July.

When did that happen, and who authorized it?
Do you like my new template? It's called Polar Bears but I refer to it as Wishful Thinking.
Anyway. DH is not great, but is feeling a little better. He finally had his muscle biopsy this morning, but we won't know the results for a couple of days. He's starting on a new round of meds tomorrow, but won't get his prednisone right away. I think the oxycodone hadn't worn off all the way when he talked to the doctor because he couldn't remember half of what the doc said. Anyway, doc thinks he has a few more days yet - he has an infection where they gave him an injection, and he's been having crazy nightly fevers, so they won't release him until those are resolved. They're thinking maybe Friday. Sigh. But, I have friends who've taken Eddie for a couple of play dates, and Lynn in Tucson dropped off dinner tonight (a whole roast and broccoli and bread), and I got my Cookie Lace in the mail over the weekend, so I'm feeling pretty pampered, all things considered. I'm a little concerned for when DH does come home, though - I was thinking once he got some meds he'd be back to normal, but I've learned that the weakness is a done deal - the disease ate his muscles, and he really is that weak and frail. He can build muscle back up with exercise, but for now, he's not going to be hiking or driving or taking the boys to the park anytime soon. (He keeps thanking me for doing everything, and I am wondering what he thought I meant when I said, "In sickness and in health". I think he's trying to say thank you, but when he starts expressing shock at how much I've been doing, I don't know whether to say you're welcome or be offended that he thought I might just let him suffer...)
In other whiny news, the AC has been fixed up a bit. It's not perfect (damn pigeons nesting in the attic a few years ago tore up the ducts and the AC has been killing itself ever since) but it's cooler in here and OH BOY IT FEELS GOOD. It's working well enough that I can turn it up a little and still be okay with fans. This makes me hopeful for future power bills.

Hanging in.

Barely. June is turning into one seriously sucktastic month, my friends. I suspect it would be less so if the AC didn't require servicing, but right now it's been running all. day. long. and it is 82 degrees in my house and the temp is rising. If I'd been smart I'd have turned it up ages ago to save the strain on the motor, but I am not smart.

In knitting knews, Mary Jane is finished. More or less. The ends are all woven in (by holding them together with the new strand and knitting 5-8 stitches) but this is somewhat slick yarn, so I am still considering whether I want to weave them all in further. The yarn was cheap on eBay (here) and had several knots per skein, but given what I paid for it, and the fact that the whole sweater took 3.5 balls and I bought ten, I'm pretty happy with it. I still think I'm going to overdye it because Lynn in Tucson and the other gals from the knit night think it's chartreuse when I know it to be gold. I'm thinking either black cherry kool aid or deep forest green jacquard acid dye. Anyway, I won't do a "reveal" until I dye (or not), weave in ends (or not) and block it. Plus I need DH here since my camera doesn't work so great on a timer, and he'll be gone for a while yet.



That's the main reason for June's suckitude. DH checked into the hospital a couple of days ago to try to get the autoimmune stuff and valley fever under control. Since then he's been told he has an enlarged heart, he doesn't have an enlarged heart, he has thrush, he has vascular blockages, he doesn't have vascular blockages, his heart is strong, his right ventricle is under strain, he has a node in his lung, he has a hole in his lung, etc. Currently he's there waiting for a muscle biopsy and the beginning of his autoimmune treatment. If the autoimmune treatment doesn't help his breathing, he'll be having a lung biopsy as well, but for now they think the breathing problems are due to the wasting effect the autoimmune disease has on the major muscles (yay heart and diaphragm) of the upper body. Emotionally we're in a better place today than we were yesterday, when we were thinking he had asbestos-related cancer or something.

In the meantime, I'm hoping this turns into something good.

Running out of time!

Boys and girls, it's almost time for Claudia's MS Ride. For the last two years she was the #1 fundraiser, thanks to the generosity of knitters and their loved ones. This year the fundraising is lagging a little. The ride is this Saturday! Please oh please, click on the link and donate! Even a dollar helps. (You get entered in the prize drawing one time for each $10 you donate - if you are not a knitter and you donate and win some yarn, I will knit something for you out of it!)

still here.

I thought I would post so I don't start getting those "did you really run screaming into the night?" emails. I am still here. DH is still here. Haven't killed him, he hasn't died from either an exuberant small boy climbing on his pain-wracked self, or from the pain itself. So far the docs are saying valley fever and some as-yet unnamed autoimmune disease. We hope that they communicate this week and get him involved in some heavy-hitting drugs because GAWD I am tired of unloading the dishwasher all by myself.
Anyway, there was not much knitting in the recent past. I have finished the body of Mary Jane, and I'm even shortening the sleeves, but I haven't really had enough time to knit more than about an inch of sleeve since Wednesday. (That's not true, I've been working my way through a sudoku book too.)
So. No photos, no news, no interest, no nothing. Oh, I should mention that Haloscan has taken to emailing me only a portion of my comments, so if I don't respond, it's not because I'm ignoring you, it's because I don't know you exist. Ha!

The time, she flies

Cuz yesterday, Squeak turned 6 months old.



For reference, here's the three month photo.



