Home Again (There), Home Again (Here)...

But it's never easy. Not easy to leave The Parents, whose love and total acceptance have sustained me for my whole life through ups and downs, and decisions that at times I'm sure they thought were not so great.
And it was not easy getting home here, out of the airport! We left Chicago early, and made it to the nation's capital in record time. Great, I thought. I'll be home before 10:15, and be in bed by 11. Nice thought... until someone's hanging bag got caught in the belt on the baggage carousel. What a mess!!!

Hangars and clothes inextricably tangled and wedged in the little spaces. And the baggage from our flight was all staged under that carousel. So they had to move it to the other one. The Husband was doing laps around the airport-- as were the friends and relations of all the other people on the flight-- while it took AN HOUR for us to get our luggage. Did I mention that for short trips I only take a roll-aboard or small duffel and don't usually "do" luggage? Well this time my parents lent us 2 large suitcases to use for an upcoming big trip, so I brought them back with me. Wouldn'tcha know???

It was so wonderful to be with The Parents. Mom's doing well, and is in remarkable spirits. Dad is such a host all the time... "More coffee??? Can I get you anything???" He thrives on it.

I gave Mom the hats-- here's the Celtic Cap being blocked.


The bad part of the visit was that I came down with probable food poisoning on Saturday (most likely from some turkey I'd bought the day before and put in a salad). It was pretty awful. And I was afraid at first that I had some kind of virus, and that I'd exposed Mom. I was especially distressed, because we'd ordered Famous Dave's and a bunch of my brothers and sisters and their kids were coming over. I didn't leave the bed except for some rather violent activity. My ribs are still sore. (#1 brother was so sweet. He knocked on the door and brought me a 7-Up mid-hurl). On Sunday, after we analyzed the symptoms and my rather rapid response to pepto, we decided that food was the most likely culprit. Everyone came back for brunch, so I got to see them, although we didn't do any embracing, "just in case."

I was able to get some knitting done, and have made some respectable progress on this. I didn't bring enough yarn along, so had to stop short of the end of the first sleeve.

And Mom gave me these:

Aren't they cute? Hats ranging from teeny to small for the babies at our hospital. Mom loves to knit, and she whips these out like crazy.

On Monday The Parents and I took a walk along the river in our town, and it brought back so many memories... And one thing that I hadn't seen before was a memorial to a man from our town who was killed in the attack on the Pentagon. It brought back all the emotion and memory... but I didn't cry, which surprised me. I wonder if there are callouses on my soul-- or if I'm finally doing a better job of coping.

And now I'm back home (here), to The Loving Husband, and my friends The Irregulars, and-- tomorrow-- to work.

Quick Update

Nothing profound or fancy today, and no time for pictures. Newsboy hat is blocked and dry; Celtic cap is done (and quite lovely, I do believe). I'll give it a bath tomorrow at Mom & Dad's. I'm going home for a few days to spend some time with them.

I went to Late Night for some emotional regeneration and was thrilled to see Phyllis, Aimee, Erin,Holly, Niki, Liz, Carol, Ann, Maeve (You say "Hello" and I say "Goodbye')-- a pretty hefty percentage of Irregulars. After a bit of deliberation, I decided to cast on the right front side of the Debbie Bliss bolero shrug and proceeded to ADD myself into a frogging situation. So I'll probably rip out and start over tomorrow morning while waiting for my plane.

I've been very tied up with work, and haven't had time to center on the things that are most important to me. So I'm looking forward to a few days of focusing on The Parents. Mom's having a minor procedure while I'm home, so I'm glad I'll be able to be there for hand-holding purposes.

Catch y'all next week.

No Knitting Now

At least not for another couple of days. I had a huge burst leading up to the last blog, and the Celtic Cap is exactly the same today as it was then. I somehow misplaced the 3 pages I actually use of the 12 in the (did I mention wonderfully and flexibly written) pattern. So I had to print it out again. And now I'll need to find my place. It shouldn't be too hard, but I won't get to it today or tomorrow.

The Daughter's Spring Break ended for us on Saturday when she returned to Blacksburg. I was able to schedule work so that I could be off for several days while she was home, and we had fun. We had lunch out, did some shopping, and we both needed haircuts. Mine's back to where it belongs, and hers is, I think, the shortest it's been in her 20 years of life. It is darling-- about chin length, and it will be easy for her during the summer. We made a quick stop by the shop to chat with The Irregulars on Wednesday.

We covered a chair-- and it looks really great. I should have taken pictures. It was one of those bare white armchairs from IKEA that needs to either be covered or get a slipcover. We did it in a cocoa-colored microsuede fabric. I watched the people in Changing Rooms and Trading Spaces when they sort of held up fabric and pinned it, then cut it and sewed. Hey-- it works!!! I'd say it took about 4-5 hours to do from start to finish. The actual sewing part was only about an hour, and most of that was trying to figure out which direction to go and try to avoid poking myself with the pins.

If you decide to try this at home, make sure you have enough pins. You'll need dozens if not hundreds. I got poked plenty, and the tips of my fingers are still sore from inserting and removing pins through the heavy fabric. I probably should have used a leather thimble or something.

