What to say, what to say...

As often is the case I thought of lots to share when I wasn't sitting here, my gaze darting back and forth between  at the keys and the screen. Of course noting happens until I press said keys. And in order for that to happen my brain needs to be engaged as well.

My brain has been engaged, it's just that it has been fragmented in so many directions that things don't always get the attention they deserve. I hate that. 

The changes I wrote about last have come and gone. First-born and her hubbs are now in the Seattle area. Both have jobs and are enjoying it up there. Chatty has moved out and on. Hopefully she is doing well and her plans are working out successfully.  Skellyson and Gamer Boy both continue in school. And the Princess continues her royal reign in the house.


I have been trying to use up yarn odds and ends and have been working on what could be a rather large project. Granted it isn't only odds and ends. I actually had to buy yarn to supplement the colors I already had. Somehow that seems wrong. But that's what happens.


This is what it looks like so far...

It's about 4 feet long on the shortest sides. Of course since it's rectangular it is longer on the other sides. I'm still debating on how big to make it. We'll see how it ends up. For now I'm just adding to it... one row black, a row of solid, a row of variegated, another row of solid. Repeat. Maybe I'll keep working on it forever so I never have to weave in the ends. :)

I'm still here...

Wow... has it really been that long since I wrote last? I am both amazed and embarrassed. I will try and do better from now on. 

Honestly, there has been plenty to write about. The problem wasn't that, there have been plenty of things that happened that I could have written about. It was more thinking about doing it at the wrong time. When the computer was shutting down, when I wasn't home, middle of the night. That sort of thing. 

Some happenings in the family have been that several kidlets are hitting the road and moving. First-born and her hubbs are moving to the Pacific Northwest. She has a job lined up that starts later next month and he is up there looking now. They will officially be moving in a couple weeks. Because of their move Skellyson has to move as well because he was staying with them and they aren't going to take him with them. From what he tells us, he will be moving in with a friend. Then Chatty is planning a move next week, just a few hours away but in a different state. This will be a permanent move for her so we hope her wings are dry enough and she is able to fly on her own. 


That means we are (or soon will be) left with Gamer Boy and Princess Junior at home. There have been a few big happenings with them as well.


Gamer Boy started college in August! He is still a little undecided on a major but is now in his second semester and doing well. He surprised himself and managed a B average in his first semester! He also bought himself a car. Well, actually this is his second car. He bought a Subaru Outback (used) and even though it checked out with two separate mechanics (one at the car lot, the other the one we take all our cars to) who both came back with the same report, it died about 3-4 weeks after he bought it. Put it this way... There was a MAJOR problem that it looks like the previous owner tried to cover up with a temporary fix. And that fix blew on Gamer Boy. Right before Christmas we did a bit of car shopping and he found a 2009 Hyundai Sonata at a dealership and it still had a good bit of the factory warranty left on it. I think he did well.

I've been doing a lot of crocheting. I've dome some pattern testings of squares, scarves, blankets. And I've made a couple pairs of fingerless gloves for Gamer Boy and one for Dak. Actually they aren't fingerless - they are more like half-finger gloves.

And I have made hats. LOTS of hats... I don't know why except that they are small and can be take-along projects. I don't go anywhere without my yarn! (And if I do I am VERY uncomfortable.) Here are some pictures but I can't put them in chronological order correctly so I won't even try.

There was this...

It's sort of a banded/brimmed beret style. 

Then this... Aviator style with earflaps. I can't remember exactly what the yarn was but it's very soft.

And this one has an open top so that you can wear your hair in a pony tail and it hangs out the back!

I may have posted this one previously... It's a cupcake!

Another ear flap style but with a really long top that was knotted and braided ties from the ear flaps.

This one was fun. A spiral.

A simple rounded top bucket hat with a scalloped edge.

I think I may have posted this one before.

This one combines floppy, swirl and a ruffly edge. It turned out a bit larger than expected.

Flat hat with tassles on the corners.

                  

I love this one! It's a spiral then I highlighted the spiral!

And we have had SNOW! I would be more than happy to have more but I'm grateful for what we got. This was our street.

So... I will try and do better. I have some more pictures of some other projects I've worked on and some WIPS. 

I am very thankful...

