Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St Pat's Day if you celebrate it. As I was on my way home on the train today, I saw many young folks dressed in their green finery all headed to South Street in Philadelphia for the sure to be rowdy celebration. Me? I was just glad to be headed home from work after a particularly long day.


I was reading Jejune's blog and followed her link to here. It's an organization called EarthHour. The video explains it better that I can but the jist of it is that on March 29 we all turn off our lights for one hour to ease the burden on the earth. It started in Australia in 2007 and has spread worldwide this year. The statistics were quite impressive and it's definitely worth thinking about. This is a photo of the earth at night. It's from NASA's astronomy picture of the day. Imagine all of those cities going dark for an hour and all of the energy it could save! I am going to sign up and try to convince my family to go along with it as well. We always celebrated Earth Day (April 22) by going to our favorite place in the woods and picking up trash. We would pack zero trash lunches and somedays we would come home with 3 or 4 large trash bags we had found in the woods. We told the girls that it was the price for using the woods which are part of a state park system and are strewn with trash. They actually have fond memories of getting out of the car and picking up trash.


And speaking of trash, who told smokers that it is OK to throw their ashes and butts out of their windows onto the ground? I am getting so offended by this that one day I am going to get myself in trouble because I won't just mutter "pig" to myself, I'll say it aloud.
And now for something completely different. (stolen from Monty Python)
I am test knitting socks for Susan of A few stitches short. (Check out the wonderful designs she has on her web site. She calls it Sunflower Designs and they are gorgeous.) I have never test knit anything before and I'm excited by this. The pattern is called MC Greggor's garden and it's meant to look like Mr. Mc Greggor's garden from Peter Rabbit. There are even little bunny ears down on the foot so you can see Peter hiding in the leaves. The pattern is charming. The interesting thing for me is that it is toe up and I have never done toe up socks before. My first instinct was to convert it to cuff down but I stopped myself. How will I ever learn anything new if I shy away from it? I am an intelligent woman and I can follow directions so I should be able to do this. I am using the lovely green yarn that I won in Nancy's contest and so far I have managed the provisional cast on and am working on the intricasies of wrapped stitches. I'll post some progress shots as I make progress!
Well, thank goodness Monday is over. It's my toughest day of the week with two medication clinics and often they run right through my lunch and I stay late to finish them up. Tomorrow is another busy day as I supervise student interns in social work and have another med clinic in the afternoon. By the time Wed rolls around, I am tired. This week I am only working until Wednesday. Thursday I have a pelvic ultrasound to determine what the lump is that the gyn felt during my last exam. I have had cramps very very often and thought they were part of turning 50 and approaching menopause but maybe they are due to this lump. Thursday morning I will find out and right afterward, I am going for my annual mammogram. Whee! Breast squeezing for fun and profit! Last year, I ended up having an mri because they thought they found something and claustrophobe that I am, it was very traumatic. I am hoping that this year will go more smoothly. I took Friday off just because I could.
I hope you all have a good week!

10 comments:

Bezzie said...

The funniest thing I ever saw was someone with a "Think Global/Act Local" bumper sticker flick a butt out their window. So much for practicing what you preach!

Sheepish Annie said...

I love Peter Rabbit...and the designs that come out of A Few Stitches Short! I can't wait to see these when they are able to be debuted!!!

I'll also think good thoughts for your ultrasound. I'm sure everything is fine. But, I know those things can be really stressful...

amy said...

I'll be thinking of you on Thursday. Good luck, and know we're all with you in spirit.

I really have an issue with cigarette butts too. I've occasionally said something to people, most recently to the man smoking right outside the library entrance, forcing me and my kids to walk through his cloud of smoke. He then threw the butt into their flower bed. When I protested and pointed out that he was breaking the law by smoking within 50 ft of an entrance, he snorted in disgust at me and walked away. Lovely.

Olivia said...

Erk, a double whammy of not-so-pleasant tests - I hope it's all over quickly and nothing serious.

I've often thought cigarette butts are the last 'acceptable' form of littering. It's slowly getting better here - especially in certain situations like at festivals and in the skifields, they give out little film canisers for smokers to use for their butts. But still - they're small and papery so I guess I lot of people think they 'disappear'.

Rose Red said...

Gurk - hate ultrasounds - but better to do it and find out than not - hope all is ok.

So pleased you are going to do Earth Hour - we did last year and I had so many candles I could still knit (which I was most happy about!)

The sock sounds fab - am going to check out the others!

Kim said...

I am so glad that you decided to take up the test knit :-)!

roxie said...

I always take a couple of asprins about an hour before my mamograms. Keeps the girls from feeling sore afterwards. And for ultrasounds and mammograms, I take a soft, lovey shawl with me to cuddle against my bare skin because they always have those exam rooms cold enough to crisp vegetables! I will be with you in spirit, so if you feel a loving breath blow past your ear, it's me.

Em said...

I'm on for Earth Hour! You guys could aways cheat and just turn all the lights off before you come up for dinner, that would even give you more than an hour! Extra credit. Man, Earth Day was great, cleaning up the woods and skipping school to do it. What's not to love?

I'm crossing my fingers and thinking good thoughts for you for all the tests. Make sure you pee on time! That's not something that bears forgetting, eh? I'll be with you in spirit, along with everyone else. The room will be pretty crowded.

Dianne said...

Add me to the crowd who will be with you in spirit tomorrow. It's a good thing we aren't all there in person - imagine all the seats they would have to bring in for us. Hehehe!

I love the idea of cleaning up the woods on Earth Day. You are a great mom!

Denise said...

Glad you're on board for Earth Hour, that is very cool!

Doing some test knitting sounds like great fun - I've never done anything like that either!

And best wishes and hugs from across the ocean for the tests - no fun at all, but always better to know for sure, and sooner rather than later. Hope there is nothing untoward going on. Take knitting!

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