Haikai fun and games
Terry, at http://soupgirls.typepad.com/knittingtheblues/2008/07/not-haiku-haika.html started a Haikai - sort of a poetry game. And Lucia http://rhymeswithfuchsia.blogspot.com/ passed it on to Roxie and I took it from there.

Steam heated
Lightning splits dark skies
Dramatic summer storms.

Winds howl through the leaves
Bird clutching branches tight.

Clouds dance in circles
Clean laundry snaps on the line
Warm rain falls in sheets

Blue skies brighten the day
Time to head to the beach
Sparkling blue-green wave

Zips me shoreward at top speed
The world's best thrill ride

Except for that night
with Bacchus in the woods

The leaves that tickled
Green and cool against our skin
Oh to be there now.


Next?

The Recipe For Donna Lee

3 parts Intellect 2 parts Class 1 part Drive Splash of Giddiness Shake vigorously

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

So, that's how you make a Donna Lee. Hmmm. Sounds easy enough.

It's finished. My Adamas shawl was finished last night and spent the night pinned to a blanket on the dining room table. It was hard to get a photo of the thing altogether but I did take this one. It is definitely not a testament to my ability to follow a pattern. If you look, you can see where I missed a row and it threw the whole scheme off. My nice straight squares morphed into heart shapes. It's almost like an Escher drawing where you start out with one thing and it changes gradually into something else. The center and top of the shawl have nice crisp square shapes. But about halfway down, I missed the row and it gradually starts to look like hearts and you know what? I like it. It is very regular and looks like a design element. And that's my story.

I'm not happy that I didn't pick up the error. I'm not sure what I was thinking (clearly, I was NOT thinking). It was hard to see the pattern with it all bunched up on the needles and when I looked at it at night, it looked right. It wasn't until I blocked it out that the discrepancies showed themselves. It's still pretty and lacy looking and I will still wear it to the wedding on Saturday. I guess if one of the other guests is a knitter, they might pick up my massive error but maybe not. Maybe they'll just admire the way the sunlight brings out the colors in the yarn or admire how lovely it looks draped on my shoulders. In any case, it is soft and light and warm and I will enjoy wearing it.

The Tour de France kal is over. Now, I am committed to making a felted bag for one of my clients. She asked me to knit a bag for her and offered me a painting in exchange. I agreed and today she brought in her painting. She is an art student who is having a show at a local gallery on Friday. The painting is an abstract nude and I like it. Now I have to live up to my end of the bargain and make the bag. I found a pattern she likes and ordered some red yarn (her request). As soon as it gets here, I'll get started. I've never felted anything (on purpose) before so I chose an easy pattern. At least I hope it's easy. It's from Berroco yarn and it's called Pignoli. I like it. She has an appointment in 4 weeks and I'd like to give it to her then. I may be a tad optimistic here. It's a heavy worsted yarn on size 10 US needles. Maybe it's doable. And then it gets felted in the machine. Anyone ever made this before? I'm afraid I'll really like it and then not want to give it away.

I also ordered Cat Bordhi's New Pathways to Socks book. I've seen so many interesting socks online that have come out of that book that I am really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and the week will be half over. On Monday I have my endoscope test done. On the one hand, I want the test to be clear with no evident problems. On the other, I want there to be something wrong that she can fix so I don't have pain in my chest anymore. I have been taking two medicines for a few weeks now and the pain is less frequent and not as intense so maybe they are solving the problem. Maybe it's something that will never go completely away and I'll have to live with it. At least I'll know one way or another come Monday.

I took this just a few minutes ago. I have been trying to catch the colors but it's impossible. The yarn is Knitpicks Shadow in Oregon Coast Heather. The color on the website looks lighter on my monitor than the color is in person. There is red and orange and blue and green and gold woven in there. My camera just won't pick it up. I am on repeat number 14. Only 10 more rows (each repeat is 10 rows) and then 10 rows in chart number 3 and I will be done. I'm starting to feel optimistic here.

