never say never

I have never dressed up any of my pets. I have never wanted to dress up any of my pets. And I did not want to start this year with either of these new pets.

However. There was a dog costume parade about my little neighborhood tonight, and the guy up the street that brings his dog over for doggy playdates was insistent that we attend. He even went so far as to purchase Riley a costume.

Riley The Pooping Pumpkin

He didn't like the costume (especially the hat), but he loooooved the prancing around with the other dogs. It wasn't so bad


The rest of my day? Totally insane. TOTALLY. I'll get up early and tell ya' all about it over a cup o'joe.

gah

Today was just full of all sorts of disappointments. From first thing in the morning being forgotten by time-wise by someone who should have remembered me, to last thing at night going to dance class for Circle Dancing....and not getting to dance.

And there was lots of other miscellaneous stuff in between.

But the big dud of the day??

I CAN'T FIND MY KNITTING.

Well, I didn't lose all of my knitting (that would be impossible). But I was almost done with the second little green motorcycle cowl, and I swear, the little elves have ran off with it.

Last night I fell asleep with a whole pile of stuff on the bed next to me (king sized bed--hey, it works): the tv remotes, my cell phone, an ipod, the laptop...and the knitting. This morning I get up, I put everything away, I make the bed, and now I can't find the knitting! I can find everything else, but not the knitting. I have looked in all of the obvious places, and I have also looked in about an hour's worth of the not so obvious places. Seriously. Like every single drawer and cupboard in this house, and I even went through the garbage bags that I took out to the trash cans this morning. Nasty.

No. cowl. anywhere.

So if you see the little elves running around with it, get out your blowgun for me and wrestle it back, will ya'?

Ok. Ok. OK.
The gallstones.

Well, here is where I stand on this issue as of today (and please keep in mind that my life's credo is: Everything is subject to change based on new information). But for now...

* I have spoken to whoooole bunch of people who have had their gallbladders removed, and I am clear that if I have to have mine removed, I will be just fine.

* I do not know exactly how many stones I have or what size they are. The problem with an ultrasound is that it is basically a flat, frontal image of an organ that is a sack. Think of it like taking a photo of a bag of marbles. You really can't tell how many there are in there.

* I do not have any of the symptoms that indicate I have an infection or a blocked duct.

* I personally do not buy into the logic that the gallbladder is "not a necessary organ". Seems like if we didn't need it, we wouldn't have one.

* I personally do not buy into the logic that one gallbladder attack warrants a surgery that would remove the entire organ, especially when subsequent attacks can very likely be kept at bay by making dietary changes.

* I am already missing enough body parts, as far as I am concerned, and I'm not too keen on losing one more...unless required.

* This one is big: I am probably not a candidate for laproscopic surgery. I have a huge scar from the car accident (well, I have many), but I have this very long one that runs vertically from sternum to pubic bone. The surgeon would start off laproscopically, but it is highly likely that the scar tissue would prevent proper inflation for insertion of the implements. In other words, I could go into the hospital hoping for a simple procedure, a 1 night's stay, and a simple 1 week recovery time. I could wake up with another large scar, a 4-5 night hospital stay, and a 3-4 week recovery time. It's a whole lot more invasive.

* I am willing to make the dietary changes, and I have been doing so.

* I have been educated on what symptoms to watch out for, and of the importance of high-tailing my arse to back to the ER if they show themselves.

* As "granola" as I have been known to be, you will not be seeing me doing some sort flush that involves drinking olive oil or whatever. I have not found one yet that has not been debunked.

* I am open to non-surgical options though, and I am researching now. I am also open to surgery if the situation warrants it. I do not think this moment is the situation quite yet, though.



And so there you have it.

I am good. I am fine. I am feeling much better. I am researching. I am eating less fat, and just for kicks a giggles, less gluten, too (I am not going gluten free, I'm just replacing most of the bread and pasta with things like rice and quinoa, for example. I like those foods anyhow). I am drinking more water and taking a couple of supplements that may help, but won't hurt (things like more vitamin C). I have eaten a couple of foods (ok, CRAP) that don't agree with me, and I'm just not going to eat them anymore. Period. I know what signs indicate a need for removal. I understand the risks of both keeping it and having it removed, I am ready to go the emergency room if I need to. I am ready to remove the gallbladder if I need to.

bridging the gap

TheMostImportantGuy starting riding this past spring, and with the cold weather coming on, I'd been noticing that he was arriving here with a cold neck. He'd had no coverage between the motorcycle jacket and the helmet!

So I knit him up a little cowl...


...to bridge the gap.


