I realized I've only posted about my cats, and the dog is getting jealous. So here's a little about him.
His name is Flash and he's a border collie/heeler mix. He's turning 11 this month and is as energetic as ever, just not quite as often. He's got all the border collie traits: obsessed about frisbees, a bit too smart, loyal, bossy, and OCD. He has no use for other dogs as they get in the way of his "work," which is bugging humans to play fetch ALL THE TIME. He's kind of barky and a little more protective than necessary.
He's known throughout the neighborhood for his endearing habit of barking furiously while spinning in a tight circle when people walk by. I can identify my address by saying I'm on the corner with the spinning dog, and everyone knows it immediately.
He's getting older and it's starting to show: he's crazy all day but at night he has that little old man stiffness and a limpy shoulder. He's been part of my life for almost all my years in Bend and I can't imagine living without him.
1. Two socks on two circular needles: Cascade Fixation
2. Two socks on two circs: Trekking
(I can explain why I have two pair started at once - Judy taught a group at my house on Sat. and I had to jump in and participate, of course. But socks don't count anyway - this is something upon which all knitters agree. Just like sock yarn in stash.)
3. The child's guernsey in cotton that will never die or be finished (H now says he wants it, so I have to re-knit the ribbing I started to pull out, never mind the sleeves, etc.) This is threatening to move to the "in hibernation" status.
4. The entrelac scarf which I've got to finish before our entrelac felted bag knit-along starts NEXT WEEK.
5. Various swatches for future projects which of course don't count either, I really don't even know why I'm mentioning them.
Not so bad! Knitting Daily did a poll on how many UFO's (unfinished objects) the average knitter has going. The bell curve average is 3-6, so I'm right in there. Especially as 23% of respondents have 10 or more going.
I've decided that by airing my count monthly, I can't get too far gone - it's keeping me from a secretive casting-on binge. I'm actually one of those knitters for whom UFO's create a bit of anxiety and nagging guilt, but I do like having options to knit among depending on the setting.
OK, all you knitters out there, what's YOUR count?
Labels: knitting
So, the reluctant gardener became the active gardener, of course. Just as inevitably the plants and flowers begin to awaken each spring, so does the urge to mess with them.
I did a little preventive maintenance this week (unlike me - normally I wait until things are completely out of control).
I bought and installed peony cages. Seems cruel, I know, but it's for their own good.
I'm also messing around with the irrigation now before the grass is all burnt in July and it's too late.
I've ended up with way too many garden beds and zones to deal with. The front beds, the street strip, the rhody glen, the side garden and path, the back 40, the vegetable plot and the xeroscape area. Not to mention the porch and patio pots, the water feature and the rock garden in back. And the herb boxes. Each year I start the season by saying this is the year I'm not going to do anything and let it all go wild, and each year I find myself at Schillings with a $150 bill in early May.
I'm not complaining, just observing the natural and inevitable change of seasons, both outside and within.
Labels: Central Oregon, garden, seasons
Hello. My name is Melissa, and I have glaucoma.
I always thought really old people got glaucoma, but there you have it. I was diagnosed several years ago, with no symptoms and normal eye pressures at the time. Two different doctors detected some optic nerve damage during my routine eye exams (2nd opinions: good). No one else in my family history has had it, and there's no identifiable cause, but it's been progressing steadily over the last several years.
Thankfully, I have no loss of vision or other symptoms yet. But I've been on a number of different eye drops that have not been able to control my increasing eye pressure, and today I had the first of several laser procedures in an attempt to slow the progress. Basically, they burned little holes in my right eye to reduce the pressure. In a few weeks I go back for treatment of the other eye.
I find it hard to admit publicly -- it just sounds so weird and how do you put it again old. But if I can get it, so can you, so go get your eyes checked. It's a 2-minute, painless test that could keep you from going blind. Is that motivation enough?
End of public service announcement. I'm going to go knit.
My consulting gig just got a nice new contract. Work is a good thing, I've realized yet again. What with parenting frustrations and relationship failures, it's about the only arena I get consistent positive feedback.
And parenting is the only time that I constantly doubt myself, regret my actions, and generally feel like I'm screwing up. But I digress.
