Our Holidays

were busier than usual, since we've had medical stuff, and Christmas stuff, and visiting family stuff. (Yes, we're as full of stuff as any Thanksgiving turkey.)

I have lots of pictures (the ones one is of L, wearing a mustache, which was the prize from B's dad's cracker, another is of me with my sister M.S. at my parents' house), and lots of other ones of family opening gifts, being present, and so on and so forth. There will be more pictures, but not today. I'm tired, as we spent all day in the car. I did finish a lot of B's sweater sleeves (thank goodness for forced project knitting), but I'm too tired to do too much tonight. I just didn't want to end the year with a Christmas post!

There was Christmas knitting (not lots, but some) and I finished a project while driving out to KC. I worked on my clapotis (it's really just a scarf in the guage I worked it), and I'm at one more repeat before the decreases. I really did finish a lot.

Tomorrow, I'll write about all that happened last year. But on Tuesday, expect me to whine/vent/be worried. The surgery is on Wednesday, and I'm scared.

Merry Christmas!

We saw reindeer!
We saw a Christmas train.
It must be Christmas!
Merry Christmas from us to you. May your holidays be peaceful and bright.

More Mittens!

L's new mittens: started on Friday and finished yesterday.

One thumb is blue, the other is red.

He loves them, as you can see.

And today I

did lots of stuff.Yesterday, we went up to the R grandparents so we could all go to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. It was raining, but that's okay. The lights still looked really neat, and no one got too cold or too wet. It was fun.

I also finished a pair of mittens that I made for M. These were a very quick knit. I started them on Tuesday (when I gave myself a sick day) and finished them yesterday afternoon. They are knit from the leftovers of the Scottische Kilt Hose, so Nature Spun Sport from Brown Sheep. I knit them on size 3 dpns from Ann Budd's Knitters Book of Patterns. He seems to like them.
I've started a pair for L, but this is as far as I have gotten:

The dogs have made the day interesting. Murphy (blind and elderly) managed to get himself and Lulu skunked. What a great way to start the day. Maisie chewed through a seat belt in the SUV. Luckily, we only have two children and three seat belts, so we can survive until we get the $200 to fix it.

Murphy is a fuzzy dog, so maybe some time next year eau de skunk will completely evaporate.

And like many days, the insurance company sent a lovely letter saying, oops, sorry we aren't going to pay for that which we preapproved. (It's been taken care of. But really, the Friday before Christmas?!?) But all in all, a pretty good day. I really should start wrapping presents soon, though.

Aw!

L has learned how to write. See the note he wrote to me (and B).

Good News

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. I appreciate it. I'm not too worried about the skin cancer, but I am worried a lot about the sinus surgery. Not many people have more than one.

M's solo went extremely well. I'd show you a picture, but when I transferred the pictures to the laptop, and deleted them from the SD card they were ALSO deleted from the hard drive. Maybe I'll be able to get a still from the video I took.

Friday was a really good day--I turned in my grades, ran some important errands, and generally got things done, even with the worst headache/cold ever. B's also feeling better. Our boys are in a lot of the pictures for the camp brochure, and some of the pictures are ones that I took during Mini Camp.

Most surprising (for those of you who know L) is the weekly progress report from his Kindergarten teacher. Everything was marked satisfactory. I want to know if there's another L in his class! If it is something that needs improvement behavior-wise, L needs it.

Tomorrow is the Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols up at G.S. M's becoming a very good singer, and really enjoys it.

And for all of you out there who don't have their tree up either, just remember that Christmas doesn't start until the evening of the 24th and isn't over until January 6, Epiphany. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Confirmed

It is indeed a basal cell carcinoma. I'm scheduled for surgery on Dec. 26, at 4:00 pm. They were going to schedule me for January 2, but as I'm having sinus surgery the next day, I thought that would be a bad idea. Pain in the neck and pain in the face didn't seem like a good plan to me! : )

L's infusion is going at the moment, after a few minor technical issues. I'm going to start supper soon (we're having sausage and egg pie, aka quiche, with veggies). I have given 4 of my 5 finals as of this morning, and I'll have the last tomorrow morning. Tonight I am going to finish grading the lab practicals and make sure that my keys are ready. I'll still have notebooks to grade, but oh well.

