A few things…

First an answer:

For Anon who left a comment the other day: Tish is using STR Medium Weight – color is Knitty Rocks.

I need to find that e-mail notification thingy they have ob Blogger now so I can get back to people in a timely manner.

Second:

OMG I am so bored at work it isn’t even funny! If I sat somewhere not in the public eye, I’d be knitting with my back to the door. If only I could be like IFTish. She can be on a string of conference calls and if she doesn’t have to brow beat them into submission, she sometimes sits and knits.

This is how bored I am. More plant pictures.

This tulip plant was given to me on Monday by another friend here in the office who’s last day was today. L If she didn’t find something before the end of the month, then she was going to be laid off. She found something so good for her!

We’re going to be getting a lot of work in the next few weeks. We have a major submission to a state agency which will involve putting together 12 copies of 7 different binders. Yup – 84, 3” binders. That’s going to be a pain in the butt, but at least we’ll be busy then.

Third:
Did I ever show you where I work on Wednesdays when I go to the client site? This picture was taken from Google Earth, so I’m not showing you anything that anyone else can see. They tend to get a little hinkey about taking personal photos there.

I do drive right by a whole bunch of oil tanks to get to the field office. It has got to the point where if I don’t have smell the smell of gas/oil once a week, I feel like there’s something missing.

Fourth:

My Cock-Knee shot was on Tuesday. It was interesting. I thought it would be unbelievably painful since the shot had to go in my knee. But the actual shot felt like I was getting a flu shot or something. Then when the rooster juice was going into my knee I felt pressure. When all was said and done with, it was a little difficult to bend my knee, and when I stood on it Whooo Boy! Stars! OUCH10 . When I got home, I kept it up and iced it, as per instructions, and it still hurts a bit. By the end of the day yesterday it really hurt so I did the ice and elevation thing again. Today it seems to be better.

I have shot #2 next Tuesday. At least I know what to expect.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll actually show you some knitting!

This cracks me up!

Ad taken from Facebook.

Handsome Professional Men

Seriously? Handsome? The dude only has 1.5 eyebrows? He must have drank too much, passed out and woke up with this look.

I’ve wanted to blog more…

… but there really isn’t anything all that interesting going on in my life right now. So I thought maybe I’d show you how utterly bored I am at work.

I’ve resorted to taking pictures of my plant. I think it’s cool that my Christmas Cactus is blooming again so close to Easter! Well thanks to Tish anyway. I’m not good with plants.

Christmas 2007, Tish bought both of us Christmas Cacti, in the same cute little pot. So this year hers started to bloom and she switched it with mine. I was away from my desk for half an hour and actually thought for a minute that my plant had all of a sudden sprouted all these buds. See. Bad with plants. Totally clueless. Then it dawned on me that Tish must have switched hers for mine. She switched it again when the one in her office started to bloom a month or so later. Then another switch last week, so this is the third time she’s switched it out.

She doesn’t have me fooled any more. heh

Tomorrow is the first shot for my knee. I’m so excited just to get the process started. I may not feel better till a couple weeks after the last shot, but at least there is an end in sight.

Is There a Target On My Back?

Or better yet, when did I become a bad employee? All of a sudden I am being reported to HR for not working my assigned hours and given all sorts of crap for trying to arrange time out of the office for appointments for my knee.

Maybe I just don’t get why someone who has been in the work force for 28 years (HOLY HELL!) has to be treated like a teenager at their first job. Next week they’ll start asking me to punch a time clock.

GAH! (as Bezzie would say)

Let’s move onto a much pleasanter topic…

Look! Imaginary Friend Tish is making a sock! It’s her very first sock and it is coming out so pretty!
She is using some Socks that Rock she purchased at Rhinebeck.

In order for me to be able to show her how to turn the heel, pick up the stitches along the heel flap, decrease along the gusset and eventually, do the toe decreases and grafting, I decided the YO Cable sock would be my instructional knit a long sock.

I'm keeping the foot plain for clearer visual instruction. Tish has done a beautiful job. You should see how pretty the gusset looks, the decreases are not lumpy or bumpy or wandering in the wrong direction like my first sock (thank GOD it was felted after I finished).

BTW – does anyone know a good pattern for 700-800 yards of Noro Silk Garden Bulky? I’ve looked through Ravelry and the majority of the projects are hats and bags.

Online dating = blog fodder

I’ve joined one of the on-line dating sites, one of the bigger ones that you see advertised all over the place. I’ve been a member since January and have had absolutely no luck. I’ve had a lot of guys looking at my profile, but a very few actually contacting me.

I’ve been trying to push myself to scan all the profiles of the guys who fit my criteria, but I have a bunch of hang ups that prevent me from doing that. I figure I’m interested in them, but they would never be interested in me because I’m overweight. Some days I get over it and I’ll write a guy who really stands out. Usually I don’t even get a response. Why do guys do that?

The one time I did actually get a response we chatted on line a bit and then started chatting on the phone. After a few long phone calls we finally arranged to meet for a drink one Saturday evening.

