On Life and Living:
Tuesday December 28th: I went to work @ RR and Bill was off doing something this evening, He has turned over ownership of his side business to another group of owners and he met at the bank and turned over keys and things like that today. I came home from work and knitted the rest of the evening. Did I mention it is cold, really cold.
Wednesday December 29th: I only worked a half day today because I had an appointment with the dermatologist again. I was afraid the skin cancer on my hand was coming back but the good news is: not so, I am ‘spitting stitches’ which means I am having a reaction to the absorbable stitches underneath the skin and the reaction is at the sites where the knots are. All is well, it will heal and be fabulous he says. So that really does mean I am starting the New Year with good health! Tonight I took the last casserole of chicken enchiladas to a book club potluck. I thought I had given them all to my friend for her sisters memorial service a while back but my ‘snowbird’ friend called and said they were cleaning out the freezer and did I want to come get this casserole that she was storing for me when I couldn’t find any room in my freezer. What a laugh, the unending casserole. Well I think we finished them tonight. The book club group is friends from forever and it has morphed focus over the years depending on the need. Now we are good friends and the books are just an added highlight, but every time we get together it seems we never have enough time. Tonight we met at Cindy’s house with no time limit. We had a great dinner and chatted a long time and then Wendy pulled out a game called “I’d Rather”. We did not play the game like the rules suggested. We played it like this: one person would read a question and then guess what the majority of the group would choose. Then the rest of us would have a crazy discussion and laugh our heads off at what others would think up then we would take a vote and if the ‘Reader’ guessed right they got to keep the card and the winner was the first person with five cards. But winning was not the point, that just ended the game and we all had a really fun time. I can’t remember any of the questions so I went to a web site and copied some off;
QUESTION: Would you rather run a marathon with a blood blister on each toe or go a solid month with a horrible sunburn on your neck, head and feet?
QUESTION: Would you rather be incredibly attractive physically but exude an extremely bothersome odor or be hideously unattractive but have a scent that is irresistible?
QUESTION: Would you rather have yur name misspelled on your tombstone or have them erect the proper spelling over the wrong grave?
QUESTION: Never be able to say the word love or never be able to kiss?
One I sort of remember was: would you rather only (or never, I can’t remember) be able to breath through your nose or have armpit hair that goes to your toes….. We laughed and laughed, good friends and good therapy for the heart.
Thursday December 30th: I went to the knitting circle at SK’s today, it was hard to get up after staying up so late last night but I had two projects that I was stuck on if I didn’t go and get a little help. I managed to entertain everyone a little. I am working on a shawl called The Traveling Woman Shawl
http://feministy.com/traveling-woman/ and I was carrying around one ball of yarn but the shawl is going to take several balls of yarn. So this morning I went to my stash, in the attic and grabbed the bag of yarn that I thought I needed and went off to knitting. When I got the bag out at knitting it was obviously not the correct yarn, but I just kept on knitting and said I am sure I have more of this yarn, I hope. The ladies there thought I was putting a lot of stitches into my “hopes”. When I got home I did a little more searching, turns out it was not Bee Sweet Bamboo left over from Amanda’s top I was using but it was Artyarns Silk Pearl left over from a top I did for myself this year. I can relax, I have plenty of yarn to finish the project.
Friday December 31st: Well I am rested again because I woke up and we bundled up and went for a walk in the neighborhood and I didn’t even take any short cuts. We were scheduled to meet Mick and Christie for a late lunch today and we did meet them at a Chinese Restaurant in Mill Creek. If you like Dim Sun just ignore this but Bill and I thought it was totally icky. The parking lot was packed and when we walked in there was not one Caucasian in the place and oddly enough there was only one thing on the menu that Bill would eat. It was Dim Sum and we have not acquired a taste for dim sum. Bill chooses not to eat much pork and he gets migraines from shrimp. The only chicken on the menu was chicken feet in several different sauces. So we had green beans and steamed rice and they were delicious. I had ordered shrimp cakes mistakenly thinking it would be like a crab cake, it was really shrimp made to the consistency of custard, only a little more chewy and then fried. It was not like crab cakes. I’m glad this lunch was in 2010 and I could put it behind me. We did enjoy seeing Mick and Christie, they are getting all excited about traveling to Costa Rica in the future. We left Mill Creek and went home for a bit, we reloaded the car and then went to the United Methodist Church down the street from our house to walk the labyrinth.
http://www.lwumc.com/ministries/labyrinth/ It is not a maze but a path. I thought it would be sort of a meditation but there were too many people walking it to not be distracted. The suggestion was that ‘the path’ can resemble the journey of your life. If that is the case; around every curve I saw Bill and he had a smile when he looked at me and that made me happy. When we left the labyrinth we headed for Bob and Karen’s, it is Friday night and we all brought potluck. There was pulled pork with buns and ribs and corn salad and we all had a good time. We were asleep before midnight.
