Happy New Year.

At the precipice of this New Year, New Decade and a Blue Moon to boot. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. Join me in not making New Years resolutions to feel sad or angry about when we break our resolutions. Instead join me in striving for the best 2010 possible by getting through life one day at a time. Enjoy all the moments this coming year has to offer. May peace be with you.

2012 The Movie Ending We Were Not Expecting

We rushed around this morning to get to an early showing of the movie 2012. We drove to the new Harkin Theater just off the I-19; this is one of the new multiplexes in town. If you have not been there it is a must go to at least once. We got our seats and our lunches. I had finished mine and had started feeding Eric.


We were 20 minutes into the movie when his connecter tube fell apart. In the semi dark I was trying to figure out just what had just happened. That’s when I noticed that the mic key button was in Eric’s lap. I promptly scooped up my purse and Eric’s bag, Yes I know I left my knitting at the seat. I found the nearest bench and sorted things out. I threw away the broken connector and tried to replace the button. I managed to get the button in again and added the 5 cc’s of water. Then disaster struck in the middle of the theater hallway. As I was trying to remove the syringe the button came out yet again. I tried for 10 frustrating minutes to reinsert the button. I left Eric in the hall momentarily and went to grab my knitting along with Teri and John. They had said the movie was just getting good. After briefly explaining what had happened I sent Teri to get a straw, I figured that if I could get a straw in we could skip the Emergency room visit. And head home to install a new button.

No such luck. So we left the Theater and triple teamed Eric to get him into the car. As we drove to the UMC Emergency room I tried in vain to reach the on call doctor but no luck, no one was answering. When we arrived Teri helped me get Eric inside at the rate they were asking question while I was filling out the intake form I thought we just might get back there fast, boy was I wrong.

The nurse and the doctor came in and I explained the problem and at every suggestion of what I should have done I replied I tried that. It seemed like an eternity but it was less than 5 minutes for the doctor to come to the same conclusion as I had drawn 30 minutes earlier. The upshot was that they did not have a button in Eric’s size. A failure that the Emergency Room doctor apologized for. Then John made a mad dash home and back to get out spare button. Teri and I kept Eric calm during all this.

John returned with the button and the resident got to insert her first button. We change Eric into dry clothes and got our discharge papers and headed out of there as fast as we could. But the adventure was not over just yet.

The first thing I did when I got home over an hour ago was to call Apria our supply company to request a replacement button. After waiting for over 20 minutes to talk to someone, I was told that I had called to late in the day to get a replacement button this year. I was told that they could get it here Monday or Tuesday. When I said that was not good enough that we needed it over night she said that her supervisor would have to call me back. At 5:12 the supervisor called and said that the button would be shipped over night and should arrive tomorrow.

So now it is off to the market to get what we need.

Have a good evening and enjoy your families.

The Day that Could Not Get Any Better

Today has just been a very wonderful day. I got the last of the holiday presents finished and mailed. This made John happy that there were 4 fewer hand knit items in the house. I really hope that Malie and her kids like what I made. I am always nervous when I send out hand knit items as gifts. I know that I do a great job but not everyone feels the same about handcrafted items.


Teri and I went shopping at Savers today and we got some great gangas*. Teri managed to get 2 pair of Seventh Generation Jeans that were lightly used and fit her like they were custom made for her. The best part was the tab was under $30.00. I don’t think I would ever have the spare money to buy them at full price.

We then headed to the dentist and got there 1 ½ hours early, but we were lucky to be able to get in early. All I had to do was to help the hygienist with her bobbles on a new pattern. By the way she had them done perfectly and did not need the help. They were even able to get Teri in for a filling before she goes back to school.

Then it was off to lunch at the 5th Street Deli. Teri has not had good deli food since she has been away. I am almost positive that they should have a good Kosher Deli in Santa Clara, but being busy with school she did not find one her 1st semester there. She enjoyed her corned beef sandwich and fries. I was nice to see her so happy and enjoying a meal so much.

