A Good Day

Today started out pain free. So I did a lot of housework and laundry this morning. I started my cleaning spree at 6:15am I was a total whirl wind until 11:30 when my body said enough.  

I really do hate that sudden drop of energy where I go from 60 to 0 in minutes. This is caused by the Sjorgrens.  I managed to keep my eyes open during the lunch John made.  Afterward I told John I need to rest before I went to pick up Eric.  I did not wake up until Eric was home and watching his afternoon shows.  

I managed to make dinner, but let John do the serving. I did not trust my hands to serve or carry full plates of food.  

Well tomorrow is a busy day. Eric is getting fitted for a new wheelchair.  He is excited and has already decided on green for the color. No suprise there   Every wheelcair he has had since he has been 3 has been green.  

Exhausted

Eric had a very bad night last night. I did not get him to sleep until Midnight. Eric was back up at 2am until 4:30am.  Yes he woke up again at about 6 am.  I did manage to get 8 hours of very broken sleep which left me exhausted. 

On a more positive note, the poncho I cast on last night now has the 1st 6 inches knit on the second piece.  Wearing the same shoes I wore yesterday I managed to walk 10,000 steps or about 5 miles today.  I had no knee pain, only the very usual stiffness that comes with exhaustion.  

I am trying bribery with Eric tonight.  If he sleeps tonight he gets to hang with his friends tomorrow and get extra hugs.  So I am going to take a chane and call it an early evening.  

New Shoes and More

Eric slept for 12 full hours last night. I can not remember the last time that had happened. Me on the other hand was up at around 4am from arthritis pain. Eric was in a really good mood today too. Although I can not figure out how he managed to get more sleep today as he dozed on and off. I really hope that he sleeps tonight. So far its almost 11pm and he is still up.

As for the arthritis pain in my knee, I recently did some research on causes of foot/knee pain. Report after report said that the slip on shoes that I like can be a cause of improper alignment of the foot, that leads to bad body alignment. They all recommended sandals with sturdy soles and the straps that go across the front of the foot, mid foot and a strap that goes behind the heal. Yesterday I went shoe shopping and today I wore the first pair. Gravity Defyer - Amelia in black. The stiffness has not gone totally away, but I have not had any Tylenol since 4am and I don't think that I needed any until bed time. I have not had any sharp or shooting pain. No muscle cramps in my calf's. So day 1 is a success. I did take one Tylenol right before I was going to sleep an hour ago. Also I would like everyone to know up front that I had never heard of this brand before shopping yesterday. I paid the going rate for the sandals at the time of purchase and was not asked by the company to review these shoes. I am also not giving any professional medical advice. Please go to your personal physician for any medical questions.

On the spinning front I am trying another artsy spin on a drop spindle in shades of purple with diffrent fibers. I will post a picture once it is plied. I also started the second half of a poncho. I am really tired and hope that Eric goes to sleep soon.

Friday

It has been a couple of days since I last blogged.  Eric did keep me up very late  for two nights in a row.  Tonight he was asleep by 7:30pm.  I did find out that caffeine only goes so far before my body gives me a manadatory nap.  

I only plied one skein of yarn today. I also found my knitting mojo today.  I finished the first half of a poncho that was started last year and cast on the second half.  I dipped into my bits and pieces basket to make it more interesting. 

I did find time to go shoe shopping today. I am hoping that sturdier shoes will help my knee and this everything around here. 

Before I ramble on to much more I will call it a night. 

Busy is Good

After sleeping in until 8:30 I managed to get everything done on my to do list. John was wonderful and did all of Eric's driving today.  On top of that he got new tires and an alignment for my car. Plus he tackled putting Eric's clothes away. Eric managed to make 6 out of the eight loads I did over the past 2 days, I should have taken a picture. The folded clothes over whelmed the couch.  Not to worry I will have one or two more chances this week to pile clean clothes that high again.  

I have been very busy spinning this week.    I also figured out if I dump all my samples and small bits of fluff that I can combine them to make some one of a kind yarns. 

Well the house is quite and I have a girl friends son in the morning. So it is time to call its day. 

Monday in the Blender

Today was my day off that wasn't.  My plan for the day was a little laundry, shopping and lots of spinning with no cleaning. My goal was to spin 2 full skeins and get them plied.  Well you can just see where this went. After shopping where I saved $77.00 with coupons and specials. That was my retail therapy for the day. I did 6 loads of laundry and caught up on folding from the weekend. I did cleaning that required me to change out of my nice outfit into grungy clothes and out of those when I finished cleaning. Yes it was that messy. No you don't get to find out what got that messy in the first place.

As for spinning I pulled out some 15.5 micron extra fine merino wool from Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. Pictures will follow later. It was like butter in my hands. I wished that I had more then 45 minutes for spinning on my wheel today. By the way if you happen across some extra fine merino wool I would recommend that you try spinning it at least once. I know that it is pricey, but for a rare treat, it is worth it.

Well I have been up since 3 this morning and I am really hoping that Eric falls asleep before 11 or 12 tonight. So I am going to do something much quieter than typing.

Not As Planned

Today did not go as planned. I was up until after 3am with Eric.  Then the arthritis pain kicked in around 5:15am, I kid you not.  This lead to a day with a lot of naps which are good, but not as good as a full nights sleep.  Eric and John also took advantage of the day and got naps too. 

I had planned on finishing one braid on the drop spindle and one batt on the spinning wheel. Then start the next 2 spinning projects. Only the braid got finished.  I don't have the yardage. Considering it is lace weight I think there is a lot of yardage. The picture is below tell me what you think. This is going to be something for me.  This is the Cloudlover fiber from my previous blog. Well it's not to late but I am tired and need a good nights sleep. 

A Pretty Good Day

Eric is doing much better. I got my first smile from him since Sunday today. Since he is sleeping better for the most part I found some energy to do a little housework today. Although tonight he wanted my attention and after 2 1/2 hours of repositioning and cuddling I am hoping that he is finally on the road to sleep.

As for the rest of the day I did get to enjoy some time knitting and chatting with friends.I had lunch with Nancy. I also went on a short shopping trip for shoes but came up empty handed again today. After the house cleaning I did find some time to spin on both the wheel and a drop spindle. I am down to my last spindle full of "Lady Edith" by Cloudlover Yarn and Fiber , I know that I have been spinning this braid forever but it does take time to spin lace weight yarn on a drop spindle. This is the second to last spindle full before I plied it earlier this evening. I am using a Bosworth spindle , this is the this mini size.

I guess Eric might not be quite ready to settle down yet so I am going to check on him. Lets all hope that he sleeps tonight as it is already past 1 am on Saturday morning and I would have preferred to be asleep by 10pm on Friday night.

Spinning

Eric is still home sick. Last nights storm woke him up and it was several hours before I got him back to sleep. So after a little cleaning I spent most of the day spinning.  I managed to finish 2 on the wheel. I also did a little lace weight on a drop spindle. Well it is getting late so have a great night.  

