It's here!

And I'm not talking spring. [Aside: We had lots of springish melting last week, followed by 6 fresh inches on Friday and snow showers on Sunday. 100 inches of snow for the season now. whew.] I'm talking about my loom! DH immediately requested a new valance for the bathroom window, which seems like a fine 1st project to me! Doesn't need to fit anyone ;) I think it'll take a while to get the hang of it. However, I'm working on a felted bag just now because I'm wanting a new purse, so the valance will need to wait a bit. My fish tank is coming along nicely too. Tawashi must be the world's quickest projects so I've squeezed in a few.

There's been a lot of sickness going around this month, so now everyone in good ol' WI is crazy for spring. We had our share of it and Saturday will be having a (rescheduled) birthday party for the kids. It is DD's actual bday and she can't be more excited. DS is back to school today after a week of sick followed by a week and a Monday of spring break. More soon, love, Cindy

Of Ravelry, moola, and spring

Sorry for my pictureless state, Alene; it's been one of those (several) weeks. Lots new here. Around the house: furnace, cooktop, home equity loan. Teaching: knitting classes, volcano talk at 1st grade (it was fun, challenging, not sure I didn't bore them, and quite sure I left several trains of thought derailed . . .), RE at the meeting house (there I'm one of 4 teachers for DS's class).

Crafting is going well since there's no way to do gardening prep outside. I can't believe there's still going to be snow on the ground for spring break! It's next week. I love Ravelry. I've been flitting in and out of groups because there are SO many great ones. I've settled for now on not-too-high traffic ones I can keep up with and will actually read. I'm still doing the responsible stash thing. I sold one of my knitting machines after long contemplation. It is a great machine but I have barely used it since I started spinning. It used thinner yarns and I usually make medium to thick yarns, so I opted to stick with my Bond. I'm using the money to buy a small, slightly used rigid heddle loom and a bunch of books!

I hope to see you in April and would be thrilled if we could go to the Yarn Harlot's event together. If you want to stay over, we have a guest bed. I'll warn you it's near my wool . . . don't want all those "wool fumes" to make you want stash unbecoming to a desert-dweller. ;) Cindy

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Hi Cindy,

Okay, I stole that title from a Fannie Flagg novel but I figured it was good for talking about a new baby. The little recipient of all my knitting over the last 6 months made her appearance on March 5. After nearly two weeks worth of on-again-off-again labor Lytifa finally had her baby Wednesday night about 9 pm. I got the picture text on my phone just after 10. Her name is Jahmia Nyoko and she was 7 pounds-13 ounces.

Here she is with her mom and dad. Older sister Juraiya was at the hospital for much of the day on Wednesday while mom was in labor but she had to go home for a breathing treatment (she had asthma really badly and needs regular treatments). She hadn't been back to the hospital since to meet her new sister when I visited at lunch yesterday.

It is pretty amazing how light her skin is right now. While I was holding her and playing with her fingers I noticed that they were pretty much the same color as mine. I'd never known it before but Lytifa explained it to me a few years ago. The dark melanin isn't at the surface of a new-born. It takes a few days or weeks for the full color to develop. As you can see from her parents she will be fairly dark-skinned eventually but not right now.I took a long lunch yesterday to go out and visit-a verrrrry long lunch. It is about 30 miles from the office out to the hospital but it would have been even farther from home. I originally planned on staying less than an hour but ended up visiting for almost an hour and a half. I ended up holding Jahmia for most of that time too. It is amazing how holding a baby can give you a rush of endorphins. I'd been feeling pretty low that morning after hearing from my mom what was up with my dad but for at least an hour after holding Jahmia, and maybe even longer, I felt peaceful and happy.

I had better finish this off. I'll let you know when I get firm dates of flying back there. It will probably be late April. My folks want to spend some of the recovery time up at the cottage so we'll probably be there a few days after Dad gets out of the hospital. More soon, A

Ramblings

Hi Cindy,

I'm going to post a few of the more interesting pictures on my computer throughout this post. First up to keep it cat and spinning related is a picture DH took last month. Teddy had been chillin' on the chair and Margi decided she wanted up on it too. Instead of running off like most cats would, Teddy just sat there with her. We've got another picture of them both posing, looking directly into the camera but it doesn't show the wheel as well. The chair is one I found in the alley about 4 years ago with one arm broken off. I took the other one off and painted it with the crackle finish and covered it with outdoor varnish. It sat on our patio for a couple of years until I decided it would make a great spinning chair. I recovered the seat with a felted sweater and used another piece to make the back rest. I love it and so do the cats.

I don't know when but I think that I will probably be headed back that way sometime in the next few months. I got a call from my folks on Sunday, one of those "We didn't want to alarm you until we knew more" phone calls. Hate those! The upshot is that two small spots have been found in my dad's lungs. He had a CT scan and a PET scan and in the next week or so he'll have a biopsy on them. The PET scan showed hot in the two spots and slightly in the nearby lymph nodes. I offered to head back for that but my folks didn't want me to spend the extra $ for a short notice flight. My cousin S has offered to go along and sit with Mom during the procedure.

I was to the doctor myself last week. I've had itching just above my knee (no rash) off and on for about 3 months. Additionally I've woken up about half a dozen times with the whole thigh burning and then the next moring it is numb like it is asleep. It's not debilitating, just very annoying. The doctor knew what it was immediately, meralgia paresthetica or a pinched nerve in the hip area. She offered 3 options: do nothing and it may resolve itself in a few months or years; see a neurologist; or try an antiseizure drug. I've opted for #3 so I've been trying to adjust to that for 5 days now, seem to be working I guess.

I've got a training class in a few minutes so I'll close this off with a word about the rest of the pictures. The house pictures are the same house from different sides. They were taken at Mineral Park, AZ, north of Kingman, in about 1998. Yes, that's me in the second one. The final picture is the remains of a smelter furnace at the Grand Gulch Mine. It is located north of the Grand Canyon in the AZ Strip area. We inventoried that area in 1996. It is located about 80 miles south of St. George, UT. We stayed in a BLM cabin for a week and had to carry extra gas along. We didn't see anyone the entire week we were there.

I'll let you know when I'm going to be back that way. I'd love to hangout with you a day like we did last year, hopefully it won't be quite so sad a trip back there though. Later, A