Travelogue

A few shots from our mini-cruise adventure last week...


The little trolley that runs down San Pedro's Harbor Blvd, from the cruise dock to the marina.


The elevator in the Grand Atrium at the center of the ship.


The view from our cabin when we embarked (12/21). The drydocked Queen Mary is on the right; the dome on the left used to be the home of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. It's now used as Carnival's cruise terminal.


Our perfectly lovely and comfortable cabin (Main deck, midships). Not pictured: The screeching 10-year-old boys in the room across the hall who stayed up past midnight on the last night (which is the night before you have to vacate your room by 7:30 the following morning).


You're in Mexico. Any questions? (Is that not the biggest honkin' flag you've ever seen?)


Proof (sort of) we were in Mexico. It says "Ensenada Cruiseport Village" on the dock.


Dawn breaks over the Queen the morning we debark (12/24).

It was a lovely trip. A note to Erin: You were right... the "day at sea" was the ship going in circles just south of the Channel Islands. It's such a short distance from Long Beach to Ensenada, where the hell were we going to go? Still, at day at sea, even sailing in circles just far enough off shore to keep the shopping and the casino open, is a lovely way to spend a day.

Lump of Coal

So... what's worse on Christmas than finding a lump of coal from Santa? How about a box full of dreaded Homespun and Red Heart? ::shudder:: I thought I had been a pretty good girl in 2009, but apparently I was about as wrong as I could be. I need to have a talk with Santa to find out what yardstick he's using to measure!

(Another Santa was very nice to me, though - the nice one gave me a Magellan GPS and a beautiful diamond heart necklace.)

Merry Christmas!

One Down, Two to Go!

A 3-night cruise to Ensenada is a lovely appetizer of a vacation. Long Beach to Ensenada, a day at sea, then back to Long Beach. Weather was cold and dreary, overcast, and raining off and on while we were in Mexico. But... still better than the best day working!

The ship is 'cute' by modern standards, with just over 2,000 cruisers when it's full (which it was). The 9th floor was the "Promenade" deck, with most of the bars and indoor public areas. Despite being full, we were always able to find a quiet spot to sit and read or sit and knit, and an adult beverage was never more than a wave away.

The main pools were on the Lido deck and even though the temperature never got above 70 degrees, there was always someone in them. The food was good, the room was comfortable, and we had a good time. Lovely, simply lovely.

Oops!

So here we are... at a lovely hotel in San Pedro, California, two blocks away from the Cruise Ship Terminal of the Port of Los Angeles. We were having a drink at the bar (Mojito for him, Sweet Ginger for me) and working out the timing of our morning. Sleep in, have a late breakfast, then head downstairs to catch the shuttle to the ship around noon, maybe 12:30. Check-in isn't until 1:30, so we'd be there early, no problem.

DH smartly decides to read the hotel's information sheet on cruise shuttle information. Blah, blah, blah, "The shuttle to the Carnival pier leaves only at 10:00, 11:00, and 12:00." Huh? "It takes approximately 20 minutes to get to the pier." Huh huh?

Turns out our hotel "right across the street" from the pier is right across the street from the pier... from the wrong pier. On the other side of the inlet from where we are. It's no real problem; we just had to rearrange our car parking arrangements (we had been planning to leave the car here at the hotel, now we'll drive to the Carnival pier ourselves and park at their parking structure).

Take note - The Port of Los Angeles has a cruise terminal pier at San Pedro AND Long Beach... If you're cruising on Carnival, go to Long Beach! (Yeah, we're still having fun!)

Postal Apologies

Oops. My sincere apologies to anyone who got a holiday card from DH and I and had to pay postage due to get our card out of hock... I wasn't paying any attention to the weight of the envelopes and two days after we mailed them, a stack of 6 showed up in our mailbox. Two needed 28 cents more postage; four needed 78 cents (!!!) more. We thought that was the end of it... until Thursday.

Thursday night we had dinner with KM and MM to celebrate DH's birthday, and also did a Christmas gift swap. KM gave me a lovely velvet pouch - that had a single quarter in it. Apparently, he got a slip from his mail person for 25 cents postage due, and after much banter back and forth from his mail delivery person, eventually gave him the money and got our Christmas card. KM was contributing 25 cents to our postal fund because we apparently didn't have enough money to pay all the postage! Hee hee!

Big apology for anyone else who got stuck having to pay ransom to get our Christmas card this year. Sorry! (On the plus side, the cards were really, really pretty. Weren't they?)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Birthdays!

There are SO many holiday babies in my gang of friends! November 24, December 3, December 17, December 19, December 23, January 4... We play a birthday version of 3-card monte at knit night with posse 1, 2, 3, and 4 signing a card for posse 5, then posse 2, 3, 4, and 5 signing a card for posse 1... while we try to talk about what to get posse 3 for her birthday! It's all great fun because, let's face it, yarn will be involved in some way!

One of the holiday babies is my DH, whose birthday is tomorrow. He just told me that tomorrow, I will be officially married to an old man. Nah. Never happen. Old men have big bushy eyebrows, nose and ear hair you can braid, and wear their waistbands up over their bellybuttons. That's not my guy. He's in far better shape than I am. Tomorrow he's 61, but I feel more like that age some times. Happy birthday, my love. (And just over 4 more days to cruise #1!)

Almost the entire gaggle of knitting gals will be at the house on Saturday; ChickenKnittle and CelticKnittingGal won't be able to make it. Won't be the same without them - but maybe the mulled wine and from-scratch pumpkin pie will help ease the pain...

December knitting projects: Missed deadlines for 3 things. Not too bad, considering I was making something like 18 or 20 things this year. Sorry; 3 of you are getting IOUs!

It's That Time Again...

Track Santa with NORAD!

(Oh, and 6 more days!)

Still Counting Days...

Thirteen of them to be exact!

It was a little treacherous walking this AM - in some places, the frost was in sheets. We almost went head over keester a couple of times. But we walked!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Eighteen more days!

The Best Toe Up CO, Ever. from Kerrie James on Vimeo.

Toe-Up Cast-On Video

I think I've found a good video that shows the basic technique that I learned in Janet Rehfeldt's TKGA class in 2006.

It's slightly different, and looks a little more elegant, at least when casting on for one sock at a time, but it's her basic knit-between-the-stitches technique. I suspect it can be used for two-at-a-time, but haven't yet had a chance to play with it.

Destiknit's video.

Oops, I did it again...

I'm incorrigible...

Carnival Cruise Line's Paradise.

*sigh*

Whatever shall we do with us? (Anyone want to join us? Rates are CHEEEP!)

