F u g u e S t a t e K n i t s

HAPPY NEW YEAR:)!!

2011-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

So of course I wait until midnight 1/1/2012 to finally add a post to this thing, LOL!:) I am home alone, like the little kid in the movies, except no aftershave on my cheeks, thank goodness! It has been months since I wrote and I am truly sorry, because it seemed like so much of life happened and I even took pictures, but I didn't write about it.

We celebrated our anniversary in Williamsburg, VA.
I "graduated" from EfM.
We celebrated Thanksgiving. We celebrated Advent and Christmas. And boy was Christmas a very musical Christmas for this fuguestate knitter:)!

I rang and I sang and I played flute and tympani - yes TYMPANI!! - for the Rutter Gloria, Joy to the World and the Hallelujah Chorus. As we used to say in high school: "What a pisser!" (In New York, that was a good thing, unlike in Boston.)

The weight loss surgery has helped enormously. I haven't lost weight at warp speed, but lost it I have:

I'm certainly not 32 years old any more, as I was in this picture, but I'm a lot healthier than I was a year ago, and for that I'm very thankful! That and the fact that all of the children in the picture now can change their own pants (and hopefully don't have to!).
Work has continued to be challenging and of course worthwhile!

Our family has grown this year with the addition of a new human being. He is a pistol:)

I continue to be blessed with friends, family, colleagues whom I respect, a career I love and hobbies that keep me interested:)

And I am ever on guard for a random attack:

In the past three months, I have started many a knitting project and even finished a few.

And lest I have too much free time on my hands (NOT), my DD Betsy gifted me with this lovely 'ting" this Christmas:

Oh yes, she did! And most of all, this guy still puts up with me.

In other words, can't complain:)!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!
And God be with you 'til we meet again:)!
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OMG, where to even begin:)?

2011-11-25T07:39:00.001-08:00

Well, dear 2.5, please forgive me. It's been two months since my last confession and in that time I have sinned mightily:) I've completed about 9 or 10 projects and added about... 9 or 10 projects:).

Also during this time, John and I went to Williamsburg for the weekend in honor of our 35th wedding anniversary.

And to the Jamestown settlement.

Two weeks ago, I went on my first knitting retreat with the Columbia Sip 'N Knit,

and had a BLAST:)!!!

BTW, our own Lynn Zwerling and Sheila Rovelstad and their Knitting Behind Bars project got a great mention in the Bawlmer Sunpapers this week:)! And it got a mention on Facebook for the Vogue Knitting site! Yes! You should hear Lynn and Sheila talk about their "guys," most of whom are young enough to be their (and my) own kids. It makes a difference, though. Only knitters would understand how it can.:)
Work has been it's usual nutty thing. I alternate my time among there, court, visits, and paperwork. When work is over (it never is, LOL!), at least three nights a week I'm ringing, singing, practicing for the Christmas music (I get to play tympani and flute this year, thankfully not at the same time), or if I'm a really good doobie, I get to go to the knitting group on Wednesday nights or Saturday mornings. By the time I'm home, I'm either knitting or sleeping. Not much time lately to blog.
So, I am grateful to have this relatively quiet Friday (although I do have to leave for one client visit in 30 minutes or so - oh well).
Yesterday, we in the USA celebrated our Thanksgiving. It was wonderful - that is until I fell asleep after too many carbs! Today I am boycotting Black Friday. No, I'm not above it all - I just don't really do much Christmas shopping. John and I give the kids money. The only shopping we really do is for each other (if we exchange gifts - it depends) - or for the grandangels at our Christmas Eve lunch date at a little store in Old Ellicott City called Mumbles and Squeaks. Any gifts for my folks (the only living Great Grands) is done online and shipped to them directly. There are just too many brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews for us to exchange gifts with them. The big push for us is getting the Christmas cards out to family, friends and colleagues. Our kids exchange gifts by means of a lottery (yeah, really high-tech: John and I pick names out of a hat and they don't keep it a secret, which works for them).
Anyway, that's why I really don't do the Black Friday thing. I want Thanksgiving to be Thanksgiving and Christmas to be Christmas, but I don't begrudge others their chance at a good bargain or the local stores a chance to get into the black financially.
In other news, last May I finally finished my last EfM class and got the certificate. University of the South at Sewanee, I thank you, though I feel I haven't scratched the surface of the subject matter. Come to think of it, anyone who thinks they have this subject matter down pat is delusional, LOL!:) Some of my fellow students were frankly surprised and one has told me I still owe him a class presentation for the one he did for me last year. We had our little graduation soiree a week ago Friday and were presented our certificates of completion. It was wonderful to see everyone again, to catch up, to pray and to just enjoy each other's company. It was a wonderful experience - and yes a time commitment - and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested. Thank you to Charles O. for the picture at the right.
Currently, I have about 8,265 projects on the needles - no really, it's only about 48, four of which are currently active. They are:
Peabody - Nancy's Christmas sweater:) (see lavender sweater above)
Spire - in green (see green blob on circs above)
Lambert Lace Sampler - in leftover white organic cotton (see white lace thingie under the keyboard above)
Seaman's style scarf with reversible cables - in some lovely iron blue merino:)(see blue cabled thingie above)
Have no fear, I'll be adding one or two more within the week:)
Well, best be getting to that visit. I've missed you all and hope to write more regularly.
Until then, God be with you 'til we meet again!
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Life, Flying By

2011-09-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

At least that's what it feels like lately. This year I don't have EfM, so my Wednesday evenings are dedicated to prepping for the Thursday docket with reading and client visits, or, if I am a Very Good Girl and have my work done, I can do the Sip 'n Knit thing. I finally got enough things done so that this week I went not once but TWICE:) And the second time was a Yarn Swap this morning! I traded in a lot 'o yarn and received back another ton to replace it:) - and some tools and old magazines and books! I now have a copy of yet another of Barbara G. Walker's amazing books - this time of the knitting variety: Knitting from the Top. (The other one of her books is The Crone: Woman of Age, Wisdom, and Power not a knitting book, but extremely interesting - think I will also get her Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets.) I have enough yarn for a small sweater or vest, another colorwork vest, and about four or five shawls. This will definitely supplement my Christmas knitting! I hope that whoever got what I brought will be able to put that yarn to good use.

Well, what's been going on these past two weeks?

Work has been very busy, and the usual early fall busy-ness has set upon us. I've joined the Women's Bar Association and am looking forward to the Meet and Greet in about two weeks. Choir and Bells are back in full force as is Stephen Min. This October, John and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and are going to go to Williamsburg for a long weekend. I've always wanted to see Williamsburg and am looking forward to exploring whatever history I can find there. During Veteran's Day weekend, the Sip 'n Knit group has a Knitting Retreat planned at Clagett Center out in Western Merlin - and I'm going!! Yippee:)!! Unfortunately, it falls on the very weekend of the Orchestra of St. John's first concert of the season - and Nancy is playing an organ solo. I will be able to make the concert, I think, but will be missing an opportunity to play tympani with them. That's a bummer, but I had made plans for the retreat before learning of the musical opportunity, and a deal's a deal. Why is it that the great stuff all seems to happen at the same time?

Speaking of the OSJ, last Friday, the Howard County Arts Council presented them with their grant award. A bunch of us went to the reception and then Nancy, Rennie and I went to dinner. Had a great time. It's so much fun to talk with them about those very things we are taught to avoid in polite company: religion and politics. My only regret is that John had to work that night and couldn't join us.

Yesterday evening, John and I joined our daughter S at her place in DC. It's a decent neighborhood and she is working full tilt on that PhD program. Her place was lovely, dinner delicious, and the conversation fun. We actually got home at about 9 p.m.! Then we spent the next few hours chatting with our daughter, B when she got home from work - so in spite of our early return to "Merlin," we were up until 3. Correction: John was up until 3. I stayed up another hour and a half to steam block the Rivendell! You'd think I'd be sleepy now!

On the knitting front, I have all but finished one project and completely finished two others.

Sonny's Dr. Who scarf just needs the ends woven in and the tassles. All but done.

I finally finished Romi's Brandywine Shawl. After blocking it to within an inch of its life, it actually turned out quite nicely.

Also finished a shorter version of Susan Pandorf's Rivendell Smoke Ring. It ended up being a rather pretty cowl. My daughter, B, likes to use those in the cold months of winter - the color of this beautiful Madeline Tosh Merino (colorway: nutmeg) is perfect for her.

We have two of our grandangels spending the night with us so their mom and dad can have some fun with friends. It was a rough day with them today. I honestly think they both just really needed more of our attention than we could give them. When I finally decided to sit with them and give them a fairly small amount of time and effort, it made a huge difference. Funny how we forget that sometimes.

Well, they are now safely snug in bed. "Pop" is partaking of an exhausted sleep and I am typing this as the house is quiet. One daughter is driving the other home to DC and I am waiting up for her safe return. So I will knit:) It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Luckily, I will have a little bit of time to sleep tomorrow morning, since we sing the later service:)

Well, dear 2.5, God be with you 'til we meet again:)

My knitting is a hydra

2011-09-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

No sooner do I finish one project, at least two spring up to take its place:)

I have lost count. But here are a few things I've recently started and aim to finish. Someday:)

The Dr. Who Scarf for my dear SIL who has been waiting patiently for two years for me to do it. I've now about doubled the progress shown in this picture. It's actually been a lot of fun.

Lace Shawl #21 from Vogue Knitting Fall 2011

This has been a lot of fun, too, now that I think I've gotten the hang of the lace pattern (It's amazing what not drinking anymore - well, nothing alcoholic anyway - can do for your lace knitting!) I've wanted to use the light grey yarn in stash for a while and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

I've also made some progress (believe it or not) on the Aranmor for Danny (yes, in Red Heart acrylic "aran" color, so hit me).

And hey, S requested this hat which I started and finished in one night. Who knew?

One of the things they warn you about when you go through weight loss surgery is cross addiction. I thought I'd have to watch the red vino, but I really don't miss it. Crack isn't my thing (thankfully!) I guess it's this knitting thing. And there's no cure.

