I Think I might Just be Over my Head.

I am in over my head in on-line challenges, don’t get me wrong but I should really limit myself to one challenge at a time and maybe one project at a time. I just feel so scattered right now.


There is the traveling shawl twitter challenge, I think that I am doing ok in the pace that I am knitting it, but yesterday someone showed off her finished shawl, and I felt like a really bad knitter and very slow. The challenge started Wednesday and I am half way through the first third so I know that I should not feel bad, it should get done before the deadline. This is also my first lace work.

On another challenge for a stash buster project I choose to make a queen size blanket, I am making good progress on this and have started the second row of modular blocks. I only stopped knitting last night when my hands became too stiff to move. I know I will go through lots of yarn on this one and it should be done in time for a housewarming present for Teri’s first apartment. I told her it would take three to six months to finish so I don’t feel bad about the pace of this project.

On the fast track projects for charity knitting I finished two scarf’s this week and casted on a third one this morning. I do love knitting on size 11 needles for quick projects, I feel that I am really accomplishing something and the projects are small enough to take with me.

I have not worked on the socks this week; I think that I will finish them up after the shawl is done. I have also done enough hats for a while, I think that I could do them in my sleep and so I need to do other things.

I am off to organize things, it is almost the end of January and spring cleaning is right around the corner. The trend that I noticed this week was cleaning the craft/workrooms up, I am pretty sure that I should follow the flow on this one. So I am off to clean. I am just wondering if I should put all my UFO’s in one place or would that be too depressing?

Have a great weekend and enjoy your families.

I Spoke Too Soon.

Last night I spoke to soon. I did not get Eric to sleep till 12:30 this morning. He was very fussy last night I could not figure out the problem. The good new is he is off to school this morning.

To celebrate my free day of housework and paper work I made hot sipping cocoa and have an apple bread in the oven. Of course I will take time to knit. If I am awake enough later I will work on my twitKal knit along, other wise it will be Teri's blanket I can do modular blocks in my sleep.

Have a very productive day and enjoy your families.

Knitting A Calming Influence

I can see the calming influnce of knitting for the knitter. I have yet to figure out why it calms Eric down when he is fussy. All it took was 6 rows on a scarf before he drifted off tonight. Now that I am wide awake again, I will work on Teri's blanket some more tonight. Going to bed on time works only if Eric stays asleep.

Have a great day and enjoy your families.

I Am Having a Great Day

Well I guess my body has adjusted pretty well to a life without diet soda/aspertame and high fructose corn syrup. Today’s lunch at Costco was a hot dog and sauerkraut with a drink, the $1.50 special. I skipped the diet soda entirely and did not even consider having it, so I tried the regular soda made with high fructose corn syrup and for some reason it just tasted bitter.

I also took full advantage of today and got all my errands for the week done so I can spend the rest of the week doing paper work and getting other things done around the house. It is 5 pm and I still have energy so being off the junk might just be helpful to my body.

I am not quite at yesterdays step count I am only a little over 10,000 steps for the day verses over 15,000 for yesterday but I did get a lot of stuff done, so I can't complain.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Teri's Blanket, A progress Report.

This is a picture of Teri’s new blanket in progress. The first row is done and I am on the second square of the second row. As you can see it stretches across most of the den floor. This is going to be a queen size blanket with 15% more added for the shrinkage the yarn package tells me will happen with the first wash. I want to thank John for calculating the size increase otherwise it would have been too small once it was washed.

This is a stash busting challenge from My 8 Kids Mom otherwise known as the counting Sheep Farm.   http://www.countingsheepfarm.com/ It was started a week ago.

The blanket is being knit on size 7 needles with Lion Brand and Pakucho 100% organic cotton yarn. The great thing about these yarns is they are grown in the colors as shown and will intensify with washing. This makes it perfect for a busy student and should last a long time.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

A Good End to a Rocky Day.

My day started at 5 am, not to whine but I really like to sleep till 6 am. I find it amazing how I can go from a sound sleep to running at full speed when I hear Eric eyrp. Eric's morning aide Joe was wonderful. I even got to make a pedilyte run before he left at 8 am.

I knew the casher at the store was cranky when she saw my full cart. Yes it is amazing how fast I can fill up a large shopping cart. 30 minutes flat today, but the good news was I got healthy stuff to munch on instead of junk food. Well anyway I had to wait 5 minutes for another cashier to come and the assistant manager finally checked me out even though the only open check stand was empty. I am so glad I was not having the cashier’s day.

