Oh my poor Yarnbox....sniff

So, it's been quite a summer. A pinched nerve in my back (not once but twice) leaving me pretty much incapacitated until I could get fixed up by my wonderful chiropractor. 

Then, I ripped my leg open and needed 18 stitches. 

I raised my hands up and said to the universe: "What next?" 

There was my mistake. Universe answered and said "How about THIS?"

This morning I was coming home from Best Buy, with a back-up drive for my computer. I've never gotten into the habit of backing anything up. I've heard so many horror stories lately about people losing important files, especially photos. I've been pushing my luck for too long and decided I needed to start protecting my digital information.

I got the last one of these on the shelf at Best Buy. On sale, too. It even coordinates with my orange laptop cover! 

So, I was minding my own business, was less than 3 miles from home, and had myself a little bit of excitement. A guy pulled out from a side road (while I was traveling toward the intersection at 55 mph) and he attempted to turn. I think he thought I was going to stop (he had a stop sign, I did not).  I had enough time to lay on my horn and try to swerve around him, but he hit me right on the side and flipped me over. There is nothing that compares to the feeling you get when you are starting to roll over. I put my hands over my head and just prayed there would not be another car coming down the road to hit me again. I came to a stop, upright, within a few feet of an accounting building. I'm glad I didn't hit that too.

Anyway, I am ok (as far as I know). Sore, and will most likely be more sore tomorrow. I assume the insurance company will say my dear Yarnbox.... the car I have loved most in all my life, is totaled. Here is a photo of where the roof scraped the road (or vice versa!) More photos on flickr here 

Where has summer gone?

Wow, summer has really flown by. (Doesn't it always?) So many plans are formed when school lets out, and then the lazy days just flow one into the next and before you know it ... POOF! It's over and school starts again.

We have just returned from a camping trip. It was a week for Mike and Jake, who left last Saturday. I brought Kaitlyn and a friend to the campground on Monday, and came home yesterday. Mike and Jake will return today. During the days when it was just the 2 of them, they did some fishing, golfing, and just hung out together having some "guy time", which I'm sure they both enjoyed a lot!

The 4 of them went to Cedar Point on Tuesday and I had a nice QUIET day by myself at the campground.

While they were gone, I:

~made some progress on my sweater (still a long way to go and time is running out!

~read (Whack a Mole by Chris Grabenstein... I have really enjoyed all 3 books in this series)

~watched Olympics

~basically enjoyed my solitude. 

Wednesday we went into Monroe (hometown of Custer) and went to the historical museum. Very interesting stuff! One of the biggest battles of the War of 1812 was fought in the area. 

We spent Thursday on Put In Bay Island which was a TOTAL blast. Took the ferry over, rented a 6-seater golf cart for the day and just took in the sights, toured the Heineman winery and Crystal Cave (which was the world's largest geode, and you got to be inside of it. SO COOL!) Played 18 holes of mini-golf with a War of 1812 theme. Lots of history on the island. And lots of fun things to do. We had lunch at Mr. Ed's Bar and Grille, which was right across the street from a beautiful park overlooking the marina and lake. We loved buzzing around on the golf cart along with hundreds (thousands?) of other carts. The day was beautiful and we really had a great time. 

Mike has the camera, so I will post photos later on. 

Now it's back to reality. I'll have to catch up on laundry (everything smells like campfire of course) and restock the fridge and pantry. Jake missed his "Dawg Days" this week, which is where the kids go and get their schedules, get their pictures taken, order yearbooks, turn in emergency cards, etc etc. I'll have to take him in before school starts to take care of some of that. I can't believe I no longer have a child in elementary school, after all these years. Jake is off to middle school. And Kaitlyn is a senior. It's a big year in the Bloom house.  We still need to buy school supplies (once again, I urge all teachers...please send a school supply list to your students before school starts, especially if you have items on your list that are out of the norm....did you ever try to buy school supplies after school starts? They've already gone on clearance and there is nothing left). When I worked at Target, every mother of every 6th grader came to Target after school started, looking for a clipboard, and boy were they pissed that we didn't have hundreds of them on the shelves waiting for them.  (Note to self...Jake is a 6th grader...pick up a clipboard....it'll probably be on his list)

We also need to get Kaitlyn's senior pictures taken in the next few weeks. Her photographer will be my good friend Debbie, who is so creative and has a special talent for getting great shots. She did Kim's wedding photos and they are stunning.  Check out her website. Beautiful photography. She is also mentoring Kaitlyn, since my dad's photography genes seem to have been passed down and she wants to also make photography her career. Grampa couldn't be prouder!