The bottom of the seat isn't sewn. If I'd had more time, or more energy, I probably would have finished that part. As it is, the fabric that comes in from the back, the arms, and the bottom of the front are tucked under the seat cushion. Since the fabric is microsuede, and the cushion fits tightly, it seems like it will "hold". We'll find out, and I can always tidy it up later. The cover is stapled to the chair frame around the bottom.

During the construction of the chair cover we watched Almost Like Heaven and The Wedding Crashers. Both fun, feel-good movies. The Wedding Crashers wasn't as mindless as I thought it was going to be. It was good to see Owen Wilson as not a total idiot.

During cushion construction we watched The Constant Gardener. Definitely NOT a feel-good movie, but SO worth watching. It is truly a well-done, disturbing, well-acted film. I highly recommend it-- but make sure your head is in a good place.

I did have to go to work a couple of days, and on one of those, The Daughter came in and took some pictures for The Writing, since she knows my camera better than I do.

Of course, days away from work have not been days free from work, as I'm still working on The Chapter whose deadline is tomorrow. I've been doing a bit on it every day, and since the content is the same as The Article, only really pared down and in outline form, I'm not at all stressed. The pictures are taken, and now it's just a case of pulling it together, getting the references straightened out and emailing it to the publisher. (Tell me again WHY I thought this was a good idea?) I'd rather be knitting.

The Son is on break now--came home late Saturday night. I worked a bunch at the end of last week and over the weekend, and I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as I'd like, especially since he's mightily in to sleep while I'm conscious. I need to go in to work today for a couple of hours, so maybe we can do something this afternoon. He leaves tomorrow for a trek with frat buddies. Tonight will be corned-beef and cabbage (our second in 2 weeks, since The Daughter needed to have some last week.) Not only will The Son not be here on St. Patrick's Day, but it's also Friday during Lent, and, you know...

I need to put together a lecture to give next week, and it'll take a few hours, so Thursday is for that. But only part of Thursday is for that.

Some of it will be for knitting.

Nous Avons Les Chapeaux

... Or at least we're working on them.

The Newsboy Cap, as previously mentioned, is completed but not "finished". I'm waiting for The Husband and The Daughter to finish the jug of milk in the fridge so I can cut the brim stabilizer out of the side. And if I don't like the way it feels, I'll pick up some heavy buckram at the fabric store. The pattern recommends plastic mesh-- and I have some... who knows... I'll make a decision soon. And then to block:


And here's....

.........................The Celtic Cap .........................

So very much fun to knit. And may I say addictive? "Yes, I need to go to sleep-- but just one more round. Well, maybe just one more". Although Carol taught me to cable without a needle, I'll save that handy tip for simple 2x2 or 3x3's. I DEFINITELY need the cable needle on this one!!! The picture is a little blurry, but you can see the cables. I just love the way they come into form row by row. And I really envy those who can figure it out without looking at the pattern all the time. There are some areas that are intuitive, but then again... I've done a couple of Aran things earlier in my life, and I've been a slave to the chart if it gets at all complicated.

There have only been a couple of places I've had to rip, and luckily, have been able to stay within one cable panel for the fixin's. I've gotta get moving on a bunch of stuff today, so a better picture will show up when it's done.

And since I'm on a hat roll, I'm going to need to think seriously about a stocking cap for The Son who asked for one last year.

Hmmm... Has someone been neglected?

Progress, Progress

No pictures right now, but maybe this afternoon.

Mom's home from hospital and doing pretty well. I spoke with her yesterday, and she's been relatively pain-free and seems to be in excellent spirits. We are so blessed to still have both of our parents. Do not think for a second that any of us take it for granted. This is such a gift.

Talk amongst my sibs centers this week on 2 of The Brothers. #2 just got a job as director of operations for the Milwaukee Brewers. I can't tell you how excited The Nurse's family is about this. #2 Brother and his wonderful wife and really neat kids have been in Omaha for the past several years, which they like just fine. But now they'll be really close to the Chicago area, and back to running a baseball parks, which is what #2 really loves to do. (#3 runs Jacobs Field for the Indians.)

The other excitement is #4 Brother's upcoming wedding in June. Of course, any opportunity to get together is wonderful, but weddings are the best. The Beloved and her daughters have their dresses, and I'm privileged to be making the garter. I'll need to get to that soon. Carol has some good ideas for me-- I'll have to commit them to paper, as my brain was rather rattled when we were discussing it before.

In knitting progress, the coral Newsboy hat is completed but not "finished". I need to put the bill stabilizer in and block it. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. Perhaps a picture this afternoon while being blocked?

I started, and am about halfway through the Celtic Cap that I came across on Kelly's blog a few days ago. It's also for my Mom.

I cast on at Friday's Late Night at The Happy Place, and just worked on it like crazy yesterday. I'm doing it in Debbie Bliss Cathay in a dark teal on size 3's. I gotta tell you-- I'm really lovin' this project. And here's a plug for the pattern: It's written with directions for any type of yarn!!! I was just amazed. So worth the $3. I chose the Cathay because I wanted something that would be light and totally non-itchy. I might just have to make another one for myself-- and maybe one for The Daughter, and let's see, I have 4 sisters, and 12 girl nieces..... well, maybe not for everyone. But in the interest of time, I'll probably do mine with larger gauge.

