Friday Nights...

It's Friday night. I'm at work. It's a 2-day seminar on Pain Management for some of our advanced nursing students.

Twisted mess of Fluffy Scarf Yarn

Tomorrow, I start a 2-day training on the art of teaching yoga therapeutics. That will be interesting. In the meantime, I'm sitting here, knitting on the Fluffy Scarf and muttering under my breath because it looks like this. It's knotting up and about every 4 rows, I have to twist and turn to get it straightened out and pulled apart a little bit.

Yeesh. I hope the next couple of balls are better than this.

Knitting...

Went to Le Mouton Rouge Knittery again. And yes, I bought more yarn. Sock yarn, to be specific, though one hank will be set aside for a shawlette. It's Madelaine Tosh, and it was specially dyed for LMR in her colorway. She said she was extremely happy she got it, because when she described it, she wasn't certain they'd give her the tones she wanted. It looks fantastic and I can't wait to knit it up.

It's a fantastic shop and I always, ALWAYS find something I want there. Unfortunately, right??

This weekend, after the yoga training, I continue on with the assembly of the Charity Afghan. I've got about 1/4 of it done. It's coming along ok. I just hope it looks ok when I get it done. It's certainly giving me lots of practice in weaving (not sewing) different pieces of needlework together. Some are knitted; some crocheted; some Tunisian crochet. All of them are different, and there are the crocheted inserts. I'll take a picture of what I've got done; plus, of course, the yarn I've purchased; and I'll get them in this blog somewhere. 

I consider that I achieved a victory today. When we were at LMR, my friend J saw me grab the MadTosh special-dyed and she just drooled. And she bought the worsted weight. She has no idea what she'll knit with it. She NEVER buys "stash" yarn. Except for sock yarn, but everyone knows that's not strictly stash because if you know how to knit socks, you've usually got at least one pair on the needles.

Then she bought several hanks of Cascade Superwash for baby jackets. She has my pattern for those simple ones I did for the twins, and she wants to do some to set aside. Her grandkids are growing up and she said she'd like to have something "stashed" for them in the event they marry and have kids of their own. She's my mom's age, and she said she wonders if she'll be knitting in 20 years, and wants her kids to have something of hers. Good plan. 

...Speaking of "having something" in an heirloom, though I loved Baby Prince George's christening gown, didn't they even receive a hand-knitted shawl for this baby??? Just sayin'...


Random Irony...

White Powerade - what's wrong with that?

On our kitchen table, it's a mess. Just a mess. Like it's a major dumping ground. So Kid #2 has a couple of bottles of power-drink stuff. He uses it when it's summertime because there's no A/C and he doesn't want to keel over when it's nearly 100* outside. Imagine. Well, I asked him if he'd put the stuff in the pantry, and then we got to talking about something else. I noticed that this bottle was sitting on the table still and I made a comment about it. He said, "Oh, I'm not drinking that. I bought it because of the irony."

What irony?

He said, "Who markets a drink called "white power ade"???"  I don't know - my sense of the absurd was tickled. I think perhaps their focus group might have thought about that one - or at least someone in marketing should have been paying attention. Or maybe they should hire unemployed English majors so that these things can be caught before they hit the stores...

Politics...Or "MORE" Random Irony...

So now, Ted (Canadian/Cuban) Cruz is speaking out against the 1%. Yes, please pick up your jaw. Read it here. Yup. Of course he's in Iowa "just because it's there." Right? 

So Mr. "I get MY health insurance through Goldman Sachs" Cruz is now saying that there's a divide in the haves and have-nots. Hang on - I have to see if there's a SECOND full moon this month. 

Food...

Hubby made a lovely chicken and rice soup the other night. Yes, I did heat up my pre-frozen potato soup. And no, it wasn't prepackaged...I had made it last year and we put several of the containers in the freezer. It was very good. Nice and comforting. 

I slept like a rock. 

Tomorrow, what with the yoga training, it'll either be an apple and a cheese stick or a smoothie. I just can't eat when I practice yoga - it's very uncomfortable to me. 

Note to self: Get back on the cleaner diet, and stop drinking pumpkin spiced chai latte!!!

Random Picture...

Snowmen

I know. They're snowmen. I have all 12 months. This is a selection of the first 3 - well, December, January and February. I have March ready to stitch, but it's a matter of when. Maybe during my Christmas holiday? You never know. I have to dig out the floss, though. I've taken to quilting them instead of framing them. They're cute. And the patterns are all out of print now, so I'm kind of on a mission to do those. They're done by Curtis Boehringer, and done in Flower Thread, which is not DMC 6-strand floss. You can do them in the floss, but the flower thread is more delicate. I've usually added beads or buttons or something just to make them my own creation. The December one has metallic floss in his hat. January has buttons on the quilting and regular buttons down her front, and February has beaded hearts. 

