The Club Nobody Wants to Belong To...

Do you know what I'd want for my birthday? What would be the absolute best gift? It would be for the doctors to say to my sister, "This is treatable, and you'll be fine."

I'm not sure that's going to happen. We were supposed to get together last weekend, and we were told, "Nope." She hasn't answered a single text of mine. 

Don't they look pretty? Pretty evil...cancer cells under an electron microscope. Makes them look almost like works of art. I'm not sure if these are what's in my sister's body. 

All we know right now is that her cancer is "rare" and "aggressive." BIL wants to take her for a second opinion. A relative has offered to fly them to Mayo Clinic (about a 45-minute flight as opposed to a 10-hour drive). My sister is said to be considering it, and I would agree, if she was asking me. Even if the news is the same, a second opinion in this kind of situation is something that I think is valid. 

The plan is to visit at some point, but I'm not sure when. She's scuttled a few visits already, and what's troubling is that I'm not sure we have a lot of time. 

It's not a situation I've ever wanted to manage, but in several instances in my adulthood, I've had to be the "Angel of Death" and tell people the absolute worst news. I don't like being in that situation, and I'm hoping that I don't have to. I just don't know. 

The Kitchen...

So, one of the best tools to have in your kitchen? A ruler. A standard, plastic ruler. I've used it when I've made Japanese Milk Bread. I've used it time and again to re-measure a pan. I've used it for tons of things. It's so helpful, and we don't often think of it. 

I've seen fancy measuring devices like silicone sheets you roll dough on, the board scrapers (only about 6" of length there, and I don't often feel like adding!), those strips you put on either side of our rolling pin... Nothing beats a 50-cent plastic ruler. 

Easy to clean, easy to use. Comes in lots of colors! So technically, you could have a green one for pastries, and a red one for meats? Why not? 

Made chicken soup the other night; and I added some dried seaweed to it. Aside from the mineral benefits and a bit of salt, it added a nice crunch to the top of the soup. It also adds a nice green bit to a soup that can be kind of "beige." 

I used a standard recipe: dice up a chicken breast and saute till lightly browned, and remove it from the pan. Then saute some chopped carrot, stir around on med-hi heat for about 5 minutes, add chopped celery, stir another 5 minutes. Cover your pan and lower your heat. Stir occasionally for another 6-7 minutes. Then, remove lid, add chopped leeks and a couple cloves of garlic (diced) and stir that around for a few minutes, just so the garlic gets golden. (NOTE: Nothing worse than burned garlic!).

In the meantime, have a soup pot ready, with about 6 cups of water in it. Add a Knorr Veggie cube for every 2 cups of water, and start it boiling. Add your meat & veg. Add some fresh ground pepper, add a bit of thyme, maybe some marjoram if you have it. Parsley, for sure, either fresh or dried. Let it come to a gentle boil, then add half a package of No-Yolks egg noodles, bring back to a boil and let it cook for however long the noodle bag says - about 6-9 minutes. 

There you go. Easy soup. 

The Knitting...

Still working on the blue striped sock. Told my yoga class that I had to rip the other one, and there was one student who said, "Wow, that would fit MY foot!" We all laughed. I think she might've been serious. 

I guess if I was ambitious enough, I'd have them all trace their feet and measure their shins. But I'm not that ambitious. Washcloths, maybe. Not socks. 

As you can see from the picture here, I'm using a silicone blister bandage. It lasts for about 3-4 days, and keeps me from puncturing my index finger, which is my "pusher" finger. It works better than just about anything I've found. And it's not obnoxious-looking! So I can wear it for a few days, and it doesn't get grimy. 

And as I pulled out my knitting to settle in with episodes of "A Place to Call Home," I did...just about what I do every couple times I knit socks. I pulled out the WRONG needle. 

No picture of the ACTUAL incident -- I was busy stuffing the live stitches back on the needle. Thankfully, the wool was "grippy" enough to not drop down a bunch of rows! It happens regularly enough that I don't freak out (as much) but I still react kind of quickly so as to not lose the stitches. 

As you can see, the top needle was the one I planned to pull out to start knitting. But...I pulled out the bottom one. 

I can tell you the first time it happened. I was working on a sock in a gorgeous fall-like colorway, from Lorna's Laces. That yarn? Stunningly smooth. Not grippy. And thus the downfall. As the NEEDLE slipped out of the stitches (this time, I didn't pull the needle out - it FELL out!), the little buggers droped as I was watching them. PLINK, PLINK, PLINK...(at least that's the sound that they make in my head, rather a gleeful sound, as as my heart makes a sound like THUNK, THUNK, THUNK...while it drops faster than those stitches do) By the way, I frogged that entire sock, stuffed the yarn into a bag and put it in time-out for a while. 

