A Rant

 Today was not a fabulous day.  It took me all day to run and empty the dishwasher. It it got done.  I got up early despite a bad night. I got to Trader Joe’s early, all I can say it is winter in Tucson.  I was not in the store 5 minutes when some older lady started walking off with my cart.  She apologized and said she could not tell the carts apart. Then kept on apologizing.  Then there an older gentleman who got stuck in the frozen food aisle, he just stood there. Ten minutes later when I realized that I had forgotten something and went back, he was still in the same spot.  

I really wish people would pay more attention to the older people in their lives. Ask me how I know how hard it is to be the sandwich generation.  Despite having 2 kids at home. Volunteering at their schools.  Doing community service projects. Carving out time for me. I still found time to make sure my father in law got to all his appointments.  Made sure he had all his shopping done. Took him out to lunch and family time.  I also helped take care of an uncle too. Took him out to lunch. Checked in on him. Did errands for him.  

There comes a time when you have to step up and become the adult.  There comes a time when you have to say no, you can’t go south for the winter. Where you have to reverse roles. It is not fare to put someone with mild dementia in a situation where they are all alone and confused.  They probably should not be driving either.  The accident rate goes up in the winter in Tucson.  When our snowbirds get confused they drive in the bicycle lanes which is dangerous for everyone.  They ignore traffic signs and lights, that might be a visual or cognitive problem.  They confuse the break and accelerator pedals.  They will drive 20mph in the fast lane in a 45mph zone.  They will drive here even when they lost their drivers license back home because we are the Wild West.  It is a state law that you have a valid license to drive here.  

Please be kind to the elders in your lives.  They have great stories to tell.  If after everything I  have said you still want to send your elders to Tucson, please take advantage of the many care companies and adult living homes. 

Thank you.  

They Are Finished

 The fingerless gloves are finished.  I am going to wear them tonight to keep my hands warm.  They are a little wonky, but the pattern was very vague and open to interpretation. There was only one very bad picture   So here’s the deal   If you can’t see any flaws or artist interpretation from 5 feet away they are perfect. 

Gloves

 It occurred to me this morning that I have a very serious shortage of gloves.  I have not shopped for new gloves for 3 years. I did get rid of the worn out gloves though.  In 2019 I was not in the mood to shop for gloves.  After losing Eric in November, it just seemed like too much work to get myself dressed and ready for shopping.  In 2020 and 2021 the COVID19 numbers were too high to go shopping.  I just can’t buy gloves online.  They must fit right and be comfortable. Glove sizing is not uniform.  They can’t have polyester or acrylic or they would be useless for me.  You would be surprised at the number of makers who just Ignore Labeling laws. They advertise wool gloves that are actually up to 95% polyester. 

So today I started knitting a pair of fingerless gloves in Ella Rae super wash wool in red.  I finished the second glove this evening and promptly started the first glove. I had a good knitting friend, Barbara who insisted that if you do the second mitten or sock first and then go back and knit the first one, you will never have the I just could not finish the second one syndrome.  You will never have a drawer of one of a kind 1/2 pair of anything. It seems to work for me too. I know it’s all about my personal perception on the project, but that’s all that matters.  So below is the picture of my second glove.  

I have already pulled the project bag with the second pair of gloves  I just have to pull everything out to cake the yarn and start. You will get to see those too. 

Faster

I had a very bad night last night   My joints were stiff and my normally soft bed felt like I was lying on cement. I am not sure why my body perceives the bed as being hard when I am sore.  I am sure if I Google it the will be a perfectly acceptable answer. I just don’t want to know know.  I doubt it will make any difference.   Just like I don’t want to know why some flare ups last a week and other are a few months long. 

 Today I managed to shave 3 minutes off my walking time around the block. A 19 minute mile.  I don’t expect progress like this everyday. I really wanted to take a nap but walked instead. Then I came home and took a nap.  I also got 32 minutes on the elliptical after dinner.  I have not gained any weight since November but I feel more puffy.  I need to work on that.  

I also managed to make a small dent in the current skein of yarn on the baby blanket. I think because it has a little more weight to it, it is not curling up.  The knitting is going faster.  

One Small Step

 Today was the first time I was able to walk around the block since I got that weird 24 hour bug in November.  I did the mile in a record setting 22 minutes.  Not bad for a first try in a long while.  Followed by 42 minutes on the Cubii2 after dinner.  I don’t know if it was the long walk or the Sjogren’s flare up but my joints and tendons are very stiff   I hope they are better soon   

In knitting news I have made progress on the baby blanket.  It is looking good.  

My adventures in on line shopping went very weird. They delivered all but the carrots. I thought they were out until I got a message from the store that I needed to pick up my carrots.  So strange.  

Very Short

 I got to the first color change on the baby blanket. That is all the news that is to print. 

In other news,  shopping has gone back to 2020. I send in my wish list and see if I get everything that I need.  Nope not today. Only got 50%.  I will try again tomorrow.  

A Weird Kinda Day

 Despite wakings up to a very bad body day the day turned out okay in the end.  By evening I was feeling better.  I managed to get 6 more rows of white knit on the baby blanket. No, I did not quite reach the color change yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  I know I have been saying that for a few days.  It is one of those infinite balls of yarn that just seem to stay almost the same no matter how many rows are knit. I also managed to get 50 % of my to do list done, although truth  be told John  did 50% of my work today.  

I have read the National Institute’s of Health report on inflammation and weight loss. Yet I am still perplexed as to why my clothing just keeps growing in the closet.  Like the pants I got around Mother’s Day.  When I bought them they sat at my waist and were 2 inches above my ankle. The bottom of the pant leg now sits at my ankle and the waist just hit the bottom of my rib cage.  I have not lost a pound yet.  I have also read that the body reconfigures it self after losing x amount of pounds and then the weight loss starts again.  This is the second size down without losing any weight.  I am going to propose a different theory on the subject. It is just as absurd.  It is the desert air that is making the clothing grow.  It is also changing the size tags on clothing at the store so I think that I am buying smaller clothing sizes. This is just as crazy as the 2 vetted and published articles above.  By the way I will wait until the pants go halfway up my rib cage and then I know that I am down another size. Then it’s clothes shopping again. 

I got the strangest call from the car dealership today.  Since I have less than 4,000 miles on my 2 year old car I should let them buy it back so that they can sell it to someone who will love it more and drive it more.  Haha, in this car market they have got to be crazy.  Besides Tessela, which does not come with leather seats, heated seats or steering wheels which is fantastic for arthritis. I am not sure about the padded steering wheel’s which are great for arthritis.  What other car is there on the market.  Most of the car makers are still paying the price for canceling those computer chip order’s at the beginning of the pandemic.  You’ve got to hand it to them they do have gull. I am keeping my car.