what you think on grows

2012-02-14T08:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I gave my coworkers valentines that fold up into paper airplanes (and already I've seen one flying down the hall so it should be a good day!)

And tonight PK and I are having a quiet date. We're avoiding the restaurants that jack up the prices and jam in more tables for the holiday. After work, we'll hit the book store and browse magazines and books and have a coffee/tea and then go to the diner for a tasty and normally priced meal.

But I wanted to take a moment to say some things about the Love of My Life. I know that with internet speak LOML has become a much abused phrase but when I use it here, it's with all truthfulness.

Peter Kevin is truly the love of my life and my very best friend. He's the one I think of when I hear a good joke or a tasty bit of gossip or an interesting bit of news.

Our road has not been smooth and straight, we had a very rough patch in the early 90's and were separated for 2 years. Looking back, it was the best thing for us. We both needed time to grow up a bit and we are the stronger for it.

And now at 54? We are good together and I wanted to share some of the things that make him special in my eyes

-His compassion
-His generosity of spirit
-His willingness to help anyone anytime
-His sense of humor
-He has capable, strong yet surprisingly gentle hands
-He is a great problem solver (wonderfully agile and brilliant mind)
-He can fix things!
-He holds me and I feel loved and cherished and safe
-He gets my jokes
-He has a handsome face that makes me smile
-When he sees me his face breaks out in a huge smile
-He is a great kisser
-He puts me first and makes sure I am safe and cared for (I have to walk on the inside when we're in a parking lot)
-He opens my car doors
-He loves me

Even after 30 years, my heart beats faster when I see him. He fills me with such joy and contentment and absolute love that I can't put into words.

When we were in high school, he shared a poem with me

I am yellow, You are blue, Together we make green. Green is my favorite color.

Green is still my favorite color.

I love you Peter Kevin. Now and forever.

2012-02-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

And one week later, we have a pair of socks. I don't think I've ever made an entire pair of socks in so little time. (except for maybe during Sock Wars but I didn't enjoy those).

They're comfortable on the feet and even when worn in shoes, the "bumps" don't feel uncomfortable. The construction worked out easily and the pattern was really easy to follow.

They'be become Elanor's Feb socks. Although, I think she prefers knits, she's happy for anything I make for her.

And Pat? the woman at work? When I went in on Thursday, she was indeed ready to give it all up. "I can't do this!" I showed her mine and she was amazed and then said she would keep trying. By the time she left on Thursday, she had worked up to the heel flap. With any luck, she'll be in on Monday so I can show her how to turn the heel.

Friday night we went shopping after work since we were predicted to have some ugly weather this weekend. We woke up Saturday morning to some wet snow that was all gone by afternoon.

We went to my brother's house to help my niece with a science project (we were guinea pigs as she took our blood pressure and had us listen to music and then took our bp again) and it was snowing again on our way home. It was colder and this morning, we woke up to another light dusting.

The spring bulbs are going to be confused. The crocuses will be ok since they're used to this kind of thing. But I'm worried about the hyacinths and tulips. They're not quite as hardy.

Peter Kevin says I shouldn't worry but you can see the tulips are well above the ground which is not normal for February here. The days of warm, sunniness may have done some damage.

I watched The Help this afternoon and for once, a movie was just as absorbing as the book. The characters were just as I'd imagined them and the acting was amazing.

Tomorrow we are in for a major inspection at work. They're looking at money and how it's spent and they'll be looking for us to have to give some back. We, of course, don't want to give any back. It's one of the more stressful of the inspections. Our charts are in line and we're ready to discuss "the good work we do" so now all we can do is take a deep breath and get through. Cross your fingers for me. I have enough work to do on a regular week.

Other than that, this weekend was about the cooking. I made some really good seafood bisque last night and tonight I'm frying some chicken. I lovelovelove fried chicken but don't make it more than maybe twice a year since it's top of the "bad for you" list of foods. And no, while baking it in the oven is passable, it's not nearly the same. I'm going to enjoy this.

Pk and I are going back to the gym. We feel better when we go and we like feeling better so we'll go. It's never been about the dieting and losing weight but about the being able to walk up the stairs without being out of breath. That's our goal and I think we can do that!

Now, if we can just keep it up.

2012-02-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

And voila! I finished one sock in 3 and one half days. If only I liked the crocheted sock better. I could be a real whirlwind.

Here's one finished sock with a close up of the heel.

(and Dianne, they fit inside my shoes so yes, they are wearable)

I think I'd use a smaller hook with this yarn to make a tighter fabric if I were ever to do this again. These will be fine knocking around the house socks but I don't expect them to last that long.

I followed a basic pattern and just threw in some rows of double crochet for a lacy effect on the cuff. There's no way to make an actual ribbing. I tried the instructions for "crocheted ribbing" but it's just aesthetic, not functional. I kept the cuff short on purpose.

I don't have much yarn left from the skein I started with. Crochet does use up more yarn.

So, there you have it. I'll take it in tomorrow and show it to my client who is determined to make socks. Maybe it will inspire her to try again. It really wasn't difficult. The heel is done with short rows and picking up stitches just like a knitted heel.

I guess I'm just not a fan of the bumpy crochet fabric. I like my smooth stockinette socks best.

2012-02-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

I wore my mittens today. They are warm (all that double layers of yarn) and beautiful. I'm going to leave them alone for now. The pink yarn is superwash but the brown is not and I have a feeling they would not look good if I threw then in the dryer and only the brown shrank.(shrunk? shrinked?)

But, today I want to show you something I found interesting. Backstory: One of my knitting group members wants to make socks but is intimidated by "all those needles". It doesn't matter than I have shown her over and over how you only use two needles at a time. She's afraid. She has no self confidence. She has crocheted so many things including a Christmas stocking out of red and white cotton but if it doesn't come easy, she's afraid of it. "YOU can do all these fancy things but I can't".

So, I decided to help her make a pair of crocheted socks. I found a pattern with a lot of instructions that seemed fairly easy. She bought some yarn and a hook and we tried to figure it out together last Thursday. She was not enjoying it because it took too much concentration. (She likes things where she can just crochet along and not pay lots of attention).

I found a ball of yarn and my small hook and tried the pattern myself yesterday afternoon. This is what I have so far. It's a little thicker than if I had knitted the same yarn. It's Knitpicks Felici self striping yarn. It's light fingering. I'm using a size F (3.75 mm) hook.

I'm halfway down my foot and starting to read the directions for the heel (they sound interesting).

I generally like the way crochet looks but I'm not sure I like these. Maybe if I used a smaller hook, it might be a tighter fabric. The F was the only one I could find at the time and I didn't feel like going out to buy a smaller one on Sunday afternoon. I'm going to finish at least one of them (although I should probably finish a pair).

What do you think?

2012-02-05T14:06:00.001-05:00

I haz mittens! They took a while but the weather has cooperated and been actually warm enough this past week so I didn't need mittens at all.

The pattern is Hansa Mittens. I used September's artwalk club yarn (White over Red by Mark Rothko was the painting) and some Knitpicks merino/silk sock yarn.

The pattern was not hard to follow and I haven't decided whether to block them yet. Maybe next weekend. If I do it now, they won't be dry to wear them tomorrow.

They are a bit big (also a reason to maybe not block them, I don't need them to grow any). The tips of my fingers come to the part where the decreases start. I wonder if I wash them and throw them into the dryer for just a bit if they'll shrink. I'm not sure if the yarn is superwash or not.

But I'd hate to ruin them after all that work. I'm going to weigh the yarn and see if there's enough for a pair of footie socks with contrasting heels or maybe a hat. I still need a hat since the beret I made was big enough for two heads to wear it simultaneously.

Pk and I are having a Harry Potter marathon. I know, you're all jealous over our glamourous and exciting existence. 8 movies in 3 days. Today we have the last three. When I finish here, we'll start and finish by 9 or 10 tonight. It's good for plain knitting and maybe I can finish my scarf, too. I mean, winter's only half over after all.

Handle with Care went well on Friday. Just a few achy muscles and a jammed toe. I was taking someone down and the toe of my sneaker got caught on the wood floor. It's not too bad and I don't wear pointy toed shoes to work so I'll be fine. Just a bit of a bruise. And now we have three new trainers and have to gear up to start the training sessions in April.

It's February already! Pk has a birthday this month (he's a Pisces) and we'll take a long weekend for it. That'll be our holiday that gets us through until Memorial Day. Work is good but vacations are necessary. I can usually tell. It's when I start getting irritated at my office mate for putting papers all over his half of the office (table, desk, floor, vent). I'll have to remember to take a photo. One person we were interviewing for our program noticed that half of the office was neat and half was a disaster area. I would find it frustrating to have to look for things all the time.

Is your work area neat? Or are you a 'creatively messy' person?

2012-02-02T22:51:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share a few photos from the past week.

First, Broad St (aka The Avenue of the Arts) with City Hall in the early evening sunset. Those green awnings there on the left is the restaurant where we had dinner.

Elanor's January socks. Just plain cuff down socks made with some yarn from a fellow blogger who brought it back from London when she went to Wimbledon. It's a wool/bamboo blend. The colors are grey and blue and yellow and white. El loves the pooling and stripes.

My swift doing its thing. The yarn is for El's Feb socks

The start of El's Feb socks. The colors remind me of berries and cream. I didn't think it looked like much in the skein but caked and knit, it's beautiful.

Just a bit of end-of-the-week randomness. I'm getting ready for bed so I can be rested for Handle with Care training tomorrow. It's the one day a year I get to wear sweatpants to work!

2012-02-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Seventh Annual Brigid in Space Silent Poetry Reading, I offer you another of my favorites from one of my favorite poets. (and I had a lovely image to add but I'm at work and our filtering system doesn't play well with others)

i love you much(most beautiful darling)
more than anyone on the earth and i
like you better than everything in the sky

-sunlight and singing welcome your coming

although winter may be everywhere
with such a silence and such a darkness
noone can quite begin to guess

(except my life)the true time of year-

and if what calls itself a world should have
the luck to hear such singing(or glimpse such
sunlight as will leap higher than high
through gayer than gayest someone's heart at your each

nearness)everyone certainly would(my

most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love

ee cummings

2012-01-31T20:45:00.002-05:00

I meant to upload some photos for this post but I forgot. The memory is just not what it used to be. It seems that if I don't write something down, I don't remember it. I carry a colorful notebook around with me at work to take notes and write messages to myself. It helps (it saves my sanity most days). I figured I can write the words and add the photos when I get home tonight. If I remember......

Friday nights's dinner date was wonderful. We met after work at a bar called The Standing O (for ovation, Broad St is The Avenue of the Arts and there are several theaters). The bar is attached to the lobby of a Hilton hotel with an interesting art/light fixture hanging from the ceiling. Fiber optics are a wonderful thing and I can watch them change color for a long time. (easily amused).

We sat in the bar for about an hour talking and watching the lobby fill up with young folks who looked like they were in town for a competition of some sort. You know the rifles that a marching band/drum corps uses? Well, they had some of those but no instruments in sight so probably not a marching band. Maybe a drum corps?

We walked across the street to the restaurant and were seated in the section served by one of my clients. I knew she worked there but figured the odds were good she might be off. I was afraid of awkwardness but there was none. We had a delicious meal of arugula/apple salad, (Pk had salmon) and then amazingly tender filet mignon in a slightly sweet sauce and banana creme brulee.

The food was good but the company was better. There was flirting and silliness and lots of laughter. We sat there for about 2 hours and watched the place slowly fill up and get busy. By the time all the tables were full, we were done. We walked back to the train and went home.

Saturday was chore day and we got the shopping done and had time to get some crafting in. I finished Elanor's January socks so one down, eleven more to go. I also worked on my mittens and an alpaca scarf I'm making for me. Fortunately, it's been a bit too warm for either of them so I have time. I'm afraid we'll get hit with a blast of honest to god winter in February. Some of our heaviest snows were in Feb.

We watched two movies this weekend. First was Cowboys and Aliens. If it had been a serious film, it might have been ok. If it had been campy, it might have been entertaining. But despite the Names (and both stars seemed to be phoning in their roles), it was awful.

Sunday, Pk spent some time out in the workshop. I used my swift for the first time. It works great. It's got a bit of a squeak which Pk intends to fix. He likes it when my spinning wheel squeaks. He says he finds it comforting to hear me spinning wherever he is. But, he doesn't want the swift to squeak. I think all it takes is a bit of wax.

We popped some pop corn and watched RED. It's such a good movie. Great cast, good writing, good acting and a wonderfully plausible/implausible story. I like seeing older actors doing their thing on the screen. They bring a depth to a character that isn't always possible when the actor is still young. We whiled away the afternoon laughing and munching buttery corn goodness.

And back to work and to a state inspection. I've turned in my "perfect" charts (ones that have all the appropriate documents with all the correct signatures and dates on them) and there's nothing else to do but my job. I know we do good work but having to produce perfect paperwork makes everyone nervous. In two weeks, we are inspected by the people who pay us to provide service. THAT one is nerve wracking since if the documentation is not perfect, they want money back. No one wants to give money back.

I finished The Hunger Games. I guess I'd say I liked them but they were a bit preachy. Kind of like Starship Troopers by Heinlein. And I agree with what most everyone else said. The first one was good but the other two were a bit thin. The Hunger Games had a lot of politics in it as well. I'll have to ask my niece what she thought. I'd be interested to see if kids pick up on the same themes. Like Game of Thrones, you don't want to get attached to any characters since a lot of them die.

Well, as you can see, I remembered to add the photos. I forgot to take one of El's January socks. Her Feb socks are started. She admired some red/white/blue yarn so I've cast on to make her a pair of socks that looks like blueberries, strawberries and cream. The colors are deep and rich and these will be nice socks. I'll keep working on the scarf and mittens, you know, in case we get to have some actual cold weather.

2012-01-25T17:39:00.000-05:00

We went outside last night hoping to see the aurora from the CME (coronal mass ejection) but were disappointed. No lights for us. Partly because we're too far south and partly because of all the 'trash lighting' from the city nearby. There we were standing out front looking at the sky. One of our neighbors drove by and I could only imagine what he/she was thinking, "what are those strange people doing outside staring at the sky?" Well, that's who we are.

The hats/socks went over well. I didn't go to the shower. I have a clinic in both the morning and afternoon on Monday and that hour at lunch is my only time to just relax. I didn't want to give it up. Especially since neither of these young women are people I'm close to. I did hear that squeals were involved and so I assume they liked them.

This week is Restaurant Week in Philadelphia. It's a way to get people to eat out and try a restaurant they might not try otherwise. It's a fixed price meal, 35 dollars for 3 courses. We are going to The Palm. We've eaten lunch there once before and it's rather expensive but really good. I think it'll make for a nice Date Night. We'll meet for drinks at a bar across the street from the restaurant after work. Then we have reservations for 5 (the only time other than 9:30 they had left and I don't like to eat so late). Dinner out with my best guy. Can't wait.

I'm listening to The Hunger Games.(Suzanne Collins) Anyone else ever heard of it? At Christmas, my 11 year old niece told me about it and said she loved it. I got it on audio book and it's amazing. Do you know The Lottery by Shirley Jackson? (if not, this is one short story you shouldn't miss). It's kind of the same premise but way more complicated. I got finished the 3rd part and the story took a huge leap forward. It wasn't until I stopped and looked at my player that I realized I was missing part 4. I went back to the library website and redownloaded it. That hour made a difference. Now I understand what's going on better. I highly recommend the book(s). I think there are 3, maybe more but I've only listened to half of book one. I'm not sure I want to get to the end because I like several characters and the story line is that they will all (but one) die. If this were a book with pages, I'd flip to the last page and read it but I've never done that with an audio book.

Did you realize that January is almost over? Work is a bit crazy since we have a state inspection next week, a county inspection in early February and the Joint Commission on Healthcare Accreditation has to come some time between now and April. I'm kind of hoping they just come soon and get it over with. All the stress and angst and anticipation is WAY worse than the actual inspection. We have to meet the same standards as a hospital and it's a bit rediculous sometimes. For instance, no magazines in our waiting areas. Why? Because people lick their fingers to turn the pages and that leaves germs. No cellophane tape on doors/walls. Why? Germs can stick to the tape. And it goes on and on. All of our bulletin boards have to be covered in plastic. I have no idea why, probably the dreaded GERMS. Like I said, I wish they'd just come and get it over with.

It's been near 50 degrees here again all week. It means that we're seeing insects that we don't usually see until Spring. There were flies! In January. And the damn stinkbugs. They're everywhere because it hasn't been cold enough long enough to kill them off or send them into wherever they go. They give me the creeps.

My hair continues to grow. My hair stylist keeps it all layered for me so it looks ok. I'm still getting used to it. Pk likes it. That's what makes it worthwhile.

So, that's all the news from here. I'm off to check on the soup on the stove and put some haircolor on my grey roots. I've decided I'm just not ready to let it go yet.

One day but not this day.

2012-01-22T20:36:00.001-05:00

This week I managed to make two baby hats with tassles and two pairs of striped socks. I wrapped them and used the socks as a package adornment. The stripes match the polka dots on the paper. Totally planned (well, maybe total serendiptity). I like the hats and I'll put some ties on the Sweet Baby Cap and save it for someone else. And now I have to finish El's January socks and then make a ~~tasselled~~ hat with tassles for Kate.

I'd also like to make a quick hat for a coworker who's leaving. He's one of my favorites and has taught Handle with Care with me for 3 years. I joke that he's the only man other than my husband that I allow that close! (we get "uncomfortably close" when we're teaching restraint training). I have some soft black wool that knits up nice and soft. Just a plain ribbed cap. He's going to a job that will actually allow him to use his degree and he's happy. He just recently shaved his head and he always looks cold to me.

Thursday morning as we were leaving the house, this was the sky. Deep and clear and beautiful. The moon was still up and it was gorgeous.

Then we got up Saturday morning to this. Not much snow (about an inch and a half) but it rained on top so it was a layer of ice on top of the white stuff. I went outside to meet the mail man and had to step carefully. The forecast called for a Wintry Mix and thankfully we had no real plans and were able to stay inside and avoid the ice. We did clear the car off for tomorrow morning and it's supposed to rain and be 55 degrees tomorrow so this will all be gone in another 24 hours.

This day flew by. Partly because I didn't sleep last night and allowed myself to sleep in this morning. By the time I got up and made breakfast, it was more like brunch. I worked on the small striped socks (and I will admit, I am truly tired of making small socks) and watched old television shows and when I looked at the clock I was shocked to see it was 4:23 pm. I don't know how it got to be so late so fast. Pk says that's what happens when you stay in bed all morning but I didn't have much choice. For some reason, I was awake most of the night and was just lucky that today was Sunday.

Kate's back is slowly getting better. The doctor says it seems to be a muscle spasm and nothing to do with her spine. He gave her some muscle relaxer and told her to take it easy but that she should move around. We're pleased that it wasn't anything more. And we're pleased that I could put her back onto the insurance so she'll just have to pay 50 dollars for the ER visit.

I had my employee evaluation on Friday. I am pleased with it. I know my supervisor thinks I'm a good employee because he tells me often. I was not surprised by the eval. One of the things I like about this guy is that he goes through the whole thing and says "for this one, I gave you this because you do this". He takes responsiblity for what he puts on the paper. And I get to see that he is really paying attention to what I'm doing.

Now, if I just don't get sick anytime soon, I'll be ok.

2012-01-17T21:39:00.000-05:00

One baby hat. Actually, it's the second hat I've made this week. I first made the Sweet Baby Cap which I happen to adore.

There are two women on the verge of giving birth at work. At least that's how they look. I think they have another few weeks. Anyway, I am not particularly close to either one but wanted to make something for their babies to be. I made the Cap and then had second thoughts. It's a very old fashioned hat and these are young women.

I thought maybe something hipper would be more appreciated. I love this little hat. Something about the idea of the tassels bouncing along. I just cast on the second one and have until Monday to finish it. I'd like to make some booties but we'll have to see about time. These things are so quick to whip up! And I am not a fast knitter.

I used some stash yarn. This is cotton/acrylic and very soft to the touch and of course, washable.

I am excited to learn that Janet Evanovich's One for the Money is a movie! And it comes out next week! I am a Stephanie Plum fan and hopefully the movie won't let me down. The trailer looked interesting. Kate offered to go with me so it lets Pk off the hook. He would go but I don't think it's his kind of movie.

And speaking of Kate, she spent last night in the ER getting her back xrayed. It's been hurting and not getting any better. She finally got it checked out. Nothing showed up on the films so it's off to a specialist. I warned her that this had better not be an alien spine baby. One per family should be enough. Although, as Em said, we've got experience in that area.....

It was frigid over the weekend and then warmed up to almost 50 degrees in time for the rain to hit yesterday. This is more normal for us. It's freezing and then it warms up and rains. It may be icy tomorrow morning but probably not bad. The last two winters with all the snow were abberations. Cold rain is our usual fare. It's sad really. I like snow but I will say I am enjoying not being cold all the time.

I made Pk chili for dinner and made extra for Kate and Patrick so she wouldn't have to stand and cook dinner. Pk's is spicy and Kate and Patrick's not.

I'm heading to a short training tomorrow on dually diagnosed individuals. Individuals with mental retardation and mental illness. Like it's not tough enough to have one, some poor souls have both. I work with individuals who are dually diagnosed. It can be frustrating and trememdously satisfying. It's only a two hour training but it will break up the week. It's within walking distance so I can take the bus there so as not to be late, and then take my time walking back in the (hopefully) sunshine. I'm looking forward to it.

