Erica's Blog

Introduced the girls today to a classic of modern cinema.  Can you guess which movie from these quotes?

Where are we?

The foothills.

The foothills of what?

The foothills of the headlands.

 

Don't know?  OK, how about another clue....

Are you bluish?  You don't look bluish.

 

If you STILL haven't figured it out, click on "Read More" for one last clue.

Did you guys have centers at school today or circuit training because it's Friday?

Circus training.

She's taking a bath in vinegar water now, and then she'll go for a spin in the dryer.  I'll take it to church on Sunday to give to Amber & Joel.  If they're not there, I'll have to mail it to them b/c Vivian's due soon.

Now, to get cranking on my Christmas commissions....

What the heck, I'll do it too.  Never let it be said that I'm not a "joiner". 

1. When my parents named me Erica, they thought they were making it up b/c they’d never heard the name.
2. I only have a middle name b/c my parents thought I couldn’t be christened in the Catholic church w/o a saint’s name somewhere in my name.
3. Though I studied French for 7 ½ years and won the French Department award in high school, I’ve never been to France.
4. I was a freshman in college before I knew what “doobie” meant (as in The Doobie Brothers).  Duh.
5. Weddings have played a big role in my adult life.  I’ve been a bridesmaid in eight weddings, have had a part in coordinating/planning 14 others, and have helped with pre-marriage counseling for five or six different couples.
6. In college, I wrote my senior thesis on one chapter of Ulysses by James Joyce w/o ever having finished reading the book (and it was the second class I’d taken where I was supposed to read it).  I got an A in the class.
7. In 5^th grade, I wanted to be Pinky Tuscadero.
8. In 6^th grade, I wanted to be Patty Hearst (the terrorist version).
9. In 12^th grade, I wanted to be a missionary Bible translator.
10. Several years ago, I counted how many roommates I’d had in my lifetime (including Hubby and the couple who lived with us for two weeks b/c their apartment burned while they were on vacation).  The total was over 30.
11. I’m afraid of the dark.
12. I’m afraid of heights.  VERY afraid.
13. I slashed my wrist twice in high school.
14. I always seem to get hurt/sick when I’m pregnant:  1) When I was 6 months pregnant with Thing One, I sprained my ankle, just walking across the room at work; 2) When I was 7 ½ months pregnant with Thing Two, I broke my foot, just taking one step out my front door.  Five days later, I ended up on strict bed rest for three weeks b/c I fell off my crutches; 3) When I was just shy of 30 weeks pregnant with Paul, I was hospitalized with severe pre-eclampsia.
15. I can’t read maps.
16. I still have my first teddy bear.
17. I wore my mom’s wedding veil when I got married.  (Technically, the headpiece with new tulle attached.)
18. I am the third generation woman in my family unable to bear a healthy son (my Nana, Nana, moi).
19. In college, I was convinced I wouldn’t live my whole life in the United States.
20. Hubby and I didn’t kiss each other till our wedding (which is not to say that we hadn’t kissed others in our sordid pasts, but that’s another story).
21. I was a virgin when I got married.  I was 5 days shy of 31 years old.
22. When I was a freshman in college, I said I couldn’t see the point of ATM’s and couldn’t imagine ever using one.
23. I had pneumonia 27 times before I turned 7, and then my parents lost count.
24. I’m allergic to mold.
25. Before I dated Hubby, I dated a guy who was 6’ 2 ½” tall and (on a good day) weighed 135 lbs.

Had me a little ole seamin' party today, right here in my late FIL's La-Z-Boy.  I really like how this came out.  I had intended for it to be dark brown on the body parts and light brown on the sleeve parts, but plans changed when I forgot to take the light brown with me somewhere.  Hubby says it's better this way b/c it's asymmetrical, and you can't be too symmetrical when you're knitting with hemp.

Zo, here are the specs:

PATTERN:  MD Baby Kimono

YARN:  Allhemp 6 in cinnamon & pumpkin, courtesy of the ever-lovely Zib, gifted from her stash to mine this summer after much inquiry and joking about hemp yarn.

NEEDLES:  Um.  Um.  US 7's?  I really don't remember b/c I finished the knitting 'way back before my surgery and was just waiting till after I was off the dopey meds to do the seaming (I've got enough strikes against me in that department w/o trying to do it while on drugs, ya'll).

RECIPIENT:  Hubby's co-worker & his wife are having a son, due on Halloween.  Said couple live in Pacifica and will appreciate the hemp yarn more than others might, especially as hemp plants are so good for the environment, not stripping the land, etc.  (No jokes, please.  They're not potheads or anything, but they will appreciate that it's such a "green" natural resource.)  They're a really cool couple; their wedding was two weeks after we buried Paul, and Jubal has been a good friend to Hubby at work -- someone to golf with, commiserate about work stuff with, and argue politics with (he hates Hubby's Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat shirt...).

...pinched nerve in lower back and Well, THAT doesn't look straight.

Seems the muscles on the right-hand side of my mid-back are pulling my spine over to the right.  Need to figure out what I'm doing wrong so I can start doing it right.  He said I could be sitting, standing, walking, lifting, sleeping wrong.  I said it was probably all of the above.

Had my first adjustment today.  He took it easy on me b/c it was the first one, but I definitely felt looser afterwards.  I could go every day just for the percussive massage and the electronic muscle stimulus w/heating pad.   Ahhhh.....

[NOTE:  Blogging from the La-Z-Boy in the bedroom.  We'll see how that works out.]

Pain.  Dull.  Sharp.  Burning.  Annoying.  Bad enough to make me take a dopey pill and stay home from what SHOULD have been my first night back at knitting @ Starbucks tonight.

I shall be on restriction from the computer for a while, limiting myself to a mere 10 minutes at a time every few hours.  That might not sound like restriction to you, but for the likes of me, it is (remember the unmade bed in that last post?).  The reason for this restriction is that I have determined that the jacked-up computer chair is a MAJOR contributor to my pain.  Hence, it is to be avoided until we can get a new chair.  I'll have Hubby start keeping his eyeballs open for one at work.

If you have any suggestions on another way to set up the laptop in light of my funky power situation in my house (I DO, however, have a wireless router, so any room is OK.  There's one family member who's been known to take a laptop into the bathroom, but not moi.), I would GREATLY appreciate the suggestions.  Of course, I won't be on the computer much, so you'll have to know me well enough to have my home phone or cell phone.  Oh, well.

Step One = Knitting

Step Two = Felting (and drying, I suppose)

Step Three = Embellishing

[Why YES, that IS a library copy of Godless in the background atop my unmade bed.  How good of you to notice....]

Almost done!