The Daughter came home last night for spring break and I'm just thrilled to see her. She'll probably do the college student thing and spend most of the time sleeping, but while she's awake, I plan to have her help me with the slipcover for the apartment living room chair. I'd really like to get that completed.

And the rest of today? Well, it's devoted, for a couple of hours at least, to the book chapter. It's not the stress of the article, so for that I'm grateful. Then a bit of grocery shopping-- we are seriously out of basics (NO EGGS!!!! but at least there's coffee) and then, I can't wait to get back to the Celtic Cap.

(and maybe I can sneak in a stop to The Shop)

Thank You

(And hey-- guess what!!! I finally figured out how to do pictures!!!)

A bunch of you have sent emails with well-wishes for my Mom.  I appreciate it so very much.  I talked with Dad this morning.  The surgery was a bit more complicated and the post-op course a bit more involved than we would like, but Dad insists that her spirits are great, and that she should be home by the end of the week.  

I've been (of course) working, and during my after-work-for-a-few-minutes-before-sleep time have made great progress on The Newsboy Cap from Stitch’n’Bitch Nation (aka the chemo hat).  I started it on Saturday at Knit Happens where I got hugs and support from some of the Irregulars. Stephanie and Carol and Holly and Kelly and Courtney and Brittany; and Shelley were there.  It was just what I needed.  I'm in the last few rows of the main part of the hat, and then will work on the brim.  I'm doing it in coral CashMarino Chunky, and it's very soft and cheery looking.

Wanna see what the finished cap looks like in green?  Go visit Lara


Mom's also getting this:


In other news, I got an email from the publisher, and the article is in peer review. I'll have some tightening to do, but it's minimally invasive and very manageable.  The next hurdle is the book chapter,  but it should be pretty straightforward and relatively painless.

Other than that, I plan to sort through mail, tidy the family room, and of course knit.  And maybe start the slipcover for The Daughter’s living room chair. Or maybe I'll take a nap.

Such will be my day off.

A Do-Nothing Day, Finally!

The Nurse has had a very busy couple of weeks. Every breathing moment not devoted to work or sleep has been spent on "the article" that finally made its way to Kinko's for shipping at 9:30 Wednesday night. Dumb thing wouldn't come together, and as I was doing the legends for the pictures, I realized that I totally had to reorganize the article. That's not too bad with cut & paste on the computer, but the dumb references... and Word tries to "help" with automatic renumbering. It gave me a headache.

The worst part was that I had been SO looking forward to Late Night at The Shop. And I couldn't go.

Then full, busy busy days of work on Thursday and Friday.

This has all been overshadowed by news that my Mom needed surgery for a recurrance of an old problem. A serious one. She was operated on Thursday, and is doing ok. But things are a bit more complicated. I haven't allowed myself time for a breakdown yet. I had a minor one on Sunday night when Mom & Dad called to tell me about it.

But I'm sure it's coming.

One thing's for sure. I AM going to Knit Happens today to pick up some soft yarn (probably Debbie Bliss Cashmarino) and spend time with my friends. I'm going to knit the Newsboy Hat from Stitch'n'Bitch Nation for mom. I think it's perfect chemo hat. All other projects are on hold til it is done and sent off.

Or maybe I'll take it to her. Next weekend.

What Good is a Day Full of Doctor Appointments?

Why it’s good for KNITTING, of course.  All that time in the waiting rooms, very good for knitting.  I got most of the back of the Debbie Bliss Bolero Jacket done, almost at the point of casting off for the armholes.  (By the way—they were a bunch of routine follow-ups to my annual physical.  I’m fine.)

I left from the hospital to go to Winchester for the annual Dessert Extravaganza, which I’ve helped to run for the past 5 years.  Hopefully this was my last hurrah, because hopefully, The Son will do the graduation thing sometime in the next year.  I met him for some shopping and the obligatory Buffalo Wild Wings run.  I then entrenched myself in the Hampton Inn to put together raffle baskets (about 25 of them) and cut polarfleece scarves with the rotary cutter on the cutting mat.  I watched the Olympic opening ceremony—loved the floating acrobats and the torch lighting.  And of course the fireworks.  I always love fireworks.  AND I discovered a new treat—the newly introduced Michelob Ultra Amber.

Drove back in the beginnings of the snowstorm, and when I went to bed last night I figured that the weather dudes got it wrong again—we only had a couple of inches.  But when I woke up this morning, it had REALLY, REALLY SNOWED!!!!  And then I discovered that the electricity was REALLY, REALLY OFF!!!!.  It apparently went off about 5:30 this morning, and stayed that way until about 2 in the afternoon.  But hey—I got most of my article written.  Pencils and paper, and luckily we have one of those old fashioned rotary pencil sharpeners.  Guess I need to do that more often—back to the basics.

And then, because I was such a good girl, I allowed myself some knitting time tonight. Finished the back and cast on the left side. Gotta love it!!!!

It Will Be OK

Today's my first day not-at-work since last Thursday, but some friends decided to have dinner tonight, so back to The City I go this evening, and then a bunch of doctor appointments in the same place tomorrow. (nothing serious-- just followups from my annual physical.)I'm a bit drained, because we've been really busy at work, and those 12-hour days... Well, I'm older than I used to be.

