A Long Day

I have been up since 6a.m.  It is almost 11 p.m. and I am still waiting for Eric to go to sleep.  I am not sure that is going to happen anytime soon since he did get a booster shot at his doctors visit today.   Right now he seem to be talking to Elmo about his day.  I am falling asleep while I am writing this.  So it will be short.

Just a reminder, that if you are over 40 talk with your doctor about booster shots.  This is especially true for the Whooping Cough vaccination since the one we got as kids has worn off by now.  Whooping cough is very hard on the young and disabled.  Also with measles cases on the rise make sure you and your kids are up to.  You are protecting kids like Eric who can not have some or all of the shots.  

It finally quiet so I am going to call it a knight.  

Wow

Who would have guessed that the solution to Tendinitis of the Achilles Heel was 2 inch heels. Yes, that is right 2 inch heels. After I went to the orthopedic foot surgeon, John and I went shoe shopping. I left the store in one of the pairs of shoes.  I walked to the car without any pain.  The first time in about 9 months. I was pain free until I put on my 1 inch heel house slippers. I guess that I need new house slippers too.

My question is why don't any of the medical advice sites have this information?Also if you live in the Tucson area and are in need of a bright, well mannered orthopedic surgeon, with good patient side manners, who likes to try therapy first to avoid surgery give me a call.  I don't think it is my place to publicly recommend a doctor since I am not a medical professional.

Being pain free had a lot of plusses. Even though I am still at the tail end of the cold that Eric gave me, I had a lot of energy to get things done. I hope that this helps me play catch up this week as I am so far behind.

I did manage to weave almost 2 feet of a scarf tonight. I knit 3/4's of a hat today. Well it is time to make sure Eric is ready for bed so that I can call it a night,

Around the House

I am feeling better. I just have this nasty cough left. So I am slowly getting things done around the house. John has really done a great job picking up my slack while I had the cold.  My major accomplishment of the week was filling the recycle bin to the top. There was no more space so I have started a recycling bag for next week's recycling pick up already. I found another area to zen. So far most is being recycled or or sent to Goodwill. Very few items are finding a new home.

As usual when I miss a day of laundry, the laundry room was knee deep.  I stopped after four loads and left the rest for later. Since I got all of Eric's laundry done this should not come back to get me. The other four plus whatever Eric makes tomorrow can wait for tomorrow.

I also gave up trying to figure out where a can be added to my blog. I guess I will have to ask my techie about that or do a whole lot of reading. I really need to learn some basic coding. 

Hat number 31 was finished today. I have 1 hat that I need to weave the ends in. I also have 2 hats on the knitting needles. I am adding some rolled brim hats to the mix to shake things up a bit.  I think that I will get my bedtime snack and do a little more knitting tonight.

Eric’s Cold Part 2

I am still home sick with that awful cold Eric brought home.  I spent most of the day resting.  I am hoping to sleep tonight.   Last night was a wash for sleep.  Naps were a no go unless I was sitting up. So tonight I will spend the night trying to sleep sitting up.

Sharing

Eric shared his cold with me. Do I spent the day napping and knitting.  I did not have the patience to weave in the ends so technically no hats were finished today.  I was too tired to do anything else today.

Charity Knitting and Weaving

My friends and I have made a wonderful accomplishment. Considering it is only June 21st. We have collectively filled a Ziplock Big Bag Grands Sac with hats, sweaters, gloves and scarfs for The Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. I only need to store them at the house until school starts in August, so that they can be delivered. I think this is the most we have had this early in the summer. By the way happy first day of summer.

Now it is time to start knitting again so that I can start the next bag of hand knit and crocheted items. If you would like to help fill bad number two just get the items to me. I am looking for sizes from preschool to high school. They need hats, scarfs, sweaters and gloves. Use any pattern or colors you would like.

Hats

I am ready to bag 26 hats for The Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. This equals 1,225 rows for the one million rows challenge on Ravelry.

A First

I have experienced a first time event.  Since Eric was born, I have relied very heavily on caffeinated  soda with hfcs, artificial sugar and real sugar every time Eric gets sick.  You might think this is a lot of sugar and soda, it was. As you might recall from a blog earlier this month, I have give up soda and sugar.  This was a very big test for me. I passed it with almost flying colors.  I did not not have any soda and my extra sugar food was limited to a very small amount of dark chocolate.