I've been doing some program testing at work for our IT department. Our electronic medical records program is having some problems and they want to put a patch on it but the patch seems to have more bugs than the program it's supposed to fix! I'm glad I'm not responsible for it. By the time it's finally working the way it's supposed to, we'll be ready to upgrade.

We're halfway through January already and how did that happen? Pk and I are planning a long weekend around his birthday. No plans, just some days off to have a break. It's the end of February and we'll be ready for a break by then.

So, how's your 2012 going so far? Are you still writing 2011? I'll admit, I am and I write it lots of times all day. Usually by the end of the month I've got it down so two more weeks and I should be good.

2012-01-11T17:36:00.001-05:00

Know what the cool thing about belonging to an arty sock yarn club is? If the owner is a talented dyer, you end up with really beautiful yarn and the colors are often outside your comfort zone. And Roxanne is a talented dyer.

These are some of the selections from her ArtWalk Yarn club. While I probably would buy the green (and the one on the right is shades of green) and maybe the purple/brown one on the left, I would probably not make the red, white and blue or the yellow and red and brown ones my own. But, because I admire her ability to look at a piece of artwork and pick out visually interesting bits, I buy the yarns sight unseen each month. I look forward to seeing how she'll interpret the art work and I'm never disappointed when I open the envelope. These will all get used eventually and what usually happens is that whatever I make with them turns out wonderfully.

In fact, Elanor has expressed admiration for the red/white/blue one and that will be her Feb socks. I've already got a pair otn for January that she likes.

Over Christmas I finished one of my mittens. I have small hands. Em told me once I had "peasant hands" (I think they were talking about hands in a genetics class in high school). My palms are square and my fingers are medium and chubby (in reality, they'd probably be called short and fat!). Kate has long, thin, elegant hands but not me (She had a good time as a kid holding her hands up against mine to show off how much longer her fingers are).

This mitten is a bit long on my hand. My fingers come up to where the decreases start so there's a good bit at the top. I'm about 4 inches into the second one and I'm trying to decide if I can make it shorter. I could probably start the decreases one repeat earlier but I don't know if I can work it out in the pattern without making a mess of it. Then I'd have to rip this one out and re do the top.

It'll take a bit to get there so I'll decide then. I'm working on it steadily again but I do have to finish El's socks as well. I don't want to get to November and owe her 11 pairs of socks!

Work has been tough this week. The psychiatrists tell me that the first few weeks of the new year are always hard on people. It must be true because folks who have been stable for along time are having problems and seeing an increase in symptoms.

Otherwise, things here are moving along. It's not nearly as cold as it should be and that's a bit odd but not altogether bad. Pk and I are looking forward to date night on Friday. We try to have date night every Friday but that doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes, the week has been difficult and we just need to come home and relax. All I know is that this Friday has to include burgers. He just drove by a burger place and was enticed by the smell emanating from the grill.

Burgers for date night. We are living so large.

2012-01-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

"Life is Wood" or so says WoodWorker magazine. I know this because yesterday (which was a 64 degree day - a 17.7C- day in January, a rare occurrence here in NJ) Pk and I traveled 2 hours to attend a wood crafters' show down near Baltimore.

He had plans to attend with his brother in law who had to back out at the last minute due to a back injury. I didn't want him to drive all that way alone so I went along for the ride.

We passed over the Susquehanna River and drove south. When we got to the place (where the state fair for Maryland is held each year), we were able to leave our coats in the car and just wander around in sweatshirts.

It was crowded with woodworkers. There were demonstrations of power tools which are noisy things so unlike a knitters' crafty convention, this one was loud. Men with microphones (and more than a few women) were demonstrating lathes and table saws and techniques (like parquetry-very cool). I enjoyed seeing some of the projects on display and it smelled like freshly sawn boards. A Very Nice Smell.

The Holy Grail of the show according to Peter Kevin. He drools over the Lee Valley catalog like I drool over WEBS. We wandered the show but after a while, I was creating a log jam since I was waiting while he looked at things in the stalls. I was watching people but I felt like I was in the way.

Fortunately, I was prepared. I took myself out of the main show room and sat in the food court with a sock and my mp3 player. I didn't want to make Peter Kevin feel like he had to rush through the show. He got to browse the tools and I spent some quality time with my yarn. Not a bad deal.

He bought an attachment for his drill press and we headed home. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The laundry got started and we had some leftovers for dinner and were settling in for the evening when Em called and cancelled our visit for today. She had a craptastic week ending with some car trouble and was not in a "company's coming" mood. (She seems better today. We had a text conversation and some of her innate Emilyness seemed to have returned)

Today was not as warm as yesterday, but still a nice day. Pk spent the day in the garage and I spent some quality time with the spinning wheel. I probably should have taken down the tree but I couldn't. It looks so beautiful and even though it blocks the light in the room, I love the look of it. I haven't put away any of the Christmas stuff yet. Peter Kevin asked if we could leave it up "just one more week?" and so we will.

It was just about 5 and I was putting the last of the laundry into the dryer (I kinda forgot about it) when I saw the moon rising. It was huge and glowing and I wish my camera did it justice.

And now the house smells of roasting chicken which makes me hungry. It's hard to believe the weekend is over already. But that's the way it always seems. This is a full, normal, back-to-work week.

And no holidays off until May. I don't get any of the federal holidays but Peter Kevin gets some of them. I'll just have to make my own holidays. National Knitting Day anyone? (should be a day off with pay!)

2012-01-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

It's late Wednesday (I keep thinking it's Thursday, this shortened week after a long holiday is throwing me off) and even though I should be in bed asleep, I wanted to show you the swift my talented woodworker husband is making for me.

It's cedar and the grain is just beautiful. I wish you could feel the wood. It feels like satin, so smooth and silky. I just want to keep touching it but it needs many coats of shellac (which is made from crushed bugs but I try not to think about that-Pk doesn't understand why I refused to use the coffee grinder for coffee or any other food after he used it to grind shellac) to protect the surface.

There will be brass pieces in those holes and a "fancy wingnut" to hold the pieces together.

A few years ago, he made one for Kate and one for Em out of Australian lacewood. Both are striking. He is not pleased with this. There is a small crack in the wood of one of the arms. It won't make any difference in the performance but just like that small flaw in a knitted piece that continually draws the eye of the knitter (when no one else would ever see it), his eye is drawn to that crack. Craftsfolk are all the same at heart, aren't they?

Going back to work was difficult but work itself has gone well. Only 12 messages on Tuesday and I dealt with them. Today, the phone was ringing off the hook but I dealt with that, too. I miss taking my afternoon naps and actually fell asleep at my desk this afternoon. I need to get back into the habit of going to bed earlier.

Knitting group tomorrow. I hope folks show up. I'm looking forward to it. I need to cast on a second sock for Elanor's January socks. It's simple enough to take to group.

It was 15 degrees here this morning (-9.4C) after a week of 55 degree days (12.7C). Quite a shock to the system. My toes were cold all day and are just now warming up. It's supposed to moderate a bit for the weekend with some sunshine in the forecast.

I didn't get to the gym this week. I wrenched my lower back and it was just too sore to contemplate exercise. It's slowly getting better and won't keep me down for much longer. Moving around is important, I just have to move slow. I'm so grateful for the analgesic patches!

Kate just sent us a text saying Snow! She got the gene that loves snow from her father. I enjoy snow, as long as it doesn't stop me from getting to work. Weekend snow? I'm all for that. We were due for flurries/snow showers tonight but nothing much. The last two winters with all the snow have made us all wary.

Time for bed. I can't keep falling asleep at work. G'nite!

2012-01-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Here it is January 2 already. It feels like a day out of time, if that makes any sense.

We spent our week playing at our various hobbies and eating and sleeping and I could feel my battery recharging. Today, I am finishing up some laundry, plan to do some spinning and work on mitten number 2. There are potatos and eggs on the stove for potato salad and a crockpot of baked beans cooling on the counter. I put them in late yesterday morning and let them slowcook all night. I woke up wondering what smelled so good (which always happens). We'll have them for dinner with the potato salad and a very small ham.

Pk is outside in the garage finishing up a swift for me. It's a table top model made of cedar. It smells good and the grain is just beautiful. I'm not sure how much longer he'll last out there since it's actually cold today. We've had such moderate weather that it's difficult to remember that it's winter.

We went to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (movie made from John Le Carre novel) on Wednesday. It was sloooooowwwwww. I think a dialogue box in the beginning reminding people what life was like in the late 70's with the cold war going on might have helped somewhat. There wasn't much action, it's a talking spy movie. Peter Kevin liked it but admitted it would have made a better television show and really didn't need to be a large screen movie.

Friday we went to Winterthur. It's one of the Du Pont family holdings in Delaware that have been turned into a museum/cultural center. Another one is Longwood Gardens. This family seems to have owned most of Delaware at one point and their name is on lots of things in our part of the country. They were big into philanthropy.

But, Winterthur. (for some reason, loading photos is a long process this morning so I'll do the best I can). We got up Friday morning and first headed for the post office to mail some sunglasses to DrK (she ordered them and they don't ship internationally) and to send some needles back to signature needle arts. Pk gave me some more dpns and I wanted to exchange sizes.

Then we had some breakfast at a local diner. It was ok but I am a huge fan of pancakes and theirs were only fair. After that, we hit the road south. An hour later we were turning into the drive way.

This is very hilly land and despite it's being the end of December, very green.

We went into the visitor's center and bought our tickets and were just in time to take the open air shuttle/tour ride up to the main house. The grounds are huge (close to 1,000 acres) and are split up into different "gardens". My favorite was the Fairy Garden filled with small houses made of stone and rushes. They are nestled in the trees and you can just get a glimpse of them, just like I'd imagine real fairy houses would be.

They have some gorgeous, old magnolias and there's a whole slope called the March garden since it's planted with spring blooming bulbs and comes alive in March. It must be something to see but I think it would be very crowded. Even on this cold winter day, the place was humming with visitors.

We were most interested in the museum and so didn't get in line for tickets for the house tour. Maybe another time. They were having a display of furniture and textiles. DISCLAIMER: There were many signs saying No Photography. I'm not sure why non-flash photos weren't allowed but since there were guides aplenty to back it up, I had to be very surreptitious. I only took pictures where there weren't obvious signs.

Amy told me to look for the Plimouth Jacket and I found it in the place of honor at the beginning of the textile section. It is one of the most amazing pieces of needlework I have ever seen. I wanted to touch it in the worst way. The sequins were hand made, each and every one of them. (first they had to make the hand tools to make them!) There's a video nearby which documents the process. 3,700 hours of work. It's a gorgeous piece and there are no words to do it justice. The link shows a few more photos. I was able to snap one before I felt guilty but how could I not share this beauty?

Pk was in awe of the furniture and we got a kick out of this "tool box". It was huge.

I was fascinated by this flax wheel with a distaff filled with raw flax. It looked like it would make for some raw fingers and the bobbins were tiny.

We wandered through the displays but after a few hours it becomes overwhelming and I stop noticing things. My brain becomes overloaded. We headed out and walked through the museum store and decided against 20 dollar jars of local honey and other rather expensive doodads. Winterthur was once a fully self sufficient working farm. It would be even more interesting (to me) if it still were.

We headed home and went to Kate's house for her first lasagna. It was delicious. She got a chance to show off her Christmas tree and her decorated apartment. Lots of lights and sparkle-a kid after my own heart.

Saturday was grocery shopping and then a trip to my brother's house for NY's eve. We watched a very very old Dick Clark count down the last seconds of 2011. I'm not sure how we'll see in the new year without him.

Yesterday we got up and went to the bookstore so I could get a new notebook for the new year (polka dots since they didn't have any monsters) and while we were sitting there, I started to experience some intestinal distress. After 4 bathroom trips in less than an hour, I decided I probably wouldn't be safe for an hour long ride to Emily's house. We called and cancelled and came home. I slept for 2 hours so I think it was a bug and not something I ate.

Today is a quiet day. I have laundry to fold but I have some new audiobooks to listen to. I just finished Patricia Cornwell's new one and James Patterson's new Alex Cross book. I'll put away the computer and put on the headphones and let them entertain me as I go throught what's left of the last vacation day. I have to check the gym bag and add a pair of sweat pants since the last time we went it was warm weather and there are cropped pants in there.

Tomorrow we start back to our healthier routine with the gym 3 times a week and less goodies in the house. I'm going to package up the cookies and put them in the freezer. I made fewer so it won't take too long. I bought vegetables and fruit at the store and we'll be eating smaller portions. I'm also taking the fish oil capsules the doctor prescribed (and boy do they taste yucky if you don't take them with food!). Nothing drastic, just small steady movements in the direction of better health.

And we are now firmly ensconced in the new year. The decorations will stay up until next weekend and then I will reclaim my house. So, Happy New Year to all of you. I hope this year is a good one bringing joy and hope and love into your lives along with something soft to knit and someone to knit it for. This year, I'm going to make myself a sweater and I have to make at least 11 pair of socks for Elanor so I'll be busy. But it's a good busyness.

Mark Twain never seemed to be at a loss for words and so here's a few of his that seem appropriate for the beginning of a new year:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain

2011-12-26T16:05:00.001-05:00

We had a lovely Christmas. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll share some photos of the last 3 days.

Project bag for Kate

Materials for bag for Emily

I finished the sewing on the 22nd. Pk managed to make my sewing machine function (it worked but not optimally. It moved slowly.) The projects were knitting project bags for Kate and Emily. Kate's had monkeys and Em's had robots. Both had polka dots. Inside I put a skein of sock yarn, some Harmony dpns and a Knit kit. Everything they needed to grab and go. We also baked more cookies.

flying Christmas cow

We had a half day on the 23 and finished baking the cookies. Elanor made a batch of raspberry thumbprints by herself. (She is NOT a cook). They are delicious. On the 24th, I made the babka and the chocolate torte and both came out perfectly. We decorated the cookies and Pk gets the award for the oddest cookie. He made the Flying Christmas Cow.

Cookies!

We finished the baking and cleaning and I had time to take a nap before Em and Kate got here. Pk made meatballs and I put them into the crockpot with some sausage and we had cookies and wine punch and eggnog.

Angel

We ate and talked about Christmas and presents and then decorated the tree. That's the angel I made years ago from bits and pieces of fabrics. The white is from the dresses my girls wore in brother's wedding and the lace is from one of Emily's Hallowe'en costumes. She's been gracing our tree for about 20 years.

Santa came by accompanied by a fire truck all dressed up to look like a Hess truck. He moved by so quickly I could only get a blurry photo.

The tree

We finished the tree and put the presents underneath and sat around admiring our work. There's something about the light of a Christmas tree.

Pk and I were awake early Christmas morning and got showered and dressed and were waiting when Em and Jim and Kate and Patrick came over.

We had babka and hot chocolate (in penguin mugs)

And we opened presents. Emily declared herself the Winner of Christmas because "I made Mom cry first". She did indeed. She made what we lovingly call Aunt Joan candy. My aunt used to melt chocolate and add toasted coconut, nuts or raisins and plop them into small cups. I was thinking how much I missed them as I was setting the table up for dinner. Em came in the door and gave me a container filled with candies. It made me cry to see them.

But those were the only tears. We had fun explaining the presents and ooohing over them. The project bags were a hit as were the handknit socks. I gave Elanor a Sock of the Month club certificate good for one pair of socks a month for a year. I got the idea from a woman on ravelry and thought it was a good one.

Everyone went off to spend the day with the other half of their families and we had a quiet afternoon. I finished one mitten and cast on the second one. I have small hands so they're a bit long for me but I like them. The inside doesn't look too bad. You can see where I forgot to anchor some longish floats.

Oh, and penguinski took on a new look as Emily took various ornaments meant for the tree (we have many penguin ornaments) and secreted them around the house.

Like this one hanging from a rather interesting place. Pk contends that it's not really penguinski unless you give a penguin to someone that doesn't already belong to them.

We had a delicious dinner of roast beef with roasted vegetables and talked about the day.

Today was a quiet-sit-around-take-a-nap kind of day. I straightened up my various project bags in the bedroom and will tackle the mess in the spare room probably tomorrow. I'd like to get to the spinning wheel but there are boxes of paper and ribbon in the way. I'm going downstairs to put on a pot of chicken and dumplings. Mmmm. Comfort food.

We have no plans until Friday when we're going to Winterthur for the day. We have a week of potential pajama days.

So, that was our holiday. How was yours?

2011-12-22T20:37:00.001-05:00

The baking has finally begun here at chez Wood. Tonight, I made the dough for pfeffernuse (cookies that contain real black pepper, spicy and delicious), Pk made pizzelles and together we made some lace cookies.

I hear all of you knitterly type individuals saying, "Lace cookies? Pray tell, what is that?"

Well, I'll tell you. These are lace cookies. They are one of Peter Kevin's favorite cookies. The bakery makes them and they are horribly expensive but so addictively delicious.

We've tried to make them before but never had much success. This recipe came out of Bon Apetit magazine and it works!

And the only way to make them better is to sandwich two of them together with chocolate. These are so good. And they were easy! Who knew ?

We are taking half a day tomorrow and the baking will continue. I have to bake the pfeffernuse and make some butter horns and then the sugar cookies. Elanor is going to make some jam thumbprint cookies and that will be enough.

Saturday, I'll make the torte and the babka and we'll decorate the cookies (I'll post photos of the zombie moose or whatever Peter Kevin comes up with this year).

There are still a few presents to wrap but it won't take me very long to take care of them. Hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Adam already. I wore my hat today and while I enjoy the smiles I get when I wear it, I have to leave it on all day because it gives me the most ferocious case of hat head.

Our weather continues to be odd. It was almost 60 degrees today (and it was freezing over the weekend). No wonder the poor trees are confused. At least it gives me time to work on my mittens.

Lots to do but plenty of time left. I don't seem to have the energy for marathon sessions of anything this year so I'm taking everything in small increments. And it's working for me.

Here's the recipe for Lace cookies in case you're interested

Lace Cookies

It's hard to say how many this will yield. It all depends on how big you make the cookies
Oven at 350 F

½ cup almonds (plain with the skins on)
2 Tablespoons rolled oats
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon flour
½ tsp salt
6 Tablespoons butter

In food processor, grind almonds and oats together until they’re the consistency of coarse meal
Melt the butter and stir in the sugars and honey. Stir until dissolved
Turn off the heat and add the other ingredients.
Place scant ¼ tsp of batter on parchment covered cookie sheet. Use your fingertips to make them round and flatten them just a bit.
Bake until golden, about 8-10 mins.

Remove paper from pan and let cool on paper.
If desired, melt some semi sweet chocolate and sandwich cookies together.

(These spread a lot. Use only the 1/4 tsp of batter for each cookie and give them plenty of room. They're fragile and pretty when they cool. I used melted chocolate chips in the middles) If you use rice flour, I think these could be gluten free (oats don't have gluten do they?)

My first batch of these all melded together on the paper. They will look impossibly tiny before they're baked. Think of them as a piece of lace before you block it......

2011-12-19T22:58:00.001-05:00

So what was Kate's penguinski, you asked? (Well, ok, you all didn't ask, Roxie asked). She left a Lego penguin hanging from Peter Kevin's desk shelf, a foam penguin that said " It has begun, there is no hope" and a chocolate penguin was left on the dresser. That one is a recycled bit of penguinski as Pk left it in her freezer last year. No, we are not going to eat it.

Pk has struck, tying a penguin to Emily's license plate when she came here on Sunday. Oooops, (I don't know if she found it yet so don't tell her!).

And me? I just keep letting my little penguin dance around the floor and watch his little hat bob up and down. It makes me laugh each and every time.

In the time off news, I will be able to take the four days off between the holidays. My supervisor told me to email him which days I wanted and he will "make it happen". I am sooo glad. I really didn't want to get up and go into work for 2.2 hours. What a waste.

We gave ourselves the night off but tomorrow the baking of cookies and wrapping of presents has to begin in earnest. Tonight I worked on my mitten. I have only 15 rows until the decreases and then the thumb to finish. It's not perfectly flat, there are some puckers. It's been a while since I did any color work but I like it. The color is more pink than this, but my phone camera picked up this color and I'm too lazy to get up and get the real camera.

This is an enjoyable knit. Each row is only 80 stitches and doesn't take too long. The pattern is easy to follow and the colors look beautiful together. And it's warm. It feels really good on my hand.

Tomorrow I will be making the pfefferneuse that Pk loved last year and some butter horns, another one of his favorites. He's going to make the pizzelles. The house will smell like spices and sugar. In other words, like Christmas.

I have only one more clinic and then mostly paperwork this week. I'm showing The Grinch (the animated one of course) in group on Wednesday so no planning necessary. I have about 15 treatment plans to get written so when I leave work on Christmas Adam (remember? the day before Christmas Eve?) I am not leaving unfinished December work behind. That is my goal. It's totally doable if I pay attention and not let myself get distracted.

It's list time. I need a list of things to get ready for the weekend (I have to make an ice mold for the wine punch, make the simple sugar for the wine punch and hot buttered rum, oh, and make egg nog) and lists of cookies to bake. I am a great believer in lists. Besides, if I don't write things down, I don't remember them.

And Pk fixed my sewing machine so I can go back to making the gifts I wanted to make. I'll show them to you after the holiday. If I get them done.

But now, it's time for bed. The elves obviously aren't going to do all this work without me.

2011-12-16T23:41:00.000-05:00

The season's first Penguinski score goes to Kate this year! She managed to visit some penguin love on Peter Kevin while she was here to cut some holly branches off our tree.

Of course there will be retaliation........

