Thursday, June 26, 2008

Can I just say.... OUCH!!!!!

Well, here I am, 42 yrs old, and just haven't had enough excitement in my life lately (NOT!!).
So, yesterday, while I was waiting for Rick at work, (I spent the day there at the base doing some stuff that needed to be done - as well as enjoying a lovely summer day parked in the shade under a tree knitting to my little heart's content), I decided to go check out the base Library. On my way back from said place, I was almost at the car, when all of a sudden I performed a fairly perfect swan dive onto the concrete. Wallet went skittering, so did the car key, and the cell phone. I did one of those, twist your ankle, try to catch yourself on the other foot, except it landed in a bit of a hole, and then kept the momentum going very forward onto the asphalt. The result..... this:

Yeah, road rash, like I haven't seen the likes of in many a year. Except I don't remember my whole body hurting like this when I was a kid. Granted, I have a bit more mass pushing that forward/downward momentum now than I did then, but still....
I originally thought, "Wow, I got off pretty easy, 2 spots on the outside of my palms and the back/underside of my right forearm - no skinned knees, to skinned chin or nose - this should be fairly OK. I can tell you now, this morning, 16hrs later, I didn't get off so easy. I am right handed, very right handed, hence typing is working just fine, as long as I don't have to rest my hand on the mouse, or rest my arm anywhere except in midair. Although I can rest my arm straight up on my elbow, as the brush burn did not "turn the heel" of my elbow.
Oh, and by the way, the Library was not worth all of this, why, they didn't even have any knitting books!!!!!

Now, I must go onto say a huge debt of THANKS to my Knitting Crew at Yarn for Supper, which was last night. I got so much sympathy, and all the best kind, Good Friends, Moms of both young and grown children, it was very much appreciated. The marble pound cake helped too :)
I am so glad I got to go, because it kept my mind off it, more or less, kind of sort of, and I got some knitting done before things really started to stiffen up.

NOW ONTO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS: The kitchen remodel. Here are some pics of what it looks like now in preparation for the laying of the floor.

This process is to start this weekend, with the installation of another layer of subflooring to help insulate and improve the stability of the current floor. It will be nice not to hear everything shake, jingle, and otherwise rattle as one walks across the floor.

The middle picture shows the linoleum tiles that will then be installed through the whole kitchen & pantries.
This is the 'historic' part of the post. Can you say "Retro"? These are the 3 layers of flooring that were previously in my kitchen:
We went from the most recent Pink & Light Blue late 80's early 90's country decor...

...down to the late 70's/early 80's Burnt Orange & Harvest Gold (which I might add had a coordinating deep ripe banana gold/yellow paint on the walls).
Then finally the orginal flooring (circa 1970) thick linoleum tile with a coordinating petite floral wall paper that was actually contact paper.

In my next post I will show the many "seasons" of wall paper that I have come across. For now, my numerous aches and sorenesses are starting to harass me again, so it time to try to find a comfortable way to maybe do some knitting.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Semi-Self-Imposed Sabbatical

So here is the deal, my private duty case that I was working on Tues & Wed has dried up for the summer (main caretaker is a teacher), that leaves me with my Thurs Night Shift case. I actually have had several job offers, but have decided that I need at least a 2week sabbatical. Yes, it definitely puts a bite in the family finances, BUT I am using said time to do some extrememly time sucking things here at the house.

While I am not working so much that I am getting paid, I am working like a fiend to save money. I am doing the prep work, and the demo work for some much needed, mostly cosmetic updates to the house. The current project is removing the butt-ugly early 1980's country style, pink and blue, chickens and duck wallpaper and border in the kitchen (of which, I forgot to take a picture of before removing and trashing). The bummer is there is also some sort of really old contact paper underneath it.

When that is completed I will move onto the dinning room and remove the pink and blue little flower motif walpaper and prepare to paint that room as well.
I must tell you, while I seem to have come up with a system that really works, boy is it rough on the joints. Especially when you are working over head for long periods of time.