(It's entirely coincidental that he's wearing a version of the same sleeper in both photos. I am not nearly that organized. In fact, with Bug, I took a picture of him with the same little stuffed dog each MONTH to show his growth. With Squeak, every three months. If we were to have another I'd be lucky to remember his/her birthday.)

In keeping with brotherly similarities, they both fall asleep in weird places.





Squeak says, "Hey! Whatcha doin"?"

Did I post yesterday?

What day is this? Um. Thursday? I feel certain I'm within at least 2 days of the right day. Anyway.
Still hunting jobs. New ones pop up here and there and I apply. DH's job is on hold due to governmental red tape issues, and the apparent issue that the one woman in the whole universe who can resolve said red tape is not answering her phone. Sigh. Anyway, I have applied for a couple that I am perfectly suited for, and some that would offer learning opportunities as well as interesting work. I'm hoping more for the learning opportunities, myself. Cross your fingers for me, please. One is a telecommuting position that would allow me to work anywhere.
In the meantime, DH is starting to see his specialists (he's with the rheumatologist right now) and is taking the forced time off to rest and hopefully kick whatever's got him. Bug doesn't know what to do with himself now that Mama and Daddy are both home all day, and it has seriously screwed with the schedule. (Well, it could still be the reentry suckage, but I'm blaming DH and you can't change my mind.) I'm just now starting to get a handle on things - the kitchen is clean, bread is baking, the yogurt was made yesterday (but is as yet untasted), and there's laundry running as I type. I'm still in my jammies, but we can't have everything now, can we?



In knitting news, I did next to none in Montana. I have decided that I don't knit well in the car. DH and I are great roadtrippers and we end up having hours-long conversations about everything and anything under the sun, and I tend not to knit when we're talking like that. (Interestingly, we don't talk nearly as much, or about anything as deep, when we're home. Roadtrips only.) Consequently, Mary Jane is still in the middle of the body and the anatomical sock is not far along. But really, is this not better? (Clickety for embiggenation, and I apologize for my ugly foot.)



Better, no?

Yes, it's true, I will end up with right and left socks, but heavens, people. If I were worried about extra time devoted to wearing socks, I would not be knitting them myself by hand, now would I?

Now I will leave you with a little mosaic (click each to embiggen) of my kids and Montana, and why I didn't want to leave...

home.

And I'm not happy about it. It's nice to be back to normal since, due to the super-short trip, that was a whirlwind, but people? IT SNOWED. JUST FOR ME. The weather was perfect for the graduation party on Friday afternoon - cloudy and breezy but not terribly cold. Trina's friends have a lovely house and yard and we all hung out there, and Bug disappeared and I didn't see anything of him except for the occasional flash of his sweatshirt as he ran by, for hours. Someone showed him the pool table and the drum set and he ran between the two of them all night. There were several large dogs, tons of kids, lots of beer and soda and brownies and food, and it was absolutely the best party I've been to in ages. The next morning was graduation, and it snowed. SNOWED! IN JUNE! HOW EFFING GREAT IS THAT?!?!?! Seriously, from 100s to 40s is like my idea of heaven. Squeak HATED the graduation from the second DH wolf-whistled when Trina walked in the auditorium, so he and I sat outside (the only place to sit - who builds a building in snow country without seating in the lobby?) and watched the snow. We were in a sheltered spot and he had Aunt Cookie's BSJ on, so we were pretty happy. People looked at me like I was nuts, but I told them I was from Arizona and was storing up the cold to take home. Anyway, there was a great lunch with the grad and the family, there was the drive DH and the boys and I took up into the mountains where he used to live when Trina was little (the house next door was for sale and I was TEMPTED), there was the visit to Gramma where Bug ran for the swollen river that runs through her yard TWICE and I'm still having night- (and day-) mares. There was very little knitting (like, three rows) but I almost caught up on my sleep. Now that we are home, and it's bright and hot and dry, I am quite sad and wishing we could move up there TO. DAY. I mostly had camnesia but did take lots of pictures of Gramma's yard, and I'm waiting for the stepdaughters to send me all the great shots THEY took.
Usually when you ask Bug if he wants to go on a plane, he's thrilled. Yesterday when I asked him if he wanted to go on a plane back home he said, "No! Not home!" I totally grok that.

Communication breakdown

Sigh. My computer is hosed. DH's computer is old and horrid, the laptop moreso. I can't even get it to boot into safe mode, and I don't have the slightest idea whether I have a boot disk or a backup or anything like that. Sigh.
I also don't have the time or energy to deal with it, because tomorrow we go see my stepdaughter graduate from high school. We are packed, have house-sitters, dog food, baby food, Bug food, enough diapers to wallpaper a house, and we'll be back Sunday. I doubt highly I will bother to even log on to a computer during that time, but don't worry about me - DH will be driving us all over his home state and I will be knitting in the car and reveling in cold, damp weather. (Seriously. High 50s and rain. It couldn't be more glorious. It will make me even more of a raging bitch when I fly home to midday June-in-Phoenix temps and my beloved, now dead, computer. I may wait a day or two before posting, just to spare you the brunt.)