I made it through the day and 1-did not volunteer for anything, 2- did not have to have a supervisory event of any kind. Three of those in one week is a bit much for the stress levels. I feel a little battered and bloody, but as my daughter says "not broken".







This is my Feb brown bag sock yarn becoming a Waving Laces sock. I love this pattern. It's easy enough to memorize but not boring. I didn't realize the yarn was going to stripe and I'm not sure I would have chosen this pattern for a striped yarn. I don't think it looks too bad though. I love the color and the absolute softness of the yarn.



I had to rip most of the almost finished sock for my Sock Roulette. I looked at it carefully and found flaws that I would probably have left alone if it were for me but since I'm sending it off, it had to be ripped. There are large patches of stockinette stitch and it is easy to make that look less than neat. For me, that's the real test of someone's skill. Not being able to turn out fancy schmancy stitches but to do neat, flawless stockinette.






Remember this? This is the Sunshine of Your Love Morning Surf scarf. Well, when I finished it I wasn't sure what to do with it so when someone in the comments said how much she loved the colors, I made a decision. Amy Lane got a surprise in the mail this week. I was afraid at first that she was just being nice and that she would be less-than-pleased to be gifted with something so,um, so bright. But, she emailed me to let me know that she did indeed like the colors so all is well. I enjoyed making the scarf and it is in a good home where it will be admired.






We are having the strangest weather. It was 68 degrees (20 C) yesterday and I walked to the train after work carrying my coat. This morning it was 58 degrees and windy. Now at 5 pm (when it is still light out!!!) it is down to 40 (4.4C) and very windy. And we're getting snow over the weekend. My body is confused. And in 2 weeks, we'll have daylight savings time. Then I'll be really confused.



The only thing to do is to go out for Chinese. And knit, of course.

I did it. I did a bad thing. Even though Pk reminds me almost every day not to volunteer at work, I did it. In my defense, the work group I volunteered for is one that I am actually well qualified for. It's to investigate ways to make our agency more 'recovery' oriented. I have taken many trainings in recovery and recovery oriented treatment. I know this subject.

They don't want me.

Yep, they don't want me. It seems I was the only one to volunteer. In the whole building! I don't think it's that they don't want me but they want other people to volunteer for things. I always do it. I can't seem to help it. If I see a need, I have to try to meet it. It's what helps make me good at my job. But the admin wants other people to volunteer to be part of committees and things. So, my supervisors (in another double-team session), told me I would not be part of this work group. This is really getting hard. I can however, be taught. Even a thick headed, stubborn woman like me can learn. So, I'm back to keeping my head down and my arm at my side (no raising it to volunteer). I can't afford to lose my job and in this economic climate it would be tough to find another.

On a lighter note. I discovered what my cats do all day. When I left in the morning, they were asleep on my bed. When I came home, they were asleep on my bed. In the same spots. Hobbes stretches out and Calvin huddles in a ball. They have the life. If it weren't for the whole 'licking your butt' thing, I would love to be a cat.

Did you see the full moon on Monday? I tried to take a photo because it was so bright and right after moonrise, it was just

there. I tried to take a photo and didn't realize how much the electrical wires were in the way.....

We were having some electrical troubles last week. Our power kept fluctuating. Now, we have an old house and some fluctuation is inevitable but this was alarming. Pk (who knows a thing or two about electricity) investigated and decided it was either the freezer or the outlet the freezer was plugged into. He un -plugged the freezer and it stopped. When he plugged it back in, it still didn't cause fluctuation. We scratched our heads and figured it was an anomaly. Then I went out to get hot dogs from the freezer because he wanted chili dogs (ewww). The hot dogs were not hard. I checked the other frozen items and discovered that some of them were beginning to thaw. The freezer had given up the ghost and the fluctuations were it's death throes. Tonight after work, we went to our local Home Depot and found a chest freezer to replace it. We can't complain. Our old one was a gift from my parents over 25 years ago and it was 15 years old then. I googled appliance life expectancy and freezers should last 14 years so that one really gave us our money's worth! We put a few nights of meals in our inside freezer and gave the rest of the stuff to Em and Jim. Since he is still unemployed, it'll help ease my mind that they are eating. (I can't help it. I'm a mom. I worry about them). Tomorrow when the new one is cold enough, I'll put some of the things from our inside freezer in it and then I'll shop over the weekend.

I can't believe how fast the day flew by. It's bed time already and I haven't done any knitting. I have to go and rectify that. A couple of rows, I swear. Just a couple of rows.....

The muscles in my back cooperated and I made it through Handle With Care. I put some cream on and took some advil and let my partner know he had to be gentle and all was good. It was even enjoyable. The funny thing is I always dread going but it's never as bad as I think it will be. There are 5 of us in my building who are designated trainers. Three are new this year and will hopefully carry this on as I slowly pull back.

Now we have to meet as a team and design a new training that incorporates verbal de-escalation techniques and physical restraints and our new mechanical restraints. I try to make sure there is some new stuff so people pay attention. If we do the same things over and over, people stop listening so we have to mix it up and add some new stuff. Thankfully, my children showed me how to use Powerpoint so I'm ready.

