Personal, family, and auto maintenance

Diana got a free oil change today (it was part of the purchase/refi package). Middlest, Fourthborn and I got our teeth cleaned, which we followed with the traditional trashing of the teeth at Cheesecake Factory.

Ibought a copy of The Martian Chronicles for Middlest and a copy of Geek Knits by Joan of Dark. It promises to be amusing.

The second baby sock is ready for its heel flap. I added a couple of rows to Leftie. Since coming home, I've cleared great swathes of emails from my inbox. I've updated my Amazon Prime membership. Since I wriggled out of my compression stockings almost the moment I walked in the house, I have felt my ankles blossoming while I sit here at the computer.

So I'm going to do my impression of a sensible human being, grab a healthy snack and my meds, and go read as much Book of Mormon as I can before Body tells Brain, "Shut up and leave me alone." As you may suspect, I did not sleep well last night, and it's been a long day. I need to take some time (not tonight, but soon) to work out my budget over the remainder of the year. There are three dental appointments to pay for, and three fillings coming up for Middlest, and the balance of last week's expense for Middlest's meds, and my new glasses and and and

It will all work out nicely. That doesn't mean it won't require planning, ingenuity, and prayer.

Quilting, quilting, and more quilting

I've made great progress on the quilt this week. There may be more quilting before bedtime, but for now I'm letting my hands and fingers rest. It is reasonable to hope that the actual quilting will be done sometime in the next week and that I may get started on binding the edges.

I've been reading my first issue of "The Economist." The second issue is waiting, untouched. I may or may not finish the first before the third issue arrives next week. Some of the articles are a faster read than others. I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this. But as I discussed with Middlest recently, much of my life has been spent in survival mode, and now I'm finally able to look outside my (our) four walls, beyond our immediate family, into the world at large. There is so much to learn. And the Lord, through His prophets, has encouraged us to learn as much as we can about as many things as we can. While I would much prefer to continue focusing on the fiber arts and my scriptures, I will probably be more useful in the eternities if I have an updated knowledge of business and finance, what's going on in countries I might never have heard of, and how the pundits in Old Blighty think everything ties together. I have discovered a podcast on BBC4 (In Our Time) about all sorts of fascinating things. I listened to 3.2 episodes this afternoon while quilting and then knitting.

Right now my fingers are sore, my hands are not as tired as they were half an hour ago, and my eyes and ears are also less tired. I think I will gather up some reasonably healthy snacks and go read/listen awhile longer.

In knitting news, I finished the first baby sock in another pair from the leftovers of Hitchhiker. And I've added a few more rows on Leftie. I enjoy Martina Behm's designs. They are witty and appeal to my inner math geek.

I've updated another spreadsheet and downloaded some missing e-statements to my C:drive and my external. By the end of the year I hope to have everything that Middlest downloaded from my profile on Beloved's laptop properly sorted into my C:drive and backed up.

I ordered a pair of earrings from an Etsy shop last night. Rose gold wire work. Name of the shop? Pillar of Salt Studio; Sara Lott is the shop owner. So naturally I had to check it out.

My computer is home!

They fired it up for me, and it was so great to see the picture of Beloved and me taken outside the temple after his eldest son's sealing (my wallpaper).

I've pretty much noodled away the evening, messing about on my phone. I was listening to a chapter in 3 Nephi when I got distracted trying to figure out how many people have been translated without tasting death. Moses. Elijah. Elisha. Alma. John the Beloved. The three Nephites. I wonder if there are others from the Old Testament, or if the priesthood keys which they held were transmitted to Peter, James and John after the death of Christ. I wonder if Moroni was translated or if the Lamanites finally caught up with him and murdered him. I wonder if there are other translated beings from among the lost ten tribes after Christ ministered to them. (I wonder if their wives were also translated. Those would be some pretty amazing senior missions!)

I used to think that we would need little red wagons to convey our scriptures church after we get the records of the lost ten tribes. But I think that smartphones will probably take care of that problem.

Going to bed now.

