This and That

I know it is going to be a bad body day when I find my self doing stretching in the middle of the night. I try to stretch things out so that I can go back to sleep. I also find that the more I hurt on any given day the less creative that I am. I think that maybe creativity and pain share some of the same gray matter. Normally this is not an issue, but I have 2 patterns to design, knit and write the pattern in about 2 months. I will try after dinner and hope that I can get an inch or two knit and written at the same time. Long gone are the days when I sit and knit something up and then try to go back and figure out what I had knit to write the pattern. I have a very big back log of those to write up.

I did get to go to the staff appreciation party for Eric's day program today. I got to cook the hot dogs. The lesson I learned from this is not to barbecue with a hot grill right next to where the young adults are. Next year I will pick a grill away from where everyone is eating and playing. I spent 2 hours trying to keep people away from the hot grill. After everyone had, had their share of hot dogs, I got people to squirt the hot coals with the water guns instead of me. After 45 minutes I could relax and the fire was out.

It might seem funny to most people, but the highlight of my day was when 3 cases of diapers, 7 cases of formula and 2 other boxes of Eric's supplies showed up this afternoon. Just knowing that I won't run out of the basics is so nice. I don't think it much matters when they get moved. As long as we have room to park the chair and stack the supplies all is good until the cleaning bug hits.

I am really excited about tomorrow. I get to take a weaving class with Donna at Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. A big thank you goes out to John, Teri and Eric for such a great Mothers Day present. I am going to learn how to warp and weave on a rigid heddle loom. If any one has any thoughts on which brand is better please let me know. Also are plastic or metal gears better? What size is good for a knitter/spinner as an all around loom? It should also fold for easy storage.

Well it is time to go cook dinner.

No Rhythm

Today was one of those days with out rhythm. Nothing was in sync. Although we did manage to get to Eric's therapy appointment on time. After that it was all rocky.

I got the newsletter I was suppose to have mailed out on Monday out today. It took me over 3 hours to figure out the the e-mail addresses I used last time were locked out of the system. Someone had put it in a mode of no data retrieval allowed. So I could not just copy and paste the addresses in the e-mail. Once that was resolved the e-mail went out in under 30 minutes. As a plus, I only had to print 3 copies to mail the old fashion way. Yes I screwed that up too. I picked the wrong printer setting. I am so glad that I have in house tech support. John fixed the whole mess up in less than 5 minutes including printing.

I also have to design 2 unique patterns by mid June with specific yarn requirements. This is something I have never done before. So On the 1st one I have been mulling over the shape since yesterday. Today was spent doodling and making newspaper cut outs of the approximate size and shape. Yes I did try on the newspaper mock ups. Then I wrote the beginnings of what I though would work. 2 inches in it was not looking good. So it got tinked. I got a new sheet of paper and tried again. Yes 2 inches in and it got tinked too. With the help of 4 stitch markers I think I finally have something that will work as summer wear in Tucson.

Something I can't figure out is why when some of Eric's aides do not like a particular body wash they feel the need to pour the contents of the bottle into the trash. There is nothing like finding a half of a bottle of Lush body wash poured into the trash can. I really like the smell of that one too.  That is just so wasteful. If they don't like the one I have out would it not be easier for them and cheaper for us if they just asked for a different bottle? After all we do have a few different body washes under Eric's sink. I am still shaking my head at that one.

Then Eric had an asthma attack followed by a headache tonight. So I was with Eric a little over an hour. 30 minutes to make sure his breathing got better and to do some percussion. My hands were not to fond of the percussion. Just a I began to unwind from the asthma attack Eric's headache kicked in. I took me about 15 minutes to figure out what was wrong. He held my hand tightly until the Tylenol kicked in.

I finished the day by going head to head with a white spider about the size of a quarter. Lets just leave that as Sheri 1 - Spider 0. It is time to throw the last load of laundry for the day in the dryer and see if I can get to bed before tomorrow.

Knee High

The washer got fixed yet again.  This time they sent a supervisor out and did not leave a paper trail.  I find it amazing that he had the parts on his truck to fix the washer including a new motor. Apparently it was the motor that was burning.