I'm ready for the end of the semester. It's been fun, but really hard work this semester.

And the Dermatologist Says

It's not a weird blemish on my neck. It's a basal cell carcinoma.

Actually, we have to wait for the biopsy to come back on it, but he's 99% certain that it's a basal cell carcinoma. He has had them himself, but he's a little surprised at my age--apparently this should have waited to show up for another 4 years. He's so sure though, that he's already discussed the two different surgical options for removing it.

At least this surgery is really minor--I don't know when it's going to happen, but hopefully before my sinus surgery.

All other pains are hereby on notice.

Blocking

It's amazing what blocking can do. Even though I liked the kilt hose and the Christmas stocking, they look so much better blocked. The stocking is quite large, now. The others in the class (I took it to get away from the house), had much smaller stockings. The colors aren't true for either picture, but you can get the idea.

Ta Da!

I finished these last night. Finally!
All that's left is washing and blocking.
I hope that they fit P!

Lookie! Christmas!

I'm over here trying to keep my spirits up--it's only December first, but the temps have been dropping all day. I've already seen snow flurries too.

So, this is what I finished while the boys were at choir rehearsal: I think it looks quite nice, but it will definitely be better after some blocking. I really like stranded knitting. It's really fun to watch the pattern emerge from the needles and knitting both English and Continental is really fun. I'll need to make another one of these, in a different sort of pattern for the other inlaw. I'm not sure who will get to use this one (we use the ones my mother knit us), but it must be used by someone.

Details
Pattern: Annie's Woolens JOY Christmas Stocking
Needles: Size 8 DPNs and 16" circular
Yarn: Cascade 220.

I started this at class on the 21st of November. I only worked as far as I was supposed to for class, and then at class on Monday (28th) I worked the heel and all but 4 rows of the foot pattern. I went home and had to finish the foot before I went to bed. Yesterday, I finished up the toe. I have even woven in all the ends (and there were quite a few). We're going to block it at class this coming Monday. It took very little time, considering I've been doing other things, too.

Now, I need to finish the Kilt Hose so I can start working on B's sweater.

That's Depressing

Yesterday, I received my "official" radiologist report from my CT scan.

"There is no significant change since the CT scan from September of 2002." He goes on to say that there is thickening of the ethmoid sinus and significant disease. This CT scan was taken just after I finished a round of antibiotics.

What's depressing about that is I had sinus surgery in November of 2002. No change means that the last surgery didn't correct the problem. Or, alternatively, that the problem came right back. Neither is good.

Maybe this one will work? The new ENT (my last one moved to FL) plans on being more aggressive. I won't go into details, but he's going to remove things besides scar tissue. I really hope that this one works. This is the third surgery since 1999.
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Happier news:
I ran yesterday for the first time since I developed plantar fasciitis. I managed 1.5 miles running and .75 walking. Not too bad for the first time in over a year.

I also weighed less than I thought. : )

What I Did Today

Today, I

--took the hospitality snacks to church.

--washed 4 loads of laundry.

--made a pot of chili.

--finished my knitting class homework. See?--turned the heel on the 2nd kilt stocking. I'm at the gusset! The end is near!--tried to deflea our dogs, again. Maisie is a veritable flea factory. Lulu has some, but not as many as I'd think listening to her scratch. Murfy has some, but to get rid of his, I think we'd have to shave him.

--posted here.

What did you do today?