And so today I need to take another major chunk out of the project that is due to the publisher NEXT WEDNESDAY-- NEXT WEDNESDAY, I TELL YOU!!!! But I have commitments over the weekend. Deep breath-- it will be ok. It will be ok. It will be ok. Sleep is overrated.

The writing's not a problem. I'll whip that out today. The reference list is huge and is a big pain. Everyone has different formatting, and although I know the editors will help out with it after it's submitted, I really don't want to look like a dodo and turn in hash that they have to manipulate a lot. And I've only done ONE of the pictures. It will be ok. It will be ok.

Needless to say, I haven't done any knitting. I seriously need to.

Groan...

Only time for a couple of lines 'cuz I'm actually on a roll on my writing projects.

Yesterday was a "do-nothing-day." The Husband and I went through the DVR recordings and cleared out the cache. So now all that's left is The Son's Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis episodes. I just can't get myself to start recording them, because it's a rather interactive endeavor.

The "something" that I did was to knit the increase section on the back of the current sweater. (Did I mention how much I enjoy knitting with Cashmarino Chunky??) The next "something" that I did was to realize that in my chatting with friends at The Shop, I inadvertently cast on the first number of stitches. As in the small size. As in definitely not a size that would fit me, even on the best of non-bloated days. As in there wasn't a question about what I needed to do. So rip it out, I did, and started all over again. The Husband hit the sack, and I watched Return of the King as I cast on not only for the large size, but added an inch at each shoulder. I then proceeded to get myself almost to the point I was at when I realized the error of my ways.

I hate having to recover from bonehead moves....

Back to The Happy Place Again

Klaralund is all sewn up, and actually wear-able.  I stitched it up yesterday and all that’s left is a bit of weaving-in.  It’s very light, and very warm.  I wore it outside today, and I could feel immediately where the “v” in the back was.  And in fact, I wore it to Knit Happens for Late Night this evening. It was great to see everyone.  I cast on and did a few rows on the wonderful Bolero Jacket from Debbie Bliss’ Simply Soft book. (It’s this year’s pattern book from The Club. It’s done in Cashmarino Chunky, and I chose a dark teal that is really lovely, and knits up fast. Now mind you, “fast” is a relative term.  It doesn’t mean that I’ll complete the project in the foreseeable future, especially since I must be very judicious with my time until I get my writing projects finished.)  But I will certainly find some snippets of time, because I’m looking forward to wearing this while it’s still cool enough. (I know—winter has only spent a day or two here, but one can hope.)

I feel quite righteous, since I spent hours and hours today on a literature search for my projects.  I killed a small tree on the printouts, but it was interesting stuff—to me, at least.  The only problem is that I could go on for weeks just tracking related articles, and somewhere along the line I need to call a halt and get on with it.

It's Been a Long, Long Time

...since I blogged. But I'm still kickin'. The Son and I flew to Chicagoland to spend time with my family. The Husband drove and joined us there. We had a surprise 80th birthday party for My Dad at a German restaurant that was really great fun. It was complicated a bit, because "Second Christmas" takes place at my parents' place whenever most of the crew can be there. So Dear Ol' Dad was so concerned that all these family were coming from out of town, and wanted us to fix big dinner for everyone. We all spent a lot of time on surreptitious phone calls, making sure that everyone "had plans" for the afternoon. Then on cue, one of my sisters called to say that they were going to the restaurant for an early dinner, and would Mom & Dad and our group like to join them. When we arrived, everyone was in another section of the restaurant, and they all came in singing. There was, of course, German beverage, and at the end of dinner, we ended up singing some more.

We went back to Mom & Dad's for presents, and then we sang a little bit more.

(We're not "singers"-- we just like to sing.)

We have a system of gift-giving that works well for our family. My siblings and I don't exchange gifts. If we see something that we want to give to someone, we just give it to them whenever, but no actual exchanging. Each of the kids gets one present from all the aunts and uncles. At Thanksgiving, those who are together divvy up the kids (this year I had one of my brothers') and we purchase gifts. As they are getting older, most of them like to get gift cards. The typical amount is $35-$40. We let "The Accountant" sister know how much we spent. She adds it all up, factors in what we spent for my parents (this year was a new CPU for their molasses-like computer) and divides by 9. That's our bill. We either get money back, or pay the difference between our share and what we spent. We really like that the kids get something useful, that they are not over-innundated with "stuff", and that it's equitable. We also like that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get presents for 26 kids.

Then along came New Years. A lovely party at my second sister's lovely house to see in 2006. Being together-- priceless.

Go Hokies!!!
The only downside was that The Daughter was not with us for all this family bonding. However, she was in Jacksonville with her friends, involved in Gator Bowl activities. They kept those Marching Virginians hopping, with parades, including one at Disney and another in Jacksonville, pep rallies, performances etc.

As you are already aware, Tech beat Kentucky. We had another opportunity for a family gathering back in the MidWest, as The Husband and I sponsored a Gator Bowl party for The Relatives. We got Famous Daves, and the bloodies were quite the hit. (we also had a red velvet cake, which is actually maroon, in honor of the Hokies.)

