Playing Catch Up or As We Know it My Life.

OK so it has been quite a while since I blogged. So what has been going on in my life? Well here goes.

Since I blogged last Eric has been sick twice with two near all nighters, He is doing better today and I really slept last night. I have been playing catchup with the laundry. Did I mention that Eric can make 2 loads over night when he is sick. I want to thank all my laundry folders. In weeks like this I abide by my motto:
"Laundry is like fine wine, no laundry shall be folded before it's time."

I have agreed to teach knitting to Eric's friends at school, they will be making a wash cloth and a scarf. My inclination is to go for a square wash cloth and a thin rectangular scarf. I want the things to be useful for them. So today I went through my stash and picked out 10 skeins of cotton for wash cloths and 10 skeins of wool and rayon for the scarfs. I have 7 of the 10 set of needles that I will need, the knitting guild has not come through for me so I will take my coupons and buy the last 3 pairs. I will be using size 7 and 8 straight needles and am using metal needles so we don't have breakage to deal with.

I have gone to 2 white elephant holiday parties and have manage to get the white elephants I received out of the house. For the 1st white elephant I gave away 10 skeins of yarn and a knitting bag that I did not like, but the recipient was very happy with them. For the second one I gave away red mobius scarf that John did not like on me and I could not sell. For the Guild holiday party I might just do the same thing and fill another bag with yarn ( but don't tell anyone).

I gave up Diet Coke and aspartame cold turkey last Saturday and have had a few headaches and feel really weird, but so far this has been the only change in my diet and I have lost 3 pounds since Saturday. This is all due to my friend Kay sending me an article on the effects of aspartame/diet coke on auto immune diseases. It too soon to tell if it is making a difference, but I will keep you updated.

I finished the shawl pattern and got it to the beta testers and I still need John to take a picture of it on me, it does not look good flat, but on it's wonderful.

We have a new 96 Gallon recycling bin on wheels and it is very easy to fill so the house is a little less cluttered. Monday night we put out twice as much recycling than we did for trash. Yeah us!!!

So I think even thought it has been hectic I have made headway in de-stashing yarn(30 skeins by my count), and getting rid of clutter. Not much knitting has been done, oh, well there is always later.

Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

A Busy Weekend

Sorry I have not blogged for a few days its been a busy weekend. I hope to find more time to write on Monday.

Last Night

I should have known something was going to go wacky. I had the urge just to get out of the house yesterday. I had no real errands to do so I went to Starbucks for 2 hours of knitting and relaxing.

While at Starbucks I did figure out the shoulder repeats for the shawl pattern I promised to give as Christmas gifts on Friday. So that was good. I have less than a skein to knit and then I will type the pattern for my beta testers. Did I mention that the Beta testers are from my Friday Fun Knitters group and have wanted me to write this pattern down for at least a couple of years..

After Eric's dinner he started feeling yucky and pulling my hand to his tummy. Well the eyrping started at about 10 pm and that did not seem to ease the pain. Then there was the 3:30 am total change, I am so glad that I put the extra chucks down around midnight otherwise I would have had a full bed change instead of just PJ's,blanket and chucks*. Basically what that means is 1 load of laundry instead of 3 loads.

I feel very proud of myself that I did not start the caffeine till about 4 am, but I am beginning to wonder if I should have started earlier. By the way that's when I started the laundry too. I was up so why not start a load or two and warm up the house a little.

So Eric and I are home today. He had 5 days off for Thanksgiving and only made it to school for 2 days this week. I wish I could figure out how to keep him well. I also hope that he naps today, I know that is a totally selfish thought, but it's not quite 8 am and a nap sounds good already. I think it's going to be a very long day.

I hope that you have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

*Chucks are those pads they use in the hospital under patients so that they do not have to change the bed as often. I consider them a resource saving device. They are less work to put on the bed then a total bed change. They require less water to clean than a complete bed change. Can you tell that I love them.

Happy Thanksgiving

First I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I would like to make a short (maybe not) list of what I am thankful for today.

