I forgot what I was going to say!

I had the hardest time getting onto Blogger; all other websites came right up. Sigh.

Sir B's surgery went fine. It was delayed about an hour, and he sat in pre-op for longer than expected...the nurse came and asked if I wanted to be with him in pre-op until they were ready for him in surgery, so of course I went which helped him calm down alot instead of dreading the surgery. We were at the hospital at 9:30am and left at 5:30pm! I slept sooo well last night after all the worrying and running around after I got him home from the hospital. It was kinda cute seeing him so out of it after he woke up from anesthesia, asking the same questions over and over because he kept forgetting everything!


From Angel Catcher:
When you died, I felt like I had been hit by a plank. I could barely stand up, much less walk. I kept losing my balance and bumping into walls. Right now, I am learning to walk again. One day, I hope I can fly. Here's where I am right now:
Right now I'm doing pretty well. Which is saying alot. I remember how depressed I was after you died, and I thought I'd never get over your death. But here I am, living, loving. Brad and I talked again about kids, and I know I'm still not ready yet. Will I ever be without you here? I don't know, but part of me hopes so. For him, for me, and for you. I have found a religion that makes me happy, and my mantra meditations every night are directed to you. If it wasn't for your passing, I wouldn't have found that. Thank you. I am trying to get copies of home movies from Dad because, sadly, I am starting to forget certain things about you. But rest assured, I will never forget YOU. I miss you and think of you every day, Mom.

Tomorrow Sir B goes in for surgery, and coincidentally it will be exactly one month before "D-day" (the one year anniversary of Mom's death). I am a bit more panicked and weepy than I should be over his gallbladder surgery, gladly my Dad will be there to sit with me, and I plan on bringing anything I can think of to work on/play with to keep my mind occupied in the waiting room. Knitting, iPod, Nintendo DS, maybe a book.

I haven't started a new knitting project yet, and am slowing down on the quilts. Yesterday I seamed the backing flannel, and hope to start pinning all the layers together this week.

The weather didn't allow for us to go to Rockford this weekend, rain and snow were almost constant. We ran some errands here in Freeport, and went to the local bookstore, Book World, so SIr B could get some reading material. I was perusing the magazines and overheard the following conversation...someone called in looking for a book on witchcraft, which they didn't carry. After the saleswoman got off the phone, she turned to the guy she was working with and told him the subject matter the customer was looking for. She asked if they could even order something like that for someone, and right away he answered "No". She said, "Yeah, if we were to start carrying subject matter like that I'd oppose it, this is a mostly Christian community". I so wanted to go over and say something to them about how ignorant they were, but I just fumed and walked away. Business owners are always complaining that people do more shopping in Rockford than Freeport, and I wanted to say this is why! I usually don't set foot in that bookstore, and I won't ever go there again. Just because they wouldn't help get that customer get the book they were looking for doesn't mean they won't get it, they'll go elsewhere or online. I had to laugh when I looked at their "Religion" section...half of it was bibles, and the rest were Christian books with one book on the Kabbalah. Wow. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christians or any other religion, I just don't like hearing how people in a service industry will go out of their way to not help you if they think what you want is "wrong". Arg, I need to let. this. go.

Anyhoo, over the next month I decided to do some entries on memories of my Mom, using the journal "Angel Catcher" by Kathy and Amy Eldon for inspiration. I can't believe it's been a year. My how the time flies.

Cardigan photos

Here is Sir B's cardigan, as modeled by me:


And the "floor model". Heh:

Jack's Aran Cardigan from Men in Knits
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Chunky in Stone
Started: November 20, 2006
Finished: February 18, 2007
Notes: This sweater took forever to finish, but it was worth it! The cables were very easy, and I love the quarter buttons on it (Sir B said he isn't sure if he likes them or not, I told him to change them himself if he doesn't like 'em!).

Taffy is SO over having her picture taken, but Lexie is still intrigued:

They were laying there annoying each other like kids; Taffy was hitting Lexie with her tail, and Lexie was kicking Taffy in the back. Ah, cat lurve!

