A very large and dangerous Hurricane Sandy continues to move parallel to the East Coast, with a turn to the northwest expected tonight and early Monday. Sandy is expected to make landfall along the central N.J. coast Monday evening

This is what the edges of a hurricane looks like.  This afternoon you could feel the change in the weather although we don't expect the full force of the storm to hit until late tomorrow.  It's been raining on and off and the wind is picking up.

We have milk and bread and eggs (storm food!) and candles and flashlights and a brand new pump.  It's a good thing Pk checked out the old one today because it didn't work.  We ran right out to the DIY store and bought one of the last three.  Check out the sleek modern design.  A thoroughly sexy pump.  As long as it pumps the water that will inevitably fill our crawlspace, I don't care what it looks like.  It's set up and ready to go.  And as you can see, the trash cans are trussed up and tied to a brick wall to keep them safe. 

All the public transportation is shut down and most of Philadelphia is closed.  We will be home from work tomorrow and probably Tuesday as well.  The rain is ok but the wind scares me.  The trees on our street are still in full leaf which makes them good targets for the wind.  The health system says it is not a NO ACCESS time for us and employees are expected to report for work.  This means that although I realistically cannot get to work, I have to use vacation or personal time.  It's sucky.

You know what one of the hardest parts of all of this is?  The waiting.  We have prepared everything we can and now have to wait to see what happens.  I spent most of the afternoon knitting and watching season 2 of The Walking Dead.  I have two AbFab discs for tomorrow. 

I got as many photos of the fall colors as I could since after this storm, they will all be gone.

My neighbor's tree, Pk calls it the tree barometer, has just started to change.  I took a photo of it early today once I realized it will probably be naked shortly.  We didn't expect much in the way of fall color because of the near drought conditions and heat of the summer but once again Mother Nature has come through and painted the trees beautifully.


Well, I'm off to check the NOAA website one more time and check my work email again to see if they've changed and then go to bed.  If you live in this part of the world, be safe.  If you're somewhere where it's not windy and raining, keep a good thought for us. 

See you on the flip side.

"Because you are alive, everything is possible."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't you just love the positiveness of that statement?  I will admit that I am not a believer of the "anyone can do anything anytime" philosophy.  Not in the real world.  We all have limitations of one kind or another whether they're self imposed or imposed by the necessities of our lives.  But, I do like to contemplate the world of possibilities out there.  It reminds me that life can be as good as I want it to be.

We finished up the last of the once-a-year doctor visits last night with a visit to the eye doctor.  I had to get my pupils dilated because I have had an increase in floaters (which is to be expected by age but can also be an indicator of retinal tears).  I hate this.  It's only a few hours but I can't see and it's frustrating.  Fortunately, it was evening and by the time we got home and settled, it was almost time for bed so I listened to my audio book and went to bed (where I slept like a stone).  Our eyes checked out fine and Pk got new glasses.  I chose to keep the ones I already have since there's no appreciable change in my vision.

Now, it's just every 12 week bp checkups.  I don't mind those.  I like my doctor and I am aware of the importance of monitoring the bp so I willingly go.

I got a text last night from my niece telling me how much she enjoyed the yak festival.  Since it was over a week ago, I wondered why she had waited so long to tell me.  Turns out she was grounded and just got her phone back.  I was such a good kid (really more of an afraid kid) that I never got grounded.  I was too scared to break the rules.  My father had quite a quick temper and I didn't want to see it any more than I had to.  My brother was a different story.  I swear he did things just to get in trouble.  And now I chuckle to myself as I watch his son do the same thing.

We're having a luncheon for the people who are being laid off on Friday.  I can't decide if this is a good thing or in really poor taste.  The last time we had layoffs, back in the 90's, the folks involved chose not to have anything.  This time, I understand, they have agreed it's a good idea.  I think it's kind of odd but I'll go and say my good byes. 

I'm saying goodbye to the Day Program that I worked in for 9 years and that holds a special place in my heart today.  The Learning Center is closing.  It's a day program for adults with intellectual disabilites and because of the budget cuts is undergoing such a radical change that it's easier to officially close one program and open another.  They're having a brunch and as an old staff member, I'm invited.  I made a dvd with photos from those years for the director (one of the folks being laid off).  There will be tears......

