Thursday, August 09, 2012

Yeah, it's been a minute...

Hi. It's me. How goes it?

It's been a really long time, but I think it's taken me a really long time to get it together.

We are settled in. I'm done with school and am gainfully employed. We love our new neighborhood, the boys love their new schools.  Even though we lived here before, this area has taken some getting used to all over again. Traffic is a beast and people just aren't as friendly here as they were in San Antonio.

I don't really want to talk to much about the move and the months leading up to it (I call it "the dark time"...lol), but I will say everything went surprisingly smooth.  We found a house, got the old one rented out in no time. I had a great friend I was able to stay with while I finished school. Was it hard being separated from my family for those months? Sure, but what can you do.

I do know that we are done moving. Yay.

Ok, crafty talk. Hmm....Oh!  I know!!

I made this:

It's the Tiny Tea Leaves pattern by Melissa LeBarre. I used Neighborhood Fiber Co. worsted yarn in Victorian Pink from Fibre Space, and the cutest buttons:

I won't tell you guys how long it took me to post those pictures. You see we got a new computer, a mac and it's all foreign to me. I'm getting it though, and it really is very user friendly.

That's all I've got for now, and I'm sure I'm probably talking to myself since I've been away so long but I made a promise to myself to get back to blogging regularly, and I'm holding myself to it.  Besides, it's something I enjoy!











Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Well...damn.

So I came here, and posted that I would start posting. Heh.

My life has changed drastically since Feb 20, 2010. I guess you can say I'm a stronger person, but honestly I just feel a little beat down.

Sometime around Thanksgiving last year we found out DH was deploying again. Since I was in nursing school I knew it would be a challenge but not impossible. The boys were in school the same time I was and as long as no one got sick I was good right? Things were good, until February 22nd. When I wrote my last post, Jaylen was really down. He told me he missed his daddy and that was understandable, but then he started acting really weird. He was always thirsty and started wetting the bed. This is a kid that never had accidents, so I made him an appointment for Tuesday the 23rd.

Monday morning he threw up all over the floor (again, not like him to not make it to the bathroom) and just looked...bad. I made an appointment for that morning and took him in. The doctor we saw told me it was probably psychological, and wrote the vomiting off as a stomach bug (the other kids were sick the week before). We went to the lab to leave some urine and she sent us home. I remember looking at how skinny he was and thinking "something isn't right"

It wasn't. There was glucose in his urine. We got the call to come back in for a blood test and his blood glucose reading was 458. He was in DKA. That's how we found out that my 9yo was a type 1 diabetic. His pancreas had probably been on the decline for a while, but people usually don't show symptoms until it can no longer compensate. He went straight to the pediatric ICU where he stayed for 3 days. He was so dehydrated they had to put an IV in his neck.

I had one kid in one school, one kid in another, one kid in the hospital, and a deployed husband. I had no time to 'think', I had to 'do'.

The boys stayed with a neighbor for the first few days. The hospital was across town, so I spent a lot of time driving back and forth. Jaylen would cry every time I left. DH was able to come home for 10 days emergency leave and my sister flew from NY to help because I hadn't slept a full night in 4 days. Thank goodness.

Well DH went back overseas, my sis went back to NY, and the dust settled. We tried our best to settle into our new lifestyle. Jaylen had (has) to account for everything that went into his mouth. We counted carbs, and weighed portions. He was taking at least 7 shots a day. My kid is a trooper, he never complained.

Very soon we talked with his endocrinologist and diabetes educator about an insulin pump. We got him started on an Omnipod and never looked back!

Just when I think 2010 gave it to me good, we get orders. With DH still deployed that leaves me to get the house market ready. Remember I'm still in school? Ugh!

So now it's April, and we're MD bound so I have a lot of work to do. I've rambled enough though so I'll tell y'all about that next time.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

*coughcough*

Whew! I think it's about time I blew the dust off of this blog.

Things are busy as they always are, but I'm still spinning, knitting and mothering and I miss talking about it all. That is, if anyone is still around to listen...

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Progress? Not so much.

I've done 2 more pattern repeats on my sock, not that you can tell...
How sad. Looks like the same picture from last time, huh? I need to be studying for a test today. I need to work on a project. I need to step away from this computer.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

the daily grind

When you're a kid, you think it's gonna be so much fun once you grow up. What you don't realize is that grownups do the same thing, just about every.single.day.

Yes many of us, myself included, are to some extent creatures of habit. I like my coffee a certain way, and I like it in a certain mug. I prefer to knit my socks top-down on DPNs and don't really care to do it any other way.
But the other stuff? If I could have a day where no one would make a mess? It would be amazing...no one would dirty a dish, create and laundry, need to eat. Hell in my fantasy, just for the day, the cat wouldn't even need to use the litter box.

