Well, it's done. It was really quick and weirdly painful. (I took 800 mg ibuprofen, tylenol with codeine and .25 mg of xanax so I was ready!) The doctor and I talked about exactly what was going to happen and she told me when it would be "hard". It was more like cramps than pain but what are cramps but pain? The results should be back in a week. That will give me some idea what I will need to do (if anything) before I meet the surgeon to talk about the gall bladder. The gall bladder has to come out. It wakes me up at night and there is no rhyme or reason for the attacks. I would avoid certain foods if I could identify what they were.

But enough of that. I am crampy but I can deal with it. Kate is making dinner and I am going to share some signs of spring that we are seeing around here. First, we have some hyacinths. These were all given to me as gifts at one time or another and we planted them out front. They take a few years to become large flowers and this year they have put on a spectacular show. Then we have some grape hyacinths. They are so darn cute and they spread all over the place. The mums are starting to make their presence known. They are only little green shoots now but they will be bright, colorful bushes in August and September. And because Bells asked, here is a close up of the red shoots on the maple tree. It is so odd because the leaves will be green. Spring is the most hopeful season of the year. It seems like it's full of possibilities.

In keeping with the colorful theme. Here is April's Artwalk Sock Yarn. It's called Flora on the Sand and is taken from a painting by Paul Klee of the same name. Roxanne dyed the yarn to knit up in blocks of color rather than stripes. It will be fun to find a pattern for it. I was thinking it would look nice in entrelac. I have never knitted anything in entrelac but when has that stopped me? I saw a pattern online a few weeks ago and now I am going to hunt it down. Edited to add: I found the pattern in IK's holiday knits. The Annetrelac socks may do the trick.

Today's Buddhist inspiration is

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

~Jack Kornfield

I think it's a good reminder that we all need to have some compassion for ourselves as we go through our days. So, give yourself a break and cut yourself some slack. You're pretty darn terrific just the way you are!