It's dark out in the mornings when we leave for work now.  Dark enough for the streetlights to still be lit.  It's disheartening to be heading off to work in the dark.  And it's only October.  Returning to regular time will help somewhat for a while and that's in about 10 days.  I don't think I've ever looked forward to the end of daylight savings so eagerly.

The message light on my phone is glowing bright red so I guess I should get to it.  Have a good day y'all.

The mammograms went fine.  Yes, there were several shots.  I was in the waiting room, wearing my classy pink gown and they kept asking for more exposures.  And I got a beautiful pink and white bag (can you tell what month it is?) to put my clothes in while my breasts were being squeezed.

The end result is vascular calcification.  Microcalcification has been linked to breast cancer but they don't think I have anything to worry about right now.  "We" will watch it which means mammograms every 6 months instead of every year or so. 

October is almost over and I still haven't gotten my period.  This is the first month THAT has ever happened when I wasn't pregnant.  (Pk had The Operation years ago, so if I'm pregnant, there's some s'plainin to do).  I am also having some mild power surges.  I guess I won't be the oldest woman in the Guiness Book to still get a period.  And now the countdown begins.

This is six and one half inches of the body of my sweater.  I've been working on it a bit at a time while I watch some dvds.  It's coming along.  I have 14 inches of plain stockinette stitch before the sleeves get added and we see how the yoke stitches look.  I'm pretty pleased with it but with such a small needle, it's taking quite a while.  The fabric is thick and will be warm. 



When Kate bought her loom, I gave her a bunch of bits and bobs and odd skeins of yarn, some of it handspun.  This is what she did with some of it.  I spun the green/blue yarn and she added some plain grey wool and wove a scarf which she gave to me.  It's soft and really pretty.  She has really taken to this weaving thing.  I can see where she's going to outgrow the Cricket loom very quickly. 

Pk and I are skipping the debate tonight.  We're both tired (not much sleep last night) and the thought of trying to figure out what two supposedly intelligent men really mean as they tap dance around questions is beyond me right now. 

I just finished downloading some books to my Walkman and am going to knit for a short while longer and then go to bed before I fall asleep with the needles in my hands (not the first time I've done this).

We had a wonderful trip to Lancaster on Saturday (one of those spur of the moment, "let's have an andventure" kinda things) and Sunday was grocery shopping and laundry and buying underwear for the homeless drawer. (We try to remember to buy some underpants, tshirts and socks every payday to add to the homeless clothes drawer at work.  It's a small thing but we believe everyone should have clean underwear that hasn't been worn by someone else). 

I can't seem to make my mind settle down for a proper post with proper photos so I'll just give you this comic just in time for debate No. 3.  I guess by now everyone's heard of the Binders of Women remark.  Yep and he wants to be president.

I had an uneventful visit to the kidney doctor to check on my kidneys and today had to give up 6 tubes of blood so he can have all manner of tests done.  And this afternoon is the diagnostic mammogram.  I'm leaving work at noon and I'll know what's up by the end of the day.

The weather is glorious today so maybe I'll get to spend a few minutes out in the sunshine soaking up the vitamin D.  I hope your day is a good one.

Yak!

As promised, here are some photos.

Maggie spinning



Alpacas

I've had a hard time getting these posted so I quit in frustration and thought I'd try again here at work.  Of course, I can't change the font or fix the photos to be positioned where I'd like.  I don't know what I was thinking.

I love the expression on the alpaca's face.  He/she looks as curious about me as I was about him/her.  I guess, I'll just post a few photos at a time.  Maggie seemed to enjoy the spinning.  Can you see her socks?  She has always embraced the mismatched socks thing and now I understand it's a fad. 

I had a kidney doctor appointment yesterday.  My primary sent me there because she wanted a check on the kidneys since they affect blood pressure.  To my relief, the visit was uneventful.  My kidneys are functioning just fine.  I do have to get many blood tests done for him and then we'll decide if I need to go back.  If everything is fine,  we'll see each other once a year to just keep an eye on things.

Wednesday, Pk and I go to the eye doctor's.  He needs new glasses since his eyesight is deteriorating.  I think mine is fine and I'll just keep these glasses another year.  I pay a lot of money for the progressive bifocals since the insurance doesn't cover those lenses (only the lined ones) and I want to get some more use out of these.

