Happy Dance Time.

We are home from the hospital. Eric will be home the rest of the week. I see a lot of knitting getting done. The count so far 1 shawl and 1 hat complete. Pictures when I am less tired.  Night all.

Knitting Needles

The thought occurred to me tonight that I have a lot and I do mean a lot of different knitting needles in different shapes and sizes. Then why is it that I never have the size I need when I want it. Which of course leads to buying more knitting needles.

Am I just like all the knitters with a lot of UFOs. I see something that I just have to make and if I have the yarn in the house it is on the needles very quickly. Not that it will necessarily get finished very quickly. Hence the plethora of UFOs.

I have started carrying a big bag with a lot of my UFOs in it to knitting with the hopes that someday they will get finished before they: A: Go out of style. B: I have forgotten or lost the pattern. C: I run out of yarn and it is no longer available so I have to tink it.  I think I need to make a giant effort this year to finish UFOs including Teri's never ending blanket, hey I have gotten a few more squares done so far this week and any progress is good progress. Right?

So join me in the month of February in finishing as many UFOs as we can. Lets try to really see how many knitting needles we all have. Then just maybe we can get some more yarn. I know the yarn diet thing right, well in my case maybe I can get all the yarn into the house if I just knit enough.

My Idea of Heaven

Today was a simply awesome day filled with knitting, spinning ( on the wheel no less ), fun,exercise, friends and food. Who could really ask for anything more.

Today started off with knitting with friends. I am almost finished with the top down shawl in Blond Chicken's (aka Tara) hand spun yarn. Every one was working on awesome project ranging from doll clothes to cowls and even some sweaters and blankets. We even managed to get a new knitter started today, Carolyn supplied the know how while Liz provided the yarn and needles. That was a great job on stash busting Liz, very creative too.

Then it was off to lunch. Which was kinda of funny most of us could not remember what we ordered and the servers did not know what some of the dishes were. Well you just had to be there to enjoy the moment.

Then it was off to home and a bit of exercise with John. Followed by my best spinning on the wheel since my hand surgery. I had my pod cranked up and was singing in the key of off while I spun. This made me extremely happy, because I had vision's of having to find a new home for the wheel and I really like her.

After I got Eric off the bus we had some time together. Eric even managed to get John to watch Barney. I spent some time working on a commission. Then it was off to Cafe Ole for Talipia taco's for dinner. You know your are eating healthy in a Mexican restaurant when the wait staff says you did a good job of picking the healthy food off the menu. By the way if you have never had grilled Talipia taco's, you must try them with out the cheese and sauce for the best taste experience ever.

Before I forget, I have finished and started another square on Teri's blanket. Well its getting late and I want to try to get to the opening at 505 Miracle Mile tomorrow to see what they have done with Tucson's newest artist venue.

A Day Off

Eric went to school today. So I got a day off. The only problem was that I was so tired I could hardly move or keep my eyes open. So I decided to put my eye drops in count to 500 and get moving. Well I don't think I made it to 500 , but I did manage to wake up before noon. I think my body plead exhaustion. Then made the nap time decision.

After a light lunch of figs and goat cheese. I poured a cup of Roobios tea and headed ot the door to the Withers Ranch. Kathy was kind enough to teach me how to use my carder. With a lot of Kathy's help we made a 1 ounce batt. I am going to miss my time with Kathy. She is such a bright and artistic woman. All I have to say is that you folks in Maryland are getting a treasure. So please learn from her and support her artistic endivers.

I still had time to run to the Pharmacy. And Trader Joes. I even had enough energy to make a red pot soup for dinner. This is the first cooked from scratch dinners since my hand surgery. The good news is that we have enough for at least another meal.

Well I think that it is time to call it a night.

Nap Time

Today was an official nap time at the house today. Eric and I got some much needed rest. I also got a surprising amount of cleaning done today. 4 bags of trash out and 1 bin of recycling went out the door. It does not seem possible to me the confirmed pack rat, but the more I throw the more I find to throw. Also it takes less time to find things and to clean.

I also found some time to work on 2 different blankets.

Well even though it's only 9:30pm. I am really tired and am calling it a night.

The Never Ending Day

Since I have be up since 6:30A.m. yesterday morning. Yes Eric is sick yet again. I will blog when I am not so gosh darn tired.

Not the Blog I Planned

I am sitting in Eric's room writing this blog post on my pod. This is not the post I had planned on for tonight. I was going to write about the birthday cake and show a picture. I can't down load pictures from the computer to my pod with any scence of ease. So as I watch the Good Night Show with Nina and Star I will write this blog post.

Today was not the most productive day in the history of mankind, but I got enough done. I seem to be less productive when I am tired and spend long hours on the phone. I can say with certainty that half the bills were paid. The ones that require hand written checks will ne done tommrow. I arranged a fiber swap and got it packaged to go to the post office. 2 more squares were finished on Teri's never ending blanket. I also worked on the dreaded end of year paperwork.

As we were getting Eric ready for bed John and I decieded that he did not look well. Eric has done a lot of startling tonight, but his stats look good. I think I will decided in about an hour on how long I will stay up with him tonight. I wonder what effect a late night will have on my earlier migraine. On the bright side if it does come back I can have more aspirin.

This and That

My day started off very slowly, if it went any slower I would have had to crawl back into bed. There was a great upside of running so late today thought. I got to talk to Teri. She was driving in San Fransisco when her GPS died. So she called me in Tucson for directions. With the help of Google Maps we managed to get her directions to where she was going. Thank you so much to the great people at Google Maps. I hope she was able to find a place to charge her GPS for the way home.

I managed to get to knitting very late but I still got to do some catching up with everyone. I guess I did not say much about my hand to anyone before the surgery and everyone assumed incorrectly that Eric was sick. They were surprised when I told them that I had hand surgery. They were also surprised that I was knitting again.

My hand is recovering slower than I like. I am just impatient in that way. It still gets painful when I knit for more than a few rows. This will make tomorrow all the more interesting. I have a birthday cake to make for a party that we are going to. I think with help baking the cake and making the icing will be fairly easy. What I am worried about is the decorating part. I usually do it left handed. I know I can manage a decent frosting job with my right hand. But I don't have the very fine motor skills necessary in my right hand to an adequate job of controlling the pastry bag.

