Category Archives: Life

One more hour

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I get to head out to my knee specialist appointment in about an hour. Hopefully, I’ll soon be enlightened as to why my knee still has stabbing pain 2 months after the accident. I was slightly afraid that I would get to the appointment and find that my knee feels better than it did when I made the appointment a week ago. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case; in fact, it hurt all on its own this morning. The Husband thinks the pain is due to the walking I did this weekend, which sucks cause I actually like walking. So, I’m killing time here at work, worrying over two stupid knee-related things: that there’s nothing wrong with my knee, I just banged it up real good, and I’m about to waste my time and the doctor’s, or there truly is something wrong with my knee, which is a whole ‘nother can of worms. *gah*

Meanwhile, I composed a blog entry about my opinion of the Knitpicks.com flap, and decided that I come off totally bitchy, so it’s staying in draft form. All I have to say now is “Chill!” Too many other more important things in this world to worry about.

At least my doctor’s appointment will have me home at a relatively decent hour… I’ll probably curl up on the couch and knit while I wait for The Husband to come home.

The week marches on

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I’ve been having fun finding blog entries of people who were at Stash on Tuesday. There were a couple of times that I looked around the room and wondered how many people there were knit bloggers.

Knitting-wise, the only things I’ve really been working on lately have been Birch, which went with me on Tuesday, and trying to finish off my second afghan square so I can send them off to Annie.

I saw my doctor yesterday, and it was decided to send me to a knee specialist. So, now I have an appointment next Tuesday afternoon with orthopedist/sports medicine doctor. Joy!

I get to go clothes shopping yet again tonight… woe is me. 🙂 Actually, this is a good thing. I’ve discovered that several shirts, which used to fit quite nicely, now make me look like I’m wearing a sack. Thus, tonight is a hunt for a couple new shirts to replace the ones I’m getting rid of. Shirts aren’t the only thing that suddenly got too big. I put my leather coat on last Thursday, and the Husband said I looked like a little kid playing dress-up. So, the coat got replaced on Saturday because it is safety gear and because it’s nice to have a coat that doesn’t go all the way to my fingertips. The new one has blue and white stripes down the sleeves… very cool.

Today is the first day of the next 2 weeks

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Geez, how’d it get to be Thursday already? (Not that I’m complaining really, Thursday today means Friday tomorrow.) Today was the start of a rather busy 2 weeks for me. Thankfully, while many things are things that need to be done, several things are guaranteed to be packed full o’fun.

Schedule thus far:
Today
Morning dept all-hands meeting
Afternoon chiropractor appt

7/29
Morning company all-hands meeting
Afternoon team meeting

7/31
Hot tub for an hour
Kill 2 hours while the Husband gets a 2 hour massage

8/1
9 am Monday morning meeting about website

8/2
Yarn Harlot in Berkeley

8/3
Morning doctor’s appt about knee

8/5
The Husband’s sushi class

8/6
Friend’s garden party

8/7
Head to Monterey to see my sister’s presentation on her trip to Vietnam

8/8
Morning dentist appts for both the Husband and I

8/12
Wine guild meeting in Monterey

At least there are a few places here and there for breaks in all the action. Meanwhile, I have not been able to get me, my camera, and the basket full of prezzies my secret pal sent me all in one place at the same time… well, that’s a lie sort of… we’ve all been in the living room together, but my memory has been absent each time and I have not remembered to take a picture. I’ve been too busy knitting up a couple afghan squares for Annie’s project as well as trying to get the last of my secret pal things together so I can take the box to the post office.

And they’ve only been sitting on my camera for 3 days…

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Knitting has been taking place

After several very distressing tries to get my photos uploaded, I finally managed to get them online. Thus, I present 2 of my current WIPs. I believe I’ve just started the 4th repeat on Birch, but I’m not sure because I haven’t really been paying attention, and I really don’t feel like counting the stitches to see where I stand. I finished the body of my Ribby Cardi awhile ago, just never took a picture. I have finally finished all the increases on the first arm and am slowly plodding away to get it the right length before beginning the shoulder shaping. I haven’t been working on it all that much because I suddenly became horribly bored with K2P2 ribbing. I have a feeling I’m going to be on Sleeve Island for awhile with this one.

