Knitting & Losing

February 27, 2006

This Dainty Bess before she went to the French Laundry to get blocked.

This is beautiful Dainty Bess after blocking! She lays really nice and I just love her! I'm wearing her tomorrow.

This pic is suppose to show more detail of the pattern. I'm going to make another one, I loved this yarn and it was a fun and satisfying project.

And no, I didn't wear the outfit to work with my fat bare arms showing. :) I had a shirt over it! It started raining today really hard, lots of accidents. I had planned to go see Dad in the hospital but he called me and told me not to because of the traffic. He's doing OK, he did have a minor heart attack and it did give him some weakness on his left side, so he's seeing a physical therapist. Tomorrow he's having an angiogram. They gave him a nitro patch too. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes!

I'm pooped, time to relax a bit...

February 26, 2006

Thank you!

A big thank you to Jackie at Knit, Daisy, Knit who sent me a RAOK that arrived on Friday. I had a pic of the box and 3 skeins of beautiful mohair that she sent me but I can't find it. (And I'm tired and crabby and tired of looking). Please go visit her blog to see the yarn. The RAOK came at a really good time, I had a horrible day with my Dad getting out and then back in the hospital, not knowing how he was or what and to come home and find a giftie, well, it did my heart good. And I started a potato chip scarf in the pink for my best friend who's birthday is this coming Tuesday or Fat Tuesday if you are at Mardi Gras. Thank you Jackie, you are a sweetie!

My dad is back in the hospital, he may have had a small heart attack. Please go to his blog for the update.

Staying home this a.m. and getting stuff ready for work this next coming week, doing some laundry, etc. and then I think Junior is coming up and we're going to go see Dad. My Aunt and Uncle are suppose to go visit Dad today too.

February 24, 2006

Dad is back in the hospital

It's been a long day, but here is an update on my Dad http://denissimons.blogspot.com/ .

I'm pooped, Junior is here and he's been really great. I had a good cry today regarding all this. May be a long weekend.

Dad

Hi all!

Off to work this Friday a.m. and it's a beautiful day. Dad had his surgery yesterday, here's a link to his health blog I made for updates. Thank you all for your prayers. http://denissimons.blogspot.com/

February 21, 2006

2nd day of Work! (Yes, I'm a geek!)

The first day of work went very well. I always expect it to be kind of sucky, you know, you just usually feel out of place, anxious, having to meet all these new people, figure out their personalities, develop your space, learn how they do things, where's the post-it's?, where's the bathroom?....but it was really quite painless and actually I had a great day. We are a fairly small office, with the owner and his wife and a younger girl who does kind of what I am except she doesn't like to be on the phone, but she speaks Spanish and we need her and there's another girl who comes in periodically. I'm getting an OFFICE! but the girl who is there off and on is moving out of it because I need that computer. I can't wait to have my own office again. I know the computer system, but they have some newer programs that are great. They are all very nice in the office, they seem to have fun too. I'm not use to starting work at 9, that seems late but I'm not complaining because it's nice to get up and take my time. And it takes me only about 10-20 minutes to get to work.

So here's me going to work today. Too much blush? I think it just looks like it here, I'll ask mom to be sure. Don't want to go in looking like a hussy. I have black small pink stripe pants on, a black comfy sweater, my knit sparkly skinny black scarf. I feel good!

Dad is going to be blessed today by a priest...he hasn't been to Church in forever, but he is Catholic and wants to be blessed before surgery 'just in case'. Hate to think that way but you have to sometimes. I'm taking off that morning and going to the hospital and will go to work when he's out of surgery.

I brought my knitting but didn't have any time yesterday, maybe today at lunch, i'm going to stay in and eat. I'm working on the Adamas scarf.

Have a great Tuesday!

February 20, 2006

First Day of Work!

I'm almost ready to leave for work, my first day! My brother stayed over last night because today is a holiday for a lot of people and he has no school. So Gary had to get up early at 6 a.m. and then it was time for me to get ready. I cleaned my whole room yesterday, picked out my clothes for the week, ironed last night, set out my food for today. I'm set.

