Knitting in the Shadows

Gratitude - Acts of Kindness

The organizers of these 15 days of gratitude pegged day four as a day to celebrate acts of kindness.

We're going to start with an act of kindness that let me have coffee this morning ... my dear friend Colleen came over for Knit Night last night, and graciously stopped by the store to bring me milk for my coffee.  That meant I did not have to go out on a night when I was just too darned tired.

And then, my dear friend Mary agreed to pick up Kitty from her performance and bring her home (Mary was actually pretty close to the performance place, and was coming to visit...but still).  Again, I was saved from trekking out into the world on an evening when I just wanted to stay home.

Little things.

But such a difference they made to me!

I am so grateful to HAVE knit night, and to have such wonderful friends who are so good to me.

 

Gratitudes... Day Three

I'm grateful for the Humane Society.

On day three, I picked up a beautiful cat who comes to us with the name Casper.  Even though it is, in many people's eyes, very appropriate for an all white cat, I'd change it except that dear Casper has been Casper for years.  He went to the Humane Society after his former human died.

Sadness.

At yet... so grateful that there is a place where families of those who die can take long loved pets so that they can find new homes with new families to love them.

I'm also grateful to the vets in town, all of whom have signed on to donate the first pet visit for animals coming out of the Humane Society.  This way, we get to introduce the new fur family members to their doctors without being hit with the vet bill on top of the adoption fees.  We get to be sure that our new friend is healthy, and to have someone already in our corner who has at least met that pet should the dear creature get injured or sick.

And, I'm extraordinarily grateful to te wonderful benefactor at the Humane Society who has set up a sort of scholarship for new pet owners:  Whenever someone adopts two (or more I suppose, but certainly two) cats who are older than one year, that benefactor pays the second cat's adoption fee!  Thus, we were able to adopt Midnight and Casper for one adoption fee.

And finally, I'm grateful to have another several days off to help the new kitties adapt to their new home and to the other fur folk in our house.  With luck, by next Monday when I first have to go to class, everyone will have settled into a moderately calm interaction with one another.

I would be even more grateful if Zara weren't being such a princess about it all.  She's quite certain we've all gone mad, what with bringing CATS! (Cats ... can you believe it??? CATS!!) into her house.

She seems to have forgotten that she too is a cat.

More Gratitude

Okay, I'm a little late with yesterday's gratitude post.

And I'm grateful for your patience.

Yesterday was one of those days when it's hard to focus on the positive things. 

The morning went well.  I started by pilling the cat (Midnight came to us in the final stages of recovering from the urinary tract infection his prior owners didn't bother to check out with the vet).  That went well. 

No, honestly.  It did.  I'm grateful to work with a cat who doesn't turn taking pills into a big production. (This evening I get to find out whether Casper is also complacent about taking pills).

The morning then progressed into more financial paperwork.  That went well, I suppose, but it's still annoying to have to double check every charge and every payment for a year's worth of medical records.  It took me this long to actually GET all the information about where they'd allocated our payments.  I'm grateful to be savvy enough to know how to do this, and persistent enough to make them give me the information.

I'm also grateful that I'll get to start the new year with a clean record. (I'm ignoring that I'll have to keep monitoring so closely).

The afternoon went to hell, and things pretty much stayed that way.

I'm VERY grateful to my dear friend David, who once again came to my aid.  He came over and reminded me of things I know in my head, but seem to forget when the day gets hard.

And I'm grateful that you, my blog readers, tolerate me whining ambiguously without actually laying out the details of the crappening that befell our house last month, or the lingering recovery from it all that's likely to crop up in a post now and then.

And finally, I'm grateful to have relocated my camera, so that I can once again take pictures of the knitting that actually is happening.

Happy New Year! and time for more gratitude

The folks who brought us 30 Days of Gratitude in November are firing things up again, suggesting we start our years with 15 days of Gratitude.

I kind of like that idea.  December was a very rough month here in Shadowland, but even so, there were things to be grateful for.  (A recap - my dear friends came to my rescue, and held me in their hearts and homes as if I were their own sister; my mother came to stay with me and take care of ME on what felt like a moments notice, I was in time to take Golf Pro to the hospital before his situation caused lasting permanent damage, my father, step-mother and dear dear cousin came to visit, and did more taking care of me, my kids and I made it through our finals without failing all our classes despite the turmoil, we pulled off a respectable holiday celebration, and ended the year on a good note.)

But now, I'm going to pause to look at what I have to be grateful for TODAY.

