Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Faster Stronger Better

Hello, gentle readers!  I wanted to check in and let you all know that my surgery went fine although I wasn't completely numb on my left side.  Basically when they got back into my sphenoid sinus on that side I could totally feel it.  Having a balloon inflated inside your skull is not something I highly recommend without sufficient numbing.  The worst is when you're hurting and the medical staff thinks taking it slow will be better.  I'm normally like "GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY!!"  But, as with all things that hurt, I just look at it as something that I know will be over in a set amount of time and just power through.  The right side was fine and they even numbed me extra.  Oddly the left is the same side that my epidural didn't work fully on when I was in labor.  Maybe I have screwed up nerves on that side?  Only one other patient has ever done the balloon sinuplasty without valium at their office.  It was a man and he had prior sinus surgery so the doctor said he had a lot more space to work with.  Everyone was amazed at how well I did with it.

I spent the rest of yesterday blowing my nose and getting all the blood out.  Maegwin was quite fascinated by it and kept asking to see.  I love that she isn't afraid.  This morning I can breathe mostly and it feels very odd.  I feel air all the way back up in my face and it stings.  Guess I'm not used to getting that much oxygen!

I'm feeling quite springy and have the urge to finish up all my knitting projects and start some summery sweaters and tees.  I got two projects done yesterday while I was home.  The first is Bunny Bootees by Debbie Bliss which I knit with the last bit I had of some Lorna's Laces in Periwinkle.  This stuff has made four baby and kid projects at this point so I'm pretty happy at how much I got from it.  I used Knitpicks Comfy fingering weight for the ears and the soles are also white though you can't see them in the photo.

bunny bootees

The other thing I finished was a Hippo from Itty Bitty Toys. This was knit with some Knitpicks Imagination in the gingerbread house colorway and I used accents from some Craftsmeow Ice Cream Sundae yarn in Cherries Jubilee colorway. I really want to get a whole skein of this stuff but I'm trying really hard to knit from stash for a while until we get through all the medical stuff. :)

hippo with face

He will be part of my swap package that I hope to send out this week. I'm working on a set of handwarmers as well but they are going really slowly. They use the daisy stitch which involves knitting three together, yarn over, and then knit the same three together before dropping off the needle. It makes the stitches very tight and they make my hands hurt quickly but they are so pretty.

Today I'm home with no Maegwin and I intend to knit and read books for a while. I do need to do some laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. Days off for me tend to not really be days off but I'm going to let myself relax and try to ignore for a few hours at least. Cheers, all!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Cold April

So in true Ohio fashion, winter came in April.  It's been chilly off and on and we even had a few days where it dipped into the 20's at night!  So odd!  I just finished mowing the grass on the riding mower for the first time in 44 degree weather.  I wanted a hot chocolate for my drink holder.  hehe  I felt pretty good about it and I have to say that having a riding mower really makes me enjoy owning property more.  What used to take 4 hours or more to push mow took just an hour and I'm not exhausted and spent for the day at the end of it.  Win win I say.  Of course we couldn't pay for it all in one month but still totally worth it.  Stupid doctor bills!  I honestly don't know how people without insurance do it.  I see those pre-insurance costs and it would ruin us financially.  It really would, and I don't have any particularly life threatening conditions.  I'm really hoping after my surgery tomorrow that things slow down a lot on the medical front.  Plus side is I blew through our deductible in the first two months of the year.  lol

At Easter we went out this year to Buca di Beppo which is an Italian restaurant for those not familiar.  They serve family style so it was perfect.  My mom, stepdad, sister, niece, and Josh, Maegwin, and I all went.  Maegwin enjoyed seeing everyone and posed with Daddy.
get your game face on
She was quite the shutterbug.
pretty in pink
She shared my pear italian soda and insisted that we drink it together for the rest of the meal. I think she liked that it was pink.
drink with me mommy

I've been working on another swap package for my Itty Bitty knitters group. This time the theme is hedgehogs and hippos. The bonus challenge is that all components of the package must be things related to the letter H. I just need to add a face to my hippo but otherwise all is ready to go.
hippo preview
I'm also sewing some ears on little bunny bootees that I knit for a co-worker. I think his baby is due in the next few weeks so I want to give them to him when I'm back at work on Wednesday. Other than that, I have half a Maegwin sock to knit, another fish sock like the one in my last post, and then I plan to start a Spring Garden Tee for Maegwin with the same yarn I used for baby Lily's flower cardigan set. I have three and a half balls left over and really can't think of anything else to use it for than a baby or toddler knit. After all those are done it should be time to shift into summer knitting mode and I have a few sweaters/tees picked out for me that I'd like to do.

Our seedlings are doing well in the basement but we had a mouse come into our house when the weather turned again.  The crazy little thing kept eating our seedlings and managed to get all of our coneflowers and a bit of radish before we caught him.  Nothing seems to be nibbled since then but we've got a few traps up just in case.  We let Cordova out in the garden with it and she just batted at it once then walked away.  The thing actually ran back INTO the trap.  I guess she's too old to be a ratter anymore but it makes me sad.

Thank you to everyone who sent us anniversary cards and wishes!  I've still got some flowers from the bouquets that Josh and Maegwin picked out strewn all over the house.  They were mostly Gerbera daisies which I love and they are great to keep.  I just cut most of the stems off and put them in shorter vases and they perked right up again!

Short post for now-Maegwin just went down for a nap so I want to take advantage of the time.  Crossing my fingers for surgery tomorrow.  :)