C'est La Vie -Trois

Today, I returned to the scene of last week's crime at our local hotspot.  If you remember correctly from last time, there are some unusual inhabitants of the mental division courtroom including, but not limited to our friend the judge.  My, she looked about the same as last time.  Smug.  The outcome however was much different.  After much grilling and repeated attempts to get the school psychologist to issue a number for the IQ that the judge could live with (she could not give that number, duh), I left with plenary guardianship.  Thank God that's over.  Somehow, once I left, I just couldn't get this song out of my head.  Here ya go Kanga.  This one's for you:

Some Sweet New Stuff and Something Old Too

There is something about the pristine appearance of a brand new snowfall that appeals to me visually.  It is so pretty and makes my same old back yard look new.

Here is someone who is new and very appealing to all the senses.  This is Ethan at 1 week old.  He is perfect in every way.  Although his mom already conducted a finger and toe count, I did it too just to double check her math.   That's his grandmum looking upon him with complete adoration.  Can you tell how humongous big that hat is on his head?  Poor little fella.  He needs a knitter to fix that for him!

Lucky for him, he has one.  That is Ethan's "fits me perfect" hat complete with roll top brim (all the better to see you with) perched atop Mr. Snowman (i'm channeling my mom by failing to put away some of the Christmas decorations--hi mom).  It is made of bamboo and I think it may be just about as soft as Ethan's little bottom.  The Bernat Bamboo  (pictured here in Dill) is bulky so this was a quick knit on US size 10 DPNs.  I knit it while watching and listening to the snow. 

This morning, I was awakened to the sound of snow again.  Can you believe this guy?  He is once again snow-blowing the yard (at 8 am).  Do you think he knows where his snow goes once he blows it out of his yard?  I know where it goes dammit. 

This guy was at it for an hour and a half straight.  I think I've reached the end of my tether on this winter wonderland BS.  I can't tell you how I really feel since I try to only use this sort of language for crisis mode at work.  

I'll let Lewis tell you:

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

Monday was warm. The weather was downright balmy and it rained. I welcome the rain after such a brutal winter; we need it to cleanse the soot stained snow and the salt from our roads, drives and walkways. In this part of Michigan, we don't ordinarily get much snow and major snowfalls are sort of rare in Metro-Detroit. This winter? We've had about 50 inches of snow with MORE on the way. It has been one snowfall after another. Different counties are issuing alerts that they're running very low on road salt and some counties are mixing sand with the salt (that should be pretty) to extend what they have left.

I had heard we would get a bit of snow today but I didn't know how much since I've given up on watching the news. I fear death by stabbing already should I venture out to shovel or snow-blow, so why bother watching? To avoid getting my panties in a knot over something in which I have no control, I just avoid watching the news. (The snow stabbing came to my attention when I was googling daily news headlines for a previous post). It was my friend who told me it would snow and wondered if we'd all have a snow day tomorrow.

I've whined before about how it always seems to snow during the night before I work. Maybe this snowfall is heralding a change because finally, I've got a snow day! I don't know how it happened, but it did.

This is a table in my yard. That is 6 inches of snow on my table after 5 hours of snowfall. It is expected to keep snowing for another 8 hours. These pictures were taken at 10 PM-it looked like broad daylight.

This is Duke acting like he is on watch for stabbers. He is really only waiting for me to turn my back so he can eat the snow off the table. It's his thang...

I Brake for Yarn, Again

Today, I have a rare Tuesday off from work.  My schedule has been split up for weeks due to staffing issues at work and I am out of sorts (if you take note of the baby pic in upper right corner-he is at fault but he is so cute, I gotta let it slide).  I ordinarily do a work 2 off 3 split.  That gives me one day to recuperate (and clean and shop) and 2 days to do whatever (knit or shop for yarn).  I stay up late reading, knitting and watching the idiot box on nights when I don't have to get up at 5 am.  

I set my alarm for 7 am this morning and woke up at 9.  Nice.  Not!  I slept through Rachel's bus pick up and now I have to haul my behind(and her) over to her school.  I may let her sleep in too and just play hookie with me.  