Saturday January 1st, 2011 The Rose parade starts too early, by the time I was up and in the living room it was almost over, that is one time I miss not having a television in the bedroom, a quirk of Bill’s. I love the Rose Parade. Some time I want to go down and be a volunteer helping on a float, and then see the parade live. How fun would that be, I think that should be on my bucket list. But I want to do it on a year when the weather is warm and not raining. How can you plan for that? I have learned how to stream ESPN through the computer and watch it on the television so I enjoyed Football all day and I got a little knitting done also.
Last year I started the year with quite a few unfinished projects on the needles. This year I have 3 sleeping projects: Phyllis’ one mitten, the Sunburst tee and the Diamonds and Gold tee and then there is the lipstick vest that I made this year and have half frogged it and hope to remake into a vest that will fit and look pretty sometime in the future. I am also still working on a Sabori Ruffle scarf that I think I had on the needles last year and I think it will eventually get finished. It is a great mindless project and I grab it when I don’t need to think, like when my other projects are at decision making points. I usually have a baby hat project going also, right now I have two finished and none on the needles but the project bag is ready for me to cast on. I have 3 real projects on the needles; the Spring Garden tee, which I am modifying for me, the Traveling Woman Shawl out of red Silk Pearl yarn by Artyarns and a little Helena cardi out of pink Brilla. I am hoping to get that finished for Macy’s birthday. Oh and I have started a thank you gift for my surgeon, the one that saved my life last year. I think I will send it to him on my one year anniversary of being alive. It is a hat and scarf out of a grey alpaca/silk blend. It is so soft. I am using a 3/2 ribbing and it is going to be soft and snuggy. It is also a good traveling project that doesn’t use to much brain power.
In 2010 I finished: The Febuary Lady sweater and I love it and have worn it a lot. I might need to make another one of those sometime. I also finished the Turquoise Eyelet Tee, the Red Silk w/golden wave tank, the Seaside Coverup and the Sasha skirt for me. Then I made the Baby Buckspan Helena, the Baby Williams Cardigan, Savanna’s cardigan, Luke’s vest, Donna’s shawl and several other hats and scarves and a lot of baby bibs. Wow, it was a lot of knitting when I look back at it.
(They are all posted on Ravelry, except Donna's Shawl) Also I became a pretty good lace knitter I am pretty comfortable knitting lace but I haven’t become comfortable reading the lace charts, I write out the lace chart ‘verbally’ and then follow that. What I am doing on the Helena is I write each rows lace pattern on a postcard and then when I have finished that row it goes to the bottom of the pile that I rubber band together, that way I always know what row I am on by the card on top of the pile.
What I have on the needles right now and I am actively working on: The Travelling Woman Shawl out of Art yarn silk, a Helena cardigan for my niece Macy out of pink Brilla, a Silk Garden tee for myself out of a Louisa Harding yarn called Jasmine. It is a cotton, bamboo and silk blend in an olive green with a bit of a silver Metallica going through it. I am modifying the pattern just a bit so the neckline won’t be quite as low as the pattern and the sleeve might be just a bit longer.
Goals for knitting in 2011: I don’t think I need so set a quantity goal this year. I am knitting a lot and I am also knitting for others a lot but I do want to set one goal. I want to learn a new technique and get comfortable with it. The technique I want to learn this year is sock knitting. I want to knit at least one pair of socks. I want to start with a basic sock.
Personally: I want to make healthy choices in every area. I want to be aware that my actions are a choice and choose well, much like last year that will include time management, exercise, food choices, sleep and my emotional and spiritual health. That is a big list.
Sunday January 2, We have been trying to meet up and see Karen M for some time. We did have a nice lunch and got a chance to catch up a bit. On the way home we made a big Costco run as we were out of all fruits, vegetables and bread. We got home in time to catch a terrific Seahawks game. And I got a little knitting in besides.
Monday January 3rd - I got up and went to Curves. This was to be my first work out since I have been on medical hold since April, but no, they were having a Zumba class. Who knew, a lot has changed at curves since last April so I came home and started cooking for tomorrow. I did a little work at the desk, but not near enough….. Then I went back into Redmond to mail some packages and give Curves another go. It didn’t work for me this time either. Just as I was pulling into the parking lot a friend called. She really needed someone to listen and to pray and so I did. I made the choice to be a friend, I want my life to matter and today it was about being a friend. So after dinner I talked Bill into taking a walk with me and we bundled up really well since it is so extremely cold here today and walked almost two miles.
Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me. I would love to hear from you also so drop me a line at : celindakot@yahoo.com or my personal email address if you have it.
