You're free Chees-y Bread!!

Remember the Domino Pizza ad for cheese-y bread with the little girl trying to set it free out in the yard? No? Oh...well, never mind then.

The lovely and stylish purple cast came off my leg a couple weeks ago to be replaced with a really ugly and heavy boot (at least that's what they call it). The first couple days I kicked myself several times on the side of my right foot until I learned to walk with my feet apart. Probably looks pretty strange from the back but it is what it is. And then I somehow plopped my crutch on my right "little piggy that had none" and I smashed it darn good. As I"m groaning in pain my daughter says, "Well Mom!! Why did you do that?" like I did it on purpose! Anyhow two more weeks of this and back to the doctor for a verdict of whether or not I'm totally healed.

I finally finished the brown Silk Garden scarf and it's pretty but that was a weird experience. I had to go buy a 3rd. ball of yarn because the two I had were so very different that they looked like different colorways. It turned out pretty but I've decided that one needs to be careful with Silk Garden. When making a Lady Eleanor it doesn't really matter if they are different or not cause Ms Ellie is such a riot of color and I love that.

Also I'm almost done with the Heartbeat Sweater by Just One More Row. It's a really cute pattern but I just haven't enjoyed knitting it. Too much guessing for me, I like definite instructions. But I know I'm going to like it when finished just prolly won't ever make another. I've got a long list of projects and just keep buying yarn. Oh well keeps me off the train tracks (that's a story for another time) and I just want to start and finish a bunch of things NOW!! So many projects, so little time.

I'm kind of giddy today. I'm getting a break from care-giving this weekend and I am so looking forward to my time. He's getting worse and I'm getting worried about safety. It is so difficult to basically lock a person up when they want to be free even if for their own well-being. Guess I'll be crossing that bridge in the next few weeks.

Okay so that's really about all I have to talk about. Toodles...Anita

TOP TEN TIPS FOR BREAKING A LEG

It occurs to me that I could offer a valuable community service to anyone who is planning on breaking their leg by offering some plan-ahead tips. So here goes:

10. Go grocery shopping ahead of time. It’s really difficult to get to the store, use the little motorized carts, (no chance of whiplash though they go way too slow), get purchased groceries into your car, and even harder, into your house and put away. Oh yeah, buy lots of stuff—you’re going to need it.

9. Learn to walk on crutches in advance. These jobbies are challenging (see previous post about falling off of them and smashing nose). Today I am celebrating (but cautiously-no dancing around) eight full days of not falling off the crutches! Yippee!

8. Also, some wheelchair training is a good idea.

7. Eliminate all unnecessary items (like rugs, tables, toddler toys, etc.) from the floor of your house in order to navigate more safely through it. Course it looks pretty plain but hey! you’ll thank me later.

6. If someone says “I want to bring you dinner”. You thank them nicely and say you’d love that. Send them a thank you card (I’m a bit behind on those)

5. If someone says “I’ll come clean your house” see answer for #6

4. Stock up on books to read, yarn for knitting, DVD’s of favorite movies, and other sedentary activity items.

3. Have the plumber install one of those shower heads that has a hose as part of it so you can sit on a bench in the tub to shower. One never realizes how wonderful showers are until one can’t take any.

2. If possible be prepared (I wasn’t a cub scout/girl scout leader for nothing—as a matter of fact I was “cookie chairman” one year but I digress). Purchase a bench for sitting in the shower, a “grabber” for reaching things from your chair with the elevated broken leg, (these can also be used for pinching should the need arise), stock up on masking tape and plastic bags for wrapping cast in while showering so it won’t get wet. One almost needs to have a nap after one is finally prepared to get into the shower. It’s exhausting just getting ready.

1. And last but not least: Shave your legs before you break your leg. It doesn’t matter if it’s February and you stopped shaving around Halloween or Thanksgiving for the winter, it’s quite embarrassing to have nurses, doctors, x-ray techs, (daughter-in-law who probably went home and told my son do you know that your mother doesn’t shave her legs in the winter –eeewww—she’s a nurse too), and other assorted people looking at your unshaven leg and thinking who-knows-what about you! Cause once it’s in that cast—well I rest my case….

SO! Here you go…my suggestions for if you are planning to break your leg! Toodles……Anita

movin' On

It's time to get past that venting post. It's two weeks into the "cast episode" of life and I'm learning to adjust. The leg doesn't hurt quite as much as it did and Tylenol takes care of that. I gave up hard drugs after the 3rd. fall off the crutches! BTW it's been 5 whole days since I last fell so I think I finally passed that learning curve.

Today is Friends of the Library Booksale and I really wanted to go but didn't get there. Next year. They always have so many knitting books that it really hurts to miss it! I just can't manage to get the wheelchair and me in and out of the car without potential disaster. This sure has slowed me down. I guess I needed to rest or something.