Sick Child Again

It seems to me that we almost had Eric back on his "feet" and he got sick again last night.  He created 4 additional loads of laundry over night. I really wish that I could do a better job of keeping Eric healthy, but the sad reality of it all is the moment I send him out the door I have to trust the world. So to that end here is a letter to the world. 

Dear World,

I really need your help to makeup job easier.  At this time I very humbly ask you to Stay at Home if you are sick.  Please don't send your sick kids to school or their programs. Nothing is more important than the collective health of everyone.  

This one little request could make my life so much easier. I appreciate any help that you are willing to give.    I would also like to note that it might make your lives better too.  

Thank so much,

Sheri. 

A Very Busy Weekend

From Saturday morning until tonight has seemed to be a total busy blurr. Saturday I had the homemade brownies in the oven by 6 am to beat the heat of the day. It did not hurt that they were cool enough to cut by the time we left for the poker party at 11am. I finished one scarf on the way to the party while John drove. This was Eric's first poker party and he hung around with the ladies. I could tell that he was very busy trying to keep track of all that was going on,  even with the guys playing poker in the next room. I did get some spinning done on on spindles.

When the wives get together you never know what we will talk about. For some reason we got around to talking about copyright when talking about Karie's paintings. She managed to sell 2 last week. I also took a small spill off a chair when I bent down to pick something up. It kind of went like this. I leaned forward and the chair tipped out from under me. My fall was partially broken by the rear wheel of Eric's wheelchair. Luckily my head hit the wheel while my elbow and hip got the tile. This left me rethinking about putting tile in the kitchen. John took care of getting dinner for us. By bed time I was all right. All I have left is a few scrapes on my elbow and a couple of small bruises.

Sunday had a very slow start. After lunch we went to the Memorial Service for Rabbi Joesph Weizenbaum. All I can say is that as a family we thought Rabbi Joe was a great man. He even found time for Eric and made us feel so welcome at services. Eric used to roll his chair up to the bima to be closer to Rabbi Joe and Cantor Karla, smiling the entire time. Rabbi Joe was also one of the first people to give Teri encouragement when in 7th grade she decided to be a lawyer. I wish I had a book of Rabbi Joe's sermons because they were so on target, sometimes I felt he wrote them just for me, yes I know this was not the case but it really felt like it. Rabbi Joe was also big on ethics and passing them down to your children in the form of an ethical will attached to the monetary will. I have to say that I have not done that yet, but ethics were a big part of our dinner conversations when Teri was growing up. Rabbi Joe had a great and wise soul. He will be missed by many people.

Sunday night Eric had night terrors so I spent most of the night just holding him and telling him that everything would be OK. I was up until the wee hours with him and then started the day around 7 am. With the aid of plenty of caffeine I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. The first load went in very early this morning and the last load will go into the dryer before I head to bed. My excuse being that I don't want to fold another load of laundry today. I lost count some where around load 8 or 9, all I ask is that you do not tell Eric that I am caught up on laundry. He does feel it is his job to make laundry to keep me busy.

I did manage to finish one more skein of yarn on the spinning wheel this evening. It will come off some time tomorrow and because it is Tour de fleece I will try to get another one started right away. No knitting got done today.

I think it is time to call it an early night and catch up on some sleep.

10,000 Steps

Today was the first time since my knee injury that I did 10,000 steps or 5 miles.  I am to tired to write more. 

Exploding Soda Cans Part 2

Today was devoted to cleaning up the last of the exploding soda cans. Everything came out out of the pantry. Scooba spent 45 minutes locked up in the pantry mopping the floor, yes an entire cleaning cycle. John washed everything that needed to be washed by hand.  This saved me about 30 minutes of cleaning. As usual with any cleaning project of this type around here it lead to cascade cleaning. Two shelf's in the kitchen got redone. More tea moved off the counter. All the paper goods, plastic ware and chop sticks are in a box. This box is now in the garage. I also got rid of all the old salt and pepper packages that come with the silverware. I cleaned out part of a shelf in the garage this afternoon, after 30 minutes I was dripping in dew.  I decided to do more when it was not 104 outside. John also organized a shelf for me so I would not have to get a ladder out. I just love having a taller half.

I went back on my promise to myself not to put anything on the floor of the pantry. While finding a place for the paper goods box I found a lot of boxes of Ziploc bags in 4 different sizes and 6 unopened boxes of trash bags. I moved them into the floor of the pantry so that they would be easier to find. In about 6 months I expect that there will be a lot less and hopefully confined to one box on the pantry floor.

One thing that I always find amazing is how much get recycled and thrown out when I get into these deep cleaning jags. I also find it amazing that the house gets easier to keep clean. John does not seem surprised by this at all. I also love how John is always there at the right time and has figured out what I really don't want to clean. He just does it, with no questions asked.

I have 2 major areas left to clean, the garage and the craft/sewing/guest room. These will be done a little bit at a time. For right now I think I pushed my body a little to far and will need to let it have time to recover.

Only a few minutes of spinning got done today. I used one of my drop spindles.

For my readers in the USA please have a save and happy 4th of July. Please remember to party safely. Leave the fireworks to the professionals and above all don't drink and drive. Please take time to also give a small prayer for the safety of all our Troops over seas. Remember that they make our freedoms possible.

Exploding Soda Cans and More

Well I was going to write about spinning and the Tour de Fleece tonight after all I did have a very good day of spinning. After some cleaning this morning I managed to spin for most of the day. No, I was very good and did not spin or knit while I was in Eric's ISP. I spun and plied new yarn until my hands were to tired to spin.  I was going to post a few pictures. Maybe even comment about how yarn drys faster when the outside temperature is 110f with a humidity level of 7 percent verses 102f with a humidity level of 24 percent.

That all changed when I was about to rotate the soda in the pantry tonight. Lets just start out by saying I did take the soda out of the pantry but none went in. I had 1 case of Serria Mist that had managed to leak. One can even had no visible signs of leakage or holes but was empty anyway. By the way when the soda gets to that point it smells yucky.  The mess on the floor was like someone had poured simple syrup on the floor and walked away. With 409 I did manage to clean up some of the mess. I check the other  case in the pantry and it seemed to be going bad too. So I drained all 24 cans, yes I did save the tabs for Eric to take to the Ronald McDonald house.  Then I went about dragging everything out of the dining room, kitchen and most of the laundry room floor. I then locked Scooba in the pantry for a few minutes and he is now busy cleaning the freshly mopped floor again today.

So my game plan for tomorrow is to completely empty the pantry floor. I was not about to start that project at 10pm after a busy day. I will clean or toss everything that is removed.  I will again lock Scooba in the pantry and let him do his thing. After all that is done I plan on finding a different place for everything on the pantry floor. If I can move after all of that then and only then will I spin some yarn tomorrow.

The lesson that I am taking away from this is not to store soda on the pantry floor if the pantry is too hot to put things like chocolate in it in the summer. Also don't buy so much soda at once even if it is on sale. And for goodness sake keep track of the expiration dates. Don't assume that just because you did not open the case yet that every thing is good.

