It's Twins

...and fraternal ones at that. I finally finished that pair of socks I began last August on our Alaska cruise. I didn’t like working on them for a long time and now I wonder if I somehow connected them to my sister’s death. Oh well…whatever! They’re done now and I like them a lot!

I’ve joined the Goddess Mystery KAL, but seem to be having a little challenge getting started so I decided to finish my cotton Heartstrings top so maybe I can wear it this summer. I’ve been working on several wool projects and I live in Okla-hot-homa for heaven’s sake!! What am I thinking?

Not much to blog about…I’ve been teaching Bible School at church in the evenings—another of those what was I thinking moments—and I think I might not do this again for a couple years. Working all day, rushing home to get Rich fed and settled, then to the church by 5:15 and deal with flocks of children, then get home pooped and the day is gone! It’s a little too much with Rich thrown in the mix. Maybe as the memory fades I’ll reconsider…. I’m not too good with groups of kids.

And here's Mr. Onery aka Carter. He's only 16 months but we're getting a glimpse of what the terrible two's are going to be. Yikes, I'd forgotten!

10 thing That Annoy Me About My Job

10 things that annoy me about work

1. I have to go there or we don’t eat and we’re homeless
2. Time spent there interferes with my social and/or knitting life
3. The drive is too short to be productive (like listening to Books on CD) and too long to be short. (if you understand this, you might be concerned….)
4. I have to stay for 8.5 hours once I get there
5. I only have time to knit 1-2 rows during lunch
6. If I decide to go out to lunch or to walk during lunch I can’t knit at all. (I just haven’t mastered knitting and walking—I have enough trouble walking in normal circumstances! I’ve tripped and fallen so many times it doesn’t even embarrass me anymore but my knees and ankles are getting tired of it)
7. I have to actually work while I’m there---ewwwh!
8. They won’t hire family members
9. I can’t think of anything else, I really like my job! If ya gotta work, this is a good place to do it!

Respite Care

Oh. My. Gosh. My son and his wife volunteered to keep Richard last weekend. Rich really wanted to see Bryan--he rode his bike about 10 miles in the heat last week to visit his workplace. We're not sure but think he may have ridden on I-35, His work is just off the interstate. Rich was so excited he ask me everyday when he was going.

Bry picked his dad up after work on Friday. I had planned to go see the "Sex in the City" movie and get a bite to eat. Instead I finally rummaged in the refrigerator and ate some leftovers and knitted and read all evening.

Saturday, I slept late--no one standing beside the bed at 7:04am saying, "it's daylight". Then I got ready and wound my way to Gourmet Yarn and stayed there until about 3:30, knitting, visiting, relaxing. Did some shopping, picked up Swadley's Q for supper and headed home for another very pleasant and quiet evening. Sunday, again I slept in, then drank my coffee and read my paper in bed! woo-hoo! I was very naughty and skipped church, but I figured God would understand. Bryan took Rich fishing early Sunday morning and brought Rich home about 2:00. We all had a wonderful weekend!!

This is the first time in ayear that I've had a break from Alzheimer's and I was way past due. Bryan said they decided to take Rich about every 6 weeks and give me and him a break. I told him that was the best gift they could ever give me.

Been on vacation part 2

Because Richard is in stage 5 of Alzheimer's, about the only way we can travel anymore is if someone goes with us or we take tours with groups. For a variety of reasons, the tour groups seem to be working out best. They're fun, cost-effective, and I don't have to drive or organize anything except our suitcases! I can ride and knit (again). The only problem is that there's very little time to go off on your own so I've missed yarn shops in several places but that's the way it goes!

We just last week went to Nashville and thru St. Louis, Memphis, and Little Rock. We had a tour of St. Louis—beautiful city they've really invested a lot of money into themselves. Lots of public art, sports arenas, other tour attractions, and food. We had dinner at the Bevo, a German restaurant built as a windmill--been there a while I think. Our hotel was across the street from the Arches. I opted not to ride to the top but enjoyed looking at them from below.








In Nashville, we had a tour of the city, visited the Ryman Auditorium (see previous post), the Country Music Hall of Fame, had a dinner tour on a riverboat on the Cumberland River,





attended the Grand Ole Opry (I was almost disappointed Friday night show is a little lame compared to The Saturday night show), the Hermitage which was in reality a plantation.