Mah Stash

::giggle:: ChickenKnittle, Doortje... You guys are such a hoot! Like I'm going to leave my stash unattended for that length of time! The barbed wire is on order right now, and Wal-Mart just called me to say my electric fence arrived. And that's just for the Malabrigo...

Funny, very funny. (DH, can you please remind me to make sure the security company's bill is paid before we leave?)

Subtle-fuge

Shhh... Don't tell dad...

While DH and I were trying to figure out [what to get each other for Christmas / what to do for Christmas] this year, we tossed around a number of ideas like maybe a short 'Mexican Riviera' cruise, or a few days in Palm Springs or Scottsdale. We were leaning towards the cruise, but when I looked up the prices on holiday cruises - even short ones like those we were looking at - we thought that perhaps we would stay home this year.

So, we decided we would start a new tradition and have his world-famous tacos for Christmas dinner (oooh, they are so good, and the only thing that he does special is fry the tacos his very own self). That and a few gifts would do it. Well, that, a few gifts, and maybe....

Turns out my dad and his girlfriend (the new girlfriend, the one who hadn't been on a cruise before, the one who took a short cruise with dad at the end of September and LOVED it, the one who now likes cruising so much she's been collecting cruise brochures and flagging pages of cruises she'd like to take) had booked a cruise for October (yes, next year) and jokingly asked if we wanted to join them, and maybe even see if my brother and sister-in-law would like to come along, and if we were all there, then maybe we could scatter my aunt's ashes in the ocean during the trip. Joking... right... He had this all planned out, I think.

Well, traveling with my dad and his buds is a hoot, so DH and I talked about it for a bit and decided to take him up on his 'joke' and Just Do It.

In the meantime, while we were debating over the October cruise, dad and GF went ahead and booked another cruise, this one a little shortie at the end of January. "After all," he said, "you can't possibly go a full year between cruises." Who can argue with that?

So there we were, DH and I, thinking about Christmas, and had the great idea to give each other a cruise for Christmas, but not take it at Christmas, take it ... at the end of January ... on the same ship as dad ... at the same time as dad ... as a surprise to them.

Yeah, that's what we said! So, excuse me now while I go book our two cruises for next year. Anybody else want to come along? Plenty of open cabins available!

- January 23, 2010. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Grandeur of the Seas. Leaving Tampa for Key West and Cozumel (Mexico) and back, five nights. (Prices start at $389 for an inside cabin!)

- October 23, 2010. Carnival Cruise Lines' Dream. Leaving Port Canaveral for Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and back, seven nights. (How does $549 sound?)

A Little Breezy

So I was taking off my Collinette Jitterbug Upstream socks last night, and noticed something odd about the way the heel feels. "Odd," as in "hm, it feel a little cool right in that spot." (Cool, as in temperature, not as in Paris Hilton's "that's so hot" pronouncements [in which she means fashion, not temperature].)

Anyway, I was feeling a breeze where a breeze shouldn't oughta be, and when I took off the first sock and examined it, lo and behold, I had blown a hole in the heel! I checked the other sock and while there's no hole yet, it's just a matter of time. Lucky for me I took that darning class ("darn," as in fixing holes, not as in a mild expletive) with Merike Saarniit so can fix them. But still...

Oh, no!

In cheerier news, the Tuesday knitting group (minus one Tuesday knitter and plus one of the Thursday mistresses) and I spent this past weekend retreating in the Los Gatos mountains at Presentation Center. This is a lovely place, run by Catholic nuns (eek!), with cottages, cabins, and dorms scattered around their acreage in the hills. They supplied the roofs over our heads and the food in our tummies, we supplied the yarn and needles (and cheese and salami and chocolate covered raisins and M&Ms...). Very beautiful, very restful, very fun.

Sitting on the porch of our cottage; ChickenKnittle using her amazing

powers of concentration to not be in the picture.

KB showing off her Monkeys. On the right, the ones she made herself (several times); on the left, the ones she inherited. (Yeah, the ones she made look better.)

Pictured: ChickenKnittle, LMKnits, right side of massive mess. Not pictured: Jose.

Pictured: KB, Kadootje, ChickenKnittle, left half of massive mess. Not pictured: Jose.

Couture, Color, and Santa Barbara

Here's what you missed if you weren't on the "Couture and Color" retreat with us in Santa Barbara this past weekend:

3 pair Chiagoo needles (#7, #8, #9)
1 pack of stitch markers (the really thin ones)
1 small bamboo crochet hook (really small, for fixing things)
1 Lantern Moon tape measure (mine was a sheep)
1 pack Chibi tapestry needles
2 patterns
1 copy of "When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters"
1 skein of Pagewood Farm Willow Creek yarn
1 ball Berroco Comfort DK
1 scarf kit (Fan Neckwarmer and 2 balls of Cashsoft)
Biscotti, Pepperidge Farm fish snacks, chocolate, green tea, a pack of Starbucks Via, and a bottle of water.

...and that was just in the goody bag on the train ride down! Once we got to the Peppertree Inn, we had some socializing and knitting time (and pool-dunking time), then we broke for the evening. Next morning (Saturday), Susan (of Bonita Knitting) talked about some of the things our moms and grandmoms had likely made (granny square afghans anyone?) as their "go-to" patterns, then handed out a booklet containing 7 or 8 new "go to" patterns to replace some of those classic patterns (some might call them 'moldy').

Then Joan McGowan-Michael (of White Lies Designs) gave a workshop on fitting patterns to your own body. (Masking tape and measuring tape were involved; very funny and very informative.) The workshop included her "Shapely Tee" pattern plus the yarn to make it.

Lastly, Erin (of Bobbin's Nest Studio) gave a talk on color theory, using the book "Colorsense" (a copy of which we all got), which is an awesome book. All during the classes, Erin, Susan, and Joan were selling from their traveling stores - and a lot of stuff was selling!

Later in the day, a group went downtown to one of the LYS, Loop and Leaf for an expedition. (I passed on that one. I was curious, but truly - I have enough yarn.) DH and I relaxed by the pool and in the room, then headed across the street for a lovely dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Sunday morning was laid back as the only 'scheduled' thing was open knitting and continental breakfast (and more shopping at the traveling stores) until it was time to take the bus back to the train station. The ride home was uneventful and stressless. Training is a wonderful way to travel.

So, that's what you missed if you weren't on the rails with us this weekend. Maybe you'll join us if there's another one next year, hm?

Sitting on the balcony of hotel in Santa Barbara, overlooking the hotel's lovely pool, knitting. Wonderful husband nearby doing some work. I am so blessed.

