Continuously sick

I've been sick for a while now - it's getting really old.  It's basically been a bad cold, but it coming knocked me out and I've had to take a few days off work (eek!).  Banjo's been enjoying stealing my body heat as we snuggle on the couch.  In my efforts to not go crazy, I've tried to be productive at something, like finishing a book I'm reading or knitting, but I've done a lot of zoning out.  That's been the worst part.  Banjo likes tearing apart Kleenex though (he's not picky if it's used or not).  That's the second worst part.

I did finally crochet some new potholders for us:

The turtles remind me of Longville - Turtle Racing Capital of the World.  haha

I also love three-day weekends

I had the best feeling ever this morning: I woke up around 6:45 with no alarm.  I love having a holiday!  This is a very enjoyable weekend.  We went to my parents for a couple of days (which translates to lots of yummy food) where I finally started Dad's socks and got close to finishing The Stand by Stephen King. 

For those of you who have read The Stand, it's so good!  And for those of you who haven't read the book, it's so good and you should read the uncut version!  The book was long, but I didn't notice because the story was so good!  It reminded me of The Storm of the Century in certain ways.  The book is about a superflu that kills most of the population, and what happens to the survivors.  Fascinating stuff and I highly recommend it.

I'm also recovering from the solution to my migraines - I had an IUD placed last Thursday which means I can have babies when/if I decide to AND have no more hormone-related migraines!  I know this information may make certain people uncomfortable, but I wanted to let people know so they can hopefully pass this information along.  It turned out my body had too much estrogen because of the birth control pills I was taking and my body's natural production.  That meant I almost always had a migraine once a month (at least).  My doctor suggested getting off the birth control pills for a couple months as a trial and I haven't had any migraines since.  That's when I too decided to get an IUD, which uses a low dose of a different hormone that hasn't been linked to migraines.  Plus I don't have to remember to take a pill every day and it lasts for five years.  Now you can hopefully pass on the word in case you know of other women suffering from migraines on a monthly basis. 

In other news, Banjo was a pretty good dog this weekend with Pokey.  The cat stayed locked up in my parents' bedroom the whole weekend...hee hee.  Banjo only growled at Pokey a few times, and he was super excited to get home.  It turns out he likes routines and his own space.  It's fun to visit, but he's ready when we get ready to leave.  He slept hard all the way home and all night.  It makes me feel good to know that he's making progress with both us and other dogs, because the beginning was a bit rough.  Totally worth it though :)

I love organizing

This morning I was trying to figure out what I wanted to accomplish this weekend.  Lately, since work has been mega brain intensive, I've wanted to do things that don't require much thought (namely knitting).  So this morning, I started by weeding out my binders of knitting patterns, recycling the ones that I have no intention of ever knitting.  It felt really good! 

In the process, I found a pattern I had forgotten about, but have been wanting to knit for some time: fingerless mittens.  I really liked the pattern, so I decided to cast on and I got one of the mittens done:

 

 

It always feels good to work on a quick project for that feeling of accomplishment.  What I also felt good about was the fact I found the yarn in my stash (from one of the bags of odds and ends I bought off Craigslist).  

Another accomplishment is I think I have finally gotten to a point in my knitting where I feel comfortable making changes to the pattern.  When I first started, there was no way I was going to do anything besides what the pattern said to for fear of ruining all the hard work (I ruined things anyway because of the mistakes every beginning knitter makes!).  Now, I modify as I see fit.  Proud day for me!

I've also found this in cooking.  Since I weeded through my recipes a while ago, I've been choosing one or two new recipes a week to try because I don't want to keep saving recipes that don't taste good.  I've had pretty good success so far, but am finding there are certain ingredients I don't like and certain ways of preparing things that completely differs from the recipes.  It has lead to some pretty savory discoveries.