I have plenty of work to keep me busy today and we're going grocery shopping after work so we can get it out of the way.  Pk has a lot of work to finish this weekend and he's taking down the Florida room roof.  It's just a porch on the back of the house but when we bought our house, it was advertised as a Florida Room.  We thought it was funny and the name stuck.  He and El pulled down the inside last week and now they're taking off the improperly attached metal parts so we can put up a proper roof.  The main house is next.  We figured since we were having roofers put ashphalt on the house, we might as well replace this small roof at the same time.

I hope you all are well and that your weekend is  peaceful, restorative, and has some fun thrown in.

Thank you for the anniversary wishes.  We had a nice evening and then came home to find the report from the radiology place where I have my mammogram done (I was a very good girl and got it done early this year and didn't have to call for another referral since I let the first one lapse).  I had the 'gram done on Monday and this was Wednesday.  I wasn't expecting results quite so soon.

And I wasn't expecting results that said they recommended I have more tests done.  THAT spoiled the mood of the day.  After a few tense days, I finally talked to the dr's office and the original tests showed "calcification" which is obscuring something.  I need to have the mammogram redone and then an ultrasound.  It's all scheduled for Monday. 

I've been through something like this before and I asked the dr's office if this was the same thing and she said "no".  This time it's different.  At least the radiologist will read the test results and tell me what they say before I leave the facility on Monday.  I won't have to wait.  I guess because it's considered a "diagnostic" test as opposed to a "screening" test.  At first I was worried and nervous and sick to my stomach.  My mother had a breast removed and of course my mind went to the worst place.  Today, I am much calmer, now that I've had some time to absorb everything.

I KNOW that it's probably nothing and that the odds (while not amazingly wonderful) are still in my favor but I also know that no amount of wishing/hoping will change whatever is going on and the best way to deal with it is just to deal with it and whatever comes after. 

This is a long explanation for why I have been kinda quiet.  My brain is refusing to focus on anything simple, like, say, blog writing.  That and Pk has been working late for the last two weeks and by the time we get home and have dinner, I'm just tired and don't pull out the computer.  Things at work are just plain weird.  We all know that there are folks that have been laid off but we don't talk about it.  It's the elephant in the room.  And it will stay this way until the 30th. 

There have been some good things, lest you think life is all doom and gloom.  We spent Sunday afternoon at WoodsEdge Farm (I'd link it but I'm at work and blogger doesn't play nice with our browser).  They have llamas, alpacas and yaks.  I took my spinning wheel and Kate took her loom and we sat on the porch and spent some quality time with the lovely fall weather and some soft as a cloud alpaca roving.

My brother and his family came as well and I taught my niece and nephew how spinning wheels work.  Maggie (who is 12) picked up the idea fairly well and seemed to like it.  Daniel (who is 7) just wanted to treadle fast enough to achieve lift off.  He couldn't have cared less about the fiber, just the movement of the wheel.

The alpacas were friendly (we were feeding them) and it was so cool to see a whole herd of llamas wandering from pasture to pasture.  You usually see one or two at a show but a whole herd!  They were majestic.

The shy stars of the day were the yaks.  And I mean shy.  They were coming out of their enclosure and heard us walking over and literally ran away.  It was interesting to watch something that large run away from us.  I got a few photos but mostly of yaks running away.  As we were leaving, I spotted the youngsters in their pen and tried to take a photo of them.  I heard (and then saw) what I think may have been Mama in the enclosure and she was making noises of displeasure so I backed off.  She is considerably larger than me and there was only a board fence between us.

My brother and Pk were interested in the meat and so we bought some yak steak and some stew meat.  Kate bought some burgers.  Pk and Kate decided that while the meat was good, it wasn't good enough to justify the exhorbitant price. 

I have photos of this beautiful day but they're home.  Hopefully, we'll get home early enough tonight that I'll still have working brain cells and I'll share them.

So, as you can see, life goes on.  It's not all good nor is it all bad, it just is. 