Nothing Left

All the furniture still in my aunt's condo has been spoken for. Either it will go to the consignment shop, or to my dad's girlfriend's son and daughter-in-law, or to dad should he move into the condo. Dad's girlfriend's son will repair the ceiling where the A/C leaked and where there's a long, straight crack from dining room into living room and where the wall in the second bedroom got knocked in by an enthusiastic moving person. The carpet will need to be replaced and we'll get a cleaning person in to delve into nook and cranny to get rid of dirt and webs and gritty bits.

There's nothing left of her there anymore. Actually, there wasn't much of her there left when we arrived last week. She hadn't been there for almost 5 months; it was as if her essence had either evaporated away or the dust had muffled it.

Dad hugged me and thanked me for everything that brother and I did. Said he wouldn't have known what to do, would have been lost. Thank god DH was with me to be my support. If he hadn't been there to keep me sane, I'd probably still be in the condo, sitting in the middle of the living room, crying over having to donate an old pair of socks or a broken pair of dollar store earrings. I told dad if we weren't there, he'd have muddled through. It may have taken a while to get to the same point where we are now, but he would have gotten there. He's just glad he didn't have to do it alone. I hope brother and I don't have to do it alone when it's his time to go.

And Yet More Stuff

For someone who we didn't think was pack-rat, we're finding a lot of old papers, some interesting, some not so much. For example, we found some old financial records (bank books - remember them? - from 1980-something, cancelled checks from 1990 through 2002, etc.); I'd put that in the not-so-interesting category. There are also some old photos of people no one can identify (is that her neighbor's daughter's best friend's baby?); ditto. But then there are some really cool things that I can't wait to examine closer - her father's Army papers, her grandmother and great-grandmother's paperwork for their boat ride to the New Country - papers I've only seen online via ancestry.com, and old photos of relatives with names on the back so we know who we're looking at. Looking forward to going through those.

Tonight, we tried to identify the 'good' jewelry, the stuff we know is old and probably is made of real gold with real stones. Tomorrow, we'll take most of the unknown stuff to a jeweler and try to find an appraiser - or someone who will direct us to a place that takes scraps.

Tomorrow, we're also taking aunt I's car into the shop to see if it's cross-country-worthy. If it seems like it will hold up, DH and I are thinking about driving it home. Take a fast drive across the southern U.S. and have a commuter car when we arrive. If it will survive the trip.

More Stuff

How much costume jewelry can one woman own? In the case of my aunt, an awful lot. Pick a holiday - she had a pin or necklace or earrings to celebrate. Pick a stone - she had it. She kept them in plastic cups, ice trays, and pill bottles; in old jewelry boxes, old clothing boxes, and rolled up in towels. Stacks and piles and tray-fulls.

Among the costume stuff, we found some gems. My great-grandfather's Masonic pin. A couple of 14K and 18K pieces from Scotland. A real ivory heart. We need to get to a jeweler to help us separate the gold from the brass, the crystal from the real stones.

After we had gone through a lot of the 'big' stuff in her second bedroom, my sister-in-law and I started going through the jewelry. We figured on maybe an hour, separate the good from the not-so-good, decide which pieces, if any, we wanted as mementos. Two hours later, we still hadn't gone through everything, and we already have a large box for donation or a 'trash and treasure' sale. More tomorrow.

SIL and I made a lot of progress - as long as brother and dad were not in the room. She and I were fairly ruthless about things we knew had little or no sentimental value and were able to get them into donation or trash piles. But the minute those two got there, it was s-l-o-w city, examining everything, opening books, unfolding afghans, unboxing things that didn't need to be unboxed. When we found them doing that, we quickly found something else for them to be doing, preferably somewhere other than in the condo. For brother, we kept sending him out to the donation station. For dad, we eventually sent him to his girlfriend, who conveniently lives in the same development.

Tomorrow - more dresser drawers, more jewelry, finish up the kitchenware. DH will spend time with dad going over financial stuff and paperworky things, prepping him for finding an attorney who specializes in probate. In the state of Florida, unless there is no real property at all, you apparently need a lawyer to help wend your way through the paperwork. The good news is that the fees are pretty well set by the state. The bad news is that it takes at least $500 just for filing the papers; that doesn't include the lawyer's fee. Well... that's how it goes.

Thanks to everyone for your emails and comments here and on Facebook. I may not get a chance to send everyone a personal note, but I really appreciate all the kind words and warm hugs you are sending my way.

Goodbyes and Cleaning Time

The memorial service was very nice yesterday. We had originally planned for it to be in a room that held around 30-35. We figured it was short notice, it was late afternoon, and a lot of the 'snow birds' still hadn't come back down yet. DH and I were the first ones to arrive, followed by some of her neighbors. The first few came up to us to pay their respects, then it sort of tapered off. I was sitting in the front row and spent most of the time crying or just leaning against DH.

A little before 3:30, when the service was just about to start, my dad gets in front of the room to speak. I figure he's going to get things started and say a little bit about my aunt. Wrongity-wrong-wrong. He announces that he's sorry to have to do this, but because there was no more room for everyone, we all needed to move to a bigger room. At this point, I turned around to find the place packed, with people standing and more people trying to get in!

We all trooped down the hall to their biggest room, the chapel (the same place where my mom's memorial service was held). The funeral director said they did a count; there were 60 people who came to pay their respects. The minister did a nice job of speaking about her, and everyone who came by at the end of the service said how much fun she was to be around and how much they'll miss her. It was a great testament and tribute to my amazing aunt, who could make friends with anyone and often did.

For a woman who didn't cook, Aunt Irene had a lot of stuff in her cabinets and cupboards. Spices I doubt she used more than once, some she hadn't even opened. Old boxes of tea bags she probably forgot she had. Her secret stash of York peppermint patties. A big jar of olives - with 3 lonely olives in it. We salvaged the stuff that hadn't expired yet, tossed anything that was old or already opened. We probably threw away 6 or 7 large leaf bags of 'stuff' just from the kitchen, and that only included the food. I haven't even approached the pots, pans, appliances, and tupperware yet.

I took the kitchen, dad was assigned paperwork and financial research, brother wound up fixing her leaking toilet, DH spent the day scraping off the window tinting from the front windows of her car (it was such a bad job, you couldn't roll the windows down all the way; if you got them down even just a bit, you couldn't roll them back up again), and sister-in-law got most of the clothes ready for donating.

