Random thoughts

I have been noticing Gary’s arms lately, probably because of our 35^th anniversary, and it’s brought to mind memories of the stuff he has done through the years we have been together.  I’ve seen him put up sheetrock in various houses that we’ve lived in so we could make bedrooms for our kids out of unfinished basement space.  (I remember when the muscles in his right arm were a lot bigger than the ones in his left and he was all worried about that until he realized it was because he’d been working so hard on the basement, and since he’s right handed all that hammering build up his right arm muscles.) He’s held babies till they fell asleep and then kept holding them.  He’s given priesthood blessings.  He’s cooked dinners (some not terribly successful, think “apple-ham-spaghetti-curry.  But others have been fairly tasty, and the efforts were appreciated.)  He’s always offering to help out on various service projects for scouting, church, etc.  I wonder if anyone else knows how hard those arms have worked, and how little he complains?

I have had a very rapid decline in the health of my knees and hips.  It ticks me off.  Here I am, minding my own business, getting some exercise like I’ve been told to do and WHAM.  I can barely walk.  And I wake up in the middle of the night almost screaming because of the pain.  What’s up with THAT?  That’s only supposed to happen when you get old, right?  So I go in to the doctor to see what’s going on and they do x-rays.  Turns out I have severe arthritis in three places in each knee (can’t remember the technical terms but something like the ends of both bones and the backside of the kneecap or something like that) and also the hip.  (Makes me wonder about the hip they didn’t x-ray, but oh well.)  So today I went in to Kaiser before my insurance runs out (on Friday) to get shots in the knees (yes, it’s a horrible thing to imagine… BIG needle) so hopefully that’ll relieve some of the pain.  (The shots were uncomfortable, the first one not so bad but she scraped the bone a bit pushing the second one in so I flinched.) The doctor didn’t want to do the hip as well.  She is in family practice and the hip needed to be injected deeply enough that she felt an orthopedic doctor needed to do it.  Well, since I lose Kaiser on Friday that’s not enough time to get an orthopedist (?) appointment so that’s not going to happen any time soon.  If the pain can’t be managed this way (and hopefully I can do some light strength training to build some muscle around the affected joints for extra support, some swimming, stretches, etc.) I will have to have knee replacements and perhaps the hip replaced too.  I am kind of wondering what in the world happened to make this happen since I kind of feel too young for this to have occurred, maybe it’s one of those “it’ll come back to bite you” things from the poor nutrition as a little kid?  Whatever.  All I can really do is try to get it taken care of now so it won’t kill my quality of life.  I have grandchildren (and at some point, great-grandchildren) to squire around at WDW.  (Makes me glad there are no stairs at the condo…)

Even though I still feel a little bit bad about not having a job, with this new health development I am more at peace with the decision to leave the University.  I wasn’t taking as good care of myself as I needed to, and certainly I wouldn’t have been able to do the extra things that I’ll need to do now to build up my strength and endurance.  Shoot, when I got home from work I was pretty much done for the day and I need to be able to swim and do some light weight training several times a week.  There are a few other things that staying home is going to give me time to do, also.  I was wanting to try making lefse, and also that “rice cream” dessert from Norway.  Also, I will be making some of the gifts this coming year for birthday/Christmas, which I am enjoying. 

I am very excited about the upcoming wedding, even though I have no idea when it will be.  J  Planning weddings is fun, and Audrey has some wonderful ideas and likes beautiful things.  Of course, we have to keep it reasonable since there’s always the money issue, but we’ll do what we can.  And Sam will make a great addition to the family.  (We’ve already thought of him as family for a long time.)

I’m also excited about the classes that Bridget’s signed up for, because SHE’S excited about them, and it’s been a while since she was excited about school.  I think she did the right thing, taking time off and having a little bit of a break.

Okay, I think that's about all I can think of.  

Behind on pictures

A couple of finished blankets:

Not really as Christmassy as it looks, it's burgandy not real red.

Overall shot of the whole afghan.

This one is for Jimmy.  He doesn't know about it yet, hopefully he won't read my blog. (hah!)

Bridget's Challenge

Okay, so we are supposed to come up with 11 random facts, then ask 11 people 11 questions.  Or something like that.  First, my 11 random facts: 