Things here have been fairly quiet. Life has been work and home and sleep. I have been busy at work but that's a good thing. They finally came and installed my new phone so now I know who is calling. It makes life easier. Pk has been busy coding at work. He enjoys doing the computer work but has an exacting boss. She's a difficult to please workaholic. She keeps him on his toes.

He and I had date night tonight. We go out most Friday nights but always on payday weekends. Tonight we saw a movie and had dinner. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Don't waste your money.

To be fair, Pk liked the first one and I didn't. I will admit I am not a Holmes fan to start with (although I do like the BBC version with Benedict Crumblebatch (I love his name!)). But even Peter Kevin didn't like this movie. It was gimicky with a needlessly complicated plot line. I would have cheerfully left in the middle. I stopped caring what happened. I'd be interested to know if anyone else sees it and likes it.

We have a few things to get done this weekend and upcoming week. Tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping and then wrap the presents that I've bought and I have some sewing to do. Sunday, I'll finish up the shopping and hopefully wrap the rest of the presents. I tried to do some shopping last weekend but just didn't feel up to it. I like Christmas shopping and I'm looking forward to it. I also love all the behind the scenes sneaking around and hiding of presents that goes on this time of year. I love surprising people!

Monday we start cookie baking. I'll make several kinds but fewer of them. We just don't need them around the house and if they're here, we'll eat them.

I'm trying to take off the four days between the holidays but might have to work a half day. I am 3 hours short of 4 full days. I mentioned it to my supervisor this morning and he said, "we'll talk" so maybe he'll help me out. I hope so. I look forward to these days off and just miscalculated my vacation time. He's a good guy and all in all a good supervisor. He doesn't micromanage our department. He has good folks working for him and he lets them do their jobs. If I have to go in, I'll work Tuesday morning for a few hours and Pk said he'll go into his job, too. We'll have lunch together or go to the art museum for the afternoon. I have a good husband.

2011-12-10T17:37:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't you know it? The day after my 'coaching', I wake up in the morning and the room is spinning around and around. I'm familiar with this feeling and I know that the best way to deal with this is to take the medication and sleep it off. It usually takes a few hours and while the world is not altogether stable, it's better.

I couldn't do that this time. I had to haul my sorry ass out of bed and get showered and go to work. I got myself cleaned and dressed and took the sleep inducing medication and went to work. It was a total waste of a day. I sat at my desk for 7.5 hours (only got up twice to use the bathroom) and slept on and off with my head propped up on my hand to hold it steady. I still felt unsteady when I got home so I slept for a few hours and was better by dinnertime. Pk made me some eggs (my comfort food of choice) and I sat and watched some netflix and went to bed and slept 10 more hours. Today started out a bit woozy but is better at this point.

If I had stayed home yesterday, I would have had a 'written warning' in my employee file and then would have had to have an entire year with no infractions of any kind. I wasn't willing to risk it.

Elanor helped me pull the holiday decorations out today and we spent an afternoon listening to music and making the house look like Christmas. All of the old favorites came out to play and a few new bits were added. We bought some new outdoor lights that will glow and change colors.

They look like large C9 bulbs but are plastic. I think they look like toy lights. The stars are back and so are the snowmen. Pk is finishing putting some garland around the door. He's been working out there all afternoon. It's time for me to go and fix something warm and filling for dinner.

He and Emily are going shopping tomorrow. I may go and try to finish up my shopping as well. I placed all of the online orders on Friday and should have things in my hands by Christmas. I love online shopping!

I'm looking forward to the conference on Monday. I'll also get a chance to meet Pk at his office at the end of the day and meet some of his people. I've never been in his building (it's a tall one with lots of security) and I'd like to have a picture of his place in my mind when I picture him at work.

I will admit to a bit of tears today. I've never felt sad when pulling out holiday decorations. Nostalgic, yes, but Sad? No. Today I felt a bit sad. I don't have many holiday ornaments and things that remind me of my mother, she didn't get much involved in my married life. I DO however, have many handmade things from my Aunt Joan. Like this teddy bear 'advent' calendar. There's a small stuffed bear that gets moved around the house and attached to various points with velcro as he searches for Christmas. He finally finds it in the livingroom, surrounded by his family. Aunt Joan made this when my girls were very small and I look forward to it every year. It made me realize how much I miss her.

She is the inspiration behind 'penguinski' in our family and is responsible for the dozen or so odd little teapots I own.

Everytime I make something as a gift for someone else, it's a bit of her spirit that I feel. My mom was a bought gift kind of person. Gifts from a store were preferable to handmade ones but my aunt was just the opposite. It was hard to believe they were sisters. So, it made me feel sad but in a good way (does that make sense?) as I remembered her and all her love. It still surrounds my family and that makes me smile.

2011-12-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

Brrr. After a day during which we got a total of over 3 inches of rain (and we could see lots of flooded yards from the train)yesterday, today the temperature is 20 degrees colder. It feels even colder because it's so damp. I'm sitting here wrapped in the Wool Peddler's shawl that Kate made me and I have a blanket on my legs and the space heater is on to try to drive off some of the damp chill. If I had some whipped cream, I'd make a hot rum drink. It's probably better that we don't. I don't need the 1,000 or so calories!

I was home with some stomach bug on Monday and Tuesday. At first I thought I had food poisoning or I was having a reaction to a new medicine for cholesterol (Lovaza, a fish oil) but I was feverish and exhausted Sunday night. And I had stomach cramps and diaharrea. I did what I thought was the sensible thing and stayed home.

I had supervision today and was "coached" because I have too many occurrences in the past year. It doesn't show up in my employee record but if I'm sick one more time before next July, it will result in a written warning. And then I can't have any infractions for an entire year. It well and truly sucks. I told Pk that it doesn't matter how sick I am, I have to go to work all through the winter. If I pass along germs, then so be it. I still have 2 weeks of sick time on the books but that doesn't matter.

I am making a pair of mittens for myself. I chose the Hansa mittens and am using some brown knitpicks merino/silk and some rose/brown from artwalk sock yarn. It's coming out better than I hoped. See that braid? It's not really a braid but two rows of purled stitches with the colors twisted around themselves. When it's done and blocked? It'll be spectacular. And I'm enjoying the colorwork. It's been a while and I wanted something different to play with (and I need new mittens).

How're your holiday preparations coming along? We have been busy at work so the decorations will wait until Saturday. Pk and Emily are going to go shopping on Sunday and I think I will as well. I ordered a few things online and most have come already. I still have a few handcrafted gifts to finish but they won't take long. I like giving people something I have made with my own hands. It feels like giving a bit of myself.

My poor mail delivery person. She has been working till past 5 and it's dark while she's walking her route. The other night she had a headlamp on. Smart cookie! It helps her to see the addresses and to be seen by drivers.

Our knitting group is branching out! They're finding patterns they like and trying to learn new things. It's so very cool! Most of it is crochet but that's ok. I have another pattern to try to figure out for someone who said "I don't get it". I figure it out and then help them figure it out for themselves. No one learns anything if I'm always doing it for them.

We have no holiday plans, other than to take the week between the holidays off. I will have just enough time to take all four days off and then I have to start saving vacation days for when it snows. The Old Farmer's Almanac says we'll have a snowy winter. I'm not holding my breath and with the attendance issues at work, I'd rather have a normal, quiet winter and no drama. Unless it snows on Friday/Saturday and we have Sunday to dig ourselves out.

Well, I'm off to finish the last of the holiday knitting. The mittens are calling!

2011-12-04T13:42:00.000-05:00

So, Friday morning came and I felt nice and calm. I listened to the three presentations before mine and wasn't embarassed by what I had to say at all. I was a bit nervous (my director told me she could tell when I was getting nervous, the flush was creeping up my neck into my face) but my piece flowed easily and I actually had to cut my talk short when they flashed the 3 Minute and then 1 Minute signs at me. I think it was successful. And it's over.

Friday night Pk and I went to the fabric store to get some fabric for a couple of gifts I want to make. I didn't have to wait in line to get my fabric cut or anything. It was amazing. I'm going to check out the old sewing machine to see if it works and if it does, I'll use it instead of pulling my machine out from its corner next to the dresser.

Saturday, we decided to go to a christmas lights warehouse called Kindy's. I included a link only so you could see the difference between their online presence and their brick and mortar store. Their website looks clean and neat. Their store in South Philadelphia is a different story. It just screams "prosperous holiday business" at you, doesn't it? We had heard that this was THE place to go for holiday decorations so we got there at 10 am and there was a line waiting for the doors to open.

Inside was decidedly underwhelming. The shelves were not as stocked as one would wish and the variety was less than ideal.

They did have trees in every color of the rainbow (and some that would put a rainbow to shame).

We bought some new lights for the front of the house and the windows. We should be putting them up today but we are tired and in need of some down time so probably next weekend.

After the excitement of Kindy's, we went to the Franklin Mills Mall. It's an outlet mall and about a mile long on one floor. You start at one end and if you're lucky, you have someone else pick you up at the other. If you're not lucky or smart, you make your purchases on the way down and then have to schlepp them back. We are not smart. We spent a few hours walking the mall. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. And some outlets (Neiman Marcus, for example) are still expensive. 40% off a 500 dollar dress is still a lot of money. We did better at the Old Navy outlet and a few others.

We got home and I fell asleep for an hour before going to get my hair trimmed and shaped. My hair stylist asked "how are you doing with letting it grow in?" My response was "well, I have been tempted to take the scissors to it several times but have managed to stop myself". She trimmed and shaped it up and while it doesn't look much different, it feels better.

Today we got up and went to the grocery store and then to get our tree. That's El standing next to the tree that came home with us and is currently taking up a good portion of the living room. If you think this is big, you should have seen the first one Peter Kevin saw and said he wanted!

This one is shaped beautifully (aren't they all any more?) and is a nice size. It didn't need to be cut down much to fit.

We also bought some pointsettias and some star cookies. And I had an odd experience. I was in our downstairs storage area where the curtains were open. A reflection on my glasses looked like Hobbes walking across the room for just a flash. It took my breath away and it took me a minute to remember it couldn't be Hobbes. I didn't believe how sad that made me. God, I miss him.

I did bring a new animal into the house. Look at that face! Could you leave him on the shelf? I couldn't. Especially since he has a Santa hat that matches mine and Pk's. If you push a button his hand, he hops around and sings a holiday song. It makes me laugh out loud.

Kate told me he was cute but was quick to add that I should give him to Em. I think she was afraid I was going to give him to someone and she didn't want it to be her so she threw Em under the bus. I had to explain to her that he is mine and I am keeping him.

Pk is watching a soccer game and I'm going to watch some Dr Who dvds I got in the mail. The laundry is going and there will be some barbecue chicken for dinner with some macaroni salad. The lovely, warm day seems to require a summertime type meal.

Work should be fairly quiet this week since one of 'my' doctors is on vacation all week (for which I am very grateful). Next week I'll be at a conference on helping people find some spirituality to help them in their recovery. I'm signed up for workshops in 'bringing art and music into recovery' and 'using spirituality in recovery'. They both sound like they'll be interesting and not heavy or deadly serious.

Life is pretty good, isn't it?

2011-11-30T19:39:00.000-05:00

Friday creeps closer and I thought I was prepared for my presentation. Then I was "invited" (read that as strongly encouraged) to "attend" a conference call to talk about the meeting on Friday. I got to hear the presentations of the other three agencies and theirs all sound so much more involved and together. I felt a little flustered and realized I'll have to spend tomorrow doing some more preparation. It also sounded like they all had way more time to think about this and come up with something than I did.

Peter Kevin walked down to my office to wait while I finished the call and he remarked on the fact that my neck and face were red. And this was just a rehearsal. Sigh. I think I may need some of my anti-anxiety meds before this thing on Friday. The Director said to me today, "I owe you for this one". She surely does.

On Sunday, Kate asked me if I wanted to go to the yarn store. I thought about it for a hot minute and said "of course" and we went to Woolbearers, our favorite lys. She bought some lovely sparkly yarn and I walked around and around. I didn't really want to spend money but I found myself drawn back again and again to this "skein" of Crazy Zauberball. Yes, the colors are actually that bright. There were three color groups, pink/grey, blue/purple, and red/orange/green. I went with the bright one thinking it would make amazingly colorful socks.

It's a bit splitty to work with and not terribly soft. That's probably a good thing since soft yarn doesn't always last very long.

They won't be twins that's for sure. And they'll probably only get worn with jeans, but that's ok. I love these socks already. And I'm grateful for the signature needles. The very sharp stilletto tips make it easier to use this splitty yarn. I am finding it very amusing.

I'm listening to The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley), a version of the King Arthur tale that focuses on the women. It's read by Davina Porter who has a wonderful voice. (She reads the Outlander books, too). It is such a good telling of the story and so different from the many, many versions where the women are mostly background fixtures. There's spinning. The women are always pulling out a spindle and spinning. It made me realize again how lucky I am that I do not have to provide all the fabric for all my family's clothes. I like to spin but don't want to do it ALL the time.

We are going to go find a Christmas tree this weekend and Pk and I will do some of our shopping. We usually shop once together and then the rest separately. It seems like there's loads of time till Christmas but I know how fast that time will pass. I haven't found my holiday spirit, yet. It just hasn't clicked in my head that tomorrow is December. I guess the fact that the temperature has been spring-like hasn't helped.

How warm is it? Well, this is a forsythia bush that was outside of the yarn store. They bloom in the Spring. November is NOT spring around here. The cold snap we had in October (with frost) and then the almost 70 degree temps this week must have confused it. It's more seasonable today with highs in the 50's (12.7C).

Otherwise, we are doing well. Pk is learning to get along with Siri but it's a rocky relationship. He calls her names and she responds with "Peter, I will not respond to that kind of language". It makes me laugh. Technology is an entertaining thing.

How are you finding your holiday spirit? (that is if you've found it). Is there a thing that does it for you? I didn't put out the decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving like I usually do since it seemed a bit early. Maybe this weekend. Maybe I'll find my spirit tucked away inside those boxes.

2011-11-28T19:59:00.001-05:00

I love a good sunset but a sunrise can be just as good (although I'd rather be asleep.....). This is the sky that greeted us this morning as we left for work. Just a hint of clouds and a sky full of blue and pink.

And we went back to work and started the week so I thought I'd share our Monday morning with you. If it has to be Monday morning, at least it was a beautiful one.

2011-11-27T10:38:00.000-05:00

Things to be thankful for 2.0

fall colors(even though most of the trees are naked now)

two days of doing as little as humanly possible (we have been lazy slugs for two days and I have loved every moment of it)

children who ask if you want to go somewhere with them (they want to spend time with me)

65 degree days in late November (that's 18.5 C and not normal for this late in fall but it's soooo nice to have the windows open and the fresh air coming in)

J D Robbs' Eve Dallas novels (a very guilty pleasure)

my new walkman that holds a charge for hours and hours and gives me such pleasure

french toast and bacon for breakfast

holding hands

new toilets that flush and don't leak

a job to return to tomorrow morning (although I may need to be reminded that I'm thankful at 6 am when the alarm goes off)

friends

my husband

a craft that allows me to be creative and make actual useful things at the same time

to be continued.........

2011-11-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here. It's been raining for three days now (mostly just steady light rain but there have been some downpours as well). Our soil (misnomer there, we have mostly clay) has absorbed all it can absorb and we are now running the pump in the crawlspace. It's nothing new.

It's supposed to be cold overnight and then sunny and crisp tomorrow. Good parade weather. Santa comes into town tomorrow at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Not having a television, we miss parades. We don't actually miss them, we just don't get to see them. If I really wanted to, I could go to Philadelphia and watch the parade but I'm thinking not. We are going to the movies tomorrow to see the new Muppet Movie. I loved the original one and saw the preview for this one and it looks like it might be good. It could be a total bust but I'm willing to risk it.

The recent rains have washed most of the leaves off the trees. Where just a few days ago were leaves of yellow and red are now wet brown branches. Fall doesn't last long enough.

I baked cornbread for the stuffing, made fruit relish and baked mincemeat and pumpkin pies. Tomorrow all I really have to do is make stuffing, put the turkey in the oven and cook potatoes and green beans (fresh green beans not that casserole with mushroom soup and french fried onions on top) and make gravy and whipped cream. It's not that difficult since we eat at our regular time. I know lots of people who eat early in the afternoon and therefore have to get up at the crack of dawn to put dinner in the oven. I have until about 11 to get the bird aroastin'.

Did I ever mention that I don't like to speak in front of a group? No? Well, I don't. Although I have been told I do it well. I get all flustered and turn red. The Director of our agency asked me to speak at a meeting of all the agencies next Friday about our recovery committee initiatives. I know this stuff inside and out but that doesn't make it easier. I have a week to come up with a presentation that fortunately should only be 5-10 minutes long.

Pk and I had lunch out today before we left the city to come home (we ate at More Than Just Ice Cream and it was delicious). I saw the Asst Director there and she thanked me for giving the presentation and told me "you'll be great". Now, I have been on the top of her shit list before so I get a little apprehensive when she says something nice to me. There was a time when I lived on top of that list ! No pressure here.

I have so many things to be thankful for. And I am mindful of how lucky I am. I hope you all are having a good day and whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving or not, take a moment out of your day to be mindful of all the blessings we have. As Roxie reminds me, "nobody's shooting at me" and that's just for starters.

Happy Thanksgiving.

2011-11-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a very good job of posting a photo a day in November. Life kinda got in the way. I had good intentions....

Last week was a busy one at work. I had full clinics and as the holidays creep up on us (or rather rush at us at full speed) people get more anxious and need more reassurance and support. I was tired when I got home from work at night.

Our tree finally dropped most of its leaves. We had a few days of rain and wind in the middle of the week and Thursday morning, this was what our front yard looked like. They're crunchy right now and I love scuffing through them.

They also smell really good.

I spent some time this weekend trying to figure out a crochet pattern for one of my group members. It wasn't difficult but I had an idea what I thought it should look like and it wasn't coming out right. I finally realized that it was a v-stitch row and a dc row and it just repeated.

This is yarn I spun myself and instead of making a baby blanket (which is what the woman wants to make), I cast on enough stitches for a scarf. The yarn is polwarth/silk and I love the color. And I always love knitting with my own handspun. I figured I'd work it up and take it in next week. We have a short week because of Thanksgiving this week so no group. Pk and I are taking half days on Wednesday and going out for lunch. Then we have Friday off so it's a nice sort week.

Last Friday I attended a seminar on protecting oneself from the trauma we hear about from our clients. It was a good seminar and I knit a good bit during it. And for the first time, there was someone else there with knitting. She was making a hat. The women running the seminar didn't mind since the training was about dealing with stress and knitting is a good way to do that (unless of course you're involved in a complicated lace project which isn't working.....). I have now finished 3 pairs of socks for the holidays and have a good start on the fourth.

Pk spent most of today with Emily. He brought me a souvenir.
It's a 22 caliber shell from the gun he used to shoot. They spent some time at a shooting range. He enjoyed it. Shooting the gun was fun but mostly spending time with Emily was the fun. I have never held a gun and don't have any desire to do so. If the zombies come, I'll have to take my chances and stand behind someone who can shoot.

I made fruit relish today and moved the turkey from the freezer into the refrigerator. It takes up so much room. Right now we are involved in "creative shelving" to make everything fit. I'll make cornbread and pies on Wednesday night. This year it's pumpkin and mincemeat. El and Pk love mincemeat (they're the only ones) and I've been promising them. I also made sure we got a large bottle of rum for the hot buttered rum for desert with our pies.

I like to cook so Thanksgiving is a perfect holiday for me. It's all about the food and the family. We are not having any company. Kate and Patrick are going to his mom's and Em is fixing dinner for Jim's family. It will be just Pk, Elanor and myself. I didn't even invite my cousin. I think the idea of just a quiet meal feels good.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

2011-11-14T19:03:00.000-05:00

I didn't get to the computer yesterday because I spend most of the day on my back. I was having a dizzy spell and the meds took all morning to work. I was able to sit up and walk around noon. It wasn't the way I wanted to spend the day but the best laid plans.......

So, I'll share two photos today to make up for yesterday. Here's the first one I took as I left work today. It's 8th street on the corner of 8th and Locust. If you look down the street, you can see the holiday lights.

They put them up and turned them on right after Daylight Savings Time ended. It's a bit early for my tastes but I'm sure the city has it's reasons.

And then today when I got home and there was a box on the front step. Pk said "pants" since he's waiting for some pants we ordered him. I said "No, it's my Christmas knitting package from the Unique Sheep".

I forgot that I ordered this in July. It's a limited color and a special pattern. The yarn is merino/tencel and is one of their 4 skein series. The shawl pattern that came with it is pretty and looks like it'll be interesting.

There was also a skein of red/green cotton and a pattern for a wash cloth, some Frankinsense &
Myrrh scented soap and some tea (plus a clear needle sizer and some bells).

It was a nice surprise. I look forward to playing with it but the socks have to come first.

2011-11-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

Today was a busy day here.

It didn't start out to be.....

Do you know how toilets work? I don't have exact knowledge but I do know that there is a wax seal that keeps water from leaking out at the bottom. Our toilet has been feeling like it was not seated correctly and occasionally there would be water on the floor. So we had to replace the seal.

6 hours and five trips to the diy store later, Pk is finally finishing up. When he took the old toilet off, he discovered we needed a new flange as well as a seal. That was trip number 2 (the wax seal was trip 1). Then when it came time to bolt the toilet back into place, the bolts weren't long enough. Two trips later (#3&4), Pk picked up the bottom of the toilet and a corner broke off in his hand.

