Still Here...

Geez, what exactly did I do before I had a husband and a child? Apparently nothing. So far, I've managed to eat rather healthier than usual, sleep in every day and knit. And read. I've finished off Shogun (ugh, didn't like the ending AT ALL) and Atherton (turned out be the first in a series, so I guess I'll have to buy the others), and now I'm going to actually work tonight.

Yesterday was pretty much the crappiest day so far. I had been unable to find Robbie's cell phone for the life of me. I'd looked all through the house, all the places I'd been in the house, but no luck. So I figured, whatever, I'm just going to get back to work on the deck (oh, I'm refinishing the deck. Did I mention that?). I step outside, and ... well, I found the cell phone. It must've fallen out of my pocket the day before when I'd been outside, working on the deck.

Ah, yes, the day before, when I'd scraped and scraped and scraped that damned deck. That was just before the rainstorm hit. The huge rainstorm with the thunder that sounded like my windows were going to shatter. The terrible, horrid rainstorm that left half an inch of water on the ground. Oh, that rainstorm.

Well, at least the phone is clean.

Actually, I very nearly freaked out. See, I haven't owned a cell phone for, oh, four-odd years. This is Robbie's phone. I have, however, kept rather current with the fact that water plus cell phone equals bad. Very, very bad.

The phone was still on from the day before. There was a great deal of what we shall loosely call "humidity" under the screen, but otherwise it seemed okay. I flipped open the keyboard (it's one of those fancy new cell phones with a built-in QWERTY keyboard) and started to check out how bad the damage was.

The shortcut key didn't do much of a shortcut. It actually took me on a roundabout tour through the phone. Not good. Once I did get it to the screen where I could send a text message, I started pressing the buttons. C didn't work. At all. So I sent a text to Robbie.

"Will you please ring me as soon as possible? It's important."

Notice that there are no Cs in that message.

Anyway, long story kind of shorter, I frantically checked out the intertubes for ways to save a cell phone that had gotten wet. Most of them said that if you don't get to it within the first 20 minutes, tops, you may as well forget it. I would not forget it!!

One site suggested removing the battery and sim card (sin card? Shin card? The thing with all your contact information) and sticking the phone in a bag of rice overnight to absorb any and all excess moisture. I did just that and went to bed.

This morning, I tottered out of bed at 10:00, and I slowly wandered downstairs with the heavy pit of dread in my stomach. This was a $300 phone, and I was positive I'd totally fracked it up. Completely screwed. Afterall, the screen had started going all wonky the previous night as I tried to see how the drying process was...it had inverted the colours (like, the purples turned yellow, reds turned green, that kind of thing), and then it went black and white, and then it finally just looked damn near illegible without color or real tone.

I held my breath...and I switched on the phone. Well, whaddya know. The damn thing works. Completely. C works, shortcut button works, screen looks normal, everything. I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic until I see how well the thing charges. Provided it charges okay, I think I can do a little dance in my livingroom nekkid with the animals jumping with fits of joy beside me.

Speaking of animals, I think the little one is doing a pee dance. Time to brave the giant cat spider that's made his/her home directly above the back door and let them out. This adult thing is HARD.

Single Life

Well, Robbie and Elodie had and interesting trip yesterday. We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to get them ready and were at the airport by 4:30. We checked them in and then went to hang out at Tim Hortons (breakfast of champions) while we waited for the 5:30 boarding time. Robbie's dad showed up and checked in, and we took Elodie to the bathroom, and then off to the security gate to say goodbye!

I can't lie and say that I didn't shed some tears - there were definitely tears shed. I left and went home for a little nap before I had to go into work at the office. That's when things went a little wonky.

At 7:15, the cell buzzed. It was Robbie texting to say that they still hadn't taken off (plane was supposed to leave at 6:05) and were sitting on the tarmac. There was a mechanical issue and then a radio issue and then a "oh, we forgot to put gas in the plane" issue. By 8:00, they were just getting ready to take off, and the plane finally got in the air at 8:30. They landed in Toronto at 1:57 CST, a full 27 minutes after their connecting flight had left.

Elodie was so tired and upset by this time that she pooped in her pants, even though she's been completely potty trained for a year and a half. This leads me to believe she was under a considerable amount of stress. Thankfully, Robbie brought a change of clothes.

