Back to Reality

It has been a great two days at our house with my lovely daughter Nicole. This was our last hurrah before she starts school and has an even crazier schedule. We didn't really do anything all that exciting (except decide swimmers and gymnasts are really well built). She did lots of knitting and finished her hat for a friend's daughter - the same family my socks went to. Nicole thinks pink is not her personal favorite for a color and this yarn was difficult to work with but it came out really cute .















We've spent lots of time gabbing, eating out and shopping. We had to get Nicole's favorite fried ice cream and went out for calamari and coconut shrimp last night. We believe in experiencing all aspects of the food spectrum except vegetables.

We were able to find a smokin deal on a laptop for her at Staples back to school sale and got it fired up last night. She also got some fiber love to take back with her thanks to Wool Girl's summer sale (Miss Babs worsted-colorway Iris). Nicole loves those purple and green combinations so if you see a good one in worsted let me know.

Now it is back to reality after two relaxing days. Vacation time is good!

The week in review

It has been an eventful week with lots of progress on the new geriatric care business. We have our business license, so I am now the proud owner of two businesses that make no money! The up side is we may already have a client so are hurrying to get our formal structure in place. Our logo and web site are being developed and we should have insurance coverage next week. Yeah.

The school board candidate stuff is already starting. The newspaper called about sending me a candidate survey so they'll have some background information (gulp). I guess this is really happening!

Nicole is coming to visit us next week from Phoenix, which we are really looking forward to. This will be our last visit before nursing school starts for her and days off become nonexistent. It may be Thanksgiving before we get to really spend time together again.















I uploaded a couple of photos from the Fifth Element's last gig. The bar they were playing has a tiny stage area so they didn't have a lot of room to move around.








Here I am in the spot I held down all night. Yes, they actually have a couch in this bar so I had one of the soft seats. You can't see that I put on make up and jewelry so I wouldn't look too frumpy next to all the younger women in their "club" clothes.














This may be the only picture of me dancing since I started having children (except at my son's wedding)! I was dragged on to the dance floor and made it through one song before collapsing back on the couch totally out of breath. I absolutely need to start doing some exercise before I become a total vegetable.














Here are the pattern books I received from Knittech's blog anniversary contest. There are some really cute ones and I have a few picked out to put on the future knitting list. Thanks for picking me!!














Pippin says it is Sunday morning and time to take a much needed nap. He did already eat breakfast and sit with his mom for cuddle and purr time. How exhausting! Pippin wishes a relaxing day to all fur persons (and their people).

A short yarn

This is the beautiful bamboo yarn I received from Roxie's blog contest. It is soft, silky and such a lovely color. I'm waiting for it to whisper to me what it wants to be.



Merry thinks I should donate the yarn to him for a cat bed. I could barely keep him away from it while I was trying to take a photo. That virtually guarantees that it will be laced with Ragdoll hair by the time it becomes an FO.




I went out to hear the husband's band last night and was forced to dance. Somewhere there are photos (which hopefully will never surface since I was terrible). If I keep going I may have to actually look for some club kind of clothes so I don't look like the middle aged frump mom that I am. Wouldn't want to embarass my hot rocker hubby :-)

Relief

Today was my first baseline colonoscopy, which I've been putting off since turning 50. I could have found any number of reasons to put it off another year or ten, but decided in the interests of health I should get it over with.

I will not share the gory details of the prep (crappy is a good word :-) , but will suffice to say, the procedure was a piece of cake. Went to sleep and woke up with it over - even I can pass that test. It appears my colon is shiny clean and everything is normal. Normal is a word I like when it comes to health.

My husband took the day off work to stay with me, though I've mostly been sleeping and watching tv and was kind enough to drive me to the surgery center at 5:30 AM. Did you know they have one of those in the morning? Amazing!

I got my bamboo yarn from Roxie's blog contest and it is gorgeous! Thank you so much for making us all winners!! I plan to take pictures of the yarn when my blog winnings from Knittech arrive and post my loot so everyone can see. Presents are such great fun.

I'm going to go read for a bit and probably fall asleep again. And to think this is how the cats live all the time.

Odd Lots

Not a lot going on today. I did finish these basic socks for me (Harlot recipe, Knit Picks Felici) and learned a few things in the process about matching stripes (can you say frog?) I started out great but didn't switch over to the heel flap on the same row with the second sock. I also needed to pick up an extra stich for the gusset as I got holes at the join. Each pair is a step closer to figuring out this sock knitting thing.

This was my first attempt at Sheri 's(Loopy Ewe) baby monkey sock. I had one problem with the heel, in which she has the 3rd row ending with S1 and the 4th row beginning with S1. It didn't work well and I've e-mailed her to see if it is an error. She did these with worsted on a Size 2 which makes for a chunky sock. I'm not sure what size baby it will fit though - any ideas?

