I tried but here I am

I know I said I was going to post daily but as usual everyone else's schedule interfered with mine.  Monday was to be the husbands day off and he got called in and so combined with his full-time job and the part-time one, working that extra day put him at work for 16 days straight.  This has made my household schedule a bit tight, I planned on a quiet day on Monday for Brian's day off, so once he got called into work I spent my evening knitting on my current project of a scarf, fingerless gloves, and possibly a hat, the scarf is done and I am almost done with my 1st glove.  I also put together my list for Tuesday's errands had Jordyn & Charles (her best friend since 1st grade) to school by 11 and then ran over to Brian's pt job then to the bank and then FINALLY had my blood drawn that I had been supposed to do about 6 weeks ago, then onward to Michaels for new pumpkins for the outside Halloween decorations which they were out of what I wanted so decided to check the dollar stores and Tuesday morning all 3 were a no go so decided to check JoAnns they did some but the small ones were $25 each way more than I wanted to pay since I needed like 10 or 12. Then as I stood there they put them on sale 60% off so now that made them basically $10 each.  Picked up a few more items there and moved on to Target for what I cannot remember right now but do remember they were out of the shampoo the husband likes and his bottle was down to the dregs so not a good thing but onward I went to Winco grocery store and then to Costco and was back to school by 3:30 to pick up the kids. By this time with all the shopping the back end of the Expedition was completely full, on to home and while I was dreading the unloading process but by the time I got home I had 4 sets of hands to help (help unloading happens rarely) so got it all put away and made dinner. Brian worked a night shift on Monday and doublebacked to a day shift on Tuesday so he was home for dinner and was actually able to stay awake till about 10:30.  Wednesday I spent the morning doing some laundry and other household chores.  Jordyn & Charles got together about noon and spent the afternoon doing homework, Brian left for work about 3:30 spent my evening checking the kids school work and got some knitting in. This morning realized my alarm clock was broken and woke up about 25 minutes before we had to leave for school and I had to finish shopping for items that were out of stock on Tuesday or that I didn't have time to get to on Tuesday.  Made it home in time to see Brian for a few minutes before he left for work and I decided this was the night that I am skipping household chores and just going to knit and do my blog post.  I was going to tell you what tomorrow might bring but so far today the plans have been changed 3 times so far so I am no going to plan I am just going to wing it and see how far I get.  I will let you know how my Friday turns out.

Finally Back

I couldn't decide if I wanted to do this based on the fact that I was not sure exactly how much I want to share and I have come to realize that I cannot lay out completely what I am and am not going to share and just going to  have to weigh each aspect as it comes up.  The knitting has been coming along and not sure why but my speed has picked up I am still very slow but seems I am completely more projects than I have in the past.  Things have been very chaotic between 2 daughters in College and 1 in High School she is a junior and we were not happy with changes her high school and so we decided to change her schooling and it is partially homeschool program and she also attends regular style classes it has been a huge benefit to her academically but then it also feels like I am back in HS again also, since I am responsible for helping her get through the work I also choose a lot of her assignments and I am also responsible for grading and tests all of this is followed up every month by a credentialed teacher so I do have a safety net if needed (which I do regularly) but I have been holding my own. Another benefit of her school change is she only attends classes 2 days a week, but her school is about 35 miles  one way so it eats a lot of those 2 days a week and all this is before I even begin to deal with the Brian my husband and the regular household issues.  My husband CHOOSES to work nights 4pm to 2am which drives me nuts since he has the seniority to work days but I deal for 2 reasons 1 since he used to work 24hr shifts and now it is only 10hr shifts and he is home everyday, but then add to his full time job a part-time job that adds another 6 shifts a month.  The reason for the extra job is to pay tuition for 2 daughters in College and another getting ready very quick.  As I look at my previous postings I notice that they are all so long and think it is because I have posted erratically I am hoping that with trying to post everyday will help shorten them I am also going to try to keep each post mostly about 1 subject and then comment on the other things going on but have to wait and see. For now I am going back to my current knitting which is a pair of fingerless gloves that will match a scarf that is already finished, they will be for the youngest daughter Jordyn.  So we'll see how it goes.

