Progress.

Lots of it at work. I closed a couple more cases for us today, got through all of the mail, worked my To Do's as far as technology would let me, and fidgeted. A lot. I just wanted to be home, sewing.

I paid off my Adela; Mint on Card says that she will ship in up to five business days. I also ordered a harp for Blessing and an alchemist's bookcase that Celeste will share with her.

Middlest was less headache-y today, so I showed off the lace and ribbons that showed up yesterday. Dinner was the last of the frozen pizza, because neither of us wanted to go out, nor were we in the mood to cook.

I cut out the pieces for the quilt blocks and discovered that in spite of cutting carefully, I do not have enough of the green fabric. So I completed Middlest's block, and I will need to buy another block kit tomorrow or a fat quarter of the green. My block is as put-together as I can make it without the missing links.

It is late, and I am sleepy, so I'm going to surprise us all and go to bed. Can't wait for General Conference this weekend.

P.S. If you ever followed my doll blog in the past, it is up and running again after a six-year hiatus. Unlike this blog, I will occasionally link the other to (the closed doll group on) FB. Night, y'all.

Knitting and yarn and lace and ribbons, oh my!

No pictures, as I've turned off my cell phone for the night. The packet from my favorite Etsy dealer arrived safely today, and everything inside it was perfect. I found another skein of yarn at Knit Night 2.0.

The leftover pumpkin laceweight yarn that I used for October's sweater is a perfect match for three of the silk ties that I bought last week.

I've started posting on the doll blog again. That one, I'm willing to link to the doll group on FB.

I'm tired from all of the excitement of today's package, and the new skein that followed me home, and that I get to pay off Adela tomorrow. I'm going to take my meds a little early and go to bed, because I'll probably wake waaaay ahead of my alarm tomorrow.

Just as if it were Christmas in March.

The plan for tonight.

The plan was to finish the last few rings on the border for the second side and mark the first ring on the third side. I got as far as marking the last ring, and my brain and hands both said nope. I will finish that bit tomorrow before taking Middlest to school and heading in to work. I am still very, very pleased with what I've been able to accomplish this week. There won't be a lot of quilting time on Saturday, unless I listen to my phone while sitting on my bed, and I would prefer to sit out here in the living room and knit (I'm not sure what).

The tabard blocked out nicely. I'll give you a visual sometime in the future. It still needs snaps and two decorative buttons. All of the frogging and reknitting has produced a garment that should fit Adela well, assuming that the colors suit her.

Two days. Two days until I pay off my layaway. I printed off my pay stub first thing when I got to the office. The numbers delight and astound me. I suspect that millionaires get nowhere near as much joy and satisfaction as I do from the financial progress with which I've been blessed over the past 20 years. The blessings that come from paying one's tithing are not necessarily financial, and I don't count those as my greatest blessings from obedience to this principle. But the ambling-toward-solvency (with periodic setbacks) has been one small miracle after another. And I am grateful.

So, we had major weather in the North Dallas region last night. The weather radio shrieked several times before bedtime, and I was levitated out of a sound sleep at 2:12 this morning by another series of alerts. I stayed up for an hour, listening to the wind and rain move in from the west, followed by maybe a two minute spate of tiny hailstones. There wasn't time to inspect the house and yard this morning, but I checked everything out once I got home tonight, and we appear to be unscathed.

The worst of the damage was to the north and south of us. A friend in the ward posted a picture of her neighbor's trampoline that had been lifted out of their backyard and into the street. We had one small twig, maybe as thick as my forefinger, broken off the bois d'arc tree in the backyard. Unless Middlest raised them upright after I left for work, our garbage and recycling bins were not knocked over as they usually are with winds like last night's.

The office today was mostly occupied by walking dead. I have no idea how many pots of coffee they went through. I stayed awake chiefly by willpower, aided by carrot sticks. It's (thus far) impossible for me to fall asleep at my desk while eating a carrot stick.

It's 10:30, and I'm fading fast. Night, y'all.

Congratulations, you're old!

I came home early from work today, as I had a slight but inexplicable fever. And my Outlook had ceased to work, and the primary IT person was gone for the day, and her backup was at lunch, and I was done. For me, a temperature of 99.0 is a fever, as I tend to run 97.5 to 97.6. I started feeling a little warm before lunch, so when I got back to my desk I took my temperature. (Of course I have a digital thermometer in my drawer. And a sewing kit. And my workday vitamins. Don't you?)

So I messaged Fourthborn that knit would not happen tonight, and I messaged Middlest so my kid wouldn't be alarmed when arriving home from school by seeing the Tardis in the driveway. The mail hadn't come when I got home, so I went straight to bed and slept for two hours, waking with a perfectly normal temperature.

Middlest got home about five minutes after I arose, handing over a large official-looking envelope with my name on it. I said, "It's probably something about Social Security. As in, Congratulations, you're old!" I wasn't far off. It was from a company that wanted to sell me hearing aids.