I'm a little crabby (PTSD remix)

Last week was weird and intense and expensive and mostly fun. I saw the podiatrist on Monday afternoon. I've been semiconsistent with my exercises, and not at all compliant about wearing shoes at home. But basically my foot feels much better.

On Tuesday, Middlest rode in with me, as we had eye appointments that afternoon. I left my phone in Diana and went down to get it. As I was putting the key back in my bag, I realized that my wallet was still on my bed at home. So we left at 2:30, got tangled up in traffic, fetched my wallet, got tangled up in more traffic, and called saying we were almost there but might be a few minutes late.

As it turned out, only one minute late when we pulled into the parking lot. Middlest's Rx is unchanged. My left eye is slightly less nearsighted. My right eye is significantly less nearsighted. I've been fitted for new specs but am postponing the purchase until October's SS check.

None of us (including Fourthborn) were up for Knit Night, so we went to our favorite sit down TexMex restaurant for dinner. Took Fourthborn home, drove back here, and basically collapsed.

Wednesday and Thursday were unremarkable except for the amount of money I spent. Friday we went to our friends' home for dinner. It was sprinkling here. It was raining moderately there. When we left, the sky had opened up. We were parked right by the stairs, and I was soaked to the skin before I got in the car. There were parts of the drive where we were going 35mph on a 70mph toll road, flashers going, and we were by far not the only ones.  Uncomfortable reminder of the rainstorm we endured along the Great Lakes two years ago. Scary!!!

Yesterday I'd hoped to stay in my jammies all day, but my Rx was ready, so out I went. Intermittent sprinkles and downpours. As I rounded one turn in the inside lane, a car in the middle lane sloshed by, and a lot of water hit my windshield suddenly. I couldn't see where the concrete median was. I couldn't see the light pole I'd been approaching. I braked hard and hoped for the best. Getting rear ended twice in a month was not my idea of a real good time. Thankfully, nothing happened, but I've been jittery ever since.

Ate a sensible breakfast before church and still fought sleep while sitting up on the stand. So I came home after sacrament meeting, had a snack, and slept for four hours.

The beading class I was looking forward to tomorrow afternoon has cancelled, because I'm the only one who signed up for it. The woman who was going to teach it will be working in the shop. I'm taking the time off as scheduled, picking out supplies that will complement my wardrobe, and picking the teacher's brain re: technique.

And now I'm going to try sleeping again.

Refi successful.

Got the confirmation today. They're overnighting the payout to Exorbitant Bank. Called my insurance agent and had them take the Tardis off as of last Thursday and update the loss payee to my credit union. Goodbye, multi-car discount. You were nice while you lasted.

In other news, my old roommate posted a picture of my 1998 chapbook to FB. She was cleaning things out, found it, and reread it. I'm glad she felt it had held up to time. I laughingly say that I've written the world's largest collection of pissed-off wife poetry. As well as (I think 300?) Mormon limericks.

I actually made it to Knit Night tonight. I've turned the heel on the baby sock and am ready to pick up stitches for the gussets. Before that, I hit the fabric store for a fresh supply of betweens and a handful of other items, including a needle threader with an LED light. How cool is that? I also bought small stacking boxes to organize my needles, pins, and various small tools. I'm tired of having to look in three or four unlabeled containers for what I need.

I suspect I'll be spending a good part of the weekend mucking out my studio, which looks like an explosion in a sweatshop.

On that happy note, I'll go to bed.

Because today I have no sense.

Which is not the same as nonsense. Or nunsense. Actually, it was another good day. Found a new home for my lawnmower. Tossed the weed whacker in, just to be rid of it. There is now about a playpen's worth of freed up floor space out in the garage.

Only the tiniest amount of knit happened. Four or five rows on the heel flap.

And you'd think I'd know by now not to shop for groceries when I'm hungry, but I was craving fresh fruit. I even bought a "personal" watermelon, roughly halfway in size between a large cantaloupe and a small bowling ball. Madness, I tell you. I went in for water and sodas. I came out with clam chowder and lobster bisque. And horseradish.