We made a stop at Nadine’s Bakery for a sweet treat to take home. I still have not had the energy to do as much baking as I had planned.

While we were out shopping, John over saw the instillation of the new garbage disposal. The original one that was installed when the house was built was worn out. So now with the addition of the new kitchen faucet and garbage disposal I think I can put off the remodel of the kitchen till after Teri finishes law school.

Now it’s time to get back to work and organize under the sink, as you know this is never my favorite job and I have delayed as long as I could. Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

*Gangas- an extremely good deal.

To Yarn or not to Yarn.

Rubbermaid 3Q3600CLRVB Clear Storage Container - 95 Qt (Pack of 4)Yesterday I was sitting around the kitchen table with Teri and Eric. I had mentioned that all 3 local yarn stores in Tucson were have wonderful end of the year sales that started yesterday, and I just knew that they had yarn somewhere that was calling my name. I did mention to them that I had gone through 95 quarts of yarn since I had started my yarn diet and I was almost positive that I did not have much more than 500 quarts left. For the volume of quarts think those large Rubbermaid storage containers fill to the brim. I did not think that I had to count the yarn in my closet or the sewing room in that volume after all it is not in storage containers.
I have been knitting at a fast pace and going through lots of yarn I finished a scarf and a hat yesterday. I am finishing ufo's at a great pace so I think it would be ok to look at some new yarn. I really need some new yarn.
But both children in unison rolled their eyes at the thought of more yarn in the house. Teri made a great verbal argument as to why I did not need to buy more yarn and Eric joined in with a vigorous signing of no more. I really did not think that Eric was aware of all the yarn in the house.
So the kids won, I will miss the yarn sales this year. I will miss the adventure of finding something wonderful and cuddly and just kept knitting at a fast pace and hope that I have done enough knitting by next year to go to the sales.
To all of you that do not have as much yarn as I do please go and support your local yarn stores so that I can go next year. Please try to leave the shelf’s as I would, as empty as possible so that they do not have to count all that yarn in the year end inventory. It is the nicest thing we can do for the shop owners who do so much for us.

So now I shall go off to knit and see how much I can knit today. Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

My Gift to You

This blog is a tribute to my dad who died December 26. I would like to share one of the most important life lessons that he taught me. I hope that you will find it as useful as I do and can incorporate it into your daily life.

The gift is called PMA or Positive Mental Attitude. I know that it does not sound like much of a gift, but let me explain why it is the best gift I can give to you. Yes I know that everyone has problems in their lives and everyone faces adversity sometime in their lives, sometimes on a daily basis. It is not the adversity in our lives that causes the problems but how we deal with the adversity.

Lets say that everyone starts the day with the same glass of water and it is only half full. We all know that a half full glass of water will not get us through the day and here is where the choices of the day start. We can take the easy way out and say that the day is going to be rotten because we only have a half full glass and have a rotten day.

Or we can use PMA to say that our glass is half full and we are off to a rotten day, then we affirm that we are going to have a rotten day. This is where the important part comes in, we decide to change that rotten day into a great day no matter what happens. We then tap into our positive energy and pull that day out of despair. Then with the positive energy manage to fill that glass so we have enough water for the day and if we are lucky enough we get more water than we need so that we can share with other people.

No matter what the situation is we all have the ability to make changes in out lives. Gd has given us free will. Your choice is weather you will make the most of your life or you will let everything fall by the wayside. With a Positive Mental Attitude you can make the most of your life and make the world better for not just yourself, but everyone around you.

So now that I have given you the gift of a Positive Mental Attitude, it's time to go play a few hands of Free cell which was dads favorite computer game and plan our day so "it is somewhere between great and fantastic" which was dad's favorite reply to how are you doing.

Have a great day and enjoy your families.

Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation

This blog is about something near and dear to me. As many of you know I do have Sjorgren's Syndrome and it effects my life in various ways. This is a letter sent out by Steven Taylor of the foundation. I ask that you please take a minute to read it. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you know.