He seems to really like it, and says it's doing the job effectively (my favorite part, of course, is that it matches *grin*).


Bridging The Gap Cowl (ravelry link)

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Merino Alpaca, color 7495

Needles: US #7, circular

Pattern: None (although I did start off using this one....which looks great, actually...but for some reason it was slanting to the right and the stitch pattern was hurting my hands....so I ditched it!).

How I Did It: Cast-On 75 sts, joined in the round, K3 P2 rib for about 5-1/2 inches or so, knit one row plain, then did a sewn cast-off to keep it stretchy.

Notes: This cowl is long enough to extend down into the jacket but then also go all the way up under the chin. The ribbing fans out perfectly and puts it right where it needs to be. I have enough yarn left over to knit a second one, which I am doing now, although it probably will not be as long as the first one. This second one will probably work out just fine as a regular-ol'-keep-yer-neck-warm sort of thing, say popped on with a t-shirt and a jacket. If it turns out that I can make the second as long as the first, then it will go to TheMIG as a back up.

frickin' photo album, for crying out loud

Too many photos (sorry) from the weekend.

MyFavoriteKid was with his dad for the weekend, so after the kid transfer was made, TheMostImportantGuy and I took Riley to the dog park.



Clearly he was happy.
So was the dog that found the mud puddle:


And so were these guys, who came right up to us and just jumped onto TheMIG's lap and took a seat:


Then we went to the Pumpkin Party at Phil's. He made a green salad with roasted beets and toasted pumpkin seeds, a pumpkin curry with homemade tempeh, pumpkin gnocci in a walnut sage sauce, pumpkin chocolate brownies, and pumpkin cardamom ice cream (the greatest).

While I was there I carved my pumpkin.


She's meditating ;-)

We changed clothes for the evening and waited at a new Tiki Bar for our friends to pick us up to head over to the show. We are definitely going to need to go back to the Tiki Bar. Very cute.

Then on to San Francisco.


I'm not sure if I can tell you how much fun I had in San Francisco (but I will try). The company was grand (this would be TheMIG's co-worker and his wife...and I really enjoy both of them). We had a fantastic Italian dinner in North Beach first, and then us girls were treated to a bottle of champagne at the show.

Ok. The show.
Well, I had no idea what I was in for. I'd never heard of either band, and I didn't do any research before going, so it was a total surprise.

We ended up there because TheMIG's friends are big fans of the opening act, Project Pimento. Very fun lounge music. The singer has a really drippy sultry voice, and the unique thing about the band is that one of the guys plays a theramin, which I'd never seen before.

But Richard Cheese? Oh. My. God.
The band didn't allow photos, and I linked to a video last night for you, but that clip really doesn't do him justice. The band was amazing, and Richard Cheese himself? I laughed so hard for so long that my face hurt, and I am totally not kidding you at all when I say I had no mascara on by the end of show because I was laughing so hard I was crying it off.

What these guys do is take all sorts of tunes (rap, hip-hop, industrial, etc etc) and turn them into Las Vegas style lounge music, basically. And there was way more adult content than what you saw on the tv video clip.

The other highlight of the show was just getting see the Bimbo's 365 Club, because I have never been there. It's like being in a time warp. I mean, the bar tenders still wear white service coats and there was an attendant in the bathroom. It was a total throwback, and the place was gorgeous.

Also cool was getting to see Coit Tower on the eve of it's 75th Anniversary.



As for Sunday....
I have no photos! But here's how it went:

I skipped the ecstatic dance thing in lieu of going to a favorite breakfast spot, to another dog park, and then for a visit to a hot tub place for an hour soak (drag, huh?). Then I met KarenTheDancingLurker and went to Terrain's dance production to see some great work, and after that, out to dinner with TheMIG at a favorite local mexican restaurant of ours.

Then home. Phew! It was a really great weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, over the last couple of weeks, it has been brought to my attention by several people, that I leave you guys hanging. Lots. I start a thought, I start telling you a story, and then I don't finish it. Like the visit with the monk. Or the gallbladder. I'm sure there are more.

I don't mean to do that. See, events happen, and then in some strange way I wrap things up in my head, and then life propels me forward very quickly onto (or into) the next thing. It's like I wrap them up in a neat and tidy package before I have time to get my thoughts out of my head, down my arms, into my fingers and typed onto a page. What happens is that I'm not in the same place anymore, and that happens rapidly.

So I'm thinking about ways to fix that. And then hopefully I will do more than just think about it, and actually DO something about it.

ricotta. feta. blue.

Very full weekend, but the Richard Cheese show was definitely the apex.