1. The very best thing about me:  Mickey Mouse and I have the same birthday.  November 18.  (coming up, hint hint…)
2. My favorite animal (pet animal, that is) is a dog.  To me, no other pet has the same charm although I think all pets have their good points.  But a dog is the winner, overall. 
3. My favorite color is green.  I could decorate every room in the house with it.  I think Gary was worried that I would do so.  There’s quite a bit of it in our home, but I don’t think that there’s so much that the first thing people think when they come in is, “Wow, a green house…”   Anyway, I never seem to get tired of it.  When Mona and I were little we would actually get into arguments over which color was the best.  I decided I hated blue because it was HER favorite.  (But actually, blue is also pretty.  I think it goes very nicely with green.  Most colors go nicely with green.)
4. I like sparkly things.   I like to wear earrings that have a little “bling.”  If I can find a necklace that has a little sparkle to it, too, I am in heaven.  It doesn’t have to be real (in fact, I don’t think I have any real bling) it just has to sparkle.  Gary thinks this is crazy.  But he loves me so he is very tolerant.
5. I am not a vegetarian but I am getting to the point where meat doesn’t appeal to me nearly as much as it used to.  I do my best to get the protein I am supposed to get, but it’s getting harder the older I get because there’s not much meat that seems to be worth the effort.  Good thing I can still eat cheese. 
6. I like to watch TV.  Normally I try to crochet or fold laundry or something while I do so I can feel productive, and a lot of the time I want to watch with Gary (a lot of the shows I like, HE likes too.)  Some of my favorites are:  Big Bang Theory, Castle, Bones, Touch, Unforgettable, Person of Interest, How I met your mother, Once upon a time, Hart of Dixie, Bunheads, and for trashiness Storage Wars and Baggage battles.  Old shows that I still like to watch sometimes:  Star trek: the next generation and Frasier.
7. I love to crochet baby blankets.  I had a bunch of yarn from various sources in my closet (old  project leftovers, donated from people who didn’t want it anymore, some from when my mom died, and a whole bag from Sarah) and I’ve had the best time creating small (about 40-45 inches square) baby blankets.  Big baby blankets aren’t used as much since all the SIDS info out there recommends less covering on infants and just using warmer pajamas.  These blankets are good sizes for taking places and for using in car seats (since the recommendation is that babies not be put into coats before being strapped into their carseats since it prevents a good fit.)  Anyway, they blankets are great for gifting, and I get a kick out of handing them to people who don’t expect to get a baby gift.  I like to think of every new baby getting at least one hand-made  blanket.  Especially those 3^rd and 4^th babies in the family, who seem to get an awful lot of hand-me-downs. 
8. I eat basil like some people eat lettuce.  But only on quesadillas.  (that’s assuming other people eat lettuce on quesadillas, I guess.)  Bridget thinks this is odd.  To me there is no better meal than one of those “cook it yourself” flour tortillas (cook it on a cast iron grill) that is covered with melted cheese, a nice sliced garden tomato (sprinkled with salt), and a gigantic handful of fresh basil.  Then fold the tortilla over (and it should be lightly browned and crisp-ish at this point), slide it onto the plate, and cut it in half.  Pure mouth ecstasy.
9. There are certain other foods that I am addicted to that I don’t want to try to go without.  When we run low on them (or even worse, run out) I am not a happy camper.  One of these items is Sobe Life Water (which is, thankfully, easy to find but I don’t want to pay $1.59 for it, so I have to watch sales) and another is BelVita breakfast biscuits.  The flavor I am addicted to is Golden Oat.  (There are other flavors but I don’t like them.)  I also like Coke Zero (much better than regular diet coke) and I’ve recently discovered pork jerky, which is easier to digest (for me) than beef or turkey jerky. 
10. Gary and I have been married happily for nearly 35 years.  This is in spite of the fact that I am a mayonnaise person and he is a miracle whip person.  And I am a colgate person and he is a crest person.  J
11. I always wanted a big family.  I thought at first that would mean 12 kids.  Then after I experienced labor the first time, I figured six would be more realistic.    

 Now here are the answers to the questions that Bridget asked of me:

1- What is your favorite season?  Fall, and probably for the reason you would think.  I don’t like to go to Florida in the summertime because it’s too hot and too crowded, so I’m antsy to get back there again.  Plus I love crunchy leaves and the relief from the hot weather here, too. 
2- Why did you choose the URL you have set for your blog?  Michael helped me (he actually did all the work) and we wanted something related to Mickey Mouse.  It’s the first thing we could come up with that wasn’t taken so we snatched it up.
3- What is the worst injury you've ever gotten?  I guess it’s the time I got a spike through my thumb when I worked at Lone Star.  I had just finished counting the entrees for the half hour, and I was replacing them on the spike, and with one mighty shove I managed to impale myself on the spike as well.  We had to go to the ER to get it removed and to make sure I hadn’t speared my thumb bone as well.  (I still have the x-ray for a souvenir.) 
4- If you were stuck on a desert island, what 5 books would you bring (no boat-building or survival books)? The Ghost of Opalina (Peggy Bacon), Watchers (Dean Koontz), Ishmael (Barbara Hambly), Dusk Gate Chronicles (Breeana Puttroff), Scriptures.  
5- What type of music do you listen to? Mostly pop.
6- What do you think the most important quality in a friend is? I don’t think there is just ONE “most important” quality.  I think that different friends meet different needs so for each need that is met, a different quality will be the most important thing for that friend to have right then.  Or maybe the same person may meet different needs at different times, but when he or she does, a different quality is what’s the most important at that time. I’d say overall the most important quality is that the friend accepts you for who you really are, but that’s pretty generalized and not very satisfying all by itself. Sometimes I want someone who shares the same history as I do, so at those times longevity is the most important thing.  (Keep in mind that the person wouldn’t even BE a friend if certain criteria weren’t met, so the basics are already covered.)  Other times I might need someone who has a gift for being really clear headed, like if I need someone to help me figure out a problem.  Sometimes I want someone who will be spontaneous with me, someone fun.  Anyway, you get the idea. 
7- If you had the opportunity to leave Earth and travel to another habitable planet, would you? Nope.  I like it here.
8- If you had to quit the job you have now (or the job you've had most recently) and pick a new career path, what would you choose? Flight attendant
9- Which modern-day luxury (cell phone, computer, car, etc) would you choose to get rid of permanently? Microwave.  But only because I don’t want to get rid of all the other goodies.  And I hate cleaning that thing.
10- What is your favorite fruit? Cherries.  Blueberries.  Blackberries.  Well, pretty much any fruit that comes in a convenient size like that. 
11- How many cars have you owned?  Well, let’s see… I didn’t actually “own” the first one, but I’m claiming it, so:  Pink 54 chevy pickup which Mona and I painted ourselves, mustang, red mazda, festivas (2), white station wagon, ford windstar (minivan), protégé, PT cruiser, and two smart cars. 