I really can't complain, though. When DH was first deployed I would always ask him how things were and he would say 'same old same old'. He told me that his days were like the movie 'Groundhog Day'. I thought about it, and he has a point.

The kids not only drive me nuts, they keep it interesting. There is always someone around to sing me a song, show me a dance or tell me a joke (even if it's not funny). Then there is school, which is nothing if not a new adventure every night. Tonight I am in the postpartum unit. There is always drama in the postpartum unit.

So when I'm done with this post and go upstairs to switch out a load of laundry, and then empty the dishwasher, I'll try and remind myself of all of the excitement in my life. Maybe it will pump me up to go to the grocery store and get my oil changed, and come home and do homework.
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Even though I have a preferred way to knit my socks, I'm always on the lookout for DPNs to love. Those in that picture up there are the Knit Picks Options. It's my first time ever knitting with metal and I don't know how I feel about it yet. I think they make my hand cramp up, and I'm not a tight knitter. I'll use them, but I don't love them. I have a set of the Harmony but they are just too dark for my tastes. I do like to knit with them though.

BTW, those socks up there? They are the Maelstrom socks from Twist Collective. I joined Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry and the sock is for the September installment of sockdown. I'm also still working on my failed Olympic project, Loppem from Norah Gaughan Vol. 3.

This sweater had two false starts. I'm also annoyed with the amount of errata but it's coming along nicely now. One thing I do like is that the pattern gives you the height of the model. In this case the model is 5'2'', and the sweater comes down to about her hips. Well, there was no way that 9'' from the armhole dowm was going to be anywhere near long enough for my 5'7'' frame. So I added length. A lot of length. Also, the sweater is very green...the yarn is Andean Silk in 'leaf'. I couldn't get the color to come through in the picture.


I still spin, too. Unfortunately I usually only have time for knitting or spinning here as of late, but I did recently finish some stuff...










I really do hope that when DH gets back (less than two weeks to go now. Yay!) that I will be able to drag the wheel out more often.











Well it is time to finish off my coffee and get started with that daily grind because before I know it it's time to go to school and my day is OVER!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Had to take a break...

and a rest...




















We had a party with cake...





















and even ate some...





















Now we're ready to get back to this blogging business!






















Sorry I've been slacking folks. With hubby deployed and school in full swing for me I've been (heh) busy. Not to mention the total time stealer that is Ravelry. I love Ravelry. I will be back later this afternoon with some blog housekeeping, you know like adding links and deleting others. Now we must tackle the monster better known as shopping for school supplies!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Coffee Swap!

Here are my answers for the coffee swap 3 questionnaire...

1. Whole bean or ground?
I'm partial to whole bean, but wouldn't turn my nose up at ground.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
And the point of decaf would be...? Fully loaded for sure!

3. Regular or flavored?
Both have their place. I really like all of the flavors that come out this time of year though...pumpkin spice, gingerbread, etc.

4. How do you drink your coffee?
Cream and sugar.

5. Favorite coffee ever?
I don't necessarily have a favorite, I like a nice medium roast for everyday. The dark french stuff very rarely.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
I'm not too fussy, but I don't buy Folgers or Maxwell house.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
I have a serious sweet tooth, and a weakness for chocolate. I'm not a big fan of nuts in my baked goods.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
Not that I can think of...

9. Yarn/fiber you love?
I like blends...cotton/wool, wool/silk..stuff like that. Laceweight and sock yarn are always crowd pleasers!

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?
I don't like most furry/flashy/synthetic yarns.

11. What's on your needles?
A garnstudio jacket in Berocco Ultra Alpaca, the Secret of the Stole in Skacel laceweight, a baby dress in O~Wool, and the Josephine Top in Rowan 4ply cotton. Oh, and a Monkey sock but I might rip it because I don't know that I like the yarn/pattern combo.

12. Favorite colors?
I love to knit and spin all colors! My favorites come and go depending on my mood and the season. I'm loving all the fall colors...colors of the changing leaves. I have to pretend, since where I live it's hot as hades 10 months out of the year.

13. Allergies?
Smoke and dust. Looks like I'm allergic to mountain cedar too but that is really irrelevant!

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? No, not really. Any questions just ask but I'm pretty easy!


It's a gloomy day around these parts. Thankfully this means a slight drop in temperature but it's still humid as all get out. I should be reading for class tonight but I'm knitting on my Drops jacket and surfing the web. I might even spin for a little bit. I'm such a rebel ;p~