On the knitting front, after I had to rip out half of the second whimsy sock because I dropped a stitch so far back it was too hard to pick up (I knit tight), I still managed to finish them last night. I decided to give myself as easy a weekend as I could and did some spinning and lots of knitting. These are the Leaves of Whimsy. The pattern is from my Knit a Day calendar last year. It is very reminiscent of the Embossed leaves pattern by IK. I love it. It's easy to memorize and it moves along fairly quickly. They yarn is from A piece of Vermont and is a merino/bamboo blend. I measured them repeatedly as I worked them but one is still slightly longer than the other.

And then last night I picked my February bag and it contained this. I wanted some socks with browns in them so I could wear them with my brown pants. This is Cascade Yarns superwash. Color 900-something. There is brown/black/maroon/taupe parts in it. I've started some Waving Laces socks (from 25 Favorite Socks). It's very thin and nice and soft so it's a joy to work with. I am also working on my Feb sockapalooza sock. That's done on size 2 needles and they feel impossibly small.

We are in the midst of some lovely temperate weather. The days are predicted to be in the 40's and 50's (4 - 10 C). That's almost balmy for February. I used my break on Friday to walk to the candy store in Philadelphia where they still sell handmade chocolates to get some for my family for Valentine's Day (or as El calls it 'singles awareness day'). Lore's makes the very bestest dark chocolate covered cherries. Pk loves them. I know they'll be really busy this week so I was glad to get in there while I could. And I had to find some non-chocolate candy for Em's Jim. He doesn't like it. (No, I don't understand it either).

So, now I'm off to sit in front of the open window and spin some more Inna Ga Da Vida. I have some good books on my mp3 player. Sounds like a good day.

Amy tagged me for the 6th photo/6th folder meme. I wish this had happened just a few weeks ago. You may remember that my computer picked up a nasty virus and I asked Pk to rebuild the OS for me. When he did this, he forgot to save the photos that only existed on the computer. I NEVER let him rebuild the machine because I hate having to get used to different programs and newer versions of things. I am a creature of habit! I've had this laptop for over 3 years and it never needed a 'rebuild' until this virus came along. Pk apologized and I know it was not purposeful but still dismaying.

So, I have no, and I mean NO photos of my family on the computer. I realize every so often how great the loss actually is. I have no photos of Pk's ride in the airplane when he flew upside down (fortunately, my favorite one of those is the wallpaper on my work computer so I have that) and no photos of the woods and no photos of the holidays. It's not the end of the world and I have often made fun of people who live their lives through their camera lens instead of living it in person. But, I'll miss them.

What I did is close my eyes and point to one of the few photos that I have begun to re-collect (and will save on my flash drive!). This is the one I came up with. It's the tree out front of our house. It's a maple and has a double, twisted trunk. Parts of it are dying but I love it and don't want to lose it. Lots of my neighbors are cutting down trees and then not replacing them. Then they wonder why it's so much hotter in the summer! This was Wednesday morning as we were leaving for work. It wasn't really that dark, but the flash made it look like a ghost tree.

I spent today in a training. It was fairly interesting. I like the presenter. The psych rehab training community is a small one and we all get really familiar with who the instructors are. This was one of my favorites. I knit a few inches on my Leaves of Whimsy socks. I'm mostly finished the second one. Just half the foot and then the toe. No one said anything about the knitting and I participated so it was all good. I started a sock for Julie and Amy Lane's Feb sock roundup. I found yarn and pattern that seem to be perfect. I have to knit a few more inches on the baby sweater and then pick up the sleeves. Any sweater that doesn't need seams is a good one to me. And I still have to make the other thrummed mitten.......

Coming out of the training, I slipped on some ice. I didn't go down but I did wrench my lower back. I got into the car with difficulty and was driving along until I almost slammed into a young driver who made a left turn in front of me as I was going 50 miles an hour. My body tensed as I slammed on the brakes. We emerged unscathed but my back hurts. I've taken ibuprofen and used BenGay (love the stuff!). The major problem is that I have Handle With Care, the restraint training tomorrow. I'm not teaching, I'm getting re-certified to teach. I think I'm going to spend a lot of time on the sidelines. I was planning to pull back and try to pass the torch onto some younger folks within our program this year and this might be the encouragement I need. I'll help plan it and I'll teach some but I don't want the full weight of training the entire staff.

I'm sitting here listening to the cats snore. They're twitching in their sleep. Must be a good dream. It's time for a little knitting, some more pain meds and then bed. Maybe I'll have some of those good dreams, too. Although, I'm not sure I want one of the left-over cat dreams!

