Friday

It's a beautiful sunny fall day today in the Pacific NW. Cool outside though. I am listening to my Ipod "Flower Power" songs from the Time Life series from the 60's/70's, the CDs were loaned to me by one of my bosses. "Ball of Confusion" is playing right now.....today is my co-worker Becky's 60th birthday. We all met up before work for breakfast and gave her presents, I had a veggie omlette and hash browns and toast, but only ate half, saved the rest for later. I am trying to stay clear of sugar, did have some sugar free jam on the toast. I am pretty disgusted with my inability to stay away from junk food and lose the 20 lbs I need to. I am trying to psych myself up by telling myself that if I can lose this 20 lbs then my hip joints will feel a lot better and won't ache and be as stiff from the arthritis, as the extra weight off will relieve pressure off the joints. I want so desperately to feel better. I know not eating junk and losing some weight will help. But at times, I get depressed and want to eat to comfort myself, because I am frustrated with the physical limitations I have now.
I am casting it all over to the Lord. I really need His help.

The weekend

Well, my "me" time turned out a little bit differently than I planned last Friday. My husband ended up taking the afternoon off as well, so he was home when I got home. I did go to Safeway to get a few things and they have a Starbucks there, so I got a pumpkin spice latte, but I didn't end up reading my book until the evening. Saturday I went to a seminar at church on leadership. I am heading up a small group at church for knitting and crocheting, and we are starting back up on Oct 6th. Last year I helped with the group and hosted it several times. There were about five or six of us on a regular basis and we made baby hats and donated them. The woman who was the leader stepped down for this fall session so they asked if I would do it. It's pretty easy, we just all meet up at a coffee place or my house and knit and crochet for a few hours. I am thinking maybe we will do scarves and hats this fall and then donate to a homeless shelter. One of the ladies who came last year is helping me out so that's great too. Right now, we are just supplying our own yarn, but maybe sometime we can do a fundraiser to buy yarn, or get some donated....a woman was mentioning at church her mom passed away recently and left a big stash of yarn and she said she'd give it to us. I really love to knit baby things, scarves, etc. and give them away to bless people, I feel it is a ministry of sorts that God has called me to do. I just pray my hands hold out! Sometimes when I knit too much, my fingers get achey, so I need to watch that. But knitting for me is very soothing and comforting, and I really enjoy blessing new moms, etc. with baby hats, blankets, etc. Right now I am working on a shawl, and a baby hat.
I went to the funeral for my friend Tami's mom yesterday also. I was thinking a lot this week about Mrs. Gunter and how good she and Tami's dad were to me growing up. I spent a lot of time at their house from age 9 or 10 till about 14. Mrs. Gunter was a homemaker deluxe and she took great care of Tami and her dad. Their house was always meticulous and she always cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tami's dad was a tv repairman, and he would come home for lunch. I would spend the night on the weekends and I can remember falling asleep in Tami's room in her double bed, listening to her parents' police scanner in their bedroom on low. It was soothing to me. Mrs. Gunter sewed, and made Tami clothes as well as the most wonderful Barbie clothes. She truly was a woman of strength and dignity, a keeper of the home. My mom worked full-time when I was growing up and she kept a nice home too, but I look back now and realize it was harder for her in a way to do a lot of the things Tami's mom was able to do at home. One thing Tami told me recently though was that her mom never had any close girl friends of her own. She had sisters and a sister-in-law who lived nearby, and she had 'couple' friends from church where they were friends as couples, but she didn't drive and didn't have any close girlfriends of her own. Tami has two daughters who are in their twenties now, so her mom and dad took care of them when they were young and Tami worked. Tami's dad is 85 and he didn't recognize me right away at the funeral yesterday, but then when I said my name, he knew me. Mrs. Gunter was laid to rest in a beautiful white casket with a spray of pink roses on top during the service. It was at a Lutheran church, and the minister preached the gospel, John 14, where Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life." There were many beautiful floral arrangements there, and one heart-shaped one of pink and red roses that said "Beloved mommy". They had the casket opened in the front right at the end for people to file by and pay their last respects. It was hard to walk by but I did, I remember Mrs. Gunter how she was 40 years ago, and not how she was at death when leukemia finally won. I looked at Tami next to her dad on the front row, and mouthed "I love you" to her....with tears in my eyes. I am grateful for our friendship as young girls, for her mother who was kind and wonderful to me and taught me many things that I might not have realized then, but as a grown woman, I now hold close to my heart.

It's been awhile...............

since I've written anything here in my blog. Today is Friday, I am off work for half a day, and I am planning to just get a latte and a book and sit somewhere. For about an hour or two. Not at home, as I will see a million things to do. Tomorrow I am going to a funeral for my friend Tami's mom. She died last Sunday at age 79 from complications from leukemia. When I was growing up, Tami was my best friend, from about age 9 to 14. I spent many nights over at her house and her mom was like my second mom. She was always cooking for us and sewed Tami the coolest Barbie clothes. We had slumber parties and Halloween parties at her house. I always preferred going to her house than mine, as her parents' house was as neat as a pin and Tami didn't have any brothers or sisters (I have a younger brother who could be a pest!). We would play Barbies, etc.