I laughed so hard it hurt and I cried my mascara off.

snaps on saturday

Frick. And. Frack.

Riley the DogDogDog & Gaara the KittenHead

These shots were actually taken earlier in the week (the 20th), but I'm on the fly out the door, and I'm not entirely sure if I will have internet access later to post anything I actually shoot today.

The plan:

Today...get MyFk to his dad's, onto what we refer to as TheCrazyCrazyDogPark, pumpkin carving party at Phil's (who is also cooking up a gourmet all pumpkin meal), a show at Bimbo's (Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine along with Project Pimento) along with some friends.

Tomorrow...maybe back to that Ecstatic Dance Place again, and then onto a show at the dance studio by Terrain.

phew!

Have a good weekend :-)

couture : ready to wear

This morning KarenTheDancingLurker sends me an email that says in the subject line:

Would you wear this?

filched from Fabulon

To which I reply:

Apparently, I would.

filched from straight out of my closet

...and I find this hysterically funny.

move over, bunnyman

Just kidding. No one will ever take the place of BunnyMan.

But is he is going to have to make room on the bed.



This creature came with a name already...but then again, so did my dog when he was rescued from the animal shelter, and we took away his jail name and gave him a real one....so I don't know if this creature's name will stick or not.

The tag says:
Vimn There's nothing in the world that makes Vimn happier than taking a nap. If she's missing, you'll find her curled up someplace cozy. Her favorite food is cotton candy.

Gotta love a creature that eats cotton candy. The tag also says, "Remove this tag before giving to a child." I wonder if I'm supposed to leave the tag on since it's for me....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, look at that. I basically just did a Things Around My House Thursday without even trying.

marching on....

....the parade of completed knitting continues.
(I swear, I do have other things to write about)

I finished a little sport sock:


This is the companion to the Over-The-Knee Pilates/Yoga Sock I made awhile back. I got to thinking that I'd also like to be able to wear the tall sock with boots and a skirt, but I don't want to go footless inside my boots. My plan was to wear the footless tall sock, but then toss on a little foot sock over it, but I got to thinking that I had just enough yarn to make it a matching set, and so there you have it!

Details about the lovely yarn are found within that link above.

There was no pattern for this, it's just a plain ol' vanilla sock. It was worked top down, with a slipped stitch heel and a wedge toe. It was done over 60 sts, on US 1-1/2's.

And here's GaaraTheCat helping me with the photo shoot:




I have been thinking quite a bit lately about socks and the knitting of them. See, the majority of the patterns out there for hand knit socks are for socks that are crew-lenght. The truth of the matter is that my preferred length for socks is either knee socks (or over the knee socks) that I wear with boots, or short sport socks, that I wear with tennis shoes. I do occasionally wear crew length with my converse tennis shoes, but then the majority of the sock is covered up by the shoe (not that it's all about showing them...I mostly just love they way they feel).

Anyhow, I've been thinking quite a bit lately about knitting more sinlge socks (since I only need the one) and doing them longer.

Not sure if that will happen. I still have a bit of an OCD compulsion to knit a complete pair.

and the knitting parade continues...

Here's some more knitting, as part of my delayed parade.

I bought enough yarn to make seven of these in various colors:



It kind of looks like a dead rat just laying there...but look how cute it is once it is put on!

That's a girlfriend of mine. I gave one of the black ones to her as a birthday gift.

The black doesn't look so hot on me, sadly.
Here's me trying out a white one:





A little bit better. I have some chocolate brown, some icy grey, and some denim-ish blue, also. Once I finish them up, I'll have to pick out my favorite from the bunch. The rest will become gifts.
I really like wearing it. It's comfy and toasty. It will totally take the chill off my neck, and it's perfect for fall when I don't want to wear a big scarf.

Seastorm Scarflette by Kate McMullin
(Ravelry link to pattern~~Ravelry link to my project page)

Yarn: Rowan Big Wool Tuft

Needles: US 17

Notes: Taking a tip from the designer, I knit the whole thing up, then fiddled around with pulling the tufts all over onto one side of the work once I was finished. The other thing that I did was to slightly felt the tufts (just using damp fingertips and twisting) to make the ends of the tufts a bit more spikey.

Buttons: Both of these have clear, square, vintage lucite buttons as closures, but I am toying around with exchanging the button on the white one for this big square red glass button that I just picked up. I think for the rest of the scarves I am going to get a little more funky with my button choices.