My day started with a nice breakfast shared with just me and Golf Pro.  He bought bacon this morning, and I fixed us Italian scrambeld eggs to go with it.  It was a yummy breakfast, and it was nice to have a peaceful breakfast together.

Midnight (Bookworm's wonderful "new" 9 year old cat) has been integrated into the household. (Okay, there are still wee growl fests when Zara (cat who believes the house is hers and hers alone) encounters him, but there has been no yowling, no fights, and Phoebe (the dog) hasn't tried to chase the old fellow around.

I was able to dismantle the new artifical Xmas tree without harm to myself or the tree, and got all the ornaments, tree skirt, and tree safely stowed away in the hall closet.  I'm grateful both for the ability to get it done without damage -- and for the motivation and stamina to get it done TODAY.

My efforts at cleaning over the past week have not dissolved yet -- my house still looks good! (Do not look in the garage).

I actually remembered to get that bag of donations to the goodwill yesterday.

My parents are all healthy - and I got to talk to them all this morning.

My children are all healthy too.

Oh, wait -- I seem to be healthy!  We're on a roll!!

The pattern I designed for an afghan I've been commissioned to make is working the way I hoped it would.

and best of all.... right now, today, there is no drama in my house!

 

Resurrection -

December was an extraordinarily challenging month here in Shadowland.  I hunkered down, and just worked through it.  There were few days when I thought I had anything positive to blog about, and on those days, frankly, I hadn't the energy to write the posts.

It did have a few high points. 

I was able to start the month by making and giving a few knitted gifts that were "just because" gifts. (I even deluded myself that I'd pull it off weekly).

1. A pair of socks for Bookworm: - here's the in progress picture.

 I KNOW I took pictures of the finished socks... but can't find them right now.

2. A pair of wrist warmers for a fellow student in my Massage Program who loves to wear them, and who had been sad lately.

 Again, I know I took pics, but they're hiding...

3. A hat for a newborn baby - of which I got no pictures.  I gave the hat to my Anatomy prof, whose wife had a baby boy right after Thanksgiving.  He was so touched - which made it more than worth the time spent away from studying for his class.

I also managed to pull out a 4.0 GPA for the semester, despite a very ugly final two weeks of the semester.  I was very grateful to have racked up enough bonus points here and there to cover me on the Anatomy final, which I took while Golf Pro was in the hospital.

Yes, I did say hospital.  I took him to the E.R. at 2:00 am on the last Wednesday of the semester.  They admitted him later that morning.

There were a couple of scary days.  His blood pressure, which had never been a problem, went through the roof WHILE he was there.  That meant he had to stay in the hospital itself until they got it under control.  He's still recovering, but each day is a little better.  There's a lot I could say about the whole thing, but since it's not MY illness, I won't. 

Since then, I had the blessing of visits from both my parents.  My mother came during that last week of school and took care of feeding us while I focused on finishing the semester and helping Golf Pro. 

Alas, she came down with an evil virus while here; I was two days behind her.  For me, it developed into bronchitis.  I finally caved and went to the doctor a week later.  I got magic antibiotics just in time to welcome my father, his lovely wife, and my wonderful cousin Gail.  They took care of me until I was ready to face the holiday cooking -- and then cleaned up the kitchen for me while I sat and rested.

I loved having them here, but I'm glad to be just us.  Now that we're back to the local contingent, we've been cleaning madly.  After a brief war with a mouse who would not leave (and who managed to lick peanut butter off the standartd traps), we caved and got poison.  Now that he (they?) is  (are) gone, I've been deep cleaning.  Mom helped some while she was here, but I've now finised washing all the stuff in the kitchen drawers (and the drawers) and under the cabinets etc.  We've also stepped up and thoroughly cleaned the rest of the house - I'm down to the last bits of my desk.

Later today, we should be picking up a new member of the family.  We're adopting a lovely black cat whose owners took him to the humane society because he'd been moody and forsaking his litter box.  Rahter than take him to the vet (who would have treated his urinary tract infection), they abandoned him.  :-(  He's very sweet -- and likes both other cats and dogs.  I think he'll be very happy here.

30 Days of Thanks - Day Twenty-Seven- Driving and Hotels

Today, I'm truly thankful for hotels.com, and for the gps on my phone.

I am/was driving home from the glorious Disney Trip (and truly delightful stop-over with my wonderful cousin in Atlanta), and pretty much gave up on the idea of making it home when Hotels.com came to my rescue -- twice over. The phone saved me repeatedly.