Junior came over last night for dinner, Mamacita made a double batch of her chili with beans and we had cornbread with it. It was yummy. He stayed until about 9:30 and then i was really good and was in bed by 10 pm. I have to make myself have more of a schedule. I function better that way. And this morning I feel good.

Dad is doing well, going to be blessed by a priest today, he's getting ready for surgery on Thursday. He's a little nervous and still very emotional, but physically, he's been well.

Gary has a new post and question of the week http://garybayard.blogspot.com.

Have a great day!

February 15, 2006

Midwest Minnesota Humor!

YOU ARE FROM RURAL MINNESOTA IF....

You know how to polka, but never tried it sober.
FFA was the most popular club in high school.
You know what knee-high by the Fourth of July means.
You know it is traditional for the bride and groom to go bar hopping between the ceremony and the reception.
You were delighted to get a miniature snow shovel for your 3rd birthday.
You can recognize someone from Iowa by their driving.
You buy Christmas presents at Fleet Farm.
You spent more on beer than you did on food at your wedding.
You hear someone use the word "oof-dah" and you do not immediately break into uncontrollable laughter.
You think fast food is hitting a deer at 65 mph.
You or someone you know was a "Dairy Princess" at a county fair.
You know that "combine" is a noun.
You let your older siblings talk you into putting your tongue on a steel post in the middle of winter.
You think Lutheran and Catholic are THE major religions.
You know that creek rhymes with pick Football schedules are checked before wedding dates are set.
Saturday you go the local bowling ally.
There was at least one kid in your class who had to help milk cows in the morning...phew!
You have driven your car on a lake.
You can make sense out of the word "upnort" and "batree."
You always believed that vacation meant "going up North."
At every wedding you have been to you have had to dance the hokey poky and the chicken dance.
Your definition of a small town is one that only has one bar.
The local gas station sells live bait.
At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
Your mom asks, "Were you born in a barn?" and you know exactly what she means.
You think that the start of deer season is a national holiday.
Pop is not only what you call your dad, but is the ONLY name for soda.
You actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Minnesota friends.

yeseree--yer from Minnesota!!!!

*******************************************************
Yesterday, Valentine's Day, turned out to be a really nice day! I took my parents to my Dad's appt. at the hospital to have blood taken pre-surgery and then we went to the cafeteria and had a bite to eat, then we went to his regular Dr. appointment, to go over all that is happening with his primary Dr. I got a call from Jr. and he said he was coming by the house and waiting for us, he was bringing food. He brought a pizza (my favorite kind) and a pie from Marie Callendars. It was a little weird seeing him after 3 weeks but it felt good too. We decided to save the pizza for tonight because Dad had his heart set on chinese food all day. So we all got in the car and had Chinese Food and a really nice evening. I was touched that Jr. and I spent Valentine's together. We're going to try again. I'm happy about it.

But...while I was waiting in the 2nd Dr.'s office visit, my phone rang and it was Laurie who I interviewed with last week. I was sure I blew the interview by asking for too much in starting salary. So I was surprised to hear from her, she said she was calling to offer me the position! She said it took them a while because my starting pay was a little more than they were thinking of but, she thinks I'm WORTH IT!! I was so excited! So I start on Monday and I'll be working 15-20 minutes from my house, in a really nice office, working for a major insurance company doing a lot of insurance type stuff but also administrative and marketing functions! I feel really good about this job and I just cannot wait to get some money coming in and to have a schedule and be working again!!! So we also celebrated my job at dinner last night too and came home and had some champagne and pie to celebrate!

Dad's surgery has been postponed for 1 week to allow him to stop taking his blood thinning medication and aspirin, etc. The things that promote bleeding. He had his MRI today and liked the Dr. a lot and he explained the whole surgery. It sounds scary, but I think he was relieved to really know what they'll be doing. So prayers please... I have to tell you, i tell my Dad about all of you and your well wishes and he is having a hard time keeping it in, he's very emotional and sometimes starts crying and then gets embarrassed. But my point is, your prayers and well wishes are very well received and he's really touched. Thank you all ((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))).

