Grandma Lucy, meds, and knitting

Grandma Lucy
Rob's Grandma Lucy passed away this last Monday after nearly 97 (!) years on this earth. She was a lovely woman who took a lot of pleasure in her family and saw 4 generations spring from her genes. She was a tough little cookie with a soft heart. She raised her two girls on her own after her divorce, learned to drive in her 60's and was living on her own (in a little house behind the home of her daughter Netha) until her early 90's.

While her family misses her already, there's a lot of smiling going on. Stories are being passed down, favorite memories shared and these generations left behind are thankful for the knowledge that Lucy is with her God and Saviour and preparing a place for the rest of us.

The Meds
A few weeks ago I had a lovely cold that left in its wake the inability to speak more than 2 sentences without loss of breath or a major coughing fit. Chewing on cherry cough drops helped (I can't help but chew. I do the same with Lifesavers, Tootsie Roll pops and any other hard candy).

OK, I can deal with that. I'll keep a few cough drops with me at all times, especially on Saturday since we'd be in Tillamook for Lucy's memorial service and then in Salem for the burial. Lots of knitting time on Saturday, right?

Well, Friday night I woke up with the *worst* earache I've had in a long, long time. For two hours, I tried T*lenol and heat to get rid of the pain and finally fell back to sleep around 3am. Now, I don't get sick too often so this was a major issue. At 7:30a on Saturday, Rob and the kids departed for Tillamook and at 9am I parked myself at Kaiser to await the opening of Urgent Care.

Apparently my lovely cold decided to impart one more gift: a nasty ear infection requiring antibiotics to get rid of it. That would explain why my head felt stuffed with cotton on the right side, why the swab didn't feel good after a shower and why I was still tired! Hmmph.

The Knitting
So I wasn't able to knit in the car for all those hours as I'd originally planned. I did manage 45 minutes in the car waiting for Urgent Care to open (at 10am apparently) and then the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. I worked on the sock below.

Now, I've taken a sock class and from it made a pair of socks that took approximately 1 year to make. The class was in Feb or March and I made the first sock for that class. The second sock didn't get made until the following January on a trip to Fresno for my Gramma Maria's funeral.

The second pair of socks were made (and documented back on 2/13) to go with the little baby hat I'd made.

I'm hoping to get the mate done for this by the end of the week. Have to, in fact. I have a baby sweater for Kruz to make (his arrival date in 3/14) and a yellow vest with buttons for Katherine's birthday (3/29).

After these are done, it's All Dulaan, All the Time here at Chez Woolbright. Daughter Erin's going to be knitting, friend Rebecca will be crocheting and the 3 of us are going to be cranking out items to send.

I feel a craft day coming on.

Beginning of 3rd pair of socks EVER

Some of the news that's fit to print

It's been a busy two weeks since I last posted (was it really back on 2/13?) I worked a busy 3 days last week so I could take Thurs and Fri off to babysit Sis 1 of 2's daughters while she was at the Vegas National Conference.

Let me tell you that I love my nieces to bits. They are smart, funny and they love to laugh. Samantha is 6 and her reading is going *so* well! Katherine will be 4 next month and she's sharp as a tack. Samantha read to me from several of her books (including a book from her other Auntie) and Katherine wanted to hear Little Black Sambo at least 3 times a day!

Sambo's story was one I hadn't thought of in a long time. I remember going out to breakfast to Sambo's in Vancouver when we were much younger and I loved to look at the mural on the wall of Sambo riding on the back of one of the tigers. Now that I think about it, the mural didn't portray any scene from the book other than a young boy and tigers. And the restaurant is no longer there either.

The girls and I loved growling like tigers at the right spots and saying to each other "purple slippers with crimson soles and crimson linings." And I only had to explain to Katherine once that trousers were the same as pants. Each time the section of the book came up with Sambo's blue trousers, she would point out that "trousers were the same as pants, Auntie Gina."

This book was a gift from Miss Micki, an octagenerian who lives with them. Katherine, for some reason, wanted to have me read the preface each time. The preface explained that the publisher chose to print it again despite the book's controversy as perceived racism. The girls didn't view it that way; we just enjoyed the imagery of colorful clothing and Sambo dealing bravely with tigers who wanted to eat him up.

