My Lastest Charity Projects

Today was spent doing some knitting and not much else. I did not manage to get out of the house today. I was up with Eric until after midnight again so I spent part of the day catching up on sleep.  I have noticed that since I gave up diet soda I need my sleep.

I finally got to my finishing basket today. Freshly sewn together, ends woven in and miscellaneous finishing work done are 2 ponchos, 2 hats and 1 scarf for the OPK Guild winter charity projects.

I still do have some room in my XXL Ziploc bag so I have started a few more projects. I don't know if they will be finished in time but there is always next year.

Well some more knitting tonight and maybe a few minutes on the tread mill. Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

This Weekend

We have had a very enjoyable weekend. Yesterday Eric, Natalie, Nancy and I went to Tucson Meet Yourself in it's new expanded format. The food was great. We caught one Motown cover group. I was a shame that they did not have a CD or I would have had 1 less gift to buy for Eric. We seemed to walk forever and it still amazes me that people will cut off a wheelchair thinking I can stop on a dime and not hit them by accident. Look at it this way if you can not stop your car on a dime what chance do I have pushing a 80+ pound wheelchair with and 80+ pound boy and all the mobile equipment we take every where. A good time was had by all, but a little more shade would have been great. We did stop by a local favorite Eegee's for their signature slush's on the way home. It was a nice treat from Nancy.  Nancy and Natalie enjoy the flavor of the month black raspberry and I stuck with my standby pina colada.

I have to admit after pushing Eric up and down ramps, bridges and all over Tucson Meet Yourself I did take a nap when we got home. Eric also did not want to unwind from such a fun day. So we were up till all hours and I did cheat on today's chores. I started the laundry while I was waiting for Eric to go to sleep. I got 2 loads done, but I would have rather had the sleep.

Today was a very kick back day with brunch at China Phoenix for Dim Sum (Chinese dishes that involves small individual portions of food) at Oracle and Ina in the Safeway shopping center. The food was good as usual. As usual we ordered way too much and took some home for tomorrow. I think I really did plan on taking some home, I just hoped that we would have a few more footballs to take home.

Since it was right there I went to Safeway while John stayed and helped Eric finish his lunch. The timing worked out perfectly. I had finished most of my shopping by the time the guys caught up with me. Eric and I then spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the great out doors. 

Yes I did spend some time knitting this weekend and even finished 3 projects. Well I hear the rest of the laundry calling me. So have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Dawn in the Desert

After a very long night with Eric, I spent a few minutes enjoying the first light of dawn in the desert this morning. Yes it was chilly in the mid 60's but the view was incredible. The colors were soft the saguaro's majestic. Yes the birds were very active today and chattering between themselves. I am very thankful for the beautiful desert that I am able to enjoy on a daily basis.

I don't know which was better the view or being outside with out a hat and sun glasses to shield me from the sun. I hope that the few minutes of peace and tranquility will follow me through today. Have a great day and take a few minutes today to count your blessings today.

Tuesday

I had grand plans for today. Getting out of the house, a lot of shopping, lunch with a friend, and of course knitting. But I am sad to say that after getting roomba started I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch in a very quiet house. Two hours later I woke up from an apparently much needed nap.

I did try clothes shopping today but my body just was not into it. I did however find a new bath mat that was on sale for 50% off and used a coupon for an additional $10 off. So for less then the cost of lunch out we have a new bath mat to replace the one that is a little past its prime. I am sure that I can find a dog who will love our old bath mat and not mind the frayed edges.

I also decided that it was time in Tucson for hot cocoa and marshmallow's after all the temperature has fallen in to the low 80's during the day and it is very cloudy with a good chance of rain. So while at the grocery store I pick up the fixings and plan on having some today.

I still will get in some Wii and knitting. have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Monday

It was a very busy weekend which settled into a very busy Monday. Since Eric was home sick I made a long to do list which is 3/4 finished. I can actually say that I am caught up on laundry for the moment. We all know that I will have at least 2 full loads tomorrow. Such is life when Eric feels that it is one of his chores to make the most laundry possible. He is usually good for 10 to 12 loads of laundry by himself per week. I do have the market cornered on Tide and Downy. Now if I could just get him to fold and put his own laundry away. Yes I know that will never happen.