Guac it to me, baby!

So, that was gross.

Woke up this morning with three digestive
distinct areas of discomfort. I've been spotting since Friday. Add to that, abdominal distress, most likely due to the verde sauce on yesterday's enchiladas. And my right ear, which has been intermittently plugged when I first arise for the past four to six weeks. It normally clears after I've been up for awhile and drunk my juice. It hasn't cleared all weekend.

So I went to church as usual, and my friend B said, "You're going home after sacrament meeting." It wasn't a question. Or an order. Just a clear observation from someone who knows and loves me.

I got a blessing after sacrament meeting, and then I came home and puttered online until the after hours clinic opened.

My right ear was plugged. She couldn't see my eardrum to know if it was infected. So the nurse dropped something liquid and magical into my ear, and I lay on my side for several minutes. Then she irrigated my ear, which turned into almost baptism by immersion. I looked like I'd been in a water fight! But the doctor got a good look in my ear, and I'm on amoxicillin for the next ten days.

I also got quite a bit of knitting done in the waiting room, exam room pre-water-fight, and at the pharmacy. I'm ready to work the heel flap, but the only knitting that's happening between now and bedtime is arranging the stitches on longer needles. I've managed to get through the day without a nap, and every cell is screaming for sleep. Well, except the eardrum. It's just mumbling gratefully.

I kinda killed the laptop.

I can go online, but I've fried most of the letters on the bottom row. That happened earlier this week. As did getting rear ended on the way to work on Tuesday. I'm fine. Diana is in the shop, and I'm driving a sleek black Altima that I've named Black Widow.

Last weekend Middlest and I saw "The Bookshop" and loved it. It's not a happily ever after movie, but we both found the ending quite satisfying.

Today Secondborn and BittyBit (who is now nearly as tall as I am) saw it. They were less impressed. Maybe living with my bipolar child has skewed my sense of humor?

Have I mentioned that Littlebit and 5BDH are expecting? I'm picking up the tempo on baby socks. Plus there are two new families in the ward who are due about the same time.

I've been going a little nuts buying books for my shelves or my Kindle. I pre-ordered Bob Woodward's book on the current presidency. It should pop up midweek. Meanwhile, I am plowing through a history of the CIA. I blame Malcolm Gladwell.

Tola, you'll be pleased to know that I am finally in a position to support the local public radio station. Their fund drive ended last night, and I called them on the way home from work (buckets of rain; stuck in traffic) and gave them my widow's mite.

In other news, I'm rehabbing my left foot for plantar fasciitis. Got a shot (owie!) and am trying to remember to do my exercises.

1BDH sold the Tardis for me, so I've been having a little fun with the proceeds. Four new skeins of Manos del Uruguay for future projects. It's so much fun to reach over to the fallow side of the bed and pet the yarn.

Time for me to take evening meds, read my BOM, and call it a day.

Done(ish)

Just needs to be blocked.

Not much to report, chez Ravelled. I'm back at work on the shawlette that I began at my sister's. I've frogged the Frankensock and begun again with a single ball of yarn. I've saved all manner of cute baby sweaters to Pinterest. Why?

LittleBit and LBDH are expecting!!!

By George, I think we've got it!

This is incarnation 4.5 for the yarn. It is finally, *finally* making visual sense to me.

My three days back at work were productive and increasingly intense. By the time I left on Friday, I was pretty tightly wound. This, notwithstanding how beautifully everyone took care of my attorneys while I was on vacation, or how little catching-up I've had to do.

Yesterday helped a lot. I joined friends to clean the chapel. We picked up our quilt blocks. Then we picked up Mel, and Fourthborn, Middlest and I drove to our friend Lisa's for a belated birthday party for Middlest. I took Mel home, dropped Middlest at the house, took Fourthborn home, and spent the drive home and the rest of the day in my room. Knitted a little, read a little, listened to a podcast, and got to bed at a more or less reasonable hour.

It was a good Sabbath. I had a long nap, and we've now ticked over into Monday morning. Going back to bed.

On vacation, part two.