This was the easy stuff, the stuff with little or no emotional impact... except for some things SIL and dad found that started to expose the cracks. First, dad found something wrapped in old newspaper; he wasn't quite sure what it was, so he asked me what I made of it. I opened the package carefully and found dried heather, and started to cry. It was a package of some heather from her mom and dad's flowers at their funeral, white for mom (my Nana), purple for dad (my grampa). I have some sprigs, too, and meant to bring them with me to add to her flowers and I blanked as we ran out the door on Tuesday. The next thing was what SIL brought out from her bedroom - the Red Spice sweater I had made for her, originally for Christmas, then when it didn't fit, a re-knit one she got when DH and I were here in February. It fit her exactly right, she loved it, and we took a field trip to pick out buttons she thought were perfect for it.

I expect to have more of those moment in the next few days, weeks, and months as I remember little things about her, and then remember that I can't call her to talk about it and laugh about it. DH has been wonderful, there by my side, holding me when I need it, giving me space when I need it.

Safely in hotel in Florida. Resting up before memorial service at 3:30.

At Rest

Aunt Irene's struggle is over. She passed away quietly in her sleep at around 10:45 PM Eastern time today, October 4. I will miss her very much, as will all her friends.

Aunt I Status

We're not getting very good reports about Aunt I. Even though she's getting dialysis 3 times a week, her urine output is 'negligible,' to the point where they've removed her catheter. Dad says she seems to be alert, but is physically getting worse, and her memory fluctuates about what she remembers and when. I'm not a nurse, and I don't play one on TV, but my gut tells me it won't be long. I'm praying she goes without pain.

"A Consignment Life for Me..."

When DH and I moved in 2006, we were moving out of an 1100-square-foot condo into a 3,100-square-foot detached house, with a stop in an 800-square-foot apartment along the way. While we did have an oversized living room couch and oversized chair and oversized ottoman (oversized for the condo, anyway), we needed just about everything else for the new home, but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg.

So, after rattling around in an echo chamber for a while, we gradually started filling in house-sized furniture. I got a lot of things from Home Decorators Collection, including our loft bookcases, living room set, and settee for the master bedroom. We splurged a bit to get the perfect bed and nightstands from Pottery Barn (and I wish they'd stop sending me their catalogs!). And then there was Consignment Living... Ah...

We loved shopping at Consignment Living. They had nice furniture at great prices, and Barb and Peggy (the owners) are simply a hoot. Let's see... we bought:

The dining room set (around which we have had up to 12 knitters) (Oh, and the sideboard in the background is an antique from the 1920's - got that from an antique store in Ben Lomond):

Kelly's roll-top desk (his office desk in the Batcave):

And matching file cabinet:

His comfy leather chair:

MY comfy leather chair (where I sit 'n knit - can you tell I use it a lot?):

A lovely pedestal for the bedroom:

And our fabulous wine rack (made from an old teak doorway):

Well, after filling out our new home with a bunch of stuff, we sort of forgot about the family room. We had the comfy couch, chair, and ottoman, and an oak cabinet from the condo. But the cabinet didn't really match, and the room is so big that the poor thing was dwarfed. So, after getting our Wii and upgrading to an LCD TV (a reward for Kelly taking the Bar in July), we decided that it was time to upgrade the furniture, too. So now, meet the newest member of the Keehan-Williams-Consignment Living family, our new sideboard:

It's from Germany, it's made of real wood, and it fills the space nicely! Even after putting the TV and various DVD, cable, and Wii boxes on it, it will still allow us to put art on the walls and maybe even display some of our china pieces. Oh, and did I mention that it was CHEEEEEP? Yep; a fantastic bargain was had, folks.

No, I don't work for them, nor do I play someone who does, but if anyone is near Morgan Hill, California, and needs some furniture, stop in to Consignment Living on Cochrane and take a look. Because it's all consigned furniture, you never know what you'll find, but more than likely you'll find something you really like.

And So It Goes

I am wearing a little electronic box around my neck; it's called an event monitor. There's a plug (white) to the right side of my chest; there's a plug (black) to the left side, under my left breastage. It takes readings of my heart as I go about my daily routine. If it senses anything out of the ordinary, it turns itself on and records what's happening. Likewise, if I sense anything out of the ordinary, I can turn it on and record.

"What's this all about?" you may be asking.

Why, thanks for asking. First of all, everything is fine. I got my first EKG taken, I had my first echocardiogram taken, and I took my first stress test. But why was I at a cardiologist's office at all? Well, while I was in Florida, I would have these little... um... 'episodes' where I would feel as though my heart was pounding out of my chest. It wasn't after running a 4-minute mile, it wasn't after reading a scary book, it wasn't even after a particularly stressful visit with my aunt. No, it would happen when I was sitting and knitting in my dad's living room. Or sitting at the mall working on the computer. Or reading in the bedroom. In other words, not doing anything where heart-pounding would ordinarily be expected.

Once I got back home, I had a couple more of these episodes, but they became fewer and farther between, but I was still having them. I figured they were a manifestation of my stress, along with sleeping like a rock for 8 solid hours (I never sleep like that at home), and eating whatever bad food was on the menu (okay, maybe I do that at home). But, DH loves me so, and guilted me into going to the doctor. My GP checked me out, didn't find anything odd, but referred me to a cardiologist who would, we assumed, give me the OK.

So, three visits with the cardiologist: one for the initial exam and baseline EKG, one visit for the echocardiogram (which is really cool), and one visit for the stress test. No surprise to anyone, I just about failed the stress test. Sheeyit, I can walk 'til the cows come home, but not that fast and not at that incline! I did bad, really bad. How bad? The doctor said he had a patient that morning who did the same time as I did - and she was 78 years old. (He probably just said that to make me feel worse than I already did.)

Rx = 30 minutes 'brisk' walking 5 times a week. That means huffin', puffin', and sweatin'. Ugh. I hate exercise. Even when it's disguised as "dancing" or "playing with the Wii." I don't like to sweat. But he said "it's either huff and puff, or get sick." Well, fine.

I also had the event monitor set up after the stress test last Friday; I'll be wearing it for about a month. Just so you know, when you see me, it's okay to point at my chest and laugh. The wires and the monitor make an odd silhouette under my top.

(Yes, I really am okay. All the tests show no incidence of heart problems, and the cardiologist also believes my palpitations were due to stress. But the event monitor will record a minute's worth of my heart if I feel like I'm having another episode, which will allow him to make sure nothing's going wrong. I'm fine.) (But I still hate to exercise.) (And no, knitting doesn't count.) (Dammit.)

Slogging Through

Aunt I seems to have taken a turn for the worse. She went over 16 hours being capped a week-and-a-half ago, apparently with no problems. But the next day, she told the resp therapists at 4 hours that she wanted to stop. Her numbers were fine, she seemed to not be having any problems breathing, she just wanted to stop. (Bear in mind, she needed to go 12 hours a day for 3 days in a row before she could attempt going for 24 hours.)

