The hardest of days

Things I've learned since Monday morning:

Grief and grieving are exhausting.

Stubbornness is not always a good trait.

Laughing at a two year olds antics is still possible.

Grief hurts, physically and mentally.

How you deal with your grief can lead to some horrific consequences.

Finding out who needs to be called is very difficult.

Eating and drinking are important during the first few days.

It's good to have family around.

I've had a very bad two days.

Perfect Post Award

I am having trouble coming up with how to start this post.
It has been quite some time since I did one of these, but I am nominating a post for a Perfect Post Award.
This post by Thumper sums up perfectly my view on the argument about gay marriage.
Growing up my aunt lived with a roommate. It was many years later that my mom explained that her roommate was actually her lover and partner. I love my aunt and was not all that surprised by the news. Not long after that my best friend came out to me. Since then I have been rather aware of the horrible treatment homosexuals receive on a regular basis.
The Perfect Post Award is run by these two lovely ladies; Lindsay www.suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com and Kimberly / MommaK www.petroville.com.
If you want to check out other Perfect Post Awards, go check out Momma K at www.petroville.com

Answers and other news.

I've been a bad blogger, and I freely admit it.
I just don't think people are interested in my ramblings.
However I have had two questions, and I think I'll answer those.

rennratt said...

Has work been going well for your husband? Are things looking up now that spring may finally be there?

Spring was here for quite some time, now that we are finally headed for summer temps, things seem to be going a bit better. DH still hates work, and his coworkers are driving him quite crazy with how um, well dumb they can be.

AND

Maria said...

So, how did the friend thing work out?

So far she has been good, I joined in on a yard sale with her and a couple of other ladies at her house. We haven't been mistreated, but I am still not completely at ease with her. They invited us to play Mario Cart on their Wii this weekend but we ended up playing DnD* 4th edition with some coworkers of DH.
The DnD was pretty fun, basically we created characters and checked out how the new combat system was going to work.


Other news, we went and looked at a $84,900, 4 bdrm, 2 bath, unfinished basement house in Colfax, WA. It was pretty nice, but it has a few problems, like very little yard, a porch that is coming off the building and taking part of the roof with it, rotting stairs, a boarded up asbestos furnace, plastic taped down over a dirt floor, and a set of removed steps next to the rotting steps that would have to be replaced. So far we haven't made an offer at all.
We have also been looking at used cars. Think we finally found a car that we can live with. Only problem is that we would have to put a longer seatbelt in for me, because I couldn't get the passenger seat belt latched. The dealer said there wasn't anything they could do about it. He said he checked into it twice, yeah right, DH Looked online and found something within a couple of minutes. Despite the dealer being weird we will probably get the car.
I have been enjoying Woolgathers, they are great ladies and one guy.
I have been helping my friend J.D. get his apartment cleaned out. He is finally moving after being in a one room apartment for the last like 6 years. I helped him on Friday, and I'm helping on Monday too. This is about the third time I have helped him clean his apartment in order to move to a new one. This time his mom is actually paying me for my time, she says so she feels like she is doing something to help him move.
I finished my socks!!! Pictures soon.
I started a pair for my mom, and another pair for me.
We had quite a bit of snow on June 10th. About 3" Most was melted by the time we got home from Spokane, WA. We went to help our friend Scott with his 2 sons while his wife became a citizen. It was pretty cool to watch.
If I think of something else to update I'll try and remember to post it.


*DnD = Dungeons and Dragons for those who don't recognize the abbreviation.

Update

Well at least the snow is gone, mostly. There is still some in the hollows of the hills, areas that don't get much of the available sunlight.
Spring has been acting more like a cranky toddler than a lion this year. Snow, then sun, then hail, then rain, and back to any of the previous. All within minutes.
Sorry I haven't had much to say recently, so here for your enjoyment is a update from me.