So: Sunday. My dear blog friend, Tola, and her husband picked me up for church. GPS got them thoroughly lost, but my brother in law beamed them in (they weren't far). It was lovely to attend their ward, meet their friends, and sing with them. Tola's voice and mine play nicely together. We even broke on the same note!

After church they took me to see their home, which is charming and nearly 100 years old. I got to meet the cats, one of whom claimed me as his. And I learned how to pronounce two of their names, which are Gaelic and were previously indecipherable to the German one-fourth of my DNA.

Tola got me home well in time for family dinner with my niece and nephew. Grilled salmon, potato salad, and corn on the cob. I flaked out around 8pm and slept for nearly twelve hours.

Yesterday I mostly sat on the couch and read or knitted while rehydrating. I'm using a short glass for my water, which gets me up and moving pretty frequently for refills. I did take a short nap in the afternoon. I didn't want to. I just wanted to be in proximity to my beloved sister, knitting companionably.

The shawlette I've designed continues to please me. I will probably finish it today or tomorrow. And then ~ oh dear ~ we shall have to take a field trip to that fabulous yarn store we visited three years ago.

On vacation, part one.

The adventures began on Friday afternoon, when I got to the airport with oodles of time to spare. Drove around and around the long term parking and was about to exit for the short term when I spotted a couple coming out into the garage proper.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I am," she said (he was splitting off in another direction), "and I'm right over there on the end."

She backed out. I headed in. Made it through security and upstairs toward the gates. Dashed into the loo, got turned around, and accidentally exited the secured part of the airport. Went through security again. Got a snack at a kiosk. Cooled my heels until boarding time.

Discovered that business preferred on Southwest is not all that different from flying coach, except that I got to board earlier. Made my way to the back, for its proximity to the loo.

First leg was to Sacramento. Massive turbulence just east of Sacto, presumably because of the fires. At one point my seat dropped beneath me and my (closed) snack flew down by my neighbor's feet. I thought I was on the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags over Texas!

Wasn't scary, just startling. Flight from Sacto to Portland was uneventful. Found the car rental booth, which was outside of the terminal and insufficiently air conditioned. Stood behind a lovely family from the UK as they arranged for 15 days with their car.

When it was my turn, I was tired, hungry, sweaty, and decision-fatigued. I opted for the additional insurance, because I couldn't remember if my auto policy covered me in a rental (it does; I called my agent the next morning), which put me significantly overlimit on my credit card.

Shuttle bus driver was utterly delightful. I was his only passenger, and we had a great conversation about classical music.

Once in the car, I started googling motels. That's when I discovered that an modest but decent room that would cost me $60-85 elsewhere was going to cost $165-225, assuming one was available. I almost cried. Finally I remembered that my cousin lived just across the river, so I chucked my pride and called.

Their guest room was occupied, but they had a blow up bed, and I was more than welcome. Cousin Norm brought out the wok and heated up their leftover Chinese food, which I inhaled gratefully. Then I watched an episode and a half of "Shetland" and tried to wind down enough to sleep.

The bed was very comfortable. Getting out of it was not! After a lovely breakfast and a few more hugs, I drove down to meet Wanda, who has been a blog friend since 2006. I am bringing home a wee rosewood drop spindle for Blessing. Wanda fed me lunch. It's always great when you meet someone you've known from online, and they're even better in person!

From there I drove back up to Portland to meet my cousin Jeff (from my German line) at IKEA. He is a hoot and very much a kindred spirit. He and his wife used to sing professionally. I would love to get them together with my kids and sing sing sing.

He went with me to the rental drop off and was prepared to help me do battle if they gave me any guff about turning the car in early, which they did not. He then took me to the Amtrak station, and my sister and brother in law picked me up in Tacoma.

That was Friday and Saturday. Next time I'll tell you about Sunday and today.

Knit has happened. I may have a finished object for you in the next day or so. I'm also reading Malcolm Gladwell. I'm feeling almost caught up on sleep and hydration.

I didn't. But I nearly did.