We howled.

In knitting news, I've woven in the ends of the tabard, and I've steam-blocked the shoulder edges, keeping the steam far from the ribbing at the waistband. I'll wait to sew on the snaps and decorative buttons until its intended recipient is in residence. But I know where the snaps are, and I know where the buttons are.

In doll news, three days until I pay off my Adela. And I messaged the Etsy vendor re: the items I want to combine into one order, and I found a miniature bust of Beethoven, and I measured Rosalie for waistband and skirt lengths. The ribbon order should be here on Thursday, so I anticipate much happy hand-sewing while listening to General Conference this weekend.

I'm feeling rather lively at the moment and will take advantage of that to preshrink the fabric for the quilt blocks which need to be done for Saturday.

Quilting and reading and things in the mail.

I came home from work in "wanna quilt" mode, and Middlest graciously allowed me to be a hermit. I made acceptable progress. Not outstanding progress, but acceptable progress. And I flipped through the new Target catalogue (so many yummy things) and the new Avenue catalogue (not impressed in the least; when are cold shoulder tops going to go out of fashion?). And I read a small chunk of the book for work, enough to feel that I am making progress there as well.

The ribbons and laces which I ordered from the Etsy shop have shipped out and should arrive at the office on Thursday. I've ordered a Grim Reaper balloon for the family birthday dinner. I've wanted this one for 25 years, and it's no longer available in local shops. It should be here in the next few days as well.

The Gatorade which used to be part of Middlest's migraine regimen is by the front door to take to Fourthborn before Knit Night tomorrow.

Family Search emailed to say that one of my ancestors was an early member of Relief Society and perished at Winter Quarters. I need to figure out how she was related to Gram's mother, but not tonight, or I'd be up till all hours, and my muscle relaxer has kicked in, and I am done with this more than ordinarily satisfying day.

Night, y'all.

Good Sabbath!

Mine was great, thanks! Notwithstanding the schedule change, which complicated how much and when to eat before leaving for church, our meetings and classes were exactly what I needed today. I didn't have to eat the cheese sticks that I popped into my bag, nor the nut bar (you are what you eat, right?).

I've made and remade the front yoke of the doll tabard at least four times, and (I think) I'm finally done. All that remains is to bind off eight stitches on the waistband ~ why I didn't do them en masse before starting the back, I can't say ~ weave in the ends, pick out buttons (decorative) and sew snaps (functional), and I can call it done.

I'm tempted to cast on another one, just to polish off the yarn. And then I want to design another one in laceweight to go with the neckties that I bought the other night.

Five days until I can pay off my Adela.

Certain women.

Sister Linda Burton, the General President of the Relief Society, put a whole new spin on that for me this evening, as I listened to the Women's General Meeting in our stake center. I'd always thought of it as "a certain bunch of women" who were converted to the gospel in the meridian of time. She offered another perspective: women who are certain, confident in their faith and testimony, valiant in standing for truth and righteousness.

In less exalted news, I think the fourth incarnation of the back of the tabard is long enough, but Rosalie (the doll belonging to Fourthborn which is visiting in Middlest's room so Middlest may knit her a sweater) is not accessible at the moment. Middlest is zonked out, so I've put a post-it on the mirror in the guest loo (a/k/a Middlest's loo) asking that Rosalie be moved out into the living room the next time my kid bubbles to the surface.

Like me, Middlest is prone to waking in the middle of the night and doing random quiet things until the urge to sleep returns. There's a pretty good chance that Rosalie will be parked in a chair out here when I wake in the morning.

One of the announcements last week at ward conference was that, since the Spanish branch has been absorbed into a ward that meets in the stake center, our ward is moving back to the 11-2 slot for the meetinghouse. I guess the solution to that is to reactivate the people who are not currently attending church, baptize an equivalent amount, and hope for the same in the other wards in our stake, so that they can create a new ward that meets in our building, and we can go back to the 1-4 slot, which is my favorite, instead of toggling between 9-12 and 11-2.

First world problems.

It's been a good day, and I'm sleepy, and I think I'll go to bed a little early.

A frogging we will go

I was pleased with the gauge of the re-knitted tabard back but not the tension of the slipped stitches on the side or the bound-off stitches at the waistband. So this morning I ripped it back to where the bind-off began and redid it between stoplights on the way home. It's just that much tighter, and I hope it will be smooth sailing from here out.

Work went well except for one moment when I got irritated by something that SemperFi said, and within a minute my stomach decided to set my throat on fire. I didn't have anything in my desk drawer or my lunchbox to absorb the acid, so I forwarded my phone and went down to the deli for two pieces of lightly buttered toast. By the time I finished them, my stomach was calm and I'd adjusted my attitude.