February 14, 2006

Breaking News!

I got a job!!! I start on Monday!!! Woohoo!!

February 13, 2006

Apropos

I had to do this and look at this, it says I'm my favorite chocolate!

You are White Chocolate

You have a strong feminine side with a good bit of innocence thrown in.
Whether your girlish ways are an act or not, men like to take care of you.
You are an understated beauty, and your power is often underestimated!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

More Valentine stuff...

Here's some pics of the Valentine Fortune Cookies packaged and ready to be given to my best friend and her girls. And Kitty thinks he's my pretty cool model. I cannot for the life of me get a pic of him with his pretty yellow eyes open. I'll have to keep trying.

This is one of the Valentine Rings i made. You bead the ring, it looks like small flowers around and then it's red felt with red sequins and red beads sewn on. I saw this at the hospital gift shop and I had to give it a go and make my own. I was trying to show you the bead detail but i cannot get the camera to work right. Another thing i have to learn, i know i have to be able to change the settings. So sorry about the quality of the photos.

Took my Dad and Mom to his visit today with the neurologist and Dad is scheduled for surgery on Thursday. They are doing a biopsy of the lesion which is farther in the brain that we originally thought, so they have to drill a small hole in his skull and then put a needle in there to get some tissue from the lesion. He should be in the hospital overnight, maybe 2-3 days. He's scheduled for bloodwork tomorrow and an MRI on Wed. so they know exactly where to go to get the tissue. He says he is not nervous about it. I guess i'm a little anxious.

February 12, 2006

Valentine's

I'm not in the Knitting Olympics, I just wasn't up to it, too much planning and too much pressure to have a deadline, I just couldn't deal with it right now. I need this button:

But I have been doing some knitting...

Can you tell what these are going to be?

Here they are sewn together...

Here they are after being felted.

sewn together...

I took ribbon and put Valentine Fortune's in them. I took the sayings from Sweetheart Candies.

They are Valentine's Fortune Cookies! I got the idea from Indigo's blog. I wish I had made them all the smaller size. I think they look nicer. They were fun to make. I'm also working on some beaded Heart Rings, pics to follow hopefully tomorrow.

Have a bad back right now, not feeling well, it's been hard on me this weekend helping with my brother. I'm such a wuss.

Dad is doing well at home, he seems to be feeling really good, no headaches, a little ringing in the ears. Tomorrow I'm taking my parents to a Dr. who is about 30-40 minutes away. Mom asked me to take them, she is not familiar with the freeway driving and gets nervous. We're hoping to know more tomorrow, but not sure we will yet, even after this visit.

My brother updated his blog and he would love it if you could visit him and maybe post a comment.

February 9, 2006

Dad is doing well, he's taking a nap right now. He's been taking it pretty easy, doing what he's suppose to, Mamacita is on him to be sure and take his medication on time and all that. He's eating and he'll take a couple naps during the day which i'm glad he's doing. They didn't find anything on his scans so he will probably have a biopsy on the brain lesion in the next couple weeks to determine what kind of lesion it is. He's continuing to take steroids which is really helping with the headache and ringing ears. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We're all touched.

Mamacita is making her famous lasagne tonight for dinner! Yum! We're not italian and I guess the recipe isn't exactly italian either because we use cottage cheese in the cheesy mixture, we don't really like ricotta.

The interview yesterday went very well, or so i think. They seemed really interested in my work experience and i seem to be a great fit. She asked me my salary requirement and i told her and i'm not sure what she thought of it, she seemed a little taken back. I don't know what to think anymore. We'll see if they call.

I finished the pink star baby afghan and i took a pic, but the camera batteries are being recharged, so maybe tonight i'll have a knitting post. Now i'm working on Valentine Day beaded rings and knitted/felted Valentine fortune cookies. Pics to follow.

February 7, 2006

Touch my Belly!

