Project Number 4

My next finished item of the year is 1 hat for 75 rows.  I forgot to take a picture of the wash cloth I finished Sunday.  So I will get the row count when I finish the next wash cloth.  

A Yucky Day

Most of the day was spent resting, because I woke up in a full flare up. John even picked up Eric so I could take a nap.  Hopefully the flare up will not last long. 

Stepping It Up

I have upped my exercise since the first of the year.  Over the last 9 days, I have tried to to keep my step count over 10,000 steps a day. This is a 40% increase in excercise for me. It has left me a little on the tired side.  I don't have much energy to knit or blog at night. John assures me that this is just temporary.  I hope he is right. 

Me I just want the energy that my teenage me had.  Maybe if I give up on the mundane things in my life like laundry, carpooling and cleaning that would help.  I am just not sure if Eric is up to the task of doing his own laundry or cleaning. I am also pretty sure that he does not want to give up his chauffeured ride to and from his day program.  I am also still waiting for the self cleaning house that G.E. promised us in the 1960's at Disneylands Tomorrow Land. I would also settle for Rosie from the Jettisons cartoon.  I think that Google is the only one that comes close to the future dreams of the past with its self driving car. Now if they would make it wheelchair ready with automatic tie downs that would be great.  I would also like to just push a button and have it deliver Eric where he needs to go.  

Well if I want to go to the quilt show tomorrow, I should call it a night. 

Changing Things Back

I am not sure that making a list with all the projects that I need to get done was the right thing for me to do.  It seemed to put everything at a standstill. So I think that I will just go back to putting them in a bigger project bag. Then just grabbing a project to finish and the go on to the next project.  

Now to get back to some knitting.  

50/50

Today was wonderful until 3:15 this afternoon.  Then catastrophe struck.  I lost my Fitbit.  Then that was followed by a call from Eric's new formula company saying that they could not confirm that he had a g-tube. That was the head desk moment of my day.  My only question that I asked the supply company was how many years did he have to have a g-tube in place before their company would finally file the paperwork with the insurance company.  They have only had 6 weeks to get their act together.

So my solution to the Fitbit problem was to order a new one online. I ran down to the store when they said the Fitbit was ready.  After waiting for 15 minutes for the overflow from customer service to clear the item pick up only line, they could not find my order.  Apparently in this store they send out the emails saying that the item is ready for pickup when they get the order at the store.  It took a manger, a customer service representative and the warehouse guy another 15 minutes to find the 2 items. I went straight home to get it set up.  I did not need John's help to get it up and running.  All I needed to do was charge it and type a code into my app.  That connected everything together, computer, iPhone and iPad.

On the formula front I will call the insurance company in the morning and ask for a manager. I will explain that this is the company that they sent me to when the other company did not renew their contract. I will explain how the new company will not send in the paperwork because they can not confirm that he has a g-tube. I will then ask them to look in the special notes section of Eric's file and explain that he has had the tube for more than 10 years. I have not decided weather to ask them if they have any interest in Eric's health or if they would just take care of it first. I will give them until 5 p.m. CST to solve the problem. If I do not get a reply by then, I may have to scrounge for the right formula for Eric as we are almost out.

John had only heard about the Fitbit before he offered to bring in dinner.  He is so wonderful.  Just as I was almost relaxed it was time to help Eric with an extra breathing treatment and manual percussion. He is finally asleep. My hands are getting stiff from doing percussion for 20 minutes, I hope that my hands are usable tomorrow.

Now I just I just need to get to unwind again before I try to sleep. So I guess while it is quiet I will get some picking up, laundry and other chores done. I hope to tire myself out by midnight so I can get at least 6 hours of sleep before tomorrow.

Monday not a Fun Day

I have learned that it is not a good idea to try to type an email while biking on a recumbent bike.   It took over 10 minutes to type a 2 line email.  Don't worry I was not in traffic, I was at the gym.  On the other side of my day while Eric was home recouping, I got a lot done around the house. The only thing that did not get accomplished was me time. 

You will also notice that I have a project counter on he side of my blog.  I just want to get a handle on how much yarn and fluff I use in a year.  So here is is the second project I finished this year. A hand woven scarf. 

The Next Blanket

The first baby blanket was delivered by Eric today.  So I started the the next baby blanket tonight. I have completed 11 inches so far. Today was also a good excersize day with over 13,000 steps, which is over 5 miles.  A lot of cleaning also got done. So over all a very good day. 

Eric also had a very good week. 

A First for the Year

The first craft milestone of the year was reached today. Tonight I finish the baby blanket for a total of 29 rows towards the 1 million row challenge. With one project checked off the list the project list for the year does not seem at daunting. Somehow I feel much better when I get things completed. I just have a hard time in the middle of projects when I get bored trying to get them completed before they get put away in a basket never to be seen again.

Organizing Creativity

This year since I have so many projects that I would like to do and need to do I have decided that it's time to start a list. I started the list 10 minutes ago and I had already up to 19 projects. Most of those project are in progress. I am hoping that this will save me time in the long run. This way I can look at what is on my list and what is practical to do at that particular moment.

I know that this will take the spontaneous out of the planning process. The more I learn about fiber art the more I want to do. I still have the same amount of time to work and create, I just have so many more things that I want to do.  I'm hoping that crafting can be like house work, that things go faster with a check list. By faster I mean more efficiently.I still get pleasure out of the work that I am doing. I still find it quite relaxing and that's the most important thing for me right now. Only time will tell if this theory is right.

Another thing I have started doing this week, is when I drop Eric off at his day program I spend a little time at the gym on the recumbent bike. This gives me time to read the paper on my iPad and get some exercise in at the same time. I am hoping that by exercising an extra 30 minutes three or four times a week it will help me feel better in the long run. I had a fantastic day today with over 6 miles walked in over 14,000 steps taken. I still need to get in better shape because I am exhausted.  I think I'm going to call it an early night.

The Key to 2015

The key to a successful year in 2015 is not to buy more storage boxes, but to finish more projects.  

My first question is what is a reasonable amount of projects per week to finish? Earrings and stitch markers go very fast at 10 to 15 per day. While a baby blanket might take me 2 to 3 weeks.   A dozen hats can be made in a week.  A hand woven scarf can take a few day to a week or so depending on the width of the wrap and the yarn on the  of the weft.  Sock yarn goes slower than bulky hand spun.  

Maybe not to disappoint myself with a poor performance review I should just make a projects finished counter and see where I am in December.  There is not going to be an empty container count because they will be reporpused. 

So I guess it is time to go back to work on the first baby blanket of the year.   

Eric is Still Home

I don't seem to get my entire to do list done when Eric is home sick.  I think that I am a little to tired to care that I am further behind. Though I did manage to get most of the cleaning done today.  By the time I got to me time I landed up taking a nap.  As with the rest of the day that did not go smoothly either.  The phone rang every time I dosed off.  

On the bright side I did manage to make progress on the baby blanket. I hope to get it finished so that I can get the next one started.  The next one is going to be hand knit. I did not think that crocheting  would be so tedious.  It was only eleven years ago that everything I made was crocheted.  I guess that is just part of my artistic evolution.  

I hope to have Eric out the door on Monday. Then I am forgetting about things like laundry and cleaning, then just spending the whole day on me.  A girl can dream can't she?