Turkey and the Domain

We have come up with the best after Thanksgiving tradition (what do you mean we've only done it once so it's not tradition? We're Episcopalians, thankyouverymuch, and one time means we've always done it that way!). Yesterday after lunch, B & I packed up the boys, the dogs, and the leftovers and went to The Cathedral Domain.
Yes, it's November in Kentucky, but our climate is warmer than people think. L's never lived through a real snow storm--ice, yes, but the biggest snow that L has seen was a measly 3 inches. M was 5 months old when he experienced his biggest snow fall of 19 inches. It made it up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it was lovely yesterday, too. We arrived about 2:30ish and walked to the pond, where Maisie and Lulu ran laps around. Murfy just drank lots of water. The boys skipped stones, and all of us dodged Maisie, who kept falling into the pond. Eventually, Maisie actually leaped into the pond. She looked surprised, but swam back to shore. This was her first experience with the pond. Poor Lulu was lonely for all of the campers. She is used to lots of children around who sneak her treats.

Later, we ate leftover Thanksgiving dinner and had a nice time. The boys really love the Domain. They even love the tiny little cabin we stay in (aka The Palace--the bishops of Lexington used to stay there) and periodically wish that we could live there all the time. I can see why so many people who went there as children have a soft spot in their hearts for it. After it was really dark, we drove out a bit from the main part of the camp to someplace open. We looked at the stars--it's amazing how many there actually are, that you normally can't see (yes, even small Richmond is too bright for good stargazing). Last night the moon was small enough that we could even see the Milky Way--I think that was M's favorite thing to do or see.

This morning, we went for a hike. We hiked out to Wolf Pen (I did not climb up) and then hiked over to the Wind Tunnel. By the time we made it back to the Palace, we'd probably hiked about 5 miles. It was lovely. L made it the whole way. There were as many dogs hiking with us as people (two of the camp dogs came with us). We were probably very loud.

Then we had lunch and came back home. L and M had a birthday party to attend, so we made a quick stop at home and then went back out. Here we are, home at last.

I hope that your weekend was as nice.

Happy Thanksgiving

from our house to yours.

May it be a day of peace.

Medical Updates

SCIG went very well. I'm confident that I can do it by myself next week. L did well and I think that he'll be better next week. His site reaction is going away faster than last week's, too. However, he still gets extremely upset when I try to get the infusion started. Since he has almost no body fat, this gets a bit tricky. He'll get used to it, and it will get easier every time. (Oh, please let it be easier every time!)

I saw the ENT on Monday between my classes. The CT scan results were conclusive--I have a completely blocked sinus and it's going to need draining and opening up. Since the CT scan had been done about 5 days after my last round of antibiotics (I have about 3 I can take), surgery is pretty much it. This surgery is going to be more extensive than the last two. The ENT wanted to know what I want from the surgery. I told him I want to stop hurting. I've had a headache now for months--since last winter, I think. He thought we can take care of that, anyway. It's scheduled for January 3. I chose that date because the boys start school and I won't be going until the next week. I'll be able to teach by then, but I'll still be pretty tired. My teaching schedule is a lot lighter next semester, so I should be all right.
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I finished the project M and I collaborated on. He wants to make more. Lulu (the lab) wants me to make more. It was lots of fun.

Too much

It's been extremely busy around here.

First the good news: M got the solo at school. He is so excited, his choir director at G.S. is excited, we're proud of him, and his grandparents are excited. M's indoor soccer team, which is the same as his outdoor team, has won all three of their games so far. Today they played back-to-back games, with 2 different teams. They played very well and won 7-0 and then 8-0. M scored a goal in the first game and then 2 in the second game. Not too shabby for a defensive player!

Next the okay news: my CT scan will be read before I go to the ENT. That saves a trip.

Then, the I don't know what kind of news this is news: look what came by Fed Ex yesterday. A huge box filled with medical supplies. Lots of them. We have gloves, needles, syringes, IG, alcohol wipes, tape, a backpack, an infusion pump, and our very own sharps container. The nurse will be here on Tuesday afternoon to train me. It seems very self explanatory, but it will be nice to have some training. I keep telling myself that this is all a good thing, that L won't be sick all winter like usual.

