Forward Motion

And not the kind you put on the roof, either.

I think my maternal Concern-O-Meter needs fixing.  If one of the kids is feeling sore or sick, I have a set list of responses, mostly variations on "Just shake it off, you'll be fine."

#1 Drink some water.  You're dehydrated.

#2 Go lay down. You're tired.

#3 Take a Tums.  You ate something weird.

#4 Go to sleep.  You'll feel better tomorrow.

So when Grace told me on Monday that her leg was sore, I figured she'd pulled a muscle when she was bowling the day before.  It was one of those "It's sore" when I needed the dishwasher unloaded, but "It's fine" when a friend came by to go to the park.  When it continued to hurt, I told her to take it easy, quit racing around, and give it a chance to heal.

On Tuesday, Grace said she had a rash on her leg.  We're kind of a rashy family, it doesn't take much to bring up some kind of skin irritation on our delicate flesh.  Except for DH, of course, who can roll through poison weeds and swim through caustic liquid without so much as an itch.  I wondered if one of her new pairs of pants had something on the fabric that was causing a rash.  We rubbed some Benadryl on it and when that didn't help, tried Cortisone cream.

By Friday, her leg was hurting enough that she didn't want to go to drama class, which meant it really hurt.  When I looked at the rash again, it had spread and was looking really awful.  Still, the thought of sitting in the ER for hours and hours for a rash and a pulled muscle just didn't make sense to me.  DH called our clinic and surprisingly got an appointment for her that afternoon.

It's good thing.  She's got shingles.

Here I'd never imagined that the rash and the leg pain were related.  I'd like to think that I would have gone ahead and come to the ER this weekend when I noticed how much worse the rash was getting.  But I still feel like I don't react properly when the kids are ill.

Shingles is basically the chicken pox virus reawakening in the body and emerging somewhere along a nerve path.  Grace had chicken pox when she was 11 months old, too young even to get the vaccine for it.  Then, 2 weeks later, I caught chicken pox.  Let me tell you, there is a reason you're supposed to get it as a kid.  Chicken pox at age 28 was as horribly sick as I have ever been.  It was so awful.

I was told that one problem with getting adult age chicken pox is that I'd be at a higher risk for getting shingles for the rest of my life.  I'd never even heard of shingles in children, although apparently it is becoming more common.  You can make your own conclusions/theories/conspiracies about the surge in vaccines and the surge in more childhood occurences.

Some web sites tell me that it's absolutely not contagious, some say it's only contagious if you are exposed to the oozing rash (oh, like when I was poking it the other day?), some say it is contagious if you're never had chicken pox, some throw up their cyberhands and say they just don't know.  The clinic dr. definitely said for her to stay away from pregnant women.  Apparently getting it on the leg is a rare thing as well, as the face, neck and torso are the usual sites.  I'm getting paranoid, thinking every itch and twinge is the beginning of my own case of shingles.  And really, I do not have time for getting shingles.

Anyhow, she's feeling a little bit better, if for no other reason that the notoriety of having something more interesting than a boring old rash.  The rash is at it's yuckiest, most blistery stage right now, which according to some disgusting internet photos, means that the worst is nearly over.  Her leg is still quite sore and she's hobbling around a bit.  Hopefully that will fade soon and she'll be back to her usually busy routine.

Oh, and I have begun seaming Klaralund.  It takes me about half an hour to seam a few inches, so I hope I finish before spring.

Thursday's Title

I finally kicked the dog off of the bed so that I could do this:

 

Pin. Pin. Pin. Pin. Pin.  Ow, my back.  You'd think I would be more motivated to block and seam this.  That's all that's left to do, and then I've got a sweater!  I guess because seaming takes attention and focus and also I need to get out a book or something and review mattress stitch.  And right now I just want to knit with very little concentration.

As much as I wanted a new project to begin, the decision process was paralyzing me.  Then I remembered I wanted to make these Pocketbook Slippers.  Multicolored yarn would have been terrific, but it turns out that all my pretty colorful yarn is hand wash only.  So I just dug into the yard sale acrylic stash and found a red skein of Simply Soft.

 

Considering it's acrylic, I do like the Simply Soft.  It's not the gritty, squeakly horrid kind of acrylic and it's as soft as the name implies.  (Oh, that reminds me.  I got another box of yard sale yarn from my dad.  Hint - there's no silk in this one.)  There's not a whole lot of slipper there to look at because I just grabbed some needles from the bookcase and my gauge is probably way too small.  I redid the top part several times till I got something that looked like it might stretch to fit my foot.