"On the hilltops we worshipped idols and made loud noises, but it was all for nothing - only You can save us......." Jeremiah 3:23 CEV

"Look into the mirror,
Do you recognize someone?
Is it who you always hoped you would become?
When you were young......."

Del Amitri "When You Were Young" from the Change Everything CD, 1992.

Justin Currie - Be My Downfall

Justin Currie - Tell Her This

Always the last to know - del amitri

We have had the worst spring, ever. It has been cold, wet and rainy. Hardly any sunshine and warm days. We might have had one day that hit 70 degrees since April. Today is Sunday and it rained all day yesterday and this morning, at 7am, it is grey damp and gloomy outside. Everyone keeps waiting for summer to start but it feels like October. Still wearing sweaters and warm jackets. Wishing I could escape to Arizona or Hawaii for some dry heat.

I ordered the dresses that I have pictured below. I have some money saved up for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale my friend from work and I go to every July to buy clothes for work. And, I got some gift cards to Nordstrom for my birthday a few weeks ago. I watched a whole bunch of Ambush Makeover videos online at the Today show's website recently. You know, it's the segment with Kathy Lee and Hoda where two women are picked from the crowd outside for makeovers. I am a sucker for a makeover...I love how a woman can be turned from either scruffy or dated (or both) into modern and youthful and beautiful. Hair, makeup, and dress makes a huge difference. So much of the time, I think women just don't know what to do to make themselves look pretty and then feel more confident. And it takes time and work and energy to do that. I noticed that Kathy Lee and Hoda wear dresses pretty much all the time on the show, and many times they put the makeover ladies into dresses too, no matter what shape or size. I had only a few dresses, as I tend to wear pants and jackets and a few skirts to work. But the ease of a nice looking dress and its simplicity attracted me, so I went online to the Nordstrom site and found the ones pictured. I ordered them all (some were on sale) knowing I wasn't going to keep them all, but I wanted to try them on and maybe keep half. Although, I didn't get the navy blue one pictured. One of them, the black bottom with the printed black and blush patterned top, doesn't fit at all. The black bottom one with the champagne top and flower fits but is snug and the champagne color on top washes me out. I did like the style of that dress though, just not for me. The other ones, purple and orchid and fushia and kind of a sangria color, look good and the colors are flattering to me....the purple one is more form-fitting than the other two, and shows off my menopausal tummy more than I would like, but I got one of those smoothie/flexie garment shapers to pull everything in and that helps (hey, the tag said look 10 lbs slimmer instantly and it does really help, and it's not uncomfortable either!). I remember the days when I had a super flat stomach. Many days and years ago. With hitting the mid 40's/early 50's, suddenly an intertube has inflated around my waistline and tummy to my huge annoyance....but I realized that I have to get annoyed enough to do something about it (i.e., put the cookies and the chips down and do some crunches and exercise more!). But I digress.

Anyway, two dresses are going back. I am keeping four. I plan to wear them to work and to church and out to dinner etc, weddings, etc. When I put them on, I feel rather lady-like and like I've been ambushed-madeover...once I do my hair nice and make up, etc....although I need to now find some nude or beige low-heeled shoes to go with them. I have black, which will work with the purple and I guess would work with all of them, but beige for summer would be nice. I have some beige/gold dressy sandals that will work, but I'd like to find a pump for work. I have a $25 gift card for T.J. Maxx and I am hoping to find some shoes there. I am firm about not charging anything so it has to be cash or gift cards. I can't wear anything too high though, which is unfortunate but my left foot and hips won't take it. Kathy Lee and Hoda wear probably 2 to 3 inch heels, I need about 1 inch. A couple of the dresses have lower back lines, so I will need to wear a jacket or sweater over them for work. But I definitely feel a different vibe putting a nice dress on, I feel a little more elegant and like a lady. I tend to be lazy some days and just reach for my black pants and a top, so I am hoping these pretty dresses will inspire me to get out of my rut. Even if our spring weather is cold and wet and lousy so far, these are pretty cheery-colored dresses and I can wear them all into the fall too with jackets and tights.

I love the Ambush Makeovers. I could watch them all day and they really inspire me! One thing I notice too, is that they often put the ladies in a nice dress or skirt and jacket and then either one big cool pair of earrings or one big statement necklace, which really looks modern...but not both together.

Some other thoughts on this rather grey and gloomy weekend, right before the official first day of summer.....I watched a movie yesterday on tv called "Passengers" with Anne Hathaway from 2008. It was really good, suspenseful, and threw me for a loop on the ending....I even watched it again later int the day when they repeated it in order to catch some clues from the beginning...I thought it was a good movie. I tried to get Tim to watch it with me the second time, but he was watching the Transformers movie for probably the 5th time so he missed out! We went out for pizza at lunch, and that was our main meal of the day, brought some back for leftovers for dinner. Today is Father's Day. I sent my dad a card, and my stepdad a card. I got Tim a few tee shirts from the dogs.