Finally, the bad news: someone rear-ended B again. No real damage to the SUV, but there's some damage to the hitch cover. At least this time he won't have to deal with a rental! So, if you are looking for a new car, don't buy a green one. He's had three accidents (none were his fault at all) in this poor thing.

Hopefully, we will have some rest after Tuesday. I know that Thanksgiving is on Thursday and that I'm cooking, but mostly we are going to hang out around home and the Domain. It will be lovely. I hope that things are calmer where you are!

Post #2

Because blogger is being persnickety:

I'm adding a second post. For some reason, the formatting isn't working so well so I cut out two pictures and some text. It still is a bit messed up.

Anyhoo, I've gotten a few very fast knitted projects finished in the last week, due to the very lovely gift of Mason Dixon Knitting. The baby kimono was one, and I also knit up a ball band wash cloth. One of the neat things about this book, is that there are projects to do with the kids. One of them is to make yarn out of potholder loops. M (with a little help from L) made up this long string, which I wound into a ball:
I've started knitting this to make some kind of rug to get an idea of how big this is, here it is, with my foot for scale. We're not sure where this is going to go, yet, and we might put get more loops to add to the ball to make it bigger. Bigger needles might be faster, but I get tired wrestling with those needles (size 35 , if you are interested).

Secret Pal Package

My wonderful Secret Pal sent me a great package, all the way from the Netherlands! She sent me a great box, which was wrapped in this pumpkin cloth. I did not just open it up (well, I ripped open the box!), but I stopped and took a picture. When I opened it up, I found this:
Autumn Leaf coffee, Dutch licorice whips (with which B absconded immediately) , and some really nice stitch markers. Below is one of them, a butterfly. There are other really nice ones too--there is one with beads and a heart and one with a key.

SCIG

Today, L had his first dose of SCIG. I was under the impression that he was going to receive one dose as IVIG, and then we'd switch to SCIG. We lucked out, and he had SCIG today. It only took 2 hours to infuse, so we got to leave at noonish. That was so nice. He didn't have a chance to get bored with the new game boy, so that's a good thing.

He did really well with it. He cooperates so well for any medical procedures. I'd love for him to cooperate that well at school! But, he's a five year old boy who likes to talk. Apparently, he has many important things to say, so being quiet is not in the cards. Back to the topic, he has some localized swelling (which is normal) and is still small enough to only have one infusion site. This means it will be easier for me to learn how do this over the next few weeks. The nice thing about all of this, is that because we are doing it this way, we can just pack it all up and take it with us and go on vacation or whatever. It also means that he'll have a chance to do normal kid stuff--like go to camp and so on. It may even mean that he won't have as many bacterial infections, because if he doesn't catch viral infections, they can't develop into bacterial ones.

Here's a picture of M with his crazy hair for crazy hair day at school.

Baby stuff

Baby sweaters are great to knit! You finish them so quickly. I knit these sweaters for two different couples at church. One has just had a little girl, the other will be next month. Since I don't usually get to knit things for little girls, I took this opportunity to knit some very girly things.

The yellow and white cotton sweater is the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. I made it with the eyelet edges in garter stitch. I cast on Tuesday evening and finished the knitting last night. I didn't spend tons of time knitting it, but I did take it and knit a bit at school. I needed ribbon for the ties, so I wasn't able to finish it up until this morning. Isn't it just precious? It was knit using Peaches-n-Cream dishcloth cotton, so it's nice and washable, too.

The other sweater I knit a while ago. It's the 5 hour baby sweater. It took me longer than five hours, but it's still a fast knit. I think that I finished one on the way down to Pawley's Island (I knit two--one is going to the silent auction of the SDS tea). Not too bad a use of car time.

Now I can get back to working on B's sweater and P's kilt hose. I am almost ready to turn the stocking inside out. I've made it more portable by copying the pattern so I can carry it around with me. Maybe I'll finish it by December. Who knows?

Lots of news

but none of it's all that exciting. Well, to other people anyway!