Touch my Belly

This just tickled me. It's an odd thing, but kind of fun. Would you? http://touchmybelly.blogspot.com/

My dear Mamacita got up early and went to the hospital so she could be there when the Dr. came in, she was hoping that Dad would be released. Dr. was in surgery all a.m., he then had another surgery and was coming in tonight at 6 or 7 to see him and maybe release him. I still haven't heard anything, if he's coming home or if they found anything besides the brain lesion and what they are going to do about it. We (Mom and me) went to see him yesterday for about 3 hours. He was doing much better, his balance is better. They had a physical therapist come in to evaluate him and see if he needed a cane or walker, but he does not. They gave him a steroid that is suppose to shrink the swelling and it seemed to help the headache and get rid of the ringing in his ears. We just sat with him, I know he's bored, but he's so much better. **Update: as I'm typing this, Mamacita called and she is bringing Dad home now. Yeah! But I don't know if they found anything else out as far as his condition.**

After that Mom and I went to the nursery and got some plants for the house, some bamboo sticks and some seeds. We're going to plant sweet peas and have them climb below her bedroom window. I also got some mesclun salad seeds and basil. We had two plants of chives and thyme so I planted a planter today with the chives, thyme and planted the rest of the planter with basil seeds. I also planted two planters of the salad mix. I love to have salad growing, you just go out and cut what you want and it grows back, like grass. It seems weird to plant in February, but I AM in California, after all! My body is still use to the cold and not planting till May.

I'm reading that book A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. You know the one with the Oprah controversy. Here's a link to Oprah's site if you want to know more about it. I don't even understand the whole controversy except I guess that Oprah had it as one of her book club books and it turns out that parts of the story were exaggerated and Oprah stood up for him. And then found out what he did and basically called him a liar. Well, regardless of all that, this book is gripping. I couldn't put it down last night and this morning. I only hope that people will still see positive things in the book and be able to change their life. I'd like the exdbf to read it, but he'll have to find it on his own.

I have an interview tomorrow at an insurance company. One that I've dealt with in the past, and it's my parents insurance office, I've known the man for awhile, but not well, but it sounds like a good position. So wish me luck, I'm praying that it'll be the right job for me.

February 5, 2006

Gosh, it took forever for us to get up and get out of the house today to go see Dad at the hospital. My brother is in a wheelchair so I had to help my mom get him out of bed this a.m. It's not a big deal to do, I just normally don't do it, my Dad helps mom, but I think I will be from now on. Then I took the van to get gas, could not find the gas door opener....I spent like 10 minutes looking, I got the manual out, but the lever was not where it was suppose to be. They had to convert the van for my brother's wheelchair and lift, so I finally had to call Mom and then I found it. Then I picked up some lunch and then we got up to the hospital. Dad is in a private room, he seemed to be better, he was alert and talking, he had eaten earlier and he's not vomiting anymore. He even ate zucchini which he hates, but he said it was good, so he must have been hungry. They did an MRI and he has a 3/4" lesion on his brain, they think it came from somewhere else. I don't know what this all means. They ran more tests and may know more tomorrow. I looked brain lesions up and it discusses having muscular sclerosis, I asked my cousin who's an RN and she said the same thing. So we are just not sure yet.

We then took my brother home and then we went and had some dinner at Applebees. We are pooped. It's amazing how stress tires you out. Yesterday for therapy, to get my mind off this I started a crochet star afghan pattern. I'll show you maybe tomorrow. It's a quick project and good for a baby. I have to make a baby girl one next. Pics tomorrow.

Thank you all for the hugs and prayers. It is really appreciated. I tell my mom about you all and she's touched. ((((((Thank you)))))

February 4, 2006

Dad

Dad is in the hospital. Mom took him to Urgent Care this a.m. around 10 a.m. and they did a cat scan I think and said there is some type of mass on the top of his head. Not sure what it is, so they are monitoring him and being very careful about what they give him for pain. He has had a horrible headache. I'm very worried, we all are, but I guess we are all saying that we are not sure what to worry about so we're trying not to worry. I am glad he is in the hospital where they will take good care of him. He's in the hospital that I was in about 6 years ago and I'm glad he's there. They are really great. We're taking my brother up there tomorrow to visit, hopefully we'll know more.