Once home the perishables were put away and I left the other stuff on the table till I had time. Eric managed to make 4 loads of laundry by himself between 5 am and 10 am. I did manage to get it all washed and folded and most of it put away. There was some knitting that got done while I was sitting with Eric, about 2 squares on Teri’s blanket, it has a nice easy pattern on size 7 needles so it’s not a bad knit and can be put down in mid row without losing my place.

Once Eric started feeling better there was keeping him amused and busy. I really do love the DVD of “Elmo Loves You” and thank goodness for Handy Manny, Bear in the Big Blue House and all the other shows that Eric likes to listen too.

When Kayla his afternoon aide came I managed to get all Eric’s food and feeding supplies organized. I just have to finish doing the rest of the cleaning up done. So now that my break is over it is back to play catch up so it does not look like a storm ran through here today.

I plan on having a great evening with John and relaxing, I sincerely hope that this plan stays in place. Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Am I Getting Old?

Well it had to happen sometime, that sign that in my humble opinion that one is getting old. A nice woman in her 30's rushed to open the door for me while I was out on my errands. I did not even have Eric with me. The only thing I was holding was my purse. I was gracious and did say thank you, but it did leave me a little shaken, did I look that old? Did I look my age?
On my next stop after that I rushed to the ladies room to check to see if I was getting visibly older. No crow’s feet or major wrinkles; thank goodness. No visible grey thanks to that lovely little bottle of color. People always seem taken aback when I reveal my age; this is not anything new. But I must have crossed that invisible line and now look old; I guess it's time to throw that vanity out the window and try to age gracefully.
Since I have played hooky all day it’s time to go get some housework done. I have a young man in the house who thinks his main chore is to make laundry so I will have something to do when he feels well enough to go to school.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Thing are "Starting to get back to "Normal"

Thing are "Starting to get back to "Normal" at least for this house. Eric had a long night but thankfully slept till 3:30 this afternoon , so I kinda got my style of rest. My style of rest is defined by start a load of laundry do some pick up followed by a short nap. Then a late breakfast followed by some more chores and knitting. All the while while keeping an eye on the sick child in case he decides to do anything funny, which was a no today. A late lunch and doing some prep work for Eric tonight, laying out supplies. It is 5:30 pm and I am so tired.  With a slow day like today I should be full of pep but can't wait for bed time.

Teri is back on track and I have started the 5th square of her blanket. I don't think I can get it done soon enough, it will be cold and rainy for her all week and the blanket is not even big enough to keep me warm yet.

I am still fighting the lingering effects of this cold, it has been a week now and I am tired of it. I think there should be a rule that colds can not last longer than a day or two.

It is almost time to make Eric's dinner, so have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Can't get over this Cold.

I have been sick this week. Fighting the cold I pick up last week end. But I thought I would share the view my dad pick out. This was the first time since I had been there since December 2008. I am so glad it was a sunny and warm day.

I have been trying to do some knitting and have finished one sock and cast on the second sock, the socks are for me. I cast on a scarf for a friend and found 39 skeins of yarn to start a queen size blanket for Teri. By the way a queen size blanket is 60 x 80 inches plus the boader. So the 39 skeins will not go far. I guess I will just have to buy a few skeins to finish the project.
Eric is doing ok for it being the middle of Janauary, he only had 3 bad nights this week. So we are doing ok.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy your families.

Fundraiser for Doctors Without Boaders.

Do to the Earthquake in Haiti until January 31,2010 100% of sales will go to Doctors Without Boaders. I will eat the cost of the yarn and the labor for this fundraiser. The last earthquake I was in was a 6.8 I can not imagine going through a 7.0 quake.

http://www.tinyurl.com/handmadebysheri

No matter what we as a family go through on a daily basis it is nothing compared to what they are going through in Haiti right now. So please feel free to forward this blog post to anyone who might be able to help.

If you would like to donate to Doctors Without Boarders directly you can use this link:

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/

Thank you in advance and enjoy your families.

Runners Needed

Team Sjogren's - There Is Still Time to Sign Up!

Our next Team Sjögren's event will be the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee on April 24. Have you been thinking about training for a marathon? Or do you know someone that might be interested in running on behalf of Sjogren's patients?

There is still time to become a member of Team Sjogren's. So far we have 16 participants registered and we would love to add more to make Team Sjogren's a real presence on the course during the race.

If you're interested in participating, or want more information, contact Steven Taylor at 800-475-6473 x211 or staylor@sjogrens.org to get all your questions answered.