My plan of action will be to take some pain reliever about an hour before I start the decorating and not do any knitting or spinning until after the cake is decorated. I think this will be very hard for me.  The cake is for a man so I don't have to worry about doing any lace or lattice work on the cake which should make it easier. I am planning to do a reverse C shell boarder to hide any boo-boos. Other than Happy Birthday I don't have a plan for the cake design yet. I am making peanut butter frosting and I am not quite sure what color it will come out, so I am playing it by ear. I will take a picture of it when I am done.

Well I think it is time to call it a night.

A New to Me Finish

Today was a very good day. It got off to a very slow start, but got better as the day went on. I managed to do more knitting and spinning than yesterday, yes I stopped when it hurt. I had a nice 2 mile walk after lunch today. I did also manage to get some cleaning and filing done. Now to straighten out the file before I hand it over. That I will start on tomorrow.

At Guild I learned a new edging called the Latvian Braid. Please forgive me if you know about it, but it was so easy and fun that I just had to share it with you.

Latvian Braid

1. Round 1:     *K1 with color A, K 1 with color C repeat from*
2. Round 2:     Round 2: *P1 with color A, P1 with color C, Always bringing the new yarn over the one just used; repeat from*
3. Round 3:     *P1 with color A, P1 with color C, always bringing the new yarn under the one just used; repeat from*
4. Bind off with a regular knitting bind off.

From what I can tell this would make an excellent finishing for a pair of slippers, bottom of a sweater, or any place a decorative stitch would be nice.

Now I need to go off and ponder the bigger question of the day. I have a birthday cake to make for Saturday and I need to figure out who will be my extra set of hands for baking it and making the frosting. Also if I do not knit or spin will I be able to use my left hand to do the decorating of the cake? I also have to remember to go buy the cake board and box.

As you can see my life has no possibility of getting boring anytime in the near future

Hump Day

By default today became my day off. My body just needed a day of rest. This is the real first day off since my hand surgery. I know I should have rested before but there was just so much to do. I got a little knitting and spinning done, but not anything on my list.

 My hand is feeling better, so I tried to make dinner tonight. Who knew I could screw up fish sticks. I ate the mangled ones. I think I will wait a few more days until I try all but the most basic of culinary skills. Such as buying everything pre-cooked and letting John put it together.

With any luck by the time I finish this post Eric will be asleep.

Rainy Day's and Mondays Make Me Happy

The stitches came out today but I still have a bit of recovery time left. I think it will be a while before I can knit and spin to my hearts content. I think I might take out the weaving to vent some of my creative energy. In the mean time I will knit and spin until my hand gets tired. Speaking of knitting, I have lost one of my size 11 wooden Peace knitting needles with the cute lady bugs painted on one end. If you find it please let me know. An  appropriate treat will be given to the finder and returner of the needle.

Now that I am knitting again, albeit slowly. I have 2 commissions that I am working on. The first is a gray scarf in the Uncle Harry pattern in grey. I have a half a skein left on this one. The other is a custom made hat. The customer choose some of my hand spun yarn and gave me a picture of what she wants the hat to look like. The brim is almost done on that one.

I like to make the in person delivery's in very busy places like Starbucks. Today while I was sitting there trying to read my summer 2011 edition of Spin Off, while waiting for the person to show up, I had at least 5 people come and join me at the table and another stop by to tell me how much he liked my knitting. I felt like my knitting was an opener that allowed people to feel comfortable.

The shawl I was piecing together for someone in Tucson was delivered today. I must of done a pretty good job on it. Even though she knit the panels, she could not find the seam lines. This made me very happy By the way after 1 1/2 hours I am only 4 paragraphs into the article.

Well it is time to consider sleep and I hope that Eric is on the same wave length that I am on this one.

Spinning Post Hand Surgery

Ok, so sometimes I am a little slow to figure things out. Take spinning after hand surgery. I went straight for the soft and very fluffy alpaca. This was a big mistake in so many ways. I struggled with it all week, all I can say is the post surgery alpaca looks a lot different from the pre-surgery spinning of the same fiber. I really felt the need to spin so I pick up a different spindle with a Phat sample of merino on it. I could not believe the difference. It was so much easier to spin and ply. So my recommendation on spinning post hand surgery is to go to something like merino. Also expect to look a lot like new spinning.

I am on the second skein of my first post surgery scarf and that is going slow too. I am into the second week and only a little past the half way mark. I feel like a new and very slow knitter. For the first time on a long time I have to think about what my hands are doing. I have had to start following the needles visually too. I guess I have lost some muscle memory or at the very least my hand is moving differently.

Tomorrow I get the stitches out. I think to celebrate I will make some kind of homemade dinner. Well it is now 10 and I have a busy day planed for tomorrow so it's time to say good night.

Saturday

Well it was a second almost all nighter with Eric last night. A good indication that I needed a nap was that I fell asleep while getting my hair cut, yes I trust Mary Lou that much. Let me know if you need her number.  So after a quick trip to the framers market, which did provide the laugh line for the day. "I did not think that milk was dairy." By the baker of all people. I could have not made that one up if I tried. Followed by a quick lunch.

It was nap time. I did manage a nap that was a little less than 2 hours but more than I slept last night. Did I mention that Eric shared his tummy bug. Well this blog is so dis jointed that I think I should call it a night.

Planning, Why Bother?

We are now into our usual pattern. I get an incredible amount of work done, let's use Wednesday for example. I got all the bills paid, caught up on some errands and even found time for myself(this should read was so tired that I could not move). Eric had a nurse visit and his numbers could not have been better.

Now we fast forward to Thursday morning. I had an early morning appointment I could be on time to if the bus was on time. By 6:00am Eric's fever was just shy of 100. I was scrambling for extra help for the day. Emailing the usual list and dealing with the post migraine headache. I was actually thankful that I could skip the morning appointment and will have to reschedule it. Eric's fever broke by early evening. So silly me was planning on going to hang out with friends. Eric seemed to settle in very easy this evening. Then the eyrping started. Did I mention I successfully kept my stitches dry. Yeah me!

I am now 5 loads of laundry behind. Eric is on pedilyte. I am blogging on my pod. By the way one of the new engines on Thomas the tank has glasses now, that was just a random thought. To my friends hang in there, I hope to resurface soon.