I am now inclined to let Scooba go about his business and call it a night. I will deal with the mess in the morning.

Tour De Fleece Day 2

Well it is that time of year again. Time for the annual Tour De Fleece. I think I signed up for a couple of teams. Yesterday got off to a rocky start. However today was fantastic. I spun, plied and washed over 200 yards in mini skeins. A mini skein is when I start out with any amount less than 1 ounce. Usually in the 1/4 to 1/2 ounce range. I have 9 mini skeins in the garage drying, I am sure they will all be dry by morning since the high was over 110f today. 

After everything got plied and washed I started spinning again. I am using my Louet spinning wheel for some larger skeins and every one of my spindles. If I can't play with all my spindles during the Tour De Fleece when can I get away with having so many spindles out at once?

My goal is a lofty one this year. I want to spin enough yarn to bring in at least 1 of my overflow bins of roving and fiber in from the garage. I am thinking of putting all the Tour De Fleece yarn in a basket to see just how much I can spin in the next couple of weeks.

This does bring up the conundrum of the Tour De Fleece. I am still on a yarn diet and for the most part doing very well, but the Whole idea of Tour De fleece is to set a goal to learn something new, this is not going to happen with Eric on the road to recovery. Perhaps spin a very special skein of yarn with some wonderful fiber that I don't spin often, I don't have the skills or have planned for that one. So this basically leaves volumes of yarn spun. I guess I will have lots of yarn for very creative projects in the coming months.

Well I hear the washer and dryer calling my name so it is time to call it tonight.

Customer Service Tongue and Cheek

I would like to send out a huge thank you to a national company that manages a slew of shopping malls across the country. The one that if you give you them your e-mail address they promise to send you out an e-mail you can exchange for a mall gift card for your birthday along with a weekly email of sales and coupons. This year they did something very different than in the past. They put a limited number of days after your birthday to exchange your email for the card. That happened to land when Eric was very sick. I tried to explain that I was home taking care of a very sick child and missed the days.

What happened next was to say the least very unexpected. I was treated very rudely and harshly. More like a criminal than a customer. There were no exceptions for sick kids. I really left that office hoping and praying that she was not a mother of any child. Her tone of voice, body language and words were very harsh. This left me very upset. I have done a lot of shopping in that mall. I usually get the gift card and spend more than they give me along with shopping through out the year. I left their office very upset about being treated so poorly.

So I walked around the mall and thought about this while I racked up steps and did no shopping. I also thought about how with the growth of e-commence, that this was a very stupid move by the mall. Why go out when the outside temperature is over 100f?  I can just order everything I need on line and for the most part save money and not pay for delivery. I can also save money on gas. I wondered about what their merchants would say and do if they knew that the mall that takes a nice chunk off their bottom line in rent would say. I think I now know why small local businesses are no longer populating that mall.

I would like to think that in this age of a stagnate economy with a very slow recovery that a  national corporation who owns and rents retail space across the country would go out of their way to be nice to the locals. With each location costing millions to buy, renovate and manage, that they would be the first people to make sure that their customer service was the best in the industry. I might just be one customer going out to pamper myself. I would have spent under $100.00, but think of the domino effect of ticking off customers. How this will effect the merchants bottom line which in turn will effect your bottom line. What will Wall Street think about your shrinking bottom line.This current crop of analysts needs instant gratification. They want to see the money now, not 6 months from now. They don't care what you did for them 6 months or a year ago, they want the money and profits today. Not to mention that a shrinking bottom line will negatively effect the price you pay for interest on your loans and bonds. Which might in turn effect your salary and bonuses.

I have to say that the only person who was truly happy about the events at the mall office today was John. There is only one reason for that. I only bought a drink which I had a half price coupon for. I spent less than $2.25. I still came home relaxed after the walk and racked up over 8,000 steps today so far.

I have decided not to publicly name the corporation in my blog today, I really, really wanted to. My reasoning is that I would really be embarrassed to have my company called out for such horrendous customer service. If you happen to be upper management at the national office of a large company that buys and rents out mall space I will only give out the answer to the unmentioned company's upper management and no one else. After all everyone has a bad day now and then. It is also my sincere hope that the rest of your company is run much better.

On a different note. Eric is still home sick and spent much of the day sleeping. The stomach bug took a lot out of him, but the post viral asthma is worse. He is almost up to his normal feeding rate via the g-tube. It is my sincere hope that he can go back to his day program on Monday. Please send positive thoughts his way.  I think I have enough yarn and fluff to get me through. I have also figured out I can walk around the house for 20 minutes per hour 5 times a day to get close to my 10,000 steps.

Well it is time to go cook dinner.

Slow Progress

The good news of the day is that as of this evening Eric is back on his formula. We did go for a slow start but he is all smiles. It is my hope that his post viral asthma does not keep him up tonight.

I had a pretty good day today. I started on my pile of finishing work. The pair of slippers, 2 kerchiefs and mini wash cloth will be available at the Next Taglit Fundraiser for Eric's day program. Because of the I-cord on the scarfs you will notice my counter is up over 1000 more stitches on the million row challenge. I am also blocking 2 wash cloths (not counted yet) that will go in my Etsy store when they are dry.

Besides the finishing work I did get another square finished on Teri's blanket, that makes 193 squares done and some where around 50 to go plus the border. I am almost finished with another kerchief. I spent the night spinning small bits of fluff, mostly 1/4 ounces samples from my last Phat Fiber box. I even spent a few minutes cleaning in the craft room. We are having company in November and I am not sure they want to sleep in a bed of yarn and fluff. I need an early start. I can give them some closet space, but the drawers a full of yarn.

Tomorrow I will do some more finishing work with the goal of listing a few new items in my on line store. What would you like to see first hand spun yarn or hand knit items? I only have a small backpack full of things to be finished for tomorrow with most destined to be sold on line or at the next fundraiser.

While cleaning I found the pattern that I was looking for, so tomorrow I will pair it with the yarn. Well I think since Eric will be home again tomorrow I should get a little extra sleep tonight.

MTBF

Well I am glad that nights like last night with Eric being eyrpy and sick all night are getting less frequent then when he was in school. When Eric was in school we counted the actual days he made it to school. In his last year of High School he missed 6 out of the 9 months. Eric's MTBF* is now running between 30 and 45 days at a time. This makes it a little easier to stay up for 20 or 22 hours straight. I did manage to grab a nap today around 4:30 am for a couple of hours. I also grabbed a second one after lunch.

Eric is feeling better and his temperature is finally under 100f and the eyrping has stopped. He will still be home tomorrow. I am hoping that he will be well enough to get out of bed for a while. I would really like to start Eric back on formula tomorrow.

Last night I did manage to get 5 loads washed plus 4 more this morning. I am happy to say that Eric made only 6 out of the 9 total loads. I still have 2 loads to fold but I am positive that they will wait for me to fold  until tomorrow. Not that being up with a sick child most of the night is ever a good thing, but to put a positive spin on it, I got all 9 loads of laundry run through the washer and dryer before it hit 95f at about 10 am this morning. I am not quite sure what the high was today but at noon it was around 102f and that is not the peak temperature of the day.