Listening to a lot of Del Amitri and Justin Currie these past few days. The songs fit with the weather mood.

A Cautionary Tale

I had a conversation today with someone who shall remain nameless, but who told me they just refinanced their house to get a bunch of money to do some remodeling and pay off thousands of dollars of credit card bills. The interesting thing to me was the cavalier attitude this person had. No thought of cutting up the cards or not using them anymore. No, it was just "I am paying them off now, but if I see things I want in the future to buy or do, I am not going to restrain myself"....I mentioned to his person that my husband and I have a goal to pay off our house before my husband retires in hopefully 3 to 5 years. The reply I received was "well, we will never ever pay our house off, we've taken out a new 30 year loan and borrowed $75,000 in equity, so it just won't happen." I personally don't want to keep working when I am 70 plus, at least not at what I have been doing for a job. I want to have options. And having my house paid off and credit cards paid off is a big part of that. I have been learning the hard lesson myself of paying off a few cards but I haven't been using them lately and am focused on not using them and getting the balanced paid off for good. I hate paying interest on stuff I can't even remember buying. The person I was speaking to seemed to have the attitude of "what, me restrain myself in the future, why I can't even imagine doing that!" Meaning that they will probably just rack the cards back up. Which makes me really think long and hard about my own situation, in really working hard to get my cards paid off for good. My default shopping/money spending vices are clothes, purses, books, yarn, music DCs/Itunes, cards/stickers, lunch out a few times a week, lattes once or twice a week. I am not that big of a shoe shopper just because I have hip/foot problems and it's hard to find things that fit and are comfortable and cute so I don't tend to shoe shop a lot. But recently I cleaned out my closet with some help from a friend at church who has wonderful organizational skills and I got rid of a lot, but I still have a lot left. I am learning (slowly sometimes it seems) that I can't wear all the clothes I even have, or read all the books I own or knit from all the yarn I have, so why acquire more and more? Many times I don't want to and I get too overwhelmed by all the 'stuff' and then other times, I want the stuff...I want the new pink lipstick (nevermind that I already have four tubes of pink) or the cute colored camis, now 2 for $40 at Nordstrom, down from $28 a piece (and nevermind that I have an overflowing dresser drawer of camis in all colors). Sometimes I feel like we are living assault targets, bombarded moment by moment by advertising in every nook and corner, enticements around every bend. And to resist seems futile, easier to go the 'way of the world' and join everyone else who's massively in debt to stuff. But I really want to resist it. The stuff doesn't make you happy, in the long run, in and of itself. Many years ago, there was a VeggieTales DVD called Madame Blueberry. and one of the lines from a song was "Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart, where all you need is lots...more.....stuff......!" The sad thing is we (and I say we loosely, as a society) have bought into that way of thinking. It's overboard and overindulgence in everything....in fast food sizes, in showy cars, in the latest and greatest tech gadget....how can I be cool, how can I one up the next person, how can I have my security fix and my greed need satisfied today? I confess to looking for 'stuff' to medicate me and fix me and make me someone else or another me or a 'better' me but many times my heart's cry is to be free and simple and untangled from all the 'stuff'.

867-5309/Jenny, LIVE

gotta love the 80's t00!

political post

love this!

just remember it's a grand illusion!

I am listening to "Best of Foreigner" right now at work in my office. Having already listened to "Best of Styx" double CD today as well as REO Speedwagon and Billy Idol. Work is crazy today and I am feeling like a chicken with its head cut off. Some music from my teens and twenties sounded good. A friend of mine in Missouri sent me lots of burned CDs of 70's and 80's music a few weeks ago. Tom Petty. The Cars. David Bowie. All stuff I used to listen to a lot. When I was in my teens and early 20's, I was the album queen. I babysat a lot and bought record albums and clothes with my money. I probably owned 300 albums at least, at $4 a pop. I still have all the Beatles and most of the Rolling Stones and lots of others, probably 80 altogether. No working turntable though. The music takes me back. I dated a guy in high school, Glen, who played guitar in a local rock band, and they did Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Eagles. I have always been drawn to the rock and roll guitar players. Could care less about the drummers or keyboard players or the bass players, although all are necessary in a band. Give me the lead guitarist, was my motto!
Now we've all grown up and the long-haired cute boys of my past are 50 something and 60 with no hair and tummies. And I no longer have long shiny hair and am as skinny as a rail in my blue jeans and shiny satin top! I looked at a picture of Pete Haycock, who was the guitarist with Climax Blues Band around the time I saw him in concert. And I looked at a current picture of him. And saw that he's not the same, we're not the same, except the music kind of remains the same, in taking you back in time in your mind.