M has had a busy week. He sang at Good Shepherd (and did very well), he has tried out for a solo at school (?!?), and he made the academic team. He's pretty stoked!

L has also had a busy week. However, he is not exactly the teacher's favorite. He's more like the badly behaved little boy that it's really really hard not to laugh at when he's naughty. Eventually though, it begins to slowly drive you crazy.

B's been busy with his crazy schedule, although I think mine is probably even weirder. But he took his two days off and shampooed all of the carpet in our house. I am really amazed and pleased that he did that. Our house looks so much better! The carpets still look pretty good, despite dogs and boys!

I've been sick. I finally got tired enough of my constant headache and went in for antibiotics. I'm already finished with them, and the headache is still going strong. Lovely. Today I went for a physical (it's been awhile) and I wound up with two more doctors appointments and a CT scan. (Can you say third sinus surgery? I thought that you could!) Hopefully all the blood work I have had done will be fine.

To the right is a pair of baby sock I knit from left over yarn. I have lots of little bits of yarn that is too much to throw away, but not enough for a pair of socks for someone bigger. Why I decided that I should knit baby socks, I'll never know. I'm not going to have any more babies (no--definitely not!) and I don't know what to do with them. Any ideas? Maybe Ronald McDonald House? Would they need or want them? All of the yarn is superwash wool, so they are machine washable.

I've also started a baby kimono sweater from Mason Dixon Knits. My very lovely spooky secret pal sent the book to me. I hadn't meant to start a new project yet, but there's a baby shower at church on Sunday for 2 different couples and I'd already knit one couple a sweater. This fit the bill just perfectly. There aren't any pictures yet, but there will be soon. I started it yesterday, and I'm already 2/3 finished. It shouldn't be a problem to finish by Sunday. Even with lots of notebook grading.

Three pairs of socks

All three boys wearing their new "matching" socks. All were knit from the top down, with 2X2 ribbed leg, short row heel, and the usual toe, on size 1 needles. All were knit from the same 2 skeins of yarn, and I probably could knit L another pair from the same yarn. I will never do this again. Knitting the same pattern with the same yarn three times was really boring. Please ignore the dog hair on the floor. I vacuumed this morning (twice actually) but the floors don't stay clean very long. Maybe next spring we can replace the floors down here.

Today we went geocaching, but didn't find anything. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow M is singing in the All Saints concert at Good Shepherd. He's been practicing for this for months. It should go very well.

Traditional Calaberas

At the annual All Hallow's Eve service/Day of the Dead Celebration/Halloween Party, we made traditional calaberas. Above are a few for your viewing pleasure. We also had the traditional dessert (well, some of us anyway:A good time was had by all.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or treating is over. The boys have more candy than they'll ever eat (no, really. M threw away half a pumpkin full today!). We have a bit left from what we gave out (tootsie rolls and the like), but mostly, we are full of meatloaf.

It's been 10 weeks since I've had a picture of meatloaf on this blog, so here are a couple of pictures. Presenting: Calabera Meatloaf! It does look a bit like a skull. M fully approves of skull meatloaf. He ate this. Brain-shaped meatloaf, not so much. B wants me to make baby-shaped meatloaf, but ... I don't think that I can do that. There will be other meatloaf constructions, but I don't what will be the next. I never expected to make a calabera meatloaf. Next year I want to frost it with mashed potatoes, then decorate it with ketchup and olive eyeballs. L, of course, at the olives.

I'm also showing you pictures of us in our costumes. L was a ghost, M was Han Solo and I was a lady (don't laugh, sometimes I am!).

Supposedly

we have free time now. Today was the MUSA soccer party. M received his trophy, and found out that playing defense is really important. L and I saw a few of our team and I gave them their trophies too. M is probably going to play indoor soccer with his teammates (but that's just Saturdays, and we can miss some of those games). As soon as the kids got their trophies, they took off and played on the indoor fields. They had fun.