31 years

31 years ago today I woke up excited and happy.
31 years ago today, I showered and put on my own makeup and did my own hair and pulled the dress I made myself (with my mother's help) over my head.
31 years ago today, I had daisies in my hair holding a veil made with lace sewn on by hand
31 years ago today I rode to the church with my Uncle Bud in his car
31 years ago today, I stood in the vestibule of the church feeling the beat of my heart quicken and my smile grow to encompass my entire face
31 years ago today, I looked down that aisle and saw the love of my life standing there waiting for me.
31 years ago today, we pledged to love and cherish each other through "sickness and in health, for richer or poorer till death do us part" and so far, we've lived up to that pledge.
31 years ago today, a priest pronounced us Husband and Wife and the bride was kissed and the couple walked down the aisle toward their future.

Today, that couple rode the train into work like any ordinary day because marriages are made up of ordinary days.  They worked their full work days and then made a date to have dinner together.  There were emails back and forth reminding each other "I'm thinking of you right now" and "I love you" but those are the things of everyday, too.

Thank you, my love for 31 wonderful years. 

I just passed my 18th anniversary of working at my job.  Things seemed to be going along fairly well.  We were just waiting for the axe to fall and let us know how big a hit our budget was taking.  Well, it took an extra 8 weeks but the city finally let us know it would be in the realm of 1.2 million dollars.

Yes.  Million.  Dollars. That's a lot for any organization to absorb (well maybe not for the Sultan of Brunei or Bill Gates but for a small community mental health center-it's huge) and the impact will be felt by everyone.  9 people are being laid off and 2 are being moved into different jobs.  I know of two of the lay offs but the other 7 are a mystery.  I only know they are not me.

I managed to keep my job and I am grateful since I like what I do (and it's getting interesting again).  I'm not sure what's going to happen in the near future.  I think some programs are changing or merging but since the process is just beginning, it's all up in the air.

In the meantime, let me share some photos of some wips and fos.  First up, Elanor's July socks.  They're footie socks and made out of one of the first balls of sock yarn I bought.  It's Opal wool/nylon blend.  Without trying, I managed to make them almost match.  It's such a different feeling yarn, almost string like.  There's no pattern, just a plain sock with a Dutch heel.  And now I have started August's.  They will be the ever popular Lacy  Mock Cable socks.  El saw an old pair of mine and asked for some so I am obliging her.  I forgot how easy the pattern is and how quickly it moves along.

Another fo.  This is my yak/merino yarn.  It has now been washed and wacked and is a soft, spongy yarn.  I navajo plied it to make a 3 ply out of it.  With only 2 ounces of roving, it's not a large skein.  I'm thinking I'll make a pair of fingerless mitts for my niece, Maggie, since she was so fascinated with the idea of yak.  Actually, she's fascinated with the idea of yak MEAT (she is so my brother's daughter!) but I think she'll like the mitts anyway.  Something lacy and pretty I think. 

A very different fo.  A loaf of homemade molasses oatmeal bread.  I made stew for dinner on Sunday and thought some bread would be good.  Peter Kevin does not like oatmeal but he loves this bread so I made it for him.  I made two loaves.  One is gone and one is in the freezer for another meal.

And now a wip.  Remember the yarn I spun for the TdF?  It was called Fallen Leaves (or something like that).  I had planned to use it to make a Forest Canopy Shawl, figuring the fallen leaves colors would work with a leafy shawl pattern.  Well, here is the beginning.  I'm further along but this one shows the color of the yarn off better.  It's coming out just as beautiful as I imagined it to be.  There are some thicker and thinner spots but that's ok.  If I wanted perfect, I wouldn't be using my handspun.  I made myself finish something before I started this so when I finished El's socks, I indulged and pulled out the pattern.  It's an uncomplicated pattern and I am enjoying the simple pleasure of working with my handspun yarn.  I have enough to make a good sized shawl. 

One of the women I made a baby sweater for came in with the baby today.  She told me that when she puts the sweater  on her daughter, she gets many compliments.  That made me feel good.  Now I have to finish the one I have almost done and make a few more.  You know, in all my free time.  I need thicker yarn so they don't take quite as long.  I think I'll go back to booties and hats. 

So, that's where my life is at the moment.  The work environment is weird since we're all waiting for the other 7 shoes to drop.  It's a good thing my home environment is safe and secure and comforting.  I am so lucky that I get to come home to someone who cares about my wellbeing.  Next week is our anniversary.  31 years (yes, I was a child bride).  No big celebrations since we're doing some work on the house, just the two of us being together.  That's celebration enough for me.