More Progress

Each day my hand is feeling better, although there is still a bruise covering almost the whole back of my hand. I still can not do much. I can't get my hand wet yet so no cooking, cleaning or general housework. I have been able to sort through a lot of paperwork and even though its only Tuesday I have made some large deposits to the recycling bin. I wonder if I can fill it up again this week.

I did manage to get to class today for the first time this year. The stars must have been aligned. I even shopped for dinner. Just in case you were wondering a loaf of bread, corned beef, potato salad and coleslaw. Remember I still can not cook so John made the sandwiches. We are in kiss mode right now.

I have started knitting again and have managed to knit about 5 inches in length on a 6 inch wide scarf. I stop when my hand gets tired usually after a row or two.

I have started walking again and today I doubled what I did yesterday. Don't get to excited though it still is not much but it is a start. Well it is time to say good night because I am really tired.

Join Team Sjogren's

Did you make a New Year's resolution to become more physically fit, be more supportive of your family, or to make a difference? Well you can meet all of your goals for the New Year by joining Team Sjögren's is a marathon training program designed to help you prepare to walk or run in a marathon, (26.2 miles) or half-marathon (13.1 miles). While in the program you are provided with support and training mechanisms all while helping to raise awareness and crucial funds towards research into a cure for Sjögren's. This year, we will be returning to Nashville to participate in the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Martahon on April 28th, 2012. Reasons why people join Team Sjögren's: TO RUN IN HONOR OF SJÖGREN'S PATIENTS OR THEMSELVES TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR SJÖGREN'S TO HAVE THE CHANCE TO SHARE YOUR STORY TO GET PHYSICALLY FIT & LOSE WEIGHT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO MEET YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR Just imagine how it will feel to cross that finish line knowing that you helped raise awareness and funds for Sjögren's research . For more information on Team Sjögren's and this amazing experience, contact Cynthia Williamson at 800-475-6473 ext 205 or cwilliamson@sjogrens.org We Run in Honor of the 4 Million Americans with Sjögren's... We Are Team Sjögren's!!!

Please help me and other people with Sjogrens. You can make a diffrence.

A Breif Update

We have been busy enjoying family time. We still have Teri for a few more days, yeah happy dance. Eric starts back to school tomorrow. We will see if the doctor can fix my thumb on Thursday. This not knitting thing is driving me nuts. I did not realize how much I depend on my yarn to keep my life in balance. Spinning is going very slow too, I can do it a maximum of 30 minutes a day before the thumb acts up.  John will go back to work on Monday. Well I have a busy day planed for tomorrow. Please enjoy your families.

Girls Day

Teri and I spent a girls day out shopping. A good time was had by both of us. I even managed to finish a spin a long challenge before it was over, now to boil, thwack and dry the yarn. I can't do the next part of the challenge, which is to knit it into a finished object for at least a week. But that's a whole different  story. So I think I will get back to the family and get a little more precious Teri time while I can.

Recovering

We spent the day recovering after a long night of sick kids. I am kind of surprised that I got all the non fussy laundry in the middle of the night, but failed to get the fussy laundry done today. Well like the song says "there's always tomorrow, tomorrow is only a day away".

We all spent they day relaxing. This afternoon Eric and I stumbled upon the PBS Holiday Parade from the Bay Area.  I would highly recommend adding it to your TIVO list for next year. No commercials and all the PBS kids favorite charters. There were also a lot of bands. A real old fashion parade.

Well It is time to get Eric ready for bed. so good night everyone.

Too Busy To Blog

I have been having a great time with all the family at home right now. John is home from work, Teri and Eric are on winter break. We have been having such a great time that by the time I usually blog I have been fast asleep.

Today a little reality did creep into our day and Eric has a fever. Hopefully it will not go any further, but I will try to keep everyone in the loop.

Please forgive me if I do not blog much while Teri is home. This is her last break before she takes the California Bar this summer and after that she will enter the grown-up world of work. She grew up much too fast.

She Is Home

My dear sweet darling daughter Teri is home for winter break. I plan on relishing every minute of it. The mood is cheery and Eric gave Teri one of those smiles that only he can give. It was nice to have a full kitchen table at dinner. Well it has been a long day. So it is time to say good night.

Transformations

Well it is finally done the room that was set up for crafts and exercise on Monday is now a full fledged guest room. As you can see from the picture the Murphy bed is even pulled down and the linens freshly washed. Yes the room was vacuumed also. Although I am not sure that the Swifter duster made a trip in there yet.

With time to spare the spinning area was also straightened out too.  There are no pictures there because in my humble opinion there is not as much progress to show.

This did leave me in a state of total exhaustion with an unscheduled nap taken. I did find some time to knit and listen to a few more chapters of 2030. Yes it is a must read book. Some more work was done on the scarf challenge for tomorrow. I am almost finished. Another just in time project.

A special thanks goes out to Kayla for all her help in this endeavour. If you need someone with extraordinary organizing skills she is your go to gal.

Well it is time to get dinner going an quite possibly think about what I am going to make for tomorrow's party since I have procured help for Eric and plan on being out of the house for a few hours.  Respite is wonderful.

Sunday and Monday

I enjoyed my time Sunday at the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. I got to spend some time with Kathy Withers and do some spinning. I found a few nice things that I will blog about when I have time to take the pictures. Monday was spent waiting for another service call in which the contractor did not show up leading me to miss coffee with some friends who are even busier than I am, so it is  very hard to meet up. So I would like to give the service man the lack of courtesy award. He did not even call to say he was not going to make the appointment.

While I was home I spent part of the day organizing my yarn stash I found the equivalent space of 3 empty drawers in the official yarn storage area so I took yarn from the sewing room and put it away. I also started my scarf for guild on Thursday, but unless Eric is better I will not be going. If I do manage to get out the door you will see a one of a kind scarf with hand spun yarn and samples of yarn from all over the world. Oh and did I mention some of my own hand spun yarn too.

They broke Eric yet again at school. He started eyrping right before bed and it lasted most of the night. So I guess I will cut it short here and go take care of the boy.