He wasn't being tacky. I overreacted. In the sense of the famous Vietnam-era quote: We had to bomb the village to save it. Yeah, stomach: not helping!

On the other hand, my ankles have been calm all day, and I enjoyed a simple dinner at home with Middlest, and a friend from church has come by to borrow two long folding tables for a multi-family garage sale tomorrow, so now I can hang up my bra, take off my shoes, and knit until it's time to take my meds and go to sleep.

That was half an hour ago. I got distracted by an IM from a cousin I found on Ancestry. She lives just east of Tulsa. I'm driving up for lunch the day after my birthday, immediately after dropping off Middlest at the college. Hoping to get there around noon, but there are four or five construction zones between us. I will miss Knit Night that night, and I will probably sleep all day the next day, but it will be worth it. She will let me know when the ancestral family reunion is taking place, and I'm hoping to meet more of the family then.

There's going to be considerably less knitting before bedtime tonight, but the time spent in back-and-forth was absolutely worth it.

I am so blessed!

Really happy, really tired

Work went particularly well today, notwithstanding a surprise/mandatory virtual meeting that ate up an hour which could have been put to far better use. Our office manager was logged in remotely, so she did not hear the brash, irreverent, and generally mutinous comments which punctuated the hour and kept us more or less awake. I confess to deleting emails on my phone and getting partway through a game of Sudoku, because the alternative was death by irrelevance.

Thankfully, once I got back to my desk I was able to be as productive as I am on my best days (just not for as long a stretch as I would have hoped).

Middlest's class was interrupted by a fire alarm at the college and multiple emergency vehicles, plus a ramped-up migraine from the disarranged morning. But my kid was able to come to tonight's knitting group, and we just inhaled some party tacos.

It was a day of at least two miracles that I'm aware of. The first before we left the house, when I went to quilt a small circle on the border and discovered that my needle had vanished. After prayer, it popped up on my mattress, rather than in a body part. The second was at work, when I was impressed to do one last check on a document I was about to file with the court and saved myself an embarrassing error. Guardian angels and the Spirit have been working doubles on my half today.

I've frogged the back of the doll tabard twice but seem to be on the right track now.

And on that note, I'm going to take my meds and finish the second half of that circle on the quilt and call it a day.

So I went a little nuts last night on Etsy.

Bought a bunch of vintage French grosgrain ribbon and sundry other items for future doll clothing. I've bought from this site before, and they ship really fast. I should have the package within a week.

On the way home tonight, I stopped in at the big thrift store next to my grocery store and bought nine neckties to cannibalize for doll skirts. Three colorways: rosy orange (I know!), yellows and greys, greyed greens. And then I went next door and bought food.

I'm hoping to be abed well before I was last night or the night before. Right now I'm eating some of that incredible mango salsa from Costco with chips I bought at the regular grocery after reading bag after bag to find a brand that does not use (or even possibly use) canola oil. I am so disappointed with Frito-Lay. Au revoir, Doritos Scoops! Anyway, I will need to sit up for awhile to make sure that this salsa does not decide to play 1812 Overture when I lie down tonight.

I'm off to quilt for awhile.

Brain is doing that thing again.

The one where it spits ideas at me almost faster than I can whip them into Evernote. On the other hand, it kept me safely awake on the drive home from Knit Night.

Realized this morning that the lovely outfit I found last night does not suit the personalities of any of the MSDs I own or plan to buy. Plus, Fourthborn's Rosalie is visiting here awhile and is the right size to serve as a pattern model for Adela.

That's all I've got tonight, y'all. Taking my meds an hour late (again) and calling it a day.

A wonderfully easy day back in the salt mines.

SemperFi was working from home today. I got exactly two calls from him: the first to welcome me back from vacation, and the second to let me know that there was a calendar item (which hadn't been calendared, by me or by anyone else, because it pertained to a case that was assigned to him while I was out) to check off. Other than that, he let me work undisturbed. Good thing, because there were 101 emails waiting for me when I walked in the door. Most of which I had dealt with by the time I signed off at the end of the day.

Something I did last night until way too late was make a lot of calculations to try to figure out how to tweak the MSD patterns that I bought and downloaded on Saturday to fit Adela, who is taller and more generously endowed than most of my dolls. Because of a link to new Iplehouse dolls that a friend posted on the FB doll group, I discovered that the JID/FID (Junior Iplehouse Doll/Fashion Iplehouse Doll, both essentially MSD) sculpts are about the same height with equivalent shoulder width and bust size. And there is a lovely, lanky knit dress with belt, necklace, and stockings for an astoundingly reasonable price. So that might be getting bought when I get my bonus next week. The Iple girls have smaller feet, so that won't work for my new girls, but they have a wig that I think I want for the Nana when I order her and others that might do for Adela. I like these wigs better than the ones I've seen through Denver Doll or Mint on Card.