My roomba decided to go on robot strike this weekend. It was more like I am just going to sit here in one spot and spin.  John did do his best to fix roomba and politely ignored Teri's comment ;" but did he add a flame thrower, the roombas not really fixed until you add a flame thrower :P".  As this is a right to work state we went right out and got the latest model of Roomba that Costco had, the 550-1. I have to say that the new model is a little different but even easier to use. Roomba actually talks and tells me what it wants. Plus it runs very quietly. I am able to get 2 full cleaning cycles out of it per day. I tend to vacuum a little more during change of seasons because of all the dust.

I am currently in a clean and throw mode so if it is not nailed down it will be tossed, go to charity, recycled or put away. Now that I have a burst of energy back I will go back to my to do list. I hope that you are having a great Monday too.

What to Knit

Like many other knitters I struggle with what to knit next. There is just so much lovely yarn. So many good causes for those in need. There are projects for family and friends. Of course there is Project Gratitude for our wonderful service members. Also the feeling that if I just come up with the right thing sales in my Art Fire Studio would take off, by the way the link is http://www.tinyurl.com/handmadebysheri . There are also a lot of patterns that I would like to make for myself.

I know that I should not feel guilty for knitting for myself, but I always seem to be the last on my list of projects to start or finish. I would like to know how other people deal with this dilemma. Please leave your comments below. The winner will be picked by a random number generator on October 15, 2010. Oh yes the prize will be some one of a kind stitch markers.

Thank you for your input. I look forward to your solutions. Have a great weekend and enjoy your families.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

I had a late lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries at 2802 N. Campbell Avenue today. Just in case you are wondering the cross street is Glenn.  This is a very easy to find sorta of fast food restaurant.

When I arrived the line to place my order was lined with peanut oil, peanuts to snack on while you wait and lots of bags of fresh potatoes. The menu was very basic and everything is cooked to order so it will take a while after you place your order to get your food but it will be very hot off the grill and hot out of the fryer.

I ordered the regular hamburger with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, mustard, ketchup and pickles. I also ordered a small order of french fries. Since I had my drink glass with me and I don't drink anything with high fructose corn syrup I asked if I could add some ice to my tea and they said that was fine. Lunch with tax came to $8.16. They also sold bottled water which is very nice.

Since the music was very, very loud and the restaurant was crowded even at 1 pm I opted to take my food outside and sit in the shade. The outdoor seating is very comfortable and there was a nice breeze, so the feel like temperature was probably about mid 90's even though it was over 100 at 1 pm.

They placed the burger at the bottom of the bag buried under in my opinion was a very large order of fries which made it hard to get to the very massive hamburger under the pile of fries. There was so much stuffing in the hamburger that I opted to eat it burrito style with the wrapping around the burger. Everything was fresh and tasty on the burger, but next time I will order the small burger. The burger was so large that I opted to skip my afternoon snack today. The hamburger was just so wonderful that now I know why at 1 pm there was a line almost out the door for burgers.

I don't know if any of you are old enough to remember when McDonald's used to use freshly peeled  and sliced potatoes in their french fries back in the 1960's ; but, I have to tell you that these fries are one step better. Not only are the potatoes fresh they leave the skin on and fry them in peanut oil. With a little bit of salt they did not even need the ketchup. The small order of french fries dwarfed the very large hamburger. They were so hot and fresh out of the fryer that I had to let them cool down a bit before I could eat them. They were cooked to perfection with just the right amount of crisp outside and soft cooked to perfection inside. By the way they are also good cold from the fridge which is good because the order was so massive. I did take about half of the fries home.

I would eat here again and plan to take John and Teri here. The one and only down side was the high volume of the music. But I do plan on eating outside again.  I would not take Eric here unless the volume of the music dropped by 50% or more. I have been to concerts that were not as loud as the restaurant was today.

So to recap. The food and restaurant were excellent. The music was way too loud.

*This is not a paid review. The opinions in this review are my own. I paid for my own lunch.