Time to tackle another load of laundry. More will be coming when my men pull in with the camper shortly. I just got a call that they are on the road.

Favorite Things

Play along on your own blog if you feel like sharing!

My favorite:

Sport: hockey with baseball a close second
Game: poker
Color: green
Movie: Bridges of Madison County
Broadway play I have seen: none
Broadway Musical I have seen: none
Song: Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer"
American city I have visited: Savannah, Georgia and Skagway, Alaska
Foreign city I have visited: Victoria, BC
Book: "Lightning" by Dean Koontz
Children's Book: All Judy Blume books
Classic television show: Felix the Cat
Recent television show: Heroes
Actor: Johhny Depp
Actress: hmmmm....don't know
Perfume: don't wear it
Food: Lasagna
Dessert: cheesecake
Chain Restaurant: Ruby Tuesday
Local Restaurant: Jet's Pizza
Car: green Scion xB
Condiment: Mayo
Kitchen Appliance: Foreman grill
Home Appliance: macbook
Beauty Product: Bare Esscentuals/Bare Minerals products
Piece of clothing: shorts
HGTV Show: House Hunters
Food Network show: Unwrapped
Author: Marisa de los Santos
Male Songwriter: Neil Diamond
Female Songwriter: Sinead O'Connor
Holiday: Christmas
Ballet I have seen: The Nutcracker
Disney character: Eeyore
Flower: Daisy

Alcoholic drink: Southern Comfort with lemonade
Non-Alcoholic drink: Pepsi
Magazine: Interweave Knits
Animated movie: Brave Little Toaster

Television network miniseries: Roots
Season: Summer
Male vocalist:Neil Diamond

Female vocalist: Trisha Yearwood
Day of the week: Saturday
Household Chore: Laundry (Favorite? LOL I guess it's the one I mind the least)
Ice Cream: Death by Chocolate
Candy: Peanut Butter M&Ms
Artist: Van Gogh

A little getaway

Jake and I are venturing north to spend a few days at a cabin on the Manistee river.

I'm bringing my laptop, and will venture into town in search of a WiFi connection, and hopefully can check emails daily.

If you've ordered a pattern and don't receive it right away, this is why. Please be patient...all patterns will be sent by Thursday evening at the latest. Thanks!

TTFN!

Ouch, Part 2

So now that my back is better, what the hell, go for some stitches, why don't we? Let's add a little more excitement to the summer, huh?

Sheesh? What is NEXT? (If you're squeamish, perhaps don't read what comes next, though I will try to not be too graphic.....)

Under that large dressing are 18 stitches. (6 inside and 12 on the outside)

The gauze on my calf is just covering a scrape, and there is another (larger, deeper) scrape above the wound that needed the dozen and a half sutures. It was not pretty. It was not a nice clean cut. It was ...well...like something I've never seen before. I also have a small scrape and bruise on both of my arms.

What happened was...I was getting out of the pool, coming down the ladder. And unfortunately not one, but TWO of the rungs were missing the nuts on the bolts that go through the ends of the rungs. (Unbeknownst to me, because they are UNDER the steps of course). The middle step gave way first, then the bottom and before I knew it I was hanging on for dear life, with a gaping hole in my leg caused by the bolt on the middle step as I slid past it.

Jake was outside with me when it happened and I've got to hand it to the kid, he was amazing. He ran and got me whatever I asked for at lightning speed, didn't get grossed out by what he was seeing (I know Kaitlyn would have probably passed out and been totally useless to me at that point)

I first applied pressure with a towel, but then saw that it really wasn't bleeding much (I still don't know how that's possible). I then sent Jake for the gauze and tape that I had left over from my gall bladder surgery, got things covered up as best I could , and had Kaitlyn drive me to the ER.