It's an old fixture but we thought it would be ok since it was just a corner of the bowl support and didn't look important.

It was important. After everything was put back together, Pk flushed, we held our breath and water came shooting out from where the small bit broke off.

Trip # 5 was back to the store to buy a new toilet. He is putting the new seat on and getting ready to turn the water back on. Cross your fingers.....

In the meantime, he found a recipe for Mac and Cheese that he wanted to try in the 2012 edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac. We buy one every year (and this year they say we'll have normal temps this winter but it will be snowy) and enjoy reading it. This one had a recipe for mac and cheese with blue cheese and bacon. It's in the oven now and smells heavenly.

I think I hear a toilet flushing. I did! It works! Thank goodness. We once again have a working toilet. You don't realize how important they are until you don't have one.

And just because I needed a nice, soothing photo after all this, here's a photo of the trees on our street. The tree in front of our house is turning yellow but these are spectacular.

Because the angle of the sun is low, as it goes down it highlights each tree. It's like each one gets its turn in the spotlight. I sat in the chair in the living room and watched . It's so beautiful.

So, that was our day. It started out with a simple repair that turned into a majordaylong job. Poor Pk has spent all day on his knees in front of the toilet and he didn't even get to enjoy getting drunk first!

2011-11-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

Today's photo is a close up of a crocheted basket weave stitch. I have no idea how this is done. One of my group members is making a blanket for herself and looked up on youtube how to do this. She has already made two scarves and wants me to teach her to make socks. I'm going to donate some sock needles and a skein of fngering weight yarn to the cause and get her started.

We're having a good time deciphering crochet patterns. It's been a long time for me and I have to read them aloud and then we play with the yarn and hooks until we get it.

I love the way this looks and am so proud of the fact that she wanted to learn a new stitch and is now in the process of teaching it to others. Best part of the knitting/crochet group? The way the members help each other. It's so cool to see someone else put down their project and offer help.

Fiber folks. They're the best no matter how experienced they are.

2011-11-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

This is the train station on Friday November 4th at about 7 am. It was actually darker than this (my camera picks up ambient light and magnifies it). You can see that the lights in the parking lot are still on. This is Daylight Savings Time.

Fast forward to Monday, November 7th and the view changes.

This is the same shot at about the same time. Look at how much lighter it is. This is what I've been waiting for. I hate getting up for work in the dark. It's so hard.

Now, it's dark when the alarm goes off but by the time we leave the house, it's light and it feels like daytime.

What a difference an hour makes.

Btw, Em gave me a gift card for Signature needles for my birthday. Since I had to pay for shipping for one pair, I ordered a second pair as well. And let me tell you, they are every bit as good as they are touted to be. They are sharp and easy to use and not too slippery.

I think I might be in love.

2011-11-09T19:38:00.000-05:00

The cold weather we had two weeks ago has finally brought us some fall color!

I walk about a block and a half each day from work down Locust St to the train. Today, I was halfway down the stairs to the train station (underground) when I turned around and went back to take a photo of this tree.

I stopped and took the photo even though there were two people standing right there and they were watching me. I commented on the beauty of the tree and they agreed.

This was about 3:40 in the afternoon. And you know what kind of tree that is? If you said Locust, you'd be correct. I didn't know but I just looked it up on Google and discovered that Locust St has Locust trees.

The building is part of Wills Eye Hospital where they do amazing things to save people's sight. The area I work in is densely populated with hospitals and doctors. You can't swing a stick without hitting a doctor's office.

This is the view out my bedroom window at the end of the day. The sun hits the gold leaves and makes everything look hazy and surreal.

I love fall. I love the cold mornings and the warmish afternoons and even the early darkness. It means it's time to cuddle inside and have food like stew and chicken and dumplings. It's cinnamon scented candles and chrysanthemums.

And it's such a short period of time. Very soon our trees will be bare and brown and the sky will be a deep deep blue and it will be cold.

Thank goodness for warm woolen socks!

2011-11-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

Look who greeted us as we got home today. We pulled into the driveway and were walking up the front walk, talking and making our usual noise. And there he/she was. Just standing there.

Our front yard can only loosely be called a "lawn". Yes, we have some grass but most of it is crab grass and lots and lots of clover. The rabbits love it. He/she stood there while I pulled out the camera and took the shot. I couldn't get too close. As soon as I moved closer, he loped off toward the back yard. And that's when we got to see his/her bright white tail.

Our neighborhood has been overrun by rabbits in the past. They were so bold they would run down the sidewalks. It was funny to see. Even when our cats were alive, the rabbits were not that afraid.

Then the raptors moved into the area. Hawks and vultures. The rabbit and woodchuck populations dwindled. I haven't seen a rabbit grazing out front in the open in a long time. This one sat perfectly still like he/she was posing. I haven't seen the woodchucks in a good long while. They may have gotten eaten or just moved on to safer areas.

Today is election day here. It's an "off" year. No major elections, no governor or senator or even congressman. Just some local officials and the mayor of Somerdale (who is running unopposed). I spread my votes among both parties (I'm an registered Independent) because I don't like the idea of one party having all the power. I WANT them to discuss and even have arguments sometimes. That's how we learn how strongly people feel about things.

Otherwise today was an odd day. Productive, but odd. I very often work straight through lunch because I take breaks during the morning. Today I worked all morning and decided to take my lunch hour. I pulled out the headphones (I'm listening to a zombie story--I put aside Game of Thrones for now, learning that there are two more books to come just depressed me for some reason. I want it to come to an end) and some knitting and was having a peaceful time when someone knocked on the door and asked for help. One of my clients who was having problems with social security. I couldn't say no, so there went my lunch hour. She needed a letter which we wrote together and then got signed by the doctor and she was on her way. I was on the way to clinic.

Maybe tomorrow.

2011-11-07T18:42:00.000-05:00

Peter Kevin took today's photo on Friday on the way home. It's always interesting to ride in the front seat of the train across from the driver. It's a totally different view of our ride.

This is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. You can see the Delaware River and that's Camden in the distance there. The bridge has four stone supports. Two on the Pennsylvania side and two on the New Jersey side. There's also a walkway. This is the only bridge you can walk or ride a bike across. The tracks immediately in front of you are for the PATCO line, the train we take into work each day.

I'm reluctant to take photos of the trains/bridges. After the bombings in 2001, people look at you strangely if you are taking photos of a transportation device. And there are posters inside the trains talking about "watching out for each other" or is it "watching each other?". No, we're not paranoid, why do you ask?

This is the inside of the train. It's right after we've gotten on and you can see that it's still fairly empty. We are on the second stop going toward Philadelphia. Usually, we are able to get a seat together in the morning, it's still the beginning of the morning rush hour.

The train ride takes about 20-25 minutes and is noisy even though it's electric and should be quiet. The power might be quiet but the cars and the train itself is over 30 years old and not as quiet as it used to be. People are quiet in the morning. Some are still asleep and there is often a woman putting on her makeup (although how they do that in a moving train is beyond me). This is the easiest way for us to get to Philadelphia and is cheaper than driving/parking and dealing with all the traffic.

I remember when the train first opened and my grandparents took us for a ride into Philadelphia for lunch. We were so excited! A train on a bridge!

And today, I still like to watch the river go by and see the sun coming up on the buildings.

Welcome to Monday November 7th.

2011-11-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

November 6th

Today's photo is a finished object. This summer I joined the Unique Sheep's tea/yarn club. Three months of yarn and tea. I got a lovely lavender colored cashmere/merino yarn and some Marquise Grey (lavendar flavored) tea. I got some lovely chai tea and some yarn dyed with light beige and yellow/beige silk/merino yarn.

And in September I got this. It's a cotton/bamboo blend and one of their unique color changing skeins. You can see how it started with the bright green and purple and ended with dark purple and brownish colors. Four tiny skeins.

I crocheted this mostly during my group at work. I wasn't sure what I would do with this blend. I was sure it wouldn't make good socks and decided I'd use it for a scarf. I must have ripped parts of it out a dozen times as I got used to the pattern (and using a hook!).

It's an interesting thing. I'm not sure quite what to do with it. I have to weave in the ends which may be difficult since there is no wool in it and the ends are likely to slip out. I think I'll get some dark thread and sew the ends in place. I don't know if I'll even block it out since I like the texture of the piece and the feel of it. It's drapey and soft, the kind of thing you would wear with some plain colors or to spice up a white shirt.

I'm on my way to the kitchen to make some popcorn and we're going to watch Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio's movie). I work with someone who doesn't like butter. We've been discussing it and don't understand it at all. Butter is why we eat popcorn after all!

It's potato/leek soup and grilled sandwiches for dinner and then the weekend is over already. We gained an hour today but it got lost in the shuffle somewhere.

2011-11-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

As promised, a photo of Cake!

We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant tonight. The girls and their significant others and my brother and his family were there.

I had such a good pizza. It's roasted red peppers, chicken, basil and garlic. It's so tasty. We sat around and ate and talked and laughed. Maggie (my niece) made me a card that had a zombie inside wearing a tshirt that said Number 1 knitter on it.

It was a wonderful evening. Kate gave me a knitpicks gift certificate (with which I bought some Harmony needle tips and some fixed circulars) and Emily gave me a gift certificate for Signature needles. I ordered a set of sock needles (actually, I spend some of my own money and bought 2 sets!). I can't wait for them to get here. I've heard such good things about them.

Tomorrow we have to go grocery shopping and to the home repair store to get a new toilet seal. Exciting? Oh yes. The seal is old and needs to be replaced.

And there is still cake left over for tomorrow.......

2011-11-04T22:29:00.000-04:00

November 4th

I got up this morning and went to work for half a day. The donuts were a stunning success (duh). I spent over an hour on the phone with an individual who has been having a terrible week and then and hour and a half in meetings.

Not much else got done. The morning flew by and Pk and I met at the train station at 12:45. We were off on our adventure.

I don't know if I've told you how much I like dansko shoes. They are so well made and they're comfortable to my back and legs. Pk heard that there was an outlet store and suggested I might like some new shoes for my birthday.

Now, I don't know what you think of when you hear "outlet store" but I don't think of a store that looks like this

Shoes as far as the eye can see! And they're all sorted by size so there's no digging through piles of shoes trying to find the ones you want.

I found three pairs, two pair of suede clog style (one black and one a wine color) and a pair of mary jane style with straps.

They're beautiful. And about half of what they cost in the store. I got three pairs of shoes for less than what two pairs would have cost in the retail stores.

We got home and had some dinner and then Pk took me to the electronic store to replace my mp3 player. My old one still works but after 3 years of hard usage, the battery doesn't hold a charge like it used to. I can still get a few hours out of it on a charge but those bars drop off pretty quick.

I spent tonight loading some of my favorite music and downloading some books from the library. I can't transfer the last Song of Ice and Fire book because technically it's expired. I'll have to listen to it on the old player. No real problem.

And it looks like Mr. Martin is writing at least 2 more in his series so it will be at least 7 books. I hope he doesn't make it one of those endless sagas. I'd like things to come to a head and then there to be an ending. I'm enjoying them but I can't see myself listening to them forever.

So, that's the photos for today. 54 years ago today I was born. I have a good life. I am so very grateful for it and for all the people in it.

See you tomorrow with a photo of cake! (Pk told the waitress at the diner that it was my birthday and she brought me a huge piece of strawberry shortcake. I shared it with Elanor)

2011-11-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

November 3rd

This is what our mornings look like. That's the view out my front windshield as Pk is scraping the frost off. We had a "hard frost" on Sunday night and the car has been frosted over every morning since. I have been wearing my mittens in the morning. I have arthritis in my hands and they need the warmth.

I used to go out to bring in the newspaper and I'd start the car so it was warm when I left and the frost would have melted off. We no longer get a newspaper (we stopped it when I realized we were only reading the comics sections most days and it was all going right into the recycling bin) and it's actually illegal to let a car idle in NJ. I've seen the signs outside of convenience stores and I assume it's true for cars idling anywhere. So, now we come out to a cold car and scrape and brush and clean off the windows ourselves.

Our small rally didn't make the news last night. The Occupy Philadelphia (just like Occupy Wall Street and others) folks were impeding traffic in center city and got arrested. They got all the press. We can't compete with them. I wonder if they'll stay outside here when the winter comes. It gets pretty cold at night.

The knit group had 6 consumers and 3 staff members today. Another new person came in to learn to crochet. I was giving her my "find some yarn you love" speech and telling her it should be fun when one of my coworkers commented that I made a good teacher. Thing is, I AM a good teacher. I believe good teachers are born not made. I've had some really great teachers and some notso great ones. Training is the least of it.

The new woman decided to crochet a scarf and asked me what pattern she should use. I said "it's up to you" and they all laughed. Seems I say that a lot. For some of our consumers, the idea of making their own decisions and making something their own way is foreign. There is also a paucity of imagination. I bring in yarn catalogs so they can see colors and ranges of weights and some patterns. They are often bowled over by the colors! All they're used to is what they can find at the local Walmart or Joann's or Michael's. Giving them a WEBS catalog is like when Dorothy opens the door in the Wizard of Oz and everything is is color! I love sharing this.

Tomorrow Pk and I are taking a half day off. He's taking me to a Dansko outlet to get some new shoes for my birthday. And then out to lunch/dinner. Saturday the girls and my brother's family are joining us for dinner and cake. Mmmmm. I love birthday cake. I'm taking the good donuts to work tomorrow morning to share with my coworkers. They're good people and deserve a treat, too.

Happy Nov 3rd!

2011-11-02T16:59:00.000-04:00

November 2

Today's photo is brought to you by Visions for Equality.

When I got into work this morning, I had a voicemail telling me that there would be a march/rally in support of the Pennsylvania Adult Protection Act.

In PA, if you're a child with disabilities or an elderly person, there is a system in place to protect you. If you are between the ages of 19 and 59 there is nothing. The Adult Protection Law is supposed to protect adults with disabilities but it's not funded. Visions was rallying and marching to make the governor sit up and take notice and appropriate some funds to pay for a hotline (for a start).

I went with a group from work and we met in the People's Plaza in downtown Philadelphia. That stone there in the bottom right of the photo has the first ammendment of the constitution on it.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

We were exercising our First Amendment rights today and peaceably assembling and speaking our minds. It was a first for most of our group and they had a hard time getting into the chanting. But they loved getting a t shirt (with a red slash through the word "abuse") and being part of the crowd. There were about 100 people there and two local news cameras.

One of the guys said "was this fun?". I said "no, but it made me feel good inside, how about you?" He felt pretty good, too. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Warm but not hot and it felt good to step out of my little world and help stand up for a cause I believe in.

Welcome to my November 2.

2011-11-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Happy November 1st. It was dark this morning. Not just dark but DARK. As in the street lights were still on when we left the house. It's a bit cloudy today so that contributed to the gloom but the end of Daylight Savings Time can't come fast enough for me.

I have been thinking about November and have decided I want to do a series of photos (probably one each day) that show what the world around me looks like. I carry my camera with me in my purse but I don't pull it out as often as I would like to. Sometimes I'm just conscious of looking silly taking a photo of an ordinary thing but I'll try to get past that. The posts will have to be done at home since my work computer won't allow me to upload photos.

For today, I present My Neighbor's Trees. It looks like one large tree but in reality, it's two beautiful trees. Seen from our house, they blend together. They've finally started to blaze with color. It's been slow to change around here this year. The weather has been uneven and very wet. And then it snowed over the weekend and we had a hard frost on Sunday night. We expected the trees to lose most of their leaves before changing colors. I'm glad to be wrong. We had a glorious day today after the clouds burned off. You can see that the grass is still green and lush after all the rain.

We had a good Candy Swap with my brother's children. Pk managed to give away more candy than he got (our real purpose!) and everyone had a good time. My niece's friend is a fiber artist. Her mother bought an old spinning wheel and they are making it work. We spoke about fiber and spinning and knitting.

So, here it is November and hopefully I'll show you a bit more of my world in the next 30 days.

2011-10-28T13:55:00.000-04:00

Rain/Snow

Likely
Lo 33 °F

We were watching Captain America last night (what a good movie) and I pulled up the NOAA forecast for the weekend. Pk is supposed to travel to see Em (about an hour with traffic) and I wanted to see if it was going to rain all day or just part of the day. SNOW! In October! This is so weird.

I'm realistic enough to know that if it does snow, it'll be a dusting at best but all of a sudden it's cold enough to snow and we haven't turned on the heater for the season yet. And I didn't get the winter clothes out and washed (best laid plans and all).

I know what I'll be doing this weekend! Pk isn't feeling well and may end up cancelling for Saturday. They're supposed to go shooting (at targets at a gun club). Em and Jim go and she really likes it. I have never held a gun in my life (I've never actually punched anyone either) and have no idea how they feel. Em and Pk had a good time mocking me about this. Good thing I love them both.

This has been a week filled with agida (heartburn). I've done this job for a long time now (17 yrs here) and I'm fairly good at what I do. I am patient with people (not so much with knots in my yarn or mechanical things but endlessly patient with human beings) and can usually get along with everyone. Until this week. I can't say much except to say I met someone who can turn my equilibrium completely on its head and make me feel bad enough to need extra blood pressure medicine. And like a dog with a bone, they just can't let it go. I'm so very glad it's Friday.

Today was the last Aggressive Patient Management group for the year. Next month we'll plan on how we need to change things for next year (we need to add more about restraining children) and how we'll schedule training. I'm glad it's over for the year. It's one day a month from April to October and I usually end up sore and a bit bruised. I believe in the program but it will be good to not have to think about it for a few months.

I'll make some chicken soup in the hopes of helping Pk feel better. If we get home with enough time, I'll put some stuff in the bread machine and make some bread. Homemade chicken soup and hot bread. Mmmmm. Now I'm hungry since lunch was yogurt and bananas.

I had a good group discussion this week about spirituality. We tend to steer away from spiritual/religious topics in our groups so that no one gets offended. I wanted to talk about how one's spiritual thoughts can help with stress management and how feeling connected to something larger than oneself can ease some burdens and bring joy. It went surprisingly well. We set down the ground rules at the beginning and it took off from there.

We talked about how sometimes just a place or a person can ease your stress (ever just stand in the middle of the woods or by the ocean?) and how the lack of that can make life seem brittle and dry. We talked about having relationships of all kinds and it was a good group. Those are the kind that make me remember why I like group.

Well, we're looking for a nasty weather weekend and Monday is Hallowe'en. No parties for us this year. I miss my Aunt Joan most this time of year. She loved Hallowe'en and we had such fun when the girls were small. I'll wear my ghost shirt and headband with little ghosts flying over my head and give out candy. We'll get a few kids unless it continues to rain.

Do you celebrate Hallowe'en? If so, do you have any traditions? Our favorite was the Candy Swap after the trick or treating. Everyone sits in a circle and tries to trade away the candy they don't like and get something better. Pk is a wicked good trader. I let him do my negotiating!

Like we need more chocolate!

2011-10-23T17:59:00.000-04:00

This has been an odd weekend here. Let's start with Friday.

We managed to get Pk a new phone by sheer luck. He called around and no one in the area seemed to have the phone he wanted to get. He sent me a text about 3 pm letting me know we could go home. I thought it was impossible that NO ONE had a phone in stock (although I do realize they're a popular item) so I started making phone calls of my own. I found a store a few blocks from where we work that had them but we had to get there soon. I called him and told him to drop everything and go to the store and get in line. I put away my things and hopped on a bus and met him there. We waited about a half hour and it only took about 15 minutes for them to hook him up.

He's thrilled.

Then we got home and I discovered that our ATM card has been compromised and I called the bank to cancel it and get a new one. They said we could get a temporary card and they were sending me one out immediately. We just had to go to the bank and get some cash. It might not have been the smartest thing to cancel the card when I had 3 dollars in cash in my wallet!

We got to the bank after they closed so we couldn't even cash a check. It was home for some hastily prepared dinner. I was feeling anxious all night. It's been a long time since we have been at the mercy of the banker's hours.

Saturday morning, I dropped Kate and Peter Kevin off at the trail head and headed back to the bank. I declined the temporary card (it could get confusing with the new numbers) but did manage to get some cash.

I went to the grocery store and then to the salon to get my hair cut. Just trimmed and shaped so it can continue to look professional since I have to go to work while it's growing out.

Patrick picked up Kate and Pk and boy were they sore. This was a test hike for them to see if they could do an overnight with full pack. Um, no. Not yet. They're not in shape for that. They had a good day and Pk came home happy for having spent the day in the woods. I made some escarole soup and grilled sandwiches for dinner and we had a quiet night.

Today we got up and went to the flea market in Columbus. Did you ever plan to do something but then the day dawns and you just don't feel good? Today was that day for me. I woke at 4 am with a headache. I took something and tried to go back to sleep but only dozed. When it was time to get up and moving, my head was still throbbing but going was my idea and Pk loves Columbus.

too many people

It was too much. Too much sun, too much noise, too many people, too many smells (people really should stop wearing so much cologne). Everything hurt my head. We wandered around a bit but I finally couldn't take it any more. We did find the cell phone cover we were looking for and then left. (I also saw someone selling 4 medium skeins of red heart yarn in a box for 10 dollars. Not a bargain) Pk took me to breakfast and we came home and I took a nap while he went and got a haircut. The laundry is going (oops, I forgot. I have to go and move it along!) and I have a roast chicken in the oven for dinner.

I used some leftover cornbread and some sausage and made some stuffing. It's yummy. Warm and filling. Comfort food. My head feels better, the headache is there-just in the background. I think it's hormonal.