Good:)!

I've also been working on a wrap for my daughter K (wife of the aforementioned SIL). The thing is, I've been working on this wrap for her WEDDING three years ago. It got far too hot that weekend, so it wasn't a total loss, but it was a perfectly lovely pattern by Lucy Neatby and I didn't see the point in stopping. It was on hiatus for a time because I ran out of yarn (Cotton Fleece in white) and the LYS either didn't carry it or didn't have any more in white. Well that changed recently and I'm back on the job. Of course it does feel a little silly, since they now have two children, LOL! The good news is, I believe this wrap will go with just about anything - but it's not machine washable. Believe it or not, I actually made a bit 'o progress on that, too!

I really like this pattern - the Falling Leaves Scarf - because it is quite variable and can be as large or small as you want it. I especially love that both sides of the fabric are quite nice.

This morning I woke up to babysit the grandgirls. John got up around 3 to take the "second shift" so I could go to a small memorial service for the 9/11 victims and survivors. It was a lovely September day, a little hotter than usual. We were a small group, standing within the circles of the little labyrinth in front of the church. It was a small outdoor service. The children in the school and some adults had created a huge number of pennants to express their prayers for peace on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. One of the readings, about forgiveness was as follows:

Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what happened seriously and not minimizing it; drawing out the sting in the memory that threates to poison our entire existence. It involves trying to understand the perpetrators and so have empathy, to try to stand in their shoes and appreciate the sort of pressures and influences that might have conditioned them...By forgiveness we are saying here is a chance to make a new beginning.

Speaking of forgiveness in the wake of such an extraordinary act of inhuman cruelty is a difficult task. But then I saw who wrote those words and was instantly silent: Desmond Tutu.

As a fellow worshiper said to me, "Seeing his name took me back a bit." It was nice to meet some people at church I don't ordinarily see - and to see someone I hadn't seen since I joined this church. It was a quiet, unassuming little service and all the more moving for it.

Well, I'd better get to bed; it's getting late and I've got to be up in 5 hours. Yikes....

God be with you 'til we meet again+

I Love NY

2011-09-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

There used to be an ad campaign with this title. It always seemed so silly to me.

Until 9/11.

I was born in the New York metropolitan area. My parents were both native New Yawkas, having grown up within just a few miles of each other. My maternal relatives were from Brooklyn; my paternal grands were originally from Pittsburgh, then moved to Chicago, then finally settled in New York, my grandfather finding work as a musician that provided a salary, the majority of which was saved in the bank and that fed a family of four through the Depression, when work was scarce for about five years.

Going into "The City" was always a special time. New York City is so big that it contains five NY Counties - known as "Boroughs." Manhattan Island - or New York County - is the one we always thought of as "The City." The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers as they were called, brought a measure of awe to my young mind, even inspiring a level of fear.

As I said, it was usually a special occasion that brought us to "The City" - visiting Dad at work (and he had some really cool work as a top 40 DJ on WABC); or maybe catching dinner and a show at Radio City with grandma during that special weekend with her the summer between second and third grade. As time went on, trips to the City included sports events in Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, or concerts. Or just a walk on Fifth Avenue around Christmas, enjoying the amazing window displays of stores like FAO Schwartz, Bloomingdales, and of course, Tiffany's.

I remember having lunch one day at Tavern on the Green with our dad, and my brothers Dan and maybe Dave. We had just gone with Dad to visit his workplace and for some unusual reason, he had taken us with him - most likely to give our Mom a break - the twins were probably only about a year old at the time. We had a great time and the lunch was delicious. I remember meeting a man who seemed very nice. He was interviewing a baseball player who used to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The interviewer was a man named Howard Cosell.:) As we rode home, we drove past Flushing Meadows, where a sign told us it would be the future site of the World's Fair in 1964. 1964 seemed so far off right then.

There were other trips - to the Circus where our grandfather played in the orchestra and arranged for three elephants to have our names chalked on their backs - a few months after our mother's all-too-short life had ended in a car accident. There was dinner once at the Top of the Sixes; even the Copa Cabana once. Our father and stepmother once rented a bus to take us all to see the movie about George Harrison's fund-raising concert for Bangla Desh, a generation before Feed the World or Farm Aid. In the front row of the section where we all sat were Yoko Ono and John Lennon.

That kind of thing just happened in New York. I've seen actors, actresses, musicians, newscasters, politicians and many others on the streets of New York and it never seemed unusual. You never felt like you were out in the open when you are surrounded by all those tall protective giants disguised as buildings. Unfortunately, John Lennon found out that this isn't necessarily true.

There were a lot of trips to the City with friends from school - at a time when a ride on the Long Island Railroad could cost as little as five bucks. There were dates and dinners and fun.

New York represented the strength of the men in my life. My Dad always seemed invincible. He would laugh at thunderstorms, make fun of horror movies, drove like a bat out of hell. Whenever I was scared in the skyscrapers and their inhuman heights, he would just laugh. Laugh. He was fearless - or at least he was to me. My grandfather worked at a lot of places in the City, playing his flute and sax for many venues. John's father worked there - so did John, not far from Grand Central one time and in the Essex House on Central Park South another. This New York was the future, the result of the ingenuity of a generation that fought the Second World War and won it, that engineered their way out of a debilitating Depression and believed the future was theirs and that there was nothing science and Progress couldn't fix.

The last thing they would have expected was that some fanatically angry man, whose mind was still in the fifth century, would use those very same symbols of strength to break our hearts. Thank all that's really holy, he didn't break our spirit!

This weekend, the media outlets are remembering what happened ten years ago on Sunday. I'm not going to put any pictures here - there will be plenty to see and remember as the weekend progresses. There will be services to remember the dead and to pray for the living. And for peace.

I won't pray for peace at any price, though. I can't do that.

The thing is this. New York is my home town and it still hurts to see and remember (in even greater detail now) the cruelty visited upon innocent people because of "religion." Because some lunatics decided to play with the lives of people whom they didn't know, people who never did a thing to harm them. Innocent people. My heart still hurts when I think of it.

But there's something that still rises up out of the ashes. The stories of all the people who risked their lives, many paying that ultimate price, trying to help others. The response of the world community to our suffering. The people who even now do everything they can to divorce the lunatic from his religion, faulting him, but not other adherents, for their beliefs - for how many Muslims died on 9/11 also? The stories of love, those last conversations that technology gave so many, a terrible gift no one would turn away.

John and I have lived in Merlin (about four hours away) since1980. Although there were tragedies not far from us that arose from 9/11, it was not there in your face like it was for our New York relatives. We went for a visit at the end of November, shortly after Thanksgiving, for two disparate reasons: Our kids had given us tickets to see The Producers for our 25th wedding anniversary and a dear priest friend of the family had died and was lying in state in the Cathedral in Rockville Centre. One nephew, then a New York City policeman, now a firefighter (they relaxed the residency rules after they lost so many), was working at Ground Zero. Two and a half months later, the fires were still burning - and they were still looking for remains. A number of our relatives had lost friends and neighbors. Months later, another nephew named his son after one of those friends. Our hearts broke for them.

There's a part of the ride up to Manhattan through New Jersey, before you get to the George Washington Bridge. As you travel north, look to your right and you will see downtown Manhattan. On that trip, we had been talking and listening to CDs. When we passed what used to be the World Trade Center, we were silent.

We arranged to visit with my Dad Saturday afternoon. We had lunch at Tavern on the Green - it had recently reopened. Lunch was wonderful. Central park was wonderful, but as my Dad walked outside and looked around, he got a little catch in his voice as he said, "It's just not the same, is it?"

No, it isn't. It's better. Because it's home and always will be.

God be with you 'til we meet again.

Hurricane? What hurricane?

2011-09-07T15:23:00.001-07:00

Just a block away from our place, hard to believe - but sure glad we are on TOP of the hill!

Gently Ending

2011-09-04T11:57:00.001-07:00

Summer seems to be ending on a gentle note after the havoc of earthquakes and hurricanes. Labor Day weekend always used to signal the end of summer, harvest and the beginning of the academic year. This summer flew by - as each one does year after year, taking less time (or so it seems) in the process. I've done quite a bit of driving, as I usually do, visiting clients. Yesterday I decided (and thankfully the GPS agreed) not to use the Washington Beltway to get to Gaithersburg. It was a very pleasant ride, filled with the greens that signal the end of summer - greens with just a hint of gold on the horizon. It's still hot outside, but there's a difference. Autumn is coming very soon.

Before I continue, I just want to express my gratitude for all the workers who came before us, who gave their energy, their resources (however limited) and for some, their reputation, freedom, and lives, so that the average worker has a chance at a decent way of life. If not for them, I don't know how many of us would even be in existence today, let alone having roofs over our heads and food in the pantry. So, thank you and Happy Labor Day for all of you who continue the fight (and you know who you are, Dad and Maureen!:)).

Prior to the weekend, in spite of the loss of electricity, I was able to get a bunch of work done. There's tons to do yet, but that's the way it is. Saturday morning, we had the grandgirls over. It was a lazy, lovely day and a continuation of the wonderful time I had Friday evening, knitting and watching Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg (and Chris) Swansen's "Knitting Around" - a wonderful video collaboration.

I spent the greater part of that night and much of yesterday evening (once I was done with that visit in Montgomery County) working on the Westknits' Mystery KAL Shawl. I decided to work a little of my own whimsy with it. Instead of intarsia or the two options presented in the last clue, I did a garter stitch, mosaic or slipped stitch pattern and finished with a picot bind-off. I finally got to use the blocking "puzzle pieces" from KnitPicks and their blocking pins. I probably could have gotten a second set to make things easier, but the one set I got worked just fine. It was great to block this shawl the way it needed to be blocked. What difference from merely using an iron to press!

I unpinned it when I got back from church this morning and was pleased with the result:

Try not to pay too much attention to the messy desk:)!

This morning was lovely - It's so wonderful to get back into singing with the choir and generally misbehaving in the choir loft. St. J's has a great congregation and it's fun to be back in touch with everyone after a long and somewhat eventful summer!