I like the work I do, and I realize every day that I'm lucky to be able to say that. Unlike so many others, I know what I want to do, and I'm pretty much doing it. Unfortunately, not quite enough to live on, but that's a different post.
Labels: solo parenting, work
Just when you think you're ok, you get blindsided out of nowhere by the realization that it's over. Of course, you somehow only remember the sweet moments and completely forget the misery of the bad.
Which would you rather have, the pain in the relationship or the pain of it being gone?
Moot point, as it is over, and is not coming back.
Which you know rationally is a good thing, but which means nothing when your heart is broken.
Labels: pov
Started up again much narrower to make a scarf.
It really takes a lot of repetition to understand the stitch. It's all about reading the knitting and remembering the sequences. Since it's widely known I have no short-term memory, this is proving to be tricky.
And the instructions are tedious.
I think I'll have to make a cheat sheet.
Labels: knitting
I can't face getting up at 4 am Sat. to stand in line to sign H up for the Bend Parks & Rec summer programs. The doors open at 7, so to get your choices, you truly have to line up at 5. 5 AM outside, that is. It's cold and dark and miserable. We huddle in chairs and blankets, wearing our ski gear, waiting it out. Many jokes about how a few years ago, it would have been for concert tix.
Just as bad is the upcoming signup for Kids Inc, the before/after-school care BPR runs in the local schools. Great program, limited space. Last year I got in line at 5, and people were camped out from the night before. It was miserable, boring, cold and damp under the trees at Hollinshead Barn.
I love love love BPR (not only because they're a great client of BendFocus) for the incredible job they do with programs, parks and trails. But there's GOT to be another solution for this registration fiasco.
What it does is reward the most determined, obsessive, clued-in parents who are able to stand in line for hours those mornings. Those who aren't in the know, are new to town or don't have the resources to get there early are screwed for summer camps or childcare for the school year.
Which is fairer, a random drawing or survival of the most determined?
I don't know, but for summer at least, I'm going to attempt the on-line registration that opens at 7am tomorrow and hope their server can take it. And you'll see me in line at 5 am for Kids Inc in a few weeks.
Labels: Bend, pov, rant, solo parenting, son
A work update (names have been changed to protect etc.):
Our wonderful company has been acquired by the big globe, a long-planned event that was the finish line for us from the start. It's thrown our 350+ employees into a state of flux while the orb sorts through the bodies and determines our fates.
Very weird time! We're assured of several months of employment regardless, but my group has very little to do right now. By very little, I mean nothing. (Hence the blog.)
Lots of emotions running through the group: sadness, excitement, boredom, anxiety, impatience, relief. Nothing's happening but it's all we talk about.
I'm feeling all those myself, with a lot of anticipation mixed in. I've always liked change. For someone easily bored, it keeps things interesting. No idea where I'll end up, though I think it would take a major earthquake to launch me from Bend. There are a couple of potential options out there and I'm pretty confident that there will be more to come. I've always landed on my feet and in good shape in events like this previously. I have to trust the odds and keep, for lack of a better word, the faith.
I was listening last night to my favorite song on the "Rhythm, Country and Blues" album: "(Ain't It)Funny How Time Slips Away," written by Willie Nelson and recorded here by Al Green and Lyle Lovett. What a great version. It's got a real funky beat mixed with steel guitar, then Al and Lyle's easy-going, pleasant vocal interplay, with that final funny, bitter, almost-threatening twist at the end. I could play that song over and over, and did, last night.
Labels: music
If I still lived in LA, I'd be driving him from callback to shoot to audition to sessions all day. Thank god we're not, really.
Labels: solo parenting, son, work
I can feel stirrings of needing to be out in the dirt again, but I'm reluctant to start. Once things get underway, I constantly feel the pull to be working. Weeding, cutting back, replanting, vegetable plot preparation, setting up the greenhouse, hassling with irrigation, purchasing endless supplies, reseeding the lawn, composting, etc. etc.
I love it but it weighs on me. It's my puritan work ethic colliding with my basic indolence - true for every aspect of my life.
Very cool yarn (Noro Silk Garden).
Labels: knitting
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