I can't claim this as mine but I got it in e-mail and I really like it so I'm sharing.

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

May we always be grateful for what we have and be mindful of the sacrifices of all that helped make our lives as good as they are.

********************************

I am always grateful for the abundance in my life. But I'm having a real problem with Thanksgiving this year because I don't think it should be a once a year thing... I've always thought Thanksgiving should be EVERY day! And that is how I would rather observe it.

Although we have our challenges I have a wonderful family. Although they can frustrate me to no end I love each and every one of my kids! I wouldn't want to be without any of them.

My husband is so very special. I can't tell you how loved he makes me feel. I still get shivers when he just looks at me and smiles. How corny is that? Look at all he puts up with. Not only does he put up with my yarn addiction he even says he's going to let me teach him how to crochet. It will be a slow process with all the other stuff that comes first but, since he doesn't share my love of scary movies, I'm hoping that he enjoys it so I can enjoy sharing crocheting with him.

I've been a bad blogger. I have started to start to blog many times in the past couple months but something always got in the way. There have been family issues (dealing with nursing for Princess Jr, a short hospital stay for Chatty, m-i-l challenges due to the Alzheimer's), time issues, energy issues...

I have gotten some crocheting done. I have a mile-a minutes blanket completed except for weaving in the ends, started a couple pair of fingerless gloves, worked on a couple other blankets and "designed" a pair of heelless bed socks.

The socks... I have never had any real luck with socks. I'd probably have to up my shoe size to wear any crocheted ones. But in the wintertime I have a real problem with keeping warm at night. My feet need to be covered but if the whole foot is covered I get TOO warm. Does anyone else have that problem???

I have tried scrunching my sock down below my heel, but (while it does fix the temperature problem) the socks work their way off and end up floating around under the covers at the end of the bed. So I decided that I would try and make a pair of bed socks with no heel! What I came up with was a heelless sock that isn't real beautiful, but it is very functional and works perfectly!!! I am even in the process of making a second set with a bit of a decorative front. I will try and post a picture soon.

Anyway, I will try and get some semblance of order to this thing as far as posting on a more regular basis. I need to, for me. And because I am thankful for you.

Not a good weekend...

It's been a... let's just say it's been a weird weekend.

Of course, as all weekends do, it started last week. Tuesday we got a phone call from Firstborn telling her dad that her mom had opted to not continue dialysis. Needless to say she was a bit upset. She and Skellyson came over and met up with Chatty and they went to the hospital to see their mom. Their mom said that she would continue the dialysis if they could/would move her to another hospital. (She didn't like the way the hospital she was in did it and said it was less tramatic and painful at the other hospital.) Without the dialysis they gave her about two weeks to live.

Friday we got another early morning call. Firstborn again. Her mom was not going to be transferred to the other hospital (they considered her medical stable so no reason to transfer her from a hospital that was giving her the same treatment they would) and she had been moved to a local hospice facility the day before. Again Firstborn and Skellyson came and got Chatty and went to see her.

Saturday morning we got another early morning call. Their mom had died early that morning. So now Dak and Chatty and Skellyson are on their way to the middle of the state to the funeral. Dak will be there for the kids but at this point doesn't plan to attend the funeral (It's a weird family dynamic and he wants to make it easier on the kids.) They visitation is today and the service tomorrow. He will be home tomorrow night.

This quick chain of events necessitated some fast arranging. Dak had finals to deal with. To deal with it he needed a video camera and mine uses those cute little mini-DVDs. Good but there are not long enough to tape a whole class. So, since he knew that I wanted a different camera he offered to let me use some summer pay to upgrade to the style I would rather have (one with a hard drive) and then he could use it for the class. So last night we went shopping (quickly, since it was Sunday evening and limited possibilities) and came home with a new camera. Now I will probably use the camera more!!! (And be more pressed to get the DVD drive fixed on the laptop.) And I'll go pick up the camera from the school later this evening and Dak can grade them tomorrow.

I opted to stay home from the trip to mid state because we have had some nursing issues lately and I wasn't willing to leave Gamerboy on his own to have to deal with a cancelled nursing shift that doesn't get covered with us out of town. The scheduled night nurse for Saturday didn't show. As far as we know she didn't even call the agency o say she wasn't coming and they weren't able to reach her on any of her contact numbers either. So Saturday night we had no nurse. Gamerboy jumped right in like a champ and helped us out.