Every donation will help and no donation is to small.

Thank you and enjoy your families during this holiday season.

Dear Reader

We need your help to make sure the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation can support vital Sjögren's research in 2010!

That is why we have launched our 12 by 12 campaign: Raise $12,000 in online research donations by midnight on New Year's Eve! This $12,000 will help us get closer to the $300,000 we will need for our research grants this coming April.

By making a year-end tax deductible gift to research before 11:59pm on December 31st, you will not only be receiving the tax benefits of making a donation in 2009, but most importantly, you will be supporting vital Sjögren's research that needs our support.

With potential breakthroughs on the horizon with B-Cell Depletion Therapies as well as the acceleration of research into how Sjögren's develops, your support is critical for 2010. As you can imagine, every gift matters to help us reach our goal.

So please consider making a gift before midnight on New Year's Eve and help us raise 12 by 12!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sincerely,

Steven Taylor
Chief Executive Officer
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation

Family

Well Teri has been home for a few days now. We have done the girl day of shopping and freebies on Saturday. It is nice to see how much she has grown over these last few months she was away, it is nice to have her back, if only for a few weeks.

Eric on the other hand is still giving us a run for the money. Last night he kept his father up till after 3, I could not manage to stay awake. I have had a hard time staying up late without my diet soda I find it hard to drink tea a midnight, where I had no problem downing a couple of diet sodas that late. On the other hand I have also noticed that my jaw is no longer in a state of permanent clenching. The weight loss has slowed down a little, but I am not eating all day either.

When thing settle down a bit I will try to write a review of the latest book that I finished The English American , Alison Larkin. I have included a link on my Amazon page and it is now in paperback. If you can't wait for the full review I will make this a must read book.

I am behind on my finishing work and when it is don I will get the last gifts out the door and add some new things to my Art Fire store.

Holiday Shopping

I know I prefer handmade gifts for the special occasions for those special people in my life. But lets face it some people are just plain hard to make things for. Either they don't like handmade, have everything you already know how to knit or have more than enough quilts for a small army.

Yes I do use gift cards for the special people in my life, like the nieces and nephews that I see once a year do to distance, I find it hard to shop for a growing child that I only see once a year.

Time is running out for shopping this week. Avoid the crowded malls and with just a few clicks. If all else fails get a gift card for that hard to buy for person.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=hnadbysher-20

I have included a link to Amazon.com to solve that problem, that way they can get what ever their hearts desire is or you might just stumble on that perfect gift.

Happy shopping and enjoy your families

It has been a while

I know it has been too long since I last blogged. We have had the usual ups and downs with Eric. I have finished 1 major and a number of smaller knitting projects, just 2 more x-mas gifts left to knit and I know that they will be late since I have to mail them.

The big news today is we now have a larger water heater 75 gallons and we can finally fill the new tub more than 1/4 the way up, yes the tub is big enough for a short person to swim in, well not really but it was made for a person much taller than myself. The plumber was gracious enough to install my new kitchen faucet, so now I only have water coming out of the spout instead of the spout and the base. I did not book an appoitment with him for the faucet but he installed it anyway, a very nice guy. We are still waiting for the new disposal to arrive, it was suppose to be here 2 days ago, I sure hope that the plumber has time to install it when it arrives, it looks like a nasty job.

Teri has finished here L1 first semester exams and will be here for the holidays. I hope that she has not over scheduled herself and has some time to spend with us. The house has been so quiet without her. I have spent the last week cleaning and have not finished, but at least Teri will have a freshly made bed.

I think I have come up with the worst combination for mood squashing in the history of motherhood. Tomorrow it will be 14 days with out any Diet Coke, or Aspartame, combine that with a week of house cleaning and I am ready to chop any one's head off. Although my Rhumatologist is happy I am off the Diet Coke and Aspartame, I wish I was not so tired. I may actually have to sleep when I am tired and not run around like a 20 year old all the time day and night.