I had my period about a week ago but my breasts were still sore (sorry TMI) so I knew it was going to be one of those months. I think I'm going to have another period in less than a week. This makes me prone to nasty headaches. But all the bloodwork shows this is not perimenopause. It's just old lady weirdness.

We tried hot buttered rum for the first time today and we love it. Have you ever made it? It's easy and absolutely wonderful. My body feels warm from the inside out. I am not much of a drinker but this will be nice to have in the winter when it's cold and you just can't get warm.
Here's the easy recipe I found online

Simmer 3/4 brown sugar, 2 c water, pinch of salt, 3 tbl butter, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 or 4 whole cloves and a pinch of salt together for about an hour. Add 2/3 c rum.
Put it into 3 small mugs or 2 larger ones and top with fresh whipped cream.

Oh my goodness. This is delicious. And about a million calories but calorie is also a measure of heat, right?

I have to start getting our winter clothes out and washed. We still have some temperate days but that could change literally overnight. If I plan it right, I can do one load each day until they're all done.

So, that's my weekend. How was yours?

2011-10-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting at my desk at work enjoying the bit of quiet that is early morning around here. My office mate will be here in a few minutes and he is not always quiet.

I'm sorry for the radio silence the past week. I have two blog posts that I started and just didn't post. No, nothing is wrong. Everyone is fine and I'm fine, too. I just had nothing to say. (I know!)

Things here are quiet and normal and just plain ol' life. I am not complaining. I'll take normal over exciting any day. I've been missing Hobbes. I see him everywhere I go. For a cat that really liked to be left alone, he made his presence (and now his absence) felt. It doesn't hurt with the sharp pain of the newly lost but with wistful sadness.

I have been busy at work this week catching up from being sick last week. My clients still have needs even if I'm not here and sometimes they're not all that patient. I understand the urgency but come on, now. If you wait until you've put the last pill in your mouth to notice that you have no refills, your odds of getting more before the next dosage is due can be pretty slim.

I am trying to let my hair grow. A bit. Maybe to my chin/shoulders. Pk likes it longer (although he seems to forget that when he met me, I had short hair) and I'm trying to humor him. My stylist is helping but I have to get through all these awkward stages and I'm not sure I have the patience for it. So, I'm putting it out there. Maybe if I tell someone else, I'll have the fortitude to stick it out. So, you like how I made it sound like I'm some kind of warrior? It's hair. I can handle it. Right now, we are letting the top grow and cutting the bottom to make them more even.

Roxie asked what it was like in our part of the world right now. Here in the MidAtlantic States, we are experiencing one of the wettest spring/summer/falls ever. Every time there is a rainstorm predicted, the Flood Warning signs go up. The ground is sodden and it doesn't take much to have mud puddles. We have clay soil which seems to allow the water to run right off and then to be cracked and dry looking the next day no matter how much rain we get.

It's been raining/windy for the past three days. It's clearing up for the weekend and the temps are predicted to only be around 60 for the high. Fall is definitely here. The leaves are changing but so slowly. You can see a patch of red/gold/orange here and there but nothing major. If the wind picks up, it'll blow the leaves off and our fall will not be as colorful as it could be.

The a/c is still on in my building and I'm sitting here freezing. I have on a long sleeved shirt with a long sleeved t shirt underneath and I'm getting ready to put on the fleece that lives on the back of my chair. What a waste of power.

Today I will be preparing for Monday's clinics. I have to go through the charts of the folks scheduled to come in and make sure the paperwork is all up to date. Then I make sure they have been called. I write any treatment plans that are due and update any other paperwork. I have 12 clients to take care of for Monday. If I'm really good, I'll get to Tuesday as well (only 6 for Tuesday). Then, I have to write notes on my Social Rehab clients (I am way behind in them. No one reads them and I have nothing to say about most of my folks). Then, I'll work on any other treatment plans that are due in October since we are rapidly approaching the end of the month. I'll answer the phone and try to put out any small fires before they become major conflagrations. Somewhere in there, I'll eat lunch and hopefully find time to go to the bathroom.

After work today, we're going to buy Pk a new iphoneS. He is so excited. He's been having a conversation with his old phone for the past two weeks. I goes something like this:

PK: Ha! Only 23 1/2 more hours and I will be rid of you, you piece of crap device"

Phone: (pitiful silence)

He declined to take half a day in order to get to the store quicker so we'll be there at the end of the day.

Tomorrow Pk and Kate are going hiking. I'm dropping them off in the woods and Patrick is picking them up at the end of the day. I'll use my day to go shopping and maybe I'll treat myself to a mani/pedi. I haven't done that in a long time. Anyone have any plans for the upcoming weekend?

I hope you are all having normal and quiet lives.

2011-10-13T13:01:00.002-04:00

Here I am at home with a low grade virus that has given me a low grade fever and general ickiness. I felt all shivery Tuesday night but got up and went to work on Wednesday and felt ok all day. Then last night, the icky feeling came back so I gave into Peter Kevin's entreaties that I "take care of myself" and stay home. I'm vaguely nauseous but not enough to be sick, vaguely feverish but not really. If it hadn't been a week ago, I'd blame my flu shot.

Our anniversary was a good one. I'll give you a run down and then show you some of the photos. That way, anyone who hates vacation photos can click off. We enjoy each other's company and can talk about anything and everything and are avid people watchers so we're hardly ever bored. We had a lovely brunch on Sunday, followed by walking around the touristy shops at Smithville, drove to Wildwood to stay at our b&b, The Sea Gypsy.

The Sea Gypsy is a lovely place. Opened in 1903 as a boarding home, it's filled with tiny rooms and those tiny rooms are crammed full of stuff. Our bedroom was, um, cozy. I think Emily said "snug". There was room for the bed and a dresser and not much else. That was ok, but the bed was short and Pk is not. There was not much sleep had on Sunday night. The bed creaked (loudly) and he couldn't get comfortable. We did have a nice deck area outside our room which we made use of after dinner on Sunday. We sat outside drinking champagne with raspberries and watching the stars. It was lovely.

Dinner on Sunday was a place recommended by friends so we went to The Lobster House in Cape May. Now, Cape May is an upscale tourist seaside town. It's beautiful and expensive. The restaurant doesn't take reservations and when we got there at 5 (on a Sunday, off season) we had a 90 minute wait. We chose to wait and were sorry we did because the food just wasn't worth waiting that long for. It was ok, but nothing special. And it was expensive (which we expected). I had a lobster bisque that was delicious but Pk's dinner was something I could have made better at home.

We spent the evening (it was 8:30 by this point) sitting outside on the deck drinking champagne and talking. We tried to sleep but that was futile so we were up early for pancakes and sausage for breakfast. There were two other guests there for breakfast (which was delicious). We left and were about an hour up the road when I remembered I'd left my mp3 player on the bed. We called and went back for it. Somethings you just have to turn around for.

We got home late Monday afternoon and went to sleep for 2 hours. We ordered steak sandwiches for dinner (a very romantic anniversary dinner) and watched a video and went to bed early.

We laughed about it and actually had a good time. The weather was exceptional, almost summer like and it was fun. Now, we're back in the real world and that's ok, too.

breakfast at Smithville. Yum!

The Sea Gypsy

Pk across the room. Snug!

Our deck outside the bedroom window (there were steps leading up to the outside)

Wildwood has wide beaches. This is the beach from the boardwalk (which was boarded up and empty, all except for the tattoo/piercing places which were open for business). If you click and make the photo bigger, you can just make out the ocean on the horizon there. It's flat and easy to walk on but if I was a parent with kids and all their stuff, I'd be exhausted by the time we got down there. Wildwood is a teenager kind of summer town. It's loud and the boardwalk is aimed at families with teenss. (unlike Atlantic City which is aimed at gamblers and older people and Ocean City which is aimed at families with smaller children).

And I tend to forget that New Jersey is a coastal state since I live about 60 miles from the coast. This sight always reminds me. This is what it looks like as you get close to the coast. There is as much water as land. Salt marshes where you can see egrets standing around. This is outside the moving car but you can just see the buildings of Wildwood in the distance. The smell is salty and wonderful. This is were we put down the windows and just breathe. It (like being in the woods) smells like home to me. If we could afford it, I'd retire down at the shore. I love being near the ocean. Properties are so high, even in these depressed times. But, if we win the lottery.......

So, that's our weekend. I have more photos but I'm having some trouble uploading them today for some reason. I did some knitting on a Christmas sock sitting in the sunshine and thought that life was just about perfect. I could look through the window and see the love of my life sitting (watching a soccer game) and look up and see seagulls and smell the ocean and knit all at the same time.

And, as Pk reminds me, it's now been 30 years and 3 days.

PS: I noticed if you click on the photos, they do indeed get bigger, but the format is different. I don't know when that changed and I'm not sure I like it. Maybe it's all just weird today.

2011-10-10T14:20:00.000-04:00

Really, this is just to add the photos of the inside of the machine to satiate the curiosity. I should have known fiber folks would want to see the equipment. We just got home from Cape May and are tired. I'll post the story and photos later but today, I'll show you the rest of the machine.

Circa 1953 Cast iron Singer sewing machine in excellent condition. All but the cord. it's hard to see in the photo but those are bare wires. The guy who sold it to me (and he was selling it for a friend. It was the friend's grandmother's and he was moving and couldn't (or didn't want to) take it with him.) said he plugged it in and it works. We are taking his word for it because we are not stupid enough to plug it in with the cord in that condition.

The front opens up for bobbins and notions. It's just like my grandmother's without the treadle and wheel underneath. The cast iron legs are in good shape, no rust, and have the intricate Singer design in them. The wood will take some work but Pk loves a challenge.

I have a cast iron portable Singer machine (I got it at a thrift store for 30 dollars) in mint condition with beautiful gold scrollwork on it that might fit in here as well. It only goes forward and backward. But in all reality, most of my sewing is straight stitching. I don't use zig zag stitches or other fancy ones very often and if I need them, I can pull out the newer machine and use that.

One day this week we'll get to the home store and get some cord and a new plug and then we'll see what works and what doesn't. It came with the original instruction book and some bobbins (good thing since they're different than mine and they sit sideways in the machine which is also different) and a package of needles so I can try it right away.

We had a good time this weekend. I'll tell you about Sunday and Monday later and show you the photos of our roomlet and our dinner. So, TTFN.

2011-10-08T17:14:00.000-04:00

We are in the middle of the most beautiful weather here right now. It seems like it's either feast or famine lately. All rain all the time or all sunshine.

Today was all sunshine. Pk, El and I went to Allaire State Park to ride the Pine Ridge RR. A little backstory here. Pk and I were looking for a train ride to look at some fall foliage and this came up when I did a search in the area. We thought it would be nice to take the train and have a picnic in the park so we stopped at the store on Friday on our way home from work and bought some goodies and off we went.

It's a small train. How small you ask? Well here's the engine. It's a tiny little thing. It pulled one regular car, one open air car and a red caboose.

The entire circuit takes about 10 minutes and they take you around twice. Despite it being geared more toward small folks, we enjoyed it. (maybe because we are small folks at heart).

We then discovered that this weekend they were having a Flea Market. Never ones to pass a chance to look at other people's junk, I mean, um treasures, we walked around. Toward the end of the booths, we discovered this. Most people recognize the name Singer. I knew this was at least a table and if I was lucky, a machine as well.

I opened the lid and oh my goodness, a cast iron Singer (circa 1953) with a sticker on it that said "$45. It runs!") Be still my heart.

I was hemming and hawing (I am not very good at bargaining) and the man told me "I'll take $40 for it", I said "Sold" and handed over my money before he changed his mind. My grandmother had one of these, only it was a treadle model. This one has been electrified and the machine needs a new cord but Pk is a multi talented man and can replace the cord for me.

I am hoping my machine will fit into the table but Pk says if it doesn't, he can take the top off and put a flat top on and my machine can sit on it. He's going to refinish the cabinet. The shellac is old and brown and there is some damage to the veneer inside. Nothing insurmountable. I would love to have the machine out where I can use it more easily. Of course, I could always use the machine that's already in the table. It only goes back and forth but the wheel and needle assembly seems to move easily and smoothly so maybe it'll come in handy anyway.

I passed up the chance to buy an old spinning wheel. It was in really good shape but I don't need it and I didn't know anyone who would want it. I called Em but she already has a wheel like this (saxony style, on the bulky side and difficult to transport) so she turned it down.

We sat in the park, under a tree and ate our lunch watching as two wedding parties pulled up. Allaire State Park was once a village and there is a restored church/school building on the property. People get married in the church and then have their photos taken in the park. It's a pretty place, all whitewashed and plain. We saw various members of the wedding party but not the bridal couple.

We got home late in the afternoon so I can finish the laundry. Tomorrow we are going to brunch and then driving down to the shore to spend the night in a b&b for our anniversary. It's a weekend suited perfectly to us. Relaxing and quiet and no frantic running around. Soon, we decide what we want for dinner and then let someone else prepare it for us. It doesn't get much better than that.

Enjoy your Sunday.

2011-10-03T08:22:00.000-04:00

Today I haz a sad. Pk and I had to have Hobbes put to sleep yesterday.

He had been losing weight and we thought he might have tape worm ( we saw him eating something he killed and this is a common result) so we dosed him with medicine and waited to see what happened.
He seemed to rally on Saturday and was moving around and eating/drinking. We breathed a sigh of relief and figured we'd take him for a check up in a few days.

Sunday he had taken a sharp turn for the worse. He was limp and unresponsive. We called the emergency vet and took him right in.

They were wonderful. They told us he had a mass in his abdomen and they were going to do blood tests, xrays and other diagnostics. We asked if they were going to be able to fix him. They hemmed and hawed and finally said they didn't think so.

We opted not to put him through useless and possible painful treatment and held him as they injected the euthanasia drugs into his catheter. He kept his eyes on me and I saw the moment his spirit left his body. We brought him home and buried him next to his brother and our other cats/hamsters/guinea pigs. One day someone else will live here and wonder about all the animal bones in the yard but you outlive a lot of animals in 30 years.

We sat around and decided to watch movies. Unfortunately, we chose Independence Day (Will Smith) and forgot how emotional parts of it are. I sobbed through most of it. We watched cartoons after dinner. Much better choice.

Hobbes' tumor must have been a fast growing thing because a few weeks ago, he was fine. He was not a lovey cat. He was fiercely independent and tolerated us for our opposable thumbs. I think he would have been way happier if he had been able to grow some himself.

Our favorite game was the "look at me Hobbes" game. Someone would hold him and try to make him make eye contact. It wasn't easy and Hobbes usually won.

He was an ornery, pain in the ass, bad boy. And we loved him all the more for it (we do love our bad boys don't we?) He will be remembered and missed forever.

Good bye Hobbers.

2011-10-01T16:38:00.000-04:00

It's Saturday afternoon and most of the work of the day is done. Today was mostly sunny. And no rain. For the first time in days, it didn't rain. It felt like a blessing.

I took the opportunity to wash the windows and curtains. We have tilt windows upstairs so they're fairly easy and the curtains go right into the washer and dryer and back onto the windows before they get all wrinkled in the dryer. I don't know why I always dread the thought of doing this. It's never difficult and the reward is clean windows with curtains that smell wonderful. I also washed the bedding and now our bedroom smells fresh.

The laundry is in process but that doesn't require much attention. I got out "the orange stuff" as my girls put it. The house is now adorned with fall and Halloween decorations. There's a witch that I made several years ago with a friend who wanted to learn to sew. It was one of those patterned pieces of material that you buy with all the parts pre-printed on the cloth and you just cut them out, sew them together and stuff whatever you want to stuff. It was a fun project and she learned to sew and do appliques and how to sew linings all from one small project.

I bought a set of these pumpkins a long time ago. I love honeycombed paper decorations.

The wreath is on the door and there are leaf stickies on the windows and the orange lights are up. It signals the start of the fall holiday season. We are already thinking of Hallowe'en and then before you know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here. I love this time of year.

In a few days, Pk and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary. 30 years. I'm not sure how that happened. People are always amazed/impressed and I feel odd when they say "how did you do that?". I don't have an answer. One day at a time is the best I can come up with. We've been together long enough that we've worn off the sharp edges and now we fit together. Mostly, I think it's because I let him think he's in charge......

as if.

The crocheters outnumber the knitters in my group 5-3. This past week I didn't get time to work on my project at all since one of our members decided she wanted to make crocheted "motifs" out of crochet cotton (almost thread) and a teeny tiny hook. This woman can't do any stitch other than the basic chain and the motif she wanted to make was a medium level complicated one. With thread. I told her I'd help her get started and she learned quickly that it wasn't going to work. She needed to learn basic stitches first. She was working on dc and treble crochet with some thicker yarns.

The woman who was supposed to work with the crocheters does not often make it to the group. It's a good thing I know basic crochet and what I don't know, I can look up. This week was a busy one. But, I do have 2 new knitters and one is finishing a scarf she has been working on (and is soooo proud of) and the other is casting around (pun intended) for a project that sparks her interest.

And what is my project? I am working on this. It's the Rhaina (sp? I don't have the book with me) scarf. I'm using the loosely spun alpaca I bought. I love how it feels and I can live with the fact that it won't give me crisp stitch definition. The yarn has thick/thin spots but the pattern itself is so simple that I think it'll look good. It has a lovely halo and is such a pleasure running through my hands.

I have a few other things in progress but this has a really simple chart and I can work on it and put it down and find where I am without too much trouble. It's a good project for group time. I always have a plain pair of socks with me as well but I spend most of the hour helping the budding fiber enthusiasts learn our craft.

Kate is making a lovely scarf with Patons Lace. Have you seen this yarn? It's a mohair/acrylic blend and I wasn't impressed with it in the skein but knitted up? It's soft and delicate and the halo is lovely. I bought some of the cream color to try it out. I don't know how well it'll block but I'm optimistic that there's enough mohair to help it hold it's shape.

I got my last installment in my Hank's fiber club. It's a pretty blue angora/lambswool roving and they sent along a dozen silk worm cocoons. At first I thought they were styrofoam bits and I couldn't figure out what to do with them.(there are no instructions) Then I looked closely and realized they were silk cocoons. And there are no holes in the ends so there must be worms inside. Pk's eyes got bright as he thought about playing with them but I contacted Amy to see if she was interested in experimenting with them with her kids. They remind me of me and my kids when they were small and interested in everything around them. We did experiments and explored just like Amy does with her two sons and her daughter. She said she'd love to play with them so I'm going to send them off sooner rather than later. I have a fear of them hatching......

That's all that's new here. I am off to do some spinning for a bit. I have some pink roving that I need to finish up and then I have a ton of spinning to do for my sweater. This is the time of year I get most of the spinning done so there's hope I can be knitting on my sweater sometime next spring. I am so optimistic.

I hope you are all having a good weekend.

2011-09-29T08:16:00.000-04:00

What five decisions are you most proud of? I was browsing blogs at work this morning (as you do) when I came across schmutzie and this was her question (which she got from someone else). I like reading her blog. It's about real life and she's a good writer and a crocheter and an all around interesting person. I was having a hard time thinking of five actual decisions I've made since it seems like I often just let things happen, which is a decision all its own.

-marrying Peter Kevin
-having children
-blogging
-teaching myself to knit
-becoming a social worker

Marrying Peter Kevin. This decision has led to the best parts of my life. I have known such joy and contentment in my life and he is the best part of it. When we got married, it was despite opposition from my parents and that relationship never recovered. It changed the way we lived our lives and made us determined to prove my dad wrong and to have a good life. I think we have succeeded so far.

Having children. I'm not sure this was a decision or something we just assumed we'd do. Luckily for us, nature cooperated and we were able to have the family we wanted. My children are the absolute best. They are bright and funny and beautiful and just lovely to be around. They are the best parts of us.

Blogging. This may seem like an odd thing to think of as a good decision but for me, it has proven to open up my life and let a whole crew of interesting, creative, giving, wonderful folks in. You all have enriched my life in ways I can't even name.

Teaching myself to knit. This was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It has given my inner creative spirit an outlet and also led to connections with people all over the world. It's also become a hobby that I can share with my girls and even peripherally with my husband.

Becoming a social worker. This job, while often having the capacity to tear the heart right out of my chest, allows me to nurture, encourage, counsel and generally help people. I am one of those people who needs to do this so being a social worker gives me a way to fulfill a need in myself and get paid for it.

There are probably other decisions I've made that were good ones (and I am absolutely sure there are an equal number of bad ones) but these were the ones that came to mind. It's amazing how often I allow things to just happen. I'm not usually a passive person when something's important but I am certainly a 'don't sweat the small stuff' kind of person. And I absolutely believe things work out for the best in the end.

So, what do you think are your best decisions?

2011-09-27T12:47:00.000-04:00

You know that Pk and I work really hard every day, right? That's why we have time to email each other. He found this today and I had to share.

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/

This is a real CDC (Centers for Disease Control) website. The beauty of it is that it will make folks pay attention to a possibly real threat by using the zombies (not that zombies aren't real)

2011-09-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

Here it is Monday morning already. Last week went by so quickly. I felt so tired all week. I know I worked and I know I cooked dinner and I think there was some light knitting done but really, not much else.

Today, I am surprisingly awake. I say surprisingly since I had a bit of insomnia last night and remember looking at the (new) alarm clock repeatedly during the night and the time seemed to be moving along slowly. And then this funny little melody started playing. We needed a new alarm clock since the radio on ours had just about died and the morning news on national public radio is where we get the majority of our news and information. We were looking for a while to find one with dual alarms. Pk's alarm goes off at 5 and it's always been a buzzing noise. Now it's a delicate beepbeepbeep. He's always been alarm A. I've always been alarm B and it's always been the radio.