Our pride in the team was immense. Our disappointment in Marcus Vick's behavior was also immense. What a bonehead move to step on that guy's leg. And then to follow it up with the rest of the garbage behavior. It's really unfortunate that someone with so much talent is just throwing his life down the porcelain. And if any NFL team is deluded enough to think that he's going to be anything other than an immense amount of trouble, they deserve what they get. I was really glad that Virginia Tech showed him the door, and I've never admired Frank Beamer more. The home of Michael Vick and Bryan Randall and so many other honorable and also talented people should not be a refuge for thugs. So There.

Knitting?
Yeah-- a little bit. Worked on a couple of socks, but nothing spectacular.

So What Have I Been Doing With My Time?
Working. A Lot. And really enjoying just doing my thing, taking care of my patients, and avoiding the peripherals.

And, putting together the condo we got in Blacksburg. We went down weekend before last to put together beds, spackle/sand/paint a bathroom, and get the place looking good. And it does (although it's a bit like walking into page 79 of the IKEA catalog.) We went down on Saturday, and planned to leave on Monday afternoon, stopping in Winchester for dinner with The Son. Nice plan. As I was taking a shower to rid myself of the sweaty, smelly aura I'd acquired, The Husband pounded on the door demanding that I turn off the water. Luckily I'd opted not to wash the hair, and I was about rinsed off, so the timing was great. Turns out we were leaking water into the apartment below. So we called Mike, our Handy Guy down there, who came over with his merry crew. It was an old gasket from the tub drain to the pipe. It took them a couple of hours, but they fixed it, and didn't charge us, because he'd installed a tub liner, and said he should have checked the entire thing. There's integrity for you. So I convinced The Husband that we should spend another night rather than heading out on a 4-1/2 hour trip at something after 9 p.m., and as long as we were there, we painted the other bathroom on Monday, then departed, had dinner with The Son, and then home.

Procrastination
And now, why am I not knitting more? Because I have two major articles to write, with deadlines looming. And I can't justify knitting when I need to do them. So why don't I just do it and get it over with? Well that's what I'm going to start right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

I WILL, however, go to The Shop tomorrow. I'ts been a Long, Long Time.

Random Thoughts 'n' Things

Merry Christmas, and Happy Hannukah. The Nurse's family is Christian, and Christmas is what we do. We had a rather unusual Christmas this year, since The Son sings in the choir at his church in Winchester. We've been out there a lot to worship, and we decided that we needed to be together at Christmas, so we drove out yesterday, had dinner at a fun restaurant, then went to the late evening service. It was beautiful, and I'm so glad we went. We spent the night at the Hampton Inn. I brought along a little pretend tree, a present for each person, and after the service we had Gluwein (heated in the microwave), and cheese and crackers. We watched the end of the Pope's Midnight Mass in Rome, and then a special on historical investigations into the birth of Christ. (The Offspring happened upon the program, and I couldn't convince them that I really was zonked. We finally turned off the tube at 2:30 a.m.) It was great fun.

We came home this morning, and had brunch, watched football, and fixed our "roast beast" and the rest of Christmas dinner. I threw the roast in the oven, and The Daughter did the lion's share of the rest. She's amazing. We opened presents, and enjoyed being together. (Watched a bit of football, and I sewed up a hat for a fellow nurses' newborn.)

It's been a good week for being together. Despite an over-full workweek, I was able to be off on Wednesday. We went to see the matinee of Les Miserables at the National Theatre-- absolutely spectacular-- well staged and performed. Then it took us an hour to get to Kinkead's where we had a wonderful dinner. It was a lovely day with my family, and I will cherish the memory.

And on to Hannukah. When The Daughter was in Sunday School, probably 1st or 2nd grade, she learned about Hannukah during one of our Old Testament studies. So The Daughter wanted to know if we could celebrate it. Well, there's really no theological reason not to, but while honoring the Maccabees, we really needed to put this in context, realizing that we were not going to do presents, and that it was unlikely that we would all be in the same place to light candles for 8 days in a row. The one thing we have continued is having latkes on the first night. Well, this year, the first night is on Christmas. I couldn't deal with Christmas dinner AND latkes, so they're being moved to tomorrow night. I must say that I'm looking forward to it. I don't eat potatoes, but I've discovered that I can make mine with zucchini, and they work out just fine.

So now I face a couple of days at work, and then look with hope and faith toward the New Year.

All Day, We Worked...

But before I get started, let me say that zinc works wonders. I think I still have the cold, because I am totally wiped out and exhausted, but I have remained relatively symptom-free in the nose department. The trick is to start with zinc tablets or lozenges every hour. I found some sugar-free ones, and they basically have no flavor at all. You let them dissolve in your mouth-- don't chew or swallow. They really seem to work as long as you get going as soon as the symptoms start. The Daughter resisted-- and she's going through tissues at a most alarming rate.

The cookie-baking saga is an annual event in my family. My Gramma (the one from Austria) used to make mountains of cookies for us. We always got a bunch at Christmas, but she'd send them to us at summer camp, at college, a couple of times a year after we moved away from home -- I don't know how she did it. All by herself.

