Wednesday, February 25, 2015

The Delware River at 7 am.  You can see the ice cubes and see the paths where the ships have broken through the ice.  It looks so cold.  Today we are starting out at 12F (-11C) and if the sun shines, we'll get up to 30!
I think I am tired of being cold.  We have a month until spring.  I think we're all tired of complaining about the cold but we've only been above freezing once or twice in Feb.  I think that's enough (although I wouldn't be too upset if we had a BIG snowstorm-it wouldn't stick around too long at this point).

This is Peter Kevin and I  out front in the snow last Saturday.  We got about 6 inches of snow and then it sleeted on top of that so it's all been one big ice rink.

My leg is doing better.  I can feel the cyst and it's sore to the touch but that may continue to improve as time goes on.  When the weather improves, I am going to start walking some every day and then riding my bike (if my knees hold up).  I need to strengthen my body a bit and lose some weight.
This is what we're waiting for!  Tulips and daffodils and crocuses-color!  The snow has a beauty of its own but it's stark.  My eyes are hungering for color.

Maybe it's leftover stimulation from vsiting the art museum a few weeks ago with Kylie.  I love modern art and they have a good collection.  Pete loves the impressionists so we saw both.  All those colors, soft and bold and gorgeous.  Made this white/grey landscape seem dreary.  The most colorful thing in our neighborhood is the Stop sign.  We have left up our snowman lights with the color changing stars behind them.  Who says lights are only for Christmas?

Look how the little snowmen are sitting on the snow.  Just like they belong.

I am anxiously waiting for the rose bushes to come back but until then, the stars will have to do.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Las

This is an experiment.  I figured out (with some help from my IT man) that the reason I can't retrieve any photos taken after Sept 12 is that they are all saved in the cloud and I don't have that software on my laptop or my work desktop.  I remembered that I had this app on the ipad and now that I have a keyyboard, it might be more feasible to post from the ipad.  We'll see how it goes.  I have a memory of this being a tedius process.

This is the view out my front door this morning.  That's as far as I want to go since it's 9F (-13C) out there with wind chills far below that.  It's viciously cold and windy.  Needless to say, we are not venturing far today.  


Last night we tried an experiment.  These are papusas.  It's a cornmeal dough wrapped around cheese and lightly fried.  There is a Puppuseria-an El Salvadoran restaurant- nearby and we stopped once and tried them.  They are delicious and as it turns out, very simple to make.  Served with soup, it was like small grilled cheese sandwiches.  And easy enough to make anytime

This is what I have been working on for what it seems like forever.  It's a skein of Icelandic wool.  It's a simple 2 ply and I like it a lot but it's not the easiest fiber to spin. I have a skein of gotland that is a shade darker that I think I will use for a chulo hat for Peter Kevin since he lost his.  Icelandic wool is very warm yet very light and sturdy.

My oatmeal is getting cold so I am going to attempt to post and see what happens.  Happy President's Day!  Enjoy your long weekend-unless like me you have to go to work tomorrow.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Today is the Handle with Care trainer training.  I am going to have to curtail some of my activities due to the pain in my knee.  I spoke to the supervisor of training and she approved it, so all should be well.

Handle with Care is the aggressive patient management program that we use here at Hall Mercer and across the street in the hospital.  Of course, over there, the security guards are more interested in removing people who are having a rough time and we are more interested in de-escalating them and keeping them here.  It causes for some interesting discussions during the training.

I will be doing trainings for my building again this year but I am trying to make this the last year I do full on trainings.  I can do a modified training in which I do not do the full take down (I can't go down on my knees on the hardwood floors).  Very fortunately, I have an absolutely wonderful partner who is big and strong and can do the take downs. Today's training will take all day (8-4) and by the end, I am exhausted.  It's a lot of being up close and personal with people I do not know well.  You either get used to it pretty quick or you spend the entire day feeling very uncomfortable.  I have taken my prophylactic advil and am getting ready to go downstairs.