This was started as my Tour de France kal project. I was working toward a polka dot jersey as lace is quite challenging to me. I have worked as hard as I could even when "working" meant "ripping out and starting over." It is so thin and light and warm. Being a team leader on the Tour was interesting. I found some new blogs to read and new talent to be amazed at. One of my team members finished not one but two sweaters! Melanie finished a Molly Ringwald sweater and a knitted bed jacket. She is amazing. Oh, and the sweaters are beautiful.

They kept my cousin in the hospital for some medical monitoring and to do a psychiatric evaluation. And they are sending in the social worker to help her fill out the papers for disability so she can get some health coverage and be able to buy her medicine. Keeping her diabetes under control should be a priority. People don't realize that uncontrolled diabetes can cause brain damage as well as a host of other problems. My concern is what the stress is doing to my aunt. She is fragile and can't be taking care of everyone anymore.

Today is considerably more humid. Moving around is sweat producing work. I think I'll let the machines cook dinner tonight. Food in the crock pot and flour in the breadmaker and I'll sit and knit. Sounds like a plan.

Well, I was all set to write about the Collingswood Farmers' Market which is every Saturday from May to Dec and is under the Speedline (the train I ride to work each day). PK and I were going to go over this morning and check out some local produce and possibly hear some music. I was looking forward to some Jersey tomatoes and maybe some corn and some really good bread. New Jersey is the Garden State and we are lucky to live in an area with many small farms.

Notice the was in that statement. Yesterday I spent the day fighting off a sinus induced migraine. The abrupt change in weather made my sinuses go crazy and my head felt like it would explode. With the absence of decongestant, the best I can do is dull the pain. I made it through the day and was sitting on my bed quietly working on my shawl. I was making progress and started to think I just might make it for the wedding next week. Then I made the mistake of answering the phone. It was my cousin letting me know that she had to call the ambulance because her sister was "stuck in the bathtub and can't get out". (go ahead and laugh, I'll wait). She'd been vomiting for the last few days and was constipated and instead of going to the doctor, she decided to take a bath. My cousin was upset and was calling for emergency help and needed me to come to the house and take the laundry to be dried. It was 9 pm and I didn't see the emergency of the situation (I could pick up the wet clothes in the morning) but being the good person I am, I went. I checked on my aunt who was anxious but seemed ok. We discussed the fact that my cousin probably had out of whack blood sugar (she's diabetic) and having mental issues. My aunt was taking her medicine and going to bed. I picked up 6 loads of wet clothes and put them into the back of my car.

I left the clothes in the car overnight and took them to the laundramat this morning. I was going to just dry them at my house but it would have taken all night and most of today. By the time I got through and got the clothes home, it was late and the mood for the market was shot. Maybe one week soon we can go. Pk and I dropped the dry clothes off at my aunt's house. No one knows what happened at the hospital. No phone calls or reports. I figure someone will let me know sooner or later.

I am angry at my cousin for letting this stuff keep happening. For being an adult and not acting like one. For making a mess of her life and expecting everyone around her to keep cleaning up after her. She seems to forget that the rest of us have lives, too. I can usually find compassion in my self for anyone who is in need but I am having a hard time here. I guess it would be easier if I felt she was trying to do something to help herself but she is content to let everyone around her take care of her. My hope is that they will put her on a psych floor in the hospital and diagnose her with what I think is bipolar disorder and start her on some medication. Maybe then she'll start to get her life together.

And then when I opened my email today, this was waiting for me:

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. ~H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama

The universe is once again telling me something. So, I will wait until I hear what's going on and see where I can help. Because I believe love and compassion are necessities.

In other news, I am up to repeat 13 of 14 on chart 2 of my shawl. That's over 130 rows (it sounds better that way). I only have one more repeat and then 10 more rows and I'm done. I'm thinking I may be able to finish it in time to wear it next weekend. But I don't want to get too cocky. We all know how that works......

PK is vacuuming the pool and I am getting set to clean the house and do my own laundry for the week. By the time I get done inside, the pool will be ready for me to jump in and float around. Bliss. Pure bliss. (that's some of our local wildlife enjoying the cool water) My head still hurts but it is getting better and hopefully I'll get some knitting time in today. Cross your fingers.

