How Much?

Yesterday I decided to mail two packages. One is the hats pictured that go to the Knit A Cap group. I have written about this group in a previous blog. Each year they are mailed to Washington DC and then are put together with other knitters hats and shipped throughout the country to children on Reservations. My sister JE knitted 350 hats for this year alone. I was a little distracted with all the baby knitting and only had 37. I decided that I would put myself on a schedule of a certain number of hats each week for next year. I am not writing it here because I would be mad not to reach my goal. The other package was the baby knitting for Drew that I wrote about in a post last week. I had a flat rate box from the post office I was going to use to mail to Drew. The hats are usually shipped by Fed Ex because they ship for the best price in the large quantities of boxes we usually have. First I went to the post office. Flat rate has always been $8.50 which was a pretty good price for the fact that it can be as heavy as you want for that price. I did include a tracking just because I like to know when stuff arrives. My total, $11.05. Huh? I thought it was $8.50. No $10.35 plus the .70 for tracking. This was for a 2.90lb package. The worker said, well I guess it went up when postage did. You want it back? Now on a day when I was in more of a fighting/arguing mood I would have said heck yeah give it back. But it was already in the pile and I was in a state of shock. So I left complaining to myself. A man in the parking lot looked at me kind of funny and I told him what happened. He just shook his head. I headed to FedEx waiting to see what the big computer paper box was going to cost me to mail. My 4.70 lb box cost $11.56 and that included the tracking. So for 51 cents more I was able to ship 1.80 lb more. Not only that but the worker who took my package was courteous, friendly and I did not have to stand in a line out the door with one worker taking all the packages. Now I am not telling anyone how to ship their packages but it just seems that when we are spending our money to shop/mail things not only are we going to go where the prices are the best but where the employees at least act like they don't mind helping us with our shipping.

Creaky

It is interesting how sometimes things happen at the same time. I love cloudy rainy days but after finally just now getting over my cold, that yes did last the two full weeks, it seems it has been raining for almost that long. It would not bother me so much but even with the wonderful meds that my rheumatologist has me on, I still get creaky. Yesterday was one of those days. Monday was beautiful, sunny and warm at 94 degrees. This morning I woke up and yes that cold front did come through, it was 61 and cloudy. So I ache and am stiff and am wondering if it is going to rain again. Fall is actually my favorite time of year. I think it is because of the break in the 100+ degree summers. But it also brings wild and weird weather that can play havok with not just my joints but with my whole system. I told my doctor I feel like I have the flu all the time. He agreed that was a good assessment of what it feels like to have RA. That constant tired ache that makes everything an effort. So I thought, well today I will blog about living with RA and how it shapes everything that I do and my mental outlook. Then I got a notice that Lene Andersen had a new post on http://www.RACentral.com/ This is a great site for people to get info and/or talk to others about RA. When I read Lene's post today I thought, yes, this is exactly it. So there are three things that I wish for people to do today, well four. And if it is too much for today then please do it this week. I have links on my blog for Lene, http://www.theseatedview.com/ ,RACentral, the site for http://www.bucklemeupmovement.com , and www.butyoudontlooksick.com/the_spoon_theory . If you have never before read any of these sites please do today. There is not just a lot of information about RA but also autoimmune disease in general. For those of us to describe how we are "feeling" it sometimes is hard and feels like it falls on deaf ears. We don't want sympathy, just understanding of how we have to work around this disease so we can live our lives in what has become our new normal.

Sewing?

Yes, sewing. I do not really like to sew but last week when I started getting a cold I found this material. I was looking for some cotton yarn and ran a cross the red and green elephant fabric. I had gotten in when Jo was small and had intended to make her a blankie. Other things got in the way and I never got anything made. I am trying to "lighten the load" of stuff that is not needed, that of course does not include stash yarn, and I decided to whip up the girls blankies. Fortunately these were all straight seams because I have been known to sew the front to the back on a shirt before. So I got the stuffing for the pillows and the flat stuffing for the blankies so they would be cushy. Jo's is the elephants on both sides and Scout's has the green backing that matches the color of the elephants. I also found this great flamingo fabric so I made a pillow for Jo to use on her "crouton", fouton, while she watches her movies. They both loved them. I took this picture of Jo right before she went to bed. It is not the best and I think she looks kind of like a princess waiting on someone to bring her something. This should be the last of the sewing, except when I have to stitch together the Christmas stockings. Yes I can sew but only when I have to.

Hmm...

I was looking at these socks and noticed, they don't match exactly. I always make sure that when casting on this type of striping that I match the colors. Then I realized why they don't match. About 2 or so inches from the ribbing there was a flaw, a weak spot in the yarn. I had to trim it and then reattach it together. It was not much but apparently just enough to make the right toe not have the burnt orange . Glad I at least figured it out. That type of thing bugs me especially when I want them to match.