We over-slept (not surprising), and then found it hard to leave (such a short visit!), but had gotten on the road in time to make the anticipated ten hour drive and make it home by 10:30 or 11:00 pm.   That was before Chattanooga.  About 20 miles south of Chattanooga, traffic slowed to a crawl (why was this so familiar??).  So, I asked Kitty to look at the map, and we fussed a bit, and then we had a few minutes of parking on the highway... so I checked out the gps on the phone, and found a way to skip a big ol' section of I-75, and slip back onto I-24 a few miles past the junction.  Phone got us through town with no mishaps, other than the discovery that the traffic jam was still with us.

So, having noticed that we were running low on gas, we bounced right back off the highway after a stretch along the river where we occasionally made it up to 30 mph.  At the gas station, between Kitty and the map and the phone, we found another alternative, that got us onto Route 41 -- only one more stop down the road.  That detour was about the same mileage as I-24, through twisty mountainy roads with no traffic that let us trave at about 55.

Alas, the various delays and slowdowns were followed by rain.  Rain and dark and fog. And RAIN.  It took us well over six hours to get from Atlanta to Nashville. (According to Google Maps, that trip should have taken about four hours.)  The rain was not looking like it was going to let up. By 7:15 pm, I was fried.   There's something about driving where you have to focus so hard on where you're going that you can't take your eyes off the road long enough to read the signs that is more stressful than I like doing for very long.  When passing and trucks get involved (regardless of who is doing the passing), visibility goes to effectively nil.I was so tense from driving in the foggy dark rain that my knee and shoulders and back were starting to hurt. Suddenly, I just couldn't do it any more.  I pulled off at an exit with a gas station and not much else to recommend it, and just sat there for a few minutes.

So, there we were, about 45 minutes east of Nashville, with my phone now telling me I had 7 hours and 12 minutes left to get home.  I gave up.  Kitty took over the driving, and I distracted the magic phone from its GPS duties long enough to use its internet magic.  I searched for a hotel using hotels.com from my phone (!) and found one with an amazing deal ($28.00 for a room with 2 double beds, free breakfast, free internet in the room and free parking).  I then booked said hotel room using the internets on my phone while Kitty merrily drove along in the dark in the rain.  So, 1/2 hour out from the room, I'd booked it online from my phone! Yay phone.

Yay Hotels.com!

Then, Hotels.com called me.  Evidently the hotel that I'd booked was oversold (?!).  So they found me an alternate hotel (actually 3 blocks closer to the highway than the one I'd booked), also with free breafast (hot breakfast this time), free wireless internet in the room, and free parking.  They got me this room for the same price I'd paid for the previous one. 

YAY Hotels.com

When we arrived, the fellow at the desk had just finished setting up our reservation.  He was friendly and helpful and pleasant.  And our room -- has a refrigerator! (In fact, though the room is a tad smaller than our room at the fancy-pants resort in Orlando, I find it nicer.  This is by far the nicest Holiday Inn Express I've seen.

I'm so thankful to Hotels.com for being there and for following up and fixing the overbooking thing.

And I'm so thankful for my phone for making hotels.com available to me one the road!

 

 

30 Days of Thanks - Days Eighteen - Twenty Six

And wooooooosh.  Nine Days Flew by!

But each day brought something to be grateful for ...

On Day Eighteen, I was grateful to be able to enjoy lunch with Golf Pro.  It's a simple thing, but something about coming home for lunch is so very nice.  I'm sure there is more, but I didn't really take notes, and time has slipped by so that I've forgotten some of the things I noticed that day.

On Day Nineteen, I had some bonuses. First, there was me being thankful to my DH - Golf Pro.  He got up at o-dark-thirty to drive Kitty to school ,where she had to be at 6:45 a.m. to board the bus to the All District Music Festival. (Did I mention Six-forty-five in the morning??). I did get up to make sure that Kitty was up and had all her stuff, but then, I got to curl back up and go back to sleep.

Then there was me being thankful for the opportunity to hear my kid play in the All District Band.  (Yeah, it's one of those things where kids from all over the district have to audition, and they pick the best ones to play in this festival -- and yeah, I'm all proud and stuff).  That made a bunch of thankfuls all piled up into one place -- I'm thankful that we found, and were accepted by, such a wonderful teacher - who has taught Kitty so much with the Clarinet; I'm thankful for all three of her band directors, who have helped her grow as a player; I'm thankful we could afford the lessons and the clarinet ... etc.