Also, had a wonderful phone call from Vicki in New Haven about a serious, yet hilarious subject I'm not talking about here:)!

Well, off to the grocery store - about 2/3 of our gang are coming to dinner and I am making my famous meatloaf:) (well, not exactly famous, but the gang likes it). Better get going - the house is its usual mess! Yikes!

Until next post, God (however you understand Her) be with you 'til we meet again.

2011-08-30T23:00:00.001-07:00

The house is quiet except for the hum of a gas-powered generator running in the back yard, keeping the refrigerator, freezer, hot water heater and a nearby lamp running. I am up working on this

and am now at the point before the last six rows of garter stitch before the final clue. The end is in sight, but it will have to wait for tomorrow evening. I'm bushed!
We are still without electricity because a tree went down in the storm early Sunday morning, taking out 3 electric poles with it about a quarter mile from where my neighbors and we live. John, Dan and Betsy walked into Old Ellicott (the road is still closed to cars) and Dan took these pics which he posted on Facebook.

I'm not holding my breath for BG&E to get here any time soon. At least it isn't scorching hot- or freezing cold! Actually right now it actually is cold- who knew August would be so strange?
If any of you dear 2.5 use a generator for this reason, PLEASE don't bring them into your home or attached garage. A family did that here with devastating consequences.
Well , gotta get up in a few hours!
God be with you 'til we meet again+

Quiet Aftermath

2011-08-28T12:32:00.001-07:00

Well the electricity went off early this morning, so I'm listening to NPR on the battery-charged radio, typing this on my phone, sitting in my little knitting corner and knitting- because outside of doing the dishes and

rearranging the den to allow the lovely breeze in, there's not much else I can do. Except for the electrical situation (and our neighbor's water shortage- they use a well), it's hard to believe that yesterday we were prepping for a hurricane!
So of course I started a new project- one in my list - Hawthorne. After the initial 311-stitch cast-on, it's pretty clear sailing.

This evening, we have reservations to a local Residence Inn which will hopefully have electricity, so those of us working tomorrow will be able to get ready.
In the meantime, I get to hang out with these guys:

In the immortal words of Ina Garten: How bad can that be?
God be with you 'til we meet again- and thanks for your prayers and well wishes!

Hunker Hunker Hunker

2011-08-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we have batteries, a lot of food in the freezer (which doesn't help much, does it?) and plenty of cold cheese and cereal and canned goods. We need to bring the garden furniture indoors so it won't be a flying missile to the neighbors or ourselves. The winds for this area are not supposed to be so high that we need to tape the windows. We are about three hours from Ocean City, in the center of Merlin. If Irene comes up the Chesapeake and is just a bit west of where she's predicted to go, of course we're screwed. Needless to say, as long as we have power, the TV is on to MSNBC, we're charging cellphones and Kindles and iPads and as the title of this post says, hunkering down. Hopefully we are prepared enough. Ocean City was evacuated yesterday, which it darn well should have been - a thin strip of a peninsula dangling precariously between Assowoman Bay (yes, that is the name of the bay- good ole Merlin) and the Atlantic Ocean. The Weather Gurus are predicting 100 mph winds in O.C.; 50-70 mph winds on the Eastern Shore/DelMarVa peninsula (that bit of Maryland on a land mass shared by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia - hence "Del-Mar-Va"); and 30-50 mph winds where we are in central Merlin. One of the big worries with hurricanes is that they tend to spawn tornadoes. And here is an example of what happened when a little baby twister hit our house-on-the-top-of-a-hill 13 months ago (lucky we were):

When I began typing this post, it was about 11:00 a.m. EDT. A dear friend who had been in the hospital called and needed a ride home, so of course I left to do that and when I got home, I was a wee bit sidetracked. Now at 9:00 p.m., the winds have picked up, the rain has been constant. As I type this I can hear the wind rising outside and reports from Ocean City on WJZ News in Bawlmer, which of course means we still have electricity. In the middle of all this, we watched an HBO documentary, "Gloria Steinem, In Her Own Words." Amazing how things have changed - and how they remain the same. She is one of my heroes. It was rather gratifying that it was one of my daughters who chose the program. I have a particularly nice memory of Gloria Steinem. In the summer/early fall of 1976, I was in NYC with my (then) stepmother, planning my wedding and anticipating a move to Virginia. We were at the NY Public Library and Bella Abzug was campaigning. With her was Gloria Steinem - and Gloria asked me if they could count on my vote for Bella - had to tell her I was moving to VA and probably wouldn't be voting in the NY elections. Boo. Only in New York. Sigh....
Well, back to action central here (right...). It looks as if Irene will not be heading up the Chesapeake Bay, which is a very good thing, so we will just stay here and wait her out. Even my dear St. John's decided to call off the services for tomorrow morning - and I realized too late that I had missed the 5 pm service - DOH! Whatever the weather, I am prepared:

As if I didn't have enough outstanding projects, I decided to ADD some more to my pile. That's because I also decided to have FUN with my knitting and not wait until I'm done with the ones I'm bored with. I may have to finish this another time since the lights just flickered. We shall see.
The projects I'm working on currently are:

Dan's Aranmor in the Red Heart Yarn (sorry Alice!), Susan Pandorf's Mehndi wrap in Jojoland Tonic; the Westknits Mystery KAL shawl, Eadon by Susanna IC in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (currant colorway) (pictured in previous posts - haven't made additional progress in any of those in the past two crazy weeks). I'm also going to be starting the Hawthorne shawl (also by Susanna IC) in a dark green multi Jojoland Tonic.

Irish Coffee and the Dark and Stormy, both by Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails, the Dark and Stormy in Cascade 220 Heathers and the Irish Coffee in Lion Brand's Amazing (Wildflowers colorway). I also want to start Cassis - also by Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails - Deco by Kate Davies, Leaving by Anne Hanson of Knitspot fame; Eala Bhan (and this time Ms. Starmore, I promise to use REAL wool); at least one or two pairs of Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel Socks and EZ's Norwegian Lusekofte pullover. I call this last one my "Norwegian Sweater of Hope," as I am knitting this and all the other sweaters in this list ten inches less than my current circumference. Believe it or not, I have yarn and needles (once they are done with a project, LOL) set aside for them. In the past month or so, I have frogged a few projects here and there, mainly because it became clear that my size would be changing. I don't think a ten-inch reduction is that far off base, so I am acting on faith.

LIFE in General

This week has been NUTS at work.

Correction, the past two MONTHS and the one coming up have been, are, and will be, NUTS. I really cannot write about why that is without saying more than is ethical, so let's just leave it at that. In terms of time, I've been in court or on the road visiting clients with two exceptions: this weekend and last Tuesday, i.e. the Earthquake. I was in the ladies' room in the Baltimore City Courthouse and yes, I was at the point of washing my hands (the other would have been hilarious, LOL!!) and was talking with another woman who was doing the same. Suddenly, the floor shook and a sound like a large truck roaring by hit our ears. We stepped outside of the bathroom to Sheriff's deputies telling everyone to vacate the building. We all walked outside, not really knowing what had happened. No one could get through on their cellphones and law enforcement wasn't sure it wasn't a blast or something, so they would not let anyone back into the buildings until an hour later, when we were told to "get your stuff and go home." The last three hours of the trial in which I was involved resumed the next day, which meant all my client visits for that day and the afternoon of the earthquake had to be rescheduled. It took me 2 hours to get home because traffic was understandably heavier than usual.
Western Merlin felt it, as did D.C.(causing the bells to ring and fineal stones to break at the National Cathedral), Chicago, Georgia, and Toronto for that matter. There were aftershocks some 35 hours later, but I didn't feel them. Friends visiting Ocean City and the Eastern Shore didn't feel it, either.
Friday, I got up early to visit a client 2.5 hours away in Garrett County, Merlin - practically to Ohio!

This is in Allegany County, Merlin, on Rte 68, headed west. This doesn't even begin to show some of the lovely views I had of the Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains and nearby farmland. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but not too humid or hot. Hard to believe it was still August. Saw my client and the client of one of my colleagues, then back on the road to visit a client East of Bawlmer. Needless to say, I used a LOT of gas that day, but also caught up on some knitting podcasts, LOL:)!
When I finally headed for good ole Ellicott City, I realized I was on time to go to dinner that friends of mine had planned and to which I had been invited but had declined due to my work schedule. I called one of them to ask if it was still on. Finding out it was, I headed to the restaurant. For some reason I checked my cellphone (the ringer had been off) and found a voicemail and two text messages from the friend with whom I had just spoken. One of our bunch had had a low blood sugar incident and was in the ER, having banged up his head pretty badly, and in the process, stressed out his dear wife (another one of the "gang") to the point of raising HER blood sugar. So our evening was spent in the ER. I told him I wasn't going to let one democrat leave this earth while an election was pending (a bit of an ongoing joke between us). He was finally released and some of us went to grab a quick bite . Thus the week which started in a growl, ended up in the silence of a quiet meal. Thank God for that - or as my wonderful stepmom Maureen would say, "Thank the Myth!"
The coming week at work will be very busy, but the evenings will begin the year's music, a fact for which I am eternally grateful:)!
And so I come full circle, picking up a lovely friend from the hospital this morning and getting her home safely. She is supposed to be a "care receiver" in the Stephen Ministry, but I kid her that I get more out of hanging out with her than any help I'm supposed to be rendering. She's really funny and upbeat and in spite of the rough time she's had the past four years, she is irrepressible and energetic.
On the home front, our daughter, B, who had the "sleeve" weight loss surgery on 7/27, went through a horrible episode of dehydration, which caused nausea, which made her more dehydrated, which caused a potassium deficiency, and so on. She was hospitalized for two days and after they finally got i.v. bags and bags of water, vitamins and potassium into her, she was a new woman. I'm glad I didn't know at the time that a potassium shortfall can cause cardiac arrest!! Lesson learned: don't let your adult kid play hero and politely wait on a doctor's appointment. Get thine ass and theirs to the ER! My Dad always said that it's the polite quiet patients who often end up dead. Sadly true.