Good morning! There are only a few sites that I make a point to visit every single day and APOD (astronomy picture of the day) is one of them. As a kid I wanted to be an astronaut and if it weren't for the whole claustrophobia and air sickness thing, I'd be wearing a Nasa blue jumpsuit as a work uniform. Unfortunately, I am not an astronaut so apod is as close as I get to space. (this is an old apod of night sky over Flagstaff, AZ).

Today's apod is very different. Very, very different. But wonderful nonetheless. Check it out. It'll make you smile. It actually brought tears to my eyes as I watched. What a wonderful reminder of how small and amazing the earth really is.

Have a great day!

How's your Monday going? Here at Hall Mercer CMHC things are quiet. We're thankful for that. When things at the mental health center are quiet, my job is easier. I went over to our inpatient floor in the main hospital to look at these. (Follow the link if you want more information) They are restraints. They're used in crisis situations in which a person is in danger of hurting themselves or others. We don't use them lightly. When we do our crisis management trainings we want to include the use of restraints in the demonstration. I have never had to be restrained and right this moment, I can't think of anything more likely to provoke a panic response in me than being unable to move my hands and feet. But sometimes, surprisingly, they can help to calm down an individual who has lost control. We are going to recommend that the center purchase a set of wrist/ankle restraints to be kept in the lobby.

And speaking of crisis management trainings; last Thursday at one of our All Staff meetings, I got an award. My two co-workers and I were given the first Executive Director Awards for outstanding service. We got polar fleece jackets with Hall Mercer and the Univ of Pennsylvania health system logo on them. They're quite nice and I'd wear it if it weren't 95 degrees today. It was a surprise and we were glad to be acknowledged for the amount of work that we put into the program.

My weekend was uneventful. That is not a bad thing. I did the housecleaning, laundry and grocery shopping on Saturday morning so I was done by the heat of the day. PK and Jim went to pick up some more tools. My uncle had a shed full of power tools and PK was glad to take them off his hands. We have now tipped the balance from garage to shop. There are too many tools in the area for it to ever be a garage. The really good news is that PK now has enough tools to make all kinds of neat wooden things. Like, say, spinning wheels. He has been looking at them in the store and online and is planning to make me one. This may take a while but I have Saraspunda in the meantime.

It's been too hot to spin in our house that does not have a/c. We finally put the window units in the bedrooms. Not because the people were hot. No. The COMPUTER was hot. Can't have that. I am steadily working on my shawl. It's hard to photograph and besides, it looks the same. I have two weeks until the wedding. I think I'm being optimistic.

But I am an optimistic, glass half full kinda person so maybe I will finish it in time. Let's all make it a good week.

You Are the Greek Goddess Demeter You are an Earth Mother, provider of delicious food and beautiful children. You prefer the company of the young, but you have a decided wanderlust, which makes being tied down lead to periods of depression. You are conscientious, law-abiding, and spiritual.

I totally stole this from Amy Lane. Only fair since she steals from me all the time.

Here's the link if you want to take the quiz. Actually, I could see myself as Demeter although without the wanderlust. I am generally a home body. And I never flash my breasts. Just in case you were wondering.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/newquiz/bl4goddessa.htm

Today is the 14th so here is my Monday.

Monday is the hardest day of the week for me. And not just because it's Monday. It's the day when I do two medicine clinics with two different doctors and it's a lot of interaction with people. So here we go.

I get up at 6 when the alarm goes off and Morning Edition on npr comes on. I generally listen to hear the weather and then it's up and into the shower. It takes me about a half hour to get showered, made up and dressed and then it's down stairs for breakfast. If I have been smart, my lunch is packed and in the fridge and the coffeemaker is set up. If I have been lazy, then I have to make some lunch and make the coffee.

After a quick breakfast, usually cereal and milk (I am especially fond of Cheerios and bananas) I put the coffee into the travel mug then it's off to the train and into Philadelphia. I knit and listen to a book on the 25 minute ride which seems all too short most mornings.

At work I sit and boot up the computer and check the email and read blogs and check phone messages until 8:30 when I go downstairs to the chart room and get the charts for the morning. I have already reviewed them and confirmed the appointments and made notes for the doctor of anything out of the ordinary. Today was a full morning clinic which means 6 appointments with adults who are mentally retarded and have a mental illness. I do the paperwork and listen to what they need that I can help with. When this is over, I make the closing notes and take those charts back and get the afternoon charts.