I knitted a little more on the tabard, and I got my visiting teaching letters mailed out. Dinner tonight was very simple: brown rice & quinoa with teriyaki meatballs and a small salad for dessert. I am craving massive amounts of something unhealthy. I'm not feeling particular as to what that might be. Instead I'll grab a few ginger cookies, load the dishwasher, and quilt for half an hour. My brain is going pingety-ping, so I might as well be productive with it.

Best thing that happened today.

The best thing that happened today was ward conference. As I walked up to the stand to prepare for leading the music in sacrament meeting, the member of the stake presidency whom I know best (and who knows me best) just lit up when he saw me. I want to live my life in such a way that when I go Home, I see that same look on the Savior’s face.

I'm still a little sad that I missed stake conference last weekend, but getting to Tennessee and home within the allotted week meant leaving right after work on Friday, missing the Saturday evening adult session, and missing the Sunday general session. I love stake conference, now that my children are grown and I'm not walking the halls with a crabby wee one attached to my shoulder, or nursing in the mothers' lounge.

I love ward conference as well. This one was no exception. I'm glad that we made it back from Tennessee mid-week so I could goof off rest up sufficiently that going to church today would be an oh yes please and not a do I have to.

I've tried several times this week to cast on a pair of baby socks to use up the last of the Koigu with the bug-chomped red Jitterbug, and I couldn't make it work. So today I cast on a baby sock with just the Koigu, worked three rounds or so, and didn't like the gauge. Frogged that, cast on twice as many stitches, and dropped it into my purse for later. I'm now into my third round, and so far it looks good. What I think it wants to be, is a tabard for the Adela doll I'm paying off when my bonus hits.

My sleep schedule is still wonky after vacation and aftermath. Grabbing my meds and calling it a night. (Not looking foward to seeing my inbox tomorrow morning, but ready to jump back into harness, regardless.)

After five years in this house...

... I've finally figured out a non-scary way to change the light bulb in the ceiling fan over my bed. Longtime readers may remember that this bed is significantly taller than the previous frame. Tall enough that sometimes, when my hip is being wonky, getting into bed at night requires an act of Congress or a miracle on the order of the loaves and the fishes. For the past couple of days the light bulb has been making sputtery noises and generally irritating the fire out of me. This morning I decided to do something about that.

I tiptoed out into the living room and grabbed the folded-up two-step stepstool and set it up at the side of my bed, then stepped up once, twice, put my hand on the pillar of the headboard, stepped onto the mattress, steadied myself, turned slowly, and tried tightening the light bulb. No improvement. So I took it out, went to the linen closet, and quietly pulled out box after box of light bulbs until I remembered that either Fourthborn or Middlest had informed me some time ago that we were nearly out of 60W bulbs. I was replacing one of those ugly coiled "forever" bulbs with a slim profile but could not find a 60W bulb narrow enough to squeeze into the opening in the diffuser globe. And we thankfully have no more of the ugly coiled bulbs.

So I went to the store, took the mostly-dead bulb with me so I'd choose a bulb with the right size screw end, and bought two packages that are ceiling fan friendly. Put one in, put the old bulb into the bag for recycling next weekend at the toxic junk drop-off, and called it done.

At which point I was hungry again, so I made a batch of pigs in blankets for us, and then I spent way too much time looking at doll stuff online (but not buying any). We saw the new "Beauty and the Beast" today, and I am so irritated with the conservative community for blowing up over a supposed "gay moment". Y'all know that I'm conservative, very conservative, but not so conservative that my brain has rusted shut. I thoroughly understand church doctrine regarding gender and behavior, et al, and I also remember clearly that the Savior spent a good chunk of His time telling us to be nice.

There were a couple of sly moments that were genuinely funny (in my opinion), but nobody kissed who shouldn't have. The music was gorgeous. The costuming was gorgeous. I had no idea that so many of my favorite actors could sing. That was a lovely surprise. I had no quarrel with the casting. The library was every bit as wonderful in this version as in the original movie. And while I think Dan Stevens is easy on the eyes, I still prefer the Beast.

I will be buying this movie when it comes out on video.

Having replaced the light bulb and discovered that the problem is more than likely with the fan proper, because the bulb lights up with the globe off and shuts down when I try to cover it, my room is going to be significantly brighter until I replace the fan or call in professional help for it.

I'm now going to do the quilting that I thought I was going to do all day, but other fun stuff happened instead.

Lazy(ish) day.

Woke with the alarm. Took morning meds. Drank a small glass of juice, ate half a muffin and some cottage cheese, and went back to bed for a short nap.

Spent the better part of my morning uncluttering the fallow side of the bed, which was piled high with clean laundry and items that didn't make the final cut for our vacation.

Middlest and Fourthborn have spent the day unpacking boxes and rearranging shelves in Middlest's room. They are more than halfway done. I am impressed, astonished, and a little envious of some of Middlest's doll furniture (curated slowly and providently over the past twelve years).