A Week

As a reader of several blogs I always wondered if I had time to read them how come they don't always post everyday and now I realize that it take longer than you think about what your posting and then editing it and in my case even longer since I have a tendency to write in one long never ending sentence.  So my new goal is to post daily 1 to help my scheduling of my day in general and so that I post what I want even if it is only the weather report but around here there is always something going on so lack of material should not be a problem.  Since last posting when I finished Jordyn's handbag I have started one of the 3 hoodies I am making for one of my brothers kids I am over half way done with the first and I have been working on the red satin dress with a black and white checkered pinafore apron did a fitting on the dress itself yesterday and all is good so today the plan is to put the collar and sleeves on and maybe cut off for hemming but I will probably leave the hemming for tomorrow then do the pinafore apron.  Yesterday when I was doing the fitting they asked me to make 3 more pinafore aprons these will be red and white checked all 4 pieces need done in about 2 weeks.  The last few days have been pretty rough since #3 daughter Jordyn was put on home/hospital care she has been doing homework regularly but when I asked about her work I had the feeling that she was procrastinating a bit turns out she has been doing it quite a bit for a couple of reasons 1 easy while at home to say I will do it later and then she has been dealing with quite a bit of pain from the knee problem and she has been skipping her clean up in her room.  Today ended up being the end of the end we had a conversation with her about the school work and she has picked up that task pretty good but then today dad went into her room and the mess he found was more than he could ignore any longer he had been asking her to be sure and clean up a bit everyday and she said she was and turns out no work at all in her room has been done.  He took her TV, computer, new SLR camera and she can use computer for homework but only around us so we are sure what she is doing  I really hate having to police her this way but hopefully she will get it all taken care of quickly and in the process learn to take care of business regularly (so much easier).  I have always been lucky enough with my kids that they didn't require much in the way of timeouts or punishments ask them to do or not do something that has usually been the end of it, some reminding but overall not a big deal.  However this time I know she is really overwhelmed with school from home the knee problems and coping with all the extra from these problems but there is only so much slack that can be allowed and I know in my heart that it is what is right for her but so hard for me to follow through being so tough.  My girls have always been so good and done so well I really wish I could take her pain from her.  I have to have the faith that all we are doing will work out the way we plan.  Till I know I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep knitting because that way at least I can show progress in something. Happy Knitting to all.

Another 1 Done

 Well done a few days later than planned but Jordyn's new purse is done.  The pattern is from "BAGS THAT ROCK" knitting on the road with Kelley Deal and yarn in Wool of the Andes Bulky color Galaxy from Knitpicks.  the bag it self is knitted in a rectangle and felted and then stitch up the sides and then pick up stitches around the top and knit a K2P2 rib.  Excuse the picture still having problems with the camera and so having to use phone camera and some don't come out to clearly.  So now going to start 3 zip up hoodies for 2 of my nieces and 1 nephew, picked up the yarn for these at Stitches West from Webs, I picked up some of their Valley Yarns in a DK superwash in basically a navy blue.  I am also working on the socks for Tylar and they are a lace pattern that I have been working on while out but it is to slow going so I think I will work on them mostly while home or only if going to be somewhere else for quite a while.  The basic rib socks I was working on for Brian ended up a bit to mismatched and so I am going to take both out to an even point and knit 2 at 1 time for them for whatever reason lately when I try and knit one sock at a time they do not come out even, even though I log how many rows and count them on each I am missing something so for now I am just going to knit 2 at once, then you don't have to deal with 2nd sock syndrome.  I also need to start looking into a new hat pattern for the yarns that I got for Chicken Bone she needs more than the 2 I have made her so far not nearly enough to give her plenty of options in style and color.  Brian's 2nd day off and so we have been just relaxing and not doing much more than watching TV and talking, knitting and just pretty much nothing.  Spending time with the kids and the husband what more nicer.