(above pic me age 19 with Greg Rollie from Journey after a concert in Seattle) also Pete Haycock

Some dresses I like

Turquoise coat

I had this picture saved for awhile, it's "Carie" from Sex & the City...I was not a viewer of that show but I saw this picture online from when her character was in Paris, and I thought that coat was just gorgeous. It may be overkill though to have both the coat and purse in that shade! But it so pretty.
And yes, now I need to get back to work, after taking my little break!

Love this purse!

I am not a fan of "Gossip Girl" on tv, but the Purse Blog on Facebook is giving away this very same purse carried by this actress on the show...I entered the contest. I love the color of the purse, actually, this coat/scarf/purse ensemble is really pretty. That robins egg blue color is so beautiful. The purse is made I think in England, super expensive, nothing I could ever afford, but it would be cool to win the contest so I entered.

Opinion | America, a nation of slobs | Seattle Times Newspaper

Opinion America, a nation of slobs Seattle Times Newspaper

Updates

I had hoped to be a little more active in blogging but time gets away from me. I just wanted to post a few new things.
1. Just started some physical therapy for my hips, I have 8 sessions approved. I had pool therapy yesterday and that felt great, I definitely had less pain all day yesterday. The downside is I have to be at PT place twice a week for 4 weeks at 7am (there's a couple of 7:45am slots, but most of them are at 7am). That means getting up at 5am instead of 6am, but I decided I'd rather do the PT before work rather than after, as I know I am usually pretty tired by the end of the work day. It is good that the PT place is only 15 minutes or a little less from my house and they have a really nice warm pool. I think I will be doing some pool therapy and I am not sure what else. The first therapist I met with last week for my consultation (and she is also the owner) said "Don't look daggers at me when I tell you this, but have you thought about using a cane?"...since I am limping a lot on my right side, and having pain radiating down the side of my right leg, front of thigh, inner knee, groin area, she thought a cane on my left side could help. Of course the daggers comment comes from being only almost 52 and I am sure she thought vanity will trump using a cane at that age! It is something to consider though, when I am mall walking or walking outside...maybe I could find a beautiful jeweled one on or get a bedazzler (no not really!) and decorate my own...actually, I was looking at the local drugstore I go to for prescriptions, and they did have a cool pink swirled cane there.........
2. The second ortho surgeon I saw last month for an opinion on my hip arthritis told me he would prescribe hip cortisone shots and they have been approved by our medical insurance. The radiology place where they would be done called twice to set the appointment up, but I have been nervous about doing it. However, they called again this morning, and I need to call them back and tell them that I will do it. I have been doing a lot of reading on the internet about other peoples' experiences with the hip shots, and also talked to some people at work who have had cortisone shots, not in the hips, but back, shoulders, etc. and they were glad they did them, it bought them some relief for varying periods of time. My husband has had a few cortisone injections in his back and benefitted for a few months of being pain free....I don't like the thought of the needle going into my hip joint, but I think the doctor doing the shot is guided with dye/xray technology that gets it right into the proper location and prayerfully (I will find out when I call them back today) they numb/deaded you with pain sedative stuff first! I think though I should try it, try PT and the shots, to do everything I can to put off hip replacement surgery for the time. The ortho surgeon told me I still have joint space so am not 'bone on bone' and that the bone spurs I have weren't 'too bad'. My main pain is stiffness, right leg pain, walking when I first get up from sitting or laying down, pain radiating in my butt, front of right thigh and inner right knee. The hardest thing for me is bending over to pick something up or get into a bottom cupboard, etc.
3. I hired a friend of mine's 17 year old daughter who needs money for her car insurance to clean house for me a couple hours every other week...vaccum, dust, clean the downstairs bathroom, etc. -- $10 an hour, and she is happy and I am happy as it has become increasingly difficult to keep housework up....just going to work and doing my job during the work week, and PT now stretching it for me....I try to do some housework on Saturdays, but it's hard to bend down, get down on the floor, etc.
4. My same friend who has the daughter helping me also came over last week and helped me declutter my upstairs which has two bedrooms and three closets...I want to declutter and streamline stuff, but sometimes it is hard for me to bite the bullet and really get rid of stuff....my friend is organized and not emotionally attached so she was really helpful, asking me "Do you love this?" "Do you use this?" "Have you worn this in the last year?" etc....I got rid of eight big bags of stuff, and she took it away to the Good will for me so I wouldn't be tempted to rifle through the bags....clothes, old purses, housewares....I gave her eight year old daughter some Barbies and a tea set that she just loved, and I felt good about someone enjoying things that were just gathering dust!