As she got pretty advanced in years, she didn't have the strength for all the beating and rolling and generalized stamina it takes to make her masterpieces. So she would come over to my Mom's house, and my sisters would help her. (I was away from home by this time, and missed out on lessons from The Master.) The first of my sisters became the new cookie guru, and gleaned the nuances of the art.

After Gramma died, that sister would sometimes make some cookies, but then we all decided that we really needed to keep the cookies alive. So First Sister and I made a little cookbook for all our family members with the recipes and techniques in it. It's just a little thing-the size of postcards, but we did a rather nice job, if I do say so myself. All the pages are laminated, and it's bound with the plastic comb thingees.

The most labor-intensive is the flaky cookie. It's quite something. It has two types of dough, and they get rolled out, and the dough gets folded up, and then you have to let it rest and then roll it out again a couple of times. (We finally figured out that one of the doughs can be done with the dough hook on the Kitchen Aid mixer. We think that Gramma would approve, in the interest of keeping the cookies going.) There's a special way they need to be cut, and then they are filled with Solo pastry filling and baked. Then they get rolled in sugar-- some in powdered and some in granulated sugar. These things take forever to make, and each batch makes 3 dozen. Do the math: I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters, plus my Mom & Dad, plus our collective spouses and 24-going-on-26 children, the youngest of whom is 7. We ended up making 3 batches, and with all the other types of cookies and brownies, it almost did us in. These are the best cookies on earth, and if we made 10 dozen, they would all get scarfed up. Gramma used to say (with her Austrian accent)--All Day ve verk...

(Alternatively, the almond crescents are quick and easy-- we made 20 dozen of them, and except for the fact that the youngest of my sisters ended up elbow-deep in powdered sugar for much of the day....)

So The Daughter and I arrived in Chicago at 10:30 on Saturday, started baking at my Second Sister's at 11:30, did cookies pretty much all day (although I needed a bit of a nap for about 20 mins) and we got back to my parents' at about 2 am. My Third Sister drove down with her youngest (4th grader) from Minneapolis for the event, and my Second Brother's wife and their daughter (high schooler)flew in from Omaha. We all returned to our respective homes mid-day on Sunday.

We take cookies seriously.

Oh Yes!!! Oh No!!!

The good news is that The Daughter is home from school. My darling, sweet, youngest child who I love as I love my own life is with me for a couple of weeks. And when she's home we have such fun-- shopping, cooking, movies, and we're going to Chicago (actually Naperville) on Saturday to be with my parents and most of my sisters and brothers and a bunch of their kids for the annual Christmas cookie bake.(The Son -my lovable, huggable, clever, wonderful firstborn whom I also love as much as I love my own life will be home just before Christmas.)

The bad news is that she's sick. Her eyes are watering, and she's sneezing and stuffy and has a runny nose. I've loaded her up with vitamin C and zinc, and plenty of fluids. She loves orange juice and hot lemonade.

Having done that.... My eyes have just started watering, and I'm sneezing and my nose is both stuffing up and running. So I'm loading myself up with Vitamin C and zinc, and plenty of fluids. Mine will include hot limeade with Bushmill's.

Tomorrow was supposed to be: Finish cleaning the living room, put stuff in the new kitchen drawers, and purchase and decorate the Christmas tree. Ordinarily a very manageable list.

I may settle for just being able to get out of bed. Gotta get ready to fly to Chicago, y'know.

And My Top 10 countdown...

Following on the tails of Holly, Kristine and Ann, here is my plunge into the pool. I decided that the exercise of actually thinking about these things would be good for my soul and clarity of mind, so what the heck.

10 Things you might not know about me:
-I'm the eldest of 9 siblings
-I started out in the Nursing program in college, but graduated as a Communication Arts major (Speech/Theatre/Radio)
-None of the institutions of higher learning I attended had a football team, or if they did, it was really sorry.
-I have, through The Daughter, become an insufferable, unapologetic Virginia Tech Hokies football fan.
-The Husband, The Offspring and I spend a week every summer with my parents, my sibs, our spouses and 24-going on 26 (my baby brother is marrying the wonderful Beloved and her 2 lovely daughters are joining the throng) kids.
-Aside from that, My favorite way to spend time is at a Hokies football game with my family.
-My next favorite is at the happy place with my Irregular friends.
-My third favorite is with a huge cup of coffee, a good movie and a fast-moving knitting project. If family is there, it's a plus.
-I am a terrible housekeeper. (See favorite ways to spend time for an explanation).
-My favorite phrase is: "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

9 Places I've visited
-The Scavi (excavation)under the Vatican in Rome. A necropolis combining pagan and early Christian graves, and the wall containing the remains of St. Peter. The Vatican itself is awesome-- but the Scavi is icing on the cake.
-The Prado museum in Madrid. Velasquez' picture of the little prince on the horse holding a baton is over a door-- I remember wondering if I would ever see it again.
-The Champs-Elysees in Paris. Walking down the street, in search of a glass of wine and hoping they wouldn't mock my French.
-Yeats' grave in Drumcliff, Sligo Ireland. "Cast a cold eye On life, on death,
Horseman, pass by!" Two weeks traveling in the Motherland with my bestest friend from childhood, Kath, and our high school English teacher Tim-- several decades out of said Academy.
-The underwater Jesus statue in Pennecamp State Park off Key Largo. I got seasick on the small boat out to the site, but make the dive and held Jesus' hand.
-The villages of Quebrada Larga and El Ocatal in Honduras. A life-altering experience serving on a medical mission trip with my dear Daughter.
-Tulum in the Yucatan. Climbing up Mayan pyriamids with my parents and children.
-The Normandy Beaches. The 3-year old Son with his arms around one of the Jewish soldier grave markers saying "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
-The top of Pikes' Peak. Again with the Offspring, during a 3-week camping trip surrounding one of the aforementioned family summer gatherings (at Estes Park, Ann)