I spent a good chunk of Saturday covering small stains and splotches on my vintage cotton skirt with beads and Ultrasuede appliques. Technically I have everything properly camouflaged, but it doesn't quite look or feel done.

I am also nearly done with the cowl. As soon as the current load of laundry goes into the dryer, I'm heading to my room to maybe finish it off. There's less than a fistful of yarn left. (I am suddenly hearing the soundtrack of a spaghetti western. Effigy at no extra charge.)

Work went reasonably well today. I wrangled 1.5 attorneys for the first half of the day and 3.0 attorneys in the afternoon. Everything important got done. The rest will be there when I go back to work in the morning. I'm strangely OK with that. Or maybe just OKly strange.

Hoping for a good night's sleep tonight, because I have lots to accomplish tomorrow, and I want to go to Knit Night afterward.

Later, gators.

I might have a finished object for you tomorrow.

The cowl is galloping along. I will be a little sad when it's done, because that yarn is soft and squishy without losing an iota of structural integrity.

I daydreamed on the drive home about taking a 20 year old skirt that still has plenty of life in it, but needs a bit of refurbishing, and the 25 year old filet crochet lace edging that I made for Firstborn (which she politely declined as being lovely but not really her taste) and seeing if they wanted to play together. After dinner I went to where the lace has been living for the past six years, and it's not there. I think I put it in a "safe place" when I grabbed the copper mug it had been coiled up into so that I could use it (the mug) for something else.

Middlest says the fastest way to find the missing lace is to purposefully launch a mission to find something else. Which won't be hard, because our house is a repository of projects-in-gestation, and if I just pick up enough things that are Not It, the lace will jump out and holler "BOO!" And when it does, I am going to tea-dye it. Maybe. Probably. I bought a box of the darkest, most sinister black tea when I picked up our bottled water on the way home tonight, and I've stowed it in a kitchen cupboard, but I think I will move it to my studio before bedtime after slapping a hot pink sticky note on it that says "for crafting, not for consumption, so no, I haven't gone apostate on you." [In case you're just tuning in, devout Latter-day Saints don't drink tea, unless it's herbal tea. It's part of our health code known as the Word of Wisdom.]

I think it's going to be a lovely, quiet weekend. Tomorrow is Middlest's 35th birthday and it would have been my 45th anniversary with FirstHubby. I'm incredibly tired from a week of slaving over a hot keyboard, and I need to make things in order to restore some degree of balance.

Later, gators. The yarn is calling.

I loathe trial notebooks.

The past few days have been spent working (or trying to work) on a set of them for one of SemperFi's cases. I worked two hours of overtime last night and came in early this morning to finish the job, because we were #2 in that court. If I'd blown off the trial notebooks, the first case would have settled out of court (because that's how the legal system seems to work) and SemperFi would be sitting on the front line with no ammo.

Thankfully, the #1 case went to trial, and we are prepared to go later this week or should we be reset 90-120 days out. And I do not have to spend the rest of this week working on a new batch for a case that was set for next Monday, because the agreed motion for continuance was granted. Which gives me six working days to whip the notebooks into shape for the case that was set in March, that is definitely going to trial while I am on vacation. I've been working on those notebooks in spare moments since March. The notebooks I just finished consumed over four reams of paper. This other case is at least half again as big. Oye to the veh.

In knitting news, I'm now two-thirds done on the cowl in my German yarn. Pictures maybe tomorrow.

And I'm hammering out more details for my upcoming vacation.

Had my periodic one-by-one with the office manager and feel very good about it. There are a few things I need to work on, but she has the gift of truly constructive criticism.

Drove home in a torrential downpour, and the other drivers were being uncharacteristically polite and mindful of one another. It was lovely to observe.

On that happy note, I'll say goodnight. I left work at 3:30 today because I'd gotten there so early, and I've already had a two hour nap since coming home. I'm ready to sleep again, and I hope that my dreams are as interesting and peaceful as the earlier ones. There was a lot of Alabama Chanin style creativity going on in those...

My feelings looked like that on Monday morning.