We ate and walked and ate some more. We hurried up and waited, hurried up and waited and so on....




Saturday morning we headed to Memphis for lunch in a blues café, a Rock and Roll tour of Memphis, and some shopping. Same day on to Little Rock and the Crowne Plaza Hotel which was fabulous. Talk about customer service-they were really amazing. Home on Sunday.

Richard did really well until about the 5th. day and it seems that he'd had enough. He didn't get ugly just confused; the (organized) chaos gets to him. Too much stimulation confuses him and he becomes unable to manage even silverware. So we spent some time in our room or just quietly walking around to settle his brain. It just shuts down when confused. He had a good time and enjoyed all the music of which there was a lot.
Did I mention the Coyote Ugly Café? And the pictures on the bar? And the waitress draped all over him?
























That would be (pleasingly plump ha!!) me on the left....



I finished my Lady Eleanor made with Noro Silk Garden. You just can't beat Noro for colors but there seems to be a lot of knots in the balls of yarn. At least that was my experience. But it's wonderful otherwise and I plan to use it again and maybe again! I love the shawl. It was just perfect on the Riverboat. Just a smidgeon of cool in the air on the water and it gave exactly the right amount of warmth! More pix of it on Ravelry under Autoharpgirl.


That's Richard on the right.

The colors don't show up too well. It's bright and beautiful. Color #87

Well okay for now. If you haven't read it see the previous post detailing my "debut" at the Ryman Theatre.....

Been on vacation

MY DEBUT AT THE RYMAN
While on vacation, we visited the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, original home of the Grand Ole Opry. During tours, they had a photographer and you could get on stage and he'd take your picture behind a microphone (it wasn't on). Well, when it was my turn, I decided to yodel--I wasn't about to miss a chance to sing on the stage at the Ryman! There were about 150-160 people touring at this time and the auditorium got very quiet as people quit talking when I started. When I was finished, they applauded. The acoustics in that place are amazing. The people in the back of the balcony could hear me even without a mic. When I told my kids and mom and mentioned that I was the only tourist who sang during their photo, they replied to a person--well that's no surprise! (Do they know me or what?!) Checking one thing off my "bucket list"! More later.......

Color me....aqua!

you are aqua #00FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Well this was fun! I'm aqua too. I was checking so many mismatched things that I thought for sure it would tell me I was impossible to color code!!

Knitting progress and philosphical thoughts

I noticed last night that an adorable darling 15-month-old grandson is just a smidgen less adorable when he won’t go to sleep at 3:00-5:00 am. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and happy. Ya gotta smile back at him even through bleary eyes.

My Lady E is just 9 tiers short of being finished and fringed! I’ve mastered the skill of “knitting backwards” on this project too.

My long suffering /neglected socks are now having their little heels turned and they seem very happy about that. Don’t ask me how I know that, I just do….. And my Miss Priss Clara Barton colorway multi-directional scarf is about halfway through. You might ask (or not) how I’m accomplishing so much knitting suddenly. WELL! For the last 19 days, I’ve been hosting an author at several of our library branches who is doing a book talk and discussion about one of her books (it’s Rilla Askew and Fire in Beulah—a pretty amazing book—I recommend it) and while she talks-I knit! I’ve heard her talk many times but I can still knit and listen so I’m really making progress! It’s wonderful to be able to knit at work. :) !

I’ve been participating in the “10 on Tuesday” thingy you might have noticed and the one for last week was “10 Wonderful Things (or Things I Love) About My Life”. And to my dismay, I couldn’t think of 10 things. The Zomig is supposed to take care of that I thought but apparently not. And then just this week I started listening to “20 Wishes” by Debbie Macomber and so I’ve decided to sort of play the Glad Game (remember Pollyanna?) and try to get myself out of this bog I’m mired in. Yes, a lot of life is kind of stink-y right now but a lot of life isn’t! I’ll keep you posted as I come up with my 10 things and/or 20 wishes.

Is anybody reading this blog? I’ve said I write it for me but it’s nice if it gets read. I seldom get any commentss (and I’ve noticed I haven’t been added to some of my friend’s “favorite blogs to read” lists….just joking) It’s okay. So if you drop by, stop and say hi! Okay?

Toodles……Anita

+