The trip to St. Louis was really fun. I didn't get as much yarn as I wanted to but did get some really good stuff. A hank of cashmere and silk in a pale pink that I love. It has 400 yeards and I figured I could make something with that but I think I'll try to get a second skein of it. It is sooo soft. I guess the price ($34) scared me off. That is my favorite from the trip. Several balls of Elsabeth Lavold Hempathy for Argosy scarves. I tried not to buy for the sake of buying and have so many scarves planned that I erred on the side of cautious I guess.

OTN I finally picked up the Heartbeat sweater again. I think it's going to work okay this time but I really don't like the pattern. It leaves too much to by guess/by gosh for me. I like finite measurements! I've been making soapsacks in the hopes of creating the perfect pattern. Rich has trouble with the soap and the washcloth together in the shower so I thought this might simplify things. I used it and like it so we'll see. The Silk Garden color 47 scarf has fallen out of favor so it's resting until it can learn to behave (I learned about time-out for projects from Karen M. on the trip) The two balls, same color same dye lot but so different that I can't decide if I can live with it or not. It's a gift and I'm not sure I want to give away something that I don't like.

Speaking of...two years ago on the yarn jaunt to Fort Worth I got the pattern for the Round Trip Shrug in Knitter's Magazine and also in a Best of IRX Book. I thought it was so cute and made it and didn't like how it fit at all. Last weekend while my (very good) friend Rebecca was cleaning my house for me while incapacitated she ask me what to do with it. (she found it probably on the floor beside my bed) I said oh that thing...and she said she liked it. I made her try it on and it looked really cute on her so I told her to take it home-it was hers now! And that made us both happy!

It's been a quiet day. Our friend came by and took Rich out for a while which was good for him. I think he's ready for me to go back to work! I'm very grateful for the help and love.

Well, guess that's it for now. Kacie is taking me to the Mall tomorrow and I'm so excited I can hardly wait. Weird, I'm not really that much of a go-to-the-mall person but the whole idea of an outing is so exciting!! Toodles.....Anita

Mad and Venting

I so totally hate this!! Take it from me, don't ever break your leg. I obviously have no sense of balance or I wouldn't have fallen and broken the damn thing in the first place, but to add insult to injury I still can't walk on the %&#@* crutches. I keep putting weight on the broken part and I'm not supposed to when I lose my balance. I've got a "knee walker" but it's too tall for me even though it's on the lowest setting, I seem to have really short legs, and it's already bruised my knee and it's too heavy for me to lift in/out of the car then get myself in/out of the car too.

And poor Richard can't help at all with the Alzheimer's. But he keeps trying. And I keep crying and whining and wondering what kind of awful person was I in a previous life? And it hurts too. I got in the shower today but that's a story I'm not going to share. (you're welcome) Pretty scary. Okay, I'm calming down now. I just needed that weekend get-a-way so much and then I go and get really hurt and complicate life even more. I feel like such an idiot.

It's Winter, not FALL!

but you couldn't prove it by me!

First, it "iced" on OKC about 3 weeks ago and I had the (dubious) honor of being the first employee to slip on the ice outside the building and fall. Two more staff and 4 customers fell after I did and before they got the salt down but still... I landed hard on my tailbone and it still hurts.

Last weekend I was invited to go on a trip to St. Louis to eat, visit yarn shops, Trader Joe's, World Market and other places we could think of to go. There were 6 of us. We left Thursday morning and took a lovely meandering route to get there. Then Friday, we visited our first stop, The Loopy Ewe, a wonderful shop and really fun place to be, then headed to an Italian Deli to meet some of Emily's friends for lunch. Well, I got a phone call (that I was afraid was about Richard for whom I had to make quite complicated plans to get him taken care of) and headed out the door. The steps were round and uneven in height, the sun was in my eyes, I was worried but probably-truth be it known-I wasn't paying close attention and I fell. I felt my ankle twist and I landed on my left side. Marjie saw me go down and she was out the door at my side almost before I quit bouncing. Terri (I think) was right behind her. They tried to help me up but my left foot wouldn't cooperate, it just sort of hung there. They finally got me in a chair and back inside with my leg resting on another chair and a bag of ice on it. They ask did I want to go to the ER but I wanted to have lunch. I had a fabulous pulled pork sandwich with a brocolli salad that I remember was really good but not much else about it and a canoli (yum!) THEN I was ready to go to the ER.

I was transported by Teresa who also stayed with me until the group came to get me and was told I had broken my fibula. They put a plaster splint on it with an ace bandage wrap and told me to stay off of it like in a wheelchair.

We visited the Walgreen's, got my perscription filled and some crutches for me to use. (I should have re-thought that decision) picked up supper went back to the hotel and had a picnic in the lobby. Used the hotel wheelchair to get me upstairs, but it wouldn't fit through the door. So Emily called her friends and borrowed one.