Before I sign off, dear 2.5, those of you who live in the areas affected by Irene, please don't be a daredevil and try to play out in this weather. You are not only putting your own life in jeopardy, but those of the people who would be rescuing you. Please have your fun another day, when you can live to talk about it.
Until next time, God be with you 'til we meet again.
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Heresy!! Or WWAD?

2011-08-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

Here I sit, (my newly trimmed-down behind exceedingly sore on the stone bench) near the lovely fountain outside the Baltimore County courthouse. I am waiting for the afternoon docket and it's the loveliest August day I've ever seen! It has to be about 65 degrees F - glad to have my jacket on!

The morning's docket was fairly uneventful except the Master (they preside over our hearings unless there's a problem) seemed to be ill. Never saw so many recesses in my life. Poor guy!

This afternoon is anybody's guess--sigh. Well I'm not talking about my cases- then I'd be down to .5 readers,LOL!

This morning was an early wake up- John and I took the grandgirls to a local Residence Inn for their last possible overnight of the summer. The idea was that they and John would head to the hotel pool this morning, their mom or dad would pick them up from our house at about midday, and then John would put the finishing touches on the house for our home inspection this evening. Hopefully I'll get home in time to lend him a hand.

But I digress, dear 2.5. Yea verily I have committed heresy, yes heresy of the worst kind! And I am unrepentant!!

I am knitting a Starmore Sweater in (GASP!!) Acrylic!!!

Why oh why have I gone so far astray you might ask. And What Would Alice Do (WWAD)? I don't know if the amazingly talented Ms. Starmore has a young adult son, but my dear only-begotten throws his sweaters in the wash. I am not about to make the effort to knit a lovely Starmore Aranmor only to have it turned into a doll's sweater! Hence my unrepentant nature. But fear not, dear 2.5, I am doing penance nonetheless- by knitting with the stuff that is really better for afghans and the like.

Sigh....

Gotta go

God be with you'til we meet again+

Location:W Pennsylvania Ave,Towson,United States

Homage to Cat Bordhi

2011-08-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Cat Bordhi is one of those people who gives more than she gets. Her videos are worth their weight in gold. Here's one of her Sweet Tomato Heel Socks. This technique is featured in her e-book of a similar name - it can be found on Ravelry or on her website.

And here's another version of that heel - the Padded Sweet Tomato Heel - also featured in her new e-book:Thank you, Cat! If you find this interesting, you should definitely get that e-book!God be with you 'til we meet again!+

Keepin on keepin on

2011-08-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

This has definitely been an interesting week. We've been rearranging - well JOHN's been rearranging a lot of furniture since S has moved into her own place and D is back into B's room, who is now moving to D's old room. J still has her room.... and so do I, LOL:)!

Work has been crazy busy - have court all day, then off to do visits, so I'm home fairly late most evenings. But it's a good thing. I want to be ready for all my hearings and I don't want to fall behind on visits ever again! The system I have in place right now seems to be working - thanks to a lovely hardworking person at the office who keeps us all honest and organized.

As a result.... not much knitting has crossed my lap in the last few days. Monday evening, we were expecting a visit from the landlord's agent - a normal yearly look through to be sure we aren't manning a Meth lab in the basement (not). Unfortunately, the poor lady got sick and you know how that can be. So, we're scheduled for next week same time. No biggie. Actually I was secretly glad that we waited for her a couple of hours. I got to knit - so far the only knitting I've done this work week! Well, I wasn't going to review confidential records just as she was arriving, was I? (insert evil chuckle here)

I've been working on Clue 3 of the Westknits Mystery KAL. I posted some pictures and have not really gotten much further, so I figured why re-post them?

Oh OK...you twisted my arm:)

Those of you who are following/doing this KAL can see that I've made a mistake in the second big block of white. This should have been a parallelogram rather than a wedge. I figure since there was already one wedge, that another one wouldn't hurt. Plus, I've done the parallelograms correctly in the third clue and am to be adding two more, so there will be two wedges, then three parallelograms - my own version of the Fibonacci sequence... sort of.

I really love the vibrancy of these colors in St-Denis' Boreale (fingering weight) yarn. it's a lot of fun to knit as well.

As you can imagine, my other projects have not seen any progress since last I wrote you, dear 2.5. However, I have organized my "current" projects a bit better in the living room. They too, are being rearranged. Michaels had a bunch of canvas box thingies on sale, so I got four of them. They are a lot easier to work with when you're knitting at home than a bag - and they sit better on a shelf for better organization. I am also thinking about those organizer boxes that KnitPicks sells, but that will be in a long while, if ever.

One thing I did break down and get at KnitPicks: their interlocking blocking boards and some T-pins so I can really block my lace work. Usually, I hit them with a steam iron, but that doesn't get those lovely points, nor does it completely block everything. First time I use them, I will report on how I do.

Now here's something I can safely say points to my mental state regarding knitting: I have some yarn that I think will look really really good as a sweater for our son, D. I asked him to pick out a Starmore sweater from either her Aran Knitting or Fishermen's Sweaters book. I have his measurements, too:) So, he picked the Aranmor. I am also considering knitting either an Eala Bhan or a Maidenhair, but I'm not willing to knit a Starmore sweater until I have a much better idea of what size I'm going to end up. So in the interim, I'm going to knit a sweater for D because (1) I knit one for him about 24 years ago when he was 4 and he loved it; and (2) because I've been promising him one for years. While I'm at it, I've been promising to knit my SIL (S) a Dr. Who scarf. Man, I'd better get cracking! I think I know why I start all these projects: so as to not have a Sable stash!

On the weight loss front, it's continuing - a pound every couple of days or so. That's actually a fairly fast weight loss, but it feels like tectonic plates shifting over eons to me, LOL! A few things that have happened: it's a lot easier to take a shower because I can reach everything:); I was able to kneel in church last sunday because it didn't hurt as badly as it used to; I am wearing clothes I haven't worn since my last big weight loss in 2006 (I am about 7-10 pounds above that now as I type this and expect to be there before my next dr's appointment in September.); Some of my clothes are just too big and need to be given away; my shoes even fit me better; I look older as more fat leaves my face; my figure looks a lot less "voluptuous" to me; my arms are flabbier. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to get some new underwear so I can prevent everything from hitting my knees. Yes, folks, that's one thing I will NOT buy second hand:) Today I wore to court a skirt and a jacket I haven't been able to wear for years (no, it was not a calico gingham skirt with a sunbonnet, nor was it a mini skirt!) And as you can see from the above, there's still plenty of "cheek" left:) Well that was TMI:)

God be with you 'til we meet again:)!+

Shoulda kind of day

2011-08-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

It's very late and everyone is sleeping, except for John, I hope, LOL:) The silence is deafening save for the clicking of the keys on the keyboard as I type these words. I've always been used to living with lots of people, so silence bothers me more than it should - not that noise doesn't LOL:)!

Well, today was one of those "I was supposed to" kind of days. But I did other things instead.I was supposed to review an entire file, but in the process of getting ready to do that, I organized my desk, which really wasn't such a bad thing, but unfortunately, I'm now leaving that work for tomorrow and Monday and I won't have as much time on those days to get it done. DRAT.

But at least the day was not a total loss. In getting a lot of things cleaned up, I have a clearer view of what must be done. I've gotten better organized. Not as organized as I'd like to be, but better than I was.

As you can see from the pictures here, I have done a bit of work on the Westknits Mystery KAL. I like the colors I chose - in St-Denis Boreale, a fingering weight yarn in simple yet vibrant colors. This is for me - it will match a sweater and skirt combo I have in mind. I like the blocks of color in the pattern - they remind me of the brightly colored, geometrically patterned "mod" minidresses women used to wear in the mid-sixties. And yes, it's a mild form of intarsia (didn't I just make that sound like a nasty skin rash or something equally odious?)

Well yes, I did- because intarsia is not my favorite thing to do in knitting. But Stephen West has very good and clear directions and the use of intarsia is not so difficult it would give you a migraine. So I am being a big girl and finishing it. Besides, I like the colors and the pattern is growing on me. And it matches the skirt and sweater. So why not....

The past week or so has been very busy and the next few weeks are looking to be wildly busy as

well. Next week and the week after I am to be

in a 5-day trial. I don't think it will take that long, but you never know. Because of that, my client visits will have to take place in the evenings after court is over. I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of protein shakes for lunch next week.

When that's over, I have two more cases that will be demanding my attention. I can't even think forward to September yet, much as I'd like to.

As alluded to in a previous post, one of our many moved into her own place near the university. She has a lovely place and should be doing just fine there. Our third in the Many had surgery similar to mine seven weeks to the day after mine was done. She is having a harder time healing for some reason. The type of surgery she had has its own challenges, but in the long run will be a good thing for her. It's the now part that's difficult.