I’m hoping to get Birch done quickly… I’ve just received the invitation to my 10 year reunion and it stated Cocktail Dress. So, I’ve got a month and a half to finish the shawl and try to find a nice dress to go with it. The reunion is in Monterey, so the shawl should definitely come in handy — summer nights in Monterey tend to be cold and foggy like SF. And I want to show off my mad knitting skillz… got to have something to show off besides The Husband, right?

The Coolest Purse Ever

Well, at least I think it is. I usually have a hard time finding a purse that I like the looks of and don’t find too difficult to carry around. Up to this point the purse I have been using was a simple smallish messenger type bag made out of black canvas. It had 2 small pockets right under the flap, a big open main compartment with a zippered pocket, and another zippered pocket on the outside back. It has been extremely serviceable, but is now starting to fall apart, mainly the straps are starting to come away from the body. So, I was beginning to contemplate the thought of a new purse. Like I said before, this is hard for me… I’ll find a purse I like the looks of only to open it and discover it either doesn’t have enough pockets or has way too many. And, no, I can’t tell you what the appropriate number of pockets is cause it depends on the purse.

The coolest purse ever caught my eye while I was knitting with a friend in Santa Cruz. I could easily see it and 2 of its friends casually hanging out on the door display of SFB Silk, the sun glinting off its silk panels. Soon, I could not ignore its siren call any longer. I went to investigate, sure that I would open the purse and find the wrong number of pockets (or an outrageous price tag). First, there was an examination of the outside of the purse, its shape and coloring were intriguing. Opening the purse caused wonder, for this purse had the number of pockets I thought it should have: one zippered pocket, a cell phone pocket, and another open pocket slightly bigger than the cell phone pocket. Now, I began thinking because this purse has now met my pocket needs it most likely has a price tag well over $200. I find the tag and turn it over… *gah* it was under $100. Of course, I had to get it…. well, after I spent at least 10 minutes hemming and hawing over do I really need a new purse, is this truly too much to spend on a purse (previously the most I have ever paid for a purse was $40, and it was leather).

My friend tried to be helpful and told me to wait a week, come back and see if I still liked it. But, I was afraid that if I did that the purse would be gone in a week. I would have been sorely disappointed to find it gone, so I broke down and handed over my check card. And, thus, the purse came home with me. The only downside to the new purse I can find so far is that it does not fit in the underseat storage of my scooter, which isn’t too bad because it doesn’t go with my black and red leather riding jacket. 🙂 Okay, I’ve fawned way too much over my new purse, so on to one final topic…

Flowers!

Clean-meister

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This past weekend went quite nicely. The Husband and I went down to Santa Cruz to see some friends. I got to hang out with Kalendar Girl and knit while basking in the slightly breezy 72 F Santa Cruz weather (it was 91 F when we left Mountain View). She introduced me to a cute new knitting store called Swift Stitch. There was a French bakery where I got a strange latte (They steamed the milk, poured it in a glass, then poured in the shoot of espresso… I had to find a spoon to mix it together because the espresso just hung right beneath the foam… weird). I ended up being naughty and buying myself a new purse from the silk store that was next to the knitting store. The purse was hanging on an outside display, and I found my eye being drawn to it while I was knitting. After awhile I just had to get a closer look… it’s an unusual looking purse. It’s made by Oovoo Design. The bag I got looks similar to their Baroque Baggy… the colors and stitching is similar, but the shape is completely different. I’ll have to take a picture tonight to share.

After knitting and purse buying adventures, my friend and I headed back to her place where The Husband was to cook dinner for us and a few other friends. Very tasty, but simple food. And it was a lot of fun to just spend time with friends that we hadn’t seen for a couple months.

Sunday was more adventurous. The Husband and I have been discussing buying a new bed for at least the last 6 months. Sleeptrain was advertising a sale with no interest till 2007. So, we headed off to take another look at the Sleep Number beds. Testing a couple of models out convinced us this was the way to go (The Husband likes his bed firm while I like a softer bed). The salesman we got was great, lots of fun to talk to, and he gave us a tremendous break on the bed, quoting a price that was $300 less than a guy at a different store quoted us for a less plush model. How could we say no?

Because we ordered the bed before 2 pm, we were able to get same day delivery. Same day delivery of course meant that I had to find my bedroom floor before the delivery guys showed up expecting to set up the new bed for us. I was at it for about an hour and a half, but I found the floor in front of our closet, managed to get clutter off a few flat surfaces, and even wiped away months worth of dust. So, aside from a couple of clutter hotspots in my bedroom, it looks the best it’s ever looked since we moved in 2.5 years ago. Quite the workout.

