Enough already

So here we are at the end of February and I am sick, again. This time I thought I'd be sensible and go to the doctor before my sinus infection dropped into my chest and turned into yet another case of bronchitis. But the health care world doesn't work like that. Try to wait the thing out and they tell you that you should have come sooner; make an effort to nip it in the bud, and they'll say you're there too soon. I sat in the office long enough to get some antibiotics, which I hope will take care of the viral thing turning bacterial, but I still feel horrible. Our CVS was OUT of Sudafed, can you believe it? Even keeping it behind the counter and away from the meth makers isn't sufficient to keep this wonder drug in stock. I made it to my day job Thurs and Fri, I cancelled my Thursday evening class, and this morning R got up and took D#1 to swim practice (a true indication of how ill I must look, although he is a tactful fellow).

Some of us aren't bothered by all the human sturm und drang. Here is Fleur on/in her new favorite sleeping place:

And here is my second Noro scarf, far more muted in approach than the first:

Here is D#2's sweater-in-progress (it's cute but a boring knit thus far):

And this is the weekend when I have a lot to read:

I haven't counted recently, but there might be 220 of these things. Pass the Kleenex.

Miscellany

Aside from an advisee crisis (non-life-threatening), this has been a pretty calm weekend.

We puppy-sat. The puppy is all of a sudden quite huge, and she was much better behaved this time than the last. I was happy to have her visiting us again, but the truth is that R does the lion's share of the work with a dog in the house. He seemed happy to have a dog around and for the first time in our acquaintance with this dog I didn't think he was feeling guilty about being glad. Well, it makes sense to me.

We went to the Cape to celebrate my mother-in-law's 85th birthday (went yesterday, birthday is today) and she seemed happy to have us all turn up. She is pretty chipper despite the fact that she has lost most of her core group of friends in recent years -- one to Alzheimer's, several to moves to warmer climes, and recently one has had a series of falls and is unlikely to be allowed to live on her own; that friend is now living in a nursing home near her only child in CT.

I've been in the kitchen this weekend too --I made bread, apple cake, and carrot-ginger soup.

And I couldn't resist -- I cast on my second Noro scarf! I find the K1P1 soothing and the change in colors endlessly fascinating. I'm using a much different color scheme than the first one and am happy with this, too. Those people are geniuses with color.

Yes, I'm watching the run up to the Oscars. D#2 is clearly Heidi Klum's kindred spirit in terms of accessories.

Did you notice that it's spring training?

Birthday and Valentine Weekend

This is D#1, nearing the end of her 200 fly in the prelims/finals meet last month. I believe she's coming to the turn end (and thus the final 25 yards of the race). Still getting those arms out! Pretty amazing.

We have had a delightful weekend with so few work responsibilities that I hardly knew what to do with myself at first. Luckily I came to my senses and remembered the taxes, the financial forms, the birthday preparations for my spouse's natal day, and the all-important Valentine's Day festivities.

Ah, Valentine's Day. I think D#2 was more excited about Valentine's Day this year than she ever has been about Christmas or Hanukkah or even, possibly, her birthday--she's been dressing in special pink and heart-themed outfits all week, and yesterday she was up at 6:15 as her sister and I were getting ready to leave for the pool. She was mightily disappointed to be sent back to bed to await our return.

Sirius also doesn't mess around when it comes to holidays. This kitty has taken possession of a big pile of valentines; note the crossed paws and regal attitude... but later on he got distracted, so I was able to take some pictures of these works of art. This one is my favorite:

I especially like the fact that D#2 put herself and me in amongst the dancing hearts.

Here's the dream swatch I made with the leftover Sunshine Yarns (Trek colorway, size 6 US needles). It is over 6 feet long, blocking. I love how this yarn blooms after a wash. I wish I could take a photo that shows you the interplay of chocolate and slate blue. The best I can do is show it stretching off into an infinity of blocking pins...

I'm currently at work on a couple of other projects --D#2's sweater, and the Red Sox Traveling scarf (I currently have scarf #3 in my possessoin). And soon the Dragonfly in Amber swap will get underway!