I do admit that I did do a lot of knitting, enough to make me regret not taking any time to spin, just ask my elbow.   Although nothing got finished. I am quite positive that I will get my PhD* in knitting quite soon. I worked on at least 4 projects during the last 24 hours adding a few inches on this project or that. I really think I was much to tired to really think about serious knitting, in other words getting something off the needles or a project done that involved counting. I did not even have the energy to do any finishing work. This is very bad because the pile is getting very large.

Well it does sound like Eric has fallen asleep so I will take advantage of the moment and get some sleep.

*MTBF - Mean Time Between Failures
*PhD - Projects half done

It's Going Around

Last night I woke up with the cold de jour. So I spent the day on light mommy duty, just the usual laundry and a little picking up.  In deference to feeling yucky I only did 2 loads of laundry. I did get lots of rest and fluids in. I think I managed to get enough sleep in today because by dinner time most of the swelling went down and I was actually feeling well enough to make a light supper for John and I.  

That turned out to be a very good thing.  Just as I was topping Eric off for the night the wild eyrping started.  Which left John wondering why he changed the beds today. I also have 3 more loads of laundry to do to night.  This in turn lead to the decision not to fold any laundry tonight but wait for tomorrow instead.  My goal is just to get it all washed. 

What amazes me is that Eric and I got different bugs.  Did I mention how much I hate summer bugs? Oh well, it must have been my to do lists that started it all.  

I am waiting a bit before I hook up the pedialyte.  Well I guess it is time to start knitting and see if I can get anything done.  

Not an Idle Summer Day

It has been a very busy day. It started off shopping at the Friends of the Pima County Library sale. I found a slew of good knitting books in excellent condition for a very reasonable price. Most of these will be raffle prizes at future guild meetings. The hard part for me will be letting most of them leave the house. They are all that good. I also found a lot of books for Eric, so if you like to read aloud to a very willing audience please feel free to give me a call. Then it was off to Starbucks for a much needed caffeine break. I also found a replacement for one of my favorite coffee/tea mugs that found it way to the trash can in pieces. I just wish that people would let me know when they break something.  Darn if we did not go a little out of our way to Savers. I did find a Lego set for $1.00 for my friends son. The funny thing was I promised that we would try to find a set of Lego's if he agreed to go with us. I just love good karma. That was not the best deal of the day. I can't say much more about it, although the person I have this in mind for will just love it.

Then it was lunch with John followed by a short nap. I did manage to get one project off the knitting needles, however so the needles would not feel useless I cast on the next project. I did also find the time to do a little spinning this afternoon.

Since I am handing Eric over early tonight to John, I think I will call it an early night. My to do list is a mile long for tomorrow.

A Quiet Day

Today was a very quiet day around here. Only 2 loads of laundry got done. I was going to take Eric to a movie today but he slept through it.  So I played a few computer games, made a shopping list, got to the grocery store. I also found time to hang around with a friend. A new project hit the needles too. 

I am just waiting for Eric to fall asleep so I can call it a night.  

A Wavy Cable Pattern

As promised I have just listed a new pattern on my Raverly Designer page . It is a Wavy Cable Washcloth. The key learning component of this washcloth is the 9 stitch cable. At first it did seem a bit daunting, but after doing 3 of the cables in the pattern, the fourth one was much easier. This would make a good gift for someone paired with a nice bar of soap for a birthday or the holidays. I will try to list it in my etsy shop soon, but until then this link will work well.

Please feel free to share this pattern link with friends who like to knit wash cloths and other small 1 skein projects. I have a picture of the finished washcloth below. I used Sugar and Creme in a solid color, any worsted weight yarn in cotton will do.

Well it has been a very long day and the house is quiet so it is time to call it a night.





A New Begining

Birthdays always bring out a spark in me. This year is no different.  After some input from some very good knitters, it has been decided that this year I will study, peruse and learn new knitting stitches.  To this end I will try to create at least 12 one skein wonders that will be useful.  Using one or more new to me stitches.  I will share them with my fellow guild members. After that they will go on my Raverly designer page and in my Esty shop. The first one will be released  Thursday afternoon.  I hope you will join me in this journey.  

Off to a Great Week

Well today was a very busy one here. I started the house work at 7:30. Then I went on to do other things that needed to be done around the house today.  I took pictures of Thursdays guild project and for the very first time decided something would really look a whole lot better blocked. I am really pleased how the pattern turned out. I will release the new pattern on Raverly and Etsy after the OPK luncheon on Thursday. I am thinking a price point in the $2.00 price range.

I tried my hand at Moroccan food tonight. The verdict is in, yes we will add it to our rotation. I think it will be a good meal for easy swallow nights. I want to make it again before I share the recipe. Tonight I was just hoping that it would turn out good. I know I had a hit when John went back for seconds. I also have enough coccus left over for breakfast.

John and I actually got to enjoy some TV time together tonight. We caught up on a few shows while I did the set up rows for a couple of extra projects for Thursday just in case I did not reach everyone. I will also do some partials tomorrow night so I can show off the design  in stages. In all probability the extra projects will be available for purchase when the next Taglit fundraiser occurs. By the way Taglit is the name of Eric's day program which he just loves.

Speaking of fundraisers, it has come to my attention that a small non-profit called Halos of Hope has run in to some funding issues. They distribute chemo hats of all kinds around the country.  They make their money through the sale of patterns which of course are copy righted. The problem came about when some unidentified LYS's bought a single copy of a pattern and then photo copied and distributed the pattern for free with yarn purchases. On the surface it may not seem wrong, after all the people did buy yarn from the store. But if a pattern has a copy right that says you may not distribute it with out the express permission of the copy right holder it is wrong in so many ways. This has left Halos of Hope short on funds to send hats out to where they are needed most.  I am including a link to there donation page of Halos of Hope where a $6.00 donation will send out 15 chemo hats to those going through a bad time. Would you be willing to give up just 2 cups of coffee to help 15 people? Just skip going out Saturday night and your dinner money could send out over 60 hats. Any amount will help. If you would like to make some hats that would be wonderful too, just be sure to follow the guide lines posted on the site.

Now it is time to count my blessings before bed and settle Eric down, hopefully before midnight tonight.

Happy Fathers Day and More

I would like to start out by saying Happy Fathers Day to John. The day did not quite go as planned but I hope it was a good day. I also really missed my call to my dad today. It still does not seem right that both our fathers are no longer with us. I hope my dad is having a day that is "a little bit better than perfect".

This was also a birthday weekend around here too. I have a new Fit Bit to try as soon as John sets it up for me. My friend Lisa made a cake for me. Teri Called us. We also did something completely out of charter for us. Last night John and I actually went to dinner and a movie. Yes, we really did stay out past 7:00pm.. It has been more than a decade since we have done that. We really had a great time. We saw "Now You See It", I would like to recommend this movie if you have not seen it. It was good enough to make me put my knitting back into the my knitting bag. The only thing that would have made the experience even better is if the nameless movie theater would have bothered to pick up the trash between showings or the people would have taken their trash out with them. It was kinda of yucky tripping over other peoples trash in a darkened theater. We never have that on the 1st or 2nd showing of the day, our usual time to see a movie.