And now, my 11 questions for the people I will “tag:” (and I'll try to tag them on facebook, but in case I am not successful, this is who they are:  Carolyn, Karen, Jolene, Sarah, Audrey, Gary, Mona, Kim, Sharon, Marie, and Cindy.

1. What food do you remember most from your childhood?
2. What is your favorite gemstone and why?
3. Have you ever had a pet, and if so what was/is it?
4. What person (real, although it can be a person from the present or past) would you most like to have dinner with, and why?
5. What is your favorite book, and how many times have you read it?
6. Do you have a hobby?
7. What is your best memory of the two of us?
8. Do you remember any favorite toys from when you were a kid?
9. Do you consider yourself physically fit, and if so how do you maintain fitness?
10. What is your blood type, and do you donate blood?
11. How many times have you been to Walt Disney World?  (Come on, you knew there would be ONE Disney question…)

Yarn donation and catch up

So I was wondering what I would do when I finished up my bottomless pit of yarn, but my wonderful daughter-in-law, Sarah, gave me a bag of odds and ends that she had, so I've been playing with that a little and this is the first one that I've come up with.  It's fairly simple, and the only color I used out of my "stash" was the white, which was about half to 2/3 of a skein.  The pink (sort of a dusty rose) and the apple green were both from her.  Same sort of made-up pattern I've used for the last few I've done.

In other news, I am leaving my job at the University.  I have enjoyed it, but for the last couple of months I have sensed a shifting there in my relationship with my boss.  I won't bore with all the details, but it's just a feeling I'm getting.  My boss is still nice, but she gets irritated very easily and I feel like I'm a scapegoat more than I ought to be. It could be a wrong perception, but where for the first year I loved the job, for the last few months I have started to dread it, so since we don't rely on my income it's okay to not have it.  I suppose I could try to fix it, but I have no idea who to go to, since HER superior is not even in the same area as we are and he is horrendously busy.  I don't think he has time for this kind of nonsense.  And besides, I don't know that what I do is valued there, and I don't think that they feel I am worth the trouble.

Life is too short to do something that makes you unhappy, right?  Or be somewhere you're unhappy?  Anyway, I'd rather leave while I'm still on good terms with everyone than wait till I'm miserable and wish I'd left months earlier.  I've got a couple of things on the horizon and if they don't pan out then I'm content to stay home and be a real "retired" person.  My last day at work will technically be Nov. 2, but since I have several days of comp time, my actual day will be Oct. 30.  I ams till going to do the exercise study, so I'll be driving down 3 times a week to work out, but since I do that for ME, that's not a problem as far as I am concerned.  If it gets to be an issue, I suppose I can drop out but I'd like to continue so they can get the data they're looking for for their study.

There are some folks there that I will miss though, and as the time for me to leave gets closer I get sadder.  Carolyn said it's my "graduation goggles," which she then had to explain to me.  (I need to find that clip of "How I met your mother" cuz it sounds funny.)  But leaving isn't as sad as leaving United was.  I guess that's saying something, right?  And if my other options don't work out, I'll be able to visit my grandkids more, go visit Mona now and again, visit Karen a bit, etc.

So.  Now I'm all caught up. :)

Two more blankets, and a not-so-stellar trip.

The bunny blanket is going to a friend of Audrey's.  I finished a new blanket today (it was nearly finished before my last Disney trip) and I really like how it turned out.  I FINALLY made one that is obviously for a boy.  (So many of them start out to be "unisex" but I am told they are too feminine to be for boys.)

While I was in Florida I brought along some yarn to have something to do in the evening while I was relaxing and since I had a few colors that I knew I would NEVER have any use for I decided to combine them to make a baby blanket.  It's mostly white, and now that it's finished I will be the first to admit that it is most likely going to have to be for a girl too.  :)  Dark green and lavender are two colors that just aren't that easy to use up...