So Much for Planning

Well today was the 5th day in a row that Eric made it to school. I was planning on going to the 4th Avenue Street Fair, but spent the day waiting for a service man who did not show up.

So it was time to work on the house. I finally had enough energy to do some house work and paperwork. The good news is that the paper work is down by 2/3's. The house is better than it was but not where I want it to be. I even found time to do some repairs from the mending pile on the sewing machine.  A very small dent was made in the repair pile.

I took some yarn off the spinning wheel today. Over 300 yards and 4.8 ounces. It is from a wool mohair art batt by Kathy Withers. She does not have any art batts in her shop at this moment but if you let her know what you are looking for she may be able to get it for you. Unique Designs by Kathy . I still have to boil the yarn and let it dry. I think it is some of the best yarn that has come off the wheel yet. Almost on par with my spindle spinning.

I would like to say that I made progress on Teri's blanket today, but everything I knit tonight was tinked and re knit so I consider it a stand still for today.

Well it is time to go put Eric to bed. So it is time to say good night.

A Taste of Freedom

Well Eric has been in school 4 whole days this month. Even better 4 days in a row. I did not realize how tired I was until I got Eric to school. To answer a few of the questions you might have.                        
No I did not do much house work.
No I did not do a lot a knitting or spinning. I am still in the process of take some yarn off the wheel. 300 yards and counting. I will have to figure out a better way to take those large skeins off the wheel.
Yes I got things to the Post Office in a timely manner.
Yes I took a lot of naps, at least 2 hours a day but I am no way caught up on sleep.
I meet with friends.
I took myself out to lunch.
I did not hit the malls.
I did make it to the grocery store and Trader Joe's.
I did make one of 2 doctors appointments that I needed to . The other one was out until Monday.
I talked to the roofer.
I am enjoying the Albert Brooks book 2030
But best of all, I got to talk to Teri. 3 finals down 1 to go.
Now it is time to go to sleep.

And the Winners Are...

First off I would like to say that there were only 3 entries so everyone is getting something.

WonderWhyGal you won -The First Prize winner will win a copy of the pattern and enough yarn to make the shawl. Please note that since this shawl is made with hand spun yarn and I bought and used the entire batch of the yarn for this shawl. This means that your yarn will be a different color. I don't have enough hand spun yarn but I do have enough in a variegate light color or  gray or light blue and possibly black.

Jennifer QKW you won - The second prize winner will win a copy of the pattern and a set of stitch markers.

Kerri Warmus you won - The third prize winner will win a set of stitch markers

Please get in touch with me. I need your address to mail the prizes.

Thanks for taking the time to enter.

A Day Off

Today was my first day all alone since the day before Thanksgiving. I took a nap, went to lunch and I also made it to the grocery store too. Well 2 grocery stores to be exact. In my dreams I spent my first day off knitting and spinning, sipping tea oblivious to all around me. So much for the first day of me time dream.

I have been home so much this winter that I missed the invasion of the snow birds. Yes, folks they are out there in full force. With a high of only 50f  today, I wonder why they choose to winter in such a cold spot. The only good thing about the cold weather is that I have a few days a year to wear my warm woollies that I like to knit.

Before I ramble on too much I think I will head over to my spinning wheel and see if she remembers me. I should really be hitting the tread mill. Later all.

Smooth Sailing

It has been a quiet weekend so far. Friday, John was home so I got to join the girls for knitting and lunch. These ladies are the best. They can take me from up tight mom with sick kid at home to relaxation in under 2 hours. All I can say is that I am grateful for such fantastic friends. After going out to lunch with them it was back home to give John a break from child care.

I also figured why I had not finished a doll blanket. I had taken it out of the UFO box where it has been for the last 3 years. After working on it for 2 hours at knitting and some additional time at home I found that I did not have enough yarn to finish it. I know that 3/4 of the way through and all I can say is darn and time to tink it. For those that read this blog who don't knit, tink is a different way to say I am ripping it out. Maybe I will make some bean bags or something that uses a light weight cotton yarn

We did manage to get out of the house today. John saw something with a lot of booms in it. Eric and I saw the Muppet Movie. It is very different from the past Muppet movies with a lack of forks in the road and other skits. It was more like the Muppet Show, which Eric and I still watch on occasion. Eric and I liked the movie very much.

We managed to get home just as the rain was starting. Timing is everything right. I frogged the project I started in the movie, I just did not get it right. I don't know if it was the 3 women in front of us texting through out the movie or that I just did not know what I had in mind. It is now recast on and going well. I did wind up some more yarn and made pumpkin bread for dinner. Cold rainy days are great for baking.

Well it is almost time to get dinner on the table. so have a great night.

So Much Yarn So Much Time

The weather outside was dreadful. Eric's new cold is in full swing. I managed to list a few more items in my on line shop. Just click on the side bar to see everything I have. If you want to give hand knit items but you ran out of time please check my shop. There will be frequent updates as a lot of knitting is getting done at the moment.

I got one more cowl off the needles today, when the finishing work is done I will list it. Well its getting late time to catch some zzzzzz's

How I am Keeping Busy

It has been almost a week since I last blogged. Since then Eric has gotten sick yet again this time a tummy bug that entailed wild eyrping for 24 hours straight, the poor guy. Just when I thought I might get him out the door this week he started showing symptoms of a head cold. I swear the little dude has not been out of the house since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I do have one suggestion for PBS and Sprout, for the sake of parents of sick kids please don't put your shows on a 6 hour loop. There are only so many times I can watch the same show on the same day before I go nuts.

I am happy to report that Teri has made it through her first final with only  3 more to go.  That achievement should not be taken lightly. I can't begin to tell the whole world just how proud I am of her. It is truly a blessing that she is in my life. Teri is a wonderful part of our family.

I have been spending my days knitting and cleaning, aside for hanging around with Eric.  I think we are in week 5 or 6 of Eric being home and I am trying not to go stir crazy. I am taking every opportunity to get out of the house for a few minutes when I can. There has been plenty of laundry, which I am happy to say that up until this point I have been keeping up with. I have not had much time for spinning, weaving or sewing. I am beginning to think I will not have a new quilt for John with no time to go into the sewing room or have Teri's new blanket finished as it is to big to take to Eric's room. I am publicly rethinking my holiday presents. Yes, Teri I know I just announced it to the world.