8 Ways to Win My Heart
-Say Thank You.
-Give me a hug.
-Be nice to someone who is easy to forget.
-Be generous with your time, resources, and love.
-Root for the Hokies with me.
-Listen to my concerns, and help me sort out my thoughts.
-Send me a random e-mail.
-Bring me coffee (or if you're really in a good mood, Hokies tickets)

7 Things I want to Do Before I Die
-Take The Offspring to Italy. Several times.
-Get my house really clean-- all over, and keep it that way.
-Live on the beach for a year.
-Live in the mountains for a year.
-Live near the rest of my family for as long as humanly possible.
-Reread all the classics and books I didn't appreciate in high school and college
-See every one of Shakespeare's plays performed onstage.


6 Things I'm afraid of
-Letting people down.
-The Offspring not being happy or fulfilled as adults.
-Financial ruin.
-Dear ones' deaths.
-Being talked about- when it's not a good thing.
-A disability that would severely limit the use of my hands.

5 Things I Don't Like
-Cilantro. Really. At All. Ever. In anything.
-Housekeeping.
-Backstabbing people.
-Slow internet connection days
-Writers' Block bumping up against deadlines.

4 Ways to Turn Me Off
-Whining.
-BO.
-Being mean.
-Belittling people.

3 Things I Do Every Day
-Drink a bunch of coffee while checking out the blogs
-Do the SuDoKu in the paper
-Knit a bit

2 Things that Make Me Happy
-A winning Hokie game
-Being with The Husband and The Offspring

1 Thing on my mind right now
-I gotta pee.

It Seems Like Forever...

...Since last I blogged. And much has happened. The Hokies beat UVA and UNC, and so went to the ACC playoffs in Jacksonville. So did we. The whole family. And we got beat. Some bad plays, some bad officiating, and the bottom line was that FSU got more points, got the ACC Championship and will be going to the Orange Bowl (Go Penn State!!!). One of these days our team will remember that we don't get 5 quarters in the important games. We only had 2 losses this season, but they really mattered. FSU, on the other hand, beat us, although their season record isn't one to write home about. It's sort of like flunking half of your high school classes, doing ok on SATs, and getting in to MIT. C'est la vie.

So, the Hokies will go to the Gator Bowl--yep, back to Jacksonville. The sad part for me is that The Daughter will probably not be with us on New Years' Eve.

Enough of that.

We bought a condo in Blacksburg. It's for The Daughter to live in, but we got one with 3 bedrooms so The Husband and I will have a place to stay on Game Weekends. As much as I love Hampton Inns (and you know I really love them), when I looked at the MasterCard bill for October and November-- oh. my. gosh. So it's a good thing.

I'm making some changes at work. I've been doing extra work in addition to the patient care aspect of my job, and the stress and hassle are just too much. So I'm going to focus just on patient care. I can feel the load lifting off my shoulders already. When the cost-benefit analysis shows you that there's very little benefit, and just too much emotional cost, it's time to let go, and although I've never considered myself a quitter, I'm at the point where pushing the rock up the hill is just dumb. I'll let you know how it's going in a few weeks.

And back to knitting....
Klaralund is done!!!! The baby sweater is done!!! The baby hat is done!!! (the first one, at least). My goal was to not start anything new until everything was DONE!!!!, but I had a plane ride to Florida and needed something small, so I started a sock at the Old Dominion Brewery bar in Dulles airport. It's coming along nicely. I hope to finish the Top-Down-Sweater I started a year ago, and Spring Fling before I start anything else. That'll wipe out all the UFOs. (after I finish two lone socks.) (but I don't think that socks should have to count.)

Meanwhile, I have yarn backed up like crazy for new projects. I think the next one will be the Debbie Bliss shruggy sweater. I tried one on at The Shop, and though it was a tad snug on The Nurse, I am confident that I can add a few stitches here and there so it will work for me, too. And so many other things I'd like to do....

So I'll try to post a bit more often. No promises.

I'm Not Dead-- Only I Almost Got Killed

But that's not the reason I haven't blogged. We're having massive discontent in our computers. I've tried what I know to get it fixed, so now we need to find time for The Husband to work his computer magic. (The Offspring will both be home for Thanksgiving, so maybe they can get stuff working.)

Oh yeah-- the almost getting killed part.

I was thrilled to be off work on Friday, even though I was on call. I got to sleep a couple of extra hours, and got a bit done around the house. Then the phone rang. I needed to come in and do a couple of ambulance transports. So off I went. As I was driving along Sherwood Hall Lane (which is how one gets over to the GW Parkway if one doesn't go all the way down to Mount Vernon) a big white pickup truck swerved across the yellow line and was coming straight at me.