Other than that, the trip to Florida was less than stellar.  While we were out of town someone decided to break into the owner's closet and help themselves to some of our personal belongings.  They didn't take everything, in fact they didn't take enough things that I would notice right away that anything at all was gone.  The first thing I noticed that was gone was the backpack I use when I go to the park.  At first I wondered if I'd taken it to Colorado the last time I returned home (although I knew I would never have done that, since I keep my annual pass in there.)  Then, once I got my clothes into the master bedroom closet I realized that there wasn't as much left in the owners' closet as there usually was.  That's when I noticed that Gary's suit was gone.  And I KNEW he hadn't worn that home (though I called to make sure, just in case.  I was right, he hadn't.)  By this time I was furious.  There were no marks on the door indicating it had been broken into, which to my way of thinking indicates that the person who stole the items had a key.  Since when we bought the place the previous owner was in Canada, the managment company brought a key by.  ONE key by.  I assumed at the time that the other key was with the previous owner.  I believe that assumption was an error. Although I have no proof other than the fact that I get the willies around a certain person whenever he eners the condo, (and who would actually be able to WEAR that suit) I think HE was the person who did this. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I started to try to figure out what else was missing (not an easy task when you're looking at a closet FULL of items you use on your trips. But as near as I couuld figure out, it was about half of the toys I had on hand for the grandkids (little stove and dishes set); Gary's suit, white shirt, and tie; the entire shoebox full of medical and first aid supplies (bandaids, neosporin, cold medicine, stuff like that but nothing prescription); my swimsuit (which meant whomever did this had to paw through all of my CLOTHING to find it, the PERV!); some unopened movies I had in case we had wanted to have a relaxing evening at home (just a few cheapies we got at Big Lots); my Disney Animal Kingdom back pack (which was filled with my annual pass, a brush, an umbrella, lipstick, a few first aid supplies, a small bottle of ibuprofen, mirror, nail clippers, etc.  All those handy things...)

Once I had a fairly comprensive list of the things that were missing (it was about 11:30 at night) I went storming down to the office to report it.  The clerk on duty was sympathetic and understood my ire, but other than emailing the manager, she couldn't do much.  I told her I wanted the maintenance guy to change my lock because obviously someone around there had one.  She said, "The maintenance guy?"  I said, "Yeah, I like him and I trust him."  She said, "Really?"  There was just something about the way she said it that made me expound....  I said, "Yeah, I don't remember his name, but he's short, kinda bald, has a lot of tattoos on his arms."  She said, "Oh, you mean Noel.  I'll leave a note that you want to talk to him.  If I just leave a note that you want the maintenance man to change the lock you'll get the other one.  I asked her to describe him, and although I still don't remember his name (bob or bill or something like that) I recognized him as the guy who gave me the willies when he brought over the SINGLE key when we went over there the first time.  I said, "Oh, no.  I don't like him."  She sai,d "No one does.  I'll make sure you get Noel.  He's good. He's the one I call when I need help."

Anyway, after that I went back to the condo but I was still so frustrated and felt so VIOLATED that I couldn't sleep.  I finally drifted off about 4:30 a.m. so naturally Karen and I didn't get a very early start.  About one in the afternoon we were still sitting around in our sleepwear and we heard a big crash and we said, "What was THAT?"  I thought something had fallen down in the kitchen so I went in there while Karen headed down the hallway toward the bedrooms.  She hollered, "I found it, the bedroom window's been smashed in!"  I couldn't help but get the unasy feeling that it was a revenge act for reporting the burglarly the night before, but at this point I not only called the office again, I called the sheriff's office.  They sent an officer right away  but (amazingly enough-not!) the creapy worker had already been there, cleaned out the glass and managed to get his own footprints all over the outside of the window.  He even said, in FRONT OF THE deputy sheriff, "There's no one's footprints out there but mine."  I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Oh, does that mean YOU did it?"  He was trying to convince the sheriff that the window was just blown out, but she wasn't taken in.  (No wind that day.)  He also said THREE times while she was there that we had changed the lock on the owner's closet and I told him every single time "NO we have NOT changed it, but we sure will now."  He also wanted to make sure that the sheriff blamed a GUEST who had stayed at the place, but I'm sorry, that just doesn't make sense.  For one thing, a guest wouldn't have been so picky.  they wouldn't have cared if the closet still looked full.  They would have take things that were of more value, too.  (For example, the wireless router wasn't taken.)  And they would have taken the DVD player from the unit itself since they were leaving.  I don't think the deputy sheriff was very impressed with the guy.

When Noel came on duty the next day he replaced the lock on the closet and also riged the hinges so they were more secure in case anyone got any ideas about popping the pins (although they hadn't been popped--No shiny spots where they'd been scratched.) I also told him I never wanted that other maintenance man in my condo unless I was in the unit or unless he was accompanied by Noel.  He said he'd make a note of that. I probably ought to check to make sure that he did.  Gary didn't want me to make any waves but I'd rather the creepy guy knew I suspected him so he'd stay out.

Anyway, we're headed back to Orlando at the end of the week to make better memories.  :)  But I had to replace all the first aid stuff, I hated thinking someone could be uncomfortable and I wouldn't be able to make them feel better.  How dumb is that?  I've also got some replacement toys, but I need to find something to use for a little stove.  I just remember that Aidan used to play with Alice with the little dishes and stuff and it feels like someone took part of their fun away and I want to just DESTROY that person for doing that.  And to think tha they had their HANDS in that little toybox makes me furious.  And to think they hand their hands in the box where Gary and I store our clothes when we're out of town, and pawed through everything till he found my swimsuit and then took that makes me nauseous.

:::sigh:::

Little bunny foo foo

This one is different, I really like how it turned out.  Bridget likes the colors but doesn't like the bunny much.  The weird thing is, just when I think that's the last afghan I can make, out pops more yarn and I have enough for yet another baby blanket.  :)  It's like a bottomless pit of a closet.

Not traditional colors, and a broken tooth.

This one is definitely not a traditional color for a baby afghan, but it still turned out pretty.  I like it.  The little holes are daisy-shaped, and then the edge is done in a cream color, and it looks like lace.  And I suppose it's also too feminine to be for a boy, but hey... I use what I have.