Visit to Mom's

I am visiting with my mom this weekend. I t has been a great visit so far. Mom and I had a great day yesterday. Eatting out and shopping. I even found those elusive Cal King deep pocket sheets that I could not find in Tucson. Who would have thought you had to go to California to find them. My amazing mom found a shipping place so that I don't have to lug them through the airport, yeah mom.

I saw my younger brother, my sister-in-law and 2 of my nieces at lunch yesterday, I can not belive that their oldest is in 5th grade, I want to know how she got that old that fast. They are doing a great job with their girls.

We ate dinner at a local Italian restruant, Sergio's on Devonshire street in Chatsworth. If your are in the area the food is wonderful. I had the Vegi pizza with no cheese, it was an execellent choice, I have not seen a pizza piled that high with vegis in a long time. The salad bar was a very simple yet basic bar, the fresh beets were amazing. If you are in Los Angeles any time soon this is a must go to place.

I also managed to start a sock and knit 5 1/2 inches.  If I am lucky, I don't know if lucky is the word that I am looking for. I am going to turn the heal today. I am bad at heels, I guess I just need more practice.

Todays is going to be the hard part of the trip. We are going to the cemetary to visit dad. For me it is the first time since we left him there. I am bring two heart shaped rose quartz stones to leave for dad. I really hope that he likes them. It has been a hard year without him, but in my heart I know that he is still some place between great and fantistic.

Well I am off to start my day. Enjoy your families and have a great day.

Fab Break

We had a fabilous winter break with Teri and she has arrived safetly back at school. I am trying to work off the 3 pounds I put on and am half way there. Did I mention that we went to all her favorite places and ate out a lot. we also stopped by all her favorite desert spots, some like Frost more than once in a week.

Just waiting for my phone to charge so I can finish packing. I am soloing out to see my family for 2 days I hope to have fun with everyone. I have not seen them for 1 year. It will be nice to leave work behind for 2 days.

I have packed 2 skeins of sock yarn so hopefully I will have I pair done by Monday afternoon.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your families.

Le Creuset 4 1/4 quart Soup Pot

This blog is a public Thank You to my husband John for one of the most wonderful holiday gifts ever. This year he gave me the Le Creuset 4 1/4 quart soup pot. It is the perfect size for the two of us and worked out equally as well when Teri is home.


The pot is just the right weight to keep the food from burning and light enough so that when it is full I can pick it up and not wait for help. I love the sloping sides, it makes stirring very easy. I love the easy clean up that the enamel gives the pot, for those who know me well I even did wash it by myself once.

I have used it for soup and chili, both come out very well. It was on the stove when I was making chicken pot pie; so I mix everything over a low heat then put it in the pie shell later. Pot pie is normally a hard clean up, it is just something about the potato starch that makes everything stick in my other pan, that did not happen in this pot.

I love to fill soup pots to the top so we tend to eat soup for days made in larger pots. With the Le Creuset 4 1/4 quart soup pot it makes just the right amount for 2 days of soup for 2 people or 1 day of soup for 3 people.

Please feel free to check my past blogs for some great soup recipes.

Le Creuset you did it again, you made a wonderful pot. Also I have been slowly building my Le Creuset set over the past 15 years whenever I have the extra funds and the color of this red soup pot matches the 1st red heart shaped casserole perfectly. So again thank you John and Le Creuset for such a wonderful pot. I will put a link directly to this pot so you can try it for yourself.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

First Really Bad Day Without Diet Soda

Well we know it had to happen sometime. Eric had a long night and I had no diet soda to keep me awake. Worse yet I did not have my ritual 2 cans after a long night to wake me up. I was tired and sluggish all day. Teri and John did all the driving. Did I mention how nice it is to be chauffeured around everywhere.


Despite my lack of sleep we did manage a full day. We ate Dim Sum for brunch. Brunch was followed by a mass hair cut for the guys and Teri at Supercuts. We then dropped the guys off and went shoe shopping. Teri got new tennis shoes and the nicest boots at Alan’s Shoes. We took a walk around LaEncanata and did the shopping for dinner at AJ’s.

At 4 pm my body said enough and a 3 hour nap followed. At least I had the foresight to get dinner cooking before the nap so we had dinner at a decent hour.

It was difficult but I did make it through the day without diet soda. I am still tired and maybe it’s time to say good night to the Dr. Who special and turn in.

Enjoy your families and have a great year.