I found out from L's teacher that he won't give her the things we send from home. Hopefully, I've solved that problem with a mini messenger bag, a pattern I just made up Friday.
Despite the picture, he really likes the bag. We told him that anything in the bag must go to his teacher. Maybe this will work (crosses fingers).

Choir is still in full swing. M has a big concert next Sunday, so after next Saturday, we won't have Saturday practices again until December. I have a ton of grading to do already, but am adding more to it this week--two exams and lab notebooks. Ick. When's Thanksgiving?

I have some pictures from el dia de las mortes (we did it Saturday, even though we should do it on Wednesday*) to show you later. I don't want to have a too picture heavy post.

*I realized after I published this the first time that Thursday is the Day of the Dead, not Wednesday!

100 Posts!

Wow, I have really stuck to writing entries to this thing, haven't I?
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Now that's out of the way, I'm going to blog about the cool stuff that's happened. We've had our share of medical issues (and we don't have all the results yet) but I'm going to ignore them for the moment.

First: The Pawleys Island Blues Socks. In xsmall, medium and large!

Second, I received a package from my spooky secret pal. It's so nice to have something to look forward to in the mail. For instance, the box came yesterday, along with 3 bills from CCHM and a postponing approval letter for L's SCIG. For now, the box wins.

She sent me a box chock full of fun stuff. The dogs even have some treats to share! M & L really liked the ribbons that came around all of the little packages. (They are ribbons with ghosts, bats, pumpkins, cats, witches and spiders glued to them. Very cute!) They have decided that they should get to divvy them up. The balloons and cookie cutters are a big hit. We're going to hang the banner up tonight.

She also sent me some Opal sock yarn, a blend of superwash wool and silk. These are going to make great socks--I can't wait to start a pair. However, I am going to finish up a few things first. (I have B's sweater, P's other kilt hose, and a pair of socks with a deadline to finish.) She also sent me some stitch holders (you can never have enough of these) and some non-skid pawprints to put on the bottom of slipper socks. Pretty nifty, yes?

Thanks Spooky! Not only did I have fun opening everything up, the boys had fun too. Danke!

Soccer's over

for the fall. We won't play again until March. : ( On the bright side, we can start sleeping in on Saturdays. (Unless of course, M has choir rehearsals, which he does for the next two Saturdays.)

M's team played a great season. They only lost one game, and it wasn't today! The only team that beat them was the team they faced in the championship game today. It was a hard fought game, but the Tigers won, 2-1. All of us parents thought it would go into over time, as we were freezing! With two minutes to go, our team scored their second goal and held off the other team. No overtime, so we didn't freeze to death! : ) He's so excited. We're really proud of them. All of the players worked really hard and it paid off.

Soccer Shot

M, even with 2 on him, kept the ball, and passed it to his teammate, behind him. He's really playing well right now. If the Tigers can keep up their play for just one more game...

More of the same

I kind of forget how unusual our lives can be. This month has been incredibly busy with L going to doctors and having tests, but it still doesn't always sink in.

Anyway, L saw his new allergist on Thursday. I called on Tuesday saying that the Hem wanted him seen sooner than December. We've never had a 48 hour turn around with allergy before. I was just hoping we would see her before we go back up to Children's for the first dose of IG. Apparently, saying the Hem wants him seen has magical powers of schedules opening up!

I really like the new allergist. She is pretty young but is "educable" as a fellow SDS lister said. Dr. O had actually heard about SDS (at first she saw Creon 10 and asked CF?) but didn't know a lot about it. She promptly went and got her textbook of pediatric disorders and brushed up. She's a bit surprised that he seems to only be intermittently neutropenic, but I did tell her about his bone marrow and other issues. She is taking him and his immune system very seriously. We will be seeing her every three months for at least the next year and every 6 months after that. His allergies are pretty bad, apparently. She thinks his headaches are sinus related (so does the Hem) and has added new medication and ordered a CT scan. She doesn't want him to have antibiotics unless he needs them.