I have added some new items to my etsy studio and have a small pile of things that need photos before listing. I hope to get that done tomorrow. Well it is getting late so its time to say goodnight.

Were Still Here

We have not fallen off the face of the earth. I got Eric to school on Monday and Tuesday. Needless to say I got in as many errands done on those 2 days as possible. I meet with the girls to knit.

Tuesday I even went to 2 different stores to get my holiday shopping done. Not everything I needed was at Trader Joe's. Although I did score my turkey breast at the 1st stop. So a trip to Basha's after my eye doctors appointment seemed like a strategic move. They are right across the street from the eye doctors.

Wednesday with both Eric and John home I did some of the prep for Thursday. I made homemade cranberry sauce from scratch if you want the recipe let me know.  And kept very busy. Thursday was spent with the guys, watching the parade on TIVO after my nap. Then there was more cooking while John and Eric napped.This was the first Thanksgiving in I don't remember how long that I was able to do all the chopping and cooking all by my self. It was one small victory over my arthritis.

Friday I left the guys at home and meet the girls for knitting. I had lunch with Nancy and then went home. We hung out and watched a little bit of TV.

Today Nancy and I went to the Reid Park Arts Festival. I came to the conclusion that art shows in the park were not going to be my thing. First of all a lot of the scarfs were made from polyester most were $15.00 or under. They were not my kind of knitting. I left wondering how they were going to break even let alone make any money. Yes they priced their items to sell, but the fiber artist should not have to sell handmade quality at discount store prices. We need to educated the public about the value of handmade and the need for the fiber artist to do more then break even or sell at a loss.

We stopped by Kiwi ( one of our local yarn shops ) to support a local business today. We stayed and did some knitting and chatting too. By the time I got home I took care of Eric's immediate needs then took a nap. John and I made it to Cafe Ole for dinner. Another one of our favorite locally owned restaurants. Dessert was curiosity of Frost another local Tucson favorites.

Well it is time to get Eric to bed for the night .

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is a family favorite for Thanksgiving and when ever they can persuade me to make it for them. It is a very easy recipe to make but I like to keep a few things special. So with out further ado.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

2 - 29 ounce cans of Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes in light syrup - drained
1  - 20 ounce can of Dole Crushed Pineapple in its own juice. Drained and the juice put in a separate glass on ice
1 - stick of margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups of miniature marshmallows. Reserve the extra from the bag for the topping.
A dash of Cinnamon

1 large casserole dish sprayed with Pam or greased. For the holidays I sometimes use an aluminum foil pan to save on clean up or so I don't have to worry about taking the dish back from the party.

I use my Kitchen Aide K-5 to do the mixing but you can do it by hand or with a hand mixer.

Add the Drained Sweet Potatoes, pineapple, margarine, a dash of Cinnamon and brown sugar to the mixing bowl. Beat on a slow speed until smooth. I typically start on speed 1 and work my way up to speed 4. It is important that you scrape down the sides of the bowl often. After the mixture is smooth turn the mixer to the lowest speed and stir in 2 cups of marshmallows.

Pour the mixture into your greased casserole dish and smooth out the top in a nice design. Liberally cover with more of the marshmallows. Cover with the casserole lid or foil.

For a GLASS CASSEROLE put the casserole dish in a COLD oven and turn the temperature to 325f and bake for one hour. For all other pans pre-heat the oven to 350f and bake for 45 minutes. You might want to take the foil cover off for the last 10 minutes if you want a bubbly brown top.

This recipe can be modified for a variety of diets.

For the diabetic reduce or eliminate the brown sugar and cut the amount of marshmallows in half.
For a low fat diet cut in half the amount of margarine or eliminate it entirely.

Now you are probably wondering why you put the pineapple juice on ice. After you clean up the pans it will be time to kick up your feet and and have a nice cold glass of juice.

More Milestones

As we celebrate another milestone in Eric's life. I would like to ask you to help us reach more milestones in his life. There are two organizations that play a vital part in Eric's life.

First there is the ML4 Foundation. Eric's primary diagnosis is ML4.  Mucolipidosis Type IV (ML4) is a horrible genetic disease effecting children across the world. Doctors say that children with ML4 will likely never walk or talk, have a maximum mental capacity of about 18 months, go blind by twelve years old and live only into early adulthood. The mission of the ML4 Foundation is to promote and fund medical research to develop treatments and find a cure for ML4.

Any amount will help fund this research. Just think that in Eric's life time we have already found the gene mutation that causes ML4. We as a family know that anything is possible.

ML4 Foundation Donation Page

The second organization that we would like you to consider is the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Eric has been going to summer camp at the TJCC since he has been 4 years old. Over that span of time the inclusion program has grown from just a few special needs children mixed in with other campers to a full inclusion program with a wait list. The program has also evolved over the years to include a young adult program called Tag-Lit which is for high school age and older campers. Tag-Lit also has a year round program which Eric will transition to after high school and join the year round program.

This program is funded primarily through shrinking state dollars and grants. Any amount of money contributed to this effort would go a long way in helping Eric and his friends. Eric has been together with some of his friends for 17 years. I know it is very hard to believe that these wonderful people have kept the program going for so long.

Please use the pull down menu to the inclusion fund designation and this money will go to special needs programs and equipment at the Tucson JCC. They can stretch a dollar like no other organization I have seen.

Tucson JCC Donation form.

My Family and I would like to thank you in advance for your support. I would also like to thank you fror lending an ear over the years.. Sheri

Party Day

We had a small party for Eric today. We had 1 friend for Eric and just did a little hanging out and relaxing. A lot of the Elmo's made it off the shelf. At one point we had a Sesame Street video going plus a few Elmos' sing and one even telling stories. Eric reached for every Elmo that made it to the bed. Matthew even managed to find and get John to open 2 more Elmo's that were still in the boxes. Eric and Matthew had a great time even though I fell asleep this morning instead of making a cake. I don't think it made a difference to either of them.

The party favor was a new dog pillow for Matthews dog. I had enough scraps to stuff a dog pillow for Frank. I made the mistake of putting my hand in the stuffing mix and have a nice blister on my hand. Polyfil is great to stuff dog pillows with along with yarn and spinning scraps, but my skin does not like it. When will I ever learn. sigh.