Well, she worked her way back up in hours and last Thursday around 8:00 in the morning, they were going to start her first 24-hour stint. She did fine through the day, and had a friend of my dad's girlfriend (Trish) come in around 7:30 or 8:00 at night. At 4:30, she said she was doing well enough, that she told Trish to go home; she'd be fine. At 7:30 - 23.5 hours into her first 24-hour capping - her numbers just crashed. Heartbeat, blood pressure, oxygen saturation level - everything went off the charts.

The nurses got her stabilized and put her back on "the blue tube" (oxygen through her trach). Her oxygen number got better, but not as good as it had been. While my dad was visiting over the weekend, he watched as they started to sink even further. They did something else and got her stabilized again, but dad said she didn't look too good and was exceedingly tired.

On Sunday, he got a call from the hospital that her numbers were so bad again that they decided to put her back on the ventilator, and they moved her to an ICU room on the 3rd floor. Last night, dad got another call to tell him that her heart had stopped. It was just for a short time, and they got her revived and stabilized again, so they didn't ask him to come in.

It doesn't look good. I spoke to her pulmonary doctor yesterday; his assessment was that she would never get the trach removed. She is so weak and frail, her system is so compromised, she has so many things going wrong, that the slightest problem will cause her to backslide significantly. He said this latest problem could be a collapsed lung, pneumonia, a plug - they did some blood tests and have her scheduled for an x-ray. She's so weak that even something as simple as having to cough could set her back.

At this point, I'm just praying she's not in too much pain. Please [pray/chant/wish really hard] with me.

Despite this, I was able to find some funny at the LOLCats site. Let's see if I can post the picture and not look like a total loser. (Well, it's there, but I can't figure out how to resize it. Click on it; it should take you to the icanhascheezburger.com site.)


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I am quite enjoying knitting with Crown Mountain Sock Hop yarn, a SS09 find. Lovely, soft, easy to knit, beautiful color. Pix later.

I'm Done with the Clap!

Clapotis, that is! (Pronounced "clap-oh-tee," as in the french-ish way.) It's purty. It's sparkly. It's sproingy. I likes it. I'll block a small swatch today to see how it (a) bleeds, and (b) takes to blocking. I don't want to wash out all the brightness of the color - which is fairly spectacular, even without the metallic.

This wound up languishing on needles for almost 2 years. When I first started it, I didn't know about the purl-instead-of-use-a-marker trick, but even after I found that little nugget, it still sat for a while. I don't really know why. It's easy, it's fun, it's fairly impressive, and it's fast. I think I had made it through most of the increase section in the first 20 months of its life, and finished the entire rest of it in about 3 weeks.

Purty. See?

Family Jewels and Vegetables

Ah, the Scottish Games... the gathering of the clans... the tossing of the caber... the drone of the bagpipes... the men in kilts... It don't get much better'n that!

DH, Knitterliness, and I went to Pleasanton yesterday to attend the 144th Scottish Games, sponsored by the San Francisco Caledonian Club. They take over the entire Alameda County fairgrounds and are a feast for the senses. There are highland animals to see, sheep dog trials to watch, pipe and drum competitions to listen to, clan representatives to meet (and buy t-shirts from), country dancing and highland dancing to watch (yes, Virginia, there IS a difference!), and haggis to be eaten. There's soccer and shinty, fiddles and harps, cabers and heavy weights, birds of prey and living history demonstrations.

My maternal grandparents were from Scotland, coming over to the United States from Ayr. My grampa was a little older than my grandmother and was here first; my nana came over when she was 16 or 17. Growing up, there was always bagpipe music or old Scottish country songs playing, and we would go see the Tattoo whenever the show came around to Madison Square Garden (a Tattoo is a ceremonial form of evening entertainment performed by military musicians). I grew up accustomed to seeing men in kilts and hearing the drone of the bagpipe, loving both.

So when I moved out to California, I quickly found the Games (held in Santa Rosa when I first moved here, then held in Pleasanton after they outgrew the Santa Rosa venue), and when I need a real 'fix' of my heritage, I go there over Labor Day weekend. The pictures are from this weekend. The big finale of each day is when the massed bands - all the pipe and drum bands who are there to play or compete - assemble in front of the bandstand and play a few tunes. Together. At the same time. 600 bagpipers and drummers this year. And yes, I cry. They always play "Auld Lang Syne," "Scotland the Brave," and "Amazing Grace," but they could be playing just about any old Scottish song and I'll find myself welling up. The closer I am to the pipes, the stronger it is, too, so bear in mind that for the shots of the marching band, I am blubbering like a baby.

The other 2 pictures are the latest fruits of the garden. The watermelon is about baseball-sized now, and the eggplant is... well... it's still kinda small. But it's bigger than the last time we took a picture! At the rate we're going, we should have watermelon for Halloween and ratatouille by Christmas.

Marching Through WIP-land

I'm slowly making my way through my WIP-but-hibernating projects. I just finished the Secret Garden vest yesterday, and have been working on my Clapotis since I came back from Florida in late July. The vest had been on needles since mid-2006; the Clap since late 2007.

What should I pull out next? I'm very tempted to get back into my KnitPicks Faerose Shawl (on needles since 2005), but the Hibito sweater (a recent cast-on - 2008) is a bit more practical and it's further along. Picchu-Picchu was cast on at the same time as Hibito (oh, what grand plans I had for sweaters last winter!), and the two Ice Queens (one in Mmmmmmalabrigo lace, one in GGH Kid Melange) were started early this year.

Hibito, finish it up, then on to the shawl? Or give in to the shawl so I can finally say I've made one? Decisions, decisions!

Frog Pond

Yep, frogged. The Secret Garden vest was frogged back to the armscyes today. I re-checked the pattern and don't think I knit it wrong - I just think the math in the pattern was wrong and I blindly followed it. Didn't think to really look at what I was making until it was almost time to seam the shoulders. (And denial being what it is, even then, I made some adjustments and went ahead and seamed the shoulders. Rookie mistake.) Elizabeth Zimmerman is cursing me from her grave.

So, I re-did the math so that the fronts are the same width and the back is centered. I've already done 2 or 3 increases and except for the part where I did the increases so that they totally wonked off the pattern (apparently my math skills are only good for a certain number of minutes [seconds?] a day), I'm happier about having frogged it back.

And speaking of denial, I won't mention the fact that it doesn't quite fit. Fit me, that is. Oh well; it will fit SOMEone.

(Picture is of vest as I'm about to seam the shoulders. That would be the pre-frog seaming of the shoulders last night. Not sure if you can tell but there's a partial pattern repeat hanging off the right side of the back. And that's just one of its problems.)