They got booked in for a different flight, this time no longer direct to Deer Lake, but now stopping in Montreal. Oh, and arriving a full seven hours later than expected. Air Canada graciously (*cough*) provided them with a $12 voucher each for a meal while they waited for their trouble.

Finally, they were in the air. A 45 minute flight to Montreal and then an hour and a half to Deer Lake. They arrived at midnight Newfoundland time (8:30 here), grumpy, exhausted, hungry, but there. As a bonus, the airline didn't lose their luggage.

While their sage was taking place, I was tentatively enjoying my first single days since being a teenager. I lived on my own back when I was 18, but having lived with Robbie for the last five years, I was am slightly out of practice on this whole single thing.

I called my younger brother, and we went out for dinner. A thoroughly disgusting experience. I was eating my Wor Wonton Soup, and I'm thinking, what are these things floating in my soup? I look closer. About 30 bugs were floating lifelessly on top of the broth. Ew. Upon closer inspection, the bugs were being leached into the soup from an ill-washed peice of broccoli, thoroughly infested with the things. I mean, the broccoli was BLACK under the green top.

The restaurant didn't seem to appalled, and they offered to make me something new, or, you know, they could not charge me for my food, but they wouldn't make me something new. No problem, dude, I'm not hungry anymore. I also fully intend to call the health inspector about that one. You'd think hundreds of bugs imbedded in a piece of broccoli would call attention to themselves, but I digress.

We went back to Carsten's house for a beer to drown the little buggy parts in, and then I went home, read some of my book (Shogun), ate some chips, talked to Robbie (Elodie refused), and finally fell, exhausted, into my bed.

I woke up at 10:30 this morning.

So, provided that no bugs find their way into my dinner for the rest of the two weeks, I think this single life thing should be thoroughly relaxing. I do have plans to strip the deck of its horrific green paint and sand it and then waterproof it. Also maybe change the lattice. Perhaps remove the wall paper from the bathrooms and repaint them. But we'll see. For the next couple of days, I'm not doing ANYTHING.

T Minus Three

As of Friday evening, my holidays will officially begin. There is an airplane involved, although I won't be on it. Moms, if you're reading this blog, sit down. NOW.


My husband and daughter are flying out to Newfoundland on Friday morning and leaving me at home. By myself. For two weeks.

I know!!!

So let me reiterate. I am taking my holidays, albiet working from home some, and trying to create some semblance of order in preparation of my cousin and his wife's visit with their two kids in the beginning of August, but still not doing anything strenuous. I will go to bed when I want. I will wake up when I want. I will eat what I want.

I will be free to go out with friends without worrying who will watch the kiddo. Hell, I can dance nekkid all around my house and not worry! Good Goddess, I'm so excited! I have every intention to knit and sleep and eat for two weeks and maybe fit in a few great books. I'm thinking a nice February Lady Sweater?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'll miss my family - at least, near the end I'm sure I'll miss my family. I'm sorry to not be heading to Twillingate with the beautiful scenery, great food, amazing icebergs, but I'm SO excited to just have some time for myself. I've never done anything on my own for more than a day since Elodie was born, and if it weren't for the animals (damn it), it'd be like living on my own again.

I already have plans to eat sushi, drink wine, sing karaoke, hang out with buddies. I CAN'T WAIT!


ps. If you could all offer up a little positive thought for me, that I handle the eight hours of waiting I'm going to have to endure while my baby flies thousands of feet up in the air to her destination on Friday? I'm sort of an anxious flier (okay, that's an understatement), and I seem to be suffering from some minor transferrence.

Bored

I'm sitting at work, done my work already for the day (yes, at 10:00 a.m.), but still needing to man the desk until 4:15. So I thought I'd write a little post to complain about the weather.

Seriously? WTF, mate? Have you looked outside? It's dull, dreary and grey. When is summer going to get here? We only get precious few months in this country to celebrate warm weather, and every day that we have like this, it scratches yet another day of sun off the calendar. It looks like November in Denmark outside. Blah.

So this is "climate change." Apparently our weather is turning coastal. Perhaps preparing for Vancouver to fall into the ocean? I don't know how long this is going to last, but it better hurry up and change! My vegetable garden is not growing like it should. The only thing really growing is the potatoes.