More Notes, Why Not:
* These are a big bang for the buck---under $8 per scarf! Woohoo!.
* These scarves are knit on size US#17 needles (for those who do not knit, those are BIG, and that usually means UberInstantGratification)
* Each scarf uses only one skein, which is only twenty-seven yards. TWENTY-SEVEN YARDS!!! (for those who do not knit, this means I knit the danged thing in like 30 minutes....but shhhhhh, because it looks like it took longer!)

a parade of one

I have a parade of finished knitting to show you, but I can only eek one of them out tonight because I feel like crapola.

See, I was feeling reallllly good earlier today. Finally. And that caused me to somehow have a complete brain fart and lapse into a pretty serious case of bad judgment in the food department (hint: eating poorly is not a good thing to do right after a gallbladder episode that puts you in the ER). So now I feel nauseous. And this is all you get. One item. No parade.

hey, I don't look toooo bad for feeling so sick, do I?

Urban Bubble Scarf (kit) from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, by Marta McCall
(ravelry link to the pattern, ravelry link to my project page)

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts KidMo, colorway "Highway 30"

Needles: US #5

Points of Interest: This is my first time ever doing Shibori felting on a project. Read more about what shibori is and how to do it over here.

Mods: The scarf was intended to have shibori all over it. Like 250 little balls, the kit came with. I decided to go with a more sparse look, as I didn't want the scarf to be so pouffy that it made me look like Bozo The Clown (like this scarf I already own and never wear...scroll down)

Time to Knit:
Well, I feel like an ass even telling you this. I started this scarf in March of 2007. Hahahahaha. See, I bought the kit at Stitches West in 2007, and I knit almost the entire scarf pretty quickly. And then I couldnt figure out how long to make it, because I wasn't sure how much it would shrink in the shibori process. I put the scarf down for ages until I could knit a swatch and test it. Then after I did that, I couldn't decide just how much shibori I wanted to do on the danged thing, so it's been sitting here fully knit but unfelted for over a year. Neat, eh? I finally just decided to go for it yesterday, and tadaaaaa! There you have it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Tomorrow is the appointment with the surgeon about the gallbladder. I have my list of questions compiled. If there is one thing I have learned about surgeons over the past couple of years, you best have your shit together because they are going to give you maybe 5 minutes of their full attention. I am ready ;-)

snaps on saturday (on a sunday)

This is what I was going to post yesterday, but found myself too tired to go looking for the danged camera chord.

This weekend MyFavoriteKid got to test run his costume for an early Halloween party. He wanted to dress up to look like one of the guys in his current favorite rock band.

Eleven going on twenty-three, I'm telling ya'

I don't really want to tell him that his "costume" looks a whole lot like what I wore during my senior year in high school (hahahaha).

Anyhow, he likes the costume and the make-up so much that he's allowed me to post this pic, which is not something that we normally do.

We dyed his hair black with that spray in stuff for this, and for the last two nights, as he has been washing it out, his skin has sort of taken on an ashy skintone. Today he kind of looked like those orphaned kids you see as part of broadway musicals that play the role of chimney sweeps. All he needed was the broom.

My favorite part of helping to put the costume together was messing with the fake lip ring. We actually were able to spoof MyFK's dad into thinking that it was a real piercing. He totally fell for it, and was ready to throttle me for allowing it. Duh. Hahahaha. He actually even had a little steam coming out of his ears there for a minute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of my weekend was really great. I got to hook up with a friend for a birthday breakfast yesterday, and today I did a bunch of cooking and knitting. I have lots of finished projects to share this week. They're all blocking right now. Stay tuned.

owe ya one

It's snaps on Saturday, but I'm too tired to find the camera cord. Busy day, well rounded, much fun....but all are dead tired. MyFavoriteKid went to bed at 8:45 (on a weekend!!). I fell asleep on the couch by 9:15 or so while watching a documentary with TheMostImportantGuy. Now here it is just after 10pm and I'm typing this in the dark in the bedroom and the TheMIG is next to me sawing logs. We'z pooped.
More tomorrow. Tonight, we sleep!

first signs of fall

Now we're talkin'. Now it feels like a change of seasons.

Roasted butternut squash, yams, parsnips, carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower...olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s+p. Could have used some big fat cloves of garlic, but it's good enough ;-)


Feeling very fatigued today, but still managed to get a huge list of stuff done. But now it's 8:25 and I'm beat. I'm about to crawl in bed with my knitting, and some dvd's (Pride & Predjudice--*big fat grin*---love it, even though I have seen it a kajillion times). I'm leaving the computer on because TheMostImportantGuy is recording drums at his place tonight, but he's letting me watch by webcam. I looooove that.