Garden Paradise

We braved the heat this week to do a walkabout of the Back 40 garden (i.e., the patch of dirt that bareley sustains life).

Lookie! Our first watermelon! And our first eggplant! Aren't they cute?? I know, at this point in the season, they should be big enough to harvest. Nuh-uh; not with our soil... no way. We're lucky they're even this big.

Too hot outside; will spend the day indoors, making progress on my Secret Garden vest (only around 25 more rows to go), and then doing a short job for RP. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Have been back from SS for 2 weeks, but still feel the 'epic' after-effects. I believe if I don't put those purchases away, the magic will continue.

Slow Progress

My "Secret Garden" vest has been languishing on needles since... um... 2006, I think. It's an easy pattern, basically a 2-row feather-and-fan. You'd think I'd have had it done years ago, but for some reason, I have found other things to knit instead.

So, after realizing that the designer, Joan McGowan-Michael of White Lies Designs will be on the "Couture & Color" train trip to Santa Barbara, I decided that will be my impetus to finally finish it. Now that I have an end-date in sight, suddenly I'm making progress on it... imagine that.

Picture is from progress in 2006; there's probably close to another 5" in it now. (It's not as garish in person as the picture makes it seem...)

More Sock Summit

Well, I realized I had posted little bits about the Sock Summit, but didn't do a full recap. So if you're interested, here goes...

8/5, Wednesday, Day 0:

Early flight, no issues (except ONE of our group didn't want to wear her Hallowig...). Grabbed a cab to the hotel. Already talked about the cabbie getting pulled over for doing 50 in a 25 zone. That was fun... Arrived at the Residence Inn, and waited in the lobby while they found a room for us. Good timing; ChickenKnittle got to the hotel (she was driving) just as we got to the stairwell. Found ourselves in a gorgeous 2-story, 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom penthouse suite. Lovely! Room for all 4 of us. Made our way to the Oregon Convention Center, where we were like second in line for registration, which was a touch delayed. It appeared that a magic box of registrant folders had gone missing; once it showed up, registration began and we were done in a snap. While we were waiting, we kept seeing Tina and Stephanie and all the ST-2s scurrying about, making sure things were in order. I was already beyond excited at this point. While we were waiting to register, LMKnits gave Tina a Hallowig and made her an honorary wacky wig woman. Harlot took pictures, saying "so that's how this is gonna roll, huh?" Ayup. Made our way to a farmer's market and met CG's friend Whitney, bought toooo much fruit, stopped at a Safeway, then met up with Knitterliness for dinner at McMenamin's. (Picture: Tina laughing at the multi-colored Hallowig LMKnits had just given her, with LMKnits and Yarn Harlot looking on.)

8/6, Thursday, Day 1:

Day-long class, "Argyle Socks" with Ann Berk. Pretty cool technique, tension is important, not sure I'll ever make a real pair, but I'm pretty proud of the sample sock I mostly made in class (and finished that night). Skipped out of class an hour early to take Merike Saarjnit's "Darn It!" class, where I learned how to PROPERLY darn a sock. Met up with the other Hallowigs (ChickenKnittle, Gromknit, LMKnits) to attend the opening ceremonies. ST-1 talked about how the SS idea was hatched and all the trials and tribulations it took to get where we all were at that point. Many tears were shed - they were very funny and it was sooo emotional. Then we stormed the Bastille, er, the Marketplace. Hit up BMFA for mill ends and perused the others. (Picture: My argyle listening intently to ST-1s story about how SS came to be. You can't see it, but the argyle is wet from laughing tears.)

8/7, Friday, Day 2:

Morning class, "Socks Knit from East to West" with Janel Laidman. She taught us how to think about socks from side to side instead of from toe to cuff or vice versa. Once again, tension - and gauge - is very important. We didn't get around to really going over the heel, but she gave a handout, so I hope it's in there. We had the afternoon open before the Sock Hop that night. I think we shopped some more.

8/8, Saturday, Day 3:

Morning class: "Finding True Sock Yarn Happiness," with Clara Parkes. This was a great class. She walked us through the properties we want in a sock yarn (elasticity, strength, absorption), then talked about the properties of various fibers, giving us little samples of each, then talked about spinning those fibers into yarn, also giving us little samples of different types of sock yarn spun up. Very cool.

Afternoon class: "Seismic Socks" with Lorilee Beltman. Also good class, how to put single stitch lines in your socks. Neat technique. Now if I could just remember when you ktbl and when you don't...

That night: We kinda crashed at the hotel. Excitement and exhaustion took over. We never made it to the Ravelry party; opting instead to sit and knit and talk. Lots of talk. (Picture: Gromknit, ChickenKnittle, LMKnits in a classic pose of repose.)

8/9, Sunday, Day 4:

Morning class - none! I got to sleep in! Had a waffle! Met up with the Hallowigs to get on line for the Luminary Panel, then got out of line so I could swap a ticket from KBlesch's cousin Jauping to a sweet spinner who really really wanted to be there. We had front-row seats, listening to the greats: Lucy Neatby, Cat Bordhi, Deb Barnhill, Anna Zilboorg, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Meg Swanson (!!), Barbara Walker (!!!!!!!), Judith McKenzie McCuin, and Nancy Bush. Each one fantastic in their own right, each one funny and gracious, and together - along with Tina and Stephanie - I think the knitting world's axis shifted just a little bit. Cool stories, great people. For dinner, we took a single-car trolly ride to downtown and wandered back over to where the Sock Hop had been (Portland Museum of Art), and found a pasta restaurant for dinner. (Picture: After the Luminary Panel had ended, there was much milling around, and the Hallowigs and I were present when Barbara Walker [right] gave Cat Bordhi [left] her business card! Cat was about as happy as a 6th grader.)

8/10, Monday, Day +1:

Bummer. Have to leave. Don't want to leave. ChickenKnittle took off fairly early - she had an 11-hour car ride home in front of her. LMKnits and Gromknit hopped on the Max and found the Japanese Gardens and wandered around downtown for a bit. I slept in again! Had a waffle again! Head back to the airport, this time on Max, which takes you right to the doorstep! For $2.00! Easy! Quiet flight home, back at the ranch by about 6:00, talked non-stop the rest of the week.

That's the high-level overview of the events... in reality, it was a very profound, moving, fun, emotional, outrageous, incredible, amazing, wonderful experience. It was even more than that, but I'm running out of superlatives. Harlot's 2 blogs following it sum it up far better than I ever could. (I really want to write like her when I grow up.) There was some serious knitting mojo at work every day we were there. Knitting Woodstock. Fabulous.

