Knitting and surgery

Steve herniated two discs in his neck. He messed around and tried to heal them without surgery. Now he has to have surgery. I'm sure right now he was wishing we lived in a Star Trek world where they don't have to actually cut you to heal you. He can barely move. His shoulders and neck are in constant, throbbing pain.

Yesterday we drove to Cincinnati to the Christ Hospital. It was difficult to get down there, since we hit rush hour traffic just as we got to Cincy. Got to the hospital for pre-op testing - blood work, EKG, etc. The doctor didn't like the EKG, so she scheduled a chemical stress test for later in the afternoon.

Went to his doctor's office at the Spinal Institute of Cincinnati. Talked over everything having to do with the surgery. His doctor seems really nice and straight forward.

Next stop, the Brace Place for a neck brace. Of course, they moved so we had to find them. Peek a boo! Where are you?

Back to the hospital for the stress test. They wanted Steve to lay down, but he can't since it hurts to bad. Got that worked out. The nurses and technicians were wonderful. Seth manned the ultrasound machine - he's from Ghanna. Ashley and Laura all worked hard to make this as easy as possible. Really, everyone I met at the hospital was wonderfully helpful - from the nurse who walked us to the registration desk, to the people who I asked questions of. They were great helping us through this part of the surgery. Will let you know how it all goes after the weekend.

Wrestling update

The team wrestled at Washington CH this past weekend. They kicked some serious butt! Baylor went 4 - 1 with all 4 wins being pins. He pinned the kid from CH and was so excited he ran around the mat and into Cameron's arms. I love it when they are excited! It was great. Tomorrow night, they will be wrestling against KR and Urbana. The weekend was made better for Baylor since his beloved Packers won the Superbowl!

Knitting update

Still working on the mystery shawl, the calahdras socks and they winter forest mittens. Added the Sally, the Eco Fairy in the mix, just for fun. She's so cute.

Kyle Maynard and Marie de France

Well, this week has been interesting. We've had wrestling meets, wrestling superstars, knitting, papers and reading, lots of really cool reading.

Last Saturday was the Wapak tournament. We usually do pretty good at this tournament, but this year, not so much. Our team only had 2 or 3 practices in the two weeks prior to the tournament and just seemed flat. Everyone who placed, was a place or two behind their seed, so it wasn't good. Baylor placed 5th, but he wasn't real happy. Overall the team placed 7th.

There was, however, knitting and reading at the tournament. I knitted my KnitPicks mittens - the February ones - without thought of gauge. I mean, they tell us to use size 1, it should work, right? WRONG! The gauge (after working 2 inches of ribbing and 2 inches of colorwork) is WRONG!!! Major wrong. Like the gauge is 30 stitches to 4 inches and I have 40. I went up a needle size and am STILL not getting gauge. But I am swatching! The swatch is looking good and I hope that once I take it off and block it a bit, it will be OK. I mean, it's about 34 stitches to the inch, so we'll see.

The socks-of-obscure-reference (or the Caladras socks as their official name is) from the Lord of the Rings Sock Club is still being knitted. Obviously, I have no clue how big my foot is, so I started over with the smaller patter. I am almost to the heal (again). Hopefully will have one of them done soon.

And the reading and papers part? Well, we are reading the Lais of Marie de France. Beautiful poetry about knights and ladies and courtly love. I read them at the wrestling meet and wrote my paper on Lanval. The semester is starting out pretty good.

Which brings me back to wrestling. Kyle Maynard was at NE this past Monday. The wrestling team LOVED it. They had some really good conversation with him and Baylor said it was a great time. Kyle is an amazing young man born without arms and legs, yet he has spent his life involved in sports: wrestling, football and now MMA. His life motto is 'No Excuses'.

It's always good when teens find someone who truly inspires them to be better than they are. The team was still riding that high last night when they went to Shawnee and beat both Greenon (66 - 9) and Shawnee (54 - 27). Baylor won both his matches. It was great.

So this weekend we have Ben Logan. Tonight is Knit Night and you know what that means! Chick time!

New Year Resolutions

I love to blog, I will admit that, but I am a terrible blogger. It sits out in Cyberspace and I forget about it, like anything that isn't right in your face all the time. I like writing, I just seem to forget with all the other writing I do.

So on to resolutions. I am going to try to post on my blog at least once a week. I have stuff in my life, stuff that's not all that important in the big scheme of things, but it's important to me and that's what a blog is all about.

Another resolution - I need a bracelet, a bracelet with beads. Not a Pandora bracelet, necessarily, but something a little more personal. What's the bracelet for? Well, there are a lot of people I know that need a little extra boost, someone thinking about them, someone who needs a little extra prayer. This way, I can remember who needs what and go through them.

One more - limit my knitting swaps. I think last year that's all I did. They are tons of fun, but it's marathon knitting. I want to do more KAL's so I have Christmas presents completed. I have one done (YEAH!) and have to create a mate for it. I haven't started anything new, although I am itching to. I bought the Knit Picks Winter Woodlands mitten set and it sits in the box, waiting patiently for me to work on it. I couldn't resist these gorgeous mittens.

So on to 2011, may it be better for everyone!