Our new clock has different settings and Alarm A has a radio and B does not. So, I have to play around with it and make Pk alarm B and me Alarm A. And I have to see if the beepbeepbeep has a volume. It needs to be louder.

I managed to finish the first pair of holiday socks last night. I'm halfway through the second pair and the third pair is started. The fourth pair is still in the planning stages. All socks all the time until they're done. I've spoiled my family into expecting new socks for Christmas. It's completely doable as long as I remain focused.

I started a scarf from the Estonian Lace book. It's the Rhaina (sp?) scarf. It's thin and is only one pattern repeat across. They used a cashmere/quivit blend. Way too rich for me so I am using the loosely spun and luxuriously soft alpaca I bought at the GS sheep show. It's not great for perfect stitch definition but the pattern shows and it's coming along nicely. I worked on it a bit yesterday.

Our weather was horrendous over the weekend. Humid air and temps in the 80's. If you sat still and had the fan on, it was cool. But one movement and the sweat just broke out all over. And not delicate lady perspiration. Lumberjack sweat. We got up and went to the gym on Saturday and then ran some errands and did the grocery shopping and that was about it for the day. Pk put some kabobs on the grill and we tried not to move too much.

Yesterday was such a lazy day. Laundry and napping was about it for the day. I made a pot of chicken and dumplings for dinner. It was wonderful and filling. Comfort food.

My knitting group has grown to 7 people. I went and got some new supplies Friday night. I bought some crochet hooks, a few knitting needles and some nice soft yarn to start with. I also bought a few small counted cross stitch for the few women who mentioned they wanted to learn. We have a variety of projects going, a baby layette, a ruffled scarf, a freeform scarf, a baby blanket and of course some socks. I have a woman who wants me to teach her to make socks. I told her what to buy and we'll try this week. I'm just pleased there are folks who show up.

And now, I'm sitting at my desk, playing Words with Friends with Bells (she is once again kicking my ass), getting ready to start my Monday morning. I have to go get the charts and get ready for the start of the clinic. We're in for more rain and grey skies for at least the next two days. People will be cancelling left and right since no one likes to come out in the rain. Or the snow. Or the cold. Or the heat.

Have a good week everyone. I hope fall (spring) is treating you well.

2011-09-19T08:23:00.000-04:00

Fall starts this week according to the calendar (and based on the earth's rotation and position of the sun, etc) on Friday the 23rd. I could tell even if I didn't have a calendar in front of me. It was 49 degrees this morning (9 C) and I needed a jacket to go to work. The sun is definitely lower in the sky and the nights are cool enough to need a blanket.

It's also Elanor's birthday tomorrow. She'll be 28. I remember the day so well. I sent Pk off to work in the morning at 7, like always. We were living in southern Maryland at the time, miles away from everything.

I called him an hour later and told him I was in labor (it was a few days overdue) and he came right home. Fourteen hours later, (after countless games of UNO during which Pk took total advantage of me and cheated) they pulled Elanor from my body, all 8 pounds 9 1/2 ounces of her, with forceps. The doctor was tired of waiting. She had good strong lungs (I could hear her all the way down the hall) and was the largest baby in the place at the time.

She was strong and determined and let us know when she was happy and when she wasn't. Curiously, she seemed happier undressed and Pk could always tell what kind of day we'd had by the amount of clothing she was wearing at the end of the day.

She continues to be bright and funny and adorable. And looks so much like her father that it looks like he was cloned and I had very little to do with her creation.

Happiest of Happy Birthdays, Elanor! You are still one of the lights of our lives.

I am fighting off a sinus infection and spent the weekend sleeping. Literally. All weekend. I got up Saturday morning, took a shower, put a load of clothes in the washer and then fell asleep in the chair until close to 4. At that point, I put some dinner on the stove, ate, and went to sleep. Sunday was a repeat with just a bit less sleep. Today, I'm hoping to stay awake until lunch time. If I'm struggling, I'll go home early. Monday is my busiest day so I'm going to try to stay and finish out the day but we'll see.

I got a summons for federal jury duty in October. 5 week trial if I'm chosen. Mon-Thurs. I am hoping I won't be chosen but that's out of my hands. I've sat on a murder trial before and I can tell you, they are not nearly as exciting as television would lead you to believe. And I'm not sure I can bring anything to do. I'm going to bring an old pair of bamboo needles and a small skein of yarn. That way if they confiscate it, I won't miss it.

Time to go find my charts and check the messages and generally start the day. What I'd really like is to take a nap......

2011-09-15T19:49:00.000-04:00

Let me introduce you to my In Dreams shawl. The color is more like the top photo. It's a coppery color with beads that pick up the light and shimmer.

The yarn is an alpaca/silk blend laceweight (sienna) from WEBS and the beads are size 8 triangular gold/cranberry.

I started this in the middle of February as part of a Lord of the Rings (Two Towers) kal. It went well in the beginning, at least for the first few clues but then there was a problem and suddenly I couldn't count and my stitch count was off and I put it away for the months of June and July.

Sometime in August, (when it was hot and miserable), I picked it back up and decided to rip out the section that I was having trouble with and to start the last two and a half clues over. I put in a life line and started again.

And this time, we worked well together. As the rows grew longer, I could see the pattern developing and was getting excited. And then I could see the end and worked as often as I could so I could finally get it off the needles.

It has weight to it and is warm and soft. The beads pick up the light and reflect it so it looks like bits of stars caught in the yarn.

I'm a little lost now that it's done. I'm not sure what to do with myself! I have some small things for the holidays that I am working on but no large project on the needles. I have the Ancient Woodlands shawl pattern that I loved waiting in the wings so maybe that will be next. And maybe some spinning. It's been woefully neglected.

I got the last shipment of the Tea and Yarn from the Unique Sheep today. It's a 4 skein gradience made of cotton and bamboo and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. There's just over 400 yds and it's greens into purples. Pk likes it but I told him it wouldn't make good socks. Maybe a lightweight scarf for him for the fall. I'm not quite sure and I'll have to spend some time looking. Anybody have a thought?

There were 7 people in the knitting group today, although most of them were crocheting. Everyone seems afraid of the "two needles" (and I wasn't even knitting socks with 4 needles today) and wanted to try the hook. It's going well. One woman is working on a knitted scarf and she's playing with the stitches, some rows are knitted and some are purled and some are garter. It's all very random and she loves it. I'm making a scarf for me (the yarn harlot's one row) out of the cream colored alpaca for the winter. It's so soft. I need to remember not to knit with it when I'm wearing black pants, though.

Otherwise, things are quiet here. And suddenly cold. It was warm and very humid this morning. And now, 12 hours later, I'm wearing sweat pants and socks and sitting under a blanket. I know it's not really that cold (and my hands and feet are always cold) but it's the suddenness of it. We're looking at a cool day tomorrow. It's very welcome.

2011-09-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

Before I say anything else, I have to acknowledge that today is Sept 11. aka Patriot's Day here in the US. It's the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. I have tried to avoid the hype leading up to this day all week. I just can't stand to hear it over and over. Now that the day is here, I find myself feeling choked up at odd times as I remember that day and how it felt and the awful weeks afterwards. It was an event that changed our lives forever. Some freedoms we took for granted have been eroded and our sense of safety has likewise been deminished.

But, as someone who lived through it said, we can choose to dwell in the past or move forward. I choose to move forward and to try to learn something from the experience.

This was a productive weekend for us. We kept our promise to ourselves to go to the gym twice this week by going Saturday morning. Pk did his regular workout and I took the aqua fit class. It was an hour of nonstop movement and last night I felt everysinglemuscle in my body as they all cried out every time I moved. At least I know all the jumping around was working! Why is exercise done in the pool more fun? And how is it that I can sweat when I'm working out in water?

Today Pk, Kate and I went to the sheep show. The weather was not promising but there was only a 40% chance of rain so we opted to chance it. We dressed for mud and were glad we did. The show is in a field (as these things are) and it's been raining quite a bit lately.

Jacob sheep

angora goat

The first two barns were animals. We saw angora goats, alpacas, llamas (which were taller than I am which is a bit disconcerting), Jacob's sheep, lots of rabbits and a pony.

Kate made friends with a bunny. I had to remind her she lives in a small apartment with fish and frogs and a large dog. Kobold would love the bunny, probably love it to death. I will admit, it was like petting a cloud with eyes.

There was one little alpaca guy who was feeling anxious. He was humming and humming.

The weather was humid but the rain stayed away so we went outside to watch a demonstration of a border collie herding a small flock of flightless ducks.

The dogs were determined to get the ducks to stay together and to jump through hoops (literally) but the ducks kept trying to escape.

Dogs herding ducks

Ducks making a break for it

Dogs herding them back

They were hilarious. In the end, the dogs got the ducks back into their crate.

And what did I buy today, I hear you wonder. Well, I bought some alpaca. Some grey mill spun and some white handspun which is soft and lovely. I want to make a beret style hat for myself to wear with my red coat this winter.

And I bought Bruce. He's a alpaca with flair. He will have a place of honor on the Christmas tree in December but for now, Elanor wants him to live on the cd player so that's where he'll be. Some stitch markers might have fallen into my bag as well. They're stone hearts and just seemed to want to be mine (and some connectors for my knitpicks interchangeables but those aren't photogenic).

We had a nice time. Of course Mother Nature chose today to remind me I'm a woman (acutally, she chose overnight when I wasn't prepared and was sleeping on white sheets) and I was feeling less than optimal. Nothing some yarn fumes and advil couldn't cure.

On the way home, we passed the Sculpture Garden of Faces. We didn't go and explore, we'll save that for another day. These two faces were hanging out on the side of the road.

It's almost dinner time and I have only 4 rows left on my beaded shawl. It won't get finished tonight but I'll come close. Maybe this week will see it completed and blocked. Now that it's almost done, I am feelling the excitement that I lost somewhere in the middle.

I hope you all had a good weekend and have a safe and pleasant week!

2011-09-06T12:43:00.000-04:00

We are patting ourselves on our very humble backs this morning since we got up on our day off and WENT TO THE GYM. Yep. We had no real expectations as to how well we would do and lots of expectations on how sore our muscles would be (sitting still for any length of time would be a bad thing today). And it was pouring rain as we got ready to walk out the door but we went.

It is our intention that this is the first of two visits this week and there will be two visits next week and then the following week, we'll work up to 3 visits a week. We have a PLAN and hopefully will stick to it this time. I managed to do 15 minutes and almost a mile on the eliptical machine and some abdominal exercises, thigh muscle workout and some shoulder exercises. Enough for one day.

We did so well for the first 10 months or so last year, up until November. For some reason, we stopped and then sporadically made attempts to restart. Our gym bags sat in the car most of the spring and summer but that did not spur us to actually carry them into the gym and use them.

What was different today? I realized over the weekend that I need to wear my 'fat jeans' and I don't like that. Most of my clothes still fit but jeans are not very forgiving. I don't want to wear the fat jeans, I want to wear the less fat jeans (I don't have skinny jeans, not having been skinny since I got married and had kids). Pk's work pants are tight and he's uncomfortable and neither of us is willing to move up another size. As I sit here and feel my muscles stiffening up, I remember what one of my coworkers said "it's good pain" (as if there is such a thing). I'll just keep moving around every few minutes and that should help.

One other good thing about going to the gym is that I eat less. I spend all that time working my muscles and don't want to eat crap. We were going to come home and have some sausage and gravy and biscuits but chose instead to have sandwiches and some soup for dinner.

It's an ugly day today. It's cool and as I said, rainy. I'm going to knit (and get up at the end of every row and take a turn around the room!) and enjoy my last day of the long weekend. I got A Game of Thrones (George RR Martin) for my mp3 player and I want to listen to it today. Em liked it but told me everyone dies so I'm prepared.

And we've watched the first 8 episodes of House. He's a 'right bastard' isn't he? But I can' t decide if he's one of those people who cares down deep or is it all about him? I hope they allow the character to grow or else it would get pretty boring and probably wouldn't have sustained itself for 8 seasons. We have one more disc to go and we'll watch it tonight and then make a decision about the rest.

Em has found Dr. Who. Except she found Matt Smith whom I cannot embrace. He's ok and maybe he'll grow on me but I'm having a hard time. She loves him ("it's the hair"). We had such a nice picnic on Saturday. We watched some barges get pushed by tugboats and some container ships move down the river and of couse, the planes travelling into and out of the airport. There were sandwiches and some homemade cole slaw and cookies and chips. And laughter and stories and fun. I have a nice family and I really do appreciate that fact.

Next weekend is the Garden State Sheep Breeders Show here in NJ (the Garden State). We're planning on going on Sunday since that's when Kate can get off from work. It's not nearly as big as MDSW or Rhinebeck but it showcases local sheep and wool and yarn. I like to see what's local and support our local folks. And Pk is excited because there will be alpacas. He and Kate continue to (not so) secretly plot to bring some home and have a small herd in the back yard. I think our town has some sort of exotic pets ordinance.

It's supposed to be cool and rainy all week and then sunny over the weekend so the show will be muddy but clear. I have boots, I can deal. And it's back to work tomorrow but it's only a 3 day week. I could get so used to this 4 day weekend deal. But I want to get paid the same......

2011-09-02T17:47:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Labor Day Weekend here in the US. Started as a way to honor the working man/woman, it's become a day to have one of these. Or to spend one last weekend sunning on the beach. It's our unofficial end of summer although the calendar will tell you otherwise.

The weather is supposed to be iffy, with thundershowers predicted on Saturday night and maybe into Sunday/Monday. It would make it hard to refresh the tan. I wouldn't go near the beach this weekend if you paid me. It will be crowded and I hate that. The irony is that the weather is darn near perfect at the shore this time of year.

We are planning a picnic on Saturday. On Wed nite, Pk said "how about a picnic this weekend?" and through the magic of texting, we had contacted everyone and made plans for Saturday afternoon within an hour. He wanted to have fried chicken and potato salad but I objected to spending all morning tomorrow in the kitchen. We're taking lunch meat and cheese and rolls and condiments and drinks. Em is making desert and Kate is bringing chips/munchies. It's easy and everyone can make their own sandwiches. No standing over hot oil and frying bacon.

Other than that, our weekend is free and clear. We took Tuesday off as well so no work for us until Wednesday morning (I still won't be ready to go back!)

Today on our way home from work, we stopped in Haddonfield to walk around and were going to see about dinner outside at a cafe but it was too early and Pk seemed to be having some kind of allergic itching reaction to something so we came home. While we were there we saw this sign. It's outside the Grace Episcopal church in Haddonfield, an old stone church (I should have taken a photo of the church). We thought it was interesting that it said guests expected. We wondered if they enforced that before services. "Pardon me, where is your guest? Don't have one? Then out you go".

Haddonfield has lots of interesting (expensive) shops. It's fun to window shop but deadly for the wallet to walk into the stores. The best store is the Happy Hippo which is a toy store crammed with new and old toys both. Lots of fun things to play with. Which of course we did.

Now, it's getting onto dinner time and we're heading out for a Friday night pizza with my brother and his family. They're packing for a trip to DisneyWorld so the kids should be in rare form. Pk's been craving pepperoni so pepperoni it will be. And extra cheese and wings and french fries. All calorie free and good for you.

I plan to knit on the shawl this weekend and keep working on the holiday socks. It's almost become a tradition that everyone gets new socks for Christmas and I have to start now. I have three pairs otn and one pair planned so I'm making some progress.

Other than that? Nothing much. We'll eat and sleep and eat and sleep and be lazy and just enjoy each other's company. Oh, and watch House. We've never seen it and the first three discs are on their way to our house as we speak.

I hope whatever your plans for the weekend are, you have an enjoyably lazy and comfortable one filled with laughter (very important) and good company.

2011-08-30T17:28:00.000-04:00

I saw this today and it gave me a laugh and so I thought I'd share it with you.

I've spent the last two days sitting in one place and trying to pay attention to the world around me. Today was a bit better but this virus has knocked me on my ass. I had very little voice but today it seems to be better. Tea with honey is a lifesaver but I'm tired of tea at this point.

I've done some knitting. By knitting very very slowly, I was able to work on the beaded shawl. I am on the final clue and am feeling hopeful. I'll be back to work tomorrow. If we take more than 2 days off in a row, the HR people get involved and it gets ugly. I feel better but am still congested. I'll just take it slow when I go back. I can only imagine the mess I'm facing.

Things around here have very quickly moved back to normal. Pk was disappointed that more trees didn't come down. He's always on the look out for more stash. We're not in a flood prone area so we were safe, just the water in the lowest level of the house and that's gone.

And someone asked why a vacuum would be on the Emergency List. It's a wet/dry shop vac. It's what we've always used as a vacuum cleaner because of the hardwood floors. Evidently, everyone else thought they'd be a good thing to have. Pk is going to see if he can fix ours but usually, when the motor goes, it's gone for good.

Tomorrow we'll try to go grocery shopping and see if they've restocked the shelves.

Oh, and another comic from yesterday that made me laugh out loud. XKCD is one of my favorites and I look forward to his strips

I do spend a good portion of my early morning looking at comics. I like to start my day off with a laugh. And today, I'm sharing some with you.

2011-08-28T17:07:00.001-04:00

Here we are on the flip side. Irene has left the area and is now menacing New England. We were surprisingly lucky and I have no photos of local devastation to show you.(Emily and Katie came through the storm with only minor issues as well. We're very lucky) If you want to see the damage, you can look at msn or cnn or one of the other news organizations.

It rained like the dickens yesterday afternoon and well into last night. There didn't seem to be very much heavy wind but a branch from one of our trees broke off and thumped against the back of the house. THAT was startling. And I discovered that I didn't mind the storm as much when it was light. When it got dark and I couldn't see what was happening, that bothered me and my anxiety level rose a bit. Around about 11 pm or so, it seemed to slacken off and the rain never picked back up after that. It continured to rain most of the night but more quietly.

Right now at 5 pm, it's breezy and the wind is dry. The temps are in the 70's and the humidity is down quite a bit. And a bit of trivia. Someone told me that the last time we had an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week was in 1949. It's ok with me if we wait another 60 years before it happens again.

We tried to go grocery shopping Friday afternoon but there were no carts to be found. The store wasn't too crowded but the carts were all in use. We decided to pick up some snacky foods and do the shopping later in the week. It's actually a good decision since the locusts picked the shelves clean. We use a shop vac as a vacuum cleaner in the house. It died sometime this week and I went to home depot to buy another one and the guy laughed at me. Evidently these are on the list of emergency supplies that people were buying up in preparation for the hurricane. I just needed a new vacuum.

We made as many preparations as we could. We have extra water and had candles and flashlights and emergency yarn. I was prepared with some simple projects to knit but it was never necessary. Our power flickered two or three times during the height of the storm but never went out.

Friday, I taught Handle with Care and then Pk and I left work early to go out to lunch (and grocery shopping). We had a nice lunch and then came home. It was a good day. Handle with Care went well even if I did have to take a big guy down to the floor wearing my white jeans.

Saturday morning I woke up with a head full of snot and a sore throat. I drank tea with honey and sucked on cough drops most of the day. I am thoroughly sick of both at this point. I am still congested today but it's not as bad and the soreness is less.

I spent lots of time working on my beaded shawl. I haven't seen it spread out at all since it got too big to just use my hands. I got out some pins and a blocking square to check it out. I'm on row 215 of 256 so I'm making slow but steady progress. I like the way the leaves are developing as I make my way toward the ends. There are a lot of stitches in each row so it takes me about half an hour to complete one. The next section is beaded so it'll move slower still. I figure it'll be done by the time the weather cools down enough to wear it.

I also finished another pair of Embossed leaves socks. I seem to be on a jag. The yarn is called Mirkwood (the name of a forest in the Fellowship of the Ring) so I thought a leafy pattern would be especially appropriate. I love the way they look. These are a gift so they won't be gracing my feet. I wore my anklets this past week under a pair of pants. As I crossed my legs, they peeked out from under my pants legs and got lots of compliments.

We're sitting here feeling kind of disoriented and tired. Yesterday/last night wasn't all that tough but the stress level of all the hype for the impending storm is taking a toll. On Saturday I got to the point of just wanting the storm to get here already so we could deal with it. The build up was overwhelming. I feel exhausted and Pk keeps saying how he just feels "out of it". I put some dinner in the crockpot this morning and in a short while, I'm going down and dish it out. We'll probably have an early night and then it's back to work tomorrow. It doesn't feel like we had much of a weekend but that happens sometimes.

And it's Labor Day next weekend already. How did that happen. I swear it was just Memorial day. This summer for all its excesses, just sped by.

And that's the week that was. I'm looking forward to a quieter week, although maybe I shouldn't say that.....

2011-08-25T09:15:00.000-04:00

'Whole lotta shaking goin' on'.....

I guess by now it's not news that we had an Earthquake here on Tuesday. I have never felt anything like that before and it was scary. I know all the Californians are laughing at us but when it's a unique and new experience, it's a whole 'nother story.

I let my group talk about how they felt and because I told them I was scared, it seemed to give them permission to admit that they were afraid as well. I think what scared me was that I had no idea what to do. I can tell you what to do if there's an air raid (get under your desk and pull your coat over your head- it's what they taught us in the 60's when I was in school), or a hurricane but I have no experience with earthquakes.