Today Eric was not feeling well and slept most of the day. I spent a good 3 hours in his room trying to make him comfortable tonight. I think I finally succeeded. I also managed to get another 2 inches done on a charity scarf. Maybe I spoke too soon. I really hope he sleeps tonight.

A Pretty Good Day

I had a pretty good day despite the flare up. There was knitting with friends. Followed by a surprise birthday lunch. Followed by shopping. Eric had a great day at his day program with the exception of not swimming. John picked up dinner so I did not have to cook. Followed by more shopping. Even with the flare up I managed to walk 4 miles today. Now for the aspirin to kick in so I can try to get some sleep.

Red Tape

Well I took a slow body day. About the only thing I can say that I truly accomplished was starting the process for Eric's new wheelchair yet again. I hope the third time is the charm.  Apparently it is not enough to have a valid prescription from the doctor, but you have to be evaluated by a qualified therapist to see if you really need the chair. With all the insurance fraud that has been going on around wheelchairs, the company's have added extra layers, which of course add to the over all price of the chair. It did not seem to matter that Eric got his first chair at age 3 so he could take the bus to preschool. It also does not matter that in my humble opinion that Eric will not be learning to walk anytime soon. Or that he has worn out the chair he got when he was 17 or 18. Did I mention that he grew 5 inches since we got his last chair? With all the phone calls going back and forth it took 2 hours just to get the information I needed to give the doctor so that she could write the request.  That is 2 hours that I am not going to get back. Now to wait for an opening for the evaluation. Then another 2 to 3 months for the new chair.

Did you know it was easier to get Eric a new placard for special parking permit when his was stolen. All we needed was the MVD* Supervisors signature on the form. She said that since it was a replacement and that Eric was still in the chair no doctors letter was needed. We did not even have to go wait in a long line.

I think that the system is totally screwed up when it is easier to deal with the MVD then the insurance company's rules and regulations. I am hoping that we can get measured for the new chair very soon. Well I think that it is time to put this to rest for the night.

*MVD is the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department

How Not to Write a Pattern

I am still working out the best ways for me to put my knitting patterns to paper. I am currently working on a pattern that I started writing a few days ago. So I went through a dictionary of knitting stitch patterns. This is good because I know what direction I want to go. I know I am working on a wash cloth so I know that I need to cast on 40 stitches. This is very good so far. This gives me a boarder of 5 stitches on each side and enough for 2 pattern repeats in the center of the washcloth with the stitch I picked out.

Things are still going great I have knit the first 8 rows for the bottom of the wash cloth. I like to knit the pattern as I am designing it. I need feed back from the yarn and the pattern. So I get the next 16 rows done and it looks wonderful. Now this is where things start getting wonky.

Eric had an asthma attack so I gave him his first dose of medicine and went to grab the note book that I was writing in plus the knitting pattern under way. Yes I moved everything into Eric's room. I figure once he had the meds he would settle down. I started knitting like I had done hundreds of time in his room. Of course I was not writing a knitting pattern but rather doing mindless knitting on ponchos, scarfs or caps. Some where along the way in the next 2 hours of popping up and down from the rocking chair aka the knitting chair and Eric's bed to get him in a better position to breath I screwed up on my row count.

My first reaction was that the knitting dictionary was wrong. I could not possibly make a mistake like that. My row count and the books row count for the second half of the pattern did not match. Just to prove that I was right and the book was wrong. I sent out a call on Facebook and Twitter for a couple of test knitters. This is where I have to give a really huge thank you to Jen. In less than 24 hours she managed to not only knit up the pattern but find all the mistakes. So I started a second one following the corrections so far so good.

So to sum this up don't expect to write of coherent or cohesive pattern while taking care of a sick child. Calm and quite are necessary. As to the question can you see the wonky pattern the answer is no. I am still some what of a perfectionist at heart on somethings. If you want to take the pattern and make it wonky go right ahead. It will be out sometime around the 20th of this month.

Swimming

Yesterday we took Eric swimming in our pool for the first time in about 7 years. It does take 2 people to get Eric in and out of the pool. I knew Eric had got taller lately, well in the last 2 or 3 years, but it did not register how much taller he is than me. I took Eric "walking" around the pool which required Eric to stick his bottom out so that he could rest his head on my shoulder. Eric has a good 5 inches on me now. He is also much heavier than he was way back then. I was so glad that we had 3 adults to handle him in the pool. He rotated from adult to adult the whole time we were in there. The pool water was a little cold for him at 89 degrees so John put the solar cover back on so we can warm it up a bit for next weekend.

Since he is so much bigger than 7 years ago we will need to look into a better ramping system to get him out to the pool. We will need a higher ramp at the back door. We will also need to add one from the patio deck to the pool deck. I am sure that John can figure something out and build it. The second ramp will also have to be off set from the first one so that we can open the pool gate.

It has been so long since we were able to get Eric in the backyard pool. I had forgotten how much fun we all have. I hope we get to swim more this summer.

A Fantastic Day

After a very slow start to my day, yes I am sure it had nothing to do with being up with Eric until 2ish this morning. Or getting 3 out of the 5 loads of laundry for the day done before 2 am.  I did manage to sleep in until 6:30. I did leave the folding until 7:30 this morning, after breakfast.  I did take a nap too. That must have been my catalyst for the day.

After my nap I got the computer desk picked up a little. Straightened the kitchen counter of all the odd junk mail, did the shredding, and took out 3 loads of trash. Carded a 3 ounce combination of 75% wool and 25% silk, this is when I found out that my carder can only do a 2 ounce batt. So 1 ounce for me and 2 ounces for a swap. The strawberry's got planted and the flowers got trimmed and re potted in to a bigger pot. I started looking at stitch patterns and after dinner worked on incorporating it into a wash cloth pattern. I am a third of the way through the pattern and I like it very much. As usual I am knitting it while I am doing the design. It will debut at the May OPK luncheon and after that for non-OPK members it will be available on my Raverly Designer page. All I can say is that I am having fun with this one.

I did manage to get some knitting for the World Wide Knit in Public Day done at dinner. This was my first venture out of the house for today.

After dinner we did a quick stop at the drug store, yes I know a great date right? This is where my ganga* of the day came in. I got 2 bottles of vitamins at buy one get one free and a small spray bottle for the strawberry plant. The original cost would have been about $29.00 for the 3 items. After the deals and gift card we paid a  total of .51 cents for the whole shopping trip. Now that is what I call a great shopping trip.

Well it is summer so if I get to bed soon I will have another fantastic day tomorrow.

*Ganga is Tucson speak for a really great deal.

Summer is Here

It was a very busy and productive day for me. Everyone is doing well, that helped me a great deal. A lot of knitting got done. One small project was finished. As soon as it was off the needles another one was started.  I did manage to walk 4 miles today. It is the first time since I hurt my knee that I have done more than 2.5 miles. I don't think I am up to five miles yet, but in a month or two that is my goal.