Great Day for Knitting ?

Yesterday was a bust left to do non grocery errands and thought it would take me a few hours I left before noon and got home about 7pm how ridiculous is that,  never thought it would take multiple stops to try and find new lamp shades ended up going to 8 different places how screwy is that, and I bought 2 each of 2 different styles and I don't think I like either one I think they are all going back, so back to square one.  As a result of my day moving down the road of the big black hole, I came home sat down to knit and passed out in my chair till about 1am got up and moved to bed just before Brian came home and went right back to sleep.  I did have 2 good parts Chicken Bone got her hat and loved it and I got my newest box of goodies from Knitpicks and my other box from The Loopy Ewe is on its way so I think I have everything I need for my plans for the next few months.  We'll see how it all goes.  Today should be better new storm came in last night and have nothing planned for out of the house today except Jordyn has physical therapy this afternoon.  So after doing a few household chores I am headed to my chair for some family time with Brian he is off for the next few days, some catch up on TV shows and my Knitting.

Blindsided

Well don't I feel ridiculous went for the yearly eye exam and was excited and ready, need new glasses current ones are really scratched not sure how since after spending over 20 years as a working Optician I think I have my glasses care just a bit ingrained never clean the glasses with kleenex or paper products and such. I always get them wet and use an appropriate cleaning cloth, really don't see those habits disappearing after this many years but with the old pair the lenses were already replace once due to the scratches and the 2nd pair has ended up completely scratched also.  But the bigger issue today was not realizing that they were going to dilate my eyes really hate them doing that. gives me a headache and sometimes makes me sick to my stomach usually plan on not doing anything after the exam because the problems.  But did have a funny encounter with the Dr. during the exam (her husband and mine work in the E.R. together) she is a crocheter and we have had conversations in the past about our current projects and I was telling her about Stitches West  I attended a couple weeks back and so when I got home I was telling Brian about our oohhs and ahhs about different yarns and our current projects I had mine with me a new pair of socks I am working on and she was working on a cape but the other piece she had I do need to call her back and ask what it was going to be but she was working it in the round and it looked like stockinette stitch only crocheted and I had never seen crochet look like that so I asked her about it and she showed me how to do it but I have never seen the technique done before looked amazing.  Funnier part was my husband was at work before hers and as soon as her husband came in he mentioned to Brian to keep my yarn addiction away from his wife.  I called him back and told him that his wife could have more expensive habits than nice yarn, and think of the end results.  Today I got out a felted piece that I did before Christmas so I could start the finish work it will be a new hand bag for #3 daughter Jordyn  made it out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Dyed in the color galaxy which is  varigated purples. the bag itself it a simple felted rectangle and then has a ribbed top on it that folds over like a turtleneck.  Here is the picture of the bag and the start of the ribbing on the top hopefully I will finish it tomorrow.  That is of course depending on how quickly I get through the rest of my day I have shopping to do tomorrow that is not grocery related fabric to try and find the stuff for the costume I agreed to make for the production of Pinocchio satin my "favorite" to work with and then I have a few other things to pick up.  Then I also have to contend with Aunties calls about her knitting for the day she is such an accomplished crocheter I am wondering about her learning crochet vs. her learning curve in knitting I am having so much fun helping her,  but I have not been on the phone with someone so many times a day since I was young and in love you know how you used to make so many calls to who ever you liked so much, makes me laugh thinking back hope I am helping her more than teaching bad habits but it is so much fun to help someone who wants to learn so much.  And of course instead of going shopping tomorrow I would rather snuggle in because the rain is supposed to start up again and then rain through the weekend.