I thought I had 12 loads of laundry to play catch-up with but I think I counted wrong. Load number four for the day is in the washing machine and the laundry room is still knee-high. I think it will take me almost a week to catch up being this many loads behind. I don't think I can get Eric to stop making laundry in order for me to play catch-up.

I am hoping that Eric sleeps tonight because he did not go to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. But I made my list and work through it is diligently as I could today. Most of the list is done with the exception of odds and ends, and projects that are half done. I think it's time to call it a night. I have a full day planned for tomorrow which surprisingly enough includes more laundry.

A New Summer Drink

My question to you is what do these things have in common? The answer might just surprise you. Combined with ice these items make a wonderful and refreshing summer drink that is very easy to make.

Recipe:

Brew 1 tablespoon of the Teavana Blueberry Bliss and Pineapple Kona Pop* for 5 to 6 minutes in 12 ounces of water heated to 208f.   

      

*If you do not pre- blend the Teavana Blueberry Bliss and Pineapple Kona Pop like I do use 1 1/2 teaspoons of each tea.

In a very large tumbler or small pitcher combine 11 ounces of the freshly brewed tea with 4 ounces (1/2 cup) of the Trader Joe's Cranberry Raspberry Juice. Add 1 cup of ice cubes. Stir well and enjoy. I did not add any sugar to this since the Trader Joe's Cranberry Raspberry juice is already sweetened. 

Living in the desert I have a lot of very large tumblers and this just fills one 24 ounce tumbler to the brim. I am sure that this can be doubled or tripled for parties, although I tend to brew my tea 1 cup at a time. 

Disclaimer: I was Not given samples of the Teavana tea or the Trader Joe's Juice to develop this recipe. I was Not paid by either company for featuring them. I paid for the products with my own money. All opinions expressed here are my own and in no way reflect the policies of either company.

A Day of Rest

Today I took it easy and just kind of went about life at a very,very slow pace today. I did make a quick trip to Target and Trader Joe's but mostly it was just relaxing.

I was too tired to spin today but I did get a lot of knitting done. I finished one scarf that used four skeins of yarn. I then started another hat and I almost finished it tonight. It's within a couple rows of being finished so I'll get that done in the morning.

Eric got to spend the day at Mount Lemon with his friends at a picnic and he came home very very tired from his day program. I hope he has a good and quiet night tonight because I can use another night of sleep.

Tomorrow I plan to do about the same things I did today although I am going to try to get some spinning done too. Of course I've already got four loads of laundry lined up in the laundry room so I'll probably have to get some of that done too tommrow.

Time for a Change

It is time to slow down a little to get my body back in sync. Let my joints have a rest and maybe just hurt a little less. Maybe even get a full nights sleep. 

I will try to relax. On schedule will be knitting and spinning.  A few trips to Bookmans. 

Eric managed to have hiccups for over an hour tonight. That does not go with my new plan of slowing down.  I guess I forgot to run my plans past the boss. 

Monday Where Did You Go?

Monday was a very busy day around here. We had a couple of appointments followed by  errands. This left me pretty tired. So I can't figure out for the life of me why after I picked Eric up from his day program I decided to start cleaning the garage. I was dressed in a skirt and blouse for the earlier appointments, not dressed for cleaning. I also forgot to put an apron on.

Thirty minutes latter John and I had made a very small dent. We had filled 1/2 of empty recycling bin, you know the big on that rolls out to the street. Added more to the garbage can and the charity bin. We were even able to move 5 storage boxes from useless piles to easy access. This might not seem like a big deal, but it gave me a better idea of which yarn was going to be used up next in my yarn stash down challenge.

I am just thinking that it will only take a couple of dozen more hats and scarfs before I can refill the cotton basket with more one of a kind skeins of yarn to make more hats and scarfs. This will intern make more room inside for yarn to come from the garage to used. Looking around the house and garage it seems to me that I am about 50% of the way done in my goal of having yarn in only one area of the house with none in the garage.

The only thing that is really hindering my stash down process is my need to spin more yarn. To that end I will try to list a few skeins of yarn either on my Raverly stash down page or my etsy shop. Either way I will add links to my blog.