Can I also mention that my nieces can give me a migraine? As much as we all enjoyed each other's company, I also had to deal with hurt feelings, argumentative 6-year-olds (yes, Samantha, when you disagree with *everything* said to you, even when you aren't in a fight, that's a form of arguing) and a 3-year-old who screams at the top of her lungs when she doesn't like what you said to her (and then grunts when you calm her down enough to try to reason with her).

It's a this point that I would like to say that Stay-At-Home-Parents have my complete and utter respect for what has to be the hardest job in the world. Long hours, no pay, lots of snot, tears and laundry. And that's just what YOU go through. But the benefits and ultimate pay-off are worth the time. Right?

More on my Adventures in Babysitting later.

Babies, babies everywhere

So I finished the little baby hat and decided to do some socks to go with it. Have NO idea which baby will get them, but most likely to go to Brian at work whose wife just had their first, a girl by the name of Cydney Jade.

Cast on for the next hat and set of socks and those will likely go to Matt (also at work) and the little boy he & his wife are expecting. Keep them in your prayers, she's not due until early April but she's in the hospital for contractions. They're trying to stop them and let the little guy cook some more, so she may end up with bedrest from here on out.

Two of the women in my small group for Bible Study (there are 6 of us at my table) are pregnant, there are at least 2 other people at work expecting, and my brother & his girlfriend are also due mid-March. I've got to get crackin' on the baby knitting. But I also have several other gifts to crank out by mid-to-late March.

After that, I'm knitting for the Dulaan project. Rebecca and I will be putting stuff together to send by the deadline and we're planning to do a craft day (read day off) to get a jump.

Been doing better with the weight and eating. Of course, having a cold puts a damper on the appetite which has been nice. I managed to drop a couple of pounds (I'm down to 191.5), so now I've got to keep it off and work on some more.

Lots of family stuff going on. There was a baby shower this past Saturday for my brother's girlfriend and baby Kruz. Felt weird since her friends are all in their early 20's. Next up is a trip to Ellensburg on Wednesday to watch the nieces. I think we'll plan a trip to the library there, maybe a walk around the campus, and a visit to Yellow House Knits to peruse their yarns.

And on Thursday is the bro's birthday, but a phone call will have to suffice since I won't be able to go out to dinner with the fam on Wednesday. Rob & Erin will have to go without me.

Gotta go, our food will be ready in 15 minutes and I've gotta finish getting ready for tomorrow night's potluck.

New hat

Hat & socks

Emma's little 5-hr sweater.

Here are the wristers that didn't show up earlier.

Oh yeah, one more thing

I forgot that I've read 2 more books. Re-read Tears of the Moon (Nora, of course) and a new book, Shining Hero by Sara Banerji.

Shining Hero really intrigued me because it's a view of India and it's culture written by someone who's been a part for many years but by marriage. The author currently teaches at Oxford. I wasn't sure I was going to finish it but it kept playing in my head and I wanted to get questions answered.

I'm glad I checked it out.

Home alone

The post title refers to the fact that I'm by myself today despite the entire family being together. I'm not there and neither is the sweater below.




Baby Emma was born on 1/27 and I this I finished her sweater on 1/26. There was supposed to be a baby shower on 1/29, but since Emma was 2 weeks early, we didn't have the party. I'd planned to give it to her today since the entire Woolbright clan is gathered at her parents' house for the Super Bowl.

I have a horrible cold and cough going and didn't want to infect anyone, so I'm home with chicken soup and OJ and having my own little party. I've got the TV on F*x for the game and I'm working on the 'puter.

Been finally making an effort to do something about the exercise and diet thing. Sister 2 of 2 is bugging me, Dad's bugging me and a friend at work is bugging me.

So I walked on Saturday with Dad. 3.12 miles in 54 minutes. And I've started using FitWatch. Happy now?

