Legos For Dinner

Meatloaf, again. (This ground beef seemed fattier than usual, so the pre-cooked picture is better.) Both the boys love legos, so, what better kind of meatloaf than a lego brick?

I finished a present for my niece K. Poor K. I sent two sets of fingerless mittens to her house, for her sister. Well, one pair wound up her brother's so she was left out. This pair is just for her. The picture doesn't show it, but there's a slightly sparkly thread in the yarn, so I think that they are perfect for her.

This morning I started another ornament. I think if I can make at least one a week, I should be doing all right by Christmas. They don't take long, but I really want shorter needles.

Time to fold the laundry. I won't have time later this week.

Saturday Sum Up

It's been extremely busy around here. It doesn't seem as if I am doing very much, but when I blink, it's already the weekend. I know I've been saying this a lot, but it's always true!

This week was full of busy. I've been applying for jobs (I want something steady and that I can count on), and it finally paid off. I am going to start as the manager of a food bank close to home. One of the things I've become interested in due to my own dietary issues and to feeding Wiz, is food security. The food bank will allow me to work to help others who don't have that, have a bit more security in knowing where their next meal will come from. As the boys have gotten older, I've really wanted to do something that will make a difference in the world. I hope that this will make a difference in my little corner. I'm really excited about it.

The Collar is at convention and spent the week setting up a demonstration about resources for it. He's giving this seminar 3 times this weekend. He'll be back on Sunday afternoon.

Wiz's MRI results have come back. He has some issues, but hopefully they will be something that is monitored rather than corrected. I am not happy that there were abnormalities, but I'm trying to see this as a good thing to catch, rather than just bad news.

And I've been knitting. Lots. I finished the spumoni socks. They are soft, comfortable, and cheerful.
I'm knitting my niece a pair of fingerless mitts. I'm done with the cuff on one, and just need to add the thumb and weave in ends on the other. They are kind of sparkly, so K should just love them.
When I really want to finish something quickly, I've been knitting Christmas ornaments. This year, it's tiny little socks. (It takes about an hour to finish one.) I am going to buy myself a set of 4" dpns because of this:Yes, it's really annoying to have these long needles to deal with when I'm knitting such a tiny thing. Besides, I want to knit gloves, and fingers are about as small.
That's the Saturday Sum Up.

Good Bye, Summer Food

We've had a couple of freezes. Saturday I picked all the rest of the basil (about a gallon bag) and tonight's dinner featured basil. The tomatoes are the last from a friend's garden.
Dinner tonight:
Caprese Salad, Pesto and Pasta (corn/quinoa), and Italian sausage. So good, and so seasonal.

Reminders

The Wiz had an MRI today of his brain. It was both with and without contrast, so it took a while. Because he's a wiggly little boy (46 pounds--the nurse weighed him because she hoped I was wrong, but nope, I was right) he needed general anesthesia, so it took a bit longer than it might have otherwise.

When he woke up, I reminded him he couldn't have breakfast to which he responded that he knew, because he'd done this before. We drove the 5 minutes to the hospital (shortest hospital drive for us EVER).

We arrived at 6:30. We checked in and he helped give out his information: full name, birthdate, and so on. He knew exactly what they were going to ask, and just started answering the questions. We sat for about 5 minutes before we went back for his prep. The nurse would tell him he's brave, and he informed her that he was used to it. He told her his memories of other times he'd had anesthesia.

I'm really amazed that he did nothing when his IV was inserted. Usually he screams bloody murder, but he did very well. He chatted with the anesthesiologist about how HIS hospital was better than this one, but this one was okay. (His hospital is still Cincinnati Children's--even though we go to Seattle Children's now.) Even without his ADHD meds this morning, he was pretty self-possessed and able to carry on a conversation that the rest of us were also in on. It's times like these when I see how mature he can be. Medical tests and hospitals always bring that out in him. At the same time, he was clutching a stuffed animal. He's really not that grown up.

After he went to MRI, I went out to the waiting room. The Collar had two parishioners (Wiz is his most frequent hospital visit) at same day surgery so I got to talk to him too. It was nice to have someone to talk to while waiting. He couldn't stay the whole time, but I was happy to see him. He stayed about a half hour with me, which was great. I knitted the whole time I was waiting for Wiz to go to recovery. I knitted quite a lot of a sock:
My finger is on the spot where I started this morning. I have about 25% left and I'll have a new pair of socks. Waiting room knitting is always productive for me.

Finally, after nearly 2 hours, I went back to recovery. He was trying to wake up, and giving us all palpitations because he kept trying to get up before he had muscle control. He also kept trying to talk to us, which is new. He'd never tried to talk to me before he was fully awake. His waking up process took a pretty long time--at least an hour after I went back.

He was happy though--he was given a couple of toys, allowed to eat cookies, and he and I went to breakfast (Coffee Connection Cafe--his choice) and we were back home at noon. It's been a quiet day since.

Now I need to get cracking on his other medical stuff for this fall. We have all his Seattle appointments to set up.

After that, I can pretend he has normal health for awhile. Denial can be useful.

Keeping Busy

It's fall, the boys are in school, I'm teaching, and we are always, always busy. The grapes are ripening and the leaves are starting to change.
I knitted another Christmas stocking, single row stripes, using a new to me technique that required no weaving in ends.
Finally, I found a laptop desk that will work extremely well for holding patterns.
Saturday was a nice day. We didn't do anything that we had to do. We went out to breakfast, we went to the farmer's market, we went to Sheep to Shawl, we went down to Milton-Freewater and wandered the pottery studio and went to the cidery. I forgot my camera, so there aren't any pictures of any of that. Sigh.

At some point, things will have to slow down, right? It might be nice to go out and do something fun without feeling like we're playing hooky.

Again With the Busy-ness

It's been a busy week, again. I feel like I'm running on a treadmill. Luckily, I was able to ride once this week. I took some pictures because it was really pretty on Monday.
That's a dust devil, off to the east of where I was. You can see which fields have been harvested, which are ready for harvesting, and which ones are ready for burning. The sky is quite blue right now, and it goes on forever.

I do wonder sometimes how they can farm some of the hillsides. They can be quite steep.
I've been knitting Christmas ornaments. Last year it was miniature sweaters. This year it is socks. The pattern I've come up with that will be the "official pattern" fits a GI Joe's foot quite well. They are a very fast knit, so I'll be able to knit them pretty easily.
Another pair of fingerless mitts. This is the fourth pair I've knitted this fall.
Skull and crossbones washcloth, knit on Talk Like a Pirate Day.
A jack-0-lantern dishcloth.

I've also finished a sock (to wear) and started a stripey Christmas stocking. The stocking's at the foot, so I should be finished with that one soon.

Today it's cold and rainy, and Wiz is home (sent home yesterday with a fever) so it should be a relatively quiet and peaceful day. Of course, he's not actually sick today...