I spent an hour or two researching on eBay and Etsy. The most impressive items seem to be coming out of Ukraine and Russia, with substantial price tags and exorbitant shipping. I had no idea how spoiled we are by shipping fees here in America!

I spent less than an hour quilting. Knit happened not at all. Made a quick run to the pharmacy for some information not easily accessible online; hit Bueno on the drive home.

Tomorrow we run errands and see the new "Beauty and the Beast."

Home? Home. I'm deranged.

The kids have unloaded the Tardis. The food is put away (most of it in the fridge; some of it in our tummies). The second load of laundry is in the dryer. It's nearly 11:00, and I know where my meds are, and I'm going to bed.

Pictures to follow eventually. My phone is as tired as I am.

Marvelous Memphis

We're here tonight. There was a dusting of snow when we awoke on the mountain, maybe an inch of wet fluff but no ice. We hit snow occasionally throughout the day.

We had dinner at the BBQ place my banker told me about last year. It was too loud and crowded for Middlest's comfort. The food was wonderful, and my kid requested that next time we get ours to go and eat it someplace quiet.

I find it amazing that Memphis is closer to my home than is Denver, or from my home in Boise to my sister's. I have a sudden urge to study Tennessee history to see if I can figure out why my ancestors left such a beautiful place.

We also went to the yarn shop that I discovered last year. I bought two hanks of Malabrigo Baby Silkpaca Lace in colors that almost perfectly match the Tennessee foliage (#862 piedras), and a hank of Dream In Color Jilly (#747 brownie). Both for doll sweaters.

OK, I'm done for today.

Mast Store and Tucker Cafe

We went down (on the map) and up (geographically) to Boone, NC today. Had lunch at Tucker Cafe in the Boone Mall. A basil burger: really good beef, whisper-thin slices of red onion, mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, and lots of fresh basil in place of lettuce. Also a half order of most excellent fries.

After that we drove up to the Mast Store, bypassing their touristy outlet in Boone proper. I came home with mason jar shot glasses the perfect size for my larger dolls, a small ceramic casserole reminiscent of Le Creuset but nowhere near as spendy, a wreath in teals and deep blues sized for my tinies, and a red alarm clock about the size of a half dollar. And a gorgeous walking stick for me, for a tenth of what I'd pay at home for ones of lesser quality.

We leave tomorrow, hoping to evade the storms that will hit here, and planning to arrive in Memphis about the time that great BBQ place opens for the evening. Then home on Wednesday.

On the road

We got into Little Rock about 2am and rented a handicapped room. Well worth the extra $10.

Drove something like 540 miles today. We're in Knoxville, and they think it's a smidgen after midnight, but my phone demurs. Most of you will lose an hour overnight. We'll lose two.

Hoping for far more sleep tonight. Have found a church with 9am sacrament meeting, and then we press on to the farm.

Later, gators.

♪♫ All my meds are packed, I'm ready to go... ♪♫

With apologies to John Denver, Peter Paul and Mary, et al. And I'm not all that ready to go, but I'm closer than I was this morning. The meds and vitamins are packed, along with OTC stuff for the nonsense that's going on in my right sinuses, throat, and ear. I did go to the after hours clinic to make sure that I wasn't coming down with an ear infection or strep throat. When I woke up this morning, I had a bit of congestion and that horrible metallic taste in the back of my mouth and an ear that was slightly tender. I downed a bottle of orange juice once I got to work, and it burned the right side of my throat, which can be a sign of strep. It was worth it to me to drop $30 for a co-payment and have my head properly examined. Ears are clear, and negative for strep.

There's your straight line. Tomorrow I will do as I did this afternoon, alternate very strongly minted gum with Ricola and send down decongestant as needed. Bradford pears are some of the loveliest trees in creation, and they hate me.

Work went well. We were handed a past-due answer, and we got 'er done. I remembered to set up my out of office message for email, and I set myself a reminder to change my voicemail message before leaving tomorrow. I've picked up Fourthborn, and two more cases of water, and some cottage cheese. I'm hoping that when I go to bed in half an hour or so, I can fall asleep quickly and stay asleep until the alarm goes off.

We're planning to make Little Rock before crashing stopping tomorrow night. We might be chasing a snowstorm. There might be two to six inches on the mountain where C lives when we get there on Sunday. We might have to park at the bunkhouse and hoof it up to the house. As I'm fond of saying, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

Having just tried to drown myself while washing down my evening meds, I am going to soothe my throat with a little ice cream and call it a night.

Whew!

It was a day of minor to major miracles, all around. It was so nice to plan on going to work and actually make it there. I got my timecard straightened out, worked my inbox and my To Do's and my attorneys' calendars.