After I finished Emma's sweater I worked on Erin's wristers. She'd picked out the L/P Bulky from my stash and using SavannahChik's pattern. That little round thing in my hand? One of my makeshift stitch markers. I was working on the wristers at lunchtime and realized I'd forgotten my notions bag. I started looking for something to use instead and drew blanks until I opened a desk drawer. What you see is a piece cut off from the inside cardboard from a tampon. Necessity is definitely the mother of invention.

Next project, please

There's a baby boom happening at work and this is going to go to one of the new babies. Just a little stockinette hat. Yarn is from the little trip I made to KnitPick's store.

Moving right along

Footloose and fancy free! Getting there is half the fun, come share it with me.

Sorry, had a little Muppet moment there.

I've started on Erin's fingerless mitts. I finished the first and the second one has been cast on. Forest Green, Lamb's Pride, bulky. I'll take a pic when I finish

Mom's Berry Freeze now only needs ribbing on the armholes and the neck. Yay!

I bought a few skeins of sock yarn to use for baby hats and I'll be casting those on next. Bought them at KnitPicks' store in Vancouver. Their selection is more like remainders from their catalog shipping rather than a full blown LYS. The saleswoman mentioned they would be getting their new Wool of the Andes in to showcase the colors and I'm looking forward to that.

Finished a new book - From Here to Paternity. I really enjoy Jill Churchill. Rob & I were at the beach for a long weekend and we stopped in a used bookstore to browse. Picked up Grime and Punishment and I've been checking her out of the library since.

If you enjoy mysteries, I highly recommend visiting Stop You're Killing Me. Great place to search out new authors and see if you'd missed any by your favorites.

The Trouble with Tribbles

This is Tribble at 6 weeks. Rescued by our daughter at age 1.5 days (DAYS!) and bottle-fed by us. When we first took her in to the vet at 1 week (or was it 2?) she weighed only .5 oz.

She started out with the name Smack (because we all thought Smack the Cat sounded funny), but changed to Tribble after running through various sci-fi inspired names. Erin and Rob are sci-fi fans and it made sense. Especially now that she makes the little trilling noises like the Tribbles in the Star Trek episode.

So, here's the delightful Tribble at 6 months. Now at 6 lbs and eating like a stevedore. She's going back to the vet in 2 weeks to be spayed (gotta be responsible owners!)

She's supposedly Erin's cat, but she loves Rob best. Could be the hand that feeds her (Rob), the best place to sleep (his lap), or that Smudge also loves him best too.

So, here's Smudge in his favorite spot - lounging on our bed. Twice as big as Tribble and now 6 years old. We got him our first year of marriage and he's been great. Well, other than the food issues.

He was doing fine with dry food, then started throwing it up. Switched to Friskies wet, and eventually started throwing that up (we thought about re-naming him Chuck at this point). We switched to Science Diet wet and he did well, but each time my parents' animals came over, we had to hide their dry food because he'd get into it and, you guessed it, throw up.

But now he's on Nutro dry. Keeping it down and doing well. Litterbox smell is down too (I'd actually typed doo, not too). We are *loving* it. Less expensive than the wet, better food with fewer additives and he gets to think he's pulling one on us.

Man, we love our cats. I just wonder how they'll do when Rob finally decides on a dog.

Laziness

I'm still slogging away on Mom's sweater (the back is finished and I'm working on the front). But I set it aside to work on a 5-hr baby sweater for my niece who's expecting a girl in early February. I'm not knitting with any kind of speedy enthusiasm so it will definitely take longer than 5 hours.

I'm re-reading another Nora Roberts book, need to go the library to return 3 books and pick up several more, go grocery shopping, make dinner, watch some of the shows on TiVo to clear up some space and finish filing all the stuff on the floor of the den.

Rob's been sick and has stayed home the last couple of days from work. Doctor told him it's a bad cold with possible bronchitis infection, but no drugs since he wasn't running a fever. With any luck the TheraFlu is helping with the worst of it and he can go back tomorrow.

I'm planning to go to E-burg to babysit my sister's 2 daughters in February. I'll be there for 4 nights and I'm thinking I want to read a chapter book to them while I'm there. Something long enough to last the entire visit or short enough to be re-read at least once. Any suggestions?

Mixed Blessings

It's been a mix of a week here.