I did manage to score a Phat Fiber sampler box on the second drop today and it should be here before Thanksgiving. I did not find time to spin but I did get a few rows done on a hat and 1 1/2 squares done on Teri's blanket. I think the month is catching up with me so it is time to call it a night.

TGIF

Well we made it to Friday in one piece.  John had the day off so I took advantage and went to knitting. I had fun with the girls. You should see all the creative Christmas decorations they are knitting up for their trees. There were baskets, pine cones and miniature sweaters. Me on the other hand a knit 1 purl 2 scarf pattern, it is a very steady pattern that comes out quite nice. Oh I forgot cast on in multiples of 3.

I did get some spinning time in today. I am 2/3 of the way through one of Kathy Withers batts. I did notice that she did not have any listed in her shop, but if you send her a note through her etsy shop she might be able to come up with something just for you.

At dinner, yes I take my knitting when we eat out, I found a very large mistake in the red cowl I was 2/3 of the way done and it was not a recoverable error. Believe me I did try that first before I frogged the whole thing. I had the project re casted before we went home.

A little more knitting tonight. Two more squares were finished on Teri's Queen size blanket. Just in case you were wondering why the blanket is taking so long to knit;it is being knit on US size seven knitting needles.  So unless I love you as much as I love Teri I will not be making you one on size 7 needles ever. If it were for anyone else but Teri I would have given up on it a long time ago.

Well it is getting late so 1 last quick reminder. the contest is open until November 20 at midnight MST. I have 3 prizes and only 2 entries so far so you chances are very good so far.

I Will be a Willow Tree

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to make plans at all. About 50% of my plans land in the blender. Take today for instance. I had planed to go to the knitting guild meeting today and hang out with some friends and maybe have lunch. So to that end I called and scheduled a nurse for today last Friday, because Eric is still home. I figured 6 days in advance was enough. Well 8:00 am came and went. We are suppose to wait a reasonable amount of time in case the nurse gets lost. By 8:30  still no nurse and they have 2 hours to find a replacement. So much for the guild meeting and lunch with friends.

So instead I went to the pantry and filled a bag of food for the annual stuff the Mayflower for the Tucson Community Food Bank that our local radio station 94.9MIXfm puts on. Let Eric watch some TV while I got ready. Negotiated with Eric what shows he wanted to watch before we dropped the food and check off. Yes we had to wait until Sesame Street was over.

Then it was getting Eric ready to go and all that that entails. Load Eric in the car and drive down to the drop off site. Then I had to explain that Eric wanted to make the donation of the food so I put it in his lap so the volunteer could take the bag of food from him and then they said thank you to Eric. I also took a moment to drop the check in the collection bucket.

Back home again and it was time for my lunch and then to put Eric down for a nap. Eric wanted company so I did some knitting. When he dozed off I did some pretty awesome tossing of junk into recycle. Then Eric would squeak and I would go back to his room,  knit some more until he dozed  and then it was back to cleaning.This went on for 4 hours this afternoon. But the net result is a cleaner section of the house. And enough magazines tossed to compress the recycle bin a little.

I also figured out what was causing Eric's bed to act all funny. Yes I fixed that too. I just love duck tape, I just need to get more of it. An darn if I was not at the hardware store just last night and walked right past it thinking that I had enough of it.

Eric's afternoon aide was late too. He showed up 25 minutes after the start of the shift and then tried to play the we need to fill out the time card in pencil routine, yes like I have never seen that done before and did not know he was going to erase the time he was here with the time he was suppose to be here. Pencil really who was he trying to kid? I wrote over his pencil in black ink.

I can truly say that I am very tired and that it was a long day. Other than the disappointment of not being able to go out or have the energy to take pictures for my on line shop the day did turn out all right.

Now if Eric would only sleep through the night tonight.

Hump Day

After a long night with Eric, I decided to take it slow today. Actually my body did not give me much of a choice. Even fully caffeinated Eric and I managed to take a couple of naps today. To clarify I had the caffeine and not Eric, I am not that brave to try and give him caffeine.

More napping than knitting got done. On Eric's 3rd nap of the day I did manage to do some finishing work. If the nurse does not show tomorrow I will spend the morning taking pictures with Eric. I have incorporated some of my own hand spun in 2 of the hats.

When the mail came today Eric decided that he wanted the t-shirt that I had won as a prize from Pepsi. So I told him if he really wanted it he would have to take it out of my hands. He  really surprised me by reaching over with both hands and really giving it a tug. So now I would like to thank Pepsi for the new t-shirt for Eric from the Pepsi Refresh Project. As a reminder for everyone. Eric is still collecting tabs for the Ronald McDonald House here in Tucson for his charity work. He Just loves it when you send tabs his way.

I know the blog is rambling tonight so I guess this means it is time to go to sleep. Night all.

A Pretty Good Day

I had a pretty good day for being in the middle of week 3 home with Eric. Eric is starting to feel better and is not quiet as grumpy as yesterday.  This left me with some time to do a little pick up around the house and make a home cooked dinner.

I managed to finish some UFOs. One was an order due next Monday and the other was a hat for the online shop. I plan on doing the finishing work tomorrow. One of my circular needles got lonely so I cast on another hat to work on when I am sitting with Eric. Yes I know I just created another UFO but what can I say. The needles were lonely and the yarn was there. If the boss is in a good enough mood I may even be able to take some pictures and list some items tomorrow.

I did manage to get some spinning done today. I am working with one of Kathy Withers batts in apricot. It is just so lovely to spin. I find that spinning can take me to a nice place of relaxation. It is just me and the fiber. Nothing else happens when the fiber is being spun. I have come to the conclusion that spinning is as good as chocolate but less fattening.

Even with such a good day, I think I am slowly creeping into a snarky mood which will have to be sent packing tomorrow. It might have been do to the fact that I woke with a raging margarine at 5:15 this morning.  Yes it is very easy to be snarky, but I still strive to be the nice gentle optimistic person I usually am and want to be.

It is getting late so I will try to get some sleep so I have the energy to deal with Eric tomorrow.