Funny thing happened at the oral surgeon's office. I had to go get some paperwork to drop off to my dentist, and it was a bit of a wait. Apparently, they couldn't find something...so I sat there knitting. After a while, one of the techs said, "Oh, look, knitting!" and I commented that I was also wearing hand-knitted socks. This tech literally lifted my pant leg (I was in the chair already), and petted my sock... I was a tad taken aback. Nobody has ever asked to pet my socks. 

All the girls at the front desk then wanted to see the socks I was wearing, as well as the ones I was knitting. That was probably the most fun trip to the oral surgeon ever!  The picture to the right is the pair I was wearing and the ones I'm knitting. 

Incidentally, the pair I'm wearing in this picture to the right? They're about 5 - 7 years old. Opal yarn. Wears like iron. Now, I just wish they'd come out with some variegated, like they used to. I love the self-patterning, but I'd like to get back to the variegated like these pink + green ones. Sometimes, you don't want a lot going on. You just want a plain sock that's sort of mindless. I mean, obviously, the blue stripe is mindless - I'm just knitting and letting the yarn do the work. But with a variegated yarn that changes colors every so often, it just seems simpler. 

I bought myself a birthday gift... Yarn. Of course. I bought Expression Fiber Arts North DK and I'm making the Gofleidio shrug/sweater/cardigan pattern. I'm not sure what you'd call it, but I know that I can knit it, and that I'll enjoy wearing it. It's been years since I've knit a sweater. 

So I changed up the colorway a bit. I kept the grey tones: Penguin, Midnight Snowfall, Peaceful Hush... But I changed out the pinks. Instead, I did Enchanted North (dark blue), Wintering North (medium blue) and Solstice North (yellow). Yeah, I don't normally wear yellow, but that as a "pop" with the greys and blues? I thought it would spark it a bit. I've always liked grey with yellow, and blue with yellow. So hopefully, that will work out in this garment. 

Random Picture...

Well, it's January. And strangely enough, we've had an insane amount of ice. Including sub-zero temperatures, so that the icy-melt stuff doesn't work. 

We live where there are alleys. You drive up the alley to get to your respective parking area and then you drive down the alley to get out to the street. Very few houses have front-loaded driveways in our neighborhood. It's older, the streets are narrower, and there's just not a lot of front-yard space. The houses are long, rather than wide. 

So it was pretty nasty getting into and out of the alleys for a few days. Mind you, the sparkly layer of ice on the snow, the glassy finish on the sidewalks -- beautiful. And so incredibly dangerous. Even trying to use Yak-Trax, people were sliding all funny. Folks walking their dogs cut straight through yards, because it was safer than trying to walk on either the sidewalk or the road. Nobody minded; it's easier to pick someone up off your lawn than off a sidewalk so slick that you'd never gain footing. 

Finally, after almost a week, it began to melt. Thankfully. I'm a big fan of winter, but ice? I don't bounce like I used to. 

Want Yoga with an Online Option? Just Breathe Yoga Studio in Crest Hill, IL is your Yoga Home, 

in-person or across the world!

www.just-breatheyoga.com

(815) 546-2770 (call or text)

Zoom classes. Private Sessions. Workshops. 

Small group special classes. Essential oil education. Books. 

Hangry Pains...

Up till a few days ago, I thought I was sailing along pretty well with Whole30. I did have a "not quite prepared" start, but I'd gotten some really good meal prep done, did the shopping, and had all my fruits and veg ready to go. I'm not sick of eggs (yet), and I'm learning the joys of home-made mayo and "Dump Ranch." (Though my recipe turned out a bit too salty.)

Then came Days 12 and 13.... Yikes! Bored, angry, hungry, "hangry," frustrated. Felt bloated and "fat" even though I've stuck to every rule and done everything, including more yoga and making myself move more (I have a job where I sit far, far too much). 

On the "timeline," it indicates that days 10 through 12 can be the "roughest" days on the plan. Well, I went a few days over and had my tantrums (in my mind) this past few days. Today was much better, thanks, and I feel like I'm doing ok. 

This morning, I made "cauliflower rice hash" -- cauliflower rice, shredded carrot, a couple cloves of fresh garlic and a handful of spring onions. It turned out well, and also of course, my Penzey's spices... This will do me for a couple of days - because I used some for breakfast with an egg and compliant chicken/apple sausage and some Wholly Guacamole.  

Wholly Guacamole has become my BFF. I love avocados, and Hubby has gotten good at picking them out at the proper stages so we don't have "Instant Avocado Death."

But Wholly Guacamole is my answer to the fact that sometimes, the avocados are whoppers, and I have yet to figure out how to keep a half fresh for more than a nanosecond. 

Breakfast is at the left here. It was delicious. 

So - "Instant Avocado Death" goes something like this... Just bought avocados, put them in fridge. They're hard as a rock. They're hard as a rock. They're hard as a rock... Two days pass, you desperately need an avocado for something. 