The Husband was taking care of laundry while I tackled the dust bunnies, so we had nice new clean sheets to put on the new bed. We spent a good hour playing with the controls, trying to find where each of us thought felt the best. I think I still need to experiment a bit more; the setting I used last night might have been a bit too soft. But, this is such an improvement over a spring mattress with memory foam that’s come down with Alzheimer’s.

Friday

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The Husband is going out to play Vampire tonight, leaving me home alone with a movie, wine, and my knitting.

But, what I really want to do is spin… and I can’t. My knee is still too sore to use it that way. All the talk about spinning that’s going around is making me miss it. I haven’t spun since the last weekend of May. I had just started spinning up the fiber I had dyed.

Of course, I also want my knee to get better, so it might be time to pull out a drop spindle.

I’ve got 2 increases left on the first sleeve for my Ribby Cardi. I’m not sure if I’ll continue working on the sleeve or if I’ll try to work on Birch tonight.

Fun car news
Last week I discovered the chrome on the inside passenger side door handle was peeling off on my car. How did I discover this? Why I managed to slice 2 fingertips open on it while trying to get out of the car. While chrome may look insubstantial, it’s rather quite sharp. Thankfully, neither injured finger is terribly important for knitting.

So, yesterday I took my car in for it’s 35,000 mile oil change and asked them to take a look at it. Wouldn’t have been any problem except the warranty that covers such things expires at 36,000 miles, and I was a bit late bringing my car in at 37,000. I managed to use my blonde powers (don’t worry I only use them for good) and the nice car guy ran off to speak with his supervisor about. He was back within a minute to inform me that they’d cover it. Woot! So, they replaced the door handle assembly; no more sharp chrome.

The Husband took a co-worker out to lunch today and discovered that the new, shiny door handle doesn’t work. You can’t open the door from the inside. Unfortunately, he was unable to get it in today, so we have an appointment Monday morning to have them look at it again. *sigh*

The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

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Or, possibly the worst play I’ve ever seen.

The Husband and I went up to the city last night to see the last play of ACT‘s season. This is the theater’s description of the play:

A.C.T.’s new production of this landmark and controversial play brings the powerful voice of three-time Pulitzer Prize–winner Edward Albee back to the Geary stage for the first time in over 30 years. Martin is a middle-aged man at the pinnacle of a successful career. He has loving relationships with his brilliant wife, Stevie, and his teenage son, Billy. But suddenly Martin makes a shocking confession that changes everything. As he struggles to explain himself to his family, they all sink deeper into the awful realization that something truly terrible has happened to their beautiful world—something so far outside of “normal” that it just might destroy them. Clive Barnes of the New York Post deemed The Goat “unquestionably one of the wittiest and funniest plays Albee has ever written.” The original Broadway production won the Tony Award for best play in 2002, and was declared by the Village Voice “the play most likely to be talked about seriously—angrily, ferociously—for years to come.”

Sure, it was funny for the first bit… very black humor sort of stuff. But, by the end, it was taking itself way too seriously. I don’t know, maybe I missed something. But, I found the ending disturbing… who wouldn’t find it disturbing? It end with a woman covered in blood, a dead goat, and a man sobbing over said goat while his son and best friend watched. Yeah…

So, because of this jaunt to the city, I got no knitting done last night. I got home and fondled Birch a bit, but I had to convince myself not to actually work on it. I was tired… my eyes were tired… not a time to work on lace. We’re going out to dinner with one of the Husband’s co-workers tonight; I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do between getting home and going out. I think I will give it a go though… I’m in love with the soft fuzziness of the fabric the Kidsilk Haze is making.

Heller Estate Ladybug release

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On June 6th, the Husband and I drove down to my parents’ place in Monterey so that we all could go to the Heller Estate Ladybug Release Party, which they were holding for members of their wine club. The vineyard is up in Carmel Valley… it took us about an hour to get there from Hwy. 1.

Vines

There was wine, cheese, fruit, that sort of thing. I was very upset about not being able to drink anything (vicodin and wine don’t mix), but was glad that that didn’t mean I go stuck driving those hideous winding mountain roads to get there. There were kitties who were very friendly — the orange and white tabby was named Chardonnay, and the grey tabby was named Merlot. Since I spent a lot of time sitting in one place, they seemed to have no problem with wandering over to let me pet them.