On and On

We are now at the beginning of week 3 of Eric being home sick this time. Yes really this is week 3.  We are on our second round of medicine. His sleep is still very erratic.  I have continued to master sit down and take a nap at the drop of a hat. Which means not much is getting done around here but the essentials. By the way are clean laundry and home cooked meals really essential?

There are plenty of things on hold such as working out and test knitting new patterns, listing the few finished things I have in my on line shop, cleaning, spinning, sewing. The one thing I have been able to do in bits and pieces is knit. I have been going through yarn at a good clip. The hats are getting very creative. I have started mixing commercially and hand spun yarn in the same hat for some really neat texture and color combinations. I also have finished a few cowls.

I hope to have Eric out the door to school by next Monday which will give me exactly 2 days off before he is home for the holiday weekend.  Before I ramble any more I hear laundry calling my name.

Rainy Days and Monday

Today did not start off in a stellar fashion. By 8 am I wanted a do over. Yes, really seriously. As I got out of the shower I thought I heard the low battery on a smoke alarm. Since John did not change them Halloween weekend as is our custom. So out came the step ladder and the 9 volt batteries. I changed all the batteries. On the new models we got they are a lot easier to change the batteries than the ones we bought in 1994. Did you know the life span of the average smoke detector is 10 years. Have you replaced your units if the are over 10 years old.

Back from the random tangent. I still heard the beeping after changing all of the batteries. Upon further investigation I found John's pager going off like mad. I wish I knew how to turn it off. Just for a point of reference it went off so many times this morning it bounced it's way off the shelf.

Eric spiked a temperature this morning. So my anticipated day of freedom will be put off at least another day or two. To add to the morning jumble the wrong trash can was out this morning, so we have to wait another week for recycling to go out.

The best part of the day was that we got 1/2 inch of a nice gentle rain this morning. Oh how I love the rain. Yes it does not rain much here. It was also the second day this week that we got snow on the Santa Catalina's. Not a whole lot just enough to make me want more so I could take a picture.

I seem to be in a knitting funk. I am busy starting new projects without finishing old ones. I have at least 10 small projects going and I really need to finish Teri's blanket. The spinning front is not going much better. I have wip's on my wheel and on all but one of my spindles. I am hoping to finish some of the smaller projects tomorrow and Wednesday. When I finally get Eric out of the house I am going to be in desperate need of girl/knit and chat time.  So please be prepared for a random phone call, you know who you are.

Well it is almost time to get Eric ready for bed. Yes I know he has been in bed for most of the day but it is now really bed time.

Old Fashioned Beef Stew

This is what I served John for dinner last night. It takes a little more preparation than my usual recipes but the taste is well worth the effort in my humble opinion.

Old Fashioned Beef Stew

1 pound beef stew meat
24 ounces of mini potatoes washed
1 medium sweet onion coarsely chopped
6 large sweet carrots peeled and coarsely sliced
1 whole celery washed and coarsely sliced
1 pound frozen mixed vegetables
salt and pepper to taste

Three and one half hours before dinner get your 4 1/4 quart Le Creuset pot or a similar sized pot. Make sure it will hold the steam in. I did not add any extra liquid to this recipe so it is important to not lose steam or liquid during cooking. If you pot lets out to much steam you may have to add water to keep this from burning.

On a medium heat add the stew meat with the salt and pepper to brown. Once the meat is no longer bright red add the onions and cook covered until the onions are soft. Then layer in the potatoes, carrots and celery. Cover and continue to heat on a medium heat for 30 minutes. Carefully take the lid off the pot to keep as much of the moisture in the pan as possible. Stir the pot and put the cover back on. Lower the temperature to medium low and cook for 1 more hour. Carefully take off the lid to preserve the moisture in the pan. Add the frozen vegetables and cover for 30 minutes. Stir and cover for the last half hour.

Serve with fresh bread or biscuits. Serves 4.

You may substitute fresh lamb, or chicken in the stew but the flavorings may have to be adjusted.

A New Contest for a New Shawl Pattern

I have just listed my new pattern called Handspun Sherbet Shawl in my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/skaro964 . So In honor of the release of this pattern, I am having a contest.

The First Prize winner will win a copy of the pattern and enough yarn to make the shawl. Please note that since this shawl is made with hand spun yarn and I bought and used the entire batch of the yarn for this shawl.  This means that your yarn will be a different color.

The second prize winner will win a copy of the pattern and a set of stitch markers.

The third prize winner will win a set of stitch markers.

To enter just leave a comment about the shawl or my new etsy shop which is a little on the bare side now, but more goodies will be going in soon. Please leave a way for me to contact you. I will use a random number generator to pick the winners.

Contest ends November 20, 2011.

Of course if you can't wait to get a hold of the pattern please feel free to use the linky above to get to my shop.. Good luck and have a great weekend.

The Day that Went On and On

After my post yesterday, the day seemed to go on and on. I was up until 3:30 am with Eric. It was one heck of a night. We had it all fever, chills, icky tummy, tears, almost eyrping, sinus infection and almost anything thing else you could think of.

My day started at 7:00 am this morning. Eric's aide left at 8:00 and was suppose to be followed by a nurse. I tried calling the nursing agency several times but could not get through until about 10. I asked where Eric's nurse was and they told me she was here. You just gotta love the system. NOT. It took them until after 1pm to figure out where she was and offer to to get someone out in a few hours. Yeah right his afternoon aide comes in at 4:45p and there is a 2 hours minimum. So much for the extra help today.

The phone also was ringing non stop today. One place even called 3 times to confirm the same appointment for John. By the third call I was really annoyed. I think tired was setting in. The very bright phone call was from Teri. Eric and I had a good time chatting with her. Eric was really animated and did a lot of signing and sending hugs through the phone. I really have to add skype to my ipod.

On the bright side I got a small pile of bills paid and 4 boxes labeled and out to the car. That includes 6 pounds of left over Halloween candy and 10 scarfs to Operation Gratitude. A special box for Teri. Since she reads my blog I will not divulge the contents. The last box was filled with some items from Handmade~by~Sheri for on on line auction to help a mom pay for some cancer treatments. I will include a blurb around the time of the auction so you can check it out.

I also got some knitting done. Although I can say with certainty that I don't knit as fast when I am running on a sleep deprived cycle. I also do a lousy job of matching colors in the middle of the night so I have 2 hats on the needles at the same time. Something that I really don't like to do with scrappy hats.  My hope is that Eric sleeps tonight and that we get him out the door by Monday.

