It feels very weird, after all these years, to not take that huge white horse-pill. The woolly-brain has for the most part ceased. I'm still having the pretty intense hot-flashes, but otherwise, I think it's going ok. The twinge-y headaches have faded, which to me is a good sign.
So we keep on keepin' on. We shall see. One month on "only at night" and then we go to one month of "every other day at night."
Yeah - I've had to mark my calendar, just to keep track!!
Knitting...
I wish I could say that some knitting has been accomplished. Well, hang on. Yeah, it has. On Election Day, I got a few more rows done on the cuff of the green sock. Otherwise, it's been insanely busy - mostly church stuff, what with Holy Week upon us and services coming at me from all corners. So no huge progress on either Petty Harbour Sock or Close to You Shawl, though I'm looking at both of them now, as I type...
I think I have another row or so and then I can start on the leg. I know that once I get past the ribbing, it'll zip along and I will probably focus on that. I don't know - I love the patterned socks, but I do like a nice, quick plain vanilla sock.
I don't like this longer rib, but I'm living with it. Only because it's K2, P2. It's just as bad as the one row in the 4-row repeat in Petty Harbour where it's K1, P1. It drives me nuts. But ribbing is what it is. Somewhat of a necessary evil in the knitting world.
Particularly when knitting is basically just knitting or purling, I shouldn't really complain.
Since I'm not holding class tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some needle-time in after we do Easter (early - don't freak out - it's our thing) at my Mom's house.
March for Our Lives...
Today, I stepped out with about 1,000 of my friends in the Frankfort, IL March for Our Lives. The kids' speeches were impressive. The usual NRA agitators were there. And what bugs me is this: This is a march for the kids. Are the kids less important than your guns?Apparently so.
One guy was making a ruckus at the back of the gathering. My friend and her husband were there, and he was holding a huge sign - he's an artist. The sign was of his own creation, and showed the head of the NRA as a gun, in a strait-jacket. It was a good piece, and huge.
Well, the guy making a ruckus was very loud and trying to overpower the speakers (which was stupid - they have microphones and amplifiers!). My friend's Hubby turned around, bringing his huge sign with him.
Not sure if the guy was silenced by his size or his sign. Or both. Because he got really quiet.
Another guy was shouting down (or trying to) someone, and one of the folks from Southwest Suburban Activists (I'm an ambassador and have been involved since its early days) walked in front of him with her sign. He hollered at her, "Hey - are you trying to block me?" She turned, smiled, and said, "Actually, yes." And just stood there. She's an older woman and I swear - you don't want to pee in their cheerios...We were hoping for a couple hundred people - Frankfort isn't exactly a bastion of liberal thought - and it seems like we got close to 1,000. Yes, there were more in DC and Chicago, but for a south suburban, fairly conservative area? A thousand people is a great outcome.
I didn't take many pictures. I'm having a problem with my phone and it crapped out on me for some reason. It was on the charger all day, but it fizzled within an hour of being there. I have to have Hubby look at it.
Holy Week...
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday - the "official" start of Holy Week, which is a big deal in our church. I come from a Catholic tradition, so it's not strange to me, but it's a different kind of service this year. Without going into gory detail, we're still looking for a vicar and we have a phenomenal long-term sub. That being said, a church really does run better with a permanent priest. I'm the administrator, but that's not the same. And the sub is just that: a sub. Unable to make substantive decisions, only there to do Mass and make sure we're taken care of on the weekends.
Anyway, this is what I was working on today. All 36 pages of it. We decided (thankfully) to combine the 3 services, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil, into one big bulletin. It's a good attempt to save paper - you just return it at the end of the service and you re-use it.
I did the Palm Sunday bulletins last Wednesday and finalized them on Friday/Saturday - it was a pain having to do Election Day on Tuesday, because my schedule is (I've found out after looking at my calendar) incredibly scripted and tight. I'm not complaining, but it does throw things out of whack.
So I'm going to go over everything with our priest and organist and should have it all ready to go by this Tuesday.
Speaking of stress, I missed a humdinger of a meeting. That's kind of the cause of the stress. It's incredible that we think our national political scene is a horror show. It is, of course, but there's nothing like church politics. Especially sans a vicar... That's where I asked my mother if it would be improper, during holy week, to fling a hymnal at a person.
She said it would be improper. So I choose to ignore it. For now. All I can say is that the next church council meeting is likely to be "lively." Too many people think they can complain and nitpick. Like I said: typical church politics.
We've decorated the office for Easter, and it's bunnies and eggs from front to back. These are wooden eggs I've purchased from the Polish deli down the strip from us. Similar to pysanki, the Ukranian eggs, these are hand-painted and a lot less delicate! I was looking for some shred stuffing but couldn't find any - so I shredded some scrap paper (I was going to recycle it anyway), and ended up with nice fluffy stuff for the basket.
I've done the Ukranian eggs - I learned from a nun. But mine aren't all that good. Actually, if I practiced, it would be easier, but I don't have time lately. I'll probably have to re-purchase all my dyes because they've sat in the basement for a long, long time... But it is something I'd love to get back into. I have to find a compass or something to give me a better sense of proportion. I have trouble with the oval surface and keeping the designs equal.
Easter Dinner...
So as I've said: you're not going crazy. We do Easter the week before. At first, my mom was annoyed to have to move it, but now she's kind of digging it. And so am I. 
I'm fiddling with a recipe that I'm making for the vegan nephew. The original recipe is called "Sweet & Sour Bean Hot Pot." I did the sauce differently and used some different spices. The first sauce had to be tossed. Apparently, I hung on to a bottle of apple cider vinegar a bit too long. You're also supposed to use tomato sauce; I didn't have any but I did have canned tomatoes. It adds a bit of texture.
This gets put together and you slice potatoes thinly, then layer them on top. Bake it and the spuds brown nicely.
We're having ham, potatoes, salad, broccoli, and my grandma's Jell-O. Every Easter - it's a tradition! Also, the potica I made.
Kid #1 won't be home; and I believe that some of the great-grandkids are staying home, but that, sadly, is the flu.
Oh, and I forgot to pick up the Reese's Peanut Butter eggs for Kid #2. I've gotten them for the kids since forever. Dang. I have to figure out how to do that sometime tomorrow. That's going to be
Anyway, this is a dinner I really enjoy; it's fairly simple, and I can farm out a lot of the stuff. But I do miss the traditional breakfast we used to have. As my mom said, though - it's so hard to gather everyone and doing this before Mass would be a challenge for us. We used to be able to do it at home when the family was smaller, but as we've spread out, logistics got a lot more complex.
Random Picture...
And we have tomatoes!! Not every seed sprouted, but I saw my seed-donor and he said he had extras. These are mostly cherry tomatoes. He's got heirloom seeds for a couple different veggies, and sunflowers. I'd love to plant sunflowers again. I'll have to see what he's got. See what comes back. See what Mother Nature has left us with this strange weather. Yesterday we had winter weather warnings, calling for up to 8" of snow. Then, in the same day, we had an "advisory" that said it might miss us. But both warnings stayed up simultaneously, so we had no idea what was going on!
I'm sure I saw a few snowflakes at the march today!
But the daffodils are coming up and I see signs of life in the Icelandic Poppy in the front yard. And I've seen robins.
And we have tomato sprouts. Spring is coming!
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