I started selling my plasma again. I had stopped over the winter because it was just to difficult to get in and still have an acceptable heart rate. Though I must say my heart rate has really been behaving the last few weeks.
We were looking at a house in Colfax. WA. But it went really quick. Probably because of the $39,900 price tag. Which is really, really low by most any body's measurement. Friends called us on Sunday to tell us about it. We checked the web site on Monday, it said Pending later in the day on Monday, and was off the site by late Monday night/ early Tuesday morning.
I found a new group of crafters, they are called The Woolgather's. They meet on Thursday nights (for now), and they invite anybody who does crafty stuff to come join them. Knit, crochet, spin, weave, or whatever. They are very nice. I am still going to Monday night Purple Paisley Quilters (PPQ), but I didn't go this Monday because I wasn't feeling well, and I had a Birthday party to go to. Which you would think that would be mutually exclusive, but I managed. I don't think I had an actual illness, just an upset stomach.
I have been back in contact with a woman who has previously made me feel like dirt, but I am being wary this time, and if she starts coping attitude with me or my husband we will remove ourselves from spending time with them, and they can just deal with it. This is pretty much a last chance offer to be friends. They blow it this time and I'm going to block their numbers, and cease ALL contact. So far they have been behaving. It was her husbands birthday party that I went to.
We recently purchased a laptop. DHL has tried to deliver it twice, but we can't hear people knocking when we are asleep in the bedroom. So we are sleeping on the futon tonight, so we will wake up when they knock on the door, at about 9 am . Fun part is it wasn't supposed to be done being built until the 25th, with an arrival date of Apr. 30th. Yet it tried to arrive on the 21st, isn't that cool?
We also went to Costco and did a MAJOR shopping trip. As in $500 major shopping trip. Holy wow! Both the laptop and the Costco trip came from our tax return money.
The snow in the yard may be gone, but the yard itself is major swampland. We probably won't have to water it until June.
We haven't had any yellowjackets show up in the bedroom/house recently, which has been really nice. Watch now that I have said that, one will show up tomorrow morning. Though I did have one inside the door hinge area when I opened up the drivers door of the truck. I am guessing it was a queen looking for a sheltered warm spot to start a new nest since it was very swollen looking. Unlike the ones we had been getting inside the house, which are skinny and lethargic. She was pretty lethargic also, and I was able to sweep her off with a napkin and onto the ground below the door.
I am really bad about doing things when scheduled to, but I will try and have something to say in a few days.

Playing Catch-up Friday Fill-Ins #66, 67 & 68

Friday Fill-In #65
1. Some relationships are meant to last forever.
2. Yanni is the last concert I saw; it was wonderful, uplifting, and a great time.
3. Spring should be less like a cranky toddler throwing a tantrum.
4. Oh no! I forgot oh so many things!
5. I've recently started making crocheted carnations, they are beautiful.
6. Kittens never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done , tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again! (Unfortunately these will be the same since I have very little memory of the last weekends.)


Friday Fill-In #66
1. Tonight I saw dead bugs when I changed the bulb in a lamp.
2. Being hyper makes me wanna dance!
3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is very fun.
4. Janice W. is someone I'd like to get to know better.
5. The smell of manure (for fertilizer) reminds me so much of springtime!
6. Love from my husband and that made it all better.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done, tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again!


Friday Fill-In #67
1. I love springtime in someplace other than here!
2. Cereals are foods I love to eat for breakfast.
3. It seems I'm always searching for energy.
4. Falling asleep next to the one you love is a great way to end the day.
5. I think I need to get to work on my sisters bday present!
6. Not my cooking is what I've been craving lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done, tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again!


Sorry for missing the last few weeks. I am just now getting caught up.

Friday Fill-in #64

1. Spring is so exciting! And different every day (and every five minutes).
2. Strawberry fields sound yummy.
3. The above sounds like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does reading in the bathtub make me feel so good?!
5. The Grand Canyon is something I've always wanted to see.
6. It's sad when there are lots of things that are sad, but it is spring so I shall not focus on the sad.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Women's Non-Spirituality Group, snacks and chatting, drinks, tomorrow my plans include blackjacking the seems in the roof and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Wanna Play?

