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.