Happy Memorial Day!

It's Memorial Day weekend, thank you God for a three day weekend. Yesterday, I had a mixed day. It started out wonderful, Chuck and I went over to Janet's house to feed the cats and then went to breakfast at Ihop. Chuck wanted to go for a ride, so we headed to Gainesville to see Jason and the boys. They weren't home, but we caught up to them and spent most to the day with them. It was really neat to see the three of them. I started getting out of sorts a little while we were there and it just went downhill from there. I really don't know what was going on in my head. After we got home, we watched part of a really good cowboy movie. Chuck wanted to go to the Chinese buffet for supper, so we did. It was good. Chuck actually ate some crab legs....lol. He cracked them and ate every bite he could get out of the shell. I was tickled to see him eating them. That is something he has not ever done before.

Today, I woke up in a great mood and Chuck was not feeling well. Yesterday was my day and today is his. I went to Church by myself, came home, got Chuck and we went to Captain D's for lunch. I enjoyed to fish for a change. We sat and talked for quite awhile. We both really missed having lunch with Bob, Becky and Rachel, but we lived...lol. They had a chance to spend some time with one of their son's that lives out of state. I hope they all had a great time together.

Bob, Becky and Rachel just got back from Destin, FL. We really missed them and was jealous that they were at the beach. Becky brought me some really neat sock yarn from one of the yarn shops that they visited. It is so beautiful! I am working on sock warmers for a coworker. I am almost finished with them and need to make a pair for her very beautiful baby daughter. They will have matching leg warmers.....how cute will that be! As soon as they are done, I am going to make a pair of socks for Chuck, then I will make me a pair using the new sock yarn. The yarn is very soft, it is made of alpacha and merino wool, silk and nylon. It is self striping, hand painted yarn. The socks are going to be beautiful.

That's another cool thing, now that I think about it. Chuck is really looking forward to his next pair of hand knit socks. He has always said that he didn't want me to make him some socks. But, now that I made him a pair and he has felt how good they feel on his feet, he loves them. I will probably make him four or five pairs at least. He is not a big sock wearer, but I know this winter he will be wearing them all the time. His next pair is going to be a slightly variegated red, kind of on the dark side.

Tonight, we are going to Church for a memorial service for Carl. His wife Helen goes to our Church. Carl went to be with the Lord last weekend and we are going to celebrate his home coming tonight. We are going to serve dinner for the family right after the service. I made a huge salad, with all the trimmings. It will be a sad time, but a good time all in one. Carl is where a lot of us really would like to be, sitting at the right hand side of our Father.

Tomorrow, I am going to cook us breakfast and have some hot dogs and chips later on for lunch/dinner. I plan on washing the dog bedding in all the dog crates and them work on more laundry, knit and might even take a nap.

I took a crazy sleep apnea test the other night, as a demo for a new piece of equipment at work. It showed that I stopped breathing 3 times during the night and snored 500 times in an hour. Chuck says I snore, but it sounds like a cat purring. So, I guess I have sleep apnea, but only mildly. The consulting doc reported that I could benefit from a cpap machine at night and that my snoring could be corrected by seeing an ENT for an in office procedure. That scares me to death. I don't think I want anything done to my nose. I already have a fear of suffocating and almost have panic attacks when I get a sinus infection and my nose is stopped up. So, I guess I won't be seeing an ENT any time soon. I might look into getting a cpap machine tho, I'll have to see how much my insurance company will pay. I haven't met my deductible yet, but I do still have flex spending money that could be used to pay for what they don't cover. We'll see.

I hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

Kilt hose

Well here are the kilt hose that I finally finished! As you can see Mike is tickled to death with them. They were custom made to match the kilt he is wearing here in this photo with me. The cuffs are entrelac - blue and yellow, with a darker blue picot at the top and bottom of the cuff. The leg is the darker blue in a pattern called "Links of Love". There is no pattern for these kilt hose--I winged it! We did complete measurements of Mike's leg and guessed the number of stitches needed to fit his leg and foot. We did it! I had him try them on very often to make sure that they fit. I really love the colors.

My writing career is growing with leaps and bounds. I have several clients that I do SEO writing for. I am working with a very sweet lady that lives in CA. She was a beauty queen a few years ago and a very beautiful one, I might add. She wants to write a book about finding the true beauty. I have started on it and will have lots of fun with it. I have started my first book, also. It is called, "Are you sure, God?" You will have to wait to see it in print to find out what it is about. I will tell you that it is mostly about my life, from beginning to death. I know, I'm still alive, but you will just have to read the book to see the ending, you'll love it.

Chuck has good days and bad days. We think he had another small stroke last week. His face is drooping worse and he slept for about three straight days, just like when the first one happened. Of course he didn't want to go to the hospital, as they really can't do anything for him. He takes Plavix to thin down his platlets. They are not able to do much for stroke patients that take Plavix. So, we just keep going and trusting God to take care of both of us.

Where in the world have you been?

In case you haven't noticed, it's been a year since I've posted anything on this wonderful blog. Maybe you haven't noticed or don't even care....lol.

Well, I think I'm back. It's been a very hard two years, but I think life is getting a little better.

For those that don't know, my mom passed away last April. She had cancer in several places, both lungs, her liver, hip, spine, and small intestine. The bad part is she didn't want my brother and I to know, so she kept it quiet for several years. The only way we found out was after we got the results of a CT, which showed in a couple of the places. We had her admitted to the hospital the next day and they ran more test and found the other four places. The cancer was too far gone to do anything. She even decided she didn't even want to know what kind of cancer it was. We brought her home to my house. The said she might have about two months, but died two weeks later.

I know God has his hands all in it, because, I had just had minor surgery the day before we got her first results. I had two weeks off work, so I could stay home and take care of her. I cherished every minute I had with her. We were able to clear the air on some personal issues and got pretty close before she died. She was able to see all her family and friends before she died, as well. The only thing I hated was that the day she died, I chose to go back to work. I thought she had more time and it would be ok. Chuck was home with her when God decided to take her home.

We still have not been able to sell her house, but we are still trying. My garage is full of junk that I brought from her house and I still have to bring home a china cabinet, the china and crystal, and a daybed. Lord only knows where I'm going to put it all.

But, as life goes on, things get better and better. I'm not knitting as much, but have gone back to the old love of writing. I'm working as a freelance writer....part time. I found a really cool site that lets you bid on jobs and I have actually been doing a lot of writing. It is really good therapy and lots of fun. Most of the work I do, I can pull from my head....others I have to do some research on and that's fun, since I get to learn something new and I have always said, you should never stop learning. If you do, your life is over and I'm not ready for it to be over yet.....lol.

I am in the middle of a knitting project that is a slow mover. I'm knitting kilt hose for a friend at Church. The pattern is called 'links of love' with entrelac cuffs. The colors are dark blue, yellow and medium blue......loud, but nice! I am about a half inch away from starting the heel flap. The reason it is taking so long to finish these, is Mike has such a large leg. I can usually knit a pair of sock in about two weeks, but these are taking forever. I'll post a photo when they are done. They match Mike's new custom made kilt. We took a swatch of the fabric to the Yarn Garden and matched the colors perfectly. Hopefully he will let me take a photo with him wearing the kilt and the hose, that will be awesome.

I tried sock knitting on a loom, but hated it, so that's an art that will not be kept up in the Brown house. I still like 2 sox on 2 circs....thanks to Cathy! I have about six pair of socks to knit once these kilt hose are finished. I have been collecting sock yarn, I have some gorgeous colors just waiting to be knit into socks. Well I guess I'm off to finish my article on starting a pet business. It pays enough for a meal out for Chuck and I....lol.