In other news, Elodie has started full time at the local day care. SHE LOVES IT. Why didn't we think of this sooner? After all the stress and worry about finding adequate childcare (because believe me, the last place was NOT adequate at all), we find it, and it's great, and I love it. She loves it. Everybody's happy. She eats great when she comes home at night because she's spent the entire day playing her little legs off. She's going to sleep well because she's totally exhausted from a day of hard play. And she's DOING stuff. No longer is she being babysat by the TV in the basement while I desperately try to get some work done, despite her constant interruptions. No longer do I feel guilty for ignoring her while I try to manage my business and house.

Life is good.

She and Robbie are heading off to Newfoundland for two weeks starting next Friday. Whatever shall I do? Knit? Sleep? Bathe? All three? Sounds good!

Four Years.

At almost exactly this moment, four years ago, my mother-in-law passed away from lung cancer. I can't believe it's been four years already. And yet, I can't believe it's only been four years.

Vera was diagnosed on May 5, 2005 and passed away July 6, 2005. I’d only known her for a few short months, but like so many who had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her, she was immensely special to me. She remains special to me. She is the reason I took up the needles again.

Before, knitting had been a passing hobby. It was something I’d learned to do when I was in the early teens, taught the knit stitch and a very rudimentary cast-on by a friend. Acrylic yarn and big, plastic needles were the only things I knew how to knit with, and I wasn’t really a fan. It was relaxing, but also completely infuriating at the same time.

So instead, I crocheted. It was okay, but I coveted knit fabric. The drape, the prettiness. I wanted to do that! Instead, my fabric was inelastic, inflexible.

After meeting my now-husband, Robbie, I began to expand as a person. I came out of my shell a lot, accepted the person I am, and I became an adult. I met his parents, and I LOVED them. His mother was everything I wanted in an extended family. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and handy. She could lay a hardwood floor during the day and knit a sweater at night.

Her yarns of choice were acrylics, fun furs, and everything I now refuse to knit with, but she was one of those rare knitters that could turn the flat-out ugliest yarns on the planet into beautiful, functional pieces. Regular handicraft cotton became delicate shawls. Pink fun fur became adorable baby sweaters. Scratchy acrylic transformed into soft, durable sweaters.

When Vera passed, our lives fell into two categories. Pre-death and post. For weeks after she passed, each time the phone rang, we would think, is this Vera? And now, four years later, I still wonder how our lives would be different, how they would be better, if she were still here. She would dote on our daughter, her first grandchild who never had the pleasure of meeting her. There would still be dinners at her house, she’d still be married to Robbie’s step-dad. Together, they’d have six grandkids now, up from zero four years ago.

There’d still be phone calls and jokes and great clothes as Christmas gifts. Her knitting basket and needles and yarn would not be sitting in my house, but in hers. Our family would not be missing something. I would not cry every time I hear Amazing Grace, and I would not have strange urges to wander the halls of Unit 47 of the hospital I work in.

I would not miss.

I miss her.

Praise be to Buffalo

Ron (BuffaloGuy - Rav link) is the owner of Buffalo Gold. He and his wife, Theresa, have made their way from Texas to the Calgary Stampede this year. On Ravelry, they asked us in the Alberta Knitters Group if they should bring yarn. "YES!" we practically shouted, "YES! Bring yarn!"

I asked them if they'd bring fibre, and not only did they bring fibre, but they said they'd make a gift of 1 oz of buffalo down for any Ravelers who come to the booth.

This is what I adore about the fibre world. People who I don't know are giving $40 worth of fibre away to people that they don't know all because we DO know that we're knitters. We're fibre people. How awesome is that?

Anyway.

Today, I went to the Calgary Stampede.



Haleluia.

Veil of Isis

So beautiful!

Knit with Colourmart 100% Cashmere. YUM. This is a gift for my cousin's fiancee, Ashley. Modelled by the ever-lovely Terra.









The beads (which are rather hard to see) are only on the border. I used far more than called for, and they're a really nice smoky purple/green/blue hue. I am SO happy with this knit. I hope Ashley likes it!

Knit in just under two months.