I have indeed started one additional project: The Hourglass Throw by Anne Hanson of Knitspot fame for Jared Flood's Wool People collection. It's in the yarn that was initially going to be my EZ Green Sweater by Sunday Holm, and then was going to be an Adult Surprise Jacket also by EZ. The yarn is working out well for this throw. It's a wool acrylic mixture and will be machine washable, so it's the right choice. I've gotten a bit further along in the pattern that this picture might suggest, and it's really lovely. I'm not using a cable needle for the cables, thanks to Meg Swanson and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Glossary video:)! And what a great amount of time this saves! It's like when I learned to knit "continentally," I was kicking myself for not learning it earlier.On the weight loss front, a visit to the doc on Friday confirmed that I have indeed taken off 40 pounds since surgery and a bit more than that since my top weight. I'm still at the point where my own clothes fit me much better and are starting to get loose. It will be awhile before people see serious weight loss. I mean, don't get me wrong, my dear friends and some not so dear have noticed and have complimented me on it, but it's because they can tell I've lost weight. The major change in size will take a long time - at least a year. It's actually going very quickly, but it feels like slow motion to me. It's been a real trek mentally. I still fill up bowls and plates in the amounts I used to eat, but of course never finish them! I have to stop myself from doing that. I have to be a lot more careful about eating and pay attention to how much fat, carbs and protein are in any given thing. It's crazy how something you could eat one day can get "stuck" the next if you don't pay attention, take your time and CHEW, LOL! I think I must have virtually inhaled my food before this surgery. It's easier to move and it's easier to mover more quickly than before. It's still rough to lift anything horribly heavy (but then, that's like the old violin joke - couldn't really do that before the surgery, LOL!). As the weather cools down, I'll be taking opportunities to walk a few miles. And Nancy, bless her heart, is talking about weight training with a friend who knows how to do this!In the midst of all of this, I realize how very lucky I am. John and I have been through some interesting times these past few months, mostly unrelated to this surgery. I cannot imagine going through them without him. If such a thing is possible, I've appreciated my family more and more.Well, I'd better get to bed - have to do a reading at the earlier service. Yikes! Don't want to nod off at the podium!God be with you 'til we meet again:)+

An FO and beginnings and ends

2011-08-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

This will be a quick post, dear 2.5 readers. It's late and I'm tard, or toyered as the use to say in my hometown. I finally finished crocheting that afghan for the Penultimate child who is moving into her own place and starting her graduate work in anthropology at one of DC's prestigious universities. She's a big girl now; it's time, but I'll miss her nonetheless.

Before I head for bed, I have to tell you about a really cool blog one of my knitting buds at the Columbia Sip 'N Knit has started. It's called Executive Knitting and is at executiveknitter.blogspot.com
I've already learned how to do a web query to get my ravelry projects into excel. When I find out what a webquery is, I will let you know, but seriously, check out this blog. It truly helps me as a knitter to get back n touch with the left side of my brain!
Good night- and God be with you 'til we meet again+

Back again (I know, right?)

2011-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to skip church today (oh nooooooo!) and slept in a little bit. I have a client visit I will be leaving to do in about an hour and wanted to post a little more about my knitting.

Lately, we've been through a bit of a rollercoaster here at das Haus der FugueStateKnits. Surgery for myself and one of our daughters within weeks of each other, healing and getting strength back, catching up at work, financial worries that we are finally dealing with and for which we have a hopefully workable game plan, one daughter getting ready to move out to pursue her doctorate in anthropology and a teaching fellowship at American University, a son in and out while honing his skills as an actor, another daughter and her husband deciding to go for a short sale of their home because its value has gone "upside down," all good and all challenging, each in their own way. And each a virtual talisman for the experience of today's American Every(wo)man.

In the midst of this, there has not been a lot of time for knitting except when one has the energy at night after dealing with one's duties for the day. I have a yarn stash that is bordering on the ridiculous. To coin a statement my DH used to say when one of the kids would behave like a prima donna, "There are too many people in this family for you to act like that." I never knew what to make of that statement. Was it like his father's maxim, "Don't think: it hurts the team"? I certainly hope not. Anyone taking even the briefest of looks at our many progeny would note that uniformity is not our strong suit! They are each so varied in their pursuits, in the paths they have taken or continue to take. That alone could be the subject of an entire blog! But John did have a point when he said this. We have to live together and work together to stay alive, to grow, to become what we are meant to be. And selfishness cannot be a part of the equation. Self-expression, personal growth, self-realization, however, MUST be, else we have all done something wrong. But when does self-realization devolve into selfishness?

While all of this "stuff" was going on, and while I was off work, healing from the surgery, I was determined NOT to do anything but work on my existing projects, or, if I did start something new, it would come from stash. Spending money on yarn, and other things knitterly at that point would have been supremely stupid and downright selfish.

However, recently, I've decided to start a bunch of new projects. I decided to do this for the following reasons: (1) there was a bit of an easing up financially, (2) I was rewarding myself for doing well in a number of things, (3) I wasn't feeling as guilty about treating myself, and (4) I finally realized that's the way I function - I start a bunch of projects and at some point, frog the ones I know I'm not going to finish to use the yarn for something that is more appropriate/suitable/rings my chimes. OK, this must seem like such a silly and self-absorbed discussion, but there's too much of the puritan in me to not go through this hideous self-analysis. I'm sure Herr Doktor Freud would have a field day with me! What I will say is if I have to have one addiction in my life, let it be good yarn! It won't make me fat, I don't have to prostitute myself for it, I don't make bad associations with it and good things can happen with it (like gifts for family, friends and myself).

To assist further in this conscience-soothing, last month I finally finished two additional projects:

Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap
This was so easy to do and was never boring, since the pattern changed on a regular basis. I didn't make it as long as it was supposed to originally be, but it was certainly long enough. It was going to be for the Prayer Shawl ministry at my church, but John liked it so much, I had to give it to him. It's really his style and will look great with his grey coat in winter. So I'll have to make another one for PSM.

I also FINALLY finished the February Lady Sweater for Dori:
I ran out of yarn at the sleeves, so I did short-row sleeves and then repeated the gull lace pattern as an edging. She liked it. It's a little large, but it's long enough for her tall frame and I think it will look great as with a long sleeved shirt underneath.

I mentioned three new projects - actually it's four come to think of it. I posted my picture of Clue#1 of the Westknits Mystery KAL. I liked Stephen West's instructions so well, that I also got the Spectra and decided to do that in these colors:

And while I was at it, I started this beauty:
I am doing it in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in their Currant color. It's actually darker and more purpley-brown than this picture suggests. This is the left sleeve. I decided to do the sleeves first and then work on the body. You may wonder why I'm knitting two sweaters (actually more, but that's for a later post). I've decided I will need some interim and some goal sweaters. This one will be an interim one. I couldn't fit into it now, but anticipate fitting into it in the fall:)

Well, gotta go see that client. More to come. Until next time, God be with you 'til we meet again!
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Knitting at Night

2011-08-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile, hasn't it? Well, once you take off for any period of time, you pay for it in one way or another. Unfortunately, it took a while to completely get all my energy back, but now that it is, I am going great guns. Since last we met, dear 2.5 readers, I have been scrambling to get my head above water at work. And it hasn't been a lot of fun. But I now I have the energy to do what I need to do, and I have a plan with which to do it. Once that happens, as long as I do what I need to do, things should be fine - or as fine as the Universe allows:)

The video to the right of an old lady and her knitting is yours truly. I decided to do a continental version of the videos that Colin does (without his intelligence and witty conversation unfortunately), but because it's so late right now as I type this, I was extremely quiet. Seriously, I don't usually speak that quietly! Really:) What you see me knitting (actually I'm on a purl row here) is Dark and Stormy by Baby Cocktails. It's at the point where you need to divide the body from the sleeves (schweet!) and then merrily knit on down.

This summer has been fairly quiet as far as music goes. Our music director (Nancy) is on vacation a couple of times in the summer and the choir goes on hiatus except for the odd ensemble doing a service or two. So far, I've played with the intergenerational band and sung and rung with the choirs each time just once. This summer seems to have sped by in so many ways, especially since I seem to need more time at work for so many big projects coming to roost in August!

For those of you who might be interested in any weight loss surgery news, as I said in earlier posts, the surgery went very well, no complications and things appear to be working as they should. I can now eat solid foods, but have to be very careful to chew of course. Cannot wolf down food as I used to! So far, I've lost approximately 50 pounds (US) from my top weight and about 40 post-op. I'm hoping to get down 10 more pounds by the end of the summer, but whatever the pace is, I'm happy things are going in the right direction. Those of you who have never had to deal with being heavy: this part will probably bore you, but it might give you a view from the "other" side.

The pics at the right are from March, June, mid-June, and last week, respectively. Notice there are no full body shots. No thank you:)

Right now I am starting to notice the little things: moving more easily, actually liking my walks outside (when it's not too hot, LOL:)), fitting back into clothes I haven't worn for three or more years, reaching the far spots in the shower (LOL!), sitting in booths in restaurants without pretending I don't fit, having more energy in general. And never really being hungry if you can believe that. The joke I make among my friends is that right now I'm wearing clothes from 2000 to 2009. Pretty soon, I'll be into the 90s and when I get to the 80s stuff (if there is any left!) I'm going shopping. Pointy shoulder pads are not for this camper!

Of course there are down sides to this: I have to be VERY careful not to eat too much fat or too much sugar/carbs with fat. My gut will do terrible things to me if I don't pay attention. I have been making good choices in that department from day one. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't realize how much fat something has and had one rather nasty incident one night. thankfully I was home! There are some things I still cannot eat without having them come back to me: overcooked chicken and steak. Still too soon for that. You don't want to know how I know this:) A forum/website/podcast that has been very helpful to me is Bariatric Support TV ( bariatrictv.com). It was started by three friends - a married couple and another woman. The two women are in their eight year post-op for bariatric surgery. They and a number of other veterans who add their voices and insights to the podcast and the online forums (fora?) provide an excellent source of support, information and encouragement to other "surgically altered freaks" (a fond term of art used by this group who came of age in the late 80s). The information I found on the forum about the "three-week plateau" helped me not to feel so crazy when the scale said I wasn't losing weight while my clothes said just the opposite. This will be a long process. Wherever it ends, I'm fine with it, because it's better than where I was and where I am right now.

KNITTING:)

I have been doing a lot of that - and some crocheting too

First, another view or two of Dark and Stormy before the Great Divide. I am flying by the seat of my pants with this pattern. I chose the largest size which would normally still be too small for me. I like extra room in my sweaters and come to think of it, my clothes as well:) Gotta have something decent for transition!

The colors at the right were supposed to be for the Westknits KAL. The Columbia Sip 'n Knit group are doing this together. But I decided to use these lovelies to knit a Spectra Scarf which I shall begin tonight.

This bag 'o loveliness contains the makings of a granny square afghan for our daughter, S, for her own apartment when she moves there next week. Hopefully I'll be done by then!

As you can see, I have not gotten very far with Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed)'s Rock Island. Still on that Looonnnggggg lace edging. I'm going to have to block the CRAP out of this for it to look like the shawl in the picture!