Other than that, today was NOT a good day.  I was driving to work, minding my own business and listening to the radio.  I opened the car gum (nice soft car gum, the little cube ones) and bit down and thought, "This gum has a little rock in it."  Nope, not a rock.  The gum had a chunk of my back tooth in it.  Yep, on the way to work a piece of my TOOTH broke off.  This wasn't that horrible hubba bubba, which is actually like chewing on a piece of cement, this was that nice soft kind of gum.  I think the tooth would have broken no matter what I was chewing.  But even so, it made me sad and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself most of the day.  Especially when I called the dentist and they said they didn't have anything available appointment-wise till NEXT WEEK.  I said that was NOT acceptable, so they decided they had an appointment available tomorrow morning.  (Why in the world couldn't they have said that in the first place?!)  Anyway, it doesn't hurt but I am fearful that it will begin hurting any time.  Stupid tooth.  Stupid gum.  stupid dentist's office.  I have been in a bad mood ever since.

And then I decided I would FINALLY do my visiting teaching letter and the STUPID COMPUTER (not this one, which is also horrible, but the one I can actually PRINT from downstairs) decided to die. And of course Gary was late getting home from work and was not answsering his cell phone so I couldn't ask if he knew what was going on with it.  

I definitely need to go to visit Mickey.

So let's just say the little black cloud over my head is growing exponentially... Why is it when one non-life threatening thing goes wrong, life decides that would be a peachy time to heap another load or two of crap on you just for fun?  Nothing earth shattering, just something to raise your blood pressure.

And no one here to know I'm upset except the dogs.  Poor doggies.

Oh, on a happier note I found pictures of two other afghans that I made that I thought were gone forever.

The first is the one I made for my niece Megan, the second is the one I made for Amy and Brad. But the stupid computer won't upload it unless the picture is sideways!!!!  I hate today.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel....

Okay, two more finished afghans, and I am seriously running out of yarn.  But I like these two.

For the Smiths

I like the little apples in the corners.

And I don't know who this one will be for, it's using up several bits of yarn.  But they go together well and could be for a boy or a girl.

Baby blankets

Two more finished blankets and I am almost through all of the yarn that I have in my closet.  Well, at least almost through all of the bits and pieces of it.  I still have a few skeins of white and other things that I'll actually use when I make wedding gifts and that kind of thing, but these are the leftovers that have been given to me and have been left from various projects and have been too good to throw away, but not big enough for a full sized blanket.  And I've looked and haven't ever really found anything for "scrap" blankets that I've ever thought looked nice, that have ever looked like anything other than what they were, a way to get rid of scraps.  Somehow it didn't seem right to put that much effort into making something that looked like it was made of junk.  :)  Anyway, I've been happy with the results of all this, and I think it's been nice to "gift" people I know with all these little blankets.

Bridget asked me what I was going to do once all the yarn was used up, since I would now be known as the lady who gives baby blankets, and once it's gone when people have babies, what am I going to do, pat them on the head and say "congratulations, too bad I used up all my yarn..."  Heh.. I might have to keep my eyes peeled for yard sale type yarn.  Yikes, what am I thinking?  :)

Little pink and white afghan, for the Cleverlys

Full view, this one only took a day and a half.

This is oneof those bubble ones, green bubbles on one side, white on the other

Full size shot of the bubble ones.

Ladybug blanket

I just wanted to post a picture of this little ladybug blanket before I forgot to do it.  It's been fun to make, and even though it was cute enough without them, adding the little family of ladybugs in the corner makes it adorable, to me.  :)  Plus it's using up some more of the stockpile of bits and pieces of yarn, too small of amounts to do anything full sized, but just the right amount sto do small baby blankets.  This little blanket is just right for tucking around baby in a carseat.

This blanket is kind of a light sage green and off white, the ladybugs are black and red.  They look really nice on the green and white background.  They're just a little pop of color.  It was a little bit of a pain to make because there were something like 150 or so little squares that had to be put together, but it was worth it.

Plus I've learned how to add captions to the pictures in my blog.  :)

Ladybug baby blanket

closeup of ladybug family

Karen is finally coming. :)

So I have finally been able to talk Karen into coming for a visit.  She will be here tomorrow night and I will take Friday off of work so we can hang out.  We actually don't have any real plans, so we'll play and laugh and just act like kids again.  I don't work on Mondays so we actually have four whole days to be silly.  I think that's enough time to drive Gary and the kids crazy.

Other than that, I still am not sleeping very well. I have a hard time going to bed at night, and there are times I wake up with my heart pounding as I think of what MIGHT have happened to Jason, and what might have happened to a whole lot of other people if Jason hadn't been where he was.  But overall it's beginning to get better.  Except I notice that I lose my temper easier, and I really have no excuse for that.  Hopefully I'll get nicer.

I have gone through the pictures on my phone and I was happy to find that a lot of the photos of afghans that I have made in the past, which I saved in my comcast folders (erased by a stupid hacker) were still there.  I am going to post them here, so I apologize to everyone for having to look at them, they're not new but they're a few of the blankets that I have made over the last few years and given away.  It's not all of them, but at least it's a few.  I can't believe the pure maliciousness of someone just deleting emails for no reason like that.  Oh well, what's done is done.

Jack's blue and white one, I made one like this
only orange and white for Isaac.