At knitting today I was able to pass on 2 bags of raw yarn for other knitters. That is 2 more bags out of the house. Well technically 1, since 1 has been in the car a few months waiting to meet up with Liz.

I did manage to get a lot of errands done today. Yes it was in the 106-107 range while I was running them. The most important thing to remember is that I was having fun and drinking iced tea and lime flavored water* while I was running around. I did manage to cash in a few birthday coupons while I was at it. If you have to ask there is a very nice set of summer ice teas at Tevanna, but I know it is a little pricey and I do have a lot of tea to drink. Then there is always yarn and fluff.

I have just started to do the laundry for the day. The car said it hit a high of 111, yes that is one hundred eleven degrees, as I was driving Eric home. It is finally into the 90's so my plan is to get a load or two done tonight. No, I will not be folding it tonight, that can wait for later.

Tomorrow I planing on writing the mystery pattern for the Knitting Guild Luncheon. Lets see if I can come up with a pattern that will challenge the new knitters along with those that have been knitting since so last century. I also plan on finishing up what I have to bring, i.e. the goodies.

After that is done some more knitting and finishing work, then tag, photograph and bag of at least a dozen objects. I suspect that the guys will want to lay low and not doing anything this weekend, because of the heat. Me on the other hand would love to get out of the house for a bit. I find the heat easier to deal with than the cold.

Now to the recipe you have all been waiting for.

Lime Flavored Water

1 very large glass filled with ice
the juice of 1/2 of a lime with the peels
water

Add ice to the glass. Squeeze the lime juice in along with the peels. Add water. Keep adding ice and water through the day. You should taste the lime flavor most of the day.

A Lazy Summer Day

Today started off very good. I got an hour of chores done before breakfast. Grocery shopping before lunch. Then it was nap time and not a whole lot got done after that. I started the tomatillo stew to late for use to eat it tonight, so we had quesadilla's and watermelon for dinner. At least I am ahead of the game for tomorrow, dinner is already cooked.

Eric had a great day at his summer program. He really enjoyed swimming and painting today. We had a slight leak with the pump tonight, but caught it before I had to do more than one load of laundry. I would also like to thank the great people of Johnson & Johnson, being tired tonight I put darks (red (Stuffed Elmo) and blue (New Pillow)) in with whites (a chuck and diapers) on a cold wash with a Stain Catcher. Everything came out the right color and the Nutren 1.0 did not even interfere with the Stain Catcher. Good job.

Well Eric is asleep and I want to try to catch up with some sleep.

A Lot of Knitting

The only real thing that happened today was knitting. I managed to finish 2 UFO's.  Ok, so that took all of 10 minutes. Sometimes i get so tired of a project that i put it down with only a few rows to go. I also added a lot of rows to 2 other UFO's. I really know I shouldn't have, but I cast on another project. What can I say. The yarn talked to me and said "me next and I want to be a summer bandana". So what's a girl to do but cast on another project.  

I did try shopping, I even had a gift certificate, but the styles were so not me that I gave up looking.  I could not even find a plain t-shirt in cotton. 

Well the house is quite so I am calling it a night before my iPod spell check and I get into it over grammar and spelling tonight. 

Does it have to be Monday?

I am happy to report that Teri is now a member of the working class. She has left her school days behind her. I hope that you will join John and myself in wishing her the best of luck in her new endeavor. From my point of view, the little girl who started in pre-school at age three and has never left the school environment in now working. Please join us in trying to figure out where all those years went. Also the modular blanket that I started for her in her 1L year of law school only has about 60 blocks to go before the boarder goes on. Did I mention that there were 42 rows per block?

On the home front it was one of those in pain most of the day, days. I find myself cranky and blue when I can't get the pain to go away no matter what I do. So it was a put on a smile day and carry on with my day. I did not get through my entire to do list, but a small dent is all I can hope for on days like today.

At a snails pace I did some laundry, errands and knitting. Eric and John also had a good day. Well the hiccups and hot flash are over so it is time to add 1 more load to the washer and go to bed. I am hoping for less pain tomorrow.

A Contrast in Opposites

This weekend was a contrast in opposites. Saturday Eric was a little under the weather and slept most of the day. John had a very restful day too. I spent the day working ( knitting) on Teri's blanket and managed to get 3 modular squares (41 rows per square) done and the 4th one of the day started. I am slowly but surely approaching 200 squares done which should be at about the half way mark if you consider the boarder in the knitting.

Today on the other hand was a very busy one. I spent the morning cleaning house and doing laundry. I stopped doing laundry for the afternoon when it hit 103. The official high at the airport was 107, but it got to a little over 108 at the house today. Instead of running errands this afternoon I tackled my yarn stash in the closet first. What surprised me the most was that I had very little yarn in the closet stash that I did not love. Only 6 or 7 skeins needed to be put in drawers. About 6 skeins I was willing to part with so I will be passing it on to Corina. I do have about 1 1/2 empty drawers but I think I will wait just a bit longer before I move more yarn in.  I then headed to the craft room and went through my knitting bags one by one to clean them out. I pulled a few skeins of what was I thinking and added them to Corina's bag. I also started a bag of smaller balls of yarn that I will use to teach a weaving class to part of Eric;s summer program friends. I found all kinds of knitting needles out of place and put them away too. I know that none of you are surprised that I found a stash of UFOs, some with only a few rows left to knit.

So very early tomorrow I will do my running and get the laundry started. My to do list is already made. When the heat of the day hits I will do more knitting. Hopefully finishing some UFOs in the process. I want to start some new projects, but I really need to get the projects that I have started finished. I think I will put on one more load of laundry tonight and call it a night.

Thursday

Well I just wanted to let everyone know that Eric made it to his day program today. He really seemed happy to see his friends. John and I took turns training his new advocate. With any luck we did a good job.

I on the other hand I am just tired enough to make a knitting mistake that I have not made for at least 8 years. Although unlike 8 years ago I did not have to frog the entire amount I knit. I only had to tink back 3/4 of a row. I know it is still early but I am calling it a night. Hopefully a good nights sleep is all I need to recharge.

Chicken Stew

My body has been playing catch up with sleep and rest most of the week. I am almost back to 80% of feeling my best. This cold has left Eric and I with a cough that will last another week or two. I am feeling well enough to be tired of frozen meals and take in. So with John being my prep chef, yes he got to peel and cut up all the vegetables for tonight's dinner. He did a wonderful job too.

