Erica’s Blog

Had a request for a picture of my “Double Sophie” in progress, so here it is.  I hadn’t intended to do quite so many stripes, but I get bored.  ;->  It’s for a friend for her birthday next month.  She needs a good birthday b/c she’s grieving her mother’s recent death.  She told me her favorite color was pink, but she didn’t say what shade.  With so many different colors in here, I’m bound to have included it….

For the knitters out there, what I did was take the Sophie pattern and double everything.  When I get to the straps, since it will be 12 stitches instead of six, I’ll do three four-stitch straps, make them a tad longer than the pattern says, then braid them.  I’m also planning to do a little flappy-doodle thing as a closure; I’m just not sure how long to make it.  Then I get to buy a button.  ;->

Oh, and for those who care, the yarns, from the bottom (brightest color) up are:

• Galway - Passion (#141)
• Lamb’s Pride - Victorian Pink
• Lamb’s Pride - RPM Pink
• Galway - Passion
• Galway - Pink (#114 I THINK; I lost the label.)
• Galway - Passion
• Lamb’s Pride - RPM Pink

Oh, and the stripes in the bottom are the Galway Pink.

We didn’t make it to the meeting tonight.  Thing Two is still hacking up hairballs (kept her home from art class today - bummer!), so I didn’t get a sitter.  Plus, hubby is STILL at work.  This is highly unusual for him, but 1) they have an audit going on, so during normal hours he kept getting interrupted to do stuff for that and couldn’t get any real work done, and 2) he’ll be in an all-day training tomorrow, so he had to get stuff done today.

I can’t wait to hear about how the meeting went.  I hope the rest of the Reunion Rescue contingent went.  There is bound to be a flurry of emails about it tomorrow.

OK, this is the doll I’m going make for my friend’s baby.  Her hubby is a dark-skinned black man, and she’s very white, so I’m going to make the face & hands medium brown.  I’ll use a couple of bright colors for the bunting.  It will all be indestructible acrylic.  [For anyone who's been watching this blog for a few months, this is the same pattern I used for Baby Hannah's doll.]

I still haven’t decided on what blanket to make, though I’m leaning toward that feather-and-fan one.  Something lacy would be pretty for a girl. I would just have to alternate the colors or something b/c I wouldn’t use two strands at once for that.

OK, I’m officially falling apart; I must be getting old or something.  Oh, yeah…I am 40 now.

The whole right side of my body is “all jacked up” as my friend Carmen would say.  It started on Saturday morning with my hip hurting.  Whenever I get up from sitting down, it really hurts, and I hobble around.  Then, somewhere along the way, my right wrist started hurting.  It’s either from too much computer or too much knitting or too much computer AND too much knitting.  I’m cutting back on the computer b/c I certainly can’t cut back on the knitting!  ;->  I am, however, making myself take breaks more often.  Yesterday morning, my right shoulder blade area started hurting.  Then, yesterday, the Things and I were on our way out to drop off some stuff for hubby and have a picnic lunch by the Bay, and stepped wrong and twisted my right ankle.  Yes, THAT ankle.  The one I’ve sprained twice and broken once.  The one attached to the foot I broke.  I am SO lucky that I have really loose ankles or I would have really hurt it badly.  As it is, it was sore for a few hours yesterday, and has been bugging me today.

As I said, I’m falling apart.  After I get the Things into bed, I’m going to bed myself.  I already took a prescription Motrin.  I figured that an anti-inflammatory is exactly what I need right about now.

I am SO looking forward to getting my massage on Saturday.  Wonder if I can manage more than a 30-minute one?  At only $1/minute, the price is right….

Bwa ha ha!  My box of Lamb’s Pride has arrived.  OK, the turquoise was full price, but the other colors were seconds, so they were only $4.75 each.  Yippee! 

Adri, see that turquoise?  If you don’t like it, speak now or forever hold your peace.  ;->

When I’m done with all these planned bags, I’ll have lots of odds & ends for a multicolored bag.  Oooh!  Ah!

If you want a special, sentimental gift for the mom of a preemie, whether the baby survived or not, here is a really cool little thing.  It’s a pin called The Preemie Purple Heart — like the purple heart medal injured soldiers receive.  Here’s the description:

The Preemie Purple Heart is born of an idea borrowed from the US army, a medal given for being wounded in battle. What bigger battle is there than the battle for life and the wounds of premature birth live on with the infant and family forever? The color was once reserved for royalty, making it special, and it is gender neutral. The heart is not a solid color, and the stripes in each heart are a little different, just as every child and every journey is a little different, but the basic design is the same just like the basic experience is the same. The heart is made of glass; it is strong but not so strong it could withstand a crushing blow. The premature child is strong but not invincible. It is a heart because the heart is our center; its every beat renews life and hope, it symbolizes love. At the bottom of the Preemie Purple Heart is a teardrop, symbolic of the tears shed during the journey of a premature family, good and bad, joy and sorrow.