Help for Haiti

Our former pastor's 25 year old son is a missionary with Convoy of Hope, a disaster relief organization based out of Missouri, who had a presence and large warehouse already established in Haiti when the earthquake happened in January. Tim and I donated $100 to Convoy of Hope and $100 to Samaritan's Purse right after the earthquake to help the people of Haiti, but we have been wanting to continue to give for Haiti. Right after the earthquake, I found this blog livesayhaiti.blogspot.com from a family who had been living in Haiti as missionaries for a couple of organizations, one being Heartline Ministries. I have been following both the Livesay blog and the Heartline blog and they both have really taken you right to Haiti and what the people there have gone through and are continuing to go through. There's a story about a young girl, age 22, named Amanda who was injured in the earthquake and about them trying to get her to the U.S. for surgery. Her story is a few posts back on the Livesay blog. I am hoping to find out where to donate to help with getting her to the U.S. etc. I can't even imagine going through all that she has been through, if you read her story you will agree.
I also would like to continue to donate to Convoy of Hope too...they are a wonderful organization and since they were already on the ground there that is extremely helpful. Tom, our former pastor, told me recently that they are in need of generators and he was trying to get a container shipped through some contacts to Haiti, and I understand that Tom himself is going there this week to join his son.

The weekend

Tim and I had a lovely weekend. Saturday we ran some errands...went to SportCo, Camping World and Brown and Haley Outlet. Brown and Haley is a local candy manufacturer that makes Almond Roca and Mountain Bars, and they have an outlet store that carries plastic boxes of 'booboos' (chocolates that weren't shaped right or something). My husband loves to stop there now and then since it's right by SportCo, one of his favorite hunting and fishing stores. We got some Almond Roca to take to my mom and stepdad's since they invited us over yesterday for Easter dinner, and we also got a few goodies....it was funny, because there were two older (in their 70's probably) ladies working there who were telling us that a few doors down was a big warehouse that had several deliveries of wine or alcohol of some sort per day...one of the ladies said "alcohol and chocolate are the last things to go in a recession!" A senior citizens touring bus pulled up too, and one of the Brown and Haley ladies said " Oh, no, they are supposed to call ahead!!" as the people started pouring out of the bus! Fortunately we were done so we left with our treats and headed home. I made corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, knitted cute baby booties and finished a baby hat later in the day for little Calla.
Sunday Easter I went to church at the 8:30am service. It was really nice, our worship pastor Matt wrote a beautiful song that he sang with a small choir backing him up and they also had three little vignettes or skits, with a man and a woman acting out in mime to narration. Although it was cold here (42 degrees yesterday) and cloudy and windy, some ladies had on pretty spring Easter outfits. I didn't see that many little kids at church because it was the earliest service and most people come at 10am or 11:30am so I missed seeing the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits, that is always fun to see. Tim and I went over to my mom's for dinner at 3pm and Melissa, Tim's daughter came with us. We also took Anna and Tank. They had fun as my mom and stepdad's place has lots of room for them to run around safely outside in a big fenced area. We had a wonderful dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, fruit and red velvet cake from Costco for dessert. My stepdad's daughter and her family came over too so it was a nice group and we all had a good time visiting and catching up. My mom gave me some pretty purple and white and yellow and pink winter pansies for outside, I haven't even thought about planting any flowers in pots or hanging baskets yet as it's been too cold still.

Spring is here and Easter is coming!

It may be blustery and rainy here this week, but spring is here....daffodils are blooming, I have hyacinths coming up in my yard, and I hope to get over to get an Easter Lily this week (and also one to take to my mom's house as we are going over there for Easter dinner). I love tulips, daffodils, lillies, hyacinths....all the spring flowers.

Today, I am thankful for Jesus. I am thankful that He lives in my heart and that He through His holy spirit can guide and direct and communicate to me....that He can prompt me to pray for certain people or situations at various times, that He helps me when I feel weak and without peace, that He knows me and all my flaws but loves Me with a deep and everlasting love. And He feels this way about everyone He has created. When I stop and turn off all the distractions and just focus on the Lord and loving Him and thanking Him, my life flows so much better and with peace. I love Jesus! I am thankful for Easter! I am thankful that He gave His life on the cross and took all my sins and nailed them there. I am thankful that God's word in the Bible is true. Today, I stand on His word and I thank Him for it. I was just thinking when I was at church the other day how glad I was to be able to have the freedom to go to church and worship the Lord and hear His word being preached. So many around the world don't have that option, to worship Him in public. I am glad to live in the United States, where even if many things seem to be going haywire and contrary to God's word and plan and purpose in our society, we still are free to choose who or what we will worship. Some places in that world don't have that option. I read a story the other day about a small village in India where the Christians bamboo huts were burned down by radical Hindus. I thought about what would it be like to have your house burned down and lose everything you own because you are a Christian. We don't have that level of persecution here. And yet, sometimes I can be afraid to talk about Jesus to certain people or tell about His goodness. I don't want to be that way. I want the Lord to change me and make me brave to follow Him and speak and love how He wants me to, to whoever He wants me to.