***

On Day Twenty, there was shopping.  I'm thankful that we were able to find the jeans that Kitty needed at the first store we tried (I can tell stories about fateful trips during which store after store failed to yield any that fit).  I was also thankful that we were able to get all of the other things we needed for our (then) upcoming trip without having to drive all over town.  AND... I was grateful that my bank was open on Sunday, so I could get cash for the upcoming trip.

On day Twenty-One, I was thankful for flexibility:  Because of the flexibility of the system, we get the chance to re-take our quizzes in Anatomy.  I'd taken a quiz on Friday (the 18th) and not done as well as I'd hoped.  I got to re-take it ... and aced it.   I was also thankful that we're able to be flexible about celebration dates:  It let me take Golf Pro out to dinner for his birthday a day early.

On day Twenty Two, I was thankful that Kitty is so close to getting her license. The family was headed to Disney to see BookWorm perform with her marching band at the Disney Parade of Bands on Thanksgiving Day.  My birthday present to Golf Pro was a plan ticket, enabling him to by pass the 18 hour drive.  But that meant I had to do the driving -- except that Kitty was able to take over for several shifts along the way. Between us, we put in about 13 hours -- through fairly steady rain.  (Another proud moment -- watching her drive through dark, rain, and fog doing a pretty good job of it).  When we finally got to Tifton, Georgia, I was very grateful for the hotel I had booked ahead of time (and for the great price we'd gotten on the room).

On day Twenty Three, I was grateful for the relatively short distance between us and Epcot.  And then I was grateful that the day before Thanksgiving is not a heavy day for the theme parks, because we got an awesome parking space  -- no really, WALKABLE into the park! 

Later, I was grateful to find some of Kitty's friends wandering the park....

And I was grateful to find a place that we both wanted to eat ... and that the sandwiches were yummy.   And THEN, I was grateful for the ability to say "yep, we're done now" and just up and leave the park at least an hour before we would have had to leave to meet Golf Pro.  It was a liberating sort of feeling.  And then I was grateful for the nice soft bed and pillows that let me take a wee nap before Golf Pro's arrival.  There's nothing quite like a really comfy nap spot!

On day Twenty Four, I was grateful to be able to play at Disney with Golf Pro -- and to enjoy a ride with him that I had been prevented from going on when I went three years ago (it malfunctioned then).  I was even more grateful to be able to see my kid perform in a massive marching band performance at Disney's Hollywood Studio Park.   BookWorm's band magically meshed with five other bands to form one huge band that played right in front of the magic Mickey hat.  Despite having had pretty much only one three hour rehearsal as one group, they performed beautifully.  (yep, I cried.  I do that).  Then I was grateful for the park hopper pass that let us bail on Hollywood Disney (which park doesn't do much for me), and slide on over to Epcot -- where we really enjoyed the Soarin' ride (second link takes you to a you tube video -- doesn't do the ride justice).  I was grateful that Disney will rent you a wheel chair for only $12.00 a day (or $20 for two), since Kitty twisted her ankle, and found walking really painful. I was also grateful to be kitchen duty free.

And though this isn't about gratitude -- it was still fun to catch BookWorm having fun

On day Twenty  Five, I was grateful for a surprise seating at a restaurant at the Magic Kingdom that I was sure would be full.  I was delighted to find that our lunch experience included visits from favorite characters..

I was grateful to meet up with friends (chaperones for the band kids), to watch BookWorm and the rest of her band as they marched in a parade through the Magick Kingdom.  I'm very grateful that they're better marching band photographers than I am, as I'm likely to get a better picture that this one, which turns out to be the only shot I got of BookWorm ....

I was also grateful to have those friends join us for the rest the afternoon with us, enjoying Mickey's Philharmagic, and the Carousel of Progress before we headed over to Animal Kingdom for a party.  I was grateful that Kitty managed to meet up with friends again, and that we managed to meet up with our friends again as well.  I was very grateful that those friends rode Expedition Everest with Golf Pro (I seem to have lost my roller coaster fu, and would not have enjoyed it much).

On day Twenty Six, I was very grateful for a shuttle that took Golf Pro to the airport, and that we were able to get ourselves up and out early enough to reach Universal Studios before too many of the crowds had descended.  I was grateful for our timing in eating lunch before the crowds descended upon The Three Broomsticks, and for the chance to taste pumpkin juice and butter beer. I was very grateful to the server who graciously exchanged the shepherds pie (which Kitty truly disliked) for a chicken platter (which she loved and devoured).