Resting up now for an active day tomorrow.
Sunday is reserved for kicking back.
Let's hope nothing interferes with that.

nitey nite

Ooooo so late and soooo tired. It was a very busy afternoon, like all the ducks were in a row so tightly that if one of then quacked the wrong way, I was going to be screwed. Luckily, everything went off fine, and I concluded my evening at dance class where I got the chance to re-run the last solo I had worked on. I am hoping the next day or two provide me with some clues about the next piece of work, because I believe it to be related.

I just got home and promptly broke a lamp. It's a little chilly, so I went to close the bedroom windows, and shattered the lamp on the nightstand. It was old, and kinda dorky....but it was old and kinda dorky (meaning: I loved it). It was a hurricane lamp in milk glass that had acorns and fall leaves painted on it. I've had it since my very first place, so I'd say about 23 years. And it was old when I bought it (thrift store find).

It's is now in a million pieces, most of which I cannot reach without moving the dresser (yay---another thing on my to-do list!).




Things are shifting over here, big time. I have lots to write about, and hopefully some time this weekend to tackle it.

Still dont quite understand yesterday's buddhist connundrum, even with all the explanations (but thank you!!). TheMostImportantGuy says he's gonna hit me 30 times.
hahahahaha

beats me

I've been trying to figure this one out for three days, and I can't...so now you guys get to take a crack at it.

It's a quote that appears at the beginning of a chapter of a book about buddhism I am reading right now.

The secret of Zen is just two words:
not always so.
~Shunryu Suzuki Roshi


My spins so far?
1) it's gotta be a typo
2) or a mistranslation
3) maybe you pick the two words?
a) not always ...?
b) not so ....?
c) always so ....?
4) I'm not a very good student.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The book, by the way, is "The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times" by Pema Chodron.

emotional vomit time. duck.

I think it would be safe to say that today I am having a bit of an emotional meltdown. If blubbering like an idiot when I stop the car at traffic lights is any indication. Or moaning out my suffering pretending that the news radio is going to drown me out so the guy in the crosswalk can't hear me. Right.

Today's audible whining?:
"If one more person asks me for one more thing, I swearrrrrrrrr, I am going to fall apaaaaaaaart. I am responsible for toooooooo many people, creatures, tasks, and thiiiiiiiiings....and no one takes care of meeeeeeeeee eeee eeeeee".

*sob sob sniffle sniffle boohoohoo hoooooooooooooooo*

Yeah. It kinda went like that. And that was while I was driving over to volunteer at the convalescent hospital. Of course once I got inside the place, being there for 2 minutes straightened me right out.

I had heard that one of the guys there (have I written yet about James' roommate being a buddhist monk yet? anyone? please, I cannot handle scrolling through my own blog today).....

Anyhow, the roommate is totally mentally coherent, but he has no teeth (and is blind) and likes ice cream so I brought him a chocolate shake. He told me that he turned 80 last week and he considerred this chocolate shake to be the celebration. He must have thanked me 5 times as he slurped on it.

Like I need to be crying about my shit. Sheesh.


...but just because I feel like complaining a bit more, I did some math today, and guess how much custody TheEx really has? Like, if you added up how many hours there are in the month, and how many he spends with MyFavoriteKid, guess what his percentage is?

11.8%

If one more person tells me that I should be lucky because TheEx is "in the picture" I think I am going to scream. And do you know what TheEX does during his 11.8% of the time??? He allows himself to be DaddyTheSuperHero with all the fun and less rules and no chores or homework (which, if I need to spell it out for you, makes me MommyTheEvilVillian).

This is NOT "shared" custody.

End of rant.

today was just not my day

I must have used up all my juice yesterday because today I feel like crap-o-la.

I'm not feeling sick, just very very tired. That, and Mondays just kinda suck. I never used to think that, but since MyFavoriteKid has started middle school and has the earlier start time? I can't stand them anymore.

It's late but I still have to move laundry around, so I'm outta here.

an update, some knitting, and one cute baby

Today found me feeling somewhat better. Haven't needed any medications since Friday night. Energy is up some, and I feel less like I have been kicked in the ribs. Less nauseous, but heartburn-y still. Seems like Mr. and Mrs. Food and I need to have a little come to Jesus.

I would really like to thank everyone for the well wishes and information. It was quite reassuring, and I am thankful to all of you. To be honest, if y'all hadn't chimed in, I might have gone a wee bit loopy. It was really helpful to my spirits to not feel alone and to know that life does go on.