Shawna's, for her wedding

For Jared and Shylene's baby

Alice's white blessing blankie 

Isaac's red white and blue blankie

One more finished blanket

This one is for Nate and Sarah B.  Gary will take it to Utah when he goes.  It's pretty lightweight, but it'll be a nice "tuck around" one for the carseat.  Very pink, but that'll be good since they're having a girl..

The weekend of July 20

It's been a long, tense weekend that I won't soon forget.  Along with the rest of the world I have watched the world change yet again, and not for the better.  But on the other hand I have seen acts of heroism that have shown what people are really made of.

I found out that my son was the officer who arrested the shooter.  I know the split-second timing of the events could have been different, and the outcome could have been so horrendous.  How will this affect him in both the weeks and months to come, and in the long term?  Will it devastate him?  Will he be able to overcome the horror?  I'm kind of scared for him.  I know he's strong, but who can deal with that kind of terror without losing some part of himself?  I'm worried about that.  I hope he knows himself well enough to know if and when he will need help.  I hope that help will be available for him.

But most of all, I am so proud of him that I can hardly breathe.  He was afraid, so scared (and rightly so) but he ran into the fires of hell not knowing if he would come out alive.  He ran in, not knowing if he would see friends and family again.  He ran in to fulfill his duty as a police officer, an oath he took as an officer of the city of Aurora.  He simply put his own life on the line in order to attempt to put an end to the act of terrorism that was going on in a place where people were supposed to be safe.  A place where children and families were supposed to be able to have a good time together.  A place where a lunatic had descended and opened fire.

Bless your heart, Jason.  Words will never be able to express my gratitude for your willingness to put yourself in the line of fire in order to make this world a better place for the rest of us. I love you so much, and I'm also grateful for the forces that kept you safe.

I think I'm becoming addicted.

I have two more of the blankets finished and come to think of it, I only needed one more.  Plus I've already started another one, but that's okay because I've found out about another woman at work who is 20 weeks pregnant.  (Someone had to tell me.  She does NOT look pregnant.  I don't know why other women don't even look pregnant when they're halfway through. By that time people were always thinking I was ready to pop...)

Anyway, the green one that was supposed to have ladybugs ended up NOT having them because Bridget observed something about it:  The yarn and design are too delicate for the ltitle appliques that I made.  The ladybugs would have totally overpowered the blanket and although it would have still been okay, it is actually a pretty little blanket, and the ladybugs need to go on a cute blanket.  That will make sense to some of the people who read this, but not everyone.  Here it is, folded in quarter.  The edge of this one is all lacy and pretty, added a lot of visual interest, I think.

Anyway, the other one that I just finished today is another one of those bubble ones, this time mostly blue with a little bit of "soft white" added in.  When I started making it, I made it WAY too small, so I had to add a lot more border to it, but that's okay because I think it turned out kinda cute that way.  This one should be nice and warm.

And all is not lost as far as the ladybugs go.  I have some little squares in light green and off white that I'm going to put together in some sort of pattern and attach the ladybugs.   It's a heavier yarn and a "cuter" look as opposed to pretty.  A better fit, thanks Bridget!

At work I've been accepted into a study for type 2 diabetics, something about, "What works better to help maintain blood sugar control, education or exercise?"  Duh...   Anyway, the group I got put on is the "exercise" group, so I get to use the gym at the university for five months.  Yay!  Plus five or six weekends they will put me on a study diet, which is not that great but at least it means someone else will cook for me for three days each time.  I've done that before for a different study, and although the food isn't wonderful, it's edible and it's certainly easy.  Gary doesn't mind either, because it measn he gets to eat whatever he wants that weekend too.  (Boxed macaroni and cheese, pickled beets, all kinds of nasty stuff.)

And on a totally unrelated note, why is it that I can be dozing off in front of the TV all evening, but when it's time to actually go to BED I am wide awake and I could stay awake till 3 a.m. with no problems whatsoever?  Do we ever outgrow that "oh goodie, I can stay up as late as I want to!" mentality?

That's all I've got to say about that.

Getting ready for the 4th, and finishing another baby afghan

So I'm working on Monday so I can get an extra day off while the Utah families are in town.  I already have the 4th of July off, but since no one will have arrived yet, it'll be nice to take my regular day off on a day other than Monday and use it when we can all be together.

The girls (Melissa, Andrea, Carolyn, Audrey, Bridget, and I) are going to Taco Bell on Tuesday so I have no idea what the men folk will eat.  Hopefully something disgusting so I can feel all justified.  :)  (Like I need justification...)  Tradition says we should have a cookout for the 4th, but it's supposed to be almost 100 degrees all week and that just doesn't sound fun to me.  I would rather have monster deli sandwiches that everyone can build for themselves with a nice platter of fresh fruit and some chips.  That actually sounds really good to me.  Especially if I can find some nice ripe avocados.

Also, I have finished another baby blanket.  I think that's six done and at least one more to go, maybe two but I'd have to find that list of all the pregnant women I know that I'd like to give them to.  This one is really thick and warm, perfectly sized to tuck around a baby in a car seat.  And since there's  alot of pink in it it's obviously for a girl.