I was in a medication review with the doctor and a patient and we all looked at each other in puzzlement as our chairs started to shake. I am a knee bouncer and I thought the woman next to me must be really bouncing her knees but when I looked over, she wasn't moving. The doctor, who is from California, said "this is an earthquake" and we were still puzzled. We all gathered in the lobby of our building. I will admit to feeling anxious and scared. Why we stayed in the building, I have no idea. I told you we didn't know what to do.

Eventually, they told us to go back to work. A few minutes later, Peter Kevin showed up. (A little backstory; Our plan is that if ever there is an emergency and we're at work, I'm supposed to stay where I am and he will come to me so we can get home together.) When I asked, "what are you doing here?", he said "I came to make sure you were ok. The cell phones aren't working and I couldn't reach you".

How wonderful is that?

It turned out that they suspended train service across the bridge and we managed to get a ride home with a coworker who had driven so I left a bit early. All in all, an odd afternoon.

And now we are in the path of a hurricane named Irene. There is talk of the End of Days. It makes me laugh since it's hurricane season and it's not unknown for them to make landfall here. Fortunately, we don't often get much more than some wind and rain but it does happen. We are far enough inland that we don't bear the brunt of the storm.

And if it is the End of Days, what can we do about it anyway?

In more mundane, but much more (to me) interesting news, my knitting group has grown to "a few" women from just two. One of them has already crocheted a bed sized afghan and is working on another. One is now buying her "real yarn" since she's been practicing on some " practice yarn" and is ready to make some Christmas gift scarves. One is still trying to manipulate the sticks. She's a lefty and very fortunately, I found some written directions for lefties and I can knit left handed (slowly) if I have to. And another is coming along really well. It's a good group and I'm looking forward to the time when I can pick up my own knitting when it's group time. Right now, I am stuck in teacher mode and spend most of the hour helping folks get it.

So, I'm off to get some charts for the nurse and make some phone calls and write a dozen or so treatment plans. I hope, wherever you all are, that you are safe and dry and the ground beneath your feet is stable. That's something I won't take for granted anymore.

2011-08-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning to you all.

I was texting Emily last night and asked how her weekend had gone. She said "boring but productive". Seems like a lot of that was going around.

We had a "boring" weekend and I was even fairly productive. The weather was so humid that any kind of movement caused copious amounts of sweating. Friday we hung out at the bookstore and looked at magazines. As I get older, I am finding that I feel less and less like buying magazines. It has to have several things in it that I find attractive for me to put out my money. And that's happening less and less. Pk perused the computer books (and man, those are big and heavy!)

One of the stated reasons for buying his ipad was that he wouldn't have to carry the large, heavy books back and forth to work. He bought a few computer ebooks and will buy a few more as time goes on to replace the big clunky ones with electronic ones. Saves his back.

Saturday, we did the housekeeping chores. He edged the lawn in preparation to mow but the rain came back and he didn't get the chance. I cleaned and did the laundry and knit. Remember this swatch? It's the silk/alpaca blend In Dreams shawl kal. Most of the people have finished but I had some trouble keeping my inc3 and my pfb in order and my stitch count was off. I finally ripped back to where I knew it was correct and have been working on it steadily.

It's slow going. I'm in a section with no beads and it still takes me 20-30 minutes a row. I'm on row 203 with 256 (?) or so rows in total. It feels wonderfully soft to work on and I love the slightly fuzzy look of the piece. I am grateful for my Ott light since the color is dark enough that I wouldn't be able to work on it after dinner. I spent part of Saturday and most of Sunday knitting on this. It's hard to see much difference since the rows are so long. And I haven't gotten to the final beaded section yet.

I also spent some time sorting out the blue and white socks. I (mostly) finished one. Well, I did finish it but didn't like how it looks and ripped out the top. It's sitting on spare needles until I get the other one to that point and then I'll decide how to finish off the tops. The second sock was not patterning like the first one and I discovered it was off by 2 stitches. I ripped back to the beginning of the foot (they're toe up) and added two stitches and now they are both crazy vertical stripes. Funny, how much difference two stitches can make.

I was perusing blogs this morning and Susan linked to an article that was published online regarding women as strong human beings. The author seems we're all sinking into softness and there aren't any 'badass' women anymore.

I'm not sure Badass was a state of womanhood I aspired to.(I took an internet quiz-and you know accurate those are- that told me my spirit animal was a grizzly bear. My family thinks this is hilarious and calls me the teddy bear). I have always admired women for their strength. The women who command the most respect are the ones who get up every morning and do what needs to be done and then go to bed and get up and do the same thing over the next day. Without complaint. Those are strong, and yes, badass women. They take no shit, they take care of business, they run their own little worlds.

Do I admire women like Hillary Clinton? Of course. She's smart and strong and able to get things done. But so is my neighbor. She's also strong and smart and able to get things done. I don't think women are any less Strong than we ever were. The writer thinks that because we blog about the small things in our lives (like KNITTING for instance) we are less than we were.

Maybe because we are able to still see the small, comforting things we are actually better and stronger than we ever were. I may never be Courtney Love (but who really wants to?) but I can still belt out Bat out of Hell with the best of them. I will continue to notice the small things in my world and talk about them. I will continue to post photos of my cat, my knitting, my family because these are the things that give me the strength to do what I need to every day.

And I wear my tattoos and my body piercing with pride. Inside I am really a grizzly bear......

2011-08-17T22:43:00.001-04:00

Today was a good day. It started out a bit rocky, I had a huge wave of nausea while just sitting at my desk early this morning. Bad enough that I reached for one of the 7.5 ounce cans of Coke I keep in the fridge in my office. They're cute and are just about enough soda for me at one time. It always seems to settle my stomach. After about an hour and a half, it was better. I don't know what the magic ingredient is, but I love it.

It passed and I had supervision and led a group and then just put out little fires all afternoon.

Pk and I learned that a performer of whom we'd heard but with whom we were not familiar, was playing at a local park for free tonight. We decided to get some sandwiches and head over early for an al fresco dinner and some music.

The park was beautiful. It features a small amphitheater (I had to look that up since it looks wrong) and benches all around the front with lovely large trees in the back.

We sat at the top and had a good time hearing a new (to us) musician. Only problem is that people around us were so disrespectful. They couldn't sit still or be quiet for even a few minutes. I know it's a free concert but still, the person on the stage deserves some respect.

The lighting guy had some really cool effects that were projected onto the trees behind the stage. They made it look like the trees were moving. I stopped to tell the lighting guy how much I enjoyed his part in the show and his whole face lit up.

Here's Chris Smither singing Origin of the Species. It was a good one. The man is 67 years old (and has a 7 year old daughter). He has a wonderfully craggy voice and writes intelligent songs. We're now on a mission to find some of his cds.

And I'd like to say one more thing about the Microagressions website. I hope I didn't come off as totally unsympathetic toward people who felt like they had been disregarded or insulted or devalued. I didn't mean it that way. Olivia made a good point when she said (I'm paraphrasing here) that if we allow all of these small disrespects go unmentioned, they can become big things and can snowball until people feel totally devalued or unworthy. I don't want that to happen and I actually do take the time to ask if someone says something that comes out sounding wrong. "Did you mean to say that, because it sounds like you're saying this"? It's not always easy to point out something like that without offending someone.

If people can read what others are experiencing and it helps them to become more sensitive to their own way of speaking and their own feelings/prejudices, then it's a worthwhile site.

I have my fiber craft group tomorrow. I have hopes that at least 4 people are coming. The interesting thing is that there's chatter among the group members between groups. It's very cool.

I'm off to search for some mandalas here on the computer at home. The security program at work won't let me access the websites. "Colleague, you are not permitted to view that website" (or something similar) shows up on the screen. I can't look up breast cancer either without going in circles due to the word BREAST. Youtube is also right out. Of course, facebook is ok and thankfully, I can usually read blogs during lunch. Some days it's random and I'm never sure where it'll draw the line so I will search out new and more challenging designs for my group tomorrow. I use them to introduce a mild and unthreatening form of meditation. Most folks really enjoy coloring them into intricate designs. Them make me feel peaceful.

Good night!

2011-08-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

I woke this morning to the sounds of rumbling thunder. The kind you hear just outside your consciousness but still feel in your bones. I tried to burrow back down into the bed but I was awake and sometimes that's enough.

The thunder is still there, off in the distance, threatening but the rain is steady and fairly gentle. The good thing is, we needed this. Everything will be green for a bit now. The bad part is we had planned to go to the art museum today. We are not usually people who are put off by the weather but the parking for the museum involves a walk of some distance and we'd be soaked.

Quaker Bridge from the top

It's hard to complain (well, not really. It's easy to complain, just no one wants to hear it) when we've just had some of the loveliest summer days imaginable. Pk and I went for a drive through the woods on Friday. This is Quaker Bridge (built by the Quakers in 1722) across the Batsto river. It's a little disconcerting to stand on since you can look down and see the river. It's probably less than 3 feet deep but still.....

and the bottom

The water is brown (from the iron in the soil. Batsto was known for it's iron ore) but clear. We drove through the forest just breathing in the clean, pine scented air. Not PineSol scented. Just fresh and green. We saw less than 10 other people the whole trip through. When we stopped the car to walk on the bridge, the silence was all encompassing.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center intending to find a spot to have a picnic near the lake but discovered that the lower half of Batsto Village was closed. This was disappointing but we're flexible so we headed home to pick up Elanor and head for the other river to have dinner.

We stopped at the farm stand (with the honor box) and happened to see the woman who runs it. She was filling a bag with vegetables and wanted me to know that she wasn't stealing. I told her we stopped here frequently and always wondered if most people payed. She said "about 90%. We figure most people pay. You know who the worst offenders are? Middle aged women". I was surprised but being a middle aged woman myself, didn't say anything. I had my cash in my hand. We bought some long thing white eggplant, some tomatoes and some tomatillos.

We had a nice dinner while watching ships coming and going on the river and then headed home. An altogether satisfying summer day.

Yesterday was shopping, cleaning and laundry and humidity. You could feel it creeping up anytime you moved. And then the rains started last night. It's supposed to rain today through Tuesday on and off so our beach plans for tomorrow are kind of shot. Peter Kevin said something about going to work tomorrow if we couldn't go to the beach but I'm thinking I'd take the day anyway. Mondays are my longest days. I'd like to have it off.

Emily pointed me to a website Microaggressions and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a place for people to post/comment on things that have happened to them that made them feel uncomfortable on some level. Some are women who were put down by men for being female, some are trans/bi gendered individual who were treated unfairly. Em said it made her think about the way she treats others. I guess if that's the purpose it serves, then maybe it's a good thing.

But, I also wonder about some of these people who took the time to write (I figure they must have felt strongly enough to write about the incident). I believe they felt belittled, ignored, outraged, insulted and many other emotions. I keep thinking about my father telling me to "grow a thicker skin". I know this is going to sound calloused, but I kept thinking that as I read some of the bits. It IS NOT nice to have someone discredit you for something you are but I wonder why it gives some folks such angst. I also am aware that I am writing this as a white heterosexual woman in America and that may make a huge difference in my life experiences.

I'm finding it diffucult to express what I want to say without sounding intolerant myself. I know I have my prejudices but I work hard to see them and to overcome them. I see too many folks disregarded every day because of conditions they can't help. I don't want to be part of the problem but I don't know that I see complaining about it as helpful. Or maybe it's just cathartic?

What do you think?

2011-08-08T18:04:00.000-04:00

the birthday party table decoration.

Friday was Kate's 22nd birthday. We took her to get pizza and then to see Captain America. Now, I'm not a huge comic book hero fan and I will admit to knowing nothing at all about Cpt America so I went into this open minded.

I loved it. Out and out loved. I mean what's not to love about a movie where the good guys (who are all young and buff) win and the bad guys (the really bad guy had a red skull but I understand that's part of the original storyline) lose? Pk and I really enjoyed it and I think Kate did too.

We had dinner at Kate and Patrick's house on Sunday. A few weeks ago, Patrick asked me for a cake recipe so he could make a cake for Kate. Since I know she loves blueberries, I gave him an apple cake recipe (one that I know will almost never fail) and told him to substitute blueberries for apples. I've done it before and it's delicious.

Patrick made the cake on Saturday night and left in the pan overnight. I know, I know (I can hear all the bakers out there gasping). I told him that it was a mistake and they managed to get it out of the pan and put it together like a puzzle and it looks good doesn't it? It WAS good. Very tasty.

Kate called me early Sunday morning and asked for cupcakes so I made a batch and frosted them and we took them with us, just in case. She didn't need them and they ended up in the freezer. My mom used to make us cupcakes for our lunches and freeze them. Kate took some with them for their shore vacation and they'll have the rest for later.

We are being self indulgent again and taking Friday and Monday off. I can't wait. No real plans, just some time off. It will probably include a beach day but I'm not sure what else.

Summer seems to be winding down quickly. It's almost the middle of August already. It's hazy and humid here and we are relying on the a/c to get to sleep at night. It cost us 50 dollars extra in electricity for July. I figure my sanity is worth 50 dollars.

And one last shot. Here's Kobold (Kate and Patrick's dog) watching out the window. Kate and Patrick had gone to the deli and he was waiting for them to come home. That's his chair. You can't see in the photo but those windows (which look oddly crooked) are covered in nose prints. He likes to be able to see out the windows.

So, that's all that's new with us. What's new with you?

2011-08-03T08:02:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to share today's inspiration

"Smile, breathe and go slowly."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Isn't that good advice for a mid week? I know I tend to rush (or try to rush) through the week to get to the weekend. Once in a while, I wonder what I've missed by hurrying through the days. I can't get them back once I've barreled through them. Just for today, I'm going to let the day unfold as it wants and not try to rush through to the end. And I'll smile at people and make them want to slow down.

We had our annual eye exams last night. Pk needs stronger reading glasses, a sign of aging with which he is not thrilled. My vision is unchanged (yay eyes!) but I opted for new glasses because I have not been thrilled with the ones I have had for the past year. My new ones are thinner and lighter than the present ones and are a metallic copper color. They have only half frames (which seems to be the style right now) and the optical company charges 8 dollars to prepare the lenses for this. They have to grind the edges specially. I also pay more for lineless bifocals and for high tech thin lenses. My vision is bad (legally blind without the glasses, 20/20 with them) and the lenses would be so thick if I went with the regular plastic lenses. I willingly pay for the thinner lenses. We'll have them in about a week.

I have group this morning and as I was scrounging around for ideas, I remembered hearing a bit on the radio bemoaning the lack of life skills teaching in schools today. And so, I started wondering what constitutes life skills in today's world. I remember learning to fill out a check in high school but today write so few checks that although my bank has changed hands 3 times, I am still using the checks from 3 banks back (the numbers haven't changed so it's all good). I did some online searching (is using a computer a life skill now?) and came up with a United Nations report on what skills are necessary for folks to get by in life. Things like decision making; problem solving; creative thinking; and self awareness, and on and on. Some good skills. If someone grows up in an impoverished (either economically or emotionally) family they wouldn't necessarily grow up knowing/learning these things. How do you know you don't know them? How do you then learn them? I think this could be an interesting group and it'll depend on how awake my folks are today.

And my new crocheter? She came in on Monday (and I wasn't here) and showed off a scarf she had made over the weekend. She was so proud! She's already planning one for her daughter for Christmas. This made me so thrilled. Whoot! And another one is gathered into the fold.

I'm off to do a little bit more research for the group (and they think we just pull this stuff out of our brains) and get ready to start the day. Get out there, move slowly and smile!

2011-08-01T19:03:00.000-04:00

This was a 'get out of Dodge' kind of weekend for us, especially for Peter Kevin. Friday night we went shopping for birthday presents for Kate (yes, Kate, that's presents with an s). She's going to be 22 on Friday (I'm not sure how that happened. I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough for this). We got home and had an early night since we were going to get up early to go to look at tools.

We travelled to Lambertville, about an hour and a half away. I took some knitting. One of my favorite sock patterns, Embossed Leaves, done in a yarn called Mirkwood. The greens and browns and greys seemed perfect for a leaf pattern. I figured it was a nice day, I could sit in the car and wait while Pk talked to the tool selling guy.

This worked for about a half hour until I started to feel an urgent need for a bathroom. Since I hadn't gone in with him, I didn't want to knock on a stranger's door and ask to use the facilities. I sent him a text asking how long it was going to be. No response. I texted again explaining the urgency of my need. No response. Finally, I moved over to the driver's seat and went to find public facilities. Thank goodness gas stations still have public bathrooms is all I can say. They might not be ideal but they are handy in a pinch. This one was fairly clean and I was back parked outside of the tool guy's house before Pk even knew I was gone. Crisis averted.

We then did the grocery shopping (at the fancy store). It was so crowded with the most oblivious people I've ever seen all congregated in one place. Leaving carts willy nilly in the aisles, cutting in front of me as I pushed the cart along. We only go to this store two or three times a year to liven up the grocery shopping. Partly because they're higher in price than our regular store and partly because they seem to attract a very oblivious crowd.

Sunday, Pk went to Washington DC to the Galoot Fest. The east coast galoots get together once a year to talk tools and learn a new technique. I'm not sure why they always decide to do it in the heat of the summer. I think maybe next year they'll gather in the spring or fall. He left early in the morning and came home by dinner time. A good time was had by all according to him. I putzed around the house, played with the spinning and did the laundry. A nice quiet day which I enjoyed immensely. I made some omelettes for dinner and we watched some stand up comedy.

Today, we got up early and headed eastward to the beach. We decided to go to Cape May. New Jersey is a long state and Cape May is at the tip of the bottom. It's a small beach town filled with gorgeous vacation and permenant homes. We got down there by 10:30, found a place to park on the street and bought our beach tags and I had my toes in the sand within minutes. It was a glorious day! We almost didn't go because the weather report was for thunderstorms. When we got up, the sky was clear and cloudless so we went for it.

And it was a glorious day. The beach became fairly crowded quickly. Lots of folks for a Monday. We would never go to the beach on a weekend day, too many people, too much traffic. A Monday is a good bet, though.

The ocean was calm and the waves were gentle. The sand is full of broken shells and it was an adventure to walk to the water. We've always laughed at people who wore 'water shoes' but today, we understood the necessity.

The water was cold. Very cold. Get in and get out cold. There must have been a storm off the coast somewhere because there was a lot of plant life floating in the sea water.

And dolphins! We saw pods of dolphins frolicking out in the waves. It was so cool! They were jumping up out of the water! There are large sightseeing boats that are for Whale Watching and Dolphin Watching but I'd think the large motors would scare them away. They don't. A few dolphins were chasing the boats, jumping up and down in the wake.

We stayed until about 4 o'clock and got home shortly after 5:30 with intentions of going back in two weeks. I have a tendency to forget how much I love the beach when I don't go often.

We got home between thunder cells. I could tell one had passed through by the puddles and bits of trees on the ground. And while I was putting some dinner in the oven, another one passed overhead. Bright lightning and cracks of thunder. It seems to have passed on now and the sky is brightening. It rained somewhat but nothing like they were predicting (Large Hail! Gusty Winds! Heavy Downpours!!).

We're getting ready to eat dinner and then get ourselves back together for going to work tomorrow. Sigh. We'd really rather go back to the beach.

2011-07-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

Our lovely summery weather is over and we are back to hot and humid. We had a few absolutely picture perfect summer days in between these nasty heat waves and we took advantage of them.

On Wednesday, we left work, picked up Kate, called in an order to our favorite Chinese restaurant and headed to the river to enjoy dinner outdoors. We had some sesame chicken and dumplings and fried rice. Absolutely delicious and the breezes off the river felt wonderful.

A huge tanker came down the river as we sat there. It was riding high so we assumed it was empty. There were several pleasure boats out there but none of the very annoying ski doos (you know those small motorized things with the whiny motors).

The ships had to share the river with these guys. The tide was out so there was land for them to waddle onto. They seemed to have no fear of the boats and swam around them.

We sat and Kate and I did some knitting and we actually had to pull on a sweater. We sat until it was time to close the park (it closes at dusk) and then packed up and left.

I love eating outside.

Thursday wasn't too bad either but a large weather system moved into the area bringing storms and then the muggy heat. Today was miserable and it looks like it'll be this way until next Thursday. I can't wait to see the electric bill for next month.

Pk spends his downtime at work cruising Craig's list looking for tools. There's a man in Lambertville (about 90 mins away) selling planes and chisels. We are getting up early tomorrow to go and check it out. If he's lucky, there'll be some new and interesting tools to buy. I'm going along for the ride. Lambertville is further up the river and is a picturesque town. It is across the river from New Hope, PA, a town that sells antiques and high end crafty things. New Hope will be mobbed on a summer weekend so we'll avoid it but Lambertville (which has some nice shops and little places to eat) might be nice.

Monday is a day off from work and we're planning a day at the beach. We haven't been to swin in the ocean yet this year and are really looking forward to it.

I finally finished my anklet socks. I like the way they came out. They're feminine and pretty. The yarn suited the pattern and I'm happy with the finished product. I haven't done much other knitting except for bits and pieces on the beaded shawl. It's coming along slowly. There are some bits with inc3 and I seem to have some trouble keeping the stitch count correct.

I have 3 or 4 pairs of socks otn and I've found a hat pattern I want to try. It's designed for handspun yarn. I think I have one or two skeins that have enough yardage to give it a try. Small projects that are easily put down have been the only thing I can pay attention to.

And an update on the knittng/crocheting group. I had 2 women show up this week. Both wanted to learn to crochet. I think the idea of more than one hook/needle made them anxious. The one woman was a lefty and we struggled along but she got the basics down. The other woman (who is in my social rehab program) insisted at first that a friend of her mother's tried to teach her years ago "but I couldn't get it". I told her not to worry. I wasn't going to force a hook on her. She picked one up and a ball of cotton and before you know it, had a long chain.