Today I have a full dance card.  I HAVE to do the payroll for Rachel's employees or they may get really ticked off at me.  I must go snuggle that new baby and bring his mum the white noise machine I promised (note to self, find white noise machine).  I have to think of something to cook for dinner.  I have to cook for Duke today.   And I have to do a telephone interview nursing survey at 11 am.

What's that you ask?  This is something I signed up to do for some national survey company that wants to know all about nursing.  I made the connection to do this survey on a group I belong to in Ravelry: Nurses Who Knit and Crochet.  The going price for an hour of my time?  $25 dollars and a skein of hand-painted yarn.  I couldn't possibly care less about the money.  The yarn is a different story so I volunteered to do the interview.

The pre-interview email was sent last night and was about a 15 page long questionnaire.  What have I done? All this for 1 stinking skein of yarn?  Well, it is  hand-painted. 

Food From the Heart

This time last year, I had two dogs.  Duke, my 7 year old Dobie and the old man Augie Doggie.  Augie was 13 years old when he died in May.  He was the sweetest little guy, an Airedale Terrier, with the kindest nature.  He was also a few kibbles shy of a full bowl so he sort of fit right in here.  He was old with chronic ear problems but other than that, frisky and healthy.  It was a shock to me when he became abruptly ill to the point we had to euthanize him.  It was devastating and my poor Dobie seemed to take it the hardest.

Little by little, Duke's health began to fail.  He developed hip/arthritis problems.  His coat was falling out and looked horrible.  He was sleeping all the time.  He wouldn't get up to greet me when I came home (so not like him).  Worst of all, this eating machine wouldn't touch his kibble.  The weight was falling off his body; he lost 30 pounds in 3 months.  I thought he was depressed and secretly worried he had cancer. 

 I couldn't bear to hear the news and made my husband and my son take him to the vet.  The vet diagnosed him with hip dysplasia and recommended hip replacements but 2 schools of vet medicine were not keen on this due to his age (he was now 8 and considered a little old for this surgery).  We put him on supplements, vitamins, pain meds and anti-inflammatory drugs pretty much to no avail.  Still he wouldn't eat. 

 

And then I remembered the dog food tainted with melamine from dog food products purchased from China.  This fiasco was quickly followed by toy safety issues (lead poisoning) and contaminated tooth paste, etc.   In my mind, someone (ruthless Chinese dog food manufacturer), somewhere (China) was killing my dogs.  My dog's food was never recalled and never implicated, but once a thought gets in my head, it never goes away.  I'm like a pitt bull with a fresh femur bone.  Somehow, this food was poisoning my dog and he was too smart to eat it.  So he starved.  I couldn't let this happen.

I googled home-made dog food recipes and threw a whole bunch of whole grains, vegetables and meat in a pot and cooked until tender.  The dog snarfed it up (uhm, so did my husband but that's another post).  So it wasn't the fact that he couldn't eat, it was that he wouldn't eat that tainted food I had been giving him.  This was 3 months ago.  I'm still cooking for him several times a week.  His coat is beautiful, he has put on weight, he is perky and greets me at the door daily.  I'd say it's worth it since it gave me back my loyal friend.

I've Finally Been Diagnosed!

This is Brian (aka "Sparky") and he is the new addition to my "family".  This gentleman is my BFF's sweetie.  Lucky for me and my pocketbook too, he just happens to be an electrician!   Now if I could only find a carpenter, cement contractor and plumber to join in, my family will be complete. 

I have had an issue all week with lights flickering in my house.  At first I wasn't too concerned but then I googled lights flickering and was immediately afraid of dying of smoke inhalation.  I called Fanette last week but they were in Florida freezing their asses off (it's a long, sad tale)  and couldn't come to my rescue until today.

I showed Brian to the circuit breaker and my friend and I went upstairs to pour coffee and catch up.  When I went down to hear the bad news, he said "it's nothing, you've just got a screw loose."   Damn.  Now I need a therapist to join the family too.

Gone Knitting

Present and accounted for: pattern, enough yarn to knit the sweater, WIP (work in progress currently on my knit picks options needles), knitting bag, hand lotion (no hempz today), measuring tape for the easily amused (the cute little sheep that lets you  pull the tale AND measure), and a great big comfy chair.  I am not in the picture (yet) as I am off brewing the coffee.