Another one bites the dust

Gary and I went to Utah this last weekend to see our youngest grandbaby, Isaac, on his first birthday.  Just one short year ago, Carolyn, Bridget, and I made that same drive over and arrived in time to see him come into the world (and I got to cut the cord!) so it seemed fitting that Gary and I make the drive one year later.  Besides, Bridget had flown over the day before and she HAD to be home in time for class on Monday, and flights looked "iffy" so we needed to have a car over there so we knew she'd have a way back.  I gave her my seat so she could ride with Gary, and I flew back Tuesday in time for work (but wow, the work day is LONG when you get up at 4 a.m. to get to the airport in time for a flight that gets you to work for your whole day...)

Anyway, since I was in the car for the whole drive over, I got another baby blanket done.  This one is mostly white with little flower shaped holes and a rainbow border.  It can be for either a boy or a girl.  So that makes um... five?  (I should go count them.)  So anyway, I also started the next one, which I should be able to finish in the next few days.  I told Carolyn she could choose which one would be for Cassie, and I figured I'd give the quilt to Audrey Marshall (since she crochets she probably already has an afghan or two for her baby) but I'm not sure who will get which of the remaining ones yet.

I need to get busy on the others...

Another finished baby afghan...

Okay, so at last count I had seven baby blankets to do.  I have the green and peach one done, the white grany square with the red rose buds done, both pictured in previous posts, and the Disney baby quilt done, and now this one:

I don't know if you can tell or not, but those are little baseballs and footballs around the edges.  This one is for a boy baby.

My goal is to make these seven baby blankets out of the yarn I currently have on hand, we'll see if I can get that done.  I hope so, it'd be nice to make a dent in my stockpile.  But even if I end up buying a little bit, it's been fun and kind of challenging to come up with patterns that use up the little bits and pieces I have available.  Most of these (okay, so far ALL of them) are patterns that I've created out of my own head or combinations of various patterns that I've seen and thought would look better changed up a little bit.  And all of them (except the little Disney babies quilt) are small enough to use in a car seat or swing, because really no one seems to use big blankets anymore, they seem to want more portable sized blankets.

Fun.  :)

The heart wants what the heart wants...

Last week Gary went to Boston on business.  Years ago I could have bet that if anything was going to go wrong it would happen when Gary went out of town.  I’m not talking about little things like, “Oh darn, we’re out of milk, whatever will we do for breakfast?”  But big things like, “Why is there a foot of standing water in the basement?”  But for the last decade it seemed like that was a thing of the past.  Until THIS business trip.  On Tuesday night, about 8:30 or so, I got a call from the missionaries.  They asked if Gary was home and I said no, he was in Boston.  They said, “We’re in Commerce City, and there are some police cars at the Lxxxxx’s house.  And the coroner’s wagon just left.”

I got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  This was the home of our friend Dave L.  Dave is the same Dave I wrote about a few months ago, who married Marti when she was on her death bed, Marti who died shortly after they were married.  We’d been keeping in touch, of course, especially Gary.  Gary spoke with him on the phone nearly every day, and stopped by to see him a couple times a week.  Dave was struggling to get on with his life, was having occasional good days and more than his share of bad ones.  He’d used some of the insurance money to get an ATV, he was looking forward to getting out and using it.  We’d had him over for dinner, because other than that he mostly just ate stuff out of the freezer. 

Anyway, I called Gary and told him what they’d said and he told me he’d call me back as soon as he could find someone to go over and see what had happened.  About twenty minutes later, he called back and with a catch in his voice, said, “He’s gone.”  I was stunned.  Once the dust settled and the coroner’s report came back we learned that Dave had had a massive heart attack. 

As a result, we had houseguests from Missouri for a few days (Dave’s brother John and his wife Colette, who used to be in our ward years ago) plus their daughter who drove over from Provo.  They came to help clean out Dave’s home and to plan the funeral.  It was surreal, sitting in the chapel of the same little building where I had sat only a few months ago for Marti’s services.

The morning after the services John and Colette left for Missouri and their daughter left for Provo.  We have a few of Dave’s household items scattered here and there around the house, and when I see them I will think of Dave and the difference he made to us, the lesson he taught us about unselfish love and devotion to the woman he adored.  Yes, I will always think of how much he loved his Marti.  And how it’s possible to die of a broken heart.  Of course there are those who will say that this was just a matter of a man who had a heart attack.  Whatever.  

Wow, so many babies on the way...

There are a gazillion babies on the way and I'm trying to get an afghan done for each of them.  So far I have two done.  :)  I have to get three or four more done.  Here are pictures of the first two.

Bridget doesn't like the one with the roses on it, but that's okay.  When she starts a family I'll make sure she doesn't get that kind.  :)  I like it, plus it was easy enough that I could work on it at church.  (I don't like to work on one so difficult that I have to constantly refer to the instructions  during a lesson or whatever.)

Wonderful Florida Vacation

Okay, so for the last 10 days I’ve been in Orlando with my sweetie.  We spent a lot of time at the Disney Parks, especially Epcot, because we especially went down there to see two specific  concerts, Peter Noone (from Herman’s Hermits) and Mickey Dolenz (From the Monkees.)  The performances were excellent, especially Peter Noone (who actually sang one song while sitting on a bench just one row from me, so of course I snapped his picture with my phone.)  Both performers did tributes to Davey Jones, who died unexpectedly a few months ago from a heart attack.  Davey was supposed to have done the final concert this year, and after he died Disney asked Mickey to do the concert instead.  Said Mickey, “I’m glad to have the opportunity to be here today, but truth be told I wish it was someone else. (much applause here…) I wish I were here singing a song or two WITH him.  I lost the closest thing I had to a brother.” 