I stopped, because if he was going to hit me, I didn't want my velocity adding to the problem, and I laid on the horn. The truck swerved away, and as he passed me, I saw that the driver was slumped against the window. I remember thinking, "that doesn't look good." (It didn't take being a nurse to come to that conclusion, I'm sure.)

I saw him continue to curve to his right, hit the curb and flip the truck. It was laying on its side with the driver door down. I drove to the Fire Station which is about another block, rang the doorbell, and told the people about the flipped truck. Then I ran back to the pickup truck, and the guy wasn't moving at all. One of the bystanders thought we should break the windshield, but I suggested that since the fire department was on their way, that we should let them handle it. Apparently a good idea, since they determined that it was unstable, and they needed to right the vehicle before they could attend to the victim.

I gave my statement to the police, and then needed to get to work.

I don't know how he didn't hit me.

I don't know if he fell asleep or had a heart attack or stroke, or a seizure or what.

I don't know if he's alive or not.

I do know that I was protected by the grace of God that gets me through every day, and guarded by the angels who for whatever reason, deem to watch over me.

And I am thankful.

This And That

On the Road Again
Why, you ask? Because Virginia Tech is playing against Boston College tonight. I must say that it never occurred to me that being a college football fanatic would be a way to describe me. That is, until The Daughter had the good sense to choose an institution of higher learning that made it worth the time. I do love them Hokies!!!

(And how about them White Sox??? The Miracle on 35th Street actually happened. In my lifetime.)

Maybe I'm Amazed

I am SO excited!!!! The "Baby" Brother (I have 4-- he's the youngest, and I was a senior in high school when God and my parents had the good sense to put him on this earth)called me last week to give me some great news.

He and The Beloved are tying the knot!!!

The story is just too cool-- and would take more time than I have to type, so I'll give you the Cliff Note (or SparkNote, if you will) version.

They had McCartney tickets. The Brother had researched, got the playlist and order, and spent considerable time trying to focus on The Beloved's absolutely favorite tune. (I must say that I have a hard time singling out MY favorite.)

Well, it came down to Long and Winding Road and Maybe I'm Amazed. Cutting to the chase, they were sitting "with some older people" (yikes-- I hope he meant they were older than me!!!) and he described it as a "No Standing/No
Singing zone." So he was getting a bit nervous about THAT aspect of it.

Maybe I'm Amazed started up, and he stood up in the No Standing Zone, got down on one knee, and the ladies behind him were saying "Is he going to? I think he's going to. Yes he is!!!" and everybody in their area started clapping and cheering and looking and pointing at them.
(note to all-- Now see here: This is the ONLY circumstance under which I would approve creating a distraction while Sir Paul is performing.)

And he asked her to marry him, and she said yes, and I'm getting another sister, and 2 nieces. And none of us could be happier for them.

I Gotta Go Pack

Oy!!!

Holy Cow!!! You must think I've fallen off the face of the earth!!! The actual fact is that in the circle of life, I'm in an ever-decreasing spiral. And it's the same thing that I've heard from everyone I know in every aspect of my life. "It's been crazy."

So crazy that I went to Late Night at The Shop last Wednesday for about 10 minutes on my way home from work, and was so rushed in the morning that I forgot to put my knitting in the car.

So crazy that while I was able to spend a couple of hours at Late night last night, I absolutely had to leave a couple of hours earlier than I wanted to. The really cool thing was that I saw Carol, who I haven't seen for weeks and weeks. Holly and Lara were busy, busy, busy making felting squares for tomorrow night's workshop at KH.

So crazy that those are the only 2 times I've been to The Happy Place since late September.

There are a number of good things to report, however.
I've completed the front (or is it the back? I'll have to wait until the other one is done and use the better-looking one for the front) and 1+1/2 sleeves for Klaralund.

I got my Debbie Bliss "The Club" gift-- 4 balls of a light pink Alpaca Silk and the Soft Things book.

I got the most wonderful 3 hanks of Lorna's Laces yarn-- a prize from the Katrina Fund.

And I finally mailed out the stitch markers that I was so remiss in sending to the very wonderful and patient knitters who participated in the Stitchmarker swap. Can you believe that I have such a difficult time getting to the post office? It's absurd!!! (I really need a 24-hour post office. I know there are machines and such in the ones with extended-hour lobbies, but I always need envelopes to mail stuff, etc.) What a relief. I've been feeling guilty for weeks and weeks. About stitch markers!!!

I still have many many things to do-- such as:
Catch up on everyone's blogs
Finish the calendar for the hospital nursing staff (fun-- scrapbooking-type picture layout, but NO TIME to do it!!!)
Finalize the election list for a meeting I need to attend tonight
Buy/Fix munchies for tonights Virginia Tech vs Maryland football game (boo hoo-- I'm not going because of the aforementioned meeting, but I'll watch it on tube, bugging out of the meeting early if it starts to run on... but The Daughter is coming home for it, and will be attending with The Husband)
Make an appointment for The Daughter to get hair trimmed tomorrow (Strike while the iron's hot-- that can go on the "done" list)
AND-- I just re-redded.

The Lord Giveth, and The Lord Taketh Away. Clairol Restoreth.