Friday Fill-Ins #62

1. Ahhhh, it's so nice to relax together on the weekend.
2. One of my favorite things on my desk or bureau is my candle warmer.
3. Japanese Cherry Blossoms are very pretty.
4. The Futon and the bathtub are my favorite place to sit and read.
5. _____ and _____ is delicious!
6. I love to watch _____ in movies.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching TV with my sweety, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with some friends and Sunday, I want to(am going to) SING IN THE CHOIR!

UPDATE: I hadn't realized I missed number 5 and 6 until Janet commented.
So:
5. Cream cheese and Marshmallow Creme Puff is delicious! (Mixed together they are a great fruit dip.)
6. I love to watch Haley Joel Osment in movies. I loved him in Secondhand Lions.

Friday Fill-Ins #61

1. I'm looking forward to my birthday next week.
2. I don't handle conflict very well.
3. Cool Ranch Doritoes is something I could eat every day.
4. Warmth and sunlight bring out the yellowjackets, sadly into my bedroom.
5. Birthday weekend here I come!
6. I admire tattoo(s). But I am scared to get one.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my hubby coming home from work, tomorrow my plans include tearing apart the bedroom, to find out where the yellowjackets are getting in at, and Sunday, I want to attend my best friends very first sermon!

Wanna play?

Stung!

So we knew last summer/fall that we had a yellowjacket/wasp nest under our trailer. We set out traps around the place they were exiting from, and caught a few hundred. Seems we had forgotten we had a problem. Well lately we have had a problem with yellowjackets showing up IN THE HOUSE. Specifically the bedroom, on husbands side of the bed. Usually one arrives, and within a couple of hours a second one will show up, making a beeline (hehehe) to the bathroom, crawling along the floor.
This morning was a little different.
I woke up about an hour early and went to the bathroom. This is pretty normal, I regularly have to get up about once a night. I came back and talked a little with hubby who was awake. I heard a 'buzz, buzz' from his side of the bed. I kind of sighed and said, so they are already up and about, hmm? Hubby agreed. I went and put my glasses on because I didn't feel like putting in my contacts yet. I came back and looked for the bugger. I couldn't find it. I put my contacts in and kept looking and hubby finally admitted that he had been stung at least twice and had swept the wasp to my sewing desk. I looked around my desk and still couldn't see it. I decided to go turn on the computer to find out what I could about wasp stings. This comp takes quite some time to boot, being an older computer. I headed back to the bedroom to talk with DH, and rub his feet a little. I headed back to the living room comp a few minutes later. I was standing outside the bathroom when I reached up my left hand to brush some hair off my forehead.
OUCH! Hey that hurt! Damn, I bet that was the wasp. It was. It was on my shirt in my armpit/boob area. I had been stung on my inner forearm. I violently shook my shirt, trying to get it off such a sensitive area in case it stung again. Spent a moment or two tweaking out, until I saw the bugger climbing the door frame of the back door. I managed to kill it and rinse it down the drain. I went back to the comp and looked it up, ice and cold water would help with the pain. Nothing to remove the toxin though.
Hubby got up and got in the shower since he couldn't sleep any longer.
Our day progressed normally after that.
So any suggesting on trying to remove the nest that is inside the skirting/under the trailer? And somehow finding their way into the bedroom?
Hubby says we need to pull everything from the bedroom, steam clean the floors, including the closet, and take out the built in drawers to find the entrance they are using. Man that sounds like a lot of work. I think I have mentioned that our bed is really high up? The mattress hits me mid chest. Thus we have a lot of stuff storage under the bed, with no place to put the stuff that is stored there.

Projects Pictures Post

Everybody seemed to like the projects I have been working on, so I thought I would show some more.