It must have been an interesting wound, because the nurses (and other staff on hand) all filed in one by one to gaze, and comment, and call to whoever else walking by "Have you seen this?"

Then of course the parade again once it was sewn up (2 hours later) to marvel at how nice it looked.... you know, closed up and not gaping open and gross, and all.

And darn it, why didn't I grab my iPod on the way out the door? I could have listened to a bunch of Harry Potter, or some nice soothing music as I was trying to ignore the sewing up of my leg (and all the nasty things that procedure entailed.)

At least I had finally gotten around to shaving my legs after the pinched nerve incident.


ps...I do have knitting news. The Princess Lace Wrap is blocked, and photos will follow tomorrow. I just unpinned it from the sheet on the floor so Mike didn't injure himself in the morning as he stumbles around in the dark before work.

Ouch!

So yesterday I was just going through my day, minding my own business.....

Then right before I was going to make dinner, I tried to get up off the couch.  And couldn't. I was stuck in a hunched over position and any movement toward standing upright caused great pain in my lower back. The rest of the evening I was fine only if I was still, but any movement whatsoever brought about my phrase for the evening which was OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW! (complete with an ugly grimace on my face).

Trying to sleep last night was not fun. Just getting into bed and laying down caused bolts of lightning to shoot through my spine. Getting comfortable? That took about 1/2 hour of very tiny movements. Turning over when I started feeling the bedsores forming from lack of movement? OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!  Getting out of bed this morning? Oh, fun! 

I managed to get into the shower, but was not able to shave my legs or even wash my feet. Of course I had to drop the soap (and knock the shampoo bottle down off the shelf too) each of which took a long, painful time to retrieve.  As soon as I was dressed I made my way downstairs and got right on the phone with the chiropractor. They were able to squeeze me in. I didn't dare sit down when I got there, for fear I wouldn't get out of the chair again, so I was ushered back to a room, where I STOOD waiting for over 30 minutes. Granted, they had to squeeze me into the schedule, but I was not happy to be left standing there for so long, especially at least 20 minutes of it was past the time they told me to come in! 

Anyway, he said I have a major pinched nerve, did some adjusting, and told me to go home, find a comfortable position, and stay there, with ice on my back. And come back at 6pm to see if the adjustment was holding. So I came home, had some lunch, took my book and my iPod up to bed with an ice pack. I watched some TV, listened to the Harry Potter audiobook on my iPod until I started nodding off. Took a little nap, turned the TV on again, wowed my sister with some emails from my iPod (she was whining that she can't email from HER iPod) and finally made my way back downstairs for another trip to the chiropractor, after asking Mike to pick up some pizza on his way home. 

I am back again, sitting here with ice stuffed down the back of my pants. Lovely. 

Maybe tomorrow I can shave my legs.....

Summer afternoon in the hammock

Remember my new toys that arrived a few weeks ago? Here they are all decked out in their colorful protective coverings. I originally wanted a green case for my macbook but orange runs a close second as far as favorite colors. It came today from Overstock.com. They were having a 10% off sale over the weekend, and since it was already cheaper than the original website I found it on, and now would be even cheaper, I took the plunge. 

Fun, huh?

"myPod" now has a lime green aluminum case (complete with belt clip which turns into an easel) I have also ordered a silicone skin for it for times when the clip is not necessary, and also some new green earbuds. Not just because they were green, but because I find that the earbuds they send along with the iPod Touch are pretty much useless (unless you have huge Shrek ears or something). I don't understand why this great piece of technology comes with such crappy earbuds. I have read/heard the same thing from so many people. When you're buying an expensive item like the iPod Touch, you should not have to immediately go out and buy new earbuds to go with it. Apple: listen to the people and fix this issue!

So my new toys and I are spending some time hanging out in the new hammock. Remember what I said yesterday?

Life is good......

Life is good

It's 12 minutes past midnight....12 minutes past the 29th anniversary of our wedding. Amazing. So many memories....