Here's where I am at with the gallbladder thing right now:
* I'd like to keep it if I can. Lord know, I'm already missing enough parts ;-)
* I know people can live without their gallbladders, but I'm not in total agreement that it is not a necessary organ. Seems to me that if I can hold on to mine, I should try.
* I should hopefully have more information on the 21st when I meet with the surgeon. I still don't know how many gallstone there are, where there are (like, are in the in the ducts?), or how big they are. That information seems like a big piece of the decision making process to me though, no?
* Meanwhile, I am still researching alternatives, and most point back to having that chit-chat with Mr and Mrs Food. Seems like I will be needing to do that whether the gallbladder stays in or comes out.
* I am not taking this lightly, and if I need surgery, I will have it. I'm not about to let this problem snowball into something that wreaks havoc on the my pancreas or any other body part.


Meanwhile, I have been knitting. I've got various things on the needles right now and I have tinkered with all of them (which basically means no visible signs of progress)....but I had me a new baby to go visit this weekend, so I made her a hat and some booties.


Baby Hat and Booties (ravelry link)
Hat
Pattern: Shop Sample #52, free with purchase, from ImagiKnit
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Angel, #52 Valentine, 1 skein
Needles: US #9
Mods: When down to last 4 sts, switched to Lambs Pride Worsted in Mulberry to make an i-cord, which I sewed into an infinity symbol
Booties
Pattern: Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties by Ruth Bennett (the pdf version--the blog version has errata)
Size: 3 to 6 mos
Yarn: cast on with the LPW and when got to the top of the bootie switched back to the Angel. A 12" i-cord for the ties knit with the LPW
Needles: US #4
Mods: worked the cuffs in the round on dpns

PS the knitter's gift tags came from the etsy shop Knit It Up, and I just love them. There is a place on the back to write care instructions, too.



KarenTheDancingLurker and I drove up to go visit the happy (but tired) family. I'm telling you, the getting there was half the fun. On the way up Karen and I chatted about fashion and clothes and shoes.....on the way back about food and the why's and why nots of eating. It was a blast. Honestly, Karen. I don't know why we don't hook up more outside of dance class. We should work on that.

I should mention that Karen totally out-knit me. She banged out a hat AND a baby sweater! Totally adorable, both of them.

MyFavoriteKid came along for the ride, too...but he tuned us out during the ride listening to his i-Pod (which he saved up and bought himself!). He's turning into a little headbanger.

The baby was gorgeous. Happy baby. Eyes open and curious. We all got a turn holding her. Here was mine:


Too cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!!

snaps on saturday

It's getting to be that time of year again...



In attempt to feel normal, we went to the pumpkin patch today. When we got home I had MyFavoriteKid and TheMostImportantGuy help me get out a few of the holiday decorations. I love fall and Halloween.

The fresh air and the domesticity helped me feel a bit better, I think. I'm still not feeling tip-top yet, and most of my food choices are making me feel queasy or heartburn-y....but I'm improving.

I am getting some knitting done, though :-)

ugh

Still not so good. Very very thankful for all of the comments, and I will type more tomorrow. XO

Okay, so maybe it isn't the little notes that have had me tossing and turning.

I woke up at midnight last night with sharp pains right near my diaphragm. Within 30 minutes I started feeling nauseous, and within another 30 I was tossing my cookies every 15 minutes until the sun came up. The pain had moved to underneath the rim of my right ribcage, and I had bile action going differently than I had ever witnessed in my lifetime. I couldn't find a comfortable position to lie in, and was flopping on the bed (or in and out of the bed) like a fish until the sun came up.

I called my dad to cancel our regular Thursday errand running, as I had called the advice nurse and they wanted me into the Emergency Room. My mom was over in toot-sweet to help me get MyFavoriteKid out the door and then she drove me to the hospital.



Diagnosis?
Gallstones.

Now I'm in research mode so I can explore all of my options while I await my consultation with a surgeon in two weeks. Meanwhile, mild lowfat diet and pain meds. Yay.

At least this information does explain a few things. That part I like.

maybe this is why i don't sleep through the night

Maybe the reason I toss and turn all night is because I have subliminal messages playing through my head that I am missing something.

Things like this maybe:


Found on the notepad next to the phone. Not sure what the f%$# I missed on the 24th of September, but I sure hope it wasn't important. Probably wasn't. I mean, how important call "Fall Brin" actually be??!

Ooooo lookie! Here's another:


That's nice. Sunday. Do not forget about Sunday.

Oh, and this!


Yahhhh. Something. Something from 3pm to 5pm. Have no idea what. Or when. But whatever it is, it's from 3 to 5.



Sometimes I wonder how I even manage to....
to....
to...