As for the Marketplace, well, I don't need any more yarn. But I got some anyway.

• 2 skeins BMFA STR LW mill ends. Color seems to be Melusine; destined for Cat Bordhi's Spring Thaw socks.
• 1 skein BMFA STR LW mill end. Color is very autumny. Don't know what it want's to be.
• 1 skein BMFA STR LW mill end. Color very Kadootje-y, which is good, because she asked me to get a skein for her. She's a sweetie.
• 1 skein BMFA STR Silkie. Definitely not a mill end. Color is Melusine (do we see a trend here?). Love. This. Yarn.
• 1 skein Periwinkle Sheep II, Orange Soda, and 1 skein Periwinkle Sheep Highlighter. Gave Kadootje her choice of the two and she took the Highlighter. Very Kadootje, too.
• 4 skeins Crown Mountain Sock Hop hand-dyed and hand-spun sock yarn. 2 skeins Aqualung, 2 skeins Buffalo Soldier. Never worked with hand-spun yarns before; it's gorgeous to look at and fondle.
• 1 skein Newton's Happy Feet in some very bright blues. Can't beat 738 yards of superwash merino for $15.00.

(Yes, I know, you're not supposed to wind them until just before you use them. I wind them loosely because when I want to cast on, dammit, I want to cast on, not drag the swift and winder out!)

Still can't believe how awesome SS09 was, still can't believe it's over, still reading blogs and trying to relive it. Not next year, but maybe SS11?

Sock Stars!

Thanks to everyone who let us know that we got prominent placement in The Oregonian's "How We Live" section yesterday. How prominent?

Well, we knew that the photographer (Stephanie Yao) was going to publish the picture, but let me tell you... when LMKnits and Gromknit found the paper at breakfast at the Marriott yesterday, let's just say we were a little flabbergasted. Such a big picture! Totally awesome! The same picture is also in the slideshow at the bottom of the online article as well, which can be found here. (And yes, we each picked up "a few" copies of the paper!)

They also posted a short video of the Guiness attempt. If I'm not such a complete lame-ass, I'll figure out how to post to it here.

Knitters attempt to break Guinness World Record

Actually, we were not the Sock Stars of the Summit. That title rightfully and truly belong to Tina, Stephanie, Debbi, Debbie, Rachel, JoAnn, and the other names that I can't quite remember now. From organizing a sock camp for 80 people Tina et al took the leap and organized a full-fledged conference for 2,000, and they pulled it off with grace, skill, and aplomb, plus a gazillion superlatives. If anything truly went off the rails, it was nowhere to be seen by mortals. Nothing that didn't go perfectly was of any consequence, and 99% of it sure seemed to go perfectly. Even if all they had managed to do was to sucker us into being at the OCC with 20 knitting goddesses, we would have been happy to bask in their glow (and either fangirled all over them or pointed at them from afar).

To ST-1 and ST-2: It was fantastically and truly amazing. Name the year and place, and we'll be back.

Safely home from a completely 'EPIC' Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon. Great classes, outstanding teachers, terrific vendors - three times better than Stitches.

Having an absolutely amazing time at the first ever Sock Summit in Portland. Tina & Stephanie have birthed a wonderful thing.

Almost Free!

Well, now, lookie here... Who could that possibly be, sitting in a chair, bottle of water in her hand, not a care in the world??

Why, yes... it's Auntie Irene! She got the doctor's orders for "lobby privileges," so she got on their case to get her into a wheelchair, strap on the oxygen tank, and take her for a ride. She took turns having my brother, my sister-in-law, and my dad push her around. What a smile. Besides transferring from One hospital to another back at the end of June, that's the first she's been outside since May 17.

In other happy news, tomorrow we leave for Sock Summit 2009! Bags are packed, just need to figure out what's coming on the plane with me. Plenty of room still left in the bag, too. Hm... wonder if I'll need it...? Kadootje, we'll miss you!

Secret's Out!

So, for various and sundry reasons, we hadn't told a lot of people about this. Part of it was that DH was tired of being bugged about it, part of it was the jinx factor, part of it was... I don't know... maybe he just wanted to by mysterious about it.

Anyway, DH took the California State Bar exam this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in a big room at the Event Center in San Mateo, with 1,399 of his closest friends. And that's just the San Mateo locations; there were other test sites in California (Sacramento, Oakland, Pasadena, San Diego), each with their own clutch of lawyer-wanna-be's.

Day One is three essays in the morning and a performance test (like an essay on steroids) in the afternoon. Day Two is the Multistate Bar Exam, the same multiple choice test that is given in 46 other states on the same day (the questions are applicable to law situations regardless of location). Day Three is a repeat of Day One - three more essays and a performance test. So that's, in effect, eight essays and 200 multiple choice questions.

As he points out, he has the luxury of not having to worry about the outcome, but for many in the room who may already have gotten jobs at law firms pending their passing the test, a lot is riding on the result - which you don't find out about until November. The stress level in the room is so thick you can feel it (he says).

Each essay is scored by two readers. If their two grades are significantly different from each other, the essay is read a third time. So with 8 essays per person, and multiple thousands of test-takers, it takes a while. Plus, at each test, the Bar Association decides how many new lawyers they want that year, so they see where the results fall, and then figure out what the passing grade is, so there's no known grade to shoot for, like if you get an 82, you're in. That's why the results don't get posted until mid-November, so we get to wait four months to find out if he passed. Since the Cal Bar picks the passing grade, there's no second-guessing how you did. You could get a 97, but if 2,000 people got 98 or higher and 2,000 is their number, then a 97 fails.

We just gotta wait. (Thank you, LMKnits, for reminding me to post this!)

On the plus side, we used his getting through the grueling week as an excuse to get a Wii. And a new TV on which to play the Wii. Wheeeee!

Dateline Tampa...

Word from the baby brother, currently on Aunt I duty in the greater Tampa area... Aunt Irene has passed her second swallow test. I repeat, Aunt I has has passed her swallow test.

Do I hear you say, "So what?" Here's what's 'so what?' - she can now eat anything she wants!

Her first swallow test was shortly after she was transferred to Kindred. She was still a little weak, but they said she could eat pureed food. So, for the first time since May 21, instead of getting liquid nutrients from a tube, she could eat and taste real food (well, okay, that's a stretch...). That was a pretty exciting step, right up until she realized that the hospital's pureed food selection was very limited. Green goo (peas), orange goo (carrots), light brown goo (chicken), dark brown goo (turkey), white-ish goo (fish, we think). Those were her lunch and dinner choices, with other things like applesauce or sherbet for dessert. Breakfast was better, with a rotation of oatmeal, grits, and scrambled eggs, which she actually liked.