Thoughts for today

Rainy day today in the Pacific Northwest. Cold and windy. March is going out like a lion.
Work was super busy today. Lots of client drama and trauma. So much of today I felt so ill-equipped....we had a client threatening suicide, another one who is 140 lbs overweight and needs knee surgery but it won't be authorized unless he loses weight...he is in pain and depressed and calls all the time time, very challenging individual to deal with. Sometimes I really think God has placed me in a job that is so so very hard and so what I do not want to do. Many times I just want to run away. I envy people who LOVE their work, I do like many aspects of my job, but sometimes dealing with the actual clients is so challenging and I just don't think I can or want to do it anymore after almost 30 years of it!
Our newly formed church knitting group met for our second meeting at my house last week. We had eight people, all women, one man! Half of us knit or want to learn knitting, the other half are crocheting. Our group goal is for each person to knit or crochet two baby hats by June to donate to the either one of the local hospitals or to New Beginnings, which is a local home through Youth With A Mission who help single pregnant young women with shelter, food, studying God's word, and helping them decide options in either keeping their babies or possible adoption. The group is a lot of fun so far...our token man is married and brought his wife last week...they are Asian and a very sweet couple, probably in their late 20's and the wife is pregnant and due in October. The husband works as a pharmacist in a local hospital. He wanted to learn to knit to make some beanies for himself and also make a few baby hats and items. He is finding it really relaxing and after two lessons is really catching on and knitting well. His wife wanted to learn to crochet and is doing well with learning that last week too.
I also have a friend from high school who I have reconnected with who lives a few blocks away who I have been knitting with every few weeks or so, taking turns going over to each other's homes for a few hours after work. She's coming over tomorrow night. I am presently working on an antique white baby blanket for a co-worker who is pregnant and also baby caps and a shawl called a 'gratitude shawl'. I also have a mint green baby blanket I started a few months ago I am working on. It is normal for me to have at least 3 or 4 knitting projects in the works!
I saw an orthopedic surgeon a few weeks ago for my first opinion about my hips. He said that at some point he predicts the Celebrex I am taking won't help as much and I will lose more range of motion and will need hip replacement surgeries done. He said it's genetic (my maternal grandmother had hip replacements but not till she was almost 80). He said he wouldn't do them at the same time. My primary care doctor feels I can make it for awhile functioning as I am before needing surgery. Walking and stretching will help. But I am struggling because walking hurts (muscles in my groin and butt from the arthritis in my hip joints pull and radiate pain) and stretching hurts. But I need to push past the hurt, to a point, as I know trying to keep limber and flexible is crucial. It's a choice I make daily, to walk or not, to stretch or not. I am going to see another ortho surgeon in a few weeks just to get a second opinion which I have been advised to do. I am thankful I have a good healthcare plan through my husband's work to be able to get these opinions, medication, etc. I am also praying too and asking the Lord to heal me. I have been looking up a lot of scriptures in the Bible on healing and bones...there's a lot in there about the bones...refreshing the bones, dry bones, moistening the bones, etc.

Lent

I pretty much failed last week sticking to my 'no unnecessary shopping-give up for lent' pledge. I bought some Easter cards, some birthday cards, a bracelet for $12.99 for myself. I also bought some baby sport yarn to make hats....but I really didn't 'need' to buy the yarn last week, even though it was on sale. The cards I can 'justify' as they are for others, but the bracelet I couldn't resist. There's a cool little drug store near where I live, that has the cutest cards and candles and pretty things....and they just recently got a shipment in of these cute stretchy bracelets...they are kind of antique-looking, like something you would see in Victoria Magazine. I bought a purple/pink butterfly one a few weeks ago, and when I went there again last week to get a birthday card (which I didn't need to do as I have birthday cards at home) I saw some more cute bracelets they had put out, so I caved and bought a pretty blue sparkly one with a big morning glory kind of flower on it. Yes, I could have resisted and walked away, but I didn't. It was payday, I had just been to the bank, and had to go into the drugstore to mail in my passport renewal stuff at the little post office inside. That's when the bracelets captured my attention again, I remembered them from when I was in a few weeks ago.

Already today I have been tempted to buy a book I saw on the Proverbs 31 website and a top at Ann Taylor Loft at the Mall. I saw the book at the link of a daily email devotional I get, so I just wrote it down on a list of 'wants'. The top which is a cute silk sleeveless one in a big roses pattern looked really cute for spring/summer but I checked online to see that it is $49.99, way too much. I will write it down on my list. It is interesting to kind of watch myself with my reactions...when I first saw the book this morning I wanted it immediately, and when I saw the top while walking this morning I started thinking about coming back over to the Mall at lunchtime to buy it. But I didn't. I realize I am very much an impulse buyer and it's a bad habit I need to break. I need to trust the Lord to be my provider and to help me be a good steward with what He has given me. One more top in my closet and one more book isn't being a good steward when I have a balance owing on two Visa credit cards. I really really need to pay those off and it isn't going to happen if I keep buying stuff I don't need. Clothes, costume jewelry, accessories, books, cards, stationery, cosmetics, shower & bath goodies, lotions, etc. are all big impulse weaknesses for me. All of that is stuff that depreciates so I need to be mindful of what I really need and what are just wants, which most of it is. I need to stick with my Lent plan this month of March, I figured I will start over today since it is the first of March. This is a harder fast for me than to give up certain kinds of food, which I have done before.

