then you didn't want to move for fear that cold air would make it into the warm-ish pocket you created. I thought there was a leak in the window somewhere, but Andie's husband assured me that it was merely that warm air was being cooled at the window and circulating toward the bed.

Well, I knew how to fix that!! A few weeks ago I went online and placed an order at Domestications.

My thermal curtains and flannel sheets have finally arrived! The husband washed the sheets in Tide and Downy and I slept so well! The curtains kept it warm enough in the room that my nose was not cold all night and the new sheets were so soft and smelled so good... I can't wait until it's time to go home so that I can get back into bed and nap in the sweet softness. (~le sigh~).

My favorite bookstore is having an inventory reduction sale tomorrow. They are switching to a new inventory control system and have to re-enter everything. I plan to do my part to help them in their efforts by spending as much money as I can! Bean and I went in for lunch yesterday and she picked out a few books for me to go back for and I have at least two or three books I want.

Guess what time it is! TIME TO BUY MORE BOOKSHELVES!!!
I'm thinking of rearranging my bedroom to make space for them. Also, there are some bare walls in the den.

I'm still waiting on my Rowan yarn and my Knitpicks order. I'm growing impatient. My teacher is going to be in class through the 28th and that gives me a little over a week if they come on Monday. Ack!! If I don't finish on time I can have the hat sent to her, but I really want to be done with it by her last class. While I'm waiting I have some socks to finish - a pair for me and also I found Andie's pledge drive Crusoe sock that has been waiting for me to start it's mate. It was in my truck. In the back. I KNOW, right?!?! I am a gifted archaeologist. Like a female Indiana Jones. And it was scary, too. Big boulders rolling toward me and snakes all over the place. Ok, no snakes, but it was scary back there.

Knit on, knitters!

Wanna go wanna go WANNA GO!!!!

So there's this little knitting thing I want to attend. Well, it's a big little knitting thing. It is Camp Cockamamie sponsored by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The Yarn Harlot will be there and there is a full day devoted to a whale watching cruise along with the days of knitting workshops. With the registration fee, hotel room and travel it will cost almost a thousand dollars and

I WANT TO GO I WANT TO GO I WANT TO GO.

Can I go?

Nope. Even if I had the thousand dollars. Even if I had the thousand dollars and the extra cash just for spending on food and yarn. Even if I had the thousand dollars plus spending money and a husband who would say, "Sure, sweetie, I've got the house covered. You go on and knit for four days, spend however much you want. Bean and I will just clean the house and do all of the laundry so that everything is perfect when you get home."

I still couldn't go. Between work and school and practicum there just isn't any way for me to swing it, money or not.

But next year? Next year I might be able to pull it off. And next year Andie and Kerri and maybe even Michelle will be sock knitters, too. And we could all go and have a grand old time (and share a hotel room, of course).

I will be in mourning from April 10th through the 14th. I will knit sad girl socks and drink lots of wine and I will sigh a lot. A lot.
But I want to go next year. Really really really.
And somehow I will make it happen.

Anyone else with me?!?

The Socks that Rock should be in the mail in a few weeks and I am so excited. My needles and yarn for the cabled hat should be in very soon, and I also have a book on the way from Knitpicks - I must have that piggy pattern. Bean wants a purple piggy. There is also a pattern in that book for penguins and for a bunny in overalls. Perhaps that will help me get through my "no knit camp for you" funk. (Sigh).

Foggy Random Day

Rainy and foggy and dreary today - just the sort of day that makes me want to curl up in bed and sleep and sleep and sleep. It also makes me sort of random - just a warning.
*****
Why isn't there a drive through that only serves good, filling, low fat food? Why must I either be organized enough to plan ahead (~snort~) or eat bad food? I know, I know, a lot of the big chains are making an effort to offer healthier choices... but there are only so many times I can eat a soggy chicken breast on wilting lettuce.
*****
I need to clean out my car. This may actually require some kind of equipment - a backhoe maybe? Andie suggested a laundry basket... I estimate it will take more than 15 trips using just one average-sized laundry basket. I may have to do this in stages... but I need an oil change and it's just too embarrassing to take it in like this.
*****
I hate Extreme Makeover Home Edition - mostly because of Ty. He's like that woman on "Out of Control" crossed with Pee Wee Herman. Only on crack. And whose bright idea was it to give him a bullhorn?!? But I watch it anyway, the other designers are cool and I like the before and after shots. Anyway - I love Ed. Doesn't everyone love Ed? And Ed got hurt on last night's show - I feel so bad for him and for his family! I know that they tape ahead so he's probably ok now (right?!?) but I just want to send him cookies or something.
*****
I have been craving macaroni and cheese a lot lately. I could eat it every day. Seriously. Not the homemade kind, the Kraft kind in the blue box. And the microwavable single serve kind is disgusting - not the same thing at all. I have a dedicated macaroni and cheese pot, too. Not like "all I can cook in this pot is macaroni and cheese," because that would be crazy, more like "this is the pot you use for macaroni and cheese." I don't know what I would do if I had to make more than one box at a time for some reason. I'd have to use a larger pot and that would be wrong. It probably wouldn't taste the same.
*****
TMI ALERT!!! TMI ALERT!! Skip down if you don't want to know!!

