Wow - I can't believe its 2009. I remember thinking the 2000's were just an unbelievable date "way out there". Then we were preparing for the (un)disaster of the arrival of the millenium... and here we are 9 years later! Incredible.
My apologies to everyone who left such kind comments on my Survivor post. I think I've e-mailed you all to thank you personally this evening. It was one of those goofy computer things... I don't download my e-mail with any program like Outlook; I use the web-based e-mail box at yahoo which came with my sbcglobal account. (I like being able to keep up with my e-mail from work, etc.) So I wasn't seeing any notifications from Typepad and had no idea anyone was reading my blog and commenting... until I had an e-mail from Deb at Cold Feet Quilter who made me aware of it. (Thanks Deb! Love ya!) OMG - all those notifications were in my spam box. (along with some other stuff I was wondering about...) so I've cleaned out the spam box and I am so pumped up that y'all had so many nice things to say!!! It is encouraging to know that other people are out there propping me up with prayer and "atta girl"s. Thank you!!! ((hugs))
So, with the New Year, did you make any resolutions? I heard someone (one of the talking heads in the media) say today that resolutions are just things you know you should have already been doing... well, yeah. And saying it out loud just means you're taking ownership of it, right? Whatever. I think its good to set goals for yourself. I'm really not going anywhere with the idea - I don't have any specific goals/resolutions. I am going to continue knitting every day possible, working on quilts (especially my mom's), and cooking.
Oh yeah, y'all don't know about the cooking thing. Long story short, I quit cooking 12+ years ago when our older son died. Yeah, we basically ate out from that point on. Just know that when people are grieving, you do what you have to do to get through each day and I could not bear to stand at my stove, waiting for my son to come home from his after-school job and help me fix supper, knowing he was no longer coming home. We could afford to eat out and it was just easier. Fast forward to this October/November - we're going through the budget (again) and cutting expenses since we're living on just my income (waiting on Joe's SS disability hearing results). One of the things I did was ask my doctor to switch me to some generic meds instead of some of the stuff I was taking, which was costly even with insurance. So one of the meds was my antidepressant, and after about two weeks I was feeling so much BETTER than I had in a long time! I wanted to clean out the cabinets and the deep freezer, and cook some food. Of course, the budget crunch was helping push us back into our kitchen, but I actually WANTED to do it and was excited about it. My sweet husband is a champ - he got right in there and helped me scrub the dust off my pans and toss the expired stuff in the cabinets. We shopped for the old favorites and then he became my cooking partner! We are having a ball. Here's what we fixed tonight:
(grilled jalapeno chicken breasts, linguini, and black eyed peas with cilantro.) Y'all did eat your peas for good luck today, right? :)
I also finished this sock today:
Its the "Basket Check Sock" pattern by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott published in the "Little Box of Socks" from Martingale Press. There's (I think) about 20 patterns printed on 5x8 card/folders in the box. Great for portable knitting! Look at that toe... I love to do the Kitchener stitch to graft that toe shut. :) I have cast on its mate tonight - must fight Second Sock Syndrome!
Here's the other sock that I started in November and then set aside (so I could knit those Opal socks for my kids):
This is "Wasp Woman" (can you see the wing design on the leg? it needs to be blocked) designed by Heatherly Walker and published on Ravelry. Isn't that heel detail the cutest? Now I need to get sock #2 knitted. It really drives me bonkers to have an unfinished pair of socks. UFO quilt projects don't bother me at all but knitting projects - ugh - I am driven to finish them. It makes me anxious to have several knitting things started and not know what to work on first. Isn't that funny? Maybe its because I love wearing my socks so much. Anyway I've got the 2nd sock cast on and a couple rows of cuff knitted. As soon as the basket check sock is done, this one's next. I really fooled around with needle sizes while knitting these (my leg is um, shapely. Yeah.) trying to knit a cuff that didn't stretch out over my calf but was fitting in the ankle, and my foot is short and slightly wide...so I used 3s on the leg, 2's on the ankle, 1's on the heel flap (because it is rather large and doesn't draw in with that pattern) then back to 2s for the foot. I may have used a 1.5 for the toe - need to check my notes. By some miracle, the sock actually fits pretty nicely! Whatta lotta work, though.
OK, I think that's probably enough for one evening. Hope everyone had a lovely New Years' Eve and a pleasant day today. We've been watching bowl games, and I need to get back to this sock. Y'all take care!