Dang RA

Today is Monday. There is something about Monday that says wash the clothes, change the beds, vacume the floors. Before I "got" RA I was pretty good at cleaning the whole house in one day. You start and then go till you finish. Then you do not have it take more than one day. Dang RA. Now I have to spread things out over time and sometimes just ignore the heck out of them until I cannot stand it any longer. I mean eventually you have to vacuum the carpet when you know you have seen lint, yarn scraps, or clumps of dirt that have fallen out of shoes for...well let's say a while. Today was vacuum day. It really needed it. Since I have a Dyson, which I love, it can also be run over the wood floor in the kitchen. Ok, all I did was vacuum the bedrooms, down the hall, the living room and then the kitchen. I am exhausted. I hate it. RA tends to make you not only ache and have various levels of pain but make you really tired. I do not know how I continued to teach school right after I first found out it was RA that was causing all the trouble. Now I am just tired all the time. This is something that a lot of people do not realize. RA is systemic. It affects your whole body system. Lately my foot has been acting weird, well really down by my toes. Dang. Another place to have checked and find out why it is bugging me. So I am really tired of being tired. Dang RA.

New Shawl

First off the color is really nothing like pictured here. I was wading through my yarn stash the other day and found some yarn that had been sitting in there forever. We are talking years. I believe that yarn, if left alone, will eventually tell us what it is supposed to be. This yarn is actually a very pretty what I would call turquoise. The label called it Caribbean Sea. When I saw that I knew what it was supposed to be. Since Matthew and Corteney are getting married in September in the Virgin Islands we are taking a cruise to be at the wedding. Aunt JE said you better take a shawl as sometimes the dining rooms and shows are cool, temperature-wise. All of my shawls are more winter type. What to do? Then while I was looking for something else I came across this yarn. Now remember I am still having camera and computer issues so the colors are some different. The yarn is Brown Sheep Co Cotton Fleece in #520 Caribbean Sea. I wanted something to knit quick and decided on a drop stitch, garter stitch, yarn over pattern. Since I made it up in my head, see sometimes those voices are constructive, I tried to balance the pattern out. I only had three skeins to work with. Once I finished it I decided it needed something else. Then I remembered some yarn I had gotten in Florida about five years ago. Filatura di Crosa in "Brilla" color #9556. The blue in it matched the shawl perfectly and then it had pink, green and pale yellow that blended in very nicely. So once I have a better picture, and me actually wearing it, I will post it. I really do like it and now have a more summer weight shawl.

Summer Reading

I love to read. I read all year long. I read biographies, political books, fiction but I especially like mysteries. I usually have someone recommend a book and I read through the whole series (no sci-fi fantasies or romances). I have read through Louis Lamour for the western flavor. Of course Tony Hillerman has written fantastic books about Native Americans in New Mexico. Along that line is also Margaret Coel. For Alaska mysteries no one beats Dana Stabenow and her Kate Shugak or Sue Henry and her Jessie Arnold. If you have been to Alaska you will recognize many places in their books. I can re-read their books over and over. For easy reading there is Lilian Jackson Braun and her "The Cat Who..." series. Katherine Page Hall and Cleo Coyle (who writes the coffeshop mysteries) are both enjoyable. Blogger Lene Andersen, http://www.theseatedview.com/ , recommended Elizabeth Peters who writes the Amelia Peabody mysteries. Amelia is an archeologist in the early 1900's. Great reading. If you are interested knitting and handwork there are Monica Ferris and Maggie Sefton along with numerous new authors who have begun writing about handcrafts. I can't leave out Brad Thor. If you like political thrillers he is top rate. I also include whatever biographies or political books that happen to hit my fancy. I love reading about Eleanor Roosevelt. Blanche Wiesen Cook has a great two book series with the hope of a third coming out eventually. I have been also reading Karl Rove's new book this summer. Hey, variety is the spice of life. Right now I am in the middle of reading James Patterson's Woman's Murder Club books. I wanted something different and had not read any of his books. I do remember something about this series being a TV show a few years back. I think Angie Harmon was in it. I just finished book four, "The 4th of July", and am getting ready to start the fifth one, "5th Horseman". This is typical of reading for me. I get into a series and read it until either I finish it or get tired and move to another author. With the economy being the way it is if Border's or Barnes and Noble are just to expensive for you try Half Price Books. You can feed your habit by selling your old books so you can buy new ones. Or you can do like I have been having to do this summer, don't forget your public library. If you are on a reading jag then this is the cheapest way to go. Not only that but don't forget your taxes pay for those books. Take advantage of that. I always think it is weird when people are asked what is the last book they have read and they do not have an answer. Keep a list of what you read. Not only will you see what some of your preferences are but you can look back at the end of the year and see what you have accomplished. Go on, get reading.

It's Official

It's official. Matthew and Corteney are engaged. This last week they took a cruise to Alaska (my favorite place). He asked her and she said yes. We are all very excited and happy for them. The wedding will be in September in the Virgin Islands. Love you both.

Happy Birthday Joseph!

Today is Joseph's 24th birthday. Wow, I can't believe it. I am especially glad to celebrate his birthday this year. It is the first one he has had at home after his stint in the Army. Happy Birthday JoJo. Love you bunches!