We were given a short tour of the winery… the tour was short only because the winery is small. The vintner and the owners talking about making organic wines and what is involved. The vintner even showed us his prize compost heap. Barn swallows nest in the eaves of the building and eat lots of insects. The have owl houses to bring in nesting owls, which along with the cats, help with rodents. They also release ladybugs to control aphids. We split up into groups of two, and each group got a container of ladybugs and a spray bottle with a sugar solution. The instructions were simple… open the container, spray the lady bugs, spray the vines, shake out the ladybugs.


Unfortunately, I found aphids on my chives a couple days later… I should have smuggled some ladybugs home with me.

Loopy Liz

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The painkillers must have made me a lot more loopy last week than I thought they did. One of the first emails I got this morning at work was about an alert not being up on the website. So, I check, yup, not there. But, I was sure I had done it on Friday… it was one of the last things I did before leaving… I thought. Perhaps I had made the necessary changes, but forgot to change the dates it should be viewable… nope, it wasn’t there at all. Oops. I’m still pretty sure I took care of it on Friday even though I now have pretty clear evidence that I didn’t. So, loopiness is the only explanation.

The weekend was thankfully rather uneventful. The Husband and I went to the LYS on Sat for a couple hours. I regaled the usual attendees with the details of my accident soon after which a motorcycle ran into an SUV at the nearby intersection causing all sorts of excitement as cops and an ambulance arrived with flashing lights. This all lead into an interesting conversation of the worst accidents we had ever seen/been in, which for some reason lead into a conversation about stupid criminals. Never a dull moment at my LYS.

Sunday was spent mostly in my pajamas. 🙂 I didn’t get dressed until about 3 pm. Then, we headed out to go to the hardware store, where an adapter was acquired to attach a coil garden hose to the kitchen sink. This was an amazing feat because with this simple hose adapter I can now water my plants with incredible speed. Previously, I would lug pitchers of water from the sink to the balcony upwards of 8 times to get all the plants watered. Now, I simply attach the hose (w/adapter) to the sink and walk out to the balcony, the hose slowly uncoiling behind me. 50 feet of purple coiled hose… it’s a wonder. And, it even came with a spray nozzle with different spray settings… fancy. 🙂 Yes, I truly am that excited about this… come the melty hot days of July, when the plants have to be watered every day or else they crisp beyond repair, I can keep the plants refreshed with minimal effort on my part. If my knee didn’t hurt, I’d be dancing a jig. 😀

Beginning to feel human again

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I saw my chiropractor on Monday, which helped to get rid of most of my upper body pain (it was all coming from my neck). Saw a doctor on Tuesday (not my doctor cause this is the week she has chosen to be in Boston), and was told if it still hurts in a week I should see my doctor, then I was given a sample of Celebrex to help with the inflammation. Unfortunately, I can’t take any of my happy 600 mg Motrin while taking the Celebrex, but the Celebrex did reduce what’s left of the swelling by half… and I can still take the Vicodin (wheee!). And the doctor said I don’t need to wear the infernal brace anymore. I just wish I didn’t have to come into work. I can’t seem to find a comfortable position to put my knee in, and it feels stiff whenever I get up. *ugh* And, of course, my knee, which hadn’t hurt for the first 4 days, hurts now that I’m at work.

At least tomorrow’s Friday.

I think the Vicodin has been affecting my brain… I was putting some arnica on my bruises the other day and got thinking about how I could dye some yarn with a orange-y yellow, a reddish violet, a bluish indigo, and a blue black and call it “Bruised.” It would certainly match the bruise on my hip. It would just be a matter of getting the colors right…. definitely the Vicodin.

I’ve been slowly working on the new shawl I’m doing with the Brooks Farm Duet. I still haven’t gotten to the end of the part of the ball that I ripped out of the Beginner’s Triangle Shawl. I hadn’t realized I had used that much yarn. What I do need to do is come up with a good name for it… Sadly, nothing is coming to mind when I look at the shawl. Purple, blue, and black just don’t bring anything to the front of my brain… and it’s missing the yellow and reddish tones for my bruise colorway idea. *grin* I also need to commit to a lace edging. There are a couple in Heirloom Knitting that I am considering; perhaps whichever one I choose will lend a name to the shawl.