Finally

I finally finished the Berroco socks. I started these back in the spring before Scout was born and with all the baby knitting this summer I never could finish these. I like them. I like socks that self pattern. You can knit to your heart's content basically without thinking. It is Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe. I love that pattern because it is so basic and easy and as I said, you can knit it without thinking. Next I am finishing the Tofutsies that have been on the needles for almost as long. One is finished and the second is knit to the rib area. I also have CookieA's Monkey socks on needles. Socks are wonderful things. They are so compact and can be stuck in a small bag and taken anywhere. I have to complete Christmas stockings for Scout and Drew but those are felt and sewn so hopefully I will have two more pairs of socks finished and ready when the cool weather appears.

Knitting

I finished the knitting for the new grandboy who is set to arrive in late November. His sixteen month old twin brothers each have a set like this too. One of those was done in Dallas Cowboys blue and silver and the other in Texas A&M maroon and silver. I had a hard time deciding what colors to use but Allison suggested black and red since living so close to Lubbock "The Amarillans" have adopted Texas Tech. I was very happy with how vivid the colors turned out. I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in black and fire red. I like using ILTY for these type of afghans because they are so thick and sturdy and wash and dry well. They can take a lot of abuse. There are two small "car blankies" that I have found are very important. This way the kiddo can have a smaller version of their favorite blankie in the car and a spare in case of an emergency. I made the twins a matching hat so all three boys would have a new hat for the fall. I also knitted up the first of several dishcloths for Uncle Daisey. The last time I was at his house I he was in desperate need of some new ones. Since he likes the Texas/western theme I made this one with Texas on it out of Peaches & Creme # 26 light blue. I wanted to use a color that I knew did not bleed. I have found that some of the darker colors that I would have prefered using lose their color and not just once or twice but for a very long time. I found a couple of other good Texas type patterns that I want to try making. It always seems that dishcloths all wear out at the same time. More to come.

Fall Colds

This is not about cold weather although I do like it when the leaves change and the temperatures cool down. Really, when the weatherman says we are having a cold front come through and all he means is that instead of 96 degrees it is going to be 89 degrees, well I find a little weirdness in that. I have had my first fall, is it fall yet, cold. I was fine last Sunday. On Monday I went to Blah Blah's birthday party and was fine. No one there was sick. On Tuesday night I started getting a scratchy throat. Thinking maybe it was allergies I did not worry but then on Wednesday it got worse. Uh oh, I thought to myself. Since my diagnosis of RA and all that includes a psycho immune system plus all the wonderful drugs that deplete the little immune system you have just so you can function, I have found that I have a pattern to colds. I get a sore throat for a day or two and then it goes away. The first couple of times this happened I thought I had escaped being sick. But, on about the third day that is when the congestion, runny nose (how is that possible at the same time?) and general crappiness starts only to take a full two weeks before it is completely gone. This has become my pattern for colds. I was a little perturbed because this weekend Matthew was having everybody over for fajitas with all the yummies that go with them. I kept trying to tell myself all week that I was not really sick, that it is just allergies, the pollen, but as the week went by I knew it was a cold. First you can't sleep because you can't breathe and then you can't sleep because you wake up coughing. I think I am getting better but I had to miss the fajita get together today because I did not want to expose anyone but especially the little grandgirls and Matthew himself who has his own immune challenges. So here I sit, drinking Diet Coke. I have been thinking about this time of year and the coming flu season. I know a lot of churches are like mine where everyone greets everyone else and shakes hands. That is the only place I have been where I might have gotten this cold. So what do those who are immune challenged do this time of year. I mean you do not want to appear rude or unfriendly, frankly I do not want to have to say sorry I don't want your germs and pull out my Purel in the middle of church. I think that we can be friendly but I think at this time of year especially there has to be another way to solve this. How about an announcement from the pulpit, hey it's the cold and flu season just say hi and don't shake hands. That might help against the spread of germs. If not then I guess I will become the lady who sits in the back with her Purel bottle.

Day of Remembrance

Today we remember the events of September 11, 2001. The American's who died that day and their families who still live without them every day. We also think about the sacrifices of our US military who serve, fight and protect us here at home and abroad.

September 9th

September 9th. I will never forget September 9th. Two years ago today Matthew, aka Uncle Daisey, had a motorcycle wreck. It was very serious and he spent a month in the hospital and two months at my house recouperating. He has no memory of the first two weeks in the hospital. After arriving at the hospital he had surgery to remove his spleen. He also had TBI, traumatic brain injury. This was very scary. We had no idea what the outcome of the TBI was going to be. I tell him he is a walking miracle. The doctors all thought so too. Today if you were to meet him other than his large scar from his abdominal surgery you would probably never know he had also suffered TBI. He pretty much acts his normal self. He goes to work everyday and this year is running more. He takes his dog Daisey with him running in the evenings while he gets ready for 5 and 10 K's. That phone call on September 9th was the kind that every parent dreads no matter how old their kid is. I will be forever grateful to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. They have a wonderful trauma unit and I know that is part of the reason that Matthew survived. Another part was his strong will, which sometimes drives us crazy. I have no idea who he got that from. Lastly he truly is a walking miracle and I have no doubt that is because of God's grace. I love ya Matthew.