Knitting Weather

Well here in Northern California we have had quite a time with weather, of course it is nothing like what the East Coast has been dealing with but for us it has been quite a ride tomorrow will be a big dangerous day with black ice in the morning and that very rarely occurs around here.  I am from Tucson, Arizona and there black ice is something that you deal with periodically every year so I have a hard time remembering that around here most have no clue what to watch for or how to handle it.  But because of the weather I decided to get a couple of quick errands done first thing this morning while we had a short clearing of weather and then went home and got dinner done early so everyone could make their plate whenever they were ready, then I sat down to spend the rest of my day knitting. Currently taking a break now and not sure I should call it a break from knitting because I have been interrupted so many times I have not gotten much done.  With everyone staying home and not venturing out due to weather I cannot figure out why everyone and their Uncle is choosing to call me today,  don't they realize I have other plans for the day.  I received my newest Loopy Ewe order finally got my camera back from my Aunt and went to go take pictures of my Stitches West and Loopy Ewe purchases but camera battery dead (of course par for the day).  I also do sewing and embroidery etc. but I have been concentrating on knitting for quite some time now and have only been sewing when I had to but I got a call today from the local dance teacher who all 3 girls took lessons from for over 15 years and acted as costume designer for most of those years but I cut back once the girls were not dancing regularly anymore but I got the call today for a costume out of red satin with a peter pan color and a black and white checked pinafore apron I am so hoping I can find a pattern close to what I need because I have no desire to design the pattern and then sew the dress together so cross your fingers that I find something close a few alterations to pattern I don't mind.  So more on this later so I guess I will head back to the sock for the husband I did a toe up sock and hopefully finish up the foot part tonight and then start the gusset and heel tomorrow and we'll see how far I get tomorrow maybe done because the leg is just a simple rib pattern for this pair.  The temperature on the back porch is like 29degrees so gonna be a cold night so I think I will snuggle in with my sock and something good to watch on tv or read a book I am in the middle of also such a nice way to spend the rest of my evening.

Finished Hat

Well I I finally finished Chicken Bone's hat for such a relatively simple pattern for some reason I had problems nothing I didn't figure out but I have not ripped something out so many time since I was doing my first lace project a few years back but ultimately I got it done and I really like the way it turned out I was not sure about it while knitting it up because until its done the brim looks like this floppy mess and I didn't quite understand how the final instructions where going to fix it just could not see the end result in my minds eye but as the saying goes I trusted the process and it did come out fine the only change I made was I had to add more length  to the crown because it was going to be to shallow for where I wanted it to sit on her head the hat need to come down lower since she is wearing them since she has no hair.  Started a new pair of sock for daughter #2 Tylar but then remembered that I had made a sock for Brian and other things got in the way so I am going back to finish the 2nd sock   for this pair it goes great with his Sapphire scrubs for work.  He loves the socks I make him because his scrubs are barely long enough and so his white socks really stand out but other colored store bought socks are not long enough and so I make his longer like athlete socks, on anyone else they would be thigh high since he is so tall about 6' 5" and it takes a bit  longer to make them but it definately shows off the great yarns I use  for them.  Happy Knitting to All