On a better note, the weather here is gorgeous. Our temps have dropped into the 80's with lower humidity, and a breeze. Last night Rick and I actually sat out on the newly arranged front porch with Adult Beverages, and enjoyed a lovely happy hour while dinner marinaded. I could actually tolerate VA if the weather was like this more. Infact I turned off the AC and should have done that on Monday if I had been thinking more clearly, except for that really wicked storm that hit fast and hard. Everything would have been soaked fast by the time we woke up in the middle of the night.

Just because I can, here is an updated picture of the girls. They are not the best at remaining in place for photos. Actually, Naya does just fine, it is Misty that keeps doing the commando crawl to get closer to the camera.
Hope everyone is well, and soon I should have some more knitting updates. I have to knit to give my arms a break from working overhead, so I am getting some stuff done (as long as I turn the computer off now as soon as I am done here - otherwise I don't knit, I just come here and surf for a while)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Here She Is...

The one, and currently the only.....

CLESSIDRA
As usual, please ignore all the dots and spots on the carpet - that darn carpet fairy has still not visited my house.... hafrumpf!!
I must admit there are a few things I will change, if I decide to make another pair, but I guess I will post those musings on Ravelry.
On to #2, but I think I shall take a very short break and work on my sweater for a bit again. That way, I can maybe have it completed in time to wear it this fall/winter.

Friday, June 13, 2008

It's Getting Closer

I am almost finished with Clessidra #1...woooo hooooo. I should be able to finish it after I wake up later today. I have only the toe decreases to do, and I TOTALLY LOVE IT. I am actually eager to make the '2nd Sock'.

If I lived somewhere cold during part of the year, I would seriously consider multiple pairs of these in beautiful fall and wintery colors. Now all I need is another pair of black Svens to wear them with. I wore out my old ones.

Will post a pic later today, I promise! :)

Thursday, June 05, 2008

I have seen this one too often to not accept it

Ellen just tagged me on this one, so here are my answers to the current meme:

The Rules - Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
Since I don't do this very often, here goes:

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was living in Phoenix and loving it. I worked Night Shift as a Critical Care RN and had a fairly solid Massage Therapy Clientele. I used to come to their homes and could easily put 50-100miles on in one day just driving around the city. I was also getting ready send my very best friend off to Virginia Beach so he could regain an oh, so, important relationship with his 3 incredible boys. Any guesses as to who that best friend might be????

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
Feed the girls (who are being very patient); work on getting the house ready for the Winding/Spinning Gathering occuring here on Sat morn.; work on my Clessidra; rest - as I have aquired some sort of sinus-y throat monster thing (AGAIN!); eat some sort of healthy breakfast/brunch

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Suzi's Multiseed Flatbreads; Mr Krispys Rice Crisps; Trail Mix; Ritter Sport Dunkel-Voll Nuss; Fresh Baked Bread (mmmm time to fire up the bread machine)

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
Design and build our 'dream home' in AZ, have a permanent home in Germany as well; start up a 'No Kill' Shelter for dogs; and Open and maintain PACAAZ Fiber Farm & Studio

5. Places I have lived:
OH Boy this could take awhile. Conyngham, PA; Stroudsburg PA; Danville PA; White Plains, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Tannersville, PA; Bristol, CT; Morristown, NJ; Newport News, VA; Phoenix, AZ; Goodyear, AZ; Virginia Beach, VA.

So, let's see, who shall I tag??
1. Janey
2. Jen
3. Romelda
4. Viv
5. Queue

That should pretty well do it. I am off to let these folks know they have been tagged and then onto my list of things to do.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Clessidra Progress

I told you I was planning to make progress and I did!!! I am very pleased with the way they are coming out, except for the assorted errors and dropped stitches... but since I am not a perfectionist, this is OK with me.

So without further adieu.... My Clessidras thus far:



You might need to click on the images to see the detail of the stitches. But please don't pay attention to the carpet. I am really hoping the carpet fairy will pay a visit to the Griset household one of these days. :)

One more repeat of the 12 row pattern and I will start the heel, and next thing you know I will be on the foot, and voila, I will be done with Clessidra #1.

#2 Will not get started until the opening of the Olympics. That will be my Olympic trials project. Considering how long it has taken me to complete this one... I think 17 days would be pretty impressive for casting on and finishing #2.

Catch you all later.