We finally got some snow. It wasn't much- about 2 or 3 inches but it sure looked pretty. I tried to take some photos while it was snowing last night but I'm not a good enough photographer. I did get this one of my street with the tree that I always photograph in the fall. I took it without a flash at 10:00 at night. It was so silent and beautiful but I had on pj's and socks and wasn't going outside. This was my walk from the train to work. The trees were coated and it was so beautiful. The trouble with snow in the city is that it doesn't stay white for long. This final one is the trees outside our building. We have a nice courtyard in the back that is not supposed to be a haven for smokers but often is. In the warm months, there are always folks sitting there. The schools closed because the city can't afford to plow the secondary streets (if we get a big snowstorm, folks are on their own. In the past, neighbors have banded together to shovel out their street.). Our street hadn't been plowed before we left for work but was nearly clear to the asphalt by the time we got home. It should be nice and icy tomorrow as the temps plummet tonight.

I am going to a Rehabilitation Readiness Assessment training tomorrow. I had to meet with my supervisors today (double teamed again) so they could tell me my trainings were approved. It seems we have some people who (gasp!) don't attend trainings they sign up for! The very idea! My training sounds kinda boring but at least I'll get some knitting done. I'll sit in the back and pay attention and participate when necessary. And maybe get a pair of socks finished.

We're in for a few really cold days and then some nice ones over the weekend. Winter is half over and I noticed something today. At 5 o'clock in the evening - it was still light! I noticed and it made my heart glad.

Now I am off for dinner with Pk. It seems we are the only ones home for dinner and we have decided to go out. See you later!

Brigid in Cyberspace. This is year number four, although only number two for me. I thought about it yesterday and decided to share another ee cummings poem:

i am a little church(no great cathedral)

far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities

-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,

i am not sorry when the sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;

my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving

(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children

whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing

birth and glory and death and resurrection:

over my sleeping self float flaming symbols

of hope, and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church(far from the frantic

world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature

-i do not worry if longer nights grow longest:

i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring, i lift my diminutive spire to

merciful Him Whose only now is forever:

standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence

(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

---ee cummings

I often say the first line to myself "i am a little church, no great cathedral" to remind myself that I am just a small part of the world around me and NOT the entire world. Although I am definitely not a religious person, i am a spiritual person and this appeals to me.

The world could use a few more "little churches" and far fewer "great cathedrals".

Ah, the estate sale. What an interesting concept. A person dies and his relatives go through his things and take what they want and then sell off the rest. It's an odd phenomenon. I don't think the guy whose estate was for sale this Saturday was married. I didn't see anything even remotely feminine in the house. Pk found some bits of rusty tools that appealed to him and an older model GPS which he has had fun playing with. The really interesting part was the property which was selling for over 300,000 dollars because it had a dock and sat on a branch of the Mullica River. Tiny property and small house but, it had a dock!

We got to the sale at about 8:15. It was already crowded. And the crowds were not nice. There were some women shouting "that's mine, that's spoken for, don't touch that!" It was really weird and not at all comfortable. We were probably there for less than half an hour. I could hear some men talking amusedly about how they saw people just come in and take out armloads of stuff.

But, there was breakfast! We stopped at a diner and I had really good pancakes and sausage. And then we went to Woolbearers, my favorite of the yarn stores in the area. They're about 25 miles away from home but worth the trip. It turns out that the town was having an ice sculpting contest. This was their entry. I'll confess here that this photo was taken on Sunday because I was a doofus and forgot to take the camera with me on Saturday. Good thing Kate wanted to go to the store on Sunday. I remembered the camera and since it was in the shade and the temp hadn't gotten too high, it was still in pretty good shape. I bought some laceweight yarn and a pattern for when I finish the lace project I started for Long Lacey Summer. I haven't forgotten it, just put it aside as I worked on holiday and now baby gifts. I tried to pick it up last night but it was too dark and the yarn is too dark. It's definitely a daylight project.

I finished the Morning Surf Scarf. I didn't use up every scrap of the yarn because I wanted to save a bit of it. I'm trying to save a bit of all the yarn I spin so I can compare it. Maybe someday, it'll become a sampler afghan or something. This is what it looks like after a bath and being lightly blocked. It doesn't fit on my table so it's folded in half. The colors are brighter than the photo shows. Blocking does seem to have evened it out somewhat. I can't describe how very cool it is to knit with yarn that I spun. Watching the colors appear one after another gave me a thrill. I like the colors but they're still not me. And I will say that I don't like the pattern. I did it to be part of the group but I wouldn't have chosen it. When this dries (hopefully before dinner), I'm putting it into a package and sending it off.

Most of the sneezing and sniffling has gone away. I am still a little tired but on the whole, better. Pk and I got up early today and hit the grocery store. It's Superbowl Sunday and they'll be mobbed this afternoon as people get ready for the game. We won't be watching (no television). I'm doing the weekly laundry and spinning some. I ripped out half of the baby kimono sweater because I thought it looked too big. I took 10 stitches off the back and I think it'll be better. It's an easy pattern, just plain stockinette. It won't take too long to finish.

I put some stew in the crockpot this morning and the house is smelling good. I love a good stew and even though today is quite moderate and sunny, it'll be tasty with minimum fuss.

I hope you are all having a lovely, peaceful weekend.