Stitches west

Well its been a week since I last posted several good reason's why I didn't, but to be honest the first is because the incident with the other family member who blamed me for something they didn't like happening really bothered me the darling dear husband was the one who started it but of course they wouldn't dare approach him and blame him. although my darling Brian called the other family members husband and explained what happened and all explanations seemed to be all worked out and accepted and Brian told them that he expected the other family member to call me and apologize,  glad I didn't hold my breath waiting didn't really expect the apology but I really hoped that I would get it, I am known in my family as the pacifier I used to be willing to do ANYTHING to keep everyone happy then a few years ago I had to much of my self buried and things need to change I still try to do what I can but I no longer lose myself while helping others and if they don't like how things are going I also have to learn to live with that and it is really hard for me but I refuse to no longer be pushed into a corner worried about what everyone else thinks.  But now on to my better things I had planned on attending Stitches West on Saturday wished I could have had the whole weekend but I got Saturday and I took my Auntie with me and we did the cattle run on Saturday morning and for any of you that have been there everyone is so polite while waiting for the doors to open and once they do it is like a controlled cattle run and then a free for all
But as I checked out Heatherly from Intwined it is amazing how much her life has changed in the last year just since she had her husband make some tweeks to a program because she didn't like how it worked and now she has a product that is FABULOUS, saw Jordana Paige's new  bag and especially like her new style did not see her myself which was sad Love, Love, Love her she is so smart and such a sweetheart.  I left my camera with my Auntie she is supposed to bring it to me tomorrow and I will post pics of what I bought.  Got some DK weight to make 3 matching hoodies for 2 nieces and 1 nephew who live out of state and also got 4 new sock yarns, Cookie A's new book and an few other odds and ends and the biggest deal was I purchased the pattern for the beanie from Love Story and had it autographed by Ali MacGraw and had my picture taken with her she is still beautiful.  The movie "Love Story" came out in 1970 I was 9 yrs old and I remember how much everyone just loved her and of course every female I knew who saw the movie was in tears just remembering it.  So that was my Saturday and today is Tuesday, husband had the last 6 days off and so we have really just laid low we had originally planned to get some work done but with the weather just kept raining to much so ended up being a very relaxing time I have been trying to finish another hat for Chicken Bone I have finished the crown and have determined I need to take it out and make it deeper  I tried it on and I know she doesn't have any hair but I still think it feels to short so time for a bunch of ripping luckily it is a bulky weight so it should knit back up quickly.   That was the other yarn I bought I got 2 more skeins for hats for Chicken Bone one is a purple grey color and the other is green and blue I can't wait to see how they knit up.  Well now that I am past the asshats members of my family I am moving on.   I have been asked to check in to the possibilities of teaching a learn to knit class,  think I will start with a scarf with a bit more than just garter stitch.  I am so excited maybe getting something so fun started in this town we are so small not a lot happens so anything to draw people out is a good thing around here.  So for today my favorite ending is very appropriate.  Happy Knitting to all

Whats the Point

Today I went to do my big monthly shopping trip that is a story unto itself but that is not my current issue evidently the niece has a friend visiting from another state the kid is actually barely 18 came with couple of friends and evidently they ran out of money so 2 of they guys went back home to get more money and have been gone longer than intended and the 3rd boy ran out of money so he was going to pawn his computer they would only offer about 30 bucks for it.  So my husband while I was shopping offered to act at the pawn for him gave him a 140 for the computer and he has X amount of time to pay back if not the laptop is ours we also asked if he would like to stay with us till his friends came back so if they did not come back he would not waste all the money on a motel and have bus ticket money to go back home,  well I came in on the last of it and really had no problem with it but guess the nieces parents did and while they may have reason to they are blaming me for this when it is something my husband did along with our daughter who is actually who the niece called to take the boy to the pawn shop and husband said no they will not give him much but now they are really really mad about all of this but are blaming me and I don't know why just me.   I am not disputing that they may not really care for the boy around their daughter but our thought was completely towards keeping him safe and sending him home does it really matter how it all transpired.  No knitting done today but have gotten several things worked on in the last few days but right do to distracted about current mess to deal with it all,  I admit I just want it to all go away mostly but then again I am pissed off that I am blamed again for something.  I am trying to not care but I do.  So how do I tell them to get off their high horse.