I have not had near enough sex lately. Short of grabbing my husband by the ear and dragging him into the bedroom and pointing vigorously at the bed I don't know how much clearer I can be with him on this subject. Oh, and coming to bed and waking me up at 2 in the morning when I have to be up at 6? Not a workable solution to this issue.

TMI SECTION ENDED!!!
*****
My favorite holiday in the world is Valentine's day. The husband is not so good at the gift buying, but he's getting better. How hard is Valentine's day anyway?!? You all know what I want, right? I want to buy myself some yarn and knit while I eat the ginormous box of (good quality) chocolates he is supposed to buy me. This is not complicated people!!
*****
My dad is cool. And also full of good ideas. I was over there yesterday and he was mixing chocolate milk into his coffee. I love that man.
*****
Andie and I saw Catch and Release on Friday. Now we have determined that someone must give us a large sum of money so that we can move to Boulder and open a yarn shop/music store/cafe/bar/B&B/bookstore/bakery.
Clearly we need a business plan. And a shitload of money.
And I love the soundtrack - as much as I loved the Garden State soundtrack and for some of the same reasons.
*****
Avon has a new addition to their Naturals collection. Honey Lemon. It does not, in fact, smell like lemon Pledge. It smells really good and they have a body balm that feels really good on dry, wintry skin.
*****

Sad knitting, Happy knitting.

More retail therapy... it's been a sad week.

There have been a few reasons...

A good friend's mom has colon cancer - but all looks well. She had surgery this week and came through like a champ. They're still waiting for some more results but it seems like things are good. But still, your mom is not supposed to get sick. Your mom is supposed to be strong and make you crazy and ask why you aren't married or pregnant or skinnier or less of a slob. My friend is handling this all beautifully - it helps that all of the news is good, but I would give up chocolate to learn to handle stress with such grace. I wish I could help.

Of course, I did teach her to knit so maybe I helped after all.

One of my professors has a brain tumor. She said that if you're going to have a brain tumor this is the one to have -there are no symptoms, it looks benign, it's in an operable area and has well-defined margins. I don't know her very well - it's only the fifth week of class and I missed two classes - but she is a fantastic teacher. It's probably totally inappropriate, but I'm going to make her a hat. I even ordered Rowan Calmer in a beautiful plum. It's too cold to have a bare head - even if they only have to shave a spot the size of a quarter. She lives with and cares for her parents - they're in their 90's - but it is more than that. The brain is a crazy thing
and she is a researcher. Her brain is her life and her living. I think the scariest thing I read as a child (or since as far as that goes) is Flowers for Algernon - have you read it? Holy shit. In a nutshell: Charlie is mentally retarded and becomes part of an experiment and becomes a genius - then looses it all. The worst part - the most horrifying part - is that once he looses his intelligence he still remembers that at one time he was smart. Alzheimer's and dementia scare the bejesus out of me. Mostly because you know you're sliding. There are moments of lucidity that happen... not like Gray's Anatomy, more like when you wake up from a dream and you think, "I need to buy apple juice and cat litter ," and then you go back to sleep and three nights later you wake up again and think, "Shit. I still need apple juice and cat litter."

But I digress. What a shocker.

Anyway, if it were me I would be terrified - not necessarily about the possibility of death, more that I might lose my thoughts. So she needs a hat. I have only knitted one hat and it was well intentioned if not attractive. I have also never (successfully) done cables. The hat I found is from Knitty's breast cancer special issue. It's a hat full of cables. Soft and stretchy and warm. I could knit it full of good energy and send it to her, all plummy and soft.