Please join us to stick up for our sweet dogs.  Please note that there will be a certain contingent present who are extremely distressed at how BADRAP has been handling things, who has been allowed to appear before the media, etc.

 

Subject: [BA-S] SFDOG Town Hall Forum on Aggression in Dogs 6/21

Members and non-members are invited to attend an informational forum  (free) on how to deal with aggression in dogs, details below. (Re the recent tragic mauling of a 12-year old boy, more and more information is surfacing that suggests the case is not simple but complex: The boy was developmentally disabled and had apparently been known to be violent . .

SFDOG General Membership Meeting, Town Hall Forum on Aggression in Dogs

Tuesday, June 21, 2005, 7:30 pm to 9 pm, Fort Mason, Building A, Golden Gate Room

In light of recent events, SFDOG will host a town hall forum on aggression in dogs. A panel of experts will discuss what we as individuals, a community, and a city can and should do to address the problems caused by aggressive dogs. The discussion will be moderated, with an extended period for questions from the audience.

Confirmed panelists:  

Donna Reynolds, BADRAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls

Trish King, head behaviorist at the Marin Humane Society

Sgt. Bill Herndon, SFPD Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit

Kelley Filson, education programs manager, SF SPCA

Mara Weiss, DVM, and member of the Animal Control and Welfare Commission

We are still awaiting confirmation from two other panelists.

Linda McKay, who’s active with the Fort Funston Dog Walkers Association, will moderate the discussion.

We hope this will be an interesting and informative discussion, with everyone who attends walking away with a better understanding of the issues involved in dealing with aggressive dogs. We’ll address dog-on-dog aggression, as well as dog-on-people aggression.

Please join us for this informative and timely discussion.  This event is FREE and open to members and non-members alike.  Please leave your dog at home for this event.

Enter lower Fort Mason at Marina Blvd and Buchanan. Building A is the building at the opposite end of the lower Fort from the building that houses Greens Restaurant. The 28 MUNI line serves Fort Mason (check  MUNI for other lines).

OK, so Thing One and Thing Two have decided that they prefer the 1949 version of “Little Women” over the 193something version. 

They really like the story, and I suppose there are worse stories for them to like.  I’d much rather have them playing “Little Women” with their Barbies than “Shrek” or “SpongeBob” or something! 

They’ve taken to calling me Marmee.  Not my favorite thing, but again, there are MUCH worse things they could be calling me, so I’ll settle for this.  I can’t wait for Thing One to be able to read the book.  I think by the end of next school year, she’ll probably be ready to start in on my old Nancy Drew books.  “Little Women” won’t be far behind that; I remember reading that for the first time in third grade.

BTW, to those who’ve been wondering — looks like no surgery for at least a couple of months.  This is good b/c I couldn’t have scheduled it until August any way.

Father’s Day was pretty good.  We gave hubby his presents in the morning.  When he opened the gifts Thing Two had made at school, Thing One felt really bad b/c she hadn’t made him anything.  Since Thing Two was hacking up hairballs and had to stay home, I told Thing One that if she didn’t make Daddy anything in Bible class, we could stop on the way home and buy him something.  We had to stop at Costco to pick up pictures and some other stuff, so she chose for him a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (YUM!) and a book with all of the Hitchhiker’s Guide books in one.  She was much happier.

Poppa, Nana & Auntie came over to hang out for a while and have dinner.  Poppa really liked his mouse pad with the girls’ picture on it.  Not sure how he felt about the “Indian name” we made up for him — Chief Bald Eagle — but I hope he liked it b/c it’s going to stick. 

Yesterday, we got a FedEx package from Grandma.  It was funny — this was supposed to be the Father’s Day package, but it contained hubby’s card and Father’s Day gift, PLUS goodies for the girls, and Jenna got the most stuff (a bandana, a rope toy, and a bag of fancy doggie cookies).

The only way Father’s Day could have been better would have been better for hubby (aside from the obvious of wishing his dad were still alive) would have been if he’d gotten to golf.  Sadly, we just couldn’t make that happen and still see my family.  He is, however, getting free golf on Friday.  Woo hoo!