So after a few weeks of that, she started dreaming about real food. We warned her that she'd still be eating hospital food, but decided that even the hospital's version of real food was better than hospital pureed food. Now, after passing her second swallow test with flying colors, she'll get to find out! When I left last Monday, she was craving pork chops... Can someone make a run to Outback?

Yay! Real food!

Slowly Back to Normal

Well, today (Monday) it's been a week since I returned from my Florida adventure. I gotta tell you... I still feel slightly adrift. Maybe it's knowing that Auntie I still has a ways to go, maybe it's just the culture shock after being there for so long, maybe it's just my brain, but not everything feels back to rights yet. I plunged back in to RP work on Thursday and really felt like I could have used a few more days, even though I turned around a fair amount of stuff over the next couple of days. Ach, who knows?

My Wednesday knitting posse came down to the house (instead of my going up to Cupertino) and it was soooo good to see them again (alas, without KB, who got stuck at work again). I don't know if I knit much of anything, but I was just groovin' on the posse vibes and being in their magnificent presence. Individually, they're all fabulous; together, we're freaking awesome. Or as Kadootje's son would say, "epic!"

Thursday night would normally be Thursday knitting, but because I was in Florida when our season's tickets to TheatreWorks started, ChickenKnittle rescheduled our night for that night. The play was not one of TW's best, but that still meant it was pretty good; cute story, fairly predictable. (ChickenKnittle thought the young male lead looked a little like Harry Connick, Jr.; I thought he looked a little like Brendan Frasier.) Anyway, that means I will finally get to see the Thursday crowd this week, including Knitterliness, who is back from her Tour du Paris (which, alas again, did not include a LYS)!

Aunt I continues to make good progress; we're expecting her trach collar to be removed sometime this week. That's so exciting! I get updates from CS, my high-school girlfriend who happens to live around a half-hour from dad. She's gone to see Aunt I twice and always puts a smile on Aunt's face. CS is just that kind of soul, doing wonderful things for people who need wonderful things done. Been that way since high school, a real angel and someone whose capacity for love seems never-ending. I miss you, CS. She'll try to get to visit again during the next week, because she hasn't seen "little Ray" (my brother) in a long time, and he's flying in tomorrow afternoon. (Sorry you have to catch such an early flight, dude!)

I've been making some progress on my Malabrigo socks after turning their heels the last week I was in Florida. I made the reinforced heel a little higher, and have now started the Diagonal Lace pattern (Wendy Johnson) up the leg. I'm almost done with the second repeat. I think it will work, but I reserve the right to rip it out and try something else.

My Clapotis is coming along; it will take a while. It's really easy knitting (except for the rows where you have to start a new drop-stitch placeholder, for which I still need to read the pattern... grrr), it's just that it will be fairly large, so I knit and knit and knit and eventually I'll be able to see that it's gotten bigger.

I also just started a Blanket Buddy for Kadootje's sister, who's due to have her second bebe next month. They're cute and easy to make.

Other than that, there's a little bit of interesting news this week... but I can't tell you until Friday. (I've already blown the secret with a few people so I'm trying to be good for the rest of the week.)

Happily Home

*sigh* It's so good to be back in my own home, sleeping in my own bed, snuggling up to my own snuggle-bunny. After a brief panic and a quick change in flights (I was originally scheduled to fly TPA-MIA-SFO, but they were having severe weather problems in MIA, so I went TPA-DFW-SFO instead) that got me home 2 hours later than originally planned, the flights themselves were uneventful. We took on more fuel on the TPA-DFW leg because the pilot was going to have to fly around some storms in the Louisiana-Texas neighborhood, but he or she did a good job because we only had around 5 minutes of almost bumpy air.

After a 3-hour layover in DFW (not a bad airport for a layover of that length - especially when you can sit in the Admiral's Club), the leg to SFO was also uneventful. We were flying above the clouds so I could see lots of stars above; I managed to knit a little on my Malabrigo socks and also napped out for about an hour-and-a-half.

One of my highly irrational fears is that I won't recognize someone in a crowd. We're not talking casual acquaintances or people you only know over the internet... I'm talking family, I'm talking friends you've known for years, really close people. So when I got off the plane and started walking through the terminal, I had a brief moment of panic - what if I walk right past Kelly? (I told you it was irrational.) Not to fear, my rational brain took over and I saw him before I was even half-way down the hall. We hugged for a very very long time, and by the time we got to baggage claim, my bag was one of the first ones circling around. An uneventful (but talky) drive home, then I crashed and was asleep by 1:30 AM (4:30 AM Florida time).

We woke up to a nice morning breeze wafting over us and no alarms set, and then I showered in my own shower, got dressed in my own closet, got to wear a different set of clothes than I've been wearing in Florida, and generally just putter about, touching the things I hadn't seen in a long time.

I got a phone call from Kindred that Aunt I's hemoglobin numbers were somehow not what they should be, so they were going to give her some blood and move her to an ICU unit where they could observe her better. I asked them to also call my dad with the information, and when I checked in with him later, he reminded me that Aunt I had been borderline anemic for a while, especially when she was going through her chemo for MMM; getting blood was not unusual. He also said that they were keeping her in ICU overnight, nothing extraordinary. Whew.

It's good to be home.

Look ma, no tubes!

Even better than in the chair and on the dark blue tubes, is being on a smaller trach and just having the oxygen going up her nostrils - breathing allllll on her own now! When we visited this afternoon before my flight home, she was quick to point out that they even removed the ventilator completely from her room. The pictures were taken on Sunday - the one with her sticking her tongue out is closer to the "real" auntie Irene!

One step forward and a small step back... she was also undergoing dialysis when we arrived. Her numbers were creeping back up, so better safe than sorry, they'll do it twice a week instead of three times a week. That's okay; she knows that her kidneys are on the mend and it's just a matter of time now before she's done with that stuff.

When we left yesterday, she said she was going to make sure she had all her anti-anxiety meds ready for when I got there today, because she figured she'd be a wreck knowing I was going. I told her she should have the nurse leave one or two for me, but it was not as bad as I thought. I did all my panicking and worrying in the car on the ride there.

The third picture is of me and my high-school friend Chris, who happens to live about a half-hour from my dad. She was an angel when I was in Florida (as she was in high-school), and became part of my support for being there. This shot was taken Friday night at Outback. We had a great time reconnecting. Thanks, Chrissie!

Right now, aunt I is probably sleeping, and I'm about ready to board the final leg of my trip home - Dallas/Ft.Worth to San Francisco. California, here I come. At last.