Hmmm. I was going to type, "dress myself". Or, "feed myself".
But there are days where I barely manage to do those things (properly) either!
Oy.

bright side

I woke up and lay in bed this morning thinking about yesterday, and my kitten taking over my knitting bag as a cat bed, and thought to myself: Well, at least he didn't start using it as his cat box.

Now there's the bright side for ya'. See? I can be an optimist when I want to.


I don't have much more than that, because I'm watching the debate ;-)
g'night!

I seem to be all about the complaints right now. Sorry. But remember, kvetching is apparently part of my "process". Today, it's all about complaining about knitting, which is somewhat rare (Hey, I said somewhat. Shut up. At least I am honest. And at least I realize that I possess the ability to complain about anything. And everything.)

First up on my fiber-y complaint list is this yarn that I purchased last month. Expensive yarn. Ex.Pen.Sive. Like, angora. And two skeins netted me a measly total of 100 yards....barely a friggin' handful....


...for what I paid I could have purchased a few bags of groceries instead. That kind of expensive. But it's a special treat for a special baby (or at least that was my justification when I whipped out my wallet. Oy).

So I sit down this morning to hand-wind this ShouldBeGildedWithGoldLeaf yarn, and guess what I find.




Three breaks in the yarn (clearly I am annoyed if I am willing to make y'all look at photos of knots--hahaha). This complaint will make no sense at all to you if you aren't "one of us knitterly types", but I am telling you....it does not make for happy knitting or feeling pleased with your purchases.


So as an added bonus, in the midst of winding this yarn and finding all of these darling knots, the phone rings and it is someone from Stitches offices. See, I got the brochure for Stitches West in the mail last week, on Septeber 30th, to be exact. On the front of the brochure it says to Hurry!! because registration starts (ummm...started) September 17th. Great. I got right on it though, because I have been trying to get in to classes for 4 years now, with no luck. I have signed up for their email list, too...but it seems to me that the emails about class registration go out even later than the danged brochures. There must be an A-list somewhere, and clearly I am not on it.

Anyhow. So the day I get the brochure, I go online to register and all of the classes that I am most interested in are already full. Go figure. Except there is this one about spinning. And it is open. So I register, and I am thanked for my purchase, and I am emailed a confirmation of my registration. Then today I get the call that the class is actually already full, but I can go on wait list. Yay me.

So I hang up the phone, finish winding the now un-knotted (but in 5 peices) yarn, and I decide to sit down and knit a few rows to relax myself before driving into San Francisco for my appointment with the torturer. I mean, scar doctor. See, he lives in the Castro, and the news is saying there was a big house fire near his place, and the main road into his area is closed. So knitting a few rows before going to calm myself would be a good idea, even if I probably DO need a few extra minutes to get there.

So I go to get my knitting, and what do I see???


THAT is my knitting bag.
Turned kitty bed.
Niiiiiiiice.
And it was even sitting right next to an actual kitty bed.



Glad to see at least someone is pleased.

Today went differently than I had expected. I had totally planned on it being a "girly" day (hence my passing on the Yarn Harlot excursion yesterday and spending Saturday with TheMostImportantGuy instead). It didn't end up being a girl day at all.

My plan was this: I invited my bellydance co-teachers to join me at this relatively new weekly ecstatic dance thingy. There was no guarantee either would come. Neither one got back to me on it with a firm commitment, but I was kinda hoping (I gotta work on that hoping thing--it aint workin'. Neither is the throwing open house parties, either...more on that another time).

I went to the dance thing anyhow and had quite a good time.


Great dance space (the Historic Sweets Ballroom in downtown Oakland), really good music, and good group of people. The only rules at this place are:
a) no conversations on the dance floor
b) dance however you want

Love that.
I always wonder why there isn't some rule posted about toucing people, though. I have never been able to understand why people who are into contact improv think that when another person gets down onto the floor that it is an instant inviation for them to sachet over to you and touch you. Especially when this was not a contact improv event (even though there were many from that community in the room). This phenomenon is not unique to this dance event. It happens everywhere. And being one legged, if I am out of my wheelchair, I might be standing for awhile, but it's a pretty safe bet that at some point I will also utilize the floor. I am also a bellydancer, and we use do "floorwork" often. But when I go to the floor, that means I want to move differently than when standing. Not that I want to dance with you.

Contact improv is okay with me. When I sign up for it. I like contact improv. And I did some of contact today and it was fun. I am sure that if I didn't want to, my wishes would have been respected (maybe). But I most certainly was not sending out the "dance with me" vibe when I was approached, either. It's always a bit curious to me.