Good: Tuesday Rob went to the Polk Cty courthouse to review his paperwork to change the child custody and support with the X. They'd filled out the paperwork themselves and Rob sent it in, but someone called and said, Nope, not filled out right. So down he went to review it and someone else told him it was filled out correctly the first time. We should be hearing something back as early as next week.

OK: Work was better this week. I wasn't struggling as much to stay focused and working on the important things. Which is good because I don't want to have another 1:1:1 with my manager and her boss. Nothing bad, just uncomfortable in trying to understand why my performance had been lacking of late.

Bad: Our water heater is leaking. Rob's replaced one of the valves thinking that was the issue, but it's still leaking. So, it's looking like we're going to have to shell out for a new one. We could really use the money for other things, but hot water is highly important in my book.

I've done a little more knitting on the Berry Freeze, but I'm going to have to set it aside to crank out a baby sweater for a shower on the 29th.

I also need to work on my Bible study - Trusting God (Even When Life Hurts). It's been soooo helpful. I've found myself praying more and being thankful that God is truly in charge of ALL things and He's working for the good of His people in ALL ways, at ALL times. We don't know His plans and even the bad things that happen are for our ultimate benefit. That's the difficult one, you know? We want a HUMAN understanding of God, and He's not human. He's GOD.

But the best thing I learned in last Monday's study? God is so in control of the entire universe that even Satan can't harm us unless GOD ALLOWS IT. Even Satan is subject to His will. That is so incredibly awesome, it puts a smile on my face. Just read Job to see that in action. I'm really looking forward to this week.

Well, the hubby's not feeling well and I'm hungry so I'm signing out. Time to eat more, knit more and watch Shaun of the Dead with Ben & Jerry. YUM!

Weekend fun

It was a nice weekend here in Vancouver even with the ice storm. Sister 1 of 2 came down with her girls and we spent Saturday night going through Mom & Dad's house deciding who was getting what. (Explanation: M&D are selling their house, planning to sail for a year and then move home and into a houseboat). We got Sister 2 of 2 on the phone and with the list M&D had already made, went through the house claiming items and exclaiming over others.

I managed to go home with a couple of bags, a new purse, a lot of zippered bags perfect for storing yarn or projects and 3 books I'd loaned her to read. I'll also get a couple of storage cabinets, 3 chairs, a sofa, end table and probably some other stuff I can remember. Sis 2 and Mom went through it again Monday with my brother; however, he doesn't know what he needs yet since he and his girlfriend haven't yet moved into their new place.

Once I got home, I re-read the Key trilogy I got back from Mom. I love to read Nora Roberts. Great writing, good plots and I get completely absorbed and hate coming to the end. She has a new trilogy (In the Garden) going on right now. I read Blue Dahlia in a couple of hours and was thoroughly frustrated to find out I'd have to wait until May to read the 2nd book and December for the 3rd! At least with her Key trilogy, I got all three books with 3 months (she is an extremely prolific writer).

I'd originally planned to put only new books on the "New books read for 2005" list, but it would be like ignoring old friends for new. So I've just changed the listing to what I've read and I'm leaving it open. I'm curious to see just how many books I pick up and read over the course of a year.

I also made changes to the color of my blog - I'm having fun with HTML and learning different things. On my monitor it looks rather desert-ish (canyons and cactus versus cheesecake and chocolate).

The Lovely Bones

Well, I've completed my first new book of 2005. I say "new" because I habitually pick up books around the house to re-read. But the new book was Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. I took a while to do it, too. Not to read it, mind you, since I started it on Monday at lunch and finished it today at lunch. Nope, it was just picking it up and starting it.

But I'm so glad I did. I enjoyed it. I cried over it. I laughed and even re-read sections of it. I briefly considered buying it for my personal library. But you know what? I can check it out any time at the library. Which is where it's going this weekend to re-join its siblings. And I will find another to offer me escape, enlightenment or emotion. Or any combination of the three.

I'm thinking to pick up The Time-Traveler's Wife next to read. It was a gift from the little Sis for Christmas.

But I also need to knit on the Berry Freeze, update Quicken to close out last year, pull together the tax files, pay bills, exercise and decide if I'm going to a bridal shower Friday night after work.