Three very fresh chocolate chunk cookies from the deli in our building, and a pint of milk.

Why, you ask? This may take awhile. SemperFi was (and still is) in trial prep mode. He discovered on Monday, when he was working remotely, that an expert's videotaped deposition had not been uploaded to our electronic file. He needed that depo so it could be edited for use as evidence. He asked me to call the number on the bottom of the invoice and find out if we'd actually received the DVD. Shortly after we hung up, I heard our paralegal discussing the same depo with him. I walked around to her cubicle after she hung up and asked if he'd asked her to work on that video. We decided that he'd asked both of us to do the very same thing, and I got irritated and blew off his request, thinking that she was handling it.

He called me a little later to find out what I'd learned. I told him that C. and I had discussed it, and that she was working on it, and I was working on something else. He got testy and informed me that C. was working on something else related to the DVD, and he repeated his instructions. I told him, "I'm trying to work on your damn trial notebooks." I could hear quiet gasps from all three neighboring cubicles, because that's not my modus operandi at work.

I got off the phone, told C. I was going downstairs to get some cookies and milk, and then I would make the phone call. Called the company. He was pretty sure that it had been sent, and he would check with both of his staffers and get back to me. Meanwhile, I looked to see who had uploaded the invoice to our file, and I emailed her to ask if we'd gotten the DVD. When she got out of her meeting with the office manager, she wrote back to say that it was in our IT person's cubby, waiting to be uploaded, because there are only two people on our staff who are authorized to do so, the IT was out on vacation, and her backup was out for other reasons.

I emailed SemperFi, told him that we did in fact have the DVD and why it wasn't uploaded to the file, and that I would put it on his desk. Then I called the videographer and let him know the DVD had been found.

It took me all day to (mostly) calm down from my outburst. The older I get, the longer it takes to recover emotionally and physically. I was still deeply weary when I got home, and Middlest could feel my crabby, jangly energy as soon as I walked in the door. I ate some leftovers, washed a load of delicates and hung them to dry in the garage, and spent the rest of the evening in my room, listening to podcasts and knitting.

On Tuesday, SemperFi needed me to try to fix a minor technical issue with Word on his laptop. I wasn't able to, but one of the paralegals was. I apologized for swearing at him. He said, "I don't remember you swearing at me." "When I told you I was trying to work on your damn notebooks." (Said with calm, rueful tone.) "Oh, that." He laughed.

He left at midday for an afternoon appointment, and I got some work done. After he left, the managing attorney came by my desk and asked, very quietly, if SemperFi was OK. I murmured to her that he was in trial mode, and that I'd sworn at him the day before. Told her what I'd said. She blinked, then laughed out loud and high-fived me.

I still haven't finished the damn notebooks, but I'm mostly done, and there's a huge trial set ahead of us, so even if that one settles over the weekend, I still have Monday to finish. And then I get to do another set for a different trial, and finish the ones I've been working on, off and on, since an earlier setting in March, in a third case.

I foresee a lot of cookie abuse before I go on vacation later this month.

Chiggers.

You may recall that I've stated that the great outdoors either wants to eat me or make me sneeze. Last night was no exception. I went out at dusk to take the second photograph of the new sign. I wanted to get it over with, so I put on shoes but no socks. Then I came back inside and put my jeans on my bed. Resulting in this.

And this.

I've developed a bad habit of throwing clean laundry onto a corner of my bed. And throwing once-worn but still wearable clothing near that. It took me over an hour, with frequent breaks, to get everything off my bed so I could change the sheets.

Middlest very kindly painted my bites with nail polish to smother the little bozos. It helped somewhat. I posted this on Facebook:

The wonderful thing about chiggers?
A chigger's no wonderful thing.
I'm itching and scratching and itching
Momentarily, life's lost its zing.