So I ordered the Rowan and I ordered some yarn from Knitpicks - Andie is knitting Danica with me and after the shaping that Danica requires I think she'll be ready for socks. I ordered her sock yarn and dpns and when we're done with the scarf we'll knit some socks. Yay!

I'll have Danica pictures soon - and also a pair of socks that I have been working on... though I didn't check my needles first and grabbed size 3 dpns instead of size 2 so they're a little, um, loose. Maybe I'll dry them in the dryer for a little teensy bit.

You know, when I said nobody else can get sick I meant NOBODY. So let me try again.
NOBODY ELSE CAN GET SICK.

I love you, Danica

So Andie wanted to learn how to knit Danica for her daughter. I looked at the instructions and got scared and hid in a corner knitting garter stitch washcloths. Then I looked at the instructions again and dug out some yarn (Wick, Columbine and Cream... not at all what the pattern called for but I don't have any Patons Wool just sitting around. And mine is machine washable).

I love knitting stuff that looks way more complicated than it is. I ordered some more Wick - I'm not going to worry about dye lots - because I want to finish.

I KNOW! I'm starting a pattern with an eye toward FINISHING! In a more or less timely manner. Crazytown. I'd also like to knit Danica with yarn that is at least the same weight that is called for in the pattern so this is not the last we will see of this particular pattern. Thanks, Ingrid, for assuring me that it was, indeed, easier to knit than the instructions would lead you to believe.

The best part is that I think Andie will be ready to knit socks once she finished her Danica.

I would have more done, but the husband had a little too much to drink and sat on my needles, bending them almost in half but magically not hurting himself or damaging my knitting. Ass. I happened to have the right size needles at my desk at work but they're circular and I'm finding that knitting this particular pattern on circs is requiring a little more effort.

We're having a staff meeting at work today and someone is bringing cake so I might actually go.

Andie and Kerri and M (the knit-virgin from my pj party) are coming over tonight to knit. Apparently M has taken to yarn like a kitten to tuna. Everyone is on some kind of diet, limiting the types of food I can serve to things like raw veggies, no dip... oh well, it's probably time for me to attempt the whole "eating well, exercising, losing weight" thing again.

Damn it.

Book Meme - consider yourself tagged...

Instructions:

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

6. Tag 5 people


The first book I saw was Joan Didion's book The Year of Magical Thinking. I know, no wonder I'm so depressed if that's the first thing I saw!

"I said that she had been intubated for three weeks at Beth Israel in New York. The doctor looked away. 'The rule at Duke is also a week,' he said, as if under the impression that the mention of Duke would settle the question."

No Sleep For You!

And also no reading, knitting, eating or fun of any kind.

My mother in law has been sick - she has pneumonia and has not been getting any better despite the gazillion pills she takes every day. She hasn't been eating or drinking much - and she has been smoking. (I think that was my favorite "comedy of errors" moment from last night - she is sitting at her dining room table with a cigarette glowing away and she's talking about a mile a minute about how she can't breathe. "L," I said in my best social worker voice, "let's put this out and try to calm down and see if your breathing improves. If it doesn't we need to go to the ER. At the very least you can get a breathing treatment and they can make sure you're hydrated." She really wasn't breathing well, but if you can't breathe you might want to start by not smoking and not talking. You know, calming down a little to figure out how much of it is that you can't breathe and how much of it is that you're not letting yourself breathe.

At 8:30 we took her to the emergency room. At that point I had been home a total of 15 minutes since 6:40 that morning. Not that it's about me - I was not the one sick and hooked up to monitors - on the other hand, this blog is about me so you'll forgive me if I sound a little selfish. Also we drove her car to the hospital so I had no books, no knitting, no snacks.

She really is sick. But she goes into this helpless little old lady routine every time she's faced with a professional person and she defers to me. TO ME. To the person she thinks is going to leave her son penniless and alone and spend every cent of the "family" money on, I don't even know, bubble gum and chocolate malts? (Mmmmmm, chocolate malts).