Be Grateful

So excited 6 days to Sitches West something no one should miss for fiber arts.  Well I finally had what I would call a regularly scheduled day, as I stated earlier in the week I was not  scheduling my days so to speak just getting done what I could get done and make it to previously scheduled appointments.  Today dinner was planned last night as I normally try to do since the darling dearest husband works nights I make dinner before he goes to work, works out nicely that dinner is done when kids are done with school or it used to be that way but this semester #1 daughter only has 1 class a day Mon- Thurs #2 daughter is living in So. Cal  and #3 daughter is on Home/Hospital care thought it would only be 6 weeks or so but we are already 5 weeks into it and she has not even started Physical Therapy we finally got the insurance approval on Monday and so her first PT appt. is next Wed.  and technically they ordered 6 months of therapy twice a week, they only approved 8 weeks worth for now guess we will see how it goes.  Finished the hat I made for Chicken Bone (nickname) she started very heavy Chemo a few weeks back and no problems with hair until yesterday and it is coming out quickly glad I made her a hat for just in case didn't send it hoping for the best but wanted to be ready if and when she might need it, so mailed that one today went to post the pics and they have disappeared from camera if they reappear I will post I am almost done with the girls Valentine pillows #2 daughters were supposed to go in mail today but didn't quite make it but they will go out tomorrow and it should get there on time.  Found the yarn for starting another hat to send to Chicken Bone so will have more WIP than I normally do but in this case should be fine since most are relatively simple and small.  Wrote most of this earlier in the day just after the husband left for work but then had to run to town and so sat down to finish and post and while doing so, husband called to check in from work which he does do periodically but not till closer to being done for the night so when I saw on caller ID knew it would be something out of the ordinary and with his job as an E.R. P.A. there are times when his job is very rough but it is something we have dealt with for over 25 years he started out as an EMT then Paramedic and now a Physician Assistant and living in a small rural area with a level 1 trauma center over 30 miles away there are nights like tonight when I am reminded to be grateful for everything small and large and everything in between as I worry about my friend being treated for Stage 4 non hodgkins  lymphoma I know that she does have a chance but then your husband calls and I can hear it in his voice while he tries to sound strong that he has had a really hard night there was a problem with an 18 month old that did not make it, they are not sure what happened, beyond that he is really worried about his paramedic crew they they thought he would be okay, so time to call in crisis intervention for them. So tonight I am going to pray for what I do have and not worry about what I don't and as I stated earlier be grateful for everything small and large in my life. Happy Knitting to all

Yea Accomplishment

Well all  hope is not lost got all the parts of another heart finished and I am going to try and put them together later tonight or tomorrow I can knit on them without the kids noticing but I can't get them put together with them around, so that part has to wait so I will start another heart in the mean time.  I also got several things done around the house got the carpets cleaned and more general clean up done.  I consider the day a step forward based on the past month but whatcha gonna do.  The husband has been so busy at work lately also we decided to take a few vacation days in a couple of weeks and now not sure its going to happen he works 4 - 10hour shifts 4pm to 2am he has not been getting done till like 3 or after.  He works as a Physician Assistant in a local Emergency Room and the patient level has been so over the top lately  They  odd ball things they end up coming in for are unbelievable, of course there is the usual real emergency room stuff they deal with but some of the things people come in for and or tell how their reason for coming in is just beyond belief swear they make it up as they go and don't really think about what they are saying like the guy who comes in for a narcotic shot when he is already on chronic pain meds (not saying he is not legit) but when the husband told him No  because he had come in the day before for the same thing and patient had been told to contact his regular primary care physician and when patient was told no he bent right over and retied his shoes and went stomping out now I could be wrong but back pain usually causes people to be unable to move as readily as normal and he had no problem and when it was mentioned the guy actually started limping what does that have to do with your back pain? Makes you wonder.

I Give In

The last 7 days have not improved but I am giving in and not going to let it get to me.  I am not going to plan on doing anything specific daily I know what I need to do and making a list is not going to help me get it done, it is so long now that the list would be depressing.  So I am only going to concentrate on what I do get done and be happy with  my progress. It takes so little to make me feel accomplished lately but hte amount of silliness is beyond comprehension.  Today started out so nice with the new water heater FINALLY going in have been taking 5 minute showers and doing dishes as we go a few at a time for lack hot water, then onward to the vet for the cat AGAIN and then a nice finish dinner out with the husbands mother before she leaves for Palm Springs for almost a month. But things did not go as planned headed to the vet and the cat was not having any part of it and as I took him out of his box he was so upset he bit me in the hand I knew the little guy didn't like going but its a necessary evil as we all know but from the bite that lead to a Dr.s appt for me for a updated tetanus, antibiotics and could't believe it pain meds the stupid thing hurt so bad, didn't think such a big deal yeah, yeah, yeah, I was wrong.  Family still went to dinner and it was good but just wasn't up to it the same as I was earlier today.  Goals for tomorrow are anything done at home is progress forward I will attempt planning later this week but maybe not till next week the way things have been going.  Knitting has been slow and maybe slower now from the hand we will see how it feels tomorrow but working of the Valentine Candy Pillows from Jennifer Staffords "domiknitrix" for the girls for Valentines day need to get #2 daughters in mail in mail by Wed.  They all asked for these a couple of years ago and have all but forgot about them so should be a good treat.  Will take pics when done and let you know what they think.  Happy Knitting