Allergy woes

What a shitty day. I woke up with a stiff neck, so after my shower I put some IcyHot on it. Well, right away it started to burn, but I figured it was just working faster because my pores were open, so I dried my hair. After I finished drying my hair, my back itched like crazy and was all red, so I took a washcloth and had Sir B rub it on my upper back and neck. When I got back in the bathroom, the area was all swollen like a big blister so I got back in the shower and cleaned it off with soap and cool water, then took a Benadryl. It's all better now, but I really need to go in for allergy testing, no?

We had a consult with the surgeon today for Sir B's gallbladder surgery, and it's scheduled for Monday the 26th at 11:15am. As long as they can do it laprascopically, it'll be an outpatient procedure (!), and he'll have to stay home for a few weeks to heal. The surgeon said what's happening is the valve that lets bile into the intestines isn't opening fully, so his bile output is only 25% (about half of normal), which is causing the spasms in his abdomen and nausea.

I finished the cardigan on Sunday, but have no photos yet. I also finished the last quilt top and have the batting cut and the flannel backing in the wash, although I realized I only bought enough backing material for two quilts, oops! Eh, it gives me an excuse to go to Rockford again, because I tapped out this Joann Fabrics on the flannel I liked.

Almost done!

Well, I only have the bind-off row for the buttonband on the cardigan left to go (plus washing/blocking/sewing side seams)! This should be ready to show off at Stitch-In on Tuesday. I had to run to Rockford this morning for more yarn, of course I ran out with that little left to finish, but I found some really neat buttons made from quarters....plus I stopped at Barnes and Noble for some Godiva chocolates, yum!

I also have two of the quilt tops sewn together, two to go, which will be worked on tomorrow. I plan on getting the rest of the supplies (batting and backing flannel) this weekend and start quilting them next weekend, taking over my Dad's kitchen table since mine is too small. These quilts are going to be so great...they're about 50x60, and with flannel on the backs will be so nice and warm, perfect to cuddle up with on the couch! I'm really excited to get them finished and gifted to everyone; Dad said he *loved* his from the picture, and I know my sisters will just flip over theirs.

Sir B has to have surgery to have his gallbladder taken out. He goes for a consultation with the surgeon next Tuesday (the same surgeon that took out my Grandma's appendix!). Thank goodness for short-term disability, since he'll probably be recouping for a month. He was supposed to be starting a new job on the 5th (same company, different department and shift), which will get pushed back until he recovers.

More photos coming soon!

Quilts and a sweater

I started laying out the quilts this weekend!
This will be Amy's:


This is the first "draft" of Angela's (I'm going to redo it):


This will be mine:


This is a closeup of one of the squares that has embroidery on it. Isn't it cute? My Mom really liked Tweety, and she had one shirt with Tweetys embroidered on it. I was able to get it cut so each quilt will have one.


I didn't get my Dad's quilt laid out yet, plus, as above, I need to redo my sister Angela's because I have an extra square I know should be in hers.

Also, there has been much progress on the cardigan. One sleeve is finito, and I'm 1/3 of the way through the second sleeve:

Doesn't it look sooooo warm?! Hopefully it'll be done this week, and with the way the weather's going, it'll get lots of use!!

Edited to add:
Here is my Dad's quilt:


And the redo of Angela's:

She liked the pink flannel shirt of Mom's best, so I went back and added more of those squares.

All better

I had the flu for three days, all was quiet on Saturday, and Sunday I woke up to, "I don't feel so good" from Sir B. Yup, he got it. He apologized profusely for not taking better care of me since he found out what I went through!

I started on a cardigan sleeve Sunday (the stitches are picked up at the armhole, so my plan of working them both together is out the window--that's what I get for not reading the directions first!)

And I have 16 squares to make for each of my quilts, so I figure if I can get two shirts cut per day, that's 8 days of cutting left! These actually look like they're going to get done in the near future...

Sick as a cat with a big ole hairball

I have had the stomach flu since Wednesday, and I can't wait for this bug to shrivel up and die already! The worst was on Wednesday, but it's settled into low-grade nausea with a leaky bum. I can't even remember the last time I had the flu.

Well, I guess I'll go and try to find something I can eat for lunch...a grumbling, nauseous stomach is not a good thing to leave alone for too long!

P.S. Go Bears!