A Joyus Day

 Today started out on very bad footing. My neck and right shoulder hurt to the point I had to turn my body to look right. I was out of precooked home made oatmeal and did not have the time to make any before I had to leave. 

At lunchtime things began to slowly change for the better. I was just wishful thinking when at my favorite bread spot in town Beyond Bread, I asked if my favorite sandwich the Avi’s Avo could be made without bread or mayonnaise.  They said yes.. they really said yes and asked if I would like Romain lettuce instead of the bread. Of course I said yes. They brought out an overflowing bowl of lettuce, cucumbers, Sprouts, and turkey with two small cups of guacamole on the side. It was absolutely amazing paired with gazpacho soup and I was in heaven. Thank you Beyond Bread.

The day got even better my day got even better when I was working with my knitting student. The first thing we did was casting off a table runner That she had been working on for about a year. All it took on my part was showing her how to cast off just two stitches and she cast off the rest. The smile on her face for the accomplishment was just so wonderful. It just filled my heart with joy.

We then had to tackle the fringe on the table runner. First we pick the length the easy part. We use the short side of a CD case because it was the perfect length. First she learned how to cut the fringe. That was another easy part. Then we worked on putting the fringe in. That took a little more work, however she got the hang of it and got almost 10 inches of fringe done today. She had never picked up a crochet hook in her life. She learned how to put the crochet hook in the right stitches. How to do a quarter turn and pull the yarn through. And then how to tighten the fringe.  She was so excited and happy it was just absolutely amazing.

John managed to quickly get the spasm out of my neck and shoulder and now at bedtime even though I don’t have full range yet, I don’t hurt. I am hoping that a good nights sleep will take care of the rest. Having my neck and right shoulder hurt threw my whole body out of alignment. 

I did not get any spinning done today. I did manage to get 3 loads of laundry done with 2 being put away. So it turned into a good and joyous day. 

New Glasses

 Today we braved Costco on the weekend to pickup my new pairs of glasses. A regular  every day pair and new Ray Bans. The Ray Bans are not the black aviator frames that I have been wearing since the 1970’s but a gold metallic frame. Every fewish decades a girl needs a change. We also picked up some Cheerio’s and Kleenex. 

Then lunch out at a local Tucson favorite, Beyond Bread for a half a sandwich and gazpacho soup. Then home to finish the 4th load of laundry for the day and naps.  

I actually cook dinner tonight. I made quesadillas with mushrooms and black olives and John made the mixed vegetables. It was a nice light summer dinner. It was also super easy to clean up after.

On the craft front I am teaching myself how to knit left-handed. This will give my right hand break. After the first few rows it wasn’t too bad. I guess that’s the great thing about being ambidextrous. It’s easy to switch up somethings between hands.  Although I should have not started with double stranded knitting on U.S. size 17 knitting needles.  I should have also started a new project instead of switching in the middle of a project.  I know no one will be able to tell the difference with this scarf. It also required me actually paying attention to what I was knitting. It’s always good to try new things.  

Good Things

John and I were on the same wave length yesterday. After work he called to see if he could bring home Salmon Sandwiches from Beyond Bread home for dinner. They were great as usual, Thanks to everyone at Beyond Bread in Tucson.

I finished my scarf last night. I wove in the ends and wove the hand dyed silk through as a design element. I can't wait to wear it next winter. Oh by the way it has 411 rows of knitting for the Ravely 1 million row challenge.

A First Today

Eric had a very rocky start to his day and almost came home from program today 5 minutes after we got there. So I sat and knit for a while, not wanting to drive home and turn right back to pick him up. After about an hour he got settled in. I decided to say later to the errands on my list and came home to ice my back and rest. The world was not going to end if I did not get to Costco for Vanilla Soy milk or drop of the clothes at the dry cleaners. I think it helped my back a lot to rest.

As you know Eric feels it is his job to do laundry to keep me busy. I wore out the old whirlpool after 25 years of use. We then got an LG washer. Since we have gotten the LG washer, I have not come close to filling it to capacity until today. Today I filled it to the top and had laundry left over. I was very surprised to say the least. Thank goodness one of Eric's aides is putting it all in the dryer and doing the folding. my back is not quite up to that. I also don't want to hit John with that the moment he walks in the door.

I am hoping that John will pick up the Salmon Sandwiches (it is the Friday special) for dinner from Beyond Bread tonight so that I can ice my back and rest some more instead of cooking dinner. I may just finish a scarf for me if I have the energy tonight.

Its time to go ice my back.

Catch US if You Can

Eric and I had a very busy weekend. We started out Saturday morning with a friend and her son. We went to the Mix Fm Women's Fair just up the street. There was just everything there. A great time was had by all. We were in such a good mood that we decided to have Frost for lunch. As an occasional treat we decided that it was a very good lunch. Frost has an incredible new sorbet flavor called Green Apple. It is the flavor of the month so please go in before the end of March to try the green apple sorbet you will not be disappointed.

That wore Eric and I out so while Eric napped I did some house work until I could not keep my eyes open. I landed up taking a 2 hour nap. Followed by dinner out with John at Beyond Bread. I had just enough sun to get an extra mile of walking in before sunset. By the way the sunset was very beautiful yesterday too.

Today Eric and I pulled a fast one on John. We got him to go to Phoenix, to shop at the Mills Mall off of I-10 at the Baseline exit. Our main mission was getting John to buy a new pair of shoes. We had that done and then some before lunch. The and some was that he actually bought 2 pair of shoes. We then added steps to our step count for the day by walking around the mall. The mall was not as robust as it was last time we went several years ago. There were at least 12 empty shops. They added an aquarium to the mall with took up what would be an empty row of shops.