SemperFi won his trial. We lost on liability, but the jury awarded less than our last offer, so it's still a win. There were a handful of items in my attorneys' outboxes, and I got those taken care of. I caught up and worked the incoming mail for the past three days.

I went onto my credit card company's website and entered our upcoming travel plans. On my way home, I dropped off a large bag full of grocery bags for recycling, got vitamins (Middlest) and shampoo and facial scrub (me). Picked up Middlest, and we went to Costco and Daiso. Middlest unloaded the Tardis. I baked pizzas.

I've worked out our itinerary, what we're doing where, the logistics of getting to church on Sunday, the motels we'll stay at, etc. Celebrated with half a pint of ice cream, and I don't feel the least bit guilty.

The doll sweater got blocked before I left for work, and now I don't remember where I put the bloomers and the hat. They're in my room somewhere, and I'll find them when I pack.

Knit did not happen today. I'm OK with that.

We've blown past Plan Z.

I think we shot past Cyrillic into cuneiform. That's the kind of day it was. Through patience, persistence, and ingenuity, the Tardis now has a jerry-rigged but functional door-ajar system and an equally jerry-rigged but functional dome light. I did not make it into work today. At all. The part which was rushed here from the factory turned out to be identical to the one that the dealership had sent over last week. So my guys had to get something call a pigtail and attach it to the not-quite-fitting part. And then they had to figure out how to reattach exceedingly brittle plastic parts to the dome light mechanism. We ended up buying another lens. It's attached, by southern ingenuity and the grace of Heaven. I just hope everything else holds together until (A) the mortgage is paid off in three years or (B) I can start drawing Beloved's Social Security next year, which would make a car payment ever so much easier even if it delays paying off the mortgage for a year or two.

After all that, I got into the truck, swung by Trader Joe's for more ginger cookies and chocolate covered ginger (some for Fourthborn while she watches the house, some for Middlest and me while we are on the road), dropped a pair of baby socks into the mail, picked up Fourthborn, grabbed Bueno for dinner and went to Knit Night. There were a grand total of four knitters plus Fourthborn and another knitter's delightful little girl.

I am home, and medicated, with a new baby sock started and a body that is screaming for sleep. I finished the doll sweater while at the mechanic's, and it's on the ironing board waiting to be blocked.

Not happening tonight.

A very *non* quiet day.

SemperFi was in trial today. TheKid was not, but the powers that be decided, because of the complexity of our case, a more seasoned attorney would be better for voir dire (where they pick the jury). And by the way, in civilized states they pronounce that vwa deer. Here in Texas it's voyr diher. Basically it means taking a look-see at what's swimming in the jury pool.

My work day was done at 1:45, and Middlest and I beat it for the dentist's office. While Middlest got a cleaning, I sewed snaps on the doll bloomers and attached the scarf to about half of the neck stitches. It's looking really good, and I'm going to try to finish binding off the rest of the live stitches at the neck before calling it a day.

My first order from Mint on Card arrived before we left the office, and I couldn't be more pleased with the color and variety of the shoes I ordered. I will definitely be doing business with them again.

The quilt shop called: the star quilt pattern I'd put myself on the waiting list for, was in. Did I still want it? I did. And I do not have time to go out to the shop before we leave for Tennessee, so I had them hit my card for shipping as well. It will be at my office tomorrow or the next day, as there's a post office inside the quilt shop.

After the dentist, we went back to Cheesecake Factory. I was a good girl and got a low-carb version with fresh berries, and it was quite tasty.

Got my numbers back from last week's blood work, and everything is good. She tactfully did not mention my weight when I was in the office, but in her letter she requested that I get back on track with diet and exercise. Absolutely, right after we get back from eating our way to Tennessee and home again.

We went to Michaels, looking for a straw cowboy hat for Honor. No luck. We then went to JoAnn's, where Middlest found a cheap one that will do for now. Eventually I want to get some milliner's straw and figure out how to make them myself. I also bought more elastic for future doll clothing, both the 1/8" super soft stuff and a couple of packages of foldover elastic in white and my favorite shade of yellow.

We took back the hand-held jar opener and picked up a couple of gorgeous bath sheets to take as hostess gifts. I massacred an old, ratty towel (which was actually Middlest's) when we were there last June, and I've felt bad about it and wanted to do this before now but hadn't actually gotten around to it.

I found out what my raise is going to be, and I'm pleased with that. I divided the new salary by 26 and populated my spreadsheet from March 31 through the end of the year.

We're home, I baked pizzas and nuked tomato basil soup for dinner. I'm full as a tick and ready to crash. The trash and recycling are out. Squishy came back tonight and schlepped the IKEA bookcase out of the back of the Tardis and onto the dining room floor, where it will be safe and out of the way until we get back and I figure out which wall I want to mount it on.

I'm so knackered that the poster child for crazy-tired would feel sorry for me if s/he only knew. Happy, yes, but still...