Chicken Stew

2 large Chicken Breasts diced
1 medium onion peeled and diced
3 cups of celery  cleaned and cut into 1/2inch chunks
3 cups of carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/2 cubes
8 ounces butternut squash cubed. it is OK to buy the pre-cut package
8 ounces mushrooms cleaned and sliced
A large splash of White Zinfield or any open white wine you have
1 teaspoon of dried Rosemary
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 1/4 quart Le Creuset soup pot with a cover

In the pot heat the olive oil up on a medium low temperature. Add the diced chicken breast with a little salt and pepper. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Add the Rosemary. Toss well and cook for another 15 minutes stirring every 5 minutes. The chicken should no longer be pink on the outside. This is the time to switch out the stirring spoon and put the dirty one straight in to the wash.  Add the diced onions and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook down. Added the Butternut Squash and Yukon Gold potatoes. Cover with the carrots and celery. Add the White Wine. Cover and bring to a low boil. Turn down the heat and cook for at least 1 hour. 2 to 3 hours would be ideal for the perfect flavor blending.

If you do not use wine in your house you may substitute water. The flavor will be slightly different.
Serves 6 as a main course.

So as you probably guessed this is dinner tonight.

Memorial Day Weekend

We are all in the last stages of the awful of a cold. I might have gotten better quicker if I did not do a 21 hour work day while John was helping Teri move. All the things I had planned to do while John was with Teri went by the wayside. I just started to do some of the work today. Then became so tired I took a 4 hour nap this afternoon. My voice has almost recovered. The arthritis has kick in with gusto. The only question that remains is if Eric and I will be well enough to go to his day program Tuesday for a day of training for this summers advocate.

Now to the important thing about this weekend.

Please take a moment to remember why tomorrow is a holiday. It may be a day of picnic's and the start of summer. But there is more to Monday. Monday is Memorial Day, a day of remembrance. To remember all the service members that have given their all since 1776.  Please take a moment to think about what this means. If there is a Gold Star Family* by you check in on them. Bring some flowers or a light snack over to them. Ask if you can do any thing for them. Their families have given the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we all enjoy.

*Military families are considered "Gold Star" if family members died in service. The terms refer to official military service flags, which use star emblems to represent family members serving during war or hostilities.

And the Cold Marches On

What a week this has been so far. Eric's cold morphed into needing antibiotics. Eric also shared his cold with me, now I can see why he was so miserable. It has officially moved into my sinus and all I can say is ouch. So the house is the official infirmary.

John escaped this madness by going to help Teri move into her new apartment. Yes, John did bump up the schedule and from what I hear there are boxes everywhere in her new apartment. Teri thought that they would unload the truck tomorrow.

Between Eric and the cold I am just napping and working on very easy UFOs. One scarf got finished today and I made a lot of progress on another. Eric's dragon graciously agreed to be the model for the scarf I finished today. The decongestant is starting to work it's magic so it's time for the final spell check and then off to bed.

 



Sick Kido

Eric managed to get the cold that was going around his day program. This one was nasty with a fever that peaked at 102.7, yes it was a very long night. The cough was one of those that racks the whole body. I held him up so that he could bring up the junk so it would not land in his lungs. Keep your fingers crossed on that one. Also lots and lots of sneezing. The weirdest part of all is that it has seemed to trigger a thrush infection even though we used no antibiotics. His fever is still around 100 but he is calm and smiley.

I got to bed at 4 am this morning and got to sleep in until 7:30 am. I was dragging all day. I did manage to get a nap in though. I left John in charge of meal planning today. If it was up to me we would have had nothing but cheese and crackers or maybe some cookies for lunch and dinner. John did much better than that.

I managed to get a little spinning in tonight. I am working on the Lady Edith colorway in 80% merino 20% silk by Cloudlover . Natalie does not have anymore of this in roving, but she does have a few skeins of sock yarn left. There is a new colorway called Golden Roses that looks fantastic. Natalie does a great job of dyeing the roving so that there is no felting. This is one of my favorite shops for colored roving.

Well I am hoping for a very quiet night with Eric so I am going to call it a night.

29 Years and Counting

This is just a quick thank you to my wonderful husband John. Today is our 29th wedding anniversary. John has been everything one could ask for in a husband and father. I hope for many more years ahead.

To quote Robert Browning  from the poem Rabbi Ben Ezra""Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,".  Since this is a rather long poem, I did pick my favorite line. Here is the link to  The poem Rabbi Ben Ezra .

My favorite wedding picture.

A Lazy Day

It was another late night with Eric. I am really rooting for allergies, the palo verde are just yellow with pollen. I did manage to get to sleep a little after midnight and sleep in until 7:30 this morning. After multiple late nights I decided it was going to be a lay low day.

Since Eric was busy sneezing and coughing and I just did not want to watch a day of kids programing, Eric came with me to the living room to sit with me while I spun some yarn. After the first 2 trips to run and get supplies, it was just more prudent to bring a pile of bibs, napkins and swabs in with us. The only thing I did not think of was a laundry basket. Isn't it great that hind site is always 20/20?

After finishing spinning and plying some merino, it was time to try my hand at my first art yarn. I took some hand spun wool in blue, pink glass beads and a metallic thread in white. It took about 45 minutes to get the beads on the metallic thread. There were some bumps along the way but I did manage to get the wool plied with the thread and beads. It does look very wonky in my humble opinion. The end of the skein is better looking than the beginning of the skein. That being said the last time I saw this being done is when Kathy Withers taught me to spin a few years ago. Lisa said it was not wonky but artsy. This is my first try and I expect to try it again.

I managed to get a nap after lunch when Eric was sleeping. Not much got done after lunch.

Lisa asked Eric if I was any good at the art yarn and he signed no to her. Lisa then asked if mommy needed more practice and he signed yes. Not bad for a kid who can't see what I am spinning, but instead basing this all on what he heard while I was spinning.  Eric has also decided that I don't sing as well as Carole King when I sing Child of Mine. This is our song.

 

Tomorrow I plan on fixing my apricot shawl. I found 4 different holes in it a dinner that were not there last night. I will just scream if I find scissor cuts in it. I am hoping for plan old snags which are easy to fix.

 

I am hoping that Eric will sleep tonight. So It is time to go do Eric's finial bed time routine.

Life with Eric

It was a very long night with Eric last night. First there was the asthma treatment at 10pm followed by the tummy ache at midnight, that lasted until 2:30 am.  I finally got to sleep a little after 2:30am. Then woke up with the headache from he double toothpicks at 5:30am. For a while the day seemed to go down hill from there. Eric's Kangaroo Joey pump bag broke leaving a mess of formula to clean up and requiring another pump bag be filled and primed.

On the good side I only had 3 loads of laundry today. Followed by 2 hours of house work. John joined in the house work effort today. I really don't know how he does it. He manages to stay in one area until it is completely done. While I am a blur of constant motion. We seem to get the same amount of work done but he is not as tired at the end of 2 hours of cleaning. After lunch I took a stab at the computer desk, it is only 40% complete, but there is a lot less paperwork on the desk. I also got some spinning and knitting done today.

While we were doing laundry and cleaning, Eric slept most of the day. John and I managed to get a short nap. Eric had another sore tummy this evening which has been taken care of, hopefully. It seems to be time to go give Eric another breathing treatment before bed.

Chicken Chili

It has been a while since I posted a recipe. We are trying to cut down on red meat so I have been working on chicken dishes. Here is a new on that has been husband approved.