We met at 5:00 at a local chain type restaurant. I should have known that the reason he had a photo sort of far away wasn’t so I could see a full body shot, but because he was much better looking the further away from him you were. Remember that line from Tootsie?

“Can you pull further back?"
“How about Cleveland?”

Anyway, we shook hands outside the restaurant and he asked for a table. He said he was hungry, and I was too so we decided to eat. Neither of us ordered a drink (I probably should have). As we were looking at the menu I tried to make small talk and it was nothing but awkward silence. That should have been another sign.

He did open up after we ordered. He asked me how my week was and I told him about a special ID card I had to apply for so I could continue to work at one of my company's project sites. This site happens to have access to open waterways and frequently has tanker ships pull into their berths. The ID proves that I'm a US citizen and that I haven't jumped off a ship or something, but I digress. My date then went off on a series of tangents; he wondered if the people who work around the Great Lakes would need the same ID and then he eventually started telling me all about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

That’s right. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. He stayed on this topic for the remainder of our time together. Now just try and get that song out of your head. ;-)

There was a table of women next to us (and behind him) and as they were leaving one of the women caught my eye and she gave me an “oh you poor thing I’m so sorry” look.

We both paid for our meals and then left the restaurant. My knee was hurting and I couldn’t walk as quickly as normal, but even if I did, this guy would still have practically ran from me to his car. I had to yell “It was nice meeting you” at his back. I kid you not. I was so rattled by this that I stood next to a car that looked similar to mine, pushing the unlock on my key fob before I realized that my car was 2 spaces over. I was in my car, on the way home shortly before 6:00. Fastest dinner date ever.

If nothing else, I have a good story for the blog.

Actual knitting content

Shocking isn’t it?

I have 2 finishes, a WIP, and a start to report. I completed my Eye of Keith Partridge shawl. It still needs to be steam blocked along the top edge, but I’m really happy with it.

I also finished a pair of socks. I’d wanted to try some “Flat Feet” I had in my stash, so I caved in and cast on. I love the way the color translated onto the socks. I finished the toe of the second sock last night.

And I started another pair of socks. A while back I used the Yarn Over Cable pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and I loved it. So I ripped out a pair of socks I had started with some Smooshy in Butter Peeps and started the new pair. I’m so happy with the result, and the sock is knitting up really fast. I forgot to take a picture because I was getting tax stuff together and making sure I didn’t forget some things I needed to bring into work.

The lunch knitting sock is coming along. At least I’m past the heel and onto the foot.

I think I’m back in the sock swing again, which is a good thing because I have so much sock yarn.

And last but not least, I got a copy of Knitcircus in the mail (thanks to an offer to share an issue with a friend). I think it’s a great magazine, has a lot of interesting articles as well as patterns and a few other goodies. I’m planning on subscribing. You should definitely check it out.

Since I only have 2 knitting photos... Here is a recent picture of my coffee brown cat.

I loves my veemin Deeeeee.

My NFL Career ending injuries ;-)

I had all good intentions to blog more often this month, but that sure didn’t happen.

So, what’s new with me?

A few weeks back we were expecting a storm, and so my knees were characteristically aching. Usually when that happens, the knees stop hurting when the storm starts. I’m accurate to within 24 hours. It can be really handy.

This time, the right knee didn’t stop hurting. It kept getting worse, to the point where I decided I needed to go to my doctor. He ordered an MRI and I was able to get in that week. 3 days later he called me with the results. It was so bad that when I asked for pain pills he offered up the heavy duty stuff right away. Let’s just say there is a list of things wrong with the knee, including an almost total tear of my ACL, which would end the season for an NFL player. The damage to my knee is so extensive, that if I were an NFL player I'd be done. (Sad that this is how my brain is wired.)

So I went to an Ortho Surgeon last week. The knee is as bad as it seems and the left one isn’t all that much better. We talked about options, what we could do to get the knee feeling and working better. Option 1 is cortisone. I’m not too crazy about that because it isn’t going to last that long (about a month if it works) and I can only get 3 shots a year. So that saves me 3 months till I have to try something else.

Option 2 is something the doctor called “Rooster shots”. My Mom & Dad both had these shots and they worked really well for them. The product their doctor used is called Synvisc, and is made from rooster combs. Somehow it coats the joint and helps to relieve the pain from arthritis. The treatment will last up to 6 months. My mom had relief for 10 – 11 months.

Option 3 is surgical. It would mean a knee replacement. The replacement knees used to last 10 years so they tried to only put them in folks who were older and wouldn’t have to have a second replacement because of wear and tear. But over the years they’re finding that they replacements are lasting longer, as much as 30 years. So it would be an option for me.

Cortisone isn’t really a good option I think. So it buys me a couple more months. I’m still not going to have as good a result as I hope to get with the Synvisc. So that’s what I’m going to do. The doctor ordered the product and they’ll call me to set up my appointments when it comes in. I’ll have to get 1 shot a week for three weeks.

Keep your fingers crossed that this works for me. If it doesn’t, then the only choice I’ll have is surgery. Honestly, deep down, I know the surgery is inevitable.