A very quiet day.

Whipped up a pair of bloomers for my young friend's doll, using a Tiny BJD Alice pattern from Requiem Art Designs by DGRequiem on Etsy, blown up to 145%. Just about a perfect fit; her baby doll's legs are sewn onto the front of the torso, making the rump a bit bigger in proportion to my BJD's. I took the doll back to church today, telling its owner that the bloomers just need a snap, the hat is done (she didn't ask for a hat, but I used it as a gauge swatch), and the sweater is nearly done. I hope to finish it all before the end of the week.

I got through all three hours of church in relative comfort and was able to stand at the end of Relief Society with minimal difficulty and no pain. I almost fell asleep in class, so not quite enough protein in the system. It's a constant guessing game. Today I guessed wrong.

Church itself was good, even though I was spiritually unprepared. I had read neither lesson beforehand. I don't like that feeling. I'll do better this week. I haven't touched my One Year Chronological Bible since February 11. I got stuck in the Book of Job, as usually happens when I read my KJV. It's just so damn dreary, and it goes on and on and on, like Ravel's Bolero.

In happier news, Squishy scooped up Middlest for a play date. And when they came back, he opened a jar which has mocked me for three weeks. Let there be mango salsa (which Middlest cannot eat, because it contains cilantro, but not enough for me to taste soap).

I got a nap. I set the alarm for 8:00 so I could get a good night's sleep when I retire in a bit. I've spent a good chunk of the evening browsing the doll sites, noting which companies make dolls I like, and which dolls I'm interested in. I've color-coded the doll companies by whether I found them first on Mint on Card, Denver Doll Emporium, or Alice's Collection (which is a website I hadn't explored before).

I also googled "MSD cowboy boots" and have found a vendor which has them in stock in real leather. I'm ordering at least one pair when I get my bonus on the 31st. The twins wouldn't be caught dead in cowboy boots, but Honor is only tolerating the sneakers I put on her a week or so ago. She looks great in her red glasses, and I think she'd rock a pair of cowboy boots.

I'm not sure if Mercy will be a cowgirl at heart. I think she's going to be more tomboy than girly-girl, but until I get her here I won't know how I want to dress her. I've had Honor for several years now, and I think she's the closest thing to an outdoors girl that I own, except maybe for Chutzpah.

I googled cowboy hats and only found one so far. Cute hat, but not quite what I'm looking for.

Embellishing upon a FB status.

We have something of a plan for the first Saturday of each month. Typically, Firstborn will scoop up Fourthborn and meet us (Middlest and me) at the quilt shop. We show our completed blocks, we pick up the kits for the next month's block, sometimes we catch a snack together, they go one way, we go ours.

Since I'd made arrangements to have the Tardis worked on, I messaged Firstborn earlier in the week to ask if she had enough wiggle room in her day to come get us, go to the quilt shop, bring us back, and then head home with Fourthborn. (Because the Tardis needed some minor work in preparation for our sprint to Tennessee.)

Yesterday, or maybe the day before, she texted that she was flying out of the country on business sometime today. As more details became known, she decided that she would have time to pick up Fourthborn, their blocks, take Fourthborn home, and still get to the airport on time. I decided that I would go to the mechanic's, stay there until the work was finished, then come back and get Middlest, after which we would go to the quilt shop and get our blocks.

Today only minimally adhered to plan, and it was still a great day. The Ford people had sent the wrong (minor) part for the Tardis. It was manufactured a month after they stopped making the exact part that we need, and it's mostly identical, but there's one crucial bit that won't fit where it needs to go. The factory has overnighted a new part, hopefully the correct one, and the Tardis will get fixed after Middlest's checkup on Tuesday and after I delivery my kid to the college.

I'm so thankful that my mechanic is honest as well as capable. They put the old part back in, I picked up Middlest and our quilt blocks, and off to the quilt shop we went. We got our quilt blocks picked up, and I really like the fabric. I also bought two yards of a fabric with bees on it, and a yard of something that would make a great quilt backing for a doll-scale quilt.

Middlest had never eaten at Babe's, a local chain that specializes in ridiculous portions of meat and serves the sides family-style, so we had chicken fried steak for lunch. And leftovers for another meal. We ate enough to be comfortably full but not stuffed. We stopped at Daiso on the way home, then Target so Middlest could get a new Lego set.

I was suddenly sleepy as I sat in the car at Daiso (didn't want to be tempted beyond my capacity to resist doll-scale goodies), so I took a carefully timed nap this afternoon. We did our drive-by fooding of the missionaries. And then we saw "Lego Batman".

There is no way I could feel anything less than delighted by how this day turned out. (Oh, and my order from Mint on Card [doll shoes] should arrive on Monday.)

The Robaxin is definitely working.