I was grateful that Kitty and I share tolerance, and lack of it, for long lines.  I was grateful that Kitty and I also share a love for Dr. Seuss, and that we both recognize truffula trees on sight...

And that we were able to slip in (and enjoy) one silly ride in Seuss' Landing...

Finally, I'm grateful that despite abominable traffic on the Florida Turnpike (20 miles worth of 12 mph travel), we were able to reach Atlanta in one piece, and enjoy a lovely late dinner with my dear cousin Gail.

30 Days of Thanks - Day Seventeen - training and ice

Today, I am thankful for my physical therapist (and for the health insurance that covers his treatments so I can afford to go).

I'm thankful to be learning the exercises that help my hip (technically, my gluteus medius) become strong enough to do its job, and to have a place to do them that has the equipment that makes doing them easy.

I'm equally thankful to be learning the exercises that help my right shoulder both not hurt and be able to work.  Without it, giving massages would be pretty much impossible.  And again, I'm thankful for access to the machines that let me build up the strength in ways that don't hurt me (much).

And...

I'm thankful for the strong hands and detailed knowledge that lets my physical therapist  work through the knots and gristle and scar tissue in my hip and shoulder, so that the muscles can heal and become stronger.  While I ought to be thankful for my psoas muscle, I'd be more thankful if it didn't get knots in it, because working those out really hurts.  I am, however, very thankful that the knot that reared it's ugly head today has been exorcised.

And, when I' ve come home from P.T. sessions in which we address that psoas.... I'm really thankful for the ice packs that calm the muscles down again after that deep tissue work.

30 Days of Thanks - Day Sixteen - getting there and starting new

Whew... passed the halfway mark!

I've learned that, at least in its current configuration, my life is not conducive to DAILY blogging. So, I won't be trying that 365 posts game any time soon.

OTOH, I am also learning to be more aware of the good things in my life -- which is part of the point of this 30 days of thanks thing.   When you're pausing long enough to write about something positive every day (and trying not to repeat yourself too much), it not only makes you more aware of the good, it takes up some of the time you used to spend on the "stuff to gripe about."

So... on Day 16, I'm actually kind of thankful that the rules of the game do not say that each day you have to come up with as many things as the number of the date.  Not that there weren't plenty of positives about Day 16, just that I don't think I could name 16 things about the day without starting to sound horribly trite.

But, around here Wednesdays are "late start" days at school.  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in having been thankful for the opportunity to sleep in a litte.  I rather like it when NO ONE in the house has to be anywhere before 9:00 a.m.

I'm also thankful that Golf Pro drives the kids to school on Wednesdays.  Normally, I drive them to school, and then head over to either MY school or Physical Therapy.  Every day but Wednesday, that works out fine because I don't have to be to school or to therapy at the same time they have to be at school. But on Wednesdays, we all start at the same time -- five miles apart.

And while I'm at it, I'm thankful that we have two (working) cars, so that we CAN have him drive the girls in one direction while I'm driving in the other direction.

There was bonus driving this week, because our Massage Theory & Practice class had a field trip -- to a brand new spa that just opened in town. It's so new that SpaFinder has no more information about it than its address, phone number, and list of treatments.   But what a list of treatments! WOWSA.  We've hit the big time folks.  We' ve got spa treatments in town that you used to have to go to the big city to enjoy --   They've even got the fancy new hydro-therapy facial machine that gives a facial I would love to try (if only it didn't come with the big city price tag that I can't afford).   But the treatment rooms are gorgeous -- I'd love to WORK there (almost as much as I'd love to be pampered there). 

And I'm thankful that we have such a place locally.  Both because I love to be pampered, and because that means that my new career field has promise locally.  Well.... AND because in these gloomy days of national economic unpleasantness, it's really good to see a business full of hope and positivity opening!

30 Days of Thanks - Day Fifteen and a new sock

It is the Ides of November.

And yesterday, it rained like the end of days.

But today, it was sunny and breezy and warm enough to go for nice long walk with a light jacket.  Today, I am thankful for the chance to get outside in the lovely weather ... (which makes me thankful not only for the weather, but for the Tuesday Schedule that leaves a nice big hole in the middle of the day).

I'm also thankful that one of my dear friends is also my neighbor, so we get to walk together on days like this!

And finally, I'm thankful that they make yarn crazy enough to let me produce wacky stripes for BookWorm without fighting ends -- and that she's happy with the plain knitting it produces.  I haz mindless knitting!