Finally finished some UFOs

When I woke up Saturday morning, I was trying to think about what I wanted to accomplish.  I was looking around my craft room and realized I had four unfinished knitting projects still sitting on my shelf.  The part of the projects I really don't like doing is the finishing work (tucking in yarn ends mostly).  So if I don't have some kind of deadline for the project (meaning if I'm not giving the project to someone in particular), I usually put the project on the shelf and let it sit there until I find the motivation to complete it.  The reason I don't like tucking in yarn ends is because at that point, all of the knitting or crocheting is done, so when I do this, it doesn't feel like I'm making any sort of progress, which is not very motivating.

I decided to finally complete those four.  Two of the projects needed yarn ends tucked and needed to be sewn together (one was a cushion cover for my rocking chair in the living room and the other was a pair of baby booties).  One project only needed yarn ends tucked (a baby hat) and the other project, a baby blanket for donation, needed a border crocheted. 

I first finished the booties and hat and with my sense of accomplishment and momentum, I moved on to sewing together the cushion cover for my rocking chair.  After finishing that, I started crocheting the border on the blanket.  I will still need to block the blanket, but the fact that I've finishing tucking in the yarn ends and finished the border was amazing progress.  I still have a number of projects on my needles, but at least I've completed those that were sitting on my shelf waiting to be truly finished. 

Banjo's new sweater

Because Banjo doesn't like his sweaters that have to be pulled over his head, I made him one that straps on his chest and belly (not literally).  Here it is:

 

 

He loves it, can't you tell?  Hee hee.

1/2 done with mending

I am finally using my Home Ec skills: I finally fixed our comforter (Banjo attacked it way back at the apartment) and I fixed part of Chris's superman photography belt.  That sewing stand is working great Dad!  Still on my list: Chris's fleece blanket and my gray pants.

I hope I can finally get to the part of winter that involves planning my to-do list for the new year and catching up a bit from the last.  Part of that list is tone up for the wedding dress.  I don't want to look flabby in my dress, so I asked Kim for some advice on how to tone a bit.  She has me on a simple yet painful list of exercises: planks (actually my favorite even though they are really tough for me), squats, lunges, push ups and military press.  My goal is to firm up a bit before the wedding - I think I have plenty of time, but if I don't start now and make it a part of my routine, it will never happen.  I love encouragement!

And for your entertainment, here's Banjo in one of his doggy sweaters.  It cracks me up that we put him through this (for those of you who think it's a form of torture, we did it because we wanted to keep him warm on the trip home from my parents...still funny as hell).

 

I'm thinking of knitting him a dog sweater this year that will not only be easier to get on him (i.e. two straps instead of leg holes) but also a more flattering color scheme.  Plus the horizontal stripes make him look fat...haha - couldn't resist.

Celebrations in Longville

Chris, Banjo and I finally got up to my parents this past weekend to celebrate Christmas - we didn't go last weekend because of the potential Snowmaggedon.  I finished the animals' stockings finally - I made one for Pokey, Banjo and Slasher, complete with their name.

We opened presents on Friday evening (at my insistence of course).  We all greatly enjoyed Chris's calendars and great fun was had by all...including Banjo who attacked the cat while we were upstairs.  To all of our surprise, Slasher did not slash Banjo - instead, I had to break it up.  The cat spent the rest of the night behind the toilet and the rest of the weekend in the bedroom with the door closed.  Banjo tried to convince us he just wanted to say hi, but we didn't fall for it.

There was a lot of really great food: Mom made Snickerdoodles for Chris and Russian Teacakes for me.  Plus she made broccoli bake (my most favorite side dish ever) and waffles and everything else under the sun.  So good. 

Pokey and Slasher and Santa got me pennies for penny poker (I have the reputation for not having many pennies in my jar).  This time, I came away with some pretty big wins - big wins for penny poker of course.  We also started a jigsaw puzzle Saturday morning after stockings were opened since the power was out and the sun was up.  I of course chose one of the most difficult ones: polar bears in the snow.  Needless to say, we didn't finish by the time we left today, so we'll see if my parents finish it (hee hee).

Happy New Year to all!