I'm glad so many of you were as impressed by the pineapple slicer as I was!  Marsha asked where I found out about it and the answer is Want Not.  Same place I found out about the deal on our GPSs.  She's always posting great internet finds and coupon codes.

Also, I made fish in little foil packets in the crockpot tonight.  If you have a crockpot, you need to know about A Year of Crockpotting.  This woman is using her crockpot every day for a year and sharing the recipes, both good and bad.  The fish was tasty and it didn't stink up the whole house, so that's a keeper.

Feeling fruity

Once again, I don't really have any knitting to show you.  But Klaralund is done!  The knitting part at least.  I've still got the sleeves to block and the whole shebang to sew up.  And I've really got to start a new project.  All I have are the Snake River socks and some plain stockinette socks on the needles. 

So instead of knitting, let me show you my most favorite thing this week.  I'm going to be like a little infomerical here.

Pineapple!  Tasty and sweet and I'm sure it must be good for you, right?  But it's such a pain to slice up.  And canned pineapple never tastes as good.

Well, now you can have fresh pineapple anytime you want!  With the Vacu Vin Pineapple Slicer and a $5 pineapple, that is.

Just slice off the top of the pineapple.  Snap the two piece of the Vacu Vin Pineapple slicer together.

Position the middle of the Vacu Vin Pineapple slicer over the center of the pineapple core and simply start twisting, applying downward pressure.

Keep twisting! 

All the way to the bottom of the pineapple. 

 

Then using a certain measure of upper body strength, pull the Vacu Vin Pineapple slicer up and out of the pineapple's outer layer. 

A perfectly formed pineapple spiral emerges!  Isn't that just awesome?  And delicious!

And this amazing product can be yours from Amazon.com for only $9.95.  I just totally love this thing.  It's fun AND dishwasher safe.  If only pineapples weren't so danged expensive.

But wait!  There's more!

Actually, no there isn't.

Trying to be part of the 52%

I mailed in my Texas voter registration, only a week or so before the deadline.  I hate to admit it, but I wasn't even going to register and vote this year.  Leaving the political issues aside (you're welcome), I've lived in a different state or country for every election since I was 18.  Registering to vote every time we move is just way low on the priority list of Things to Do at the New Place, not to mention it increases my chances of getting called for jury duty. 

Frankly, I have no faith that absentee ballots even get counted and it just doesn't FEEL like I'm voting unless I waste half my morning waiting in line at a poll.  Now with the online registration, it makes it much easier and hopefully I've marked everything correctly and will be allowed to vote this year. 

I just hate to see the statistics that show how barely more than half of Americans actually vote.  It's just pitiful and I can't be part of that.  Even Colin Ferguson thinks I'm a moron if I don't vote.

I still haven't decided 100% who I'll vote for, but I've only got a few more weeks to figure it out.  And hopefully I'll have moved away before they want me for jury duty.

Umm...no real knitting progress to speak of.  All the projects are at that "continue in stockinette/pattern stitch for xxx inches" phase that is boring to photograph.  However, I've got 2 hours of Grey's Anatomy, 2 hours of The Biggest Loser (which, 2 hours? that show is getting as bloated as I am after hitting the Chinese buffet tonight), and a few Tabatha's Salon Takeover episodes waiting on the DVR.  The last bit of Klaralund ought to be finished no later than Monday, then it's Seam City for me.

Why I needed a nap today.

I'm groggy and short on sleep today.  DH was tossing and turning all night last night, constantly moving around, trying to get comfortable.  Keeping me awake.  He always sleeps on his back and last night his back was sore.  I would feel sorry for him, but that is what happens when you are jabbed with a needle over and over and over again for hours!!!!

Uh-huh, he got a new tattoo last night.  It's big and creepy and ewwww.  I won't look at it too long and my 12 yr. old son has to do the ointment applying and help him cover it with plastic wrap and tape.  Which, the only plastic wrap I have is the blue Easter kind, so that's kind of funny.  Except that tossing and turning while covered in plastic wrap is just as quiet as you might think it is. 

The tattoo, though, that was kind of my idea.  See, DH has wanted another tattoo for a long time.  He got his first tattoo before we were married (although we were dating and he hid it from me for 2 weeks before fessing up) and his second tattoo during a time when we weren't getting along very well.  So there's a bit of an unpleasant history for tattoos and us. 