Our day nurse (who had worked a 12 hour shift already) came in about 4 am on Sunday morning instead of the 7am she was scheduled for. Then the same night nurse was on the schedule for Sunday night. What to do... The office still couldn't reach her so they start trying to fill in the shift. Since our day nurse came in early she left at 4 pm.. (She was going to be leaving at 4:30 pm anyway so not a big difference) and as of about 6 pm we still didn't have a night nurse. We did get a call a bit later saying that another nurse that has worked with Princess Junior before was going to come out early in the morning (5:30-6 am) and the day nurse that left at 4 was coming back in about a half hour or so and cover until he got there. YEA!!! Hopefully there won't be a hitch with tonight's nursing. And I think the nurse who came out to orient on Friday is going to fill in some of the slots that will be open. Over all we have a pretty good crew.

I was planning on posting a link to a cool way to join granny squares. I will do that but it will be a few days. I will have pictures too and might have some pictures of some WIPs that are coming along.

Gonna try and settle in with the yarn and relax.

Sunday...

It's quiet here. Oldest son arrived for a respite visit (he needs some space and time to think) early this morning and he took Chatty with him to work tonight. Gamer Boy took Dak with him this evening to do some practicing behind the wheel. He now has his permit and is just waiting to get the driving portion of driving school finished. Until then he is practicing with us. I went with him last night and it was driving in the dark, tonight with Dak was semi-rain. It was raining when they were getting ready to head out but by the time they got on the road it was just dealing with wet roads. Dak says he did well. He did well last night too.

On Friday we took Princess Junior to her physiatrist for her Botox injections. (More on that with pictures here.) We are dealing with some minor fevers now but, from what we have read, that isn't connected to the Botox.

I've got a couple new projects going. Just what I need, right??? The first is a circle centered granny square. I'm making it for Princess Junior so am just adding more and more squares as I need to, joining as I go. I'm using a pale pink for the centers with a light gray border. I'm calling it her polka dot blanket.


Then I saw one of the start blankets in bright pink and red and white. I was hooked there. I'm not using a white white but stuck with the red and pink. The pattern is from
here. I made the sections larger than they were in her pic but I don't like it and I'm going to frog a bit of it and go to her color pattern as I think it shows off the colors better. But this gives you and idea.


So off I go to frog...

Out, out, damn bug...

Ok... I know that isn't an exact quote... but it's close and it's how I feel. And I am sure Will wouldn't mind, especially if he felt like I do.

Dak and I are both under the weather. Although, since the weather usually deals with things in the sky we are always under the weather. But I digress... I'll put it simply. We Are Sick.

Fortunately the two oldest are gone (Chatty is at her mother's and Gamer Boy is at a friend's house) and Princess Junior has full coverage on her nurses (they have been hit with the bug too!) so we actually have time to rest.

Saturday morning we both slept until 11 am. I woke up feeling like I was swallowing razor blades. Now I'm not one to run to a doc for every little thing so you know I'm actually sick when I CHOSE to go to a doctor. Saturday option is the walk-in clinic and I decided that yesterday was probably a good time to go.

Dak and I arrived right before what looked to be a rush. I took a seat and Dak went to sign us in. When he hadn't joined me after a few minutes I turned to look towards the desk and saw that he was still waiting behind a couple people with 4 or 5 more behind him! Yes, whatever this is sure is making the rounds.

When they called us back they did flu swabs on us both. Both came back negative. Since Dak has always been told he's allergic to penicillin they gave him different drugs than they gave me. We stopped to drop off the prescriptions and went next door to get some soup while we waiting. Now before anyone condemns us for going out in public like this we aren't hacking away every two seconds and even then we are responsible coughers. The restaurant is one that isn't cramming as many tables as they can... it's booths with wide aisles. We ate and left, picked up the medicine and some juices, and went home.

We were up until about 11 - 11:30 but this morning we again slept until about 11 am. Our guess it that we needed it. Gamer Boy went with his buddy to a drumming concert last night but has called several times to check on us. He said he was starting to feel bad but seems to be feeling better today and didn't want us to come get him. I think that being away from the house is allowing him to NOT get whatever this is do the degree we have. We are purposely staying away from Princess Junior, using the video monitor and intercom to stay in touch with the nurses. (I can see she is a bit wiggly at the moment!)