Pre - Fair update

Well, the Clark County Fair has come and gone. It was an exciting time. We had a ball. Here are the highlights:

Our 4H club tie dyed tshirts to have screen printed with our logo. It was fun, but it took us 4 weeks to get it done. The colors were amazing and all the kids had a good time. If we do it again, we will definitely do it differently, with more organization and more people at once.

I took some photos of Ruby for Baylor's 4H project. He didn't show her because she kept acting up, but he did everything else to complete the project. Of course, Tan Man wanted in on the action. I never met a calf that enjoyed having his photo taken as much as that one.

Tomorrow I will post more about the set up and the fair in general.

One more month

Well, it's about a month to the fair. Skillathon was this past week. Miscellanous judging is coming up after the 4th.

What do I have to do before then? Well, as usual, I bit off a little more than I could chew. I have several fair entries I need to complete. There are a couple of knitted items (a handbag and a miscellanous item. hmmm... maybe the entrelac bag I was going to do last year, maybe something double knitted for the misc.), a cross stitch (I'm really leaning toward a dragon) , a collection (I thought my WTS would be good.), and a couple of photos. I have some great photos taken this year. These are the ones I'm considering:

I thought about this one for scenery. I love the color and textures. It's so cool.

It should be an interesting fair. I need to call Donna this weekend and see if she contacted judges yet. I need to contact the manager at the Hallmark store and get her some passes, since I didn't get them to her last year. I also need to figure out an adult Make N Take.

Next week we will finish dying at the 4H meeting. We've had some beautiful shirts. I have some great photos of those as well. I need to get them off my camera to share. I may take one of those for the 'scenery'.

If you are going out to the Clark County Fair in Springfield OH, stop by and say hi! I will be out there all day every day. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun. If you don't come out, for whatever reason, say a little prayer for my poor, poor feet. I always end up with sore feet at the end of the fair.

So many events!

Well, so much has happened since I last wrote. It is now summer, at least in temperature as it's been in the 80's and 90's. Fair is about 6 weeks away and we are in full 'preparing for the fair' mode. It's been a lot of fun, but kind of sad as Baylor is the only one in 4H and FFA.

To get caught up, here's a run down of what I've done since I last wrote:

In April, Kelly and I went to Indianapolis for the Greencastle Fiber Arts Event. We stayed with some friends of Cheryl's and had an absolute ball, marred only by the fact that I had to be back in Springfield for the Master Gardener's Spring Fling on Saturday, but that was fun, too. We ate, drank some really good wine, spent $$$ at the fiber event and Kelly even started a pair of socks AND a shawl. Both are coming along nicely.

April 17th was our Golden Splendor - a wonderful event held at our high school. We had lots of really great items for sale, had record attendance, and made some serious money for the Boosters. We really need it because this is our biggest fundraiser of the year. If your local high school has a dinner auction event, please attend and support the organization. Too many schools are desperate to keep athletics and other after school activities going. I know a lot of people think school should be about education, but these programs provide education as well - education in perserverance, teamwork, socialization, organization, work ethics and leadership - all things we need in our future adults. Just think what our world will be like if we raise a generation of followers and no leaders.

Baylor went to Prom with his girlfriend Ashley. Baylor wore a tux and his wrestling coach allowed him to borrow his Miata. They looked so good all dressed up. Ashley's Mom and I took lots of photos: at her house, at the park at Marriott. I'm sure we were the only ones following our children around.

At the beginning of May, I went to Virginia with my sibs and cousins. Mom and I went from Ohio; Lou, Aunt June, Jo and Dee from Pennsylvania and Laura from South Carolina all met up and had so much fun. There was food and wine. I'm beginning to see a pattern here. It was great and while I didn't have any fiber artists with me, Dee, Laura and Jo worked on scrapbooking while I knitted. We talked and laughed.

So that brings me to the Great Lakes Fiber Arts event we went to last weekend. The Depot Fiber Arts group went along with a few friends from Greencastle. It was a ball. Wooster has a wonderful fiber event that includes sheep shows, vendor shows and classes, as well as 'free' events for anyone interested. It was fun.

And that brings me to photos! Kelly and Robyn went with us. They had a great time, although they were sleep deprived:

Our whole group had a great time, especially at Creatively Dyed Yarn! Diane is a wonderful young woman with a great eye for color.

There were spinners and other artists:

Alpacas:

And fiber, lots and lots of fiber:

I bought enough to make several things: a cardigan from Creatively Dyed's Beaches in Waya a vest in Lamb's Pride in Aubergrine (kind of a wine color), and a summer tank in a silk/merino blend in a dusty aqua. Plus some other fun stuff. It was great.

Let it snow

Well, we have about 3 feet of snow. There are some places I don't think will thaw until May or June. The parking lots are piled 10 feet high. It's pretty amazing. Baylor hasn't been at school since last Tuesday. Here are some photos to enjoy.

Our picnic tables. You can only see the tops:

Baylor using the snow blower last week:

TJ and Max enjoying a romp in the snow. Max's ears aren't really pointed, I caught him in mid-romp.

This is the drift in front of the barn doors last week. It's a good five feet tall.

Hope you are enjoying your weather. Remember, we will have spring in about 60 days! Keep warm and be safe.