I will do more cleaning tomorrow and also take pictures of 2 of my newly completed projects and blog about those. Well it is time to go back to work, so have a good evening and enjoy your families.

Playing Catch Up or As We Know it My Life.

OK so it has been quite a while since I blogged. So what has been going on in my life? Well here goes.

Since I blogged last Eric has been sick twice with two near all nighters, He is doing better today and I really slept last night. I have been playing catchup with the laundry. Did I mention that Eric can make 2 loads over night when he is sick. I want to thank all my laundry folders. In weeks like this I abide by my motto:
"Laundry is like fine wine, no laundry shall be folded before it's time."

I have agreed to teach knitting to Eric's friends at school, they will be making a wash cloth and a scarf. My inclination is to go for a square wash cloth and a thin rectangular scarf. I want the things to be useful for them. So today I went through my stash and picked out 10 skeins of cotton for wash cloths and 10 skeins of wool and rayon for the scarfs. I have 7 of the 10 set of needles that I will need, the knitting guild has not come through for me so I will take my coupons and buy the last 3 pairs. I will be using size 7 and 8 straight needles and am using metal needles so we don't have breakage to deal with.

I have gone to 2 white elephant holiday parties and have manage to get the white elephants I received out of the house. For the 1st white elephant I gave away 10 skeins of yarn and a knitting bag that I did not like, but the recipient was very happy with them. For the second one I gave away red mobius scarf that John did not like on me and I could not sell. For the Guild holiday party I might just do the same thing and fill another bag with yarn ( but don't tell anyone).

I gave up Diet Coke and aspartame cold turkey last Saturday and have had a few headaches and feel really weird, but so far this has been the only change in my diet and I have lost 3 pounds since Saturday. This is all due to my friend Kay sending me an article on the effects of aspartame/diet coke on auto immune diseases. It too soon to tell if it is making a difference, but I will keep you updated.

I finished the shawl pattern and got it to the beta testers and I still need John to take a picture of it on me, it does not look good flat, but on it's wonderful.

We have a new 96 Gallon recycling bin on wheels and it is very easy to fill so the house is a little less cluttered. Monday night we put out twice as much recycling than we did for trash. Yeah us!!!

So I think even thought it has been hectic I have made headway in de-stashing yarn(30 skeins by my count), and getting rid of clutter. Not much knitting has been done, oh, well there is always later.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

A Busy Weekend

Sorry I have not blogged for a few days its been a busy weekend. I hope to find more time to write on Monday.

Last Night

I should have known something was going to go wacky. I had the urge just to get out of the house yesterday. I had no real errands to do so I went to Starbucks for 2 hours of knitting and relaxing.

While at Starbucks I did figure out the shoulder repeats for the shawl pattern I promised to give as Christmas gifts on Friday. So that was good. I have less than a skein to knit and then I will type the pattern for my beta testers. Did I mention that the Beta testers are from my Friday Fun Knitters group and have wanted me to write this pattern down for at least a couple of years..

After Eric's dinner he started feeling yucky and pulling my hand to his tummy. Well the eyrping started at about 10 pm and that did not seem to ease the pain. Then there was the 3:30 am total change, I am so glad that I put the extra chucks down around midnight otherwise I would have had a full bed change instead of just PJ's,blanket and chucks*. Basically what that means is 1 load of laundry instead of 3 loads.

I feel very proud of myself that I did not start the caffeine till about 4 am, but I am beginning to wonder if I should have started earlier. By the way that's when I started the laundry too. I was up so why not start a load or two and warm up the house a little.

So Eric and I are home today. He had 5 days off for Thanksgiving and only made it to school for 2 days this week. I wish I could figure out how to keep him well. I also hope that he naps today, I know that is a totally selfish thought, but it's not quite 8 am and a nap sounds good already. I think it's going to be a very long day.

I hope that you have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

*Chucks are those pads they use in the hospital under patients so that they do not have to change the bed as often. I consider them a resource saving device. They are less work to put on the bed then a total bed change. They require less water to clean than a complete bed change. Can you tell that I love them.