Jocelyn tagged me for an award recently -- it was lovely of her to do so! She is such a talented knitter, designer, mom, academic, and explainer of thinking that I'm a little boggled by her interest in these ramblings --but I am most grateful for her friendship and extremely flattered by this. Here are the rules:

1. Copy the award to your site
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers
4. Link to those on your blog
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Pleased as I am, the part about tagging seven others is a tad overwhelming. So I'm going to rebelliously tag only SIX of the folks I read regularly and who have not, as far asI know, already received this particular award. I herewith send you off to visit 1) Carolynn, whom I know as the chieftess Fiona Fraser, 2) Paul, Down Under, 3) fellow Sox fan Courtney, also known as Koto-chan, 4) another member of a swap family, Sassenach (she's reading one of my all-time faves right now, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome) ...5) Breadchick, whom I found by reading What I Cooked Last Night, and 6) Marit (I can't wait until her computer is no longer giving her fits). Enjoy these creative, insightful writers!

Bush fires

Reading the news isn't enough; these stories need to be told by individuals, and through blogs and other Internet miracles it is possible to keep the human face visible, and those in crisis in our thoughts.

100th Day of School

My youngest took the requisite poster with 100 beads glued on to school today. I felt bad, because we didn't have time to work with her on it, and it's by no means as elaborate as she wanted it to be. Still she's so focused on Valentine's Day that I think she'll cut us some slack. It gets busy around now, though; I love that Valentine's Day is immediately followed by my spouse's birthday but given the way expectations around Valentine's Day are ramping up in a serious way around here it's likely to be a busy (and chocolate-y) weekend.

I'm trying to find a baseball-ish stitch motif for the 3rd of the Red Sox traveling scarves to come my way. It needs to work over 27 stitches and most of the patterns I've seen really work best on a multiple of 4. I wish I were better at mapping out these things myself! I know that I'm not good at visualizing/designing; thus far my skill seems to be knowing what a specific yarn wants to be when it is knit.

While I've been procrastinating about one major bit of school work (advisor letters due Monday) and a book review (overdue, don't ask), I have been checking some things off a longterm to-do list, and today I took the first step toward finding a new PCP. I'm tired of the way my current doctor deals with me (ordering many tests without really taking the time to figure out what's going on, dropping inquiries mid-stream, poor communication, etc). I'm a basically healthy person but do have some ongoing issues that need some attention, and I feel as though my current PCP doesn't take me seriously. So I've been wanting to move on for over a year and I just got the name of someone who is well-regarded, close to home, and accepting new patients. I called this afternoon and have an appointment for May!

We may get a break from the bitter cold this weekend -- it would be nice to get rid of some of the multiple inches of solid ice on the driveway but I don't know where the stuff is going to go when it melts....

After the Groundhog

Yes, more snow today. This winter will *never* end. And the wintry mood brought on by talk of budget shortfalls and the need to cut expenses isn't helping. (But the girls who just returned to the dorm from a late advisory meeting tell me that the snow is beautiful and sparkly in the moonlight -- and it has covered up allt he dirty old snow, so that's a good thing.)

I have to say, too, that I am saddened by the mess surrounding the Daschle nomination. I don't think it's too righteous of me to expect senators to pay their taxes like all the rest of us. Is it?

We had a somewhat depressing discussion at lunch today about a student who confronted his English teacher with the statement that he really didn't like literature and wanted to read only Dan Brown novels. I hope I'm long done teaching when there's nobody left who likes to read Melville.

I'm finally ready to part with one of the Red Sox traveling scarves in my possession (fortunately I still have one left to console me). I love the pattern I found for this one in Luxury Yarns: One Skein Wonders. It's called "petite cables" and it looks really nice in the Valley Yarns Northampton. Other than that, I've been so busy with duty and comments and senior projects that I've had little time to knit (or sleep, or spend time at home ... yeah). Once my advisor reports are out of the way I hope things will ease up a little. I have lots of projects in mind, and am trying to knit down my stash a bit. Yesterday I sent a box of partial skeins to Girls, Inc after reading about their effort to teach girls to knit.

The equipment truck leaves Fenway on Friday, & pitchers and catchers report next week!