Yesterday L had his CT scan (yes, less than 24 hours later). L was given a magnetic kitty because he was sooooo brave. He's always brave when there are no needles involved! I'm imagining B's parents are reading this and thinking why we didn't tell them. Well, because they are busy helping SIL and her husband in NY. The report should make it back to the allergist in a couple of days. Meanwhile, I have copies of all the images. They are huge! I really need to find some place to store them. L likes being able to see inside of his head.

The more of the same and weirdness comes from the fact that afterward, we went to soccer practice. I was talking to the mother of one of my players and mentioned that we'd had another medical test today. She was flabbergasted that we'd come out to practice after a CT scan. I didn't tell her about coming to practice after L's BMB! I didn't even think that it was weird to go and do these things at all.

However, this month has been insane for doctors and medical tests. Our insurance company hates us, I am sure. In October, L saw his ped for a preop visit. He had blood work done. The next week, he had a hem visit, a BMB, and a GI visit on the same day. We will be starting IG on November 14 (my older brother's birthday). We saw the allergist and then had a CT scan. It's been really busy.

Today is all normal stuff. M has his 3rd tournament game. B is celebrating a wedding in Lexington, and I am going too, wearing a beautiful dress that B's parents found for me. It should be a good day. : )

Knitting with Dogs

This is how I spend my evenings.

Maisie's Collar

Blogger is completely messing up the the formatting of posts today. I tried to put this picture in, but for some reason it didn't want to post it the way I wanted it posted. AAAARGGGHH!

For non-knitting amusement, I present Maisie's new collar:














For some reason, girly, happy pink skulls on a black background amuses me. It's also funny to see them on a small black and brown dog. Lulu's girly collar is ladybugs on pink and yellow squares, but this is much funnier.

Knitting for SDS

I've been knitting for SDS lately. This is the beginning of a pair of socks for a large child/small woman. It's a picot edge and plain stockinette otherwise. I'm going to do a heel flap, because I actually like the way they look. Here are the two 5 hour baby sweaters that I made. One is for the SDS auction and one is for a baby that will be born in December. The picture of both is to prove that I made two! Yes, they are knit from the same yarn. I didn't believe that you could knit a sweater from only 4 ounces of yarn, so I bought two. The sweater with the ribbon tie is going to go to the SDS tea and the one with the button is going to be the baby gift. I made the sweater and the socks girly because I don't often knit for girls. Around here, it's knitting for boys most of the time.

Back down south

We're back home. We came home on Thursday afternoon, but I was so tired and mentally exhausted that I didn't have time to write. It's not like this is a paying job, so (not-so-)faithful readers, you'll just have to wait. : )

L and I drove up to the Cincinnati area on Wednesday afternoon. I always try to go up the night before so we can sleep a little bit longer and cut down on the driving during the day. It also gives L a chance to spend some time with his beloved grandparents. There are some benefits to L's illness.

While we were up there, MIL and I found a dress for me to wear to a wedding B is celebrating next Saturday. It's really beautiful and was on sale. I'll wear it to rags like everything else I own. If I find something that I like and it fits, it goes into rotation for years. We also found a beautiful velvet jacket, which I will probably wear for the next 20 years or so (if you think I'm kidding, I still wear a sweater I've had since I was a senior in high school--18 years ago!).

Then, we tried to go to a yarn store so FIL could buy some knitting needles. The store was no longer there, so we went back to the car. It began to rain and blow, so we sat in the car awhile and decided where to eat dinner (The Boathouse). We finally start off, and after we turn onto a road, we watch a tree fall down across the road. It wasn't far in front of us, so our discussion in the car probably kept us from being under the tree. Whew. However, now L's worried about trees falling on him while we're in the car during rainstorms.

Dinner was great. L really enjoyed the ribs there. He wanted to learn how to fold the napkins the way they did for his restaurant he's going to open. He also enjoyed watching the boats on the river and the rainbow we eventually saw. The rest of us needed some quiet after a difficult day (my bil was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and they still aren't sure what is wrong) and a chance to relax before the next, also difficult, day.