No Surprise on this one

Well after yesterdays debacle with the computer software dept. and quality control telling me that they would have my tech support guy call today I was thinking in the back of my mind right sure thing believe it when I get the call they asked what time should he call I told them like noon pacific time and here it is a bit after 3 and I have not heard from them no surprise.  But on to my household things I got the living room under control yesterday cannot believe that missing a few days of picking up the general clutter it caused such a back up got living room completely done clutter picked up vacuumed, dusted etc. and got the most of the kitchen done and got dinner taken care of,  everyone got home and the girls started working on their puzzle and husband ate and hit the couch to try and recover from working Friday night till 2am and then had to be back to work at 8am so the double back in kinda hard.  Me I got 4 virtually uninterrupted hours of knitting got so much done on the beanie that is for a friend of mine who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 non hogkins lymphoma they started her chemo about 4 days after diagnosis so really worried about her but like her outlook her mom and aunt were both diagnosed with breast cancer and her aunt lost her hair which had been dark and very kinky coarse in texture then when it came back in it was a completely smooth great texture and brunette in color so her plan is when she loses her hair and it comes back she plans on being a curly redhead with that plan for her outlook I cannot wait to be standing next to her as she triumphs over this.  Love you Jo An

Wasted Day?

The reason for the name of this post is that it is a toss up to whether the day was a waste or productive.  I had a normal day planned pretending to clean house, make dinner, do a few errands in town make sure the kids did there chores get the husband off to work you know the usual,  the day started with UPS delivering  #1 daughters computer unpacked and started in to check if all repairs were done turns nope they fixed the hardware problems but instead of sending it to the other department to fix the software problems they sent it back to me and then wanted me to send it right back to them same address different department called and asked why they didn't just transfer it to the other department instead of sending it to me and I will give them the credit that they had no asshat answer and admitted it, but they still wanted my to send the laptop back in I balked at this as they had the laptop for a bit over 2 weeks already and  #1 needed it for school. so they finally agreed that if I allowed them remote access they would look into it,  so I allowed it and starting about 4pm they started going through the systems at 7:30pm they told me it would be about another hour and a half I had been on the phone with these guys for 3 1/2hrs already they finally told me we could hang up and they would finish and call me in the morning with the status and of course no phone call, later in the day customer service called to see how happy I was with our service I explained that I did not know if I was happy or not, so they had me turn it on to check it and to no surprise not everything came up so now I have another phone appointment set for tomorrow between 12 and 4 so we'll see how it goes. Finally just gave up last night and just sat down to knit figured if nothing else was going right I should just give up and knit that would help make things right that turned into a joke of sorts also turned out the hat I had started I some how twisted when I joined the ends together,  the most simple instruction to watch for and so had to frog the whole thing and restart but once I got it restarted and past the point of not twisting the join I settled in and actually relaxed and my day settled into something that turned out relaxing and accomplished.  How great that something as basic and (simple) as knitting a few rows can make you feel so accomplished.  How great that a day that was such a waste turned out feeling so accomplished just from "knitting" how great is that .