It's dead. 

You know how that goes. And they're not cheap. It's frustrating because that "soft spot" actually means that you have to use the blasted thing within 24 hours... Or else. There's nothing deader than a dead avocado.

You can search for "dump ranch" - it has its own life... It's good, but mine is definitely salad dressing and not dip. I don't know what I did wrong. But it's also salty - so I think the 1 tsp. of salt can be halved. I used a big bunch of cilantro, so my dressing is more "green goddess" than ranch, but I can live with it. 

I was getting a little bored with V & O...And I bought a compliant dressing. And just about had a heart attack - $6.99 for a bottle, and it's about 9 oz!! Yikes... 

Anyway, I'm on day 14, so things are going ok, and I can really see myself doing this for a longer time. At least 99% - I'm not sure how breakfast will fit in long-term. That's been my biggest struggle. 

Knitting...

Moving along on Close to You. Working on the 10th point, out of 18. I can make it bigger if I want to, but I'm going to see what's going on first. I'd like to "biggen" it a bit, but we'll see how the yarn goes. I really love how this yarn is laying out the colors. It's Expression Fiber Arts, colorway Stone Tulips. 

I don't know if the colorway is available anymore, but you can check. Her patterns are interesting and her colorways are lovely - you feel like you could dive in and just roll around in them. 

This one is the "brightest" that I've knitted with and it's got an interesting twist to it. It's like the stitch definition has gone into high-def with this, and I'm pretty sure that blocking will make this shawl much larger than mine done with another sock yarn. 

This is sock weight, but I can't imagine it on feet. I don't know - it just seems that it's calling to be a shawl. Whether it's the twist to the yarn, or its density as I'm stitching it...not sure what but it does seem to fit a wearable on the upper half of the body - it might even make a pretty nifty hat. Definitely a cowl if I thought about it. 

But not socks. I'm just not sure. I've watched Chandi's site, and I get the emails. And frankly, I see everything BUT socks made with her yarn. She's got a gorgeous V-neck short-sleeved sweater on there, but right now? $120 in yarn is out of my budget...even with her discount. 

I'm taking the travel sock to work tomorrow and will work on it at lunch. I would normally, in the middle of April, take a walk. But there's a "wintry mix" forecast for the day, so I'm planning on walking up and down the office hall, and then knitting. It's the best I can do till Mother Nature gets done having a hissy fit.

Maybe Spring...

Last week, I was able to get out for a walk since it hit 70 degrees (before the bottom dropped out and it got ugly again). I hadn't really walked around the neighborhood near the office, but I did and I found a park where I could sit and contemplate - except for the noisy, exuberant soccer players on spring break! 

That being said, I found a retention pond, and aside from all the nasty looking trash that people tossed in (can't call 'em pigs, because that's insulting to porcine creatures...), I found ducks. I was able to stroll around and just enjoy the fresh air. 

The pine trees were bursting with life: both pine cones ready to disgorge their seeds, and birds - in fact a couple of birds were annoyed that I got close. As long as they weren't dive-bombing me, I was happy. I didn't care to get crapped on and then have to go to work in pooped-on clothes! 

In fact, the sunrise was beautiful. I was running late, but I still snapped a picture of it because it was just. Beautiful. 

Lately, even though I feel like I'm chasing my tail, I've found myself looking up. 

Taking time to just look up and see what's in front of me. It's all too easy to not think about it, because you're busy or time's flying or there's the next thing to get on to.

But if you look up, you'll see some stunning things, courtesy of the same Mother Nature who's now having a temper tantrum and throwing snowflakes our way. 

That being said, I'm happy we're not getting what the UP in Michigan is getting or what they're getting in Minneapolis. 

Thanks, but we'll take our flakes and get over ourselves. 

There's a quote:  "No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." That's worth remembering. 

Also, remember to look up. It's pretty up there.

Random Picture... 

This one isn't actually random. I'm feeling like things are in the balance. I'm not sure what the "balance" is yet. Or whether I'm the one balanced - or not balanced. 

This is a formation from Granite City State Park, from the last trip Kid #2 and I did together. Not that it was the "last" last - just the most recent one. 

We're not going anywhere this year. I'm going to visit Kid #1. That gives Kid #2 time to work on some projects and gives us time to plan our next adventure. 

This is actually a space we walked through to get to the other side. "Why did the chicken cross..." -- well, the path went through this formation and I admit to crossing myself, holding my breath and kind of rushing through this. 

Notwithstanding the fact that it's stood there for God-knows-how-long... I was more than half-way to believing that I'd be the one it would tumble upon.

It didn't. We survived a blistering, humid August day on our way down to Oxford, MS, and we were only disappointed that we couldn't stick around for lunch at the lodge. 

Supposed to be the best fried chicken in the entire state of Illinois. Who knew?