So this is a perfect opportunity to work on some of my WIPS and plunge into the yarn stash.

This is what I have been working on...



It's a three color spiral circle. Right now it's about 4 feet across and I have 7 more skeins of yarn left to use!

Then I have done some of these...



They are face cloth/wash cloth sets. I don't know about you but I like to use a separate washcloth on my face. They are 100 cotton and really soft! The face cloth is 6 inches across and the wash cloth is 8 inches across. Eventually they, and others like them, will be in my Etsy shop. I'm revamping the shop to benefit Princess Junior's room fund.

This will too.



It may look like it is another wash cloth, and in a way it is. But it's in a coarser cotton and it is meant for dishes.

Then there is the yarn... I bought some more.

There is this... It's SOOOO soft!



And this... Gamer Boy picked these colors and wants a four color spiral blanket!



I'm not real sure what to do with these yet. I have a spiral square pattern that I was thinking about doing in this...



But I don't have these earmarked for anything yet. Just liked the color combinations.



Pale pink and purple. Doesn't it look like cotton candy???



One of my all time favorites... pink and gray!

And I have some black and red too but the red looks orange in my pictures so just trust me... it's cherry red.

Any suggestions???

Let it snow, let it snow, LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!

YES!!! I feel a hot cocoa and movie night coming on!!!!!!


This is what's coming down outside my house. It didn't look like this when Dak and Chatty left this morning about 10 am.


This is what the yard looks like now. Med supplies arrive today so there will soon be footprints and handcart wheel tracks leading up to the ramp.



About one and a half to two inches and still coming down. You can see the flakes coming down in the picture. County schools closed early today and I'd really be surprised, no, shocked, if they didn't close them for tomorrow. Almost all of the surrounding counties already have called off school for tomorrow. There was even a bus accident this morning, one slid off the road. (No injuries but buses are the main reason they close the schools around here.)

I'm glad Princess Junior doesn't have any appointments this week but I do have to go out later... have to pick up a couple prescriptions. But I'm going to wait until Dak gets home to run out for it. Might need to get some milk for that hot cocoa too! And gotta hit the Redbox for the free Monday movie.

What??? You don't know about Redbox's free movies on Monday??? Check out www.insideredbox.com and sign up to get the latest news and promo codes for FREE movies! How cool is that!

It's warmin' up here!!! (at least inside)

We have HEAT! (I'm so glad you can't see me dancing!) The A/C guy was out and fixed the problem and he didn't even have to do it in the rain! When he got her I asked him what it would run to have a digital thermostat that we had bought several months ago installed. He said that if it was a "blah blah" type (I can't remember what he called it) he could just go ahead and do it while he was there and make it part of the service call. THANK YOU!!! It made the final bill a little less painful. :) But it was still way less than replacing the entire heat pump!

We had bought the thermostat thinking that it might help keep a better control of the temp and help out economically. Dak has it set now and has LOCKED it! Both Chatty and GamerBoy tended to play with the old one a bit, adjusting it to their perceived needs. :) That is now a thing of the past. Only Dak and I know how to unlock it to change a temp setting. evil grin Hehehehe... Eventually we will get it completely set up and programed.

What I like most about the new thermostat is that it has a vacation feature - you can set it and go on vacation. WOW! If I had known that all we needed to do was get a thermostat with a vacation mode and we could go on vacation I would have bought one AGES ago!

We aquired a yard guest yesterday. Chatty says that a puppy (that will grow up to be a BIG dog) followed her home. He (she?) has been on the front porch most of the time since then. It is a cute dog, chocolate brown and probably a retriever or a lab, but it's not our dog. We have told Chatty to ignore the dog but you know how that goes with a kid and a cute puppy.

Today was garbage day and during the night the dog decided to check to see if we had left any pizza behind in the box we threw away. It also taste tested the remaining plants in my water garden on the porch and there are now plant strands and dirt clumps all over the porch. Granted they were dead plants but they were in the container and it wasn't a mess. I'm glad that was all the dog got into.