Mike and I went out to dinner (Jake came with us because Kaitlyn was at work) and then the 3 of us stopped for ice cream before visiting Mike's brother who is recovering from heart surgery. He's doing very well, thank the heavens above. 

The holiday weekend was so much fun. We gathered with family where we almost always do on the 3 holidays that mark the beginning, middle and end of summer.... on the shore of Lake Huron in Michigan's "thumb". The weather was perfect (save for the first night that was 45 degrees.... Hello? Isn't this JULY?) There was no rain, there were hardly any clouds, the wind was calm (a rarity, believe me) and the temperature couldn't have been more divine. 

Mike was able to enjoy a 3 day weekend (many weekends lately have been non-existent as he has been working every Saturday and a lot of Sundays too). It must've felt so wonderful for him to finally get a chance to relax and enjoy some down time. It sure felt good for me, knowing he could sleep in and just enjoy the days spent with family, having fun . Eat, Drink and Be Merry. There was a lot of that going around, that's for sure.

My SIL turned 50 on Saturday, so the festivities of the weekend were not just for the holiday, but for her birthday too. Her "real" party is on the 19th, but the preview was a lot of fun as well.

Of course today I spent a good amount of time catching up on things around here. MUCH laundry, cleaning out the camper, vacuuming the pool (which somehow became disgusting in our absence) etc. 

I just finished reading Belong To Me, by Marisa de los Santos. I am sad that I am done reading it. After reading Love Walked In by her, and now this one, I am longing for more by this incredibly talented author. I don't have another book to start, so I guess a trip to the library is in order for tomorrow. I have to remind Jake to read more. He's not reading as much this summer as in summers past. I think some reading time together in the new hammock tomorrow sounds good. As long as it's not too unbearably hot out there. Well, we could always cool off in the pool. 

Knitting content: Princess Lace Wrap is off the needles. Photos to follow, after it has been blocked. Back to the sweater I need to finish by October/Rhinebeck!

Apple of my eye

Three days ago, some new toys arrived on my doorstep.  They have both kept me very busy ever since. 

I have been increasingly unhappy with my PC laptop for months, and have contemplated taking the plunge and trying a Mac. The more I heard and read, the more I thought that was the way to go. When Mike said "go for it" I didn't waste any time....I placed my order and about 36 hours later these arrived on my doorstep (the iPod Touch was "just because")

Even the packaging is darned attractive!

Still untouched:

I have almost 600 songs, and some photo albums, loaded onto the iPod. All of the music is from CDs we have here, except for one song from the iTunes store. My first ever iTunes purchase. It's too easy, and that may be quite dangerous! 

I have had fun playing around with all the features. I know I am going to love being able to get my mail or use the internet anywhere there is a WiFi signal, with no extra fees. There are just so many bells and whistles on this little thing. Simply amazing!

I've put in a library request for the first Harry Potter audiobook on CDs so I can upload it to "myPod" and listen to it. I have never read any of the HP books, or seen any of the movies (though every book is either in this house or has passed through it and we have all the DVDs) I've wanted to read them for a while, but I've decided to get the audiobooks and listen instead. I hear the narrator is just awesome.

Here is my new MacBook as I started writing this post. There are lots of things that are set up differently than on a PC and I am still stumbling my way around. I will definitely be taking advantage of the free workshops at the Apple Store, and most likely will sign up for their one-on-one sessions. You can hardly beat the price....$100 for a year, and you can go for weekly, one hour private sessions. That's only two bucks a pop if you use them all! I have a lot to learn, and with all of the awesome things this machine can do, I want to take full advantage of all of the features.

A few months back my friend Jane had people leave comments and suggestions and helpful hints in her blog comments about MacBooks, since she is also considering getting one. I'll have to go back and read them again now that I have mine!

Besides these new toys keeping me busy, I was also helping Kim prepare for the surprise party that was held here yesterday for her husband, Drew, and his very good friend Dave, who both turned 25 this month. Dave's girlfriend Tiffany helped throw the party. Kim has known Drew and Dave both for about 9 years. They were both here frequently during their high school days, along with many others in their close-knit group of friends... many of whom were also here last night. It was so good to see them again ... it brought back a lot of good memories. Coincidentally, Kim, Dave, Tiffany and I all worked at Target together too. That's how Kim became friends with Tiffany, and that was even before Tiffany and Dave started dating. Kim was thrilled when they did, and the four of them spend a lot of time together. 