And I'll admit I don't get the tattoo thing.  My family is very uptight about stuff like tattoos and although I'm old enough not to care what they or others think, I still view them as unnecessary at the very least.  Besides, I change clothes twice a day.  I can't imagine trying to decide on an image to put on my body for the rest of my life.

But when we found out he'd made the promotion list, I wanted to give him a gift.  It's tradition to celebrate these accomplishments with something memorable and frankly, I suggested the tattoo to stave off any mention a motorcycle or a new truck.

I would show you a photo, but it's still kind of oozy and red and well, even when it's healed it'll be startling.  I'll be sure to just link the photo eventually so that I don't scare anyone.  Let's see...how to describe it.  It looks like the flesh has been torn away from his backbone and there's a skeleton wearing a welding helmet and shirt that says "Mad Weldor" welding the bones. 

I did see the drawings before it became permanent and although it certainly wasn't MY preference, DH really loved it and wanted it.  I wanted to be able to say, "Sure honey, if you really want a skeleton welding your spine together, you go right ahead.  As long as that makes you happy."  Because I am so proud of him and whatever else he does, the man always tries to make me happy.

Kicking off Tuesday

Well, good morning!  I admire all those bloggers who sit down and blog something every morning.  I'm pretty blank before 10 a.m.  But since Monday escaped from its weekly prison without doing any hard labor, I'm declaring Tuesday a Productive day.  I am dressed and have shoes on right now, people.  Tied and everything. 

And sitting here at this moment, I cannot smell anything foul.  This house is messing with us.

The kids even finished their morning chores early and have half an hour to goof off before beginning school.  I can hear the poker chips moving around, maybe they are learning Texas Hold 'Em.  (edited to add: 4 minutes after I typed that, bickering erupted and so I rang the imaginary school bell.  It sounds kind of like me yelling, "Enough! Go start your school!")

Now, about the Noro.  I blocked the front piece this weekend and was delighted to measure the width at a good 20 inches!  It grew nearly 3 inches and that should be a very good fit for me.  So I sighed happily (and I may have done a little dance) and cast on for the back.  I also reweighed the yarn and I'm still on track for having enough to finish.

As far as school goes, it is a new day here in math for Alex.  He's been struggling for longer than I like to admit with Math U See.  He had a shaky mastery of fractions in the last book, but that knowledge apparently did not get packed up and moved to Texas.  This book, decimals, has been going better, but the frustration factor is too high for both of us. 

Last week, he missed all the word problems on his test.  Although I had the answer key and I could see how to get the right answer, I couldn't figure out how to explain it to him.  The next book is Pre-Algebra and it just seemed like we needed to quit flailing around and learn some stupid math.  I hesitated because I've been loyal to Math U See and really have loved the program.  But part of the reason we homeschool is so that we do what works for us.

I also may have Algebra issues.  My high school was not lauded for high quality 9th grade math teachers.  1st semester was Mr. Wilburn, who could not be understood.  9 x 44y sounded like "Ni ti fofo i"  It would have been funny if I hadn't been trying to solve for y.  2nd semester was Mr. Dunn who did not care if any of us learned and sure enough 85% of the class failed.  He was fired, but we all ended up in summer school anyway.  Jerk.  Let's not discuss Mrs. Skibo in 12th grade Algebra 2.  Yeeesh. 

Anyway, I really don't want to go through such algebraic pain again.  So:

 

And:

Grace has been using Teaching Textbooks this year and what I like best is that every single problem, all like 3000 or so of them, is worked out step by step on the accompanying CDs.  If she gets a problem wrong, I have her try it again.  If she still misses it, I have her watch the explanation on the CD.  She loves math now.  Let's hope Alex will as well.

My Diet Cherry Coke is working it's sweet magic and I'm going to throw in a load of laundry, make Chicken & Black Olives for the crockpot, review an invoice, enter some time sheets, and really stay away from Facebook.

Can I have my day back, please?

Doggone it, where did the day go??  I planned on knocking out a real blog post today, but I think I spent too much time goofing off on Facebook (stupid Scramble).  I'm going to have to ban myself from there.

Anyhow, I don't even know if I can blog right now because there is a SMELL in our living room.  It makes it hard to concentrate.  Kinda fishy, but not exactly.  We cannot identify it and keep wandering slowly in circle, sniffing.  We thought it was the dog food gone bad, but a fresh bag and a clean dish don't seem to have helped.  I'm about to take the rug outside for a few days for lack of anything else to do.