This is the first clue done on Stephen West (Westknits)'s Mystery KAL that our "Sip 'n Knit" is doing. I really like these colors- they are in St. Denis-Boreale, fingering weight wool produced by Veronik Avery.

This is the beginning of the Saroyan scarf. It's a fun little knit that I take with me to court for down times between the dockets. The other thing I bring is the Rock Island.The yarn is a cute bunch of acrylic I picked up a long time ago and didn't know what to do with it. The pattern is lovely and simple and the yarn is not bad.:)

There are two more patterns I plan on starting within the next week. Those are Eadon by Susanna IC (available in the current issue of the Twist Collective) and the Hourglass Throw by Anne Hanson. I am using yarn I was going to use for EZ's Green Sweater, but it wasn't to be.

Well, never let it be said that I stick to the same color scheme!:)

Well dear readers, it's very late and I'm going to turn into a pumpkin soon. So, until next time, God be with you, 'til we meet again!

Random stuff

2011-06-17T12:47:00.001-07:00

Well, things are moving along, but never as quickly as one would like:). Never would have thought I'd feel this good at this point, though. I'm still sore and tire more easily, but that's no big surprise. Since last we met, dear 2.5 readers, I've had two visitors here at Chez FugueState. Diane L came by Monday and brought magazines (one about cooking light, the other about knitting--MWA!) and this lovely low-fat, sugar - free fruit thingie that was out of this world! Thank you, Diane:)
Today Nancy S. came by. She brought some lovely Greek yogurt and blueberries from her own garden- yum! Hey, I thought I was supposed to be losing weight, LOL. I am! We had a lovely time, eating our lunches outside on the porch and talking our fool heads off about pretty near everything. Heaven! Thanks so much Nancy!
Now the clouds are rolling in for what promises to be another in a stream of thunderstorms coming at us for the next week. Ah timing is everything!
Oh, before I go for now, couple of things I wanted to share- first, the butterfly that not only came to sit on the railing of the deck the first afternoon I sat outside, but it stayed with me and let me take it's picture! It even came back later!

Even when the thunderclouds came and the breeze turned to something more threatening, it hung on. Some say butterflies can be a message from our loved ones who have died. Who knows, but I liked the plucky little thing!
And second, no knitter's blog will be complete without a picture of (gasp) knitting:

Not much to look at now, but like rest of me, it's getting there!

God be with you 'til we meet again.+

I be baaaack;)!!and the whole dang story

2011-06-14T19:21:00.001-07:00

Not much to blog about except it's great to be back with the needles again:)!! And no, I don't mean the ones filled with drugs (silly), the ones with yarn wrapped around them:)!
I figure since I've already got eighteen gazillion projects going, was only right to...
START A NEW PROJECT!!!
So I'm trying my hand at the Windesbraut Bertha- a lovely shawl by Monika Eckert a/k/a Klabauter. So far so good.

On the more boring news front, let me tell ya what happened:
John and I showed up at St. Agnes Hospital at 9:45 a.m. They took soon blood from my arm (the first of many on my two-and-a-half-day stay). W sat in the waiting room where hospital staff took our names and other relevant info, probably to rule us out as terrorists.
When someone called my name, I went back again- this time to get the street clothes off and get the sterile gown on. So far so good. Then John came back to join me. I was hooked up to a water bag via an IV. The surgeon came in, signed off on the paperwork, had me sign the consent forms (again, LOL) this time without my glasses (hmmmmm). Next thing I knew, a medical student was introducing herself and asking for permission to watch my surgery-absolutely!-
then the most lovely substance was injected into the IV and I was a complete goofball. At some point , the anesthesiologist came in, then it was show time.
I have some vague memories of being wheeled to the OR and the next thing I knew, I was being wheeled into my room and heard someone saying, "OK Patricia, you're in your room now." out of the corner of my blurry vision I could see John and Ann M our parish nurse. Ann has taught a number of the nurses at St. Agnes, but hadn't seen any of her students yet.
The room was in the new wing- I think it was larger than John's first apartment - and the way I felt, I couldn't have cared less.
I won't lie- this HURT. I had a pain pump- a line of dilaudid (a form of morphine) that I could trigger without overdosing. I was still in pain, especially in the center of my chest, but I figured it was because my stomach was now not far from my chest and it had just been through The Wars. I also later found out the doc had found a hernia - am assuming hiatal- and had fixed it. Color me impressed- but sore!
Anyway, dear Ann stayed with me even after John had to leave to get some sleep before work, spoke with me as I hit moments of consciousness and cleaned my dry mouth (couldn't take anything by mouth until the next day). She left me a sweet note when she went home- angel of mercy. I am so blessed, am I not? That night, they wanted me walking, but I could only sit up for a bit.
The rest of the hospital stay was generally icky. I craved sleep and got little, but that's being in the hospital. I was glad when I hit the goal of passing the upper GI test and could take in fluids, including tea and sugar-free Jello. Then they took out the catheter- which gave me new opportunities to walk- and I did.
Then it was pureed food. Then I got to clean up and clean my - by then- foul mouth and I'm not talking curse words. That was rather nice. Then they took out the drain in my tummy (weird) and gave me some instructions to add to the booklet my doc's office had already provided, and joy of joy, I got to get dressed and go home.
But it still hurt -and it was slow going. A colleague who had it done two days earlier was already set to go back to work this Monday! Good for him. He encouraged me to do more walking (yes, John too, sigh...) and I have been. But for some reason, my abdominal pain continues, but lessens every day.
Today I almost made it down the street to my mailbox. Tomorrow I'm going for the gold! Rah!
I've lost a few pounds but will only post monthly numbers and I'm not there yet.
In short, I'm healing and I'm off through the 26th, so I have time to really do it.
Did I forget to tell you I love my job?

Location:Old Columbia Pike,Ellicott City,United States

On through to the other side

2011-06-11T14:49:00.001-07:00

Surgery went without a hitch- except for a hernia repair in addition, which did not surprise

me given my klutziness around getting out of bed in recent years. I am a total baby about pain, I'm embarrassed to admit. Although I have been a good doobie about following doctor's orders and walking and doing the deep breathing.
Ann M, previously (nay, continuously) our Parish Nurse, was there when I got out of recovery, keeping my extremely dry mouth clean and moistened. She had excellent advice for me when she left hours later. Thank you Ann! Come to think of it, with rare exception, the caregivers at St. Agnes Hospital were all very gentle. I now know why they call nurses "angels of mercy!" and it wasn't for my sparkling personality, trust me. Talking just took too much energy. It still does. This hurts, but it gets better. I even took a shower today Which means it gets better for others too:)
I have done no knitting. Somehow I think that will be changing in a day or two.
One thing before I sign off. Well two: thank you to all my wonderful friends, colleagues, clergy, fellow choirs members, EfM'ers, Stephen Ministry folks, other church friends, and family members, especially John who is putting up with me, my Dad, who has put up with me even longer, Maureen, my kids, grandkids and long- suffering clients who will be so glad for the excellent legal representation they will receive in the next week that they won't want me back, LOL! Anyway, thank you all. And the second thing is the above picture: a beautiful Peace Plant given to me by the choirs as delivered by Diane L., and my left ankle, which hasn't been this lacking in swelling since somewhere in the nineties, LOL!
God be with you 'til we meet again!+

Today's the day!

2011-06-08T04:38:00.001-07:00

Not much time to blog today. Surgery in about four hours. Wish me well. Back in a few days:)!
God be with you 'til we meet again+

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Frogs and U/FOs and Addiction (oh my...)

2011-05-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2011.

That's the date I've been given. The insurance company has approved the surgery and the surgeon's office has called to schedule. It was the first date I could get. I don't want to think about it too much and chicken out. I have given this about eight years of thought and I'm ready. Well, as much as anyone can be about being ready for what probably will be a life-changing event.

I have asked friends, neighbors, family members and people I know to be in the medical profession what they thought. I have searched my very soul. It came down to this: the people who have gone through this and the medical professionals from whom I've heard all endorse it. Dear friends have encouraged me to think about it and other dear friends have warned against it. To all of them I say, "Thank you - I know what you've said to me has been out of love and caring and I love you for it, but I'm going to do this. I've tried it on my own and it hasn't worked. There may be medical reasons for that; there certainly are emotional reasons for it, but it hasn't worked. I want to live a little bit longer than I would have without this assistance. I want to be able to move a little more quickly, be around for my current and hopefully future grandchildren, and to torment my poor long-suffering husband that much longer (sorry John:)). I am not looking to be gorgeous - that ship sailed about thirty years ago - I'm looking for a healthier life."

Every one of my dear friends has been supportive when I have told them. My church family is praying for me already. Right now, I can't help but feel enormous gratitude. And of course trepidation. This may sound silly and overly dramatic, but there will be so many changes. Of course no one wants to feel physical pain, but that can be managed - I've had surgery before. My chances - especially with this particular medical practice and the status of my health otherwise - are excellent. But there will be changes and how will I deal with them?

I have spoken with a number of friends and colleagues and one family member who have had this procedure, or a similar one, done. That has helped terrifically, but a lot hasn't really sunken in. The details - the devil is always in the details, isn't it? Spoke with a colleague yesterday who had it done about three years ago. He told me to puree my food and freeze it into ice cubes. The thought is making me nauseous. Perhaps it won't a month out. And I am grateful for the advice and for his kind offer to call him if I need to just talk - and he himself is going in for some serious (unrelated) surgery and will be out for three months!

There are those close to me who think I shouldn't really talk or write about it: "Keep it private," they say, "you don't need to record your every thought. We love ya, but ferchrissakes, get a grip. It's not all about you," they say. And boy do they have a point there!:) But I keep thinking there might be someone who could possibly benefit by my discussing this (somewhat) publicly. And journaling thoughts and emotions, so long as it doesn't violate the privacy of others or hurt others, has been a good safety valve for others - why not me? I have an addiction and this is one very serious way of forcing a change in behavior and that's putting it mildly. That doesn't even begin to address the insanity of a world where human beings - usually children - die of starvation every day in one part of the world where in another, people and insurance companies pay the equivalent of a half year's pay for weight loss surgery and other remedies.