Here’s and interesting tidbit:  Mickey brought his sister Cocoa along to sing with him.  She has an amazing voice!  I hadn’t heard her sing before (shoot, I didn’t even know Mickey had a sister) and she was outstanding. 

We also spent a couple of days in each of the other Disney parks (except Animal Kingdom, where we spent only one day, but it was full.)  I have to say that it would be hard to skip any of the parks, I love to visit each of them when I go to Orlando.  Each of them have their own “feel,” and each of them have things that I really love to do and see.  And it seems like each of them have at least one ride that Gary refuses to ride so I end up going on one thing alone, but that’s okay. He’s a prince of a guy to put up with my wanting to do everything multiple times, wanting to watch all the parades and fireworks all the time.  He’s very good natured.  J  All he asks in return is to ride Spaceship earth from time to time (even though I think they ruined it at the end, the beginning is sill good.)  And of course at least once every decade we have to get a “kissing picture” as we go down the long fall at Splash Mountain. 

We also had some old friends from the ward come over to the condo for dinner, the Rollins family are living in the Orlando area now so they came over this last Sunday for tacos after church.  It was really fun to see them and introduce them to those awesome “cook your own” flour tortillas (which really spoil you for ANY other flour tortillas.)  It’s amazing how much other peoples’ kids grow when you don’t get to see them very often.  Next time we go down we’ll have to get together again.  Besides, it was nice to have someone to give all our leftover food to.  J  (We can store the non-perishables, but I’d rather give the groceries to someone I know.)

There is one thing I’d like to get off my chest, though.  There is a really disturbing trend that I’ve noticed for many years that seems to be getting worse and worse with the passage of time.  I am watching the next generation of type 2 diabetics grow up.  I’m talking about the occupants of strollers.  I’ve never seen so many HUGE kids in strollers in my entire life.  I have no issue with four and five year olds in strollers at Walt Disney World.  Shoot, there’s a lot of walking to do for people of all ages, and although I think kids should walk at least part of the time, it’s a good idea to have the stroller on hand so when they get tired there’s a back up.  But the parks were FULL of strollers that were straining at their welded seams with kids who had to be at least six, seven, and eight years old, maybe even older.  And these were not slender kids either, they were kids who already had weight issues, which will most likely plague them all their lives and cause them terrible health issues and emotional problems. 

More often than not these children were snacking as their poor parents slogged along, pushing that stroller full of heavy child.  And not snacking on apples or veggies, but on chips, cotton candy, ice cream, pastries, and heavy snacks that are fine for someone who is spending the day logging in miles of walking but not so fine for a child who is being carted hither and yon.  They made me think of spoiled royalty on sedan chairs hefted around on the backs of the slaves.  A lot of the strollers were the ones that Disney rents out, and countless single kids were in double strollers intended for two occupants, but rented out for a single passenger because the rider was too big to fit in the “single-wides.”  Some of those strollers were so huge they started to look more like wheelchairs and I was wondering if I was seeing a glimpse of that child’s future because the body types of these kids are apple-shaped, totally in keeping with the type-2 diabetic.  It was really heart breaking.  At what point is it not doing a child a favor by schlepping them around like this?  And who are we really doing it for?  Are we doing this so we can stay out till all hours of the night instead of taking a tired child back to the hotel room to get some rest? 

When Bridget was 4, we went to Walt Disney World for the first time, and after some careful consideration we rented a stroller for her each morning (and she HATED it!) but I wanted to make sure we had something available for the late hours when I was pretty sure she would be too tired to walk.  Of course, in order to prove me wrong she wouldn’t go near it until she was desperate, so we probably COULD have gotten away with not having one (she was a bitty thing and had a daddy and three big brothers who probably would have been fine giving her piggy back rides till she got her second wind).  My point is, with three teenage boys, three girls and two adults, we managed to close down the parks each night and still be there nearly at opening each morning.  And Bridget felt she was MUCH too big to be in a stroller, which she thought was for a baby.  So what has happened in the last sixteen years?   And shouldn’t it  be a hint to us that if a single child is oozing out of a single-wide stroller and needs to use a double-wide that we might be pushing someone who desperately needs exercise?  Okay, off my soap box.

Other than that, it was a great trip.  I love being able to go back to my own home after a day at the park.  I love being able to cook my egg in the morning for breakfast, and I love being able to putter around and make things cozy.  Oh, as we were showing the Rollins family around the place we noticed our high chair was missing.  Gary has a call in to the management company to ask about that.  We’re kind of wondering if they sort of borrow things from one unit to the next depending on who needs what, which is NOT okay with us.  The high chair is part of our unit, it was there when we bought it lock, stock, and barrel, and I really don’t want it hauled around from place to place getting banged up.  If that’s something they consider loaning around, what’s next?  No thank you.  Anyway, hopefully that’ll be returned as soon as possible.  We didn’t need it this time, of course, but the management company didn’t know that.  Since the summer season has started we won’t be returning till at least late September or early October.  I’m not much on loving the heat, but I couldn’t resist seeing our concerts.   

Well, this post is long enough, I’d say.  J