I gave her lots of praise and encouragement and then showed her how to build on her chain and make a square. We're aiming for a washrag. She was pleased and couldn't wait to show her mother. Today she came in and beamed when she showed me her square. It's not how I would do a double crochet but it works for her. I told her it didn't matter so much how she did it as long as she liked it and she was consistent. Her mother's friend was very picky and told her it "had to be done a certain way" which can be intimidating. I was so proud. The look on her face was worth all the weeks of no one showing up. And she's heading out to the craft store to find some yarn to make a scarf. I told her to touch all the balls of yarn and find one she loved. We'll start the scarf on Tuesday (unless she starts without me!) Best part of the day.

We did some shopping for Kate's birthday present. She'll be 22 on Friday next. There will be family and friends and food and presents and cake. All the ingredients for a successful birthday party.

We just have to get through the heat first. If you're looking for me? I'll be the puddle in the corner.

2011-07-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

Here it is almost a week later and life is just going along normally. You'll get no complaints from me on that account.

Handle with Care on Friday was a challenge. The room we held it in is in the oldest part of the hospital (Pennsylvania Hospital is the oldest one in the US, started in 1751 by none other than Ben Franklin) and is not insulated very well. We did have a/c but after the room filled with 18 bodies, it was only cool if you sat still. And since this is about how to both verbally and physically handle aggressive patients, some movement is necessary.

It was a good group (except for one person who was bound and determined to let us know how much she resented being there, I've never heard so many sighs). We had a decent discussion about incidents people had witnessed or been involved in and how they could have been handled better. After lunch, we decided to finish up in our building because our a/c is usually high. Not that day. The engineering wizards came in and turned it up but nothing was happening so we discussed restraints and called it good.

I went and got my hair cut short and we picked up some cold dinner and went home to hibernate for the weekend. The laundry got done but not much else. The house was like an oven when the temps outside crested 100 degrees. We watched Mummy movies and I moved the spinning wheel to the bedroom. We had meals cooked in the crockpot or taken out of the fridge.

We had to go out on Saturday. We got up early and headed to the Women's Imaging Center. I got the pelvic ultra sound done. I asked the woman when she was buying me dinner because anyone that intimate with me should be buying me a meal. (in a trans vaginal u/s, they use a long thin probe. It's an experience) She let me look at the screen. You know that ovaries are roughly the size of olives? Well, I have two cysts on each side roughly the size of quarters. They don't seem to be doing anything but hanging around but we'll see. The walls of the uterus are thicker than they should be since I just had a period. I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure the doctor will let me know. I did get an all clear letter on the mammogram so that's good.

We took ourselves out to breakfast and then right back into our nice, cool cave. We came out blinking into the heat/sun on Monday morning to go back to work and although it was still warm, it wasn't as bad. The rain came Monday night and swept the humidity away. Today is about as lovely a day as you could ask for. It's 75 degrees and sunny and beautiful. I'm thinking a dinner in the park might be called for.

I have some finished socks but since I'm putting them away for the holidays, I'm not posting any photos. I have done very little knitting/spinning lately. It takes a lot of energy to keep my body cool in all the heat so there was a lot of napping. Pk was getting cabin fever.

We have today and then tomorrow and Friday and the weekend are supposed to be wicked again. Pk is heading down to Washington DC for his annual galoot fest. I don't know why these supposedly intelligent men don't hold these outdoor gatherings in a cooler month. They hang around outside and use handtools and sweat. If the weather holds, we've taken Monday off and are heading to the beach for the day. I love the beach. Like walking in the woods, it makes me feel peaceful all the way down to my core.

Other than that, life is quiet. Kate has a birthday coming up. My youngest child will be 22 (how did that happen?). She is having us all for dinner and Patrick is making the cake. I told him that whatever he did for Kate's birthday, there had to be cake. She didn't get one last year and has mentioned it for the entire year. Birthday cakes are de rigeur in our family.

And I thought I'd report on the Keurig. I like it. I'm not fond of their k cups and will probably not buy them. I will invest in a second filter to use my own coffee. It's nice to come downstairs and put my travel cup under the spout and push a button and within a minute have a cup of hot coffee. Pk can put a tea bag into a cup and have a hot cup of tea in a minute. I set the timer to come on at 6 am and go off at 12 so for those hours, the water stays hot. Any other time, you just hit power and it takes 4 minutes. Not too shabby. Their k cups are ok. They have name brand coffee available but it's the same amount whether you choose a large cup or a small cup so either it's strong or weak. We have a selection of decaf cups for emergencies. And I can get them at the grocery store. It's a convenient machine and there is less waste of coffee so it's all good in the long run.

Time to pick up the phone messages and get some charts and start work. I have group today and have yet to decide on a topic. I hope your weather is as nice as ours is today. When it's this nice, I want to share it with everyone.

2011-07-21T18:44:00.000-04:00

You know what I've noticed? Heat makes people cranky. Yep. I can attest to that, being a cranky person myself right about now. We were going to grill some meat for dinner but opted for sandwiches instead. I didn't have the heart to ask Pk to stand in front of a grill in this heat. It's 100 degrees out there. I have a feeling we'll have some different kind of sandwich tomorrow.

Saturday I'm going for my mammogram and the pelvic ultrasound. It's an odd feeling to lay on a table with your legs in the air while a stranger manipulates a wand inside your vagina. The last time I had one done, I told the technician they owed me a meal since we were being so intimate.....
I got the blood tests done this week so I should have some results on what's going on in the female parts of my body soon.

I have noticed that there are very few colorful flowers in our neighborhood this year. Right after we planted two flats of brightly colored impatiens out front (figuring it would do like it always does and fill in the bed with lovely colors), we had a major heat wave. We watered but it wasn't enough. And then we've had one heat wave after another and rather dry weather so the poor little plants didn't stand a chance. This morning on our way to work, I noticed that most of our neighbors have empty beds too. I refuse to waste all the water it would take to keep those plants alive this year. And with it being as hot as it is, seeing the sprinklers running is obscene somehow. It takes a good deal of water to keep grass green in this weather. Our front yard is crispy and will stay that way unless we get some rain. We should have planted cacti.

We saw the last Harry Potter movie last night. It's really good. They did a good job with telling the story and keeping the mood. It moved along really quickly and is very dark, literally. The landscape throughout the movie is all grey and brown. Very little color. We'll go see it again. Pk wants to see it in 3D next time. I have my reservations about that.

I am working on a mindless, mostly garter shawl at the moment. The pattern is designed to use up bits and pieces of fingering weight yarns left over from making socks. I'm doing it in a fairly heavy laceweight in blue and rose. It's plain with some rows of yo and k2tog and then ends in feather and fan. I like the design feature that has increases along the shoulders as well as down the back to it will sit on your shoulders and fit without falling off. It's good for this time of year. Fairly mindless and easy to modify to suit yourself.

Just a few short months ago, we were dealing with this! It makes me feel cooler just looking at it.

Tomorrow night is Psychiatric Rehab night at the Phillies (local baseball team). Unfortunately, it's supposed to be 100 degrees then, too. We have quite a few clients that were planning to go but the heat may prevent that. Psychotropic meds mean you shouldn't be out in the heat. It can mess with your head. Blood pressure meds can cause lightheadedness and the tendency to burn more easily so I'm careful. And I really don't like baseball so we're not planning to go.

I have a Handle with Care class to teach tomorrow. It's a full class with 18 people signed up. There are only two instructors so it'll be a tough day. I just hope the a/c is working in the building we're teaching in. That could be ugly.

As far as the knitting group goes, I'll probably not go. The idea of paying for the priviledge of knitting somewhere is abhorrent. I like the store and may go back sometime but probably not to knit. Pk doesn't seem to think it's a bad thing (after all, if I go, he'll go and sit at the bar/restaurant with the good German beers) and thinks I should go at least once. But the idea of paying just to occupy space? I don't think so.

2011-07-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

It's almost bedtime here and I'm writing with the hum of the a/c in the room. Why a/c? Because even now at 10:30 at night, it's 82 degrees (28C). We are in the beginnings of what looks to be a vicious bit of weather. Tomorrow and Wed are supposed to be in the mid 90's and Thursday and Friday are supposed to be close to 100 degrees. Ew.

Our weekend didn't turn out quite like we expected but it was a good one nonetheless. Friday night, we went and bought the coffee maker. It's different and since I can use my own coffee and not have to depend on their rather expensive little pods, it's not as expensive to use as I was afraid it would be. We bought a selection of their little pod/cups of coffee and they're ok but we also bought a teeny tiny filter basket (no, really, it looks like it might be made for a hobbit) and I can use my favorite brand. I set the timer to go on at 6 in the morning and when I get downstairs, it's ready to brew. I put my coffee in the basket (I'm trying to remember to do it the night before) and put my cup under the spout and push a button. In less than a minute, I have a cup of coffee to go. Very cool. While we were in line to pay, three different people gave unsolicited testimonies regarding how much they loved their Keurig. It was funny.

Saturday, we were so lazy in the morning. We got up and ate some breakfast and sat around in our jammies until we had to shower to go out. We met Kate and Patrick at the train station and went to the Chestnut St Food store for sandwiches for lunch and then headed to Nangellini Gallery on South St.

South St in Philadelphia is unique. There are store fronts that look like this. The door says "art in the real world". There is a large variety of stores such as one called "hats in the belfry" which sells hats, CondomNation and you can guess what they sell. If you can't, one look at the sidewalk in front of the door would give you a clue. There are little sperms painted all over the ground. There are food places and clothing places and lots of people.

We found the gallery easily. Probably because it had an awning with Nangellini Gallery on the front. I walked in and automatically felt at home. It's bright and colorful and there are knitted items everywhere.

I got to meet Nicole (notwosnowflakes on ravelry). We moderate the LOTR board and had never met, only exchanged many, many messages. She is a knitwear designer and this was her trunk show.

Kate and I bought some yarn and sat down to knit and schmooze and wait for the show. Kate mentioned how much more welcoming this group was than the other knitting group we went to. Everyone talked to everyone and we felt wanted. The fashion show was really good. I bought two patterns, one is for a hat (and you know how I feel about hats). This one is a beret style designed for hand spun yarn which I happen to have a bunch of. I put on the sample and Kate kept telling me it looked good so I'll probably make one for me. The other one is called Icicles and is a lacy shawl pattern. There is a resident knitting group and spinning group there, too. They charge 5 dollars (or you have to make a purchase) and I'm not sure how I feel about it since I'll have to spend 6 dollars on a train ticket just to get there. We talked about going on Sunday afternoons but the fact that they charge doesn't sit real well with me. Do groups usually charge and am I just behind the curve here?

Meanwhile, Pk and Patrick were in the Brauhaus having beers waiting for us to finish. They also had a good time. We got home about 5. Just in time to change into some summer jeans and head out to the Moroccan restaurant (called Cous Cous) for dinner with some friends. We chose the 10 dish feast and really enjoyed the food. It's a good place to go and sit and talk while they keep bringing you new dishes to try. The belly dancer didn't come out until we had finished but we waited for her. She didn't disappoint. She moved her body in ways that were mezmerizing.

Sunday, Pk went to Kate's to watch the US team give up the World Cup to Japan. I was not feeling well so I stayed home and did laundry and sat around watching my favorite movie (The Women, both versions). I love them. We had a cold dinner and I watched Camelot. What a really really good telling of the Arthur story. A totally different take (and did I mention it was good?). Now I have to wait for them to make a new season.

Tonight, I've got things to put into the crock pot for dinner tomorrow. I can't stand to eat too much take out food and I know no one will feel like cooking. It's one of Pk's favorites, pork with figs and rosemary. If I put some potatos in with the meat and make a salad, we will have a great meal.

So, if you go to a kntting group, tell me about it, please. Is it free? Is it in a store or free floating? Would you go if you had to pay or buy something? I'm afraid they won't like it if I knit something I bring from home and didn't buy there.

That could get expensive. Thing is, I liked the store owner, Nancy, and the other women. I'm just conflicted by the whole pay to knit thing.

Stay cool, y'all. (we're probably cancelling program this week due to heat. We have too many folks with COPD and asthma). It could be real quiet at work. Not a bad thing.

2011-07-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

Pk and I ride the train together into work everyday and we often look at the people around us. Very rarely do you see a smiling face. Now, I know that most of these people are going to work but wow, they look miserable. I am a smiler. I smile at people all day (secretly, I think that if I smile at the train driver, he'll stop the train so that the door is right in front of me). I don't think people pay attention to what their face (expression) says about them as they walk through their day. Mine says "here's a goofy woman. Talk to her"

We finally broke down and put the a/c in the bedroom windows on Tuesday night. After a succession of days when the temps crested in the high 90's (35C) and the humidity was unbearable, we caved. I took a mental health day on Tuesday. I just couldn't make myself go to work so I stayed home and spent most of the day just sitting still since it was so hot. I put dinner in the crock put and made some rice early in the day so I could just reheat it at dinner time and not have to cook when it was so hot.

Pk came home and put the window units in and it was bliss. It's so much easier to sleep when you don't stick to the sheets.

We have one of those weekends coming up when there is fun planned but no time to get the chores done and no down time. While I like being busy, I crave downtime so it'll be a challenge to find some. Friday night we have to do the grocery shopping and buy a new coffee maker (Pk broke the carafe to the old one and it's over 10 yrs old and irreplaceable). We have been doing some research and are probably going to buy a Keurig. Someone told Pk how much they love theirs and he was intrigued by the "cup of coffee in one minute" part. As long as it's a good cup of coffee, I don't really care.

We also need a new clock radio. This proves to be a challenge because we need two alarms and they don't make many models that have that feature. Our current one is dying by inches and it's gotten to the point where I can't stand it anymore.

Saturday we (Pk, Kate, Patrick and I) are going to a fiber/yarn/knitted goods trunk show put on by a local indie dyer. We thought we could catch the train into Philadelphia, have lunch and Pk and Patrick could walk South Street for a bit while Kate and I check out the yarny action. I just got the most amazing wrap pattern called Isengard (Susan Pandorf) and I need some fingering weight yarn to make it. It's a charted pattern and I am hopeless with them but I'm willing to try again.

Saturday night we're having dinner with some friends at a Moroccan restaurant complete with belly dancers. Pk and I have eaten there before and the food is tasty (except for the chicken in pastry that had a quarter inch of powdered sugar and cinnamon on top-that was just odd) and the entertainment was fun.

Sunday is Women's World Cup. Pk has been watching the games (loudly and vigorously) and was excited to watch the US women's team advance to the finals. He mentioned to one of his coworkers that she should have a world cup party on Sunday and she took the bait. So, we may be heading over to Pennsyvania for that.

Somewhere in all of this, I have to find time to do the laundry, change the bed, clean the bathroom, vaccum and dust and clean the kitchen. Something has to give and it will probably be the cleaning. I have my priorities, you know. Clean underwear being one of them.

It sounds like a good weekend. I can take some knitting with me to the World Cup party and just sit quietly since I'm not a soccer fan. I like Pk's coworkers so it's not a chore to spend time with them.

So, how about you? How are you holding up in the heat (or cold if you're in the middle of winter)? Any good plans?

2011-07-10T18:02:00.000-04:00

We had another power outage at work on Friday. At 3:15. There was a loud bzzzt and then nothing. I was just finishing up some stuff and getting ready to go home anyway so it wasn't a big deal to me. Until I walked downstairs to go outside and could see the rain pouring down.

And of course I had on sandals.

It rained hard off and on all night and Saturday was a sunny but humid day. Pk mowed and I cleaned and we sat around and were sweaty. We decided that Sunday we'd attempt another day at the lake.

We got up early and headed out the door by 9. We stopped and bought some sandwiches and ice and got to the lake at 10. We set up umbrellas and chairs and plopped ourselves down. Of course there was liberally applied sunblock. The building behind us there is the bath house. There is a snack bar in which they cook french fries. This is a fiendish plot to make people hungry. And it works every time!

Look at how clean the beach is. The sky was as blue and cloudless as it can be. There was even a gentle breeze. If you got to choose the weather for a day at the lake, this is what you'd choose.

We sat and Pk watched movies that he'd loaded onto his ipad and Elanor read her book and I listened to a favorite audiobook and did some knitting on a sock that is definitely eye catching.

Look at those wonderfully fuzzy vertical stripes. It's a ball of yarn by Dave Daniels of Cabin Cove sent to me by Roxie. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I just did a plain toe up sock and let the yarn be the star. It's a cashmere/merino/nylon blend and wonderfully soft.

After a while, Pk and I got warm and decided to go swimmng. It was a short lived swim. The water was COLD. The lake is fed by the mullica river and after all the rain, it was just freezing. And you have to creep out into the lake slowly. It's like slow torture but very refreshing.

We stayed all day. It's the most relaxing way to spend a weekend day. You can't DO anything but relax. You can swim or sit and read/talk/play games/knit. Nothing taxing or difficult.

On the way home, we always stop at this stand. The lake is in the Wharton Tract, a large state owned and preserved forest. It's the Pinelands area and a unique habitat. On the edges of this are farms. There is always corn, blueberries and soon watermelons and pumpkins. This guy puts out wonderful produce and leaves a cast iron box to put your money in. Today we got 3 pints of fresh blueberries (which are incredibly sweet and delicious even though blueberries aren't one of my favorites), 4 tomatoes (large, round red beauties) and two good sized cucumbers. It's an honor system. I've often wondered how many people pay and how many people just take the fruit and vegetables.

Two pints of the blueberries are already in the oven with a cinnamon flavored batter on top. In about an hour we'll have blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for desert. I set up a roast beef with potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms in the crockpot so we have a delicious home cooked meal with minimal effort on anyone's part.

It was a good weekend and while I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, I'm not dreading it. I feel like I had a weekend (you know how sometimes you feel like the weekend just flew by with chores and things and there was no relaxing).

I am going to check on the dinner and watch a movie with Pk and maybe work on my shawl for a bit before going to bed early. All this sitting in the sun makes me tired. Today, life is good.

"You brought your Sunday morning sunshine

Here into my Monday morning rain.

You taught me happiness just one time

It keeps on coming back again and again"

~Sunday Morning Sunshine by Harry Chapin

2011-07-07T17:19:00.000-04:00

I think the person who invented window fans is a pure and simple genius. As long as the temp goes down somewhat at night, it keeps our rooms cool and we've been able to avoid using the a/c. We haven't even put them in the windows. It's been a warm week but that's what passes for normal here on the eastern coast of the US in July.

Hobbes rolling in the dirt.

I like July. I like summer in general. There's something unrushed about the long days and soft sultry nights. The mosquitos have been awful this year so sitting outside is not something we do often. We sat at the park on the Fourth (no lake joy for us. We got there at 9:30 in the morning to be told it was "at capacity".) and my feet are still itchy. There were tiny little bugs (could have been sand fleas) that made sharp little bites which turned into large itchy welts. I've been putting ice and some spray on them but all I want to do it scratch. It's hard to ignore but I'm trying. I've already scratched some raw. We're going to try for the lake again this weekend. It's not a holiday so we may have some luck.

I had knitting group today. Group may be a misnomer. How many people do you need to have a group? It was me and one other woman. We knit and chatted and it was pleasant. She asked me how much one of those "things of yarn" cost. I explained that it depended on what it was made of and how it was dyed. I talked about the sock yarn club yarn and how it's individually dyed by an indie dyer and how I look forward to it each month. She was a bit taken aback that I spend 30 dollars each month on a single skein of yarn. I explained the value of the yarn to me and how we all value these things differently. She saw some at a thrift store and wondered if it was any good. I told her my feeling is that all yarn is 'good'. It's all good for something and if she liked the yarn, she should buy it. She's a brand new knitter and has no idea yet what she's stepping into. Maybe I shouldn't tell her.......

I thought of a good way to use us some of those bits and bobs of leftover sock yarn. I bought the Mitered Crosses Blanket pattern. I thought I could use the lefover bits for the colors in the crosses and then find one bright color to tie them all together. I think it'll be a good use of all the bits of sock yarn I have lying around. and the squares would be portable for train knitting. And I like the way it looks.

We have no real plans this weekend. Just Pk and I doing chores and then sitting at the lake. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Another thing to like about summer. I don't feel like I should always be "doing something". The weather is so conducive to just sitting still.

I'm anxious to see the new Torchwood season. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Netflix picks it up. Once in a while, I am sorry we don't have a television.

This is such a random post. Random thoughts from a random mind. One of my doctors is having surgery and will be out for the next month. This is good/bad. Good because it means no clinics on Mon/Tues afternoons. Bad because if our clients need anything, they only have me and I have to find some other doctor to help them.

I understand it's really cold in parts of Australia right now. Cold enough to wear alpaca sweaters. I can't imagine it. I'm watching some heavy duty storm clouds roll overhead. Pk was going to fire up the grill but maybe not. I think the burgers will have to be cooked inside.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is probably best known for her studies/writings on death. On Death and Dying was so popular when I was in college. We all discussed it. She was a very positive person with a positive outlook on life. One of my favorite things she said is this

People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

I don't know why but it resonates with me. I know people who are stained glass beauties. The people who quietly make the world a better place just by being themselves. I'm feeling grateful for these people today. It's been an interesting week and I have been blessed with the presence of a few such folks.

I better sign off before I start singing Kumbaya.........my period must be due. I'm feeling emotional.
Have a good day and a lovely weekend.