The "it" I am talking about here is gastric bypass - or more accurately described (by the insurance company) as "Laparoscopy, surgical, gastric restrictive procedure with gastric bypass and Roux-en-Y."

Right now, I'm in the midst of a rather long to-do list. Get a doctors appointment for pre-op testing (had to laugh at the pregnancy test - REALLY people?); Go to the surgeon's nurse for a pre-op appointment; pay money up front (ouch); go see surgeon on Friday; arrange for coverage for those few court dates I have in the three weeks following; schedule additional visits with clients to catch up; missing the last choir/bell services; tell family and others; look for a therapist.

Frog my knitting. (See below)

I promise not to be too gross - or at least to warn you if I'm about to be. And no pictures - unless knitting or somebody really cute or funny is involved:) The drawing at right doesn't count.

The Knitting Front

You KNEW I'd get around to the knitting eventually, didn't you?

I have indeed been frogging pretty much all of my unfinished sweater projects - surprisingly few for me. I do have one that is practically finished (Elizabeth Zimmermann's Green Sweater as re-created by Sunday Holm), so I'm going to go ahead and finish it and if need be, give it away or use it as a transitional sweater in the fall. Even the Cassidy, which has been flying off the needles, is going to the frog pond. No point in doing all that knitting if I'm not going to fit in the thing in four months when sweater weather starts again. My daughter, S, says I should simply go back to knitting just for her:) Not a bad idea - her AND others:). The good news is, if and when I do have a smaller presence in the world, I will be able to knit a sweater for myself in FAR less time - and for less yarn. So... cheaper and quicker and with fewer pattern modifications - how bad can that be?

I did, however, finish the Sandrine I started almost two years ago. It fits and it's a bit adjustable, so I'm not complaining. Plus I love the color. It goes with a number of items in my closet and it's in KnitPicks CotLin - a great combo for summer. I plan on getting a lot of use out of this sweater before I adjust the buttons:)

Also finally FINALLY finished the Lenten Mystery Scarf! The recipient loved it, although I think I gave it to her on one of the hottest days of spring so far. Hopefully she'll get good use out of it in the Fall. I explained what each square meant. The colors really do suit her well and the scarf is nice and long and warm. If nothing else, it will keep her warm this coming winter. Many thanks again to Rebecca Osborn for such a beautiful and thoughtful pattern! It was a great accompaniment to my own Lenten journey this year.

I've also made some decent headway on the Guernsey Wrap. Am now officially past the midway point and ready to begin the second half. Interestingly enough, I've started the second skein of Cascade Ecology Wool - a very propitious sign!:) This picture is of the scarf, but a bit scrunched up. I tried doing a little knitting out on the deck yesterday evening after work, but with the wind it was too cold - unusual for this point in May. Somehow I think that will change really soon. But this wrap is moving along. Hope to be blocking it within the next couple of weeks. We shall see!

Lastly, I have had about 800-900 yards of beautiful dark green, blue, and purple sock yarn that has been wanting to be a shawl or scarf of some kind and I decided to do the Percy Shawl designed by Sanne Kalkman. It's a pretty pattern - and free on ravelry! Free is good. Free is very good. And the yarn isn't so variegated that we lose the beautiful lace pattern in it. It's nice having a diversion now and then. I felt it was OK, since I had finished two UFOs. OK, so I have another 25 to go... so what, LOL:)

Miscellaneous fun and frolic

Well, let's see, what's been happening since last I posted, dear 2.5 readers? Pretty much the same old same old. Been doing more visits to catch up on my backlog and going to court. But then, that's what a lawyer does now and then.

Spring has come out in so many ways. We have had a LOT of rain here in Merlin and the result has been magical. This was taken as I was leaving a visit with a client - this is NOT the place where the client was - just at some point on the drive. Merlin is truly beautiful at this time of year.

Our son, D, is coming home for a two-week visit between his play's move from Kansas City, MO to LaJolla CA. We can't wait to have him home and hear about his adventures in the (wild?) Midwest before he sets out to the actors' Mecca of California.
As I sit here typing this, the jockey for Shackleford is sending out a loving message to his mother in Spanish. The Preakness, one jewel in the Triple Crown of horseracing, has just finished and Shackleford is in first place, Animal Kingdom in second and Astrology in third. John and I were rooting for Animal Kingdom, hoping for at least 2/3s of a Triple Crown for him. Oh well. That's the extent of my interest in horse races.

Theology...And elsewhere in the news....It's after 6 p.m., do you know where your Rapture is?

Why oh why do people get caught up in this utter crap? Do they really really think that God gives secret hidden knowledge to people? And let's assume for argument's sake that She does: who are any of us to take joy in the devastation of condemnation and suffering and torment of anyone? There was a very ugly undertone to all of this hoopla - this legalistic view of God and judgment to which even those who follow the Old Testament alone do not always adhere. We who follow the "pocket parts" (NT) in addition to the old have to figure that part in as well. Where was the mercy and love of God in any of this "Judgment Day" malarkey? Of course, there is also the argument that "no one knows the time," except God the Father. It is crap like this that makes Christianity look stupid. And stupid it is not.

Well, that's all I have for today. God be with you 'til we meet again - wherever and however that may be!:)
+

Blogging 9-101

2011-05-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, this morning was interesting. Had one of those "have to be two places at once" mornings. Luckily, it was two places at once in the same courthouse.

The other hearings for the balance of the day were not contested, and all went well in my little corner of Merlin.

Between the a.m. and p.m. dockets, I stopped across the street and had a sandwich, since I knew I'd be there for the afternoon docket and there wasn't much sense in going anywhere only to have to return and find parking again. Soon I was joined by two of the attorneys in that contested case. After a pleasant lunch, during which I shared with one of them my experience being followed back to my car by one of his clients, it was back to court and then to the home office and a call about a client whose case has closed and an irate e-mail from the parent of a pro-bono client. The fun just never ends!

Speaking of fun - what a wonderful weekend I had. Saturday started out exceptionally lazy! I woke up at almost NOON! What a lazy bum! (but why do I not feel guilty??) After getting up and doing the usual ablations, I did a little work and then rolled on down to the Howard County Fairgrounds to the Annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. (Sigh..what follows my be shocking to the senses as in serious yarn porn)

I really was a good doobie - mostly because I didn't even get there much before 4 PM, so there wouldn't have been TIME to purchase yarn. But I did see my knitting pals and did a bit of knitting on the Lenten Mystery Shawl. And cleaned a table or two at the very end.. and wound some yarn for a friend. Heading out into the parking lot and driving away, I was struck by how many people had these silly grins on their faces.

After going home and having some dinner, it was time to get to Storey Publishing After Party at the Sheraton, Columbia.

In the upper left portion of this collage are authors Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius presenting their book, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and boy is it a sourcebook. These women sampled animal fibers from all over the English-speaking world! It's an encyclopedia of animal fiber!

There were drawings for prizes that had previously been donated by various sponsors. Denise was the one from our table who won a lovely prize from XRX, Inc., publishers of Knitter's and a variety of knitting books, and who also sponsor the various "Stitches" conventions throughout the country, i.e. Stitches East, Stitches West, Stitches South... you get the idea. Well, two of the books were volumes Denise already had in her library. Since I did not have them, I inherited them from her! One was a book I had been wanting to get for years, but shied away from due to the price -Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today - and the other was full of beautiful photography - Maggie's Ireland. In honor of the lace book, I started yet another project (groan) - Wendy Johnson's Japanese Garden Shawl in an off-white fuzzy wool. Wendy (of Wendy Knits fame) created this pattern, portions of the sales for which will go to Japanese relief efforts.

I've also added a few more inches to the Lenten Mystery Shawl. I might actually finish this thing!

Also, about another foot on the Guernsey wrap:

So I have been a little bit productive. But that business of earning a living is a bit of a LARGE priority, LOL!

And after I was done for the day, I took advantage of the Merlin spring and had a cup of coffee and did some reading out on in the back yard. What a great way to end the day!

'Til next time, God be with you 'til we meet again!

Blogging between the services

2011-05-08T07:39:00.001-07:00

Well one service down and one to go:). This is a ringing and singing Sunday. And it's Mother's Day, so happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

The cool thing about today, other than the amazing blessing in having these cool, unique and interesting human beings we brought into the world, is that I don't have to cook dinner!! Whoot!
In addition to all anticipated fun and frolic of this evening, yesterday was a great day - more to come on Maryland's Sheep and Wool Festival.
Until then, you know the drill:

God be with you 'til we meet again+

Frustrating Friday

2011-05-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well today my colleague who works every Friday covered the two hearings I have. There are a couple of bits of paperwork I need to do, like responding to motions and legal research and preparing for the four or five hearings I have Monday. The printer attached to this computer doesn't want to cooperate and I cannot for the life of me figure out why not. It's a laser printer (HP) and I've had it for about 10 years without so much as a squeak of a problem. NOW is not the right time for it to crap out on me, believe me. My phone needs a new battery and it's not one I can replace myself. Oy!

But look at what it's doing outside:)

And you should feel the lovely breeze I just felt taking those pictures! This time of year is Merlin dressed up in its Sunday best, dancing and partying with the wine of nature:) And yes, getting just a little drunk and full of herself and why not?

So, despite getting precious little done at work, I did take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is around me.:)

And I did get a chance to add a few inches to the Guernsey wrap. I'm about to do those horizontal rows of 2P, 2K that make up the center of the thing, so it's going fairly quickly, given the limited amount of time I've spent on it.

Speaking of knitting, tomorrow is Merlin's famous Sheep and Wool Festival (now why does that always sound so disturbing to me - I think it's the lamb cooking next to the exhibit barns with live sheep - ewwwwww). Anyway, I am going to go to meet up with my knitting peeps and see what treasures are out there. BUT I will NOT be purchasing. And I have taken care of that by NOT bringing any cash:)! I will enjoy and get ideas and meet with like-minded knitters and ooh and aah over all the lovely things, but no buying. Why you may ask? Well, aside from the fact that I really don't have the moolah for such foolishness, here's another reason:

And that ain't all of it, honeybunchesofoats! For me to buy yarn at such an event would be the depths of selfishness. I've got enough yarn to last me at least another couple of years worth of projects. So I think I'll pass.