Chatty thinks she has an idea where the dog might have come from and went there to go check with them. Hopefully that is the right place. Evidently there is a house in the neighborhood that has a fenced in yard and the gate is open. Chatty tried to put the dog in the yard and latch the fence but the latch is broken. She has a dentist appointment later this afternoon so she will walk the dog down to the end of the street (about a mile) and then her dad will pick her up in the car and they will go to the appointment. Hopefully the dog will find it's way to it's own home.

GamerBoy has been very helpful the last few days. He installed a new, locking doorknob on our bedroom door. He knew we had gotten the doorknob set but hadn't had time to install it. Then this morning he went outside and cleaned out the dryer vent of some nesting materials that had been placed there by birds or small animals. It should make drying clothes a lot faster! We have a vent cage/cover that we'll be putting over the vent outlet but that I want Dak to do that since it involves putting holes in the house itself! But we really do appreciate that GamerBoy pitches in and does stuff like this. He is really maturing. A good kid!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Every one...

We are having a quiet celebration here. No nurse for day shift (next one comes in at 10 pm) so it is just Dak, me, GamerBoy and Princess Junior. Chatty is at her mother's. We've brought Princess Junior her presents and she didn't seem annoyed. Dak was in the kitchen a bit ago, making a special brunch for us. Eggs with maple flavored sausage patties and toast with the strawberry jam I made a few days ago. We did have cinnamon rolls that I had bought for today but we forgot they were for today and ate them yesterday! :) But we have a loaf of banana bread we were gifted with (NO NUTS! YEA!!!) so that is perfectly fine. Thank you for the great brunch, Honey!

One thing I had been working on for Princess Junior was a teddy bear. I had made one before but I really wasn't happy about how it turned out. This one is WAY better, but there is still a problem. Since Princess Junior has a trach we try and be very careful about things that are in her bed. No sparkly or powdery stuff. Nothing that could get loose and go in the trach. These days that eliminates quite a few of the "cool" shirts and outfits out there but I know she'd rather be healthy than stylin'. I love the size of this bear but it is done in double crochet and you can see the stuffing. In some spots I'm afraid that the stuffing might poke through and come out. I am now on a search for a bear of similar size (he's about 12 inches high in the sitting position) that is made in a tighter stitch pattern Maybe a single crochet?? I may try adapting this pattern but it would have the cool ridging. If anyone has a pattern they can suggest or they run across one PLEASE let me know. I think that amigarumi are adorable but Princess Junior needs something bigger.


So Mr. Bear is a "look at" toy. He can't be left in her bed so he'll just watch over her from a shelf. Because of that I stitched his feet together and his paws to his legs to encourage his sitting without falling over. I think he looks cute.

Breathe... Breathe... Breathe...

It's been a long and interesting week. Chatty is doing ok now. We brought her home yesterday. There are still some things that were brought up that need to be dealt with but we're working on it.

Princess Junior has been assigned her part in the Christmas Nativity. She is going to be a Shepherd. I hope to get a picture or two during the performance.

Gas is back up a bit. Today when we headed out to some appointments the lowest we saw was $1.49.9 and the highest was $1.59.9. This evening we had to stop by Wal-mart and it was still $1.49.9 when we got there but $1.47.9 when we left about 30-40 minutes later. Still around $1.50 a gallon so I'm happy.

Dak and I did the Wal-mart thing to deal with some Christmas gifts since we had to deal with what we needed to get and had to shop for Dak's mom too. We also needed to pick up some Danimals for Princess Junior. We put those in her feeds as a probiotic and since she is on an antibiotic they are even more important right now. We tried to get them at Kroger a few nights ago but there wasn't a single package in the store. No 4-packs, no 8-packs. Same thing last night. Our Kroger is doing some remodeling so there are quite a few refrigerated and freezer cabinets that are empty or nearly so. Makes it interesting to shop, especially when there is something specific you are looking for.

GamerBoy is going to do some holiday baking for me. Nothing fancy, just some sugar cookies. And I made strawberry freezer jam a few nights ago. Tomorrow he will be delivering gifts to the neighbors on either side of us.

Hopefully Dak will be able to help me get the throws and Hannah's Wish t-shirts online tomorrow too!

Rough day...

