Friday, December 30, 2005

Knitting, the Next Generation


I have already taught my eldest to knit, in fact, she is the one who got me back into it. Now my youngest has decided it is time to pick u[p the needles and try her hand at it. She is making a skinny red scarf, garter stitch, to wear on days when it's "only a little cold."

My digital camera is dying, I really need to get a new one. But you can see her here starting a new row. She knit three whole rows all by herself, and was very proud.

As for myself, I managed to get a couple more rows done on the blue fuzzy sweater. Tomorrow I will be at work, and I'll work on the alien scarf if I get a lunch hour. It's typically a busy day for us, since most people want to have their babies in time to get the tax deduction. With all of our pre-holiday inductions though, I'm not sure how it will be.

Next week we all start back to school - the kids first, then me on Friday. I'm actually kind of nervous about it. This semester we will have 2 clinical days every week, and it's hospital clinicals. One day each week we'll be on the unit I work on. I loved the nursing home, but I don't know if I'll enjoy hospital nursing as much. Maybe it's just that I've been with the hospital for so long - I started there 12 years ago, though I took a 2 year break to have a couple of babies. I go to get my books Thursday. They promise they will be in by that day, though we are not allowed to pick them up any earlier. Don't know why, maybe to keep up from seeing just what we've gotten ourselves into.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Some Progress


I finished alien #4 on the scarf today. The pattern only calls for 6, but I may go with 7 or 8, just depends on how much yarn I have. I reversed the pattern for every other alien.

Tomorrow I have much waiting to do at two different doctor's appointments, so I should be able to knit at least one more alien. I absolutely love this scarf, though it rolls more than I'd like. I hope once I'm finished that blocking will take care of much of this.

I'm not usually a big fan of illusion knitting - too much time and too cutesey, or too, well, ugly. But this is perfect.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Back to the Grindstone


I actually enjoyed being back at work today - only two babies were born on Christmas Day, meaning I only had two babies to test. I cleaned my office, did a bunch of paperwork, and generally enjoyed not being at home. The weather has been terrible, and with the sick child now feeling better, the kids are going nuts pinned up in the house. And they are overwhelmed with all the new stuff they got for Christmas. Most of the day they have apparently been fighting over the keyboard and guitar.

Tomorrow I hope to knit some more on the alien scarf. I took my DVD player to work, and so I'm going to spend my lunch hour knitting and watching LoTR. I hope to have the scarf finished before I start back to school on the 6th.

The kids go back on the 4th. I can't wait.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

More Merry Christmas




The kids have had a great day, middle child is feeling better, and I am now on cup of coffee #5.

They have decided to form a band.

Merry Freakin' Christmas

It is 2:30 am, and Santa has finished wrapping the presents and putting them under the tree. Santa is VERY tired. He also did all the dishes piled up in the kitchen and now he is going to take a shower and go to bed. The sick child is still sick, but, miraculously, is feeling better and is up and bopping around the house. Santa didn't mind, as she had been sleeping for pretty much the past two days. He is just glad she is feeling better.

Right now she is sitting on the couch (which also happens to be my bed) and is complaining about seeing a bug in her room. I would really like to go to sleep. I know I will be awakened with the sun so the kiddos can open their gifts - and I have to make our traditional Christmas breakfast of orange rolls.

Hopefully I'll manage to get a few hours in before the fun begins.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

On the Eve of Christmas Eve

Today was my last day of work before the holidays, and it was actually a pretty good day. I only had 6 babies to test (I was right about there being no pregnant women left within 50 miles), and I'm pretty much caught up on my paperwork, so I got to leave at 3. I picked up my eldest and we went to the local mega-toy-store to exchange a Barbie my in-laws had given my middle child. She HATES Barbies. She's almost 10, and a tom-boy. They should know this, yet year after year they insist on sending her something she'll hate. And so once again I went to the store to exchange it. I got her some Magnetix, which she has been dying for. All the in-laws will know is that she loved the gift they gave her, and she'll think they're wonderful grandparents for knowing JUST what she wanted. And two hours of my life have been wasted standing in line behind a hundred soccer moms fighting over animatronic dogs.

After I got home my mom told me that said middle child was "still asleep". She had gotten up for breakfast then gone back to bed. I check on her, found her feverish and breathing fast. I gave her some ibuprofen and called the pediatrician. He told me to give her an albuterol treatment and if she was still breathing fast after that go straight to the E.R. So guess where we went? After several more hours of my life wasted we were sent home with the "it's probably only a virus" line. Her temp was higher when we left the ER than when we got there, even after a dose of acetaminophen. I am now alternating Tylenol and Motrin every four hours. At least she's breathing a little slower. Since she has chronic asthma, I generally freak out when she has issues with breathing.

