Handy man

Jack likes to put keys in things to see if they will fit. When he started on the ottoman tonight Ben gave him an Allen wrench. After just a few minutes of work Jack had a very loose screw. Thanks Ben. Can't wait for the poang to collapse on me tomorrow. :-)

PS I'm doing a lot better. No narcs for a couple days and just a little ache at work. Driving is the worst.

PPS a rare early shift end with no call attached! We are off to Jose O'Sheas for dinner!

Pinched

This is me for most of the week.  Sunday night I was writing at a desk and stretched back, like I have before thousands of times.  But, for whatever fluke reason, this time a nerve in my neck was pinched.  I had sharp neck pain, muscle spasms down my upper back and under my shoulder blade, and transient right arm numbness.  Hoping it would go away after a night's rest I went to work Monday morning.  But it only got worse.  I left midday and went straight to my doctor.  She provided a note to excuse work, an Aleve regimen, and prescriptions for Vicodin and Soma (a muscle relaxant). 

Luckily I already had three days off mid-week, so I really only missed one afternoon of work.  Since then I have been on my back in the basement with an electric heating pad.  I had to miss dance rehearsal Tuesday, although Amanda video chatted me from the stage so I could give some pointers.  Yesterday Ben drove me up to Bailey so I could teach.  It was hard for me not to demonstrate full-out, but the kids really stepped up and learned quickly. 

Jack has been super cuddly.  Ben has been a dear taking care of me.  I can't really complain about the rest.  As illnesses go this one has a fun treatment.  My netflix and DVR queues are empty now.  I drove to a staff meeting today and experienced only aches rather than full on pain.  I hope I'm healed enough that finishing my two shifts Friday and Saturday won't be too strenuous. 

Sorry, boring post, I'm sure.  But I felt like documenting it.  Here's some photos from Sunday, where I spun some yarn before the injury started acting up.

And here are photos of me playing with Jack at the Tattered Cover, courtesy of Amanda.  I haven't synced my phone for photos from my folk's visit yet.  It was really fun to see them.  We ate well, did a lot of shopping, and Jack was showered with attention. 

I better lay back down. 

Happy happy

Grandparents make different choices than parents.

Gray Ears Hat

This is fun! I finished this hat in a week. I improvised the fair isle. I had to re-knit it three times before finding a pattern that would fit this yarn. But I really like the simple snowflake in the edge. This hat is super warm too. We're having a warm, windy spell in Denver now, so I look forward to chilly days to put this hat to the test.

The special thing about this hat is I made it from home-spun yarn! The gray was the first skein I ever spun, using a drop spindle. The ivory was the first yarn I spun on my wheel, made double ply. Both are natural colors from corridale sheep. My coworkers were suitably perplexed/impressed (perpressed? implexed?) that I made this.

I'm on call tonight, my last shift of the week.  I hope I don't go in.  My folks are on their way to visit for the weekend and I'd really like to have a relaxing dinner with them.  They should be implexed by his recent growth spurt.

I've hit a choreography style writer's block.  Gaston is a rousing, mug-clinking dance number.  There's a bit of music that has me dumbfounded.  I should just glaze over it and go by counts instead of awkward music writing, but I just can't put moves to paper.  I hope a little procrastination forces me ahead - I have to teach it next week!  The good news is Amanda found a classroom with mirrors that we can use for rehearsal.  The kids have so little body awareness.  Using mirrors should boost there form immensely. 

"I got the blues"

A portrait taken by Ben today. Like a jailbird with his harmonica. I can't believe Ben didn't stage this.

Why things kept <3 ft high

need re-washing before use in my house.

Why I dream of raising chickens

Can you tell which are the factory eggs and which are backyard hen eggs?

Too little time between Jack's bed and my bed

I have so little spare time and so much I want to do!  Even with a three day weekend I'm anxious every minute for all the fun things I want to squeeze in.  Tonight I had to pick between knitting my Sothia scarf, knitting a Thorpe hat, creating a desert terrarium with my newly gathered supplies, finishing choreography for Be Our Guest, or finishing Ready Player One, our latest book club pick. 

We went to dinner with friends where Jack was disastrous.  I swear his restaurant manners have deteriorated since Christmas  - I'm look at YOU Grandmas and Grandpas to blame for this!  After dinner I gave him a quick bath, tucked him in bed, then joined my friends in another round of Qwirkle.  (Once I start posting links it's hard to stop).

After that I spent a surprising amount of time tinkering with my blog design because my old one has become so outdated and broken.  Consider this a work in progress.  Then I knit and watched the end of a Stephen Fry in America episode.  Boy, does he hate Miami. 

It's now way past my bedtime.  So I'll leave with a photo that I absolutely love and I'm thinking of using as my new blog banner.  

l337 |<|\|1771|\|9

 

Sometimes I look at the mess of needles and feel mighty proud of my skillz. 

This tangle will be a hat, mark my words. With scoured locks I spun from a corridale. 

(Even if I can handle it, this is the dumbest way to start a hat.  I hope the rest of the pattern isn't so poorly planned.)