Anyhow.
There was an altar set up in one corner and someone had left a deck of osho-zen-tarot cards. I drew this one:

The general gist of the card was something about fruit knowing when it is ready to fall from the tree. Natural process.
Not quite sure what that means yet.


So after the dancing, my plan was to maybe spend some time with the ladies, but since that didn't pan out, I actually got to spend a really fun afternoon with TheMIG instead (bonus).

Later in the evening, I was scheduled to meet up with another friend (actually the adult daughter of one of the co-dance teachers). We were going to go to the MAC Cosmetics store for a party they were throwing to release their new make-up line. That friend cancelled in the early afternoon (sick), but I went to the party myself anyhow.

What a bummer that I showed up in my wheelchair and I could only get three friggin' feet in the front door.


Annoying.

So no girls today.
Well, except for the two chasing me down on the dance floor.

Anyone wanna do coffee or something?

snaps on saturday

I alllllmost headed up to Santa Rosa to stalk the Yarn Harlot today, but since I have a few fun girly things already planned for myself already, I stayed local with TheMostImportantGuy.

We stopped for lunch at The Sardine Can, a place I've been wanting to try out for awhile. Not that great. Had a very overpriced (but tasty) BLT w/avocado, but there was hardly anything vegetarian for TheMIG. Very cute little place, though...so I might go back sometime to try their breakfast, but they'd already stopped serving breakfast by the time we got there.

After that, I took TheMIG for a driving tour of Mare Island and the old Naval Shipyard. It's one really strange place because it is full of history and lots of very cool old buildings, but it's become very run down since the Navy left and it's even worse since the (bankrupt) City of Vallejo has purchased it. We did happen to bump into the museum, though....and for me, that was the highlight of my day.

the shark ship that guards the front door

There were many exhibits to check out there, and it was cool to finally get some of the history behind the buildings that I have seen driving through. One of my favorite exhibits though, was about the history of orthopedic medicine there at the naval hospital.

Check out the old prosthesis...

...that has a "tatoo"!!!

Very cool.

It reminds me of something another amputee said to me once. I met her only just a few weeks after getting out of the hospital. She was not wearing a prosthesis, but was using these antigue wooden crutches that she had taken to an old guy who was a whittler and he beautifully hand carved them. After she and I had talked about how she'd come to have them made she looked me right in the face and said, "Cuz sistah, ya' know if ya' gonna do this thing, you'd best look cute."

selfish knitting

Here's how I talked myself into dropping every single thing I was supposed to do today to selfishly knit myself a new hat:

* Everything on my needles is for other people.

* Okay, I do have a shawl on the needles for myself, but I haven't been working on it as I had intended, and it's not like a shawl is instant gratification anyhow, people.

* I could really use me some instant gratification.

* Especially since I have been complaining about doing things for everyone else but myself.

* And especially since I have this wrap that I picked up several weeks ago:


...that is sorely in need of a matching chapeau (I know. The shock. I own a scarf that is not handknit. But I happen to love fabric, too).

* And oh jeeez....will you just look what I have had in my stash for ages, that just happened to just leap out of it's resting place and into my hands:


Talk about a perfect match.

* Ooooh, and it is getting cooler here in the mornings.

* And if none of these are reason enough, let's blame it on my new really cool aromatherapy diffuser that was dispensing "Creative Juice" this morning.



Okay. So I knit myself this hat:

I actually started it Wednesday night, and finished it up this morning instead of doing some fairly necessary errands (oops). But wasn't it worth it??!!!

Pattern: Kilter, by Alexandra Tinsley (ravelry link)
Yarn: Manos del Uraguay , color #118
Needles: US 15's and 13's
Mods: None, except that I had a jenky little hole near the wrap and turn, so I fixed it up at the end with a few duplicate stitches. Oh, and I added a doo-dad to the hat band. I knit up a little square (US 13's, CO 5 sts, K 4 rows, BO), then sewed on a vintage button and safety pin to the back.


Would I Make It Again? Totally. Might even have to do it up in this juicy red manos that I think I bought at the same time as this stuff.

Ravelry Link to My Finished Kilter Hat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So off I go now, back to working on the knitted gifts. I really must get cracking on them. They do have a November deadline. And now I need to add in one more quick baby hat and booties for the friend I mentioned yesterday. She had the baby last night at 9:58!! Whoohoo! You know, mama is one of our bellydance students, and we had dance class last night. Sometime around 8:45 or so, we did a set of bellyrolls in her honor. I kinda like to think we were all helping her from afar to push or something. I can't wait to talk to her about it (I've only spoken to the HappyDaddy thus far). They have family coming in this weekend, so I'm going to wait until next weekend to show up with lasagna and handknits.