John will bring home dinner tonight. You just got to love a guy who works all day but still brings home dinner.  I would like to spin but I am so tired my eyes and hands are not working together. Things can only get better from here. A few good nights worth of sleep for all of us will fix everything.

I hope my blog is not to incoherent tonight, but I plead exhaustion. Enjoy your families.

Wild Eyrps and Other Things

Day umpteenth and 1 of Eric being sick. He has also shared his latest cold with me. He gave me one of his huge smiles when I thanked him for the cold.

It was a very busy but productive day. Eric had not 1 but 2 doctors office visits. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yes he did manage to eyrp at both offices. I have to say Dr. Williams and his staff handled the eyrping better than UPH. Luckily for me he did not eyrp at my doctors appointment. Other than a sinus infection Eric seems to be doing OK for Eric. My Arthritis seems to be OK and the meds seem to be working. By the way did you know your whole hand can act like a trigger finger? Its just something I thought I would pass along to you. Just in case you needed a random oddity to discuss.

I did bring a drop spindle and knitting with me today. I finished knitting one cap and started knitting another one. I also got a little spinning done. My to do list is a mess having only accomplished the doctors appointments and nothing else.

Well I think I will go get Eric's medicine and leave him with the nurse for a few minutes.  Then either collapse or work on Mondays to do list. That is yet to be decided. I always have to end a a bright note and today that note is dinner is cooked for tonight already. So have a good evening and enjoy your families.

Happy November

I hope every ones November is off to a great start. Mine has not started off well but will get better. I am home with a sick kiddo for it seems like the umpteenth day in a row. Yes I know it has not been that long.  It just seems like it. I hope to have time to post some new things in my etsy shop soon. I also need to go to the post office, do paper work, make phone calls and some serious straighting of the house.  Yes I will even try to get a nurse for tomorrow.

After I get Eric better, I will post a new contest. So be on the look out for it.

Well I am off to knit and hang with Eric. 

Spinning Outside the House

Yesterday I took my spinning outside. It was the first time I took my wheel outside to spin. It was such a nice day. I had my ice tea and i-pod for music. Yes I did play the song Spinning Wheels in the second set of music.  I had a great time. And learned a lot.

Some of the things that I learned included the most important lesson of spinning so far. If the fluff I am working with has a lot of left over farm matter, (read that as left over hay) I only have to dust the wheel afterwards. No vacuuming needed. After all who really cares if I leave dirt on the garage floor or the patio.

It is even more relaxing to spin outside. Listening to the birds chirp. Watching the bunnies stop and try to figure out if everything is OK with the new sound.

Watching the neighbors either walk by or drive by without stopping or saying hi.  Is it just me or do most people not like face to face any more.

I need to put a pad on the chair if I am going to be spinning for that long. It turns out I was having such a good time I did not notice that 2 hours had passed. The sore bottom did not hit until I stood up.

Even though spinning in the house is relaxing it helps to change things up a bit.

The things I need to figure out about the wheel. On the outside bobbin placement the wheel seems to work fine. If I put the drive belt on the middle on the whole wheel seems to go wobbly on me. I probably need a new belt or learn some adjustments. I think these things will come with time. But If you have the answers please leave a comment for me. Thanks.

Now it is time to finish processing the yarn I spun yesterday.

Destashing Progress

Well this morning was spent cleaning the garage and condensing my yarn stash. I am happy to report that I have 4 fewer containers of yarn than last time. 2 -  under bed boxes, 1 -36 quart and 1 - 96 quart box are all empty. There are also no laundry baskets, boxes or bags of yarn in the storage room. That is about 25% less yarn than last time I went through my stash. The big secret that I don't want anyone to tell John about is that there is no more yarn in the storage room. By the way I have the storage room on his honey do list, but I already finished most of it with Kayla's help.

Since that did not take as much time as I had planned in the garage, we went on to the sewing room and organized that. I see running a vacuum cleaner through that room when my body stops yelling at me for doing so much cleaning in one fail swoop.

I also found enough yarn for about a dozen more scrappy hats. I also found 3 baby blankets in progress. I must have been meant to do this today because someone tweeted me about some baby blankets half way through the cleaning and 2 wip's are suitable for the project.

Well I think it is time for me to kick up my feet and rest before the boy gets home from school. So enjoy your families.

Another Day in the Life of...

Well more of the same old same old going on around here today. Eric is home sick. Piles of laundry and yes some will be left for tomorrow. Although I did manage to fold or hang every load of laundry done today. No applause necessary just throw fluff my way.  13 more inches done on an Operation Gratitude scarf.

I don't feel like cooking so John is stuck with a roast, sweet potatoes and steamed vegetables. You can commiserate with him when you see him next time. Yes there is enough for roast beef sandwiches tomorrow.

Well since I have some help here right now I am going to try to finish one of Kathy Withers wonderful batts. If you would like to see some of Kathy's batts here is a link to her etsy store Unique Designs by Kathy . Right now she has a lot of art yarn. One skein will make a fabulous one of a kind scarf. Also check out her pattern and one of a kind creations.

Enjoy your families .

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.

A Perfect Day

What a wonderful day I had. I spent the day at the Tucson Wool Festival. The people were great, the vendors were awesome and a few sheep and goats got their hair cut. I would like to publicly thank Kathy and Mark Withers for putting on such an awesome event.

Some of the highlights included:

Demonstrations of spinning on wheels and spindles.

Farm tours.

Knitting and crochet demonstrations.

Carding demonstrations.

Mini lessons. I got to teach a wonderful 5th grader named Georgia how to knit. She had a good inch knit by the time the show was over.

There was a very quick visit by John and Eric. They were so wonderful and brought me a sandwich and of Venti cup of iced green tea from Starbucks. It was a little on the hot side for Eric so I sent John to look around and sent them packing after about 15 minutes. I did not think I have it in me to do an all nighter tonight.

Oh yes and I did not take home as much as I came with. I would also like to say what took me 4 days to assemble for the show was unpacked and put away in less than and hour. Go figure. Well it is almost 6 pm so I am headed out to Mayco's to pick up dinner. Have a wonderful evening.