Here is the sock I have started, this is the first sock I have ever knit, so far it is coming along ok. I am to the gusset, and I am kind of scared to move on from there. I plan to take it to my quilting meeting, where I can get help from an experienced sock knitter.

This is a washcloth I made recently, isn't the owl beautiful? He is going to be sent to my dad.

Two pics of another washcloth, this time in 'Praying Hands'.

Last two pics of washcloth 'Baby feet'.

Both the praying hands and baby feet washcloths will be up in my Etsy Store here soon,
For now, go get one of my afghans I have up for sale.

Humpty Dumpty Fell

Remember how we kept getting snow, snow and more snow?

This one was from a while ago, say December.
This is more recent and is what our plowed pile pretty much looks like. Though this is in front of the neighbors.

This is in the neighbors yard. I know it is a crappy picture, but it is the best I could do at 3 am. That snow fort is awesome!
Here is another shot of it. Soooo fun.
These were taken about a week ago.
On to the story.
Well, throughout this entire winter, I have managed to not fall even once. That all changed last night. Over this last weekend the snow started to finally melt. I know many places it won't start to melt for some time, but this is about the time our precipitation turns into rain instead of snow. So, things warmed up this weekend and have been melting the last several days. We still have mounds from the plows, but I can see grass under my tree, where not as much snow accumulates.
Wednesday morning is our trash day. DH works swing shift, so he got home at about 12:30 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We usually stay up until 3-4 am, taking the trash out before we go to bed. Only we have forgotten to take the trash out the last two weeks, the trash can is full, and I have a large black forceflex bag full of trash. I also have a Netflix to send out. So when Humpty Dumpty(me) fell down and went boom I had the big trash bag in my right hand and the Netflix in my left. OUCH!! I had hit an area that had been draining the melted snow from our yard, right across the end of our steps, where it turns to concrete. With the recent temp drop it had frozen and I hadn't seen it. I landed on with my back and shoulder on the steps I had just come down. I lay there for a few minutes, long enough to get my pants wet, before I managed to get back up, and go down the last concrete step before our parking area, and out to the mailbox. WHAM!! I went down again. On that last concrete step. More frozen drainage from our yard. This time I yelled really loud. No response from inside. I yelled again, same thing. I gave it a minute for the pain to subside before I tried hollering for DH a few times, no response. I laid their longer than I had the previous step, soaking my pants further, until it was my freezing wet pants that got me up off the ground. I managed to hobble to the end of the parking space, deposit the trash bag and cross the street to the mail boxes. I hobbled back, and made it inside, sobbing all the way. Partly the pain, partly because DH hadn't come out to help me. He heard me come in, sobbing, and sprinted down the hallway to me. Don't know why I was still crying so much, but I managed to tell him I had fallen twice, and to please finish taking out the trash. He was getting ready for bed, so he got redressed, but didn't put his shoes or socks on. He told me later he has never had problems when in bare feet and walking on ice or snow or even mud. Slipping yes, but no falling.
He was taking the trash can out, I was hobbling around, taking off my soaked pants, and getting my shoes off when I heard him crash. I was hobbling to bad to go out and help him and I was indecent as well. I talked to him through the screen and he got up and said he was fine. I had warned him about both icy patches, but he hadn't seen the second one. Which was basically totally clear ice, on the roads they call it black ice because that is the color of the road.
I ended up a little bruised on my back and sore with a twisted right ankle. He had scraped his left bare foot on the concrete, and managed to make it bleed. I managed to bandaid him up, take some Calendula (anti-inflammatory that works wonders), some painkiller and wrap my ankle before we went to bed. I have been babying the ankle all day, and I'll probably have to wrap it again tonight.
Tomorrow, I plan to post pictures of what I have been working on lately. I've got socks, washcloths, and afghans to show you.
One more picture of snow, just for fun.
This is the friends car that is parked in out parking spot, it hasn't moved since it was parked, but it gets whatever sun is out so it melts more than other spots. This is a view at the drivers side window, all that snow is on the windshield. It is hard to find things to contrast the snow against to see how much we actually had, so this is a good view.