Word Cloud

I've seen this on several blogs and I was curious. I like the look of it and think it's interesting that my big words or more used words are: edit, good, knitting, like, love, mitchypoo, mom, one, people, previous, shawl, think, time and yarn. And notice, that knitting is big, but the word losing is smaller. Appropriate. I also think it's interesting that Junior showed up in there. I have to say that he's been very caring and supportive during this with my father. When I first heard I guess I got scared and freaked. I first called Junior, but had to leave a message. Then I called my best friend and couldn't reach her, but Junior called me back right away and he was ready to be there for whatever I needed.

February 3, 2006

Quick Post

It was going to be a dark day, but the sun came up anyway and thereby accomplished something remarkable. The sunlight spread out along the east in long layers of bright-pink crystal light. Its passage was blocked by a heavy threat of rain, but the pinkness simply ducked down and squeezed under the gray like a little pig squeezing under a fence. It came out far beyond the house, on the west clover field, and there lay all over the upsloping field, a pale beautiful pink stain. - Rural Free, A Farmwife's Almanac of County Living

Dad is still not doing well. In fact, I think he is worse. His voice is better, but he's just not like his old self. He is doing a lot of sitting and nodding off. The other night he fell getting out of his chair. His balance is still bad. He had a day where he said he was feeling better and was more talkative and even eating, but today he is back to not eating much. I have to take Mom to have a medical test this a.m. She said she asked Dad if I should stay home and he said no, he was ok. He was going to stay in bed. But how do you get him to stay in bed and not try to get up while he's alone? I told Mom he should go to the Dr. again but she said he doesn't want to. If he continues to not eat by tomorrow, I'm going to insist he go. He thinks he has the flu.

I got my 3 packages in the mail last week, that was the thing bothering me. My mom helped me with it, and I got the two boxes of cloths to Beverly who gave them to hospice and battered women which makes me happy, and I got my SP6 gift to her finally and I know she received it, and I got a present to my favorite cyber friend. I saw this small gift and it reminded me of her, I know she got it too. She sent a really sweet e-card.

Taking my Adamas shawl with me to mom's Dr. visit today. Each row is getting longer and longer, so it's taking me more time, but I still love knitting it. We have to go to a health food store today after her visit, I love this place, it's called Wild Oats, not sure if they are anywhere else but in CA, but what a great store. Hoping to go by one of our favorite restaurants up there and get a Greek salad and hummus for lunch! Yum!

February 1, 2006

Adamas and Dad

Here are pics of the Adamas Shawl, the first pic I was trying to show the bulk of it, but it should be rotated 90 degrees. The other two pics I'm trying to show you the detail of the lace pattern. I am enjoying knitting this very much.

I had a bad evening last night. Felt anxious and depressed, I ended up going to bed at around 8:30. My xdbf has been calling me again, guess he did not make it to rehab after all. I told him again - do not call me until you are in recovery, until after rehab..... so he calls me anyway. So I have not returned or answered any calls. And then last night around 11:30, Junior calls. I was really out of it, he wanted to talk about us, why can't we be "friends", I remember saying, why are you calling me so late?...and I hung up. I'm just a big meanie I guess, but I don't care. I really don't. Both of them do nothing for me, for my health and well-being and I'm not going to let them bring me down.

And now I'm really worried about my Dad. He is just aging and deteriorating before my eyes. He had a stroke young in life about 13 years ago and he's ok from that although it did change him. But in the last week he's gone down hill and fast. His voice has been bothering him for awhile, always feeling like he has to clear his throat, his voice sounds different, scratchy, he's tired a lot, been taking more naps. He went to the dr. yesterday about his throat (to an ear,nose, throat specialist) and he does have an "abnormality" on a vocal cord. So he has to go have a cat scan when insurance approves it. But since Monday he seems off balance, he doesn't want to eat. He can hardly eat anything. He seems to just lay there. Mom figured out today he isn't taking his medication regularly, so she'll have to monitor that now too. His bp is up because of it, mom's too I am sure. I'm really worried that he wants to sleep so much and has lost his appetite. So if any of you are prayer people, please say one for my dear dad, Denis.

I Bought Gary's Book - Did YOU?