The pink and purple socks were made from a generous donation of stash yarn by Amy Lane, who continues to encourage me to the dark side. They originally were going to be a pair of socks for my daughter when she was ill, but Nicole asked that I make socks for the 6 year old daughter of a friend who had surgery. These went more smoothly so my confidence is increasing.

My husband got back from blues camp and had an awesome time. He graciously shared one of his photos performing on the stage at Antone's in Austin, TX, which was their big performance with a live audience. It was recorded, so eventually I may have a video clip for you.

I found out this week that I didn't get the interim position with a local organization I was hoping would jump start my consulting business. Since I am going in two very divergent directions with my businesses, I'm sure eventually one of them will become dominant as far as my time. I'm trying to be patient and just keep moving ahead on my plan but I'm not a terribly patient person. I'm sure this must be another growth experience!

I've started planning with my son and d-i-l to come out for Christmas (which seems bizarre in this heat). They would like a break from the cold this year and really want to see their friends that will be in town over the holidays. Air fares are still pretty horrendous but I'm sure we'll figure something out. I can't think of a better Christmas present than having the family here.

Enough chatting - I'm off to try another baby sock. Happy knitting.

On being single for a week

It has been 4 days since my husband left for Austin and blues camp. It will be 3 more days before he comes home and I have to give back the remote. What is bizarre is I have hardly used the remote. I've watched one movie (the second National Treasure) in his absence and the rest of the time the house has been quiet...still...peaceful...no tv going 18 hours a day fabulous.

I have the kind of family that always has background noise going - and admit that I used to be one of them. Somewhere along the line, during the years of childhood chaos, I began to yearn for the absolute calm of being alone in my own house with no auditory stimulation (we aren't counting the cats who occasionally rise up out of a sound sleep, chase each all over the house and go back to sleep).

I try really hard to sound bereft when my husband calls, but have to admit to loving the freedom to live on my schedule or no schedule if I choose. I just spent the evening drinking wine and eating pizza with two good friends and didn't worry about the time. I eat a sandwich for dinner and call it good. I stay up and read in bed until 3 AM and sleep in until 10 AM (or would if the cats didn't insist on breakfast).

And yet, the longer the week goes on, the more I miss the laughter, small talk and companionship of living with someone who knows me better than anyone else. I turn to say, "Do you remember..." and Pippin says meow. It just isn't the same. By Friday morning I will be looking for a familiar car to pull in to the driveway, ready to hear all about "this one time - at band camp" . The tv will flip on, baseball will once again be the mainstay of evening viewing and the brief vacation from reality will end. Sounds like a good way to end the week to me.

Social workers rule!

I have spent the last two days surrounded by social workers. That isn't as scary as it might sound. I was invited to attend the Leadership Retreat for the National Association of Social Workers Arizona chapter in Phoenix. As a new member of the chapter, they wanted my perspective. As I am not exactly quiet in such settings, I'm not sure they got what they wanted :-)

If you've never attended a state association retreat of some kind, they all have some similarities - at least in my neck of the woods (desert - whatever). They all struggle with the urban/rural representation issue because so much of our state's population is centered in a couple of large population centers. Phoenix pretty much controls things with Tucson a close second. But the majority of the land in Arizona is outside the metropolitan area. The other big issue across the board is member recruitment and retention. Like workplaces, clubs and other formal sorts of organizations, a lot of professional associations are aging out (that means the boomers are getting old).

I don't know that we came up with anything all that new as far as ideas, but it was a great opportunity to talk with other people who share my professional values and interests. I've gotten much braver as I've gotten older about going off to things like this where I don't know a soul, and having a great time. I met some wonderful people and even made a few connections that may be good resources for the new businesses.

On the way back I took some pictures for you of the Arizona desert and the drive along the river my last half hour before home.

This is the view for most of the 3 1/2 hours between Phoenix and Lake Havasu City. There are occasional mountains in the distance to break up the monotony a little, but mostly a lot of big nothing. I like it, but some people find it too vast to feel comfortable.









Once one passes through Parker (about 35 minutes south of us), the drive along the river begins. It can be spectacular, particularly early in the morning or right as the sun is setting. I wasn't willing to wait around on the side of the road for the sun to go down, so you'll have to imagine it.








Right before the bridge where I cross the Bill Williams River. This is one small piece of the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge. The green you see is cattail marsh which is very lush right now and harbors a lot of wildlife. Two years ago a tanker truck crashed on the bridge and set fire to the marsh but it has recovered quite well.








The mountains begin to fade in to the distance as the sun gets lower. This is my last good view of the river until I reach home and the lake (which you can see from much of the town). Not a bad way to end the day.