Month: September 2004

Ain’t these purty? The fire department sent these to me as thanks for supporting Bill through his years of service. Of course, Bill says the flowers are mine, but he gets to keep the little fire truck! Thursday will be his last day and it’s been a little emotional at times. Since he’s on days and won’t spend another night at the fire station, he cleaned out his locker last week. Twenty years worth of stuff was spread out over our living room floor as he went through it.

While he was doing that, I was spending most of my week at the chiropractor. I’ve been having some fairly significant neck and shoulder pain. It’s been bothering my work for a while, but when it started interfering with my knitting – well, something had to be done. Seems like my neck is severely out of alignment due to years of poor posture (no surprise there!). The problem is that when I practice good posture, (shoulders down and back, chin tucked down) I lose my chin altogether. Now how fair is that? Of course, I came to terms a long time ago with the fact that most of the time you can look good or feel good. That’s why my high heels only come out on special occasion. The good news is that not only have the treatments made me feel better, but this doctor believes in curing the underlying problem rather than just treating symptoms. So I am on a regimen of exercises, and friends and family have been given permission to nag me about my posture. So . . . if you see me slouching, tell me to STAND UP STRAIGHT!

And the other good news is that I’m knitting relatively pain free and have made quite a bit of progress on the baby afghan:

The colors look a little washed out in the picture. They are a little more vibrant, but still pastel. I’ve been feeling so much better that I even started quilting on a quilt top that I had made years ago and put away for my first grandchild. But tomorrow I go back to work after a five day break, so knitting and quilting time will diminish considerably. I think I need to retire too!

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted. Plus, I think I goofed in my archiving choices because my previous post has already been archived. I guess that’s how you learn about blogging – by trial and error! But never fear, I’m still here. Becoming a grandma has not caused me to go completely over the edge! Part of the reason for falling behind is that I’ve been too busy to take pictures and I much prefer blogs with pictures. I’ve also been terribly busy with school. This past weekend we took a drive across the state to WSU so that I could attend a seminar and my husband could attend a football game. Both were successes. WSU won by a huge margin and the professor said those of us attending the seminar did not have to submit a paper! I found that being on campus and meeting with my advisor and fellow students really gave me a lot of encouragement.

I am in full gear on the baby knitting front. I decided on a unisex color for the afghan and bought both blue and lavendar of the Dale Stork for sweater sets. Pictures will follow later in the week. I have some time off from work, so in between studying I hope to get in some blogging catch up time. See you then!

I’m going to be a grandma! Ooooh – thiat sounds so good, let me try it again. I’m going to be a grandma! Wow, sounds just as good the second time around. The newlyweds have wasted no time in starting their family. Thanks guys! Although, sorry about the morning sickness, Abby. I have promised my husband I will not go overboard (tho his idea of “overboard” and mine may vary), but I couldn’t resist buying my grandchild his/her first stuffed animal:

A sheep, of course. And of course, baby knitting must commence as soon as possible. To that end, I hope to go yarn shopping tomorrow. I’m thinking a newborn set out of the new Dale Stork cotton. Has anyone out there used it? Any feedback? And of course, a baby afghan. I’m feeling particularly ambitious right now and am thinking one pink, one blue, just in case. But cooler heads will probably prevail and I’ll go with a unisex color.

And Bill’s retirement has come through! As of September 30, he will be officially retired. He’s already using up some leave and has been home for the past two weeks. He’ll go back about a week before retirement to tie up some loose ends and then that’s that! He is outrageously happy and wanders around with this silly grin on his face, although becoming a grandpa probably has something to do with that, too. I am somewhat envious, as retirement is still a few years away for me. But I must admit that he is taking over a lot of the household chores and has taken a huge burden off me. He will probably get some kind of part-time job for awhile and I will miss having him picking up the slack at home.

I do have an FO to report:

I finished my Making Waves socks. I like the look of them, although they could fit a little better. I was reading another blog (sorry, but forgot whose) and she mentioned liking the fit of toe-up socks better. I think I have to agree. The flap heel always comes out a little bulky for me. A short row heel seems to be slimmer and more snuggly. In light of recent events, I may have to pace myself and will probably drop out of the Six Socks knitalong, although I have some time to decide. Must get priorities straight. And working, school and knitting for baby will leave plenty on my plate!