P.S. I now have two afghans for sale in my Etsy shop. Go check it out. I'll have washcloths up on it soon.

De-Lurk athon

I am currently attempting to comment on all the blogs I read.
So welcome to the nuthouse.

Some of my favorite posts are here, here , here, and here.

Because I have been doing so much gift knitting my hands have been hurting in new and interesting ways, so I have switched to crochet for now.
This is what I have been doing lately.

They are flipped, the turquise on the top on the left, and the bottom on the right is where I am currently working,about to change to a dark purple, which if you you look closely at the pic on the right you can see the start of the purple. This is my random remnants afghan. I have been making myself use whatever yarn my had touches first when I reach for a new color. This is the Granny Chevron pattern from the Jan Eaton 200 ripple pattern book. It is a really easy and repetitious pattern. Since I have been knitting for so long I had basically forgotten how much faster crochet is. This is 8 days of inconsistent work. * days of knitting for the same time would be about 1/8th as big.

Lately we have had snow, snow and more snow. It is now below freezing, and has been for days. It is currently 11 degrees outside, the road out front is basically ice. With no snow tires of the truck I reluctant to go anywhere. I had to go shopping yesterday, and when I went to turn right, to go up the road to the store I kept going straight. I almost hit the lady who was waiting to turn left onto the road I had just come off of. I managed to stop, and then get turned so I could head up the road.
This was taken about 4 weeks ago.
We have had several snow falls and melts since then, but I forgot to take pictures today so this is what I have to show. There is a big plowed mount on the right side of our driveway that is about 3 feet deep. I know others have lots more snow, but we haven't had this much snow in years. In fact we have been in a drought for about 9 years. Hopefully all the snow we have been getting will help with that this year, at least somewhat.
I am nervous about going in for my appointment tomorrow to get an IUD, so I have been chewing on my cuticles. So far not my fingernails, just the cuticles. I would like to keep my fingernails nice if I can manage it.
I am also planning on making prime rib roast for a Feed of Dreams at my church tomorrow. I need to cal my dad and get a good recipe.

Mouse in the house.

Lately we have had a mouse running around the house. I has been seen at random hours, running into and out of our small bedroom which is right next to our furnace. Mouse has been leaving signs and seen running around for about a month or more. Finally we went out and got traps on Sunday night. We got home and eventually got them set up and baited, then we went about our evening, pretty much forgetting that we had set out traps. My DH looks up from the book he was reading and goes, "Huh, I wonder..." Then he goes into the kitchen, comes out and starts getting dressed. He had been in his pj's so this was very unusual. I was confused and kept asking him where he was going, since it was fairly obvious he was getting dressed to go somewhere. He told me he was going tot he recycling center, which isn't far away, but still the recycling center? In the middle of the night? Then he said not to worry, he was going to the composting area of the recycling center and not all the way around to the front. He put on his coat and started looking for gloves. Once he had them on, he came out of the kitchen carrying one of the tripped traps. Ah, now that made more sense, he was taking the mouse to the compost recycling area. He explained when he got back that it seemed the best chance of survival for the mouse. The compost provides heat and food. Once he got back we again went about our evening, after we reset the trap int he same spot. He asked a little before we were going to go to bed it I heard that tapping sound. I said that I thought so. He went and checked.
Sure enough we had trapped another mouse.
This time we went to the recycling center together, to release the mouse. We got back home, rebaited the trap (we had neglected to rebait it after cleaning it out after the first one was caught) and reset it up where it was and went to bed. I checked on it when I got up to use the restroom, and sure enough we had trapped another one. DH took it to the recycling center after we got up for good and after his shower.
So far we haven't caught anymore, and I am hoping we have gotten rid of our infestation. I thought we only had the one mouse, so it was a bit of a surprise to catch three of them. No wonder they had been so bold, they were many.