And it comes and goes, sort of.  Either than or we get used to it, then go outside and smell it anew when we come back in.  Maddening, it really is.  Did something weird die somewhere?

But tomorrow maybe I'll spray some Oust and show you a photo from DH's birthday BBQ this weekend.  And there's good news on the Noro situation and NO I did not already order more yarn.  You people.  Okay, I did order more yarn tonight from TLE, but not because of Noro!  Oh, and DH gets his promotion gift tomorrow.   It's large and expensive and creepy.

Dang, I have to get to bed now.  Pre-Algebra and laundry will be waiting for me tomorrow bright and early.

Weights and measures

So, here's a question.  If I block a knitted piece, like say a sweater front, and then realized that it needs to be reknit in a larger size, can I just frog it and reknit with the yarn as is?  Does blocking it screw up the yarn somehow?  And just how annoying would it be to frog Noro Silk Garden?  Because it's some sticky, grabby yarn.

This is the situation.

Not that it matters, but isn't it weird how much bigger the sleeves are than the front?  Since they actually become part of the front when it's sewn together, I guess it ends up okay.  And I have checked and remeasured, just to be sure.

Anyway, I'm nervous about the yarn supply.  I've only got about 9 rows left to go on the 2nd sleeve.  At the bottom there you see there's one full skein left, one mostly full skein, and a bunch of bits and pieces.  I've still got the back (which is knitted the same as the front) to do and remember how I wanted to make it a little bigger?  Because the front was concerning me with it's smallness?

I was just about to call The Loopy Ewe and see if they had one more skein from this lot when it occured to me to weigh the front.

 

89 grams.

Then I weighed my remaining yarn.  I left out the smaller bits, figured I would need them for seaming.

 

118 grams.  Whew.  I'll weigh again when I'm all done with the sleeve, just to make sure that I didn't use 40 grams somehow.  I don't even care if the stripe continuity fails for the back, with all that color, it's hard to tell anyway.

I thought I should go ahead and block the front piece though.  See how much it grows with blocking.  If I can get it to a more reasonable measurement, then I could sigh happily and knit on.  If it's still measuring too small for half my bust, I'd rather rip and reknit now so I can knit the back the same.

But can you immediately reknit blocked and frogged Noro?  Will it ruin my gauge or something?  Because I am this close to calling The Loopy Ewe and just getting another skein, or maybe two, anyway.  And you know it would not make sense to pay shipping for one $11 skein, so I'd end up ordering a few more things just to fill up the package.  I may have, in fact, already added something to my cart on the chance that I'd have to order more Noro.  I'm trying to be prepared is all.

Random Blog Post #42

- This morning it was too cold to sit outside and knit.  TOO COLD.  Okay, like in the low 60s and cloudy, but still.  I wore long pants and a sweater today and it is September.  I'm not used to that until around late November.  Me: not yet acclimated away from the long southern summers.

- I accidentally ended up watching Tabatha's Salon Takeover on Bravo a few weeks ago and it turned out to be kind of awesome.  It also makes me frightened to go get my hair cut somewhere new.

- As happy as I always am about the new fall TV season, I wonder when I'm going to watch it all.  I've made the decision NOT to even watch America's Next Top Model this time.  I have to be very careful that I don't stumble across it while flipping channels, because then I'll get sucked in, like I did way back on Season 1.  I turned on the TV and there was Tyra making a bunch of girls get waxed (and I mean waxed like you know what I mean waxed) and I couldn't look away.  I cannot WAIT for new seasons of House and Life and The Biggest Loser.  All my TV boyfriends, Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, and Bob Harper, every week.  DH has a TV girlfriend, so it's okay.

- I got my sock club package last week and I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't received it yet, but let me say it's amazing.  Gorgeous.  Also my Wollmeise collection no longer fits in the dresser drawer and I'm going to have to move it to its own bin.

- That's about it.

Friday

One of DH's birthday presents was a thingy that plays the music from your iPod out of big speakers. Kind of like this, only not this exact one.  He loves it so much, he had it in the bathroom with him when he was getting ready this morning. 

I was laying on the bed (still shaking off that sluglike feeling) and heard a strange song. 

"What is that song?", I asked him.

"The Crystal Ship by the Doors.  Why?  Do you like it?"

"No."

"This is an old song from my youth." he said.

"I just wondered because I've never heard it before.  In my youth or othewise."

"That's because you were too busy listening to Wham!"

He is basically correct on that one.