Which inspired a number of comments regarding how to get some relief. Nail polish (check). Bath with bleach in it, for 10 minutes. (Middlest said no bleaching the lady bits. I concurred. My lady bits have had quite enough trauma over the last six months without my adding chemical burn to the list.) Chiggerex Benzocaine Ointment (it's the Sabbath). Skin So Soft (ditto, though I know a great Avon lady). Looks like I will be making a run to Wally World on my way to work tomorrow. And washing or re-washing approximately eight loads of laundry over the next several days.

In the meantime, I am cooking up some Trader Joe mini ravioli, because my stomach wants ice cream and I didn't buy any yesterday, so pasta with red sauce will have to do.

Fencing match.

Sign, approximately crocheted onto the fence.

I posted the following on my ward's RS Facebook page: I have a somewhat whimsical ministering request. Could someone with half a dozen spare zip ties come down my alley and fasten somewhat more permanently the numbered sign which the city insists that I post on my back fence, and which I have temporarily crocheted to it? I'll bake you brownies. I'll also bring Blue Bell if you hang it so it's perfectly straight. Because I'm ever so slightly OCD. Please and thank you.

My friend Sandy to the rescue.

This is all the stuff that my lawn dudes removed from the back fence yesterday. It will go bye-bye on Tuesday. It's only about two feet high at the highest, but I didn't want to include any of my neighbors' license plates, so basically it looks like a large pile of Ent droppings.

First finished project. They are now enjoying a leisurely bath in the sink.

Second finished project.

What's next? Tune in tomorrow! I have an idea, but it remains to be seen if the yarn wants to play along.

A remarkably good workweek.

Given that I was out of the office for a day and a half. Two answers filed today, one case closed, and a good start made on the next trial notebook. A blessedly brief tactical meeting for a committee that I'm on.

Before bedtime last night, I finished the heel flap. Since then I've picked up stitches and am working the gusset decreases. There's an excellent chance that I can finish the second sock before bedtime. These socks will be fraternal twins. They are meant for TheKid and his girlfriend, who are having their second child, a boy. I don't think I've ever finished a pair of baby socks in eight days. The baby is arriving next Tuesday, and we didn't even know that they were expecting until two weeks ago.

Fortunately, baby socks are a small, portable project, unlike (say) beading the hem of a me-sized sweater.

In fashion news, I saw something interesting/strange on Pinterest in the past couple of days. Some bright soul has designed short half-slips with deep lace hems (maybe 8-12" from waist to hem), to go under tunics or shirts to visually lengthen them. I have some half-slips that I don't wear, that I could re-purpose to that end (har har), plenty of elastic for new waistbands, and at least one piece of suitable lace. Sewing might happen this weekend, or I might just sketch out some designs.

But for now, I need to get out of this chair and put my feet up and start knitting. There are podcasts stacking up like cordwood on my app. (I need to figure out how to delete them once I've listened.)

Later, gators.

Semi-social butterfly

Took a late lunch, because I had a one-month checkup with my surgeon, primarily to see if the progesterone was working and if I'd noticed any side effects. I told him about the interaction with my muscle relaxer, and that I haven't missed the latter since I stopped taking it, and there have been no further side effects. He okayed me to fill the Rx for the higher, maintenance dose that I will take the rest of my mortal life unless I decide to have them evict my uterus.

LittleBit hadn't been at her job when I stopped by before my appointment, so I texted her a hello and did my adulting. She had the day off, and we met afterward for pizza and conversation. I was a responsible diabetic and ordered a kid-size pizza. It filled me sufficiently, and now that I'm home I'm finishing the fresh fruit cup that I took to work and didn't have room for. The fruit is a little on the shabby chic side by now, but it hasn't fermented, and it tastes delicious.

A little more progress on the second baby sock. In a few minutes I'm heading for my room to finish the cuff and see how many more beads I can add to the hem of the sweater before my body says we're done and I should go to bed now.

Oh, and I bought a dozen rolls of deeply discounted washi tape to see if I like the washi tape manicure I saw on Pinterest, or if it will be my very own spectacular Pinterest fail. Either way, it's not happening tonight, because it's only 100F out there, and I am tired, and learning a new life skill is just not on the agenda this evening.

Be good, and remember Whose you are.