L needed to be at the hospital at 6:30 am. That meant a very early morning for us. We left at 5:40ish. As L was getting in to the car, he slammed the door on his fingers. I ran inside and got him ice, thinking that at least we were going to the right place if they were broken. : (

By the time we were at the hospital, L's fingers were better. He has a little bruise, but he's okay. We arrived before the reception staff at Hem/Onc, so L had plenty of time to play in the play area. We usually don't have time, as L goes straight back to a room. Once we made it to a room, L was able to watch videos. He also was allowed to order breakfast, which made him even happier. Of course, he couldn't have it until after the biopsy, but it was still good that it was going to be there waiting for him when he woke up. Then we had to put in his IV. Even with emla cream, it still bothered him. Sigh. Even after it was placed, he complained about it. Usually, he's fine, but this one hurt him. It had to be replaced, so they did that after he had his general. We wanted one in case his GI needed blood for tests, too. The biopsy went well, but we still haven't heard any results yet. His CBC was okay, but there are some abnormalities (like always). Dr. H thinks L is starting to have sinus problems on top of his lung problems so I need to talk his allergist into getting him in faster.

On November 14, L will be starting IG therapy. The first dose will be given in the hospital and L will be receiving it at home weekly after that. Wish us luck, because now I have to learn to give it to him. I'm worried that he's going to hate it and be angry with me. However, it should help keep him healthier, so it will be worth it.

Between the hem appointment and the GI appointment, we walked around the first floor pushing buttons. Well, I walked and pushed the wheelchair, L pushed buttons! He dropped his spider which he took into the OR and we couldn't find it. Later, a very nice person gave him a ghost to take care of for her since the spider wandered off. L wasn't too happy, but he accepted being in charge of the ghost. L's doing well GI wise--he is now 42 inches tall and 37 pounds. He's still pretty darn small, but he is growing and is actually on the 10th percentile curve for weight. For height, he up to 25th and has been there for a year now. We don't have to go until April to the GI. I don't know when our next hem appointment is, as that usually is decided after the pathology reports come in.

We managed to go to the zoo and saw the Australian animals and the penguins. We met G&G for lunch, but then L was ready to go home. His hip hurt and he was tired. The trip home wasn't too bad, but we ran into traffic. Oh well.

Today, both boys had soccer. L's team had a goal but lost. M's team won their first tournament game, so he's pretty excited. M plays tomorrow. L only has one more game.

I'm tired, and ready to do nothing for awhile. Ciao.

North, HO!

L and I are heading up north for his day of doctors tomorrow. We are leaving here around 12:15 or so this afternoon. I think that the two worst things for him will be a.) no breakfast until after his bone marrow biopsy and b.) getting his IV inserted. He sleeps through the biopsy and is looking forward to going to the zoo afterwards and buying another stuffed animal. He will be seeing his GI first thoughIt's strange to have a child who looks forward to surgical procedures. Maybe I've made them too much fun afterwards?

Anyhoo, yesterday was very busy. B is exhausted, as he spent literally hours at the crematorium. He claims it was interesting and not depressing at all, but he's definitely exhausted. The funeral isn't until Saturday, so this is a long drawn out process, much more than usual. M is becoming much more independent. He can ride his bike to friends' homes and is generally growing up. It helps that he has a security phone (he gets nervous), so we can call him when he needs to come home. Yes, we are that teched out.

I managed to grade 13 notebooks yesterday. I have about 11 or so left. I cleaned the upstairs (not that you can tell--Lulu sheds like crazy) and it mostly looks better. After that, I did some thing that are fun. My spooky secret pal sent me a nifty sock pattern for Halloween illusion socks, which I definitely need to knit. I worked on L's sock (first leg is completed, I cast on for sock #2), and I knit 3 pattern repeats of my shawl. All while watching L&O reruns. I miss Lenny.
The picture images aren't the best--I took them at night and the couch isn't exactly fine furniture. But it will give you the idea, anyway.