Oh and eat lunch before the afternoon clinic starts at 1:00.

The afternoon is similar to the morning except different doctor so different atmosphere. I have spoken to most of the people and know what their concerns are already and can prompt them to mention them to the doctor. It's funny how people will tell ME what's going on but often feel intimidated by the doctor. If you ask our clients about their doctor or their case manager, it's the case manager they have the most contact with.

Today the clinics went smoothly. There were no major issues except one woman is pregnant and now must reconsider her psych meds and another who is homeless and in need of services who as a whole host of problems. I do what I can.

I finish up the closing notes, send out a letter to the person who missed her appointment, take the charts back and finally head home. AAHHH. It feels so good to walk out the door of the building!

I'm home and I've been very good so there's a crock pot of chicken and peppers and tomatillos on the counter waiting for me to add some rice and there is dinner. ( I set up all the ingredients last night and Kate put it together this afternoon).

When the dishes are done I'm going to sit and tackle some more of this. I have finished repeat number 6 and am ready to tackle number 7. With each repeat, there are more repeats in each row so each row grows and grows and grows. And there are so many more places to make mistakes. This is not a forgiving pattern. If there is a mistake, it will show. Neadless to say, there has been a lot of tinking.

Tomorrow I will have only an afternoon clinic so the morning will be quieter and I can spend some time filling out welfare forms for people and returning phone calls and writing letters and all the other minutia that goes with social work. I like my job. I really like the individuals to whom I render service. And once in a while, one of them will tell me that I was a help and that makes all the b-s worthwhile.

So, here I am at work. I know I should be working and I have been, sort of. I wish I had some good news to report about my progress on the Adamas shawl but we are having some relationship difficulties. There may be a news blackout here until I make some progress. It's frustrating because I know I can count to 7 and I know I can knit and purl and do yo's. Even in the same row. So why, why WHY is my stitch count coming out wrong? Ok, I can do this. I am not easily daunted so there will be a shawl in the end. Sometime.

To distract you from my lack of progress, here is a seasonally appropriate blogthing:

You Are a Retro Swimsuit

You are a confident and flirtatious person. You love your body as is. You believe sexy is a state of mind. You are truly glamourous. You take good care of yourself. You are the type most likely to stay out of the sun.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofswimsuitareyouquiz/">What Kind of Swimsuit Are You?

At least I'm not a thong.....

Have a good weekend everyone! Perhaps there will be a shawl photo on Monday or maybe a pile of yarn. Who knows?

Sigh. It's Tuesday and the last day of our loooong weekend. Tomorrow is 'go back to work day' and I'm not looking forward to it.

Most of our days were spent trying to find things to do inside because it was cloudy and rainy for the last 4 days. And by rainy, I mean sudden bursts of rain. Hard rain. For about 10 minutes and then it would stop and the humidity would rise and rise. Just miserable weather days. Fortunately, we both have hobbies to keep us busy! Calvin kept me company on the couch. He is so helpful.

Pk has been making himself a workbench. So far, he has made the legs and this lovely pile of wood shavings. The important thing about this pile of shavings is that they were made with wood planes that he bought old and used and cleaned up and sharpened. They are sharp enough to slice flesh. Ask me how I know this.

I have been working on my shawl. It has been a challenge but I am finally making some progress. Maybe I'll get to wear it to the wedding in August (cross your fingers for me. If I cross mine, I'll never finish it). I am also planning to make the Fir Cone shawl from Folk Shawls with this. It's alpaca laceweight yarn I ordered on etsy from a dyer in Uruguay. It is Chestnut and the colors are perfect. The pattern will be a challenge but I like challenges. This will be started sometime in late August when Kate has time since we are having a mini kal.

So, what did we do on our last day of our mini vacation? We went to the lake and spent the day trying to keep our umbrellas from flying off down the beach. It was the first sunny day all weekend and too good to stay home. The lake was cold and wonderful. We shared it with some other webbed footed creatures and lots of kids.