The good news is I that Eric is feeling better.  I got tired but not like in the past.  Believe it or not, I seemed to have more energy.  I even managed to clean house while Eric was sick.  I did eat more fruit  and cheese or peanut butter.  Let’s face it, a long day with a sick boy is a long day any way you slice it.  So having a healthy snack as replacement for soda was a good move.

I tried to order a new bath seat cover for Eric’s bath chair today. I tried to pay cash to get it faster. Would you believe that they would not take a cash payment and instead I will have to go through the insurance company and bother the doctor for a script. It seems that my life is getting wonkier every day.  Well I am off to tag and bag hats.  Pictures to follow.

The Ugly Side of Life

Anti-Semitism has reared it’s ugly head in my life. It feels like the 1960’s to me again.  After two days of crying I have decided what needs to be done to make it better for my fellow human beings and myself.   Because I need to be sensitive to my environment where this is happening I have come up with a gentle solution to the problem.   I will no longer stop what I am doing to provide technical support for electronic equipment or provide any assistance of any kind to those who act in a hateful or mean manner to anyone.  If they choose to act in a hateful way the niceties in life will no longer be provided by me.  

I really try to live by the golden rule, Do unto others as they do in to you.  I always took this to mean leave the world a better place than I found it.  Such as clothing and feeding those who can’t. Thus my obsession with knitting hats for kids.   Taking care of the environment.  Taking care of the sick.  It has taken me 59 years to figure out that there is a dark side to the golden rule too.  I however choose not to be mean to the nasty people, but rather just let them flounder in loneliness.

With that said I am off to warped a loom.

Progress Maybe

My body is still having a hard time with this adjustment of 80% less sugar and no soda’s.  I am finding it hard to believe that I am sleeping better most nights, with the exception of the nights that Eric wakes e up.  The nausea is slowly abating.  I have a bit more energy. I also need to eat more since fruits and vegetables have less calories.

I have to admit that I am a little disappointed that the scale is only down 2.5 pounds.  I know I did not put it all on in one week, but damm it I want it gone in one week.  John says that I just need a little more patience.  This is not my strong suit.  But this is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change.

After observing another spinner I finally have the short draw down in spinning.  Although I have modified it do to the arthritis in my left hand.  My technique might not be by the book, but I can finally do a short draw after years of spinning.  I am doing the happy dance.  Now to learn to do bouchée before I need to teach it in a few months.

And finally, I have found another area to Zen.  I was looking for something for John and I stumbled upon some more clutter.  More craft supplies to share, Goodwill, trash or recycling only time will tell.

The Next Step

The next step to a healthier me is cutting my sugar compsution by 80%.  I know that there are natural sugars in fruits and vegetables.  So this is why I say cut my sugar compsution by 80%.. This also means no soda for an afternoon pick me up.  No second cuppa of chai in the mornings.

Cutting sugar and caffeine way back at the same time.   I must be crazy.  Right now my body is starting a revolution. It is not happy with this change yet.  This should take six to eight weeks, hopefully.  I am hoping that with this change like the others I have made in the past will have a positive impact on my body.  I will let you know.

Tagging and Bagging

I am trying to get caught up on tagging and bagging my charity knitting and weaving.  This involves making a fiber content tag, which includes fiber, washing instructions and a positive note for each item.  I also count the rows for the one million row challenge on Raverly at this time.  So today I tagged and bagged 3 scarfs that we’re hand woven and 3 hat for 243 rows.  

I still have this bag to tag and bag plus whatever is on my knitting needles when the items are finished.

My Hands

Here I sit in the middle of the night with my hands aching and too swollen for the night splints.  Waiting for the aspirin to kick in.  Trying to think of anything I can do around the house without waking the guys.  Knitting and spinning are out my hands are too sore and it would only make them worse.  Weaving is out I do not have either loom warped. I guess that I could do some light cleaning and start the dishwasher and washing machine. Maybe by then the swelling and pain will go away enough to sleep.  I can only hope.

Why does pain always seem worse in the middle of the night?

If You Give Eric A Purse

Eric came home early from his day program for an appointment. In the mists of being given a pile of paperwork, I gave Eric my purse to hold.  Before we went in to see his doctor, I  also gave Eric a choice to go to knitting with my friends or go home and watch television. I gave him time to think about it. In retrospect that was a mistake.

After his doctor's appointment, I asked for my purse back. Eric made his grip tighter. We went back and forth for 10 minutes before Eric finally won. When we got to the car and Eric was sure that we were heading home, he let go of my purse.  His daddy will be proud of him for holding his ground.

No knitting friends for me today. Eric is wondering where I am at the moment.. So it's time to go.