I would pull out her med list every time someone new came in because GOD FORBID they look at the chart. And I would explain again why we were there and what meds she was taking when she saw a name tag and would go all limp and helpless... and I would ask for pain meds for her. She was also having a lot of pain in her hip. She thinks she injured it shoveling snow from her driveway ("Because who else was going to do it?" Seriously). They ran a lot of tests, including an EKG and this really cool science experiment looking thing involving blood cultures in little bottles. Every time someone new came in my husband grew more and more pale. I swear I thought he was going to become invisible. He doesn't do well in hospitals. He doesn't do well watching TV shows about hospitals. Not even something like Scrubs.

At 3:30 (that would be a.m.) they decided she should stay the night. All of her labs were back and her oxygen levels were lower than normal due to the pneumonia so they wanted to treat that a little more aggressively but otherwise she's ok. She more or less kicked us out so we could "go home and get some sleep". I got home at 4, took a shower and went to Wal Mart. When you get home at 4 and have to be at work at 6, "getting some sleep" is probably not the smartest thing in the world. So I am exhausted and probably completely incoherent here and on the air. At noon I'm going back to the hospital to take her some things - she had the foresight to pack a bag but she didn't pack any toothpaste or lotion or anything like that (hence the trip to Wal Mart).

I may not make it to Andie's house for the Super Bowl party. I may just make it home and to the couch...

Cat Personalities

I tried to knit last night. I cast on 30 stitches and made it thought two whole rows of the most simple stitch in the world and it took me almost thirty minutes.

Sammie, who is the sweetest cat in the world, does not understand that the yarn is for me to play with. Just me. Serena is perfectly happy to lie next to my knitting - though she sometimes feels it necessary to roll around on the pattern - just to see if I can do it without actually looking at the instructions. She also looks at me from time to time as if to say, "Listen human, if I had thumbs I could knit so much better and faster than you. Hell, I could probably do it without thumbs if I really wanted to but I choose to ignore the yarn because you like it so much." Sammie thinks the yarn and the needles and the tape measure are all for her enjoyment and when I say, "No Sammy," in a stern voice she purrs louder and latches on to the yarn. So I gave up and cuddled with the kitten. Nothing like rewarding bad behavior. She's so spoiled.

It's funny, when we cuddle with the kitten Serena comes in to see what's going on and if cats could roll their eyes and make fake gagging noises she would. If she gets close enough we pet her too, but she doesn't let that happen very often.

So today I'm at work, knitting a little and reading a little and waiting for it to be time to go.

Today I have a lunch date (yay!!) with Andie and Denise from my knitting group. There is a Mediterranean restaurant near my house that is soooo good and we're all hummus addicts. I will probably spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning. (HAhahahahahahhahaaaa. Whew, sorry. That was funny!) If by cleaning you mean napping then yes, I will be cleaning. Like, if by dieting you mean eating everything in the house. Like if by studying you mean watching old episodes of M*A*S*H. I could continue, but I won't.

Lunch date today and then tomorrow is the Super Bowl (Stupid Bore) but there is a party at Andie's house. Her friend Larry will be there so I have to get the ingredients to make garlic dip. I showed up with something else one time and Larry suffered severe emotional damage. Now I am obligated to make garlic dip and also have a special container that is just for Larry to take home any time I see him. I love Larry, so it's all worth it.

I'm off to knit a bit and read a bit and, oh yeah, work a bit.

Must Get WARM!!

It's less than 10 degrees right now and it's supposed to hover around this temperature for the next few days. It's freaking cold. My bedroom windows are leaking cold air into the house, too. Not good. I am definitely planning for the new siding/new windows that we need. I want those windows that are so think that gorillas couldn't break through them.

Because roving bands of gorillas are a worry in this neighborhood.

But seriously, I keep seeing commercials for these windows that don't let cold in and don't turn your room into a greenhouse in the summer. Nice. I'd like to find out how much it would cost without having some sales guy come over and try to pressure me into doing it RIGHT NOW.

In the spirit of being warm, I am knitting this weekend. Not for myself, though. Someone from my knitting group found Warm Up America and we're all going to knit squares to be turned into blankets. I am excited to be knitting and love the idea of helping other people find warm. This weekend is all about sitting around watching the Stupid Bowl commercials and eating garlic dip, so why not knit for charity and help someone out while you're doing it?? I wonder how many 7x9 inch squares I can knit!!

I'm cheating a little and starting tonight... and I plan to keep knitting tomorrow and Sunday.

I'm off to find a sweater and another blanket for the bed and knit like a madwoman.

Knit on, knitters!!