Thankful for the Smaller Things in Life

At least it’s not Monday night. At least I stocked up with good stuff to eat today while Eric was at his day program. At least I got to knitting today. At least I got to chat with friends today. You may be wondering where I am going with this. This is just my meandering way of saying that Eric is eyrpy tonight. Eric is also in making lots of eyrpy laundry, the wonderful people at P & G makers of Tide* should be very happy about this.

Eric and I will be home tomorrow. I wonder if I will get more laundry or knitting done. Does anyone care to guess.

*P & G makers of Tide did not pay me to say that I use Tide for my laundry. I have been using various forms of Tide since the mid 1970’s when one of my high school chores was doing the family laundry. Although I do love when I can get a good coupon or sale on Tide. Even with the super big LG washer I still do at least 15 loads of laundry a week. Which is much better than 25 or more loads. So I do use a lot of Tide.

A Good Day

Eric made it to day program today. I have also found that when Eric comes home he does not mind sitting by the kitchen table while I knit. So I worked on the new pattern. It is much easier to work on at a table. This took the tedium out of afternoon programing too. The new pattern has past the 100th row. it is about a third of the way done.

This left me to work on other UFO's while watching television tonight. The switch has made knitting in the evening more relaxing. The rest of May will be UFO month. I have a few bags and a basket filled with UFO's. I would really like to fill the basket with a new project, but I will finish the UFO's first.

I spent some time cleaning today. I have recovered one whole kitchen counter. This means that tomorrow I have to clean and polish it. This is the dominoes effect of cleaning. I think this applies to knitting too. Summer has come early to Tucson, this is the second day of 100+ temperatures. This means that I will need to change up my laundry routine to start earlier or put more loads on later at night.

Time for a Change

I think I need to change things up a bit. Some of my friends who also design knitting patterns can design anywhere at any time. I have given it a try. Unfortunately it does not work for me. With the latest shawl pattern that I am designing, I tried to take notes and knit while watching television in the evening. after 15 to 20 rows I seem to loose focus. I am also on the 3rd revision of the pattern. So I think it will be back to the yarn store or coffee shop to do my design work. Maybe even the kitchen table.

With that decision made, I am going to make a small bowl or basket to knit hats while watching television at night. It is easy mindless knitting for me. other pluses include playing with color. Making more kids happy. Using up more yarn to get out of the house. At the end of summer I will post a picture of the hats knit so far this year and a count. Then off to the Flowing Well School District Clothing Bank they will go. I REALLY ENJOY making hats for the kids. 

The fall fundraiser that I usually do for Eric's day program is iffy this year. It has been a rough year so far for me. Returns on the fundraiser are going down instead of up yearly. So in the next few weeks I will be deciding what to do with the stock on hand. To sell on EBay? Facebook? Have a garage sale? If there is anything you have been eyeing from, rugs, shawls, earrings, hand spun yarn, blankets, necklaces or hand knit items please contact me. The items that have been give to me for the fundraisers, the money will still go to Eric's day program when sold unless you would like them back. Please let me know. Thank you for your understanding.

Way Under The Weather

I have been sick since Saturday night, bronchitics , laryngitis, sinus infection, allergies and asthma. A little more than a perfect storm.  Eric got eyrpy on Sunday night. Herein lies the problem. Eric will not sleep when he is not feeling good, so Eric has been up since Sunday morning. I need my sleep to rest and feel better.  I am grabbing naps when ever I can, even in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping. Even though naps are good, when I am sick, they should not be my only sleep.

I want to thank Lisa W. at United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona for getting me extra help on such short notice. She is the reason that I have gotten my naps. As you may have guessed from the company name we live in Arizona. The state has been very good at underfunding services for the elderly, school children and disabled. We have been in the news lately. This includes UCPSA who provides services for Eric. If you would like to thank Lisa W. for helping us this week consider making a donation in her honor so that UCPSA can continue to help families like ours.

Thank you. I will write more when we are feeling better.

The New Shawl Design

I just froged the new shawl design for the second time. Even feeling as awful as I did today, I just did not like the design. So try number 3 has been cast on. This time the yarn is really telling me what to do with it.

Both Eric and I are both sick right now. I have a feeling that his eyrpy night was do to breathing issues. My allergies got so bad that I lost my voice for a few days. I now sound like a frog. I also went to Urgent care on Sunday and have a bunch of stuff that is suppose to make me feel better.

I am really hoping againt hope for some early rain to cut the pollen levels. Until then we will be indoors as much as possible. Breathing is good. High pollen levels and particulate matter are not.

Disappointed - A Rant

I am currently very disappointed at our Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. He currently seems to present the attitude that it is more important to give cash to big corporation's than to fund social services in the state.

A little back round may be in order. In the last state elections the vast majority of those voting, voted to increase the minimum wage. With Arizona being a right to work state and a historically low wage state, I can personally see how this happened.

Everyone expected the Governor and the State houses to add additional money for the social services, to increase their budgets to keep wage parody. They basically said that they did not want the wages to increase so they gave a ONE TIME extra allotment of money to help with a temporary stabilization of the non profits.

What has happened in Eric's world, is that group homes have been closing. Respite services are no longer being offered. Eric currently has 9 out of 14 shifts currently not permanently  staffed. With the question coming from people trying to fill shifts of asking us to accept a 30 to 40 minute shift instead of 2 to 3 hours, just to get the bare minimum done so that they don't get dinged by the state.  Care for the elderly is decreasing do to lack of staff. This is a major problem in Arizona. We have lots of people that move here to retire with no family ties. When things get rough, non-profit social services have to step in to replace the lack of close by family. This also cost money. The work is never easy. The days are long for all involved especially the primary caregivers. I have first hand knowledge of this.

If you live in Arizona, please call the governor's office and ask for more funding for social services. Tell them your friends and family members are exhausted. That we need more help. We need more funding.

If you know anyone who is looking for a job or a job that pays,  that just  might help with medical school admission have the call UCP of Southern Arizona, Let them know that Sheri sent you or use source code 301.

It is now past 11pm and Eric is asleep. I have been up since 6 am. I am going to grab a nap while I can.

Cleaning When Tired

With Eric sick all of last week, I am exhausted this week. So today, I alternated cleaning and napping. I have to say that I got everything done on my todo list plus a little bit more.

I reworked the new knitting pattern today. I am now 10 rows into the pattern. I think this version will be fantastic.