Some thoughts as I sat with my toes in the sand:

Should women who don't have what would be considered "bikini ready bodies" wear bikinis? Should we applaud their acceptance of their bodies and their willingness to show them off? Or should we wish they were wearing enough to cover their ample amounts of flesh?

Why do mothers/fathers think that everyone wants to hear them yell at their children?

Why do parents bring their children to a LAKE where there is a lot of sand and water and then make them sit still on a blanket and not get dirty? Why not stay home?

Why can't I spend every sunny summer day sitting with my toes in the sand?

No, these are not deep thoughts. Just light summer musings.

And now I am going to cook up a pot of spaghetti. I put some meat, tomatoes, seasonings and some peppers and onions in the crock pot this morning and by now I have some tasty bolognese sauce to go with the pasta. Add some bread and some salad and we can call it good.

And tomorrow, work. Le sigh. But only three days until the weekend!

Well, it's been almost a week so let's get some coffee and catch up, shall we? Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to drink coffee, even decaf anymore. Or at least,I'm supposed to cut down. I finally got to see the gastro doctor( and I really like her) and she is pretty sure I have acid reflux disease (GERD). And of course there is a list of foods that it is 'suggested' that I refrain from eating. When we looked at the list, the funny thing is that none of those foods seem to bother me. I can't relate the pain to any food in particular. A bowl of Cheerios and low fat milk gave me awful pain (no I am not lactose intolerant) and yet a piece of fried chicken didn't bother me at all. It's very weird. Anyway, there is of course more medicine and an endoscope on Aug 4. That will make sure it's only reflux and not some other hideous thing. She also gave me some nitroglycerine tablets for chest pain but said "oh, they may give you a wicked headache and make you dizzy because they'll drop your bp". Makes you want to run right out and pop one of those babies, doesn't it?

This was a frustrating week knitting wise for me. I am working away on my Adamas shawl and I once again cannot count. Or when I put the needles down, the gremlins are knitting away and making mistakes when I am not looking. It has been an extremely humbling experience. This is what I have so far. I am having a hard time getting past this point (thank goodness for lifelines) and am wondering if I should just cast off and block this bit and give it to a Barbie doll. It's just the right size. No, I'll keep going. I really want to wear it to a wedding in August so I'll keep plugging along. I really like the color. It's full of bits of green and purple and blue.but it's hard to photograph. This is my TdF kal project and I am hoping to earn a polka dot jersey so persistence is the name of the game! The tour started today. Sadly, my Silence-Lotto team is not among the top finishers but it is only day one. There are three more weeks to go.

We had a quiet July 4th. I always like the 4th. It's full of fireworks which I love and parades and good food on the grill. These are some shrimp and chicken kabobs that we cooked for dinner. There was pasta salad and corn on the cob (wrapped in foil with butter and basil and cooked on the grill, to die for) and brownies. It was delicious and the rain held off long enough for us to eat outside and indulge in some swimming. The pool is cleaned and was very inviting. I was very good about not taking any bathing suit photos! Em and Jim were there for dinner. (El and Kate had to work.) Our town does fireworks on the 3rd (I have no idea why, probably so the firemen can spend the 4th with their families which is ok with me). They were really great. We always go early and take a picnic and scope out our favorite spot. Then we eat and wait for it to get dark. This year we walked the mile to the school pulling our red wagon along with the cooler in it. It made getting home so much easier. Last year it took us an hour and a half to get home. With the price of gas? No way. We can all use the exercise.

My aunt is stable and they have performed all the procedures they can think of on her. She has a pacemaker and they did the ablation so her heart rate seems to have settled down. Hopefully she'll be coming home in the next day or so. Thank you all for the good thoughts and wishes. It really helps. I'm working away on her socks. Sock one is just about done and number two will be otn soon after.

Pk and I took Monday and Tuesday off to spend a few days together. With the holiday on Friday, we get a five day weekend. I think this should be the norm but who listens to me? We have no plans other than to play, swim and eat. And go to the movies and see Will Smith's new movie called Hancock. I hear it's good.

I hope you are all doing well and that things in your neck of the woods are going smoothly.