1. My Husband
2. My Children
3. My Family
4. My Friends near and far.
5. The wonderful world that G'd created for us.
6. My Yarn, I know it sounds cheesy but yarn really does have a calming influence on me. This also includes independent spinners and dyers and my local yarn shops.
7. The wonderful desert that surrounds my city.
8. All the people that help me get Eric through the day.
9. All the people who make Eric feel needed and part of the community.
10. The quiet times in my life, after all we all need down time.
11. All the people who are willing to share their wisdom with me.
12. All the people who make beautiful music.
13. Everyone who strives to make this a better world for everyone. My hope is that someday I will have time to join you in your endeavors.
14. The members of the military past and present who have and continue to make this day possible.
15. The people such as Police, Firemen and other public safety providers.
16. Everyone who has a smile or happy thought for me.
17. All of Eric's doctors throughout the years for being there when you were needed.

For this and all that I have forgotten to mention, Thank you so much for being part of my life.

Enjoy your families and have a wonderful day.

Runners Needed

The reason I am posting this blog on the Sjogren's running team is that I have this form of arthritis. So if you are a runner or would like to try a marathon or a half marathon please consider this run.

Recruiting Team Sjogren's Participants for the Nashville Country Music Marathon!

Do you want to make a difference for Sjögren's patients and their families?
Have you or someone you know every thought about running a marathon or half-marathon?
Do you have a desire to challenge yourself?

Then you might have what it takes to join Team Sjogren's and train to participate in the:

Country Music Marathon & Half-Marathon
Nashville, Tennessee
April 24th, 2010

Team Sjögren's is a Marathon Training Program designed to help you train and prepare to participate in a marathon (26.2 miles) or half-marathon (13.1 miles).

In exchange for training and support, you help raise awareness and money towards research into a cure for Sjögren's, the second leading Autoimmune Rheumatic disease in the Country.

The Nashville Team Sjogren's Kick-Off Teleconference Call has been scheduled for December 2, 2009 at 8pm EST!

If you would like to join us on the call or have questions about Team Sjogren's, contact Elyse Jordan at
(800) 475-6473 ext. 217 or ejordan@sjogrens.org

Please feel free to pass this on to the runners in your life. You may also print this blog post for bulletin boards. Every one can make a difference.

We Made it Through the Day

Well we made it through the bitter-sweet day of Eric's birthday in mostly one piece. I know that this will take some explanation after all birthdays are happy days and are considered on of the sweetest days for a person each year. After all they mark the anniversary of our beginning of this life. And we consider it all the more sweet because we made it through another year in Eric's life.

The bitterness comes from the fact that while Eric is getting older his skills are not increasing. Almost all of his friends from the early years are freshman or sophomores in college. I hear about all there exploits from their parents and I am truly happy and amazed at what Eric's friends are doing. One friend has plucked himself down in South America in a semester long Spanish immersion program, this is a big wow. But this is not Eric's path in life. he will never be college material and will never leave the nest. I did let myself have my yearly 6 hours of grief over this, ate a carbo rich lunch and pulled myself together.

I am grateful that Teri and Eric still get along and that her birthday Skype call made his day. Eric made so many happy sound during the call, he was truly happy to hear his sister and can not wait for her winter break to get more Teri time.

I am grateful for having Eric in my life and I would not trade Eric or his quirks in for anything in the world. It is simply amazing the places a child like Eric can take you if you let them. But I do wish it was not so much work. This is the selfish part of me talking. I would like to be able to make long range plans like all my friends are at this point in my life but instead I plan and Gd laughs. So I continue to live my life day by day, hour by hour knowing that there are more challenges yet to come.

Well I have to go and get ready for day 2 of Eric's birthday, we usually let him celebrate for about a week. That is when we truly get tired of the birthday clown that I spent days looking for and he goes back on the shelf for another year.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

We Found the Birthday Clown

This is the object of Eric's birthday desires. It has not been a birthday since kindergarten when one of his friends gave this to him as a birthday present.

I tried a new tactic today. I brought the toy boxes into the house with the help of Joe, Eric's morning aide. I was going to go through the boxes one by one dumping them on the floor till I found him. He was hiding in the second box we dumped.

It is worth having to bring out the vacuum, to clean the rug to see the smile on Eric's face. I am not sure who had the bigger smile the clown or Eric.

Now I can get on with my day with out any worries about the clown or tomorrow. Dinning room table and filing here I come. No I will not show you pictures of the table till the table runner is down the middle and decorated with candles.

Have a wonderful and productive day. But most of all enjoy your families.