We had a lot of prep to do for the party... setting up the tent outside, getting the yard and deck looking pretty, cleaning up the house. The girls came over on Friday night and made some food, put lights around the deck for mood lighting, etc. 

We did have a major downpour yesterday, not too long before the party started. Then it rained off and on for part of the afternoon after the guests arrived, but eventually stopped raining (and cooled off dramatically). Drew and Dave were both VERY surprised, and everyone had a really great time. Mike and I both slept til 10:00 this morning. That is soooo unusual for him. He must've need it. He's been working so many hours lately. I think it's catching up with him. 

We had some cleaning up to do this morning, of course. But it has turned out to be a beautiful day. There has been rain all around us but somehow it has missed us. It's in the 70s with sunshine and a light breeze. Lovin' it! 

I hope the rain also stayed away from my friend Tamara and her husband Craig's anniversary party today. They are celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss. Congratulations Tam and Craig! Happy Anniversary!

Where has the last month gone?

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than 5 weeks since I last posted. A LOT has happened since then!

The main event was a surprise visit to my sister in South Dakota to help her celebrate her 60th birthday over Memorial Day weekend. She had absolutely NO clue, and after her initial dumbfounded look of confusion, all she could spit out was "What the hell?!" (Which then became the buzz phrase for the entire weekend...too funny)



We had such a good time, and I am so glad I was there to surprise her, and help throw a surprise party for her on Monday evening before I left on Tuesday. There was some knitting going on, mostly in the backyard...the weather was pretty nice the whole weekend (except for the clap of thunder Friday night that practically knocked me on the floor it was so loud!) We also spent a good amount of time doing some dyeing. I brought along some Knitpicks fingering merino, some Lion Brand Fisherman's wool that I scarfed up a few years ago when Joann's was clearing it out, and also 3 skeins of white sock yarn I had gotten in a yarn swap. Diane had several kinds of natural wool also, and we set about putting color to it. First we had to wind the big Fisherman's wool into hanks. We decided to make some really (REALLY) long hanks so that we could have longer lengths of color when we dyed. It was kind of a pain, but in the end I think it worked out ok.

Here we are making the hanks, thanks to a piece of exercise equipment and a chair:


And here's what it looked like when it was ready to be dyed:


Some yarn in the steamer:


And all skeins drying outside:


A couple pix from the party:



Since I've been back, school has let out, baseball season has come to an end, summer has arrived with a vengeance (both in terms of heat and storms). The pool is open, a new hammock was acquired yesterday, let the fun begin! A storm last weekend knocked out power to over 200,000 people in our area. We were out for 26 hours or so. Mostly an inconvenience, the worst of which was having to bail out the sump pump....many many gallons of water hauled up the basement stairs and dumped in the driveway. We MUST get a generator....this is not fun.

We have a well, and so when the power goes out, the well pump doesn't work either so we don't have water, except for what is in the holding tank in the basement (and the hot water tank) We try to use it sparingly during an outage, knowing there is no more once that's gone. We went to Kim's for showers, and to charge our cell phones. Many people were without power for 3 and 4 days, so we were lucky ours was restored after only 1 day. Of course the storms keep coming, day after day, and knocking out more power.

Today (after another storm rolled through overnight) is supposed to be just lovely. Sunny, lower humidity, and about 82 degrees. Perfect. We will be at a graduation party this afternoon/evening where a pool has recently been installed. I think we are going to have a really nice day today!

Father's Day will find Mike enjoying the new hammock purchase. Doesn't this look comfy? I can't wait to try it out myself. I forsee lots of naptime, reading time and knitting time taking place right here:

Wordless Wednesday

And the winner is.......

Jacob Bloom!

Winner of the District Spelling Bee!

WOO HOO!!!

I couldn't be more proud. I have just been beaming all day.

All of his hard work paid off!

Winning word: proprietor