Tomorrow I go in for my appointment with the ortho surgeon about my hips. I am very curious to find out what he will say. I am praying and trusting God through it all, although I do feel a little anxious in thinking about what will I do if I need to have hip replacement surgery at such a young (52 almost) age. I have never had any major surgery and it is kind of scary to think about.

Knitting to Bless Others!

Over the past few years, I have been knitting a lot of scarves & hats, shawls and baby hats and blankets. I feel like it has sort of a ministry that God has called me to. I love to knit, and have been knitting since I was 10 or 11 years old. Lately I have been making a lot of baby hats and giving them to new babies at our church. I recently sent a couple of baby blankets to a couple of young mothers whose blogs I follow. I sent a baby blanket to a local baby who was in our news, very sad story though...the baby Abbey's mom, Katie Flyte, was in her late twenties last summer and pregnant with Abbey when she contracted the swine flu and died from complications from it. Abbey was born several weeks early at only a few pounds, and her mother Katie never got to see her as she was in a coma. Abbey had to stay in the hospital from July till October then got to go home with her dad, Kenny and her older brother Jacob who is three now. A lot of local people rallied to help Kenny and there were fund raisers and People Helpers Fund from a local tv station, KOMO, gave money to help, as Kenny was a laid off construction worker who had just lost his young wife to swine flu and now had two little ones to take care of. When Abbey got to come home, I contacted an aunt of hers and was able to send some cute baby hats and rose pink baby blanket I knitted for Abbey...that was back in October.
On February 1st this year, there was a news story on tv that baby Abbey had stopped breathing in her crib after her dad put her down...he had gone back in to check on her, and they thought later that he had come in during the middle of a SIDS episode. Kenny gave her CPR and she's been in Childrens Hospital in Seattle on a ventilator with brain damage since then. Just a few nights ago, he had to make the decision to take Abbey off the ventilator and she went home to be with Jesus and her mother, Katie. They had the news story on last night that Abbey had died. I have been in touch with her aunt, Jill, after I heard what happened on February 1st and she said that there had been brain damage and the doctors didn't know if Abbey would end up with cerebral palsy, seizures and long term care for sure. She wasn't able to breathe on her own. After she was taken off the ventilator she passed away in her dad's arms a few hours later. She also was an organ donor and her heart valves will be donated to help another little baby.

Now it's just Kenny and Jacob.

I was thinking about Abbey the past few days and thinking about knitting and wanting to do something in her honor. I don't know what. Maybe knitting some things and selling them to give the money to Kenny and Jacob through the Peoples Fund at KOMO, or send something through the aunt I have contact with. Or knit some hats and donate them to the local children's hospital in her memory. I am not sure, but I want to do something, so I am praying and asking God to give me His thoughts and ideas about this.

Another thing I love to do is send out cards to people for all kinds of reasons...birthdays, get well, etc. 'Snail' mail is so much fun to send and receive!

Giving something up for Lent

I've only ever seriously given anything up for the Lent season one time...a few years ago I gave up chips/Cheetoes and candy. I made it through the whole time without caving in once. I am not Catholic but I like the idea of giving up something/fasting something that I usually want to have or do. One of my bosses told me yesterday he is giving up Facebook for Lent. I talked to a co-worker this morning, and she and I decided to give up unneccessary shopping for Lent....meaning clothes, books, costume jewelry, makeup, skin-care items, greeting cards, CD's, DVD's....all the stuff we are drawn to....and for me, that would include yarn also. It is going to be a challenge because already this morning after we agreed to do this, one of my other bosses came by to tell us that Macy's has a 80% off sale going on right now on winter clothes/suits for work, etc....and my friend and I both looked at each other like "help!!". This is good though. I seriously have enough of all of the things listed above to last me until Easter. I cannot think of one thing that I will 'need' to buy. This is going to be a good lesson for me in self-control and using and enjoying what I already have.

Minvera Hickman

I signed up for two weeks free on Ancestry.com and found some pictures of my great-great-great grandmother, Minerva Hickman. She had a son named Survivor Hickman. He had a daughter Janette who had a son named Darrel Thornton, who had my father, Jack.

A giveaway contest by Karla Dornacher

Karla announced this scrapbook giveaway on her blog, and said to post it for others to enter too!

www.karladornacher.com

Flowers from Tim and new print for my office

Tim sent me roses to work last week when I found out about the hip arthritis....that was really sweet as he knew I was distressed hearing the news!

Also, this is a new print I ordered from Karla Dornacher. I took it to Joann's to be matted and framed, it turned out really great!

thoughts and musings of the various kind

I packed up the baby blankets for Levi and Calla and sent them out in the mail yesterday, I was really happy to bless both of these little ones with a hand-knitted blanket. I meant to take pictures of them before I sent them, but I'll do that with the next one I knit. I have hot pink, turquoise, and mint green Pound of Love Baby yarn to make more blankets. So I need to pick a color, I think I will go with the hot pink. I am also working on a blue and brown striped baby hat (boy) right now.