Chicken Chili

2 large chicken breasts - skinned , boned and rinsed
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound frozen sweet white corn
2-15 ounces cans of diced tomatoes - do not drain this will be the liquid for the chili
1 - 15 ounce can or Red kidney Beans drained and rinsed
1 large sweet onion diced
salt
pepper
1tablespoon of your favorite chili powder. I use The Spice Hunter Salt Free Chili powder Blend

Optional

1 - 15 ounces can of black olives

In a 4 quart cover pot. I use my red soup pot. Add the olive oil and chicken. Salt and pepper as desired, I like to keep it on the light side. Cook the chicken on medium low for 15 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the onions. Cook the onions until translucent. while the onions are cooking cut the chicken in to bite size pieces. Put the chicken and the remaining ingredients into the pan. Cook covered on medium low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

While that is cooking make your corn bread.

This recipe serves 5 as a main course.

Poor Eric

Poor Eric had a very bad night last night. The high pollen counts have flared his asthma. We were up until 2:30 am today before he could breath well enough to sleep. As soon as Eric was asleep I went to bed for a few hours before it was time to get the day started again.

Eric was doing well enough to go to his day program. So John dropped Eric off at his program then went to work out. I would have love to go back to sleep, but I had an appointment across town. The appointment went well. Since I was so far across town I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things on my way home. After an early lunch, it was time for a nap.

John volunteered to pick up Eric from his day program so I could pick up a few things at the mall. I also decided to walk around a bit to see if that would help me feel better. I did not realize how pale I can look during a flare up. The nice sales woman at the Clarine's counter gave me a quick makeover. It was amazing what a little blush and some lipstick can do. She was also trying to sell me the latest miracle serum at $85.00 a bottle. She said that now that I was in my 40's it was time to step up the amount and type of face creams that I use. I think I will keep to my current routine of sun screen with moisturizer and continue to wear wide brim hats outside. After 2 miles of walking I was beginning to feel better so I headed home.

Eric just seems to know when my flare up is a bad one. That compounded with me not picking him up to day left him sad and anxious. When I walked in the door he had on the saddest face you can imagine. He was afraid that I was upset with him about his asthma flare last night. I told him that I would never be mad at him for keeping me up when he was sick. You should have seen the huge smile that he gave me. Followed by Eric's version of a hug. Then it was time to watch some PBS with Eric.

Well it is time to get the red pot out of the fridge and warm up dinner.

It Was Really Monday

It has been a very busy day around here. A lot of projects are halfway through. The only thing I can really say I finished was the chicken chili stew I made for dinner. I seem to lose focus when I am very busy. I worked on 3 different knitting projects, 1 spinning project, laundry and house cleaning today.

Don't tell anyone but I am saving laundry, paperwork and knitting for tomorrow. I hope to be more focused tomorrow. Wish me luck. Maybe I should make a to do list? I wonder if it will help?

A Great Weekend

It was a good weekend around here. I can truly say it was very relaxing.  I was overwhelmed by flowers from the guys this weekend. John gave me some very pretty roses. Eric made a vase of lovely construction paper flowers in a vase filled with buttons. He also had help at his day program making and painting a clay rose, which was also fired. He also made me a small knitting bag.  I also got a call from Teri.

Lunch was the traditional Mother's Day Dim Sum ( Dim sum (/ˈdɪmˈsʌm/) refers to a style of Cantonese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.*1 ) If you are in Tucson you must try the Dim Sum at China Phoenix at the corner of Ina and Oracle in the Safeway shopping center. We have been going there since the mid 1990's and the food is still wonderful. They server it on weekends only from 10am to 3 pm. We like to get there on the earlier side.

Dinner was a very light affair of Sushi at Shogun's at the corner of River and Oracle in the Denny's parking lot. Yes it was a weekend full of eating.

I also found some time for knitting and spinning. No projects finished though.

The current load of laundry is almost finished washing. As soon as it goes into the dryer it will be time to start the next load and go to bed. We had a formula spill tonight and it has to be washed before it drys, otherwise it leaves a stain and the laundry room smelling like formula,


*1 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wii Fit can be a funny game at times. It has been 3 months since I lasted played. Well first it called me dad. Second it said I had lost 3 pounds and needed to set a new goal. So I figured 1 pound a month down was not a bad goal. Then it was off for 30 minutes of exercise with warning signs flashing saying that this move or that was an advanced move. I did not break myself and plan on trying again tomorrow.

Then it was off to knitting followed by  lots of errands. It was one of those busy days when I did not get lunch until 4pm. As per John I was my own fault. Don't tell him, but he was 100% right. A glass of tea does not constitute lunch. I also managed to work on a lot of charity projects, getting things ready to leave the house.

I worked on a lot of different knitting and spinning projects today. A little bit of progress on a lot of projects as I see it. As usual not a lot got finished, that usually goes in spurts.

Oh, a quick reminder please leave a can or two of food by your mail box tomorrow for the Mother's Day Food Drive sponsored by the great people at the USPS. Going into summer is the worst time for the food bank. Demand increases do to children not getting their meals at school. We are also a seasonal town with lots of layoffs in the summer months as tourism declines. If you don't live in Tucson and don't mind a little heat ( its a dry heat, we promise not to tell you when the humidity dips below 10%), this is the perfect time of year to come. The rates go down and there are still a lot of things to do in and around Tucson.

Well I have a very busy day tomorrow. So enjoy your day, I know I will.

Letting Go and Moving On

Today was a very productive day. After the guys left, I started cleaning the house. This was serious cleaning. The TV was off. My goal to get as much done as humanly possible. I can say the house is almost back to where it was before I got sick.

As an added bonus for cleaning I took apart the silverware drawer. Put all of Eric's special forks and spoons away in a bag. I guess I have come to the conclusion that no matter what I want. That is for Eric to sit down at the table and eat with us in a conventional way. It is never going to happen again. He is perfectly happy with the tube feedings. His tummy is always full and he has the energy to do other things. We are not sitting at the table 3 or more hours a day feeding him. Which gives him and us time to do other things.

I might have over done a little on the cleaning this morning because I took a 3 1/2 hour nap after lunch. I still have to work on balance in my life. After the nap I did one errand when I should have done 2. I did find time to work on Teri's blanket today. I got 2 squares finished and another one started. Followed by spinning after dinner. All in all I would say that it has been a very good day.

Is the day over yet?

Ayer getting to bed at 4:30 am, I felt it was ok to sleep in until 7:00 am. After a cup of Tevana's Rasberry Riot I could not fall back asleep.  

Then it was off to check out a new aide for Eric at his day program.  By the time I got home I was too tired to eat lunch. So it was a 2 hour nap for me. Then a quick lunch and off to get Eric.  

I spent the afternoon spinning, plying and washing yarn.  I did manage to get dinner on the table, but not up to Cheif Ramsey's standards.  You guessed correctly if you think John found the Food Channel.  I am sure that if Cheif Ramsey were running on my sechdule he might make allowances for canned good and frozen food.  

Well Eric is quite and I  starting to drift off into a hopefully full night of slee.