I'm gonna just start laughing

Well we got the new part for the Home Theater System that was supposed to make to whole thing wireless  IT DID NOT DO IT.   I am so frustrated with Costco and Sony every time I call them they each tell me what part I need to make the wireless work and turns out the right hand has no clue what the left hand is doing. So today I was going to sit down and call each of them and try to get them to take care of this problem but I am so pissed off right now I decided a letter would be better because I don't think that I could make it through the call with out telling them what insane stupid person gave them their job since they  obviously have so actual skills to do the job and so I probably would not get far on the phone but I hopefully I can be more tactful in a letter, although my track record this week is not good I have been having an issue with Signature Needles and the issue has not been resolved to my satisfaction at all but I will still purchase from them but checking each needle carefully. On to the laptop problems 1 came back all fixed and better the 2nd not so much they determined it had hardware and software issues they fixed hardware issues but not the software they fixed it and sent said laptop back to me and told me to send back to same place different department, No my question is once hardware was fixed why wouldn't they just ship it internally over to software department seems easier and simpler but guess that would make sense to do it that way.  I make no claims to being superiorly smart,  or higher intelligence or anything along the line of outrageously smart, but I do pride myself on the fact that I think I use a reasonable amount of common sense (but then again maybe a fignewton of my imagination).  I am almost done with the hood on my hoodie pattern need to find the camera and start posting some pics of things.  Well guess it is about time to go deal with software issue and then sit down and write the letters to Sony and Costco and we'll see how that goes. Dug my way out of a bit more of the household clutter yesterday and going to try for a bit more today.  Husband works day shifts for the next 2 days so maybe I can sort of operate like a normal real day but I don't have high expectations I am going for it.

Moving Forward

Yesterday was great it was probably because I decide to clean up my attitude and schedule and not let the changes screw with me.  And best thing of all I actually got a large amount of knitting done now a large amount compared to what I was doing would not be much but I got to knit for about 3 hours uninterrupted  Called about the new hot water heater and because they somehow lost it they gave me a 10% discount once I receive the unit and have it in and working I will post who they are and all we decided on a tankless style and I checked around my local area for the one we needed and found it to cost about 1400.00 the company I found online was half that price with free shipping and no tax and then 10%off  for there error.  Just finished making arrangements for attending Stitches West 2011, Back to the Hoodie for my niece

Opening Day

Today is Opening Day for me and my blog for knitting and my life with knitting in it.  Over time I hope to at least entertain you a bit and maybe even get a chuckle out of you with something I post.  For know my biggest reason and goal for this blog is in the the last few weeks I have had to deal with 2 laptops going down currently waiting for repair estimates water heater is dying ordered new one but they forgot to place order so it will be at least another week before we get the new one so that means sort of hot/warm showers that only last about 4 to 5 minutes, can't run dishwasher not enough hot water and I have learned that even though I am married to successful accomplished husband he does not know how to wash a dish by hand to save his life and I some how also failed to teach 3 wonderful bright smart daughters how to do the same task that or they are short that learning curve in all 4 of them so DNA thing (time will tell) have a cat take weighs 11 lbs but is solid muscle and so not very big overall and thinks he is king of the neighborhood and came home after a fight with something from the neighborhood he had a laceration on 1 eye and the vet bill is currently up to about 800.00 we also have a 180lbs Newfie/lab mix dog who seems to have hives and so we have to give him benedryl 3 times a day.  Husband had a chance to switch to day shift and told me he would think about it but really had no intention of it he likes working nights less people in his way so he can just do his job but I really liked the idea of real life him working the 9 to 5 gig but since he is no longer working 24 or 48 hour shifts nights only are an improvement and daughter #3 has been experiencing unexplained knee pain and the usual medications are not working and while they figure it out they have put her on Vicodin and so it makes her a slosh brain so we had to put her on Home/Hospital school status.  With all of this I keep knitting but with the amount of time I have had I have only been able to knit maybe 20 minutes a day and it is beginning to drive me nuts the fact I am not getting anything accomplished I currently have 3 projects on the needles a hoodie for my niece a hat for a friend who was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and within 3 days of diagnosis they started her chemo not even time to absorb so I feel all I can do for now is knit for her but right now not enough time to knit and the 3rd project is the 2nd sock for my husband who is being very patient but still feel the need to get something done.  Plus Stitches West is next month and if I don't get anything done I am trying to figure out how to justify purchasing more yarn when I have not used any of my stash lately, any suggestions on any of this would be greatly appreciated Happy Knitting all