And my mother's angel. That's a whole post in itself, and I should probably take a picture of THAT and get myself going.

Hubby, being his ever-helpful self, pointed out to me, in front of my mother, of course, that if I did 60 stitches a night on it for a solid 365 days, I could have it done. Nice. He's right, which makes it more infuriating. 

But it's a Lavender and Lace angel, and there's about 200 colors in it. And I'd have to put it in the frame and LEAVE it up. So I need to put it in one spot. Not sure how that'll happen in the current configuration of my living room, but I really have to do it. 

I take comfort from the fact that if I ever retired early or lost my job, I have plenty of stash yarn and stash projects to complete...

Perhaps a Reboot?

I'm not looking to be the Yarn Harlot. Not even the Pioneer Woman. I'm just looking to exercise my writing chops, perhaps inject a little humor into someone's day, and natter on (and on and on...) about things I like, such as my dog, knitting, etc.

So I'm thinking of a reboot of sorts. Some sort of structure to The Blog. I think I tried this a while ago and it failed somewhat spectacularly when I just didn't blog for months on end...But I have been looking at what other folks are doing, and I like bits and pieces. And I prefer to adapt things to my own way of doing them. Who doesn't, right?

So I was thinking that perhaps each post should have ONE THING about knitting. Or maybe one specific day could be my "Randomly" day. I feel like I need to talk more about reading. It's seeming to me that this is generally a "knitting blog" which is fine but when you use The Google, you see about 20,500,000 entries for the term "knitting blog." Seriously. I just did it. 

But I'm not going to do that now. I'll probably start next week. I like the idea of "starting at the beginning" and technically, this being Saturday, it's the "end" of my workweek. So we shall see how this shakes out next week. I'm still committed to not losing sight of the blog. Maybe not a daily entry, but at least 3 times per week. 

Heart...

As expected, nothing showed up on the 24-hour monitor. And because we have The Big Trip coming up, the doc didn't want to do a 30-day monitor. That would no doubt cause a crap-load of trouble with the TSA and its foreign equivalents. "No, seriously, here's a note from my doctor. It's a HEART MONITOR." 

When we get back, I'm to have an ultrasound for some reason: mostly so my doc can make sure things are doing what they're supposed to do.

In the meantime, he says, basically, mazel tov - have a wonderful trip. To my question about a tandem parasailing adventure, he said, "Even if you keeled over, it's not life-threatening, and there's a doctor in Bordeaux who's done more atrial ablations than anyone else. Ever. He's fantastic." 

Thanks, doc. So there's no problem with me strapping myself to a parasailing expert and flinging myself off a minor Alp, gliding along at thermals approximately 10,000 feet up. Gulp. 

Here's a video of what we're thinking of. Problem is, Hubby wants to do one at a higher elevation (go for it, dear - you've got excellent life insurance coverage), but he's thinking of us doing them on the same day. My idea was the lower elevation, mainly because I'm not all that physically fit lately, and I don't want to climb up the mountain! Which is a problem for 2 reasons: First, we end up in two totally different cities, and I'm not planning on taking my cell phone. I don't speak French. Second, we're only bringing the one camera and the GoPro. We can't both be using them at the same time. So we're still negotiating that. We'll be in that area for 2 days, so my thought was one each day. 

Dear Mother Nature...

Of course, leading up to the trip, I'm having "periodic visits" after being a long while without. So, Dear Mother Nature: Could you please just shut off and STAY OFF? While I will, with great regret, miss your monthly (sometimes MULTIPLE times a month) visits, I will try my utmost to adapt. What? You caught that great steaming pile of snark there? Sorry about that. I'll try to be more sincere. 

Please, please, PLEASE don't make me haul a ton of "sanitaries" in my luggage. I just would rather you confine your visits to -- well -- to NO visits, thanks. I'm 55. When does this shut off? Thanks, but I no longer wish to be a hormonal over-achiever. 

Knitting...

So I do have most of the stash photographed (including the new stuff) and then yesterday, Doris hauled off and handed me some more. What? Say no? Who are we kidding here? I have some lovely bright red cotton - a sweater's worth, if not a little more, and some fantasy yarn that I have no idea what to do with. I will get them photographed before the Obligatory Birthday Party Appearance and up on Ravelry. Perhaps Ravelers will have an idea; they usually do!