It is cold today.  Just 18 degrees (-7.7C) and breezy.  I can't seem to get my toes warm.  I have a mug full of scalding tea instead of coffee.  It was hard to crawl out of the warm bed today and then to go out the front door.  It takes a bit of fortitude.

It's lunch break now and we are finished all of the training except for the Primary Restraint Technique.  It's been all holds and blocks and how to protect ourselves this morning.  After lunch, we will get into the restraint part in more depth.

My muscles and joints are always sore when we do this but I realized today that I enjoy taking this training.  It's a day away from my desk, hanging around with the security crew and becoming uncomfortably close.  I like the guys (and they are all guys except for 3 other women who are nurses in the ER) that attend.  They care about the patients and making sure they don't get hurt.

We have to grocery shop after work today because Pk and I are headed to the Art Museum tomorrow and then dinner with Kylie.  I can't wait to get to the museum again.  It's been a long time.  Other than that,  we have a quiet weekend.  The weekends fly by so fast that I hate to overschedule them.  I like to make sure we have some time to pursue our hobbies and to just spend some time together.  And of course, there are always soccer games.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Monday, February 2, 2015

My goal is to be a better blogger in Feb and then henceforth.  January was a topsy turvy month for us all around.  Here it is in bullet point

~My slim camera stopped working.  I don't use it much since the iphone has a good camera.  I think it needs a new battery.

~My iphone has decided to keep all the photos to itself and will not allow me to upload them to the computer.  It's probably something in the settings.  I just haven't been able to figure it out.  Yet.  I will not be defeated by the technology.

~One Thursday night about 2 weeks ago, my right calf swelled up like a sausage and became impossible to walk on.  Being afraid of a blood clot or a DVT, Pk took me to the ER.  An ultrasound showed no clot (phew!).  After a visit to the orthopedist and an mri (a horrible experience), the suspicion is that I had a Baker's cyst  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bakers-cyst/basics/definition/con-20023332 which managed to burst.  This flooded my calf with fluid bringing out the most gorgeous bruises and extreme pain.  I have to go back to the orthopedist and we need a plan to deal with my knee/calf so this doesn't happen again.  It's probably due to the arthritis in my knees.

~Snowpocalypse!  or The Snow Storm that Wasn't.  We ran around preparing for the Blizzard to End All Blizzards only to have it move out to sea and make landfall further north.  We got about 3 inches of snow, hardly enough to shovel.

~Pk had a job interview for a job with the same health system I work for but in the IT dept.  He is really interested in the job and is hoping for a second interview this week.

~Kylie has been in town (aka dr. k) and we have enjoyed her company.  I'm looking forward to a trip to the Museum of Art this weekend.

~We have adjusted to the new work schedule.  It's been just over a month since Pk went back to work and it's taken some doing but we are making it work.  We'd like to get an old beater truck so he can use it for hauling wood and things around but his salary at this job will make that unlikely.  This is another reason for the job interviews. (He found out they cut his salary by 8,000 to split between some folks who got increased responsibilities.  They also do not get raises, not even cola.  This makes putting money aside a tad difficult)

~Work has been going well.  It's busy this time of year and the inclement weather adds a frisson of excitement to our days.  I got a good evaluation last week.  Doesn't mean much-we don't do merit increases.  I have Handle with Care training this Friday.  It may be my last Train the Trainer training.  After 10+ years, I think it's time to hand it off to someone else.  My knees will not stand up to doing the take down.  I like teaching the principles and if I am able, will keep doing that but some of the physical parts are getting to be a bit much.

I guess that catches us up for the month of January.  Hard to believe that it's already over and we're that much closer to Spring.  It's Groundhog Day and I'd bet that Punxatawney Phil will not see his shadow (being as how it's raining and there is no sunshine). 

We're just going to try to stay dry and get through this rather yucky day.  Have a happy Monday y'all!

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...