After a quick lunch it was off to IKEA, because John had never gone. All I can say is that it was very crowded today. John drove home while I caught up on my knitting. I am down to the last 2 of the 30 special order on soap sacks.

Well I am starting to fall asleep at the key board so it is time to call it a night.

La Shana Tova

First off I would like to wish everyone a sweet New Year. May you have a year full of health, happiness and learning. With that out of the way I would like to say that I admire my friends that have spent the entire week cooking for their families for this occasion. I could not pull my self together enough to do any cooking this year. I would like to thank the cooking staff of my local Whole Foods for the wonderful grilled salmon and the side dishes that I served for dinner. Also to Beyond Bread for the bread and honey cake.

It just seems to me that the sicker that Eric becomes the less I am ready for the holidays. This is coming from the person who gets the most excited about birthdays and holidays in this house. So tonight instead of putting the last minute touches on a holiday dinner, I sat at my spinning wheel and plyed some yarn. I still had time so I started spinning another skein. For some reason this gave me more joy than cooking tonight.

I will probably not understand the reason for this for years to come. For right now I will chalk it up to being to tired. Also not having the energy to put into a truly fabulous meal or the shopping involved. With that said my sincere hope is that Eric sleeps tonight.

Just Another Sunday

The weekend was too short, I could have used another couple of days. This time of year I could really use a 48 hour day or a clone or 2. Will someone let me know when either of those options become available.

We had a relaxing slow day today. After a very slow start we went to Beyond Bread for lunch. I had the Gazpacho soup and John had the tuna salad. We decided that Eric needed some down time so it was back home again. While Eric rested we rent the movie Paul, about the space alien. It was the perfect movie for today. I also finished another Operation Gratitude scarf and am 3/4 done with the next one. My goal is to knit 3 more scarfs for this project before I mail them off on Friday.

Just in case you would like to make an Operation Gratitude Scarf this is the pattern that I like the best. Using US size 7 or 8 needles with a worsted weight yarn. I prefer to send them in natural fibers. Cast on 27 to 30 stitches depending on how tight you knit.  Knit 1 Purl 2* repeat this pattern for the entire scarf.  Cast off in the stitch pattern. It should be between 48 and 50 inches long and 5 to 7 inches wide when done. For more information on Operation Gratitude just click the link. You can also send your left over Halloween candy to them for the care packages.

I ran out for some supplies to make home made pizza and freshly steamed green beans for dinner.  After dinner we caught up on some TV viewing. I actually sat still and did not have knitting needles or a spindle in my hand. I just sat and relaxed. It is a really odd experience as I always have to keep something moving.

Well I think I will call it a night and if I owe you a phone call it will happen tomorrow.

Doing Better

I am doing better today. I went to my Tuesday morning class and a lot of things got clarified for me. Then it was off to lunch at 5th Street Deli and as usual the food was good and service fast. A trip to Bookman's on the east side of town was good for zenning the house and John and Teri have $15 more to spend next time they go. A quick walk to Beyond Bread for an epi for dinner and then it was time to go home. Not bad for 3 hours of time.

When I got home I decided to go clean the sewing room. I started off by cleaning out 1 cabinet, don't worry it only had 2 shelves so I was not taxing my self too much. The end result was an overflowing Bookmans' bag and a place to put all my stitch marker supplies. So with that part of the room cleaned I went on to organize bib supplies. I did not realize that I had so many supplies. I had piled them all in one corner in little and not so little bags so it was hard to see just how much or what there was. I have a whole basket of bibs cut, prepped and ready to go. I also have another basket filled with a half and half combo of towels and bandanna's.  I have pulled 4 hand towels out that I just could not match the color of so don't tell anyone but I am sending them to Teri.  I have enough supplies to start a small business. By the way if you need adult size bibs let me know, they are custom made and go for $30.00 add another $10.00 if you want them monogrammed. There might be a little more to this being organized thing than I realized.

I then went through some more magazines and books and more went into the already flowing Bookmans bag. I guess it is going to be another trip to Bookman's tomorrow and maybe the consignment shop for some jewelry that I don't wear anymore. I am hoping that less stuff in the house will mean less clutter and a more organized house.

I wonder if 3 hours of cleaning would count towards any exercise time? Tell me what you think, please.

A big bonus is I have reclaimed the treadmill so I guess it is time to say goodnight and hit the treadmill. Enjoy your families.

Enjoying My Holidays

I am enjoying my holidays with everyone home. Yesterday we went to see Disney's new movie Tron, which was pretty good, not much knitting got done. My only 2 request to the movie makers are better fitting 3-D movie glasses to fit over my glasses and to come up with a way to do 3-D that does not leave me with a blazing headache. I personally feel a headache does distract from the overall movie experience.

After the movie we went for dim sum at China Phoenix. As usual the food and service were great. Sarah did her best to make sure we left with full tummies. Then it was home to relax and watch some TV.

Today after a late start I took the kids to Beyond Bread for lunch. Teri and I split the Avi's Avo for lunch. Avi's Avo is a turkey and avocado sandwich that is wonderful, and is one of our favorites.  I then sent Teri ahead to one of our local favorites a really wonderful book store called Bookmans Used Book Store. This gave me time to finish feeding Eric. There was not much that I needed at Bookmans so after perusing the store Eric I relaxed at the section of the store with tables and I worked on my latest charity project. Teri meanwhile pick out a full bag of books to read.

We ended the day by leaving the guys at home and going to Mayco's for their wonderful chicken taco's. It was good to have a girls night out. Teri does have a request from the family that runs Mayco's, please bring Mayco's to the Silicon Valley.

Check back in this blog during the next 2 weeks for some of our favorite Tucson spots. Have a great evening and enjoy your families.