I slept like a log again. When I woke up, I tried an experiment. Lying on my back, I bent my left leg and let my knee ease down to the mattress. (Think tree pose, but horizontal.) No pain. I tried it with my right leg. Same result!

Y'all, this is huge! Longtime readers of the blog will recall that my right hip is where I park other people's issues when they're too painful to contemplate. This is probably a holdover from the days of my codependency with the children's father.

This does not mean that I have suddenly reacquired perfect range of motion, however; my friend C and I took SemperFi to lunch for his birthday today, and she drove her pickup, which is considerably larger and higher than mine. He asked if I wanted the front seat, and I said No, then realized that I couldn't lift my left foot high enough to step into the back seat. So I opened the front door, managed to get my foot barely inside, grabbed the handhold, and pushed off with my right foot. (I know there was a moment when SemperFi and were both wondering if he was going to have to apply hands to my rump and push, but we [just barely] avoided that.) After lunch, I had a slight advantage with the curb, but she'd parked a little farther out than convenient. So I reached across with my foot, grabbed the handhold, and got one cheek on the seat, then the other, then my other foot in.

Lunch was delicious, and worth every bit of inelegance. SemperFi and I both had the Carolina Crab Cake Salad with roasted red pepper remoulade and sliced avocado, and it was perfect. Just the right size, just the right flavor mix, and the best crab cake I've ever tasted in my life. I didn't need or want dessert, and I didn't get groggy mid-afternoon.

Work itself went very well. I finished the trial notebooks for Monday's trial. I caught up on yesterday's mail and worked today's mail and filed an answer for TheKid after A (my compatriot on his docket) got it started for me. I have a couple of holdover tasks that I will do on Monday when both attorneys are in trial. If TheKid's trial doesn't go, he will help SemperFi pick a jury. And C gets to go see our trial on Tuesday. I so wish I could go watch SemperFi in action. I got to attend a trial last year with two of our other attorneys, and it was a great experience, and somebody needs to stay in the office and keep the home fires burning.

So it's 9:00pm, and my knees and hip are getting a little crabby. My neck is more flexible than usual, and my upper back is pain free in spite of the intensity of trial prep.I think I will read a little and knit a little until it's time to take my meds, and then I'm pretty sure I will be out like a light until morning.

Put your shoulder to the DPs

Behold one grafted shoulder and one frogged sleeve (the yarn barf in the upper left corner) which is being knit from the shoulder down instead of the cuff upward, as originally begun. The back has some short rows to provide a soupçon of neck shaping, and I have a plan for binding off the live neck stitches. I grafted that shoulder at the bonus Knit Night and wove in a couple of ends while I was at it.

The Robaxin seems to be working. I had another great night's sleep, and I'm hoping for another one tonight.

The mechanic called me at work to say that he has the part to fix the rogue dome light and door-ajar alert. We're installing (by which I mean he is installing) a new switch in my door. The problem with the burnt out instrument panel lights may be more difficult to solve, as the bulb assembly is obsolete. We talked about taking the bulb that illuminates the tachometer and moving it over to add light to the speedometer, but that bulb is one of the ones which is burned out. I think there may be only one functional bulb in the assembly. The bulbs are soldered in place.

Whose bright idea was that?

The truck only has 114K miles. I would like to drive it until the mortgage is paid off in three and a half years (if all goes according to plan). Or at least until I have the Social Security coming in and have more wiggle room in my budget.

I do believe the Robaxin has kicked in. I'm going to knit two or three rounds on the sleeve and call it a night.

That was suspiciously easy.

When I got to work today, there were 51 emails waiting for me, plus two days' worth of mail, plus stuff in SemperFi's outgoing plus plus plus. When I left at the end of the day, my inbox was under control, I'd worked all of my To Do's, I'd gotten through Monday's and Tuesday's mail, plus today's, plus put out a fire for SemperFi, plus remembered to request time off on Monday to take Middlest to the dentist.

I ran a couple of errands on the way home. Middlest was kind enough to fire up the oven and bake pizzas for us, and I spent the first part of the evening looking at dolls on Mint on Card, not to buy but to get a feel for the aesthetics of the various doll companies they stock. I've reconfirmed that most of the sculpts are either boring or ook me out.

I fell in love with this one's face. She goes on the list after Mercy. I'm not crazy about her double jointed elbows and knees, but I can cover them up.

Impressions after one day on Robaxin: my back did not freak out, even when both of the scheduled depositions got cancelled at the last minute. SemperFi is in trial mode, and you could spread his tension level, even over the phone, like Nutella. I've just taken my second dose, and I'm hoping for another mellow(ish) day tomorrow.

I finished our quilt blocks tonight. They are gorgeous. The yellows and green tone beautifully with the colors in my living room and the halls.

The Robaxin kicked in while I was typing that paragraph. Later, gators. I suspect I'll fall asleep within a minute of my head hitting the pillow.