Got a few more inches finished on her sweater while we were waiting for the x-rays to come back. Blood work came back OK too. She did get the thrill of going to the drug store in her PJs and slippers, and got to tell everyone she just got out of the hospital. It earned her several free candy canes from the Wal-Green's staff. At least we're not going to be stuck in the hospital for Christmas. Her x-rays were good, and since her blood and urine cultures are going to take time to grow, they went ahead and let us come home and will call us if anything turns up. Until then it's just OTC meds and her nursing-school mom keeping an eye on her. God Help us All.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Work Sucks


I had 27 babies today. Twenty-seven. My God, there can't be ANY pregnant women left in a 50 mile radius. I have been on my feet for 12 straight hours (I usually only work 8) and I only got to pee once, didn't get lunch, and am SOOO tired.

Just finished cooking supper for my kiddos. I've started using a new cookbook called Saving Dinner that is really great. It has all the shopping lists, menus, etc. All planned out, eight weeks for each season. We are in the middle of the last week of Fall, (had to start somewhere) and so far my kids have loved all the stuff I've made, including the fish I cooked last night. This had NEVER happened before. And the recipes are quick too - so far I haven't spent more than 30 minutes on anything. My youngest child just told me how great it is that I'm cooking again, and my middle child told me she'd rather help me cook than watch Cartoon Network.

In school news, got my grades today - and I made the Dean's list. The one B that I got is for a 1-credit-hour class. So my GPA is 3.9. Maybe I will be a nurse one day.

Knitting is coming along. I've gotten 9 inches on the blue sweater and am now on alien #4 in the scarf. Oldest still hasn't finished seaming the pink sweater. And now I'm seriously thinking about what to make next.

Tomorrow I have to work again, then it's off for Christmas. Yay!!!!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Let the Holidays Begin


Today is my first day off since school let out. And I have to go back to work on Wednesday (the first day the kids are out of school). So I have a whole two weeks of holiday preparations to cram into two days.

The big plan for today - take eldest to work, babysit grandbaby, go to party at school for younger two children, take grandbaby to eldest's workplace to feed her, pick up youngers at school, pick up eldest at work, come home, help with homework, hopefully cash my child support check (which is now officially a week late), go to the grocery store, come home, do at least 4 loads of laundry, and collapse.

The big plan for tomorrow, more laundry, less running around.

You know, it really sucks when work seems more relaxing than being home.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

No more school, no more books.....

Finals are finally over!!!! I managed to swing 2 A's and 2 B's this semester. I was one of only two people to pass the final in our Body Structure class. (Yes, just another name for Anatomy and Physiology). My brain is totally fried, and now I'm wondering what I'm going to do with all the free time I have until January 6th.

Grandbaby is now 4 whole months old - I can't believe it!! She's gotten so big and is now laughing at everything, eating baby food (which she loves), grabbing stuff, and just generally being too cute.

My younger girls are driving me absolutely nuts. This morning they both were complaining how sick they were - sore throats, stomach aches, nausea, headaches. I just looked at them as I was gathering up my stuff for work and said, "It's Saturday." Moments later they were both dressed and planning an entire day of frolic. Mean mother that I am, I told them that since they were recovered from whatever it was, they could clean their room. I left for work shortly after that. The mystery ailment must have befallen them again though, because when I got home, the room was still a mess. My mom doesn't make them do anything around the house, so whenever she babysits nothing gets done. Heck, I'm lucky if it's not 100 times worse when I get home.

On the knitting front, I did manage to finish the pink sweater for daughter #3, and am now working on a blue one for daughter #2. Oldest daughter is making up the sweater, as she prefers her seaming to mine. Her sister may have outgrown it by the time she's finished, but it's out of my hands (and more importantly, off of my needles.)

I am determined that after this blue sweater I am making something FOR ME. I don't know what yet - it may just be a pair of socks, or a hat. But I have ceased taking requests for things. I've been actively knitting again for over 3 years, and I have yet to make one article I can claim as my own. Yes, I have made scarves, but they have all been claimed by my children and subsequently lost. I am now knitting another alien scarf, not because I love it so much (which I do) but because I was trying to explain illusion knitting to a girl at school, had the SnB book in my bag, and so we made a run to Wal-Mart for yarn. She since dropped out of school, don't know how her scarf turned out, but I left mine in my bookbag to work on between classes. I am now on alien #4 of the 6 called for in the pattern. And I have a feeling that once this one is finished my oldest daughter's boyfriend will be claiming it, as he has eyed it hungrily every time I've had to pull it out to stuff more books in. The original alien scarf was lost on the playground of our elementary school last year.