I woke in the night hurting and took a pain pill about 4:00 and when I next woke up about 6:30 to visit the facilities I decided to try the crutches (on which I practiced the night before and was doing acceptable well) which was another mistake. I instantly went down backwards onto the still hurting tailbone. I sort of remember getting up and getting the crutches again and promptly fell over sideways smashing my face in the carpet and causing a run-a-way nosebleed. Poor Emily was in shock. She got kleenex for me, said No More Crutches for you, put me in the wheelchair and wheeled me to the bathroom. (She also informed me that I wasn't very good at accepting help was I) Then, God love her, she cleaned up the blood from the carpet. (I'm sure it was the pain pills that made me so clumsy--never mind any of my other posts about falling)

Getting me in an out of the van on the way home was an adventure with people on either side of me and behind me (my reputation preceded me I guess) to prevent falling also shouting words of encouragment not to put weight on my broken leg and other stuff. This group of women were wonderful! They could easily have decided I ruined the trip but they were more kind and helpful than I deserved. A thousand thank you's to Marjie, Emily,Terri, Kay and Karen. I had a really wonderful time in spite of the break.

So Monday morning bright and not-so-early I went to the orthopedist that my daughter-in-law (the nurse) works for -- that's handy don't you think?-- and they affirmed the diagnosis of the ER. And now I'm in a cast from toes to knee. I'm currently waiting on the arrival of a scooter thingee to rest the broken leg on and propel with the good leg. Right now I hurt all over, leg, tailbone, hands and arms from the crutches, nose for obvious reasons, and I'm PO'ed!! I don't need this, I've had enough character-building experiences the last few years to last a lifetime. And I really thought I was going to make it all the way through my life without ever breaking anything-ha! So much for thinking. I had a kind of meltdown earlier but I'm feeling better now. Nothing like a good cry to wipe away the cobwebs or something like that. I'm sure there's an old saying that fits somewhere. Now for a picture. So the good news is it gave me something to blog about!

Below is a short row scarf of Silk Garden Sock Yarn and a Firebird Faroese style shawl by SimpleKnits pattern on Ravelry. Shawl is from Fiesta Boomerang, Alaska colorway. All yarns purchased at Gourmet Yarn Co. in OKC.

More new beginnings

I watched the Inauguration of our new president this morning and I was very moved. I believe Barack Obama will be a good president. He has a very ambitious agenda and high standards for himself and he won't be able to solve all the problems he hopes to but I think he'll get us moving forward again and restore some hope to people who are losing their jobs right and left and who don't have medical insurance. Aretha Franklin's version of “My Country T'is of Thee was wonderful. Course who doesn't like Aretha Franklin?? For a long time, I've felt such a sense of sorrow and shame for what we as a country did to the slaves and Indian Tribes and now I feel a little bit lighter somehow.
My granddaughter's 17th. birthday was last Friday and my grandson's 2nd. birthday is this Thursday. I wish either or both of their parents had had these kids a little further away from Christmas and not in the same month, let alone the same week! It does make for challenges. Actually, he was due on her birthday so it's good they are at least a week apart. But anyhow, it was a chaotic weekend but fun! I've tried to teach Kaila how to knit 2-3 times, and she's tried but really isn't interested. Darn when I'm dead she'll wish she'd learned!! Or perhaps not.

OTN: I'm about to finish the Fire Bird Shawl from SimpleKnits (Vicki Mikulak) that I bought on Ravelry of Fiesta Boomerang, a simple knit1, purl1 rib scarf of Silk Garden a gift, and am ready to start a new scarf from a KnitSpot (Anne Hanson) pattern that is oh, so pretty called Tudor Grace. And I need a new pair of socks.

On the Alz. front, there is a new support group for members of early-onset victims of this disease here in town and I've been going. It's such a relief to hear other peoples stories and realize that they're the same as mine. That I'm not going crazy (at least not totally) and the strange and difficult behaviors are common to all Alz-patients. So far, we've spent a lot of time getting acquainted and comparing diagnosis horror stories and reactions of friends and relatives, but I'm ready to ask some questions about how we as caregivers feel and react during some of the incidents.

I sure don't feel very interesting today so I think I’ll give it up for now.

Toodles......Anita

Bits and Pieces

What a busy month. Well it's a new year--begin again.

Mom had open heart surgery, was in the hospital/rehab for 17 days, is home now and wants to drive! Being forced to stay at home isn't any fun I guess. Myself I just got tired of cooking 3 meals a day during my two week vacation! It was almost a relief to go back to work.

I finished Tayten's Christmas stocking (great-nephew),

Carter's Christmas stocking (grandson) a short row scarf of Silk Garden Sock (gift for a friend),

and a vest of Baby Alpaca Grande (me) (picture coming soon) which will probably be too hot for me to ever wear considering I have terminal "hot". Not flashes (or power surges) just hot. All the time....this is such a special time of life….

I give a Christmas BookTalk in December several times so I spent most of the month reading Christmas novellas which is usually entertaining.

We saw 2 movies this season:“Four Christmases--very funny and “Marley--also very entertaining.

'nuff for now....later....thanks for dropping by....Anita