Erica’s Blog

[Pictures coming tomorrow....]

Sewed the embellishments onto the Very Special Things box.  The one thing I don’t like about it is that it shrank too much in the height.  I would have preferred it to be deeper, but I’ll remember that next time.  Anyhow, next step will be the cardboard reinforcement, then the mermaid lining.

Started yet another MD baby kimono yesterday morning.  Hubby and I filled in for MarkyMark & Bobcat as bathroom monitors for children’s ministry at church, and I knew I’d have a lot of sitting around time, so I brought my bag w/me.  Our friends Joel (pronounced Joe-ELLE, though he’s a he) and Amber are due to have a daughter w/in the next couple of weeks, and I’m using the orange/yellow/white Peaches & Creme that I bought in July at WallyWorld.  Got some really cute daisy buttons yesterday to go with it.  I’ll have the knitting finished tomorrow.  Then I can have a seaming party for that one and the hemp one for Jubal & Nichole’s baby.  Fun!  (not)

Talked w/MEY today and figured out what she wanted for the stuff she’s commissioning from me for Christmas gifts.  Since Nine Rubies is having their big “birthday party” and sale on Saturday, I wanted to get the yarn then, so we had to work it out this week.  Should be fun; for some of this, I’ll get to use nicer yarn than I’d normally be buying (think cashmere).  I’ve already got a lot of it schemed out, thanks to Barbara Walker.

SANDY:  My pal Sandy is in the hospital.  Long story short, she went to the ER Saturday night after some long-running gi problems became alarming.  After doing a CT scan, etc., they’ve decided she has colitis.  She’s having more testing tomorrow and may even have to have a transfusion.  Like her life doesn’t have enough stress with being on disability, having to take morphine daily for pain, being the primary caregiver to her 89-year-old mother, dealing with other family issues, etc.

BOBCAT’S MOM:  Well, she loved the shawl, despite my weirdo work-around to the problems with it.  She even liked the crocheted edging b/c it gives her something to twiddle with her fidgety fingers as she’s trying to fall asleep.  When Bobcat read her the card, they both cried.  I’m so glad she liked it.  Bobcat even had the brilliant idea of popping it in the dryer for a while to make it extra toasty when Mrs. G was feeling really cold (she goes from being really cold to horribly hot, with fevers over 103).  It sounds like Bobcat had a good weekend with her, being able to help her out at times and have some good time to talk with her.  So, now they’re trying to figure out how much to pull Andrei out of school to go visit Granny, etc.  Sigh.

ME:  On a MUCH lighter note….I’ve had a bad back for many years.  I’m sure some of it is hereditary (Poppa & Auntie both have scoliosis, Poppa had to get a nerve root injection a few years ago, Nana back surgery six years ago and may need more, etc.), but most of it is because of 1) a really stupid thing I did at work back in 1993, 2) a car accident in 1994 where I was a passenger and ended up in six weeks of physical therapy, and 3) my computer chair is all jacked up b/c one of the Things broke the lever that enables you to raise & lower it.  Hubby’s been encouraging me for years to go see a chiropractor, especially since our medical insurance would cover 80% of the cost.  Well, my back has been SO bad the last few days that this morning I called the first chiropractic place I could think of — one around the corner from our old place.  I make it a rule only to see female doctors if it’s the kind of doctor where you have to get undressed.  Anyhow, they said they could see me right away, but they had no female doctors in their practice.  Just this once, I thought it would be OK b/c We can see you as soon as you can get here was pretty terrific.  I should have known better.  Yupp.   Shoulda known.  When I got there and saw the doctor, I panicked.  Um, are you Fahima and Umar’s dad?  Yupp.  A dad from the Things’ school.  Not just any dad, but the dad of one of Thing Two’s classmates, a guy who picks up his son three times a week and frequently drops the kids off in the morning.  Yupp.  The ONE time in over six years that I go see a male doctor, and it turns out to be someone I know.  Ugh.  (The last one was a dermatologist when I was pregnant w/Thing Two, and he was terrible, made borderline jokes, etc.  The ONLY good male doctor I can remember in my adult life is Dr. Caughey up at UCSF, but I didn’t see him on purpose.  He was the one who admitted me when I had pre-eclampsia, and he treated me off & on while I was there.   He was great.)  Oy.