It's been a long day. And one I wish we hadn't had to live through. It started at a little after 5 am when Chatty's mother called. Chatty was having hallucinations and hearing voices. So Dak and I went and got her and took her to the hospital. We learned that she had not taken of her medicines as she was supposed to (hadn't taken ANY all weekend) and had been given some pretty potent pain killers she shouldn't have been taking. She ended up in an In-Patient program where, we hope, she will get the help she needs. We didn't even get home to decompress until about 7:30 pm. GamerBoy was concerned that the plans he had made with friends would have to be changed because of today's developements but we made sure he got to go. He doesn't get to do a lot of things like that so he's entiteled to it once in a while.

Last night Dak and I watched the movie "Wanted". It wasn't at all what we expected and it was even funny at times! Not sure I would buy it but I did enjoy watching it. Of course I like Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. I'm looking forward to seeing "The Changeling" when it comes out. Tonight, if I can stay awake, I'm going to watch the newest X-files movie.

Dinner at Chez Suzette...

Last night Dak and I went to the home of another family in the special needs parent's support group we go to. It was actually the Christmas get together for the group. We had planned to take Princess Junior too but she had some oxygen issues the night before and it had been windy and snowing earlier in the day so we decided to not take her out in the weather.

My first impression when we walked in the house was WHOA! They had obviously cleared out their living room and had three tables set up with table settings that looked like we were some place with valet parking and a hat check girl. Well, there WAS one of her friends at the door who took our coats when we arrived. Does that count? The room was absolutely gorgeous. We drew from a bowl of little pieces of paper to find out where we would sit. We did have to draw twice because the first draw was a table down stairs. (I forgot to mention that there were two more similar tables downstairs!) My knees wouldn't have made it (Donn confirmed that after his trip down to look around) so we drew again for an upstairs table. I can't remember exactly want the table was called but it had the word red in it and it was RED! It was a table for 4, with a red tablecloth, a red glass hurricane like lamp in the center with a glowing candle inside. There were chargers under the dinner plates. Cloth napkins in silver Christmas tree napkin rings. Beautiful red glass goblets. The silverware was tucked into little red velvet Christmas stockings along with a Christmas prayer and a piece of chocolate (which we were told we could take with us, sans silverware.) We were even seated right next to the burning fireplace. I can't remember how long it's been since I had a meal at a table set like that but it's been a looonngggg time, I'm sure of that. (And I think this table blew that one out of the water! I know that one didn't have CHOCOLATE!)

Everyone brought food to share (I made a cherry cheesecake. Then I made two more this morning.) so there was plenty! And it was great. There was also a white elephant gift exchange. I drew #1 so I didn't have the opportunity at first to trade gifts, that came later. The present I opened was in a very cute snowman bag. It was a Candle set, a small jar candle with a ceramic shade and a matching plate to set it on. And a small Christmas figurine of snowmen, I believe. Then I just watched as everyone else opened and traded or threatened to trade. I had my eye on a couple things. One of the gifts we brought was a wooden framed egg timer. To our surprise it was the first thing stolen! And Lisa cheekily threatened anyone even looking at it enviously, clearly sending the message to not even think about trying to take it from her. At the end of the exchange it came back to me, giving me the opportunity to trade my gift for any of the others. As I mentioned, I had my eye on a few things. A nativity set had been unwrapped towards the end but sitting next to me, another Lisa had her gift "stolen" so she had to open another. Her second gift was an Eggstractor. A nifty little gadget that unpeels hard boiled eggs. That was tempting! In the end I told Lisa that I really love hard boiled eggs and egg salad so I was going to take her Eggstractor! I was very happy with what I ended up with. What did Dak end up with? Bubble bath and bath salts. grin

So many, many thanks to Suzette and the elves that helped her make this a special night for all in attendance. Your giving of yourself and willingness to share your lovely home was a wonderful and humbling gift and will be long remembered.

Yesterday was also Chatty's 17th birthday. The two oldest (Firstborn and Skellyson) picked her up Friday evening and took her out to dinner and then took her to her mom's. She'll come home tonight.

On a sad note... We were going to go to see friends this afternoon. I was looking forward to giving her her Christmas present. It's just killing me that I have it here. But she isn't feeling well and I totally understand her not feeling up to company.

Anyone want a piece of cheesecake?????