I went out to dinner last night with my best friend Tami from grade school/junior high. We've been in touch off and on through the years, but more so over the past four years. We had delicious shrimp salads at the Nordstrom cafe after work and spent a great time catching up. There's really nothing like an old dear friend who knew you when you were 9 years old, we have some great memories and we still connect and laugh so well. She's a strong Christian too, which is wonderful...she gave me some good perspective on some extended family matters that have been difficult lately.

I received word from my doctor a few weeks ago that after having x-rays taken, I have advanced oesteo-arthritis in both of my hips! I knew over the last year or more the stiffness and pain I've been feeling at the top of my legs/pelvic area and loss of range of motion probably was arthritis, since I have some in my back and know what it feels like...a deep dull ache. But I have been taking Celebrex for awhile for my back and it helps with the pain. I wanted to get checked out for my hips though, since I've been having more problems with stiffness, putting on socks/shoes, etc. The right hip x-ray shows advanced arthritis with possible neurcrosis which could mean some bone area is dead or dying at the hip bone. The left hip showed advanced arthritis too, nothing mentioned though about the neucrosis. I see an orthopedic surgeon in early March. I am trying to keep my peace and not worry about whether or not I will be told I need hip replacement surgeries...but my family doctor just told me he thinks I will need it at some point at least for my right hip. Inside I feel "not fair, I am only 51!!) and I am kind of mad at myself for not exercising more throughout my life, thinking maybe if I hadn't been so sporadic about exercising I'd be in better shape or wouldn't have ended up with arthritis. I have been reading a lot about arthritis in hips though over the last few weeks, and there's all kinds of reasons you can get it. I started walking again at the mall before work on Monday with two co-workers a half an hour before work, we are going to walk Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and then eventually try to work more time in. I am pretty stiff when I start but walking does help loosen up my hip joints. I have been reading a lot about diet too and foods that affect arthritis positively and negatively. Red meat is bad, as is sugar which just fuels the inflammation. Fish is good as are berries, most fruits except oranges, and vegetables.

On top of the arthritis diagnosis, I found out my cholestrol is too high. My doctor has given me three months to try to bring it down with diet and exercise before having to go on medication, which I don't want to do. I have been avoiding cheese (which I love :-( ) and fast foods and fried foods and white flour/sugar products. Lots of salads, fish, oatmeal, heart healthy Kashi cereal, vegetables, apples. I've been really watching it for a week now, and I have so say my jeans feel looser already and I am sure the walking will help too. I figure if I can take off 15 lbs in 3 months, that will put me really close to my normal weight and it should also help my hip joints. I read that every extra pound is like 3 to 5 lbs of extra pressure on your joints.

I am sorry that it has taken a couple of serious health issues to make me wake up and pay attention to my lack of consistent exercise and not so great eating habits (hence the high cholestrol) but I am determined to succeed at feeling better with the arthritis with diet and exercise and lowering the cholestrol with that too. I don't know what the ortho surgeon will say. I have seen him before for a broken arm 13 years ago, and a stress fracture in my left ankle. I have oesteoporosis that was diagnosed 10 years ago, but it has been getting better with medication and calcium, etc. It may have something to do with the hip arthritis I don't know.

Knitting projects

Just to keep myself on track:
1. Almost finished with denim blue baby blanket for Levi.
2. Will start a few new baby hats this weekend.

I located an old high school friend through Facebook, and it turns out she lives only blocks away from me. So we've gotten together now twice at each other's homes on Wednesday nights over the past month to knit...turns out Lynn just learned to knit in December and loves it. It's been really fun to catch up on life and sit together for a few hours and knit. She has a few co-workers who are interested in putting a knitting group together, where 4 or 5 of us would meet once a month to knit. That is something I have wanted to do for awhile. We can just work on our own projects. It might be fun too to make some things for charity, like baby caps and pet blankets and shawls/lap blankets.

Some Goals for 2010

l. To get my house more organized, especially upstairs. To get rid of a lot of stuff, streamline, put things in their place, etc.

2. Read my "Sparkling Gems" by Rick Renner devotional book every morning. Continue with my Bible reading every day.

3. Pray and journal. Everyday, write a prayer in my journal for whoever and whatever God lays on my heart. I have been doing this the past few days and I love how God just flows through my words for prayer journaling...then I read it back outloud and continue to pray for that person/situation, etc. when I think of it during the day.

4. Goal is to walk at the mall in the mornings before work, at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

5. Cut back on sugar, white flour, junk food. Need to lose 20 lbs....10 lbs would be awesome!

6. Send out more cards/notes/letters to friends and family.

7. Make more of an effort to reach out to friends...new and old...to get together.

8. Make date times with my husband...since he works swing shift lately, this is needed more than ever. We really need to spend good quality time together on the weekends.

9. Try to listen better and not interupt people when they are talking...especially my husband!!

10. Pay off two credit card bills. This year. And do not charge any more on them!!

Baby hat models!

Here are few pictures some friends of mine from church sent me of their babies wearing hats I knitted for them.