What I WILL do is to go to the sponsored yarn crawl at the Columbia Sheraton tomorrow evening. I bought the (cheap) ticket for that a month ago and it's wearing out in my wallet. That will be fun. And did I say not so costly?:) See? You can have fun without sacrificing the grocery money!

Before I go (because let's face it, I don't really have much to say here), I did watch two movies in the last two days - one very late last night which is why I am a bit tard right now. And the other at the end of the work day. The first was Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts playing the main character in Ms. Gilbert's book. Although still (relatively) young and beautiful, Julia Roberts plays a more mature, reflective version of her earlier reincarnations. It was a good movie, one I'd wanted to see, but I do agree with some of the criticisms I read about it a while back (criticism about the subject matter more than the acting, which was wonderful). The thought that people in Eastern countries have some corner on the spiritual market and that somehow, magically, they see things we in the West do not. Although I believe Western thinking and religion can at times have its drawbacks too numerous to mention here, Eastern thinking can as well. The bottom line is, no other human being can really be our hotline to the Divine. We all need to work out our salvation, as it were, with fear and trembling, to quote a famous theologian, IMHO. The cinematography was lovely and the characters quite interesting. Your mileage may vary.

The other movie was a documentary of a documentary. Cinema Verite' is about the original "reality TV show:" PBS' true story, filmed in the 1970s of the Loud Family. This show was on television when I came of age, which means I was not watching much TV at that time - I was, after all, finishing high school and heading for college and had other things on my mind. So I missed it. But I would see articles about the family, especially their oldest son, Lance and the breakup of the parents' marriage at the height of the Sexual Revolution and the Women's Liberation Movement. At the time, my own family was in its own thoes of upheaval, so I was not too interested in reading about the same thing elsewhere - I was too busy escaping. No, not in the way you'd think - but into activism and friends and faith and trying to figure out the meaning of our sojourn on this "planet Earth, our island home." I had a lot of curiosity about this film when I saw the ads for it and took the opportunity to see it on HBO. You will think me silly, but at the end, I found myself getting emotional when the family, in so many ways, and in spite of as much as because of their parents' divorce, remained together in the real sense of the word. When the criticism got horrible, the family did the talk show circuit, telling their side of the story. For all their problems, they refused to be demonized. Good for them! All of the children grew up to be interesting people, it seems. And when the oldest, Lance, was dying of AIDS, it was one of his sisters who lived with him and stayed with him until the end. The HBO credits say that Lance's dying wish was that his parents would reunite. Apparently they are living together now in L.A.

And I kept thinking, "and the greatest of these is Love."

OK, I'm not getting all sappy here, though I did hold back some emotion as the final credits rolled on this film. What follows is my own theological reflection and if this doesn't interest you, I get it and would simply advise that you finish reading this here. Have a great weekend and I'll be back soon:)

A good friend of mine and a fellow "EfM'er" and I have been debating back and forth about the nature of God and what "God's Love" means. He is in the first year class which does a fairly intensive and thorough reading of the Old Testament. There's a lot o' violence in them there OT books. God is definitely not depicted as some sort of fairy godfather by any means. I have often argued that everything one reads in the Bible should be done in the light of the New Testament and that oft-quoted line from 1 Cor. 13 about love - what it is and what it isn't.

In many way the Louds had it easy. They lived a good life in California and at a great economic time in our history. There was the usual smoking and drinking and sexual infidelity and the kids smoked the mild weed of the 70s, but there was no serious violence, child abuse, hard drug use or (other than his often unexcused or inexcusable absences from time to time) an absentee Dad. But they also laid their souls bare to the often excoriating view of the American public. Whatever you say about them - and I'm sure there is plenty negative one could say about anyone - their love for each other was genuine. At least I thought so.

OK, have a great weekend and God be with you 'til we meet again!:)

Just another tiring Tuesday (Whoa oa oa....)

2011-05-03T22:03:00.001-07:00

Man, I've got to get better at titling these posts! The picture to the right is what I did NOT get to do today. No knitting, no playing flute, no doing the crossword. I got up, went to a dr appointment, got an ultrasound done on the gallbladder, ran to court for three shelter hearings for five new clients, feeling like someone had elbowed me in the stomach a bazillion times. As I left court, the mother of one of my clients followed me with an older child and two adult male friends, calling me names over and over again (did she think I'd cry? NOT). I got to my car and stopped and faced them. They walked by me (thankfully). Then I got in my car and drove the hell outta there to the office to finish paperwork. Then a client visit, then home and then (happy sigh) bell practice:)!

Then HOME! As I type this right now, everyone in the house is asleep. The dishwasher is hitting something repeatedly against something else. It is late. I even told an online friend I was headed for bed, but thought I'd post something since I've been so darn rotten about it these past few months and don't want to get lazy about this. I have hiccups and my right side is still sore. But it's nothing a few ibuprofen before bed won't knock out.

Bed, now it's sounding like a really really good thing.

God be with you 'til we meet again:)

Blogging between visits

2011-05-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Or after court! I have to catch up on a number of client visits, but figured I should check in here for no good reason, LOL:) It's another Merlin Monday - spring is coming, but it's coming slowly. So I think we're going to have about five seconds of spring and then get blasted with the kiln of summer. Bleh.

Well court went fine today. No real snags. Had a shelter hearing and then headed back here with the idea of contacting a lot of my client's placements and setting up visits. Have a few voicemails in and will try back when the workday is over and they are home.

Right now the house is unusually quiet. John is off on Monday and is usually up and about, but he is just waking up as I type this - very strange for him, but hey, given his crazy work schedule good for him!

The weekend I met with a couple of clients and did some work at home. Sunday was a lot of fun - it was the Orchestra of St. Johns' season finale - and in my humble opinion, one of their best concerts yet! But then, I am very partial to Bach and Vivaldi! A number of the "gang" went out to dinner at one of our sponsors, but I had dinner with my own gang at home and couldn't make it.

The cool thing about grandchildren is you get to see the little changes after a week or so. I cannot imagine what it must be like for grandparents whose kids live so far away. The younger the grandbaby, the more pronounced the change. Gram is smiling now and definitely prefers his Mommy and Daddy over strangers. Johnny is really into "No!" and he's only 19 months old! Madison is going to Middle School next year and we are all a little apprehensive about that. Ruby is now the fashion princess of the group and none of us can figure where she got THAT from (certainly not this grandma!).

After dinner was eaten, the dishes done and a little time for play, everyone headed home to bedtimes and preparation for the week. John and I sat down to watch Celebrity Apprentice, a show I can about stomach, but hell, I'm just knitting and it's his first night off. Well I still don't know who was fired because NBC broke in with the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by US forces in Pakistan. We later learned it was in somebody's palace not far from Islamabad. Figures - that the icon of supreme misogyny should be hiding in wealth and opulence, using women as shields doesn't surprise me in the least. What DOES surprise me is that he was alive at all. It was a fairly widespread rumor that he suffered from advanced kidney disease and required dialysis or transplant. A number of the film footages that the various news outlets kept playing repeatedly last night seemed to show a man who at times was bloated. Whatever his health status was, we will never know, because he was washed, wrapped, prayed over according to Muslim tradition, and buried at sea. Wonder why our military (I assume on orders of our government) did that? There are probably a number of really good reasons, primarily related to the fact that the Saudis don't want him buried there (he's killed thousands of Saudis during his "tenure.") I won't even pretend to know all the ins and outs of that situation. I'm not sure what to think of his death, but I do believe that the servicemen and women who gave of their time and safety will feel gratified to know he is finally vanquished (assuming Al Qaeda is actually weakened by this).

From the awful to the mundane - yes, on the knitting front - I've made some progress in a few projects.

When I have to wait between or before dockets or sometimes for various meetings to begin, I often pack one of these projects to take along. I think the reason Nancy's Westerwick took so long was that I simply could not take it around with me AND keep my sanity!

I've put a few more inches on the Guernsey Wrap (Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed). I worked on that during the concert yesterday evening and while waiting for the shelter hearing this afternoon. (I NEVER knit while court is in session!).

Have also added a dozen or so repeats to the edging pattern for Mr. Flood's other pattern (of, oh, about 80 gazillion) on which I am working. Looking at what I've knitted, I know I'm going to have to block the hell out of this thing!

Finally, I'm on the last square of the Lenten Mystery Shawl. I thought for sure it would be too warm outside to use this for months, but the weather here has been so weird, I'd better get it finished. The recipient still wants it and seems happy to be getting it, so I shall continue. It's been a lot of fun to knit and it's great knowing it will go to someone who will enjoy it.

Well, gotta make dinner.

Back soon I hope - until then, God be with you 'til we meet again!

Law Day May Day

2011-04-29T14:48:00.001-07:00

Today was Law Day. Various Bar Associations from various counties in Merlin celebrate this occasion (a way of celebrating the rule of law over the rule of tyrants or the mob) in a variety of ways. Here in Bawlmer County, Merlin, where I practice about 99 percent of the time, they have a theme - this year was the Spirit of John Adams from Revolutionary times to Guantanamo. Local school children draw pictures and write essays about the meaning of this theme. They win prizes. The oldest prizewinner read her essay and it was outstanding. Master Beck was awarded an honor, as was an attorney who heads up a local Innocence Project. The Jazzband from Loyola High played before the ceremony and THEY were outstanding. It was a great way to spend a lunch hour- outside in the fresh spring air and (intermittent) sunshine. And it gave me hope for the future.
Then it was back to CINA court.

All that professionalism didn't stop me from beginning another shawl: Jared Food's Rock Island.

I am hopeless!! And I'm afraid there's no cure!
Well, I'm off to another client visiting beautiful downtown Dundalk- and there are places of beauty in Dundalk- it's right on the water- how bad can that be?!
Back as soon as I can, until then,
God be with you 'til we meet again+