Along with that my friend Joan is doing a project which will require Sonda's Hand-Dyed. As you know, my friend Sonda is no longer with us, and Joan is her mom. Her project is to knit something for each of the kids/grandkids from what remains of Sonda's Hand-Dyed. Doris gave her some purple and I have the yellow/orange in stash. So I'll go rooting today or tomorrow to see what I can find - I think it's a good thing and even though I had something planned for my last hank, this is a better place for it. I'll adjust and grab another Lorna's Laces or something for the shawl I was planning. 

Obligatory Birthday Party Appearance...

So I have a friend that I've known for nigh onto 45-ish years. We used to be close. Then we drifted. Then we rebooted. Now, it seems that we're re-drifting. Her daughter produced a grandchild, which is fine, even though I have fairly strong (surprisingly conservative) views on this. Actually, let me explain. I have no problem with single mothers. Stuff happens. I do have a problem if, when you're of an age to actually support yourself and perhaps the child you produce, you summarily decide that your mother can raise the kid. And I have a truly large problem with said mother, after herself having a mini-stroke, saying to me, "Oh, they're living here rent-free, she's not working, we're paying for the lawyer for the daddy to pay support, and yeah, we babysit a lot because, you know, Sally needs her social and recreation time." 

No. She doesn't. OK, every parent, to the best of their ability, needs a break. But dumping the kid on your mom every single weekend isn't a break. It's obnoxiously annoying and depriving your mother of a life of her own. 

Now, perhaps the friend LIKES this. She's (in my opinion) lived vicariously through her kids ever since they've been born, cloaking it in "being an involved mother." And perhaps I'm looking at it from my own standpoint of "the kid (daughter) is nearly 30 and maybe she needed to take responsibility BEFORE there was a baby." Or maybe, as my kids have told me, I'm looking at it from the lens of how I raised them: "I will do my utmost to support you in whatever you choose, but I raised you, and barring a medical issue, I'm not planning to raise your kids." Yep. That's what I told my kids. And no, my kids don't hate me for saying that. They kinda like the clear communication. 

Anyway, the OBPA is because I'm really seriously thinking of terminating the friendship - for a number of reasons, including the fact that she doesn't call till she needs something from me, and when I call, there are vague "Oh yeah, we need to get together sometime" mutterings. But there's no time or effort in this friendship anymore. 

The OBPA is for the grandbaby. Every year. I'm the geeky one who brings books. No electronics and no toys. Books have an on/off switch. And they have bright colors and pictures. And I love books. So there. 

In truth, one part of me is sad about how this relationship has devolved, but the other part is actually kind of relieved. It's too much work to resuscitate something that's not willing to breathe on its own. We have, over the past few years, only been able to get together at Christmas Eve - an open house at her place. We used to get together for walks in the neighborhood (hers or mine), shopping jaunts, lunch on each one's birthday. The annual girls' weekend away. Random but regular phone calls. Each one of us initiated these things more or less equally. The work of the friendship was shared. 

Yes, I know, friendships change. But I'm of two minds here. This person has known me longer than anyone else except my immediate family. But I really don't want a 90/10 friendship. It would be different if it was a fluctuating division: you all know there are situations where every friendship waxes and wanes. Times when YOU feel like you're carrying the load and then other times when you NEED to be carried. 

But this is just so much less. At one point, we were communicating through e-mail, but "I can't do that anymore because Georgie is always with us and he likes to pound on the keyboard when I'm at the computer." Notwithstanding the fact that the kid needs to learn how and when he can "pound on a keyboard" --- there's the issue of when it's ok for you to have an adult friendship of your own. She has a habit of whining that she's got no friends.

Well, it happens when you don't participate. And I don't know what to do with this. I guess we'll have to see what develops today. There were, to paraphrase Simon & Garfunkel "mumbled such-are promises" of getting together prior to this party, but nothing happened except a short text exchange. That's not a friendship. That's an energy-sucking relationship.

Soooooooooooo.... We shall see, I guess.  

New Prince George...

Congratulations to Will & Kate. Now, can we please learn some basic biology? The female (yes, FEMALE) British correspondents were announcing breathlessly that Kate was "FABULOUS" for birthing a boy. 

This is, I believe, 2013, though some of our more regressive conservative politicians would have us believe that it's actually 1813 as far as women go. But I digress.

Biology 101, courtesy of Sister Faith at my high school: The MALE determines the gender of the fetus. 

Just pointing that out. Now you may resume gazing at the adorable baby pics. And please stop bashing Kate because she "hasn't lost the baby bump." Good God... She's all of 105 pounds and delivered an 8 pound+ baby. It took 9 months to grow that bump. Leave her alone.