What a weekend!

I started my weekend off with a bang. On Friday, I went and did something that I hadn't done since April. I used to do it every 5 weeks, but since we've had limited funds I had to cut back. I cut my hair! There's a picture of my short hair later, but here's how much I cut off:


That was Friday between work and TYF. Off I went to TYF to do some more weaving. Sam and I took a rigid heddle loom weaving class with Terry. We finished with the warping and I was excited to finally start weaving. There is a lot of prep work involved in weaving, which definitely pays off. So what am I weaving?

I spun some thick and thin singles inspired by "Expressions in Spinning"; this is a group that meets at TYF once a month and draws inspiration from various themes. Last month's was poetry and Shel Silverstein was selected. I chose primary colors because his poetry reminds me of elementary school. Additionally, I had a lot of energy - so I decided to do lumpy bumpy coils around a core commercial yarn. Here are some pictures of my spinning:



Back to weaving. Terry suggested that I incorporate my coils into my weaving. What a great idea! Here are some pictures of the scarf that I am working on.




I love weaving and hope I get to do more of it. Sam and I have come up with a list of things that we can make. We have much love for the fiber.

Friday night, I began the latke venture and didn't finish until 1:15pm the next day (yes, that's Saturday). The really sad thing about my 7+ hours of latke cooking is that I didn't even make them from scratch, I used a mix. People loved them. Even a Jewish buddy said they didn't turn out so badly. I made over a 100 for a Chismakkah party that my gaybors hosted on Saturday evening.



I managed to get to TYF for a couple hours in the afternoon and ran into Chris. I love this picture of Chris and Sam knitting on the big sock.


I ran over to Betsy and Jeff's for their house warming party. They have such a cute home. I am so happy for them. They deserve only the best.

Geared up for the Chrismakkah party and headed across the street to my favorite gaybors' (Jeff & Brent).


Max and Gaby helped to host and they were the sweetest little elves ever.


They had the best tree ever! Jeff found a vintage 1950's foil tree (with a color wheel) at a garage sale a few years ago. This thing is awesome! They decorated with a pink feather boa, pink and black ornaments and to top it off (yes seriously) a vintage Cher doll from the 70's. Jeff even custom made her outfit.



So many faces that I hadn't see in a while. It was nice to celebrate with everyone! It was a huge success, we probably had about 50 attendees and my latkes got gobbled up ;)






Sunday, we went over to my BIL & SIL's (bro-in-law & sis-in-law) for a Hanukkah dinner. Ben made a beautiful brisket. I should have pulled out the camera and taken pictures. He bought a 12-pound brisket and 10 people managed to polish most of it off. We must have liked it or something...

I saw NEW MOON for the first time with my SIL and her mother and sister. It's silly to say, but "I loved it!"

What else? Oh, yeah! I'm working on Sam's Hanukkah present and both Ben and I are extremely excited about the way it's spinning up. I'm spinning up some BFL dyed by Dicentra Designs. I am in love! The color way is called ballerina, but we can't really figure out why. This fiber was definitely intended for Sam (the former ballerina) - it's KISMET! I'm going to 3-ply it. Woohoo!

What I'm Up To

I have been itching to capture some of the knitting and spinning I've been working on. Since I recently got a brand new camera (yay for SLRs!), I felt compelled to blog.

Spinning up a storm am I...

I recently spun up some Pagewood Farms hand dyed BFL that I bought from Tempe Yarn & Fiber. I did a traditional 3-ply and I'm gaga about how it turned out.


I decided to buy several novelty yarns and splice them (thanks to the dynamic and brave Terry at TYF) to knit them with my lovely turquoise BFL. Here is the ball of spliced novelty yarns by itself and alongside it's future neighbor.



Then, I spun up some BFL from Laughing Rat Studios. I am lovin' the BFL. I specifically bought this colorway for Sam, since she loves the green. I navajo plied it. Some pictures:






I have also been having a ton of fun at Expressions In Spinning, which is a group at TYF. We are inspired by different themes each month.

Last month's theme was Harry Potter:


This month's theme was poetry and we chose Shel Silverstein. This reminded me of elementary school so I chose primary colors. I hand blended the colored, spun them thick and thin and then coiled/beaded them around a core.



With all this spinning, gotta make it a point to still knit.

I'm taking a class with Chris (she's my knitting super hero) at Knit Happens. Try toe-up, 2 at a time, magic loop socks... yes, seriously... on size 1 needles. These are for my DH. He chose the yarn, which I think is an unusual choice, but they are for him and he can have whatever his little heart desires.


I'm really into sock knitting. I've knit a couple pairs, but always top down. Here's a single that needs a companion.


Here's a sock that I'm working on for Sam. I prefer the 2 circular needle method...


I'm still doing a bit of baby knitting for my niece Zoey who is due in January. I can't wait to meet her. Here's a baby dress, pattern by Tora Froseth. This picture did not come out great... still learning about lighting. It's actually pink and yellow. I think it's totally appropriate for a baby named Zoey.


And, of course, where would I be without my trusted-partner-in-crime - Sammy! Here's a couple of super cute pictures of her.



... and her amazing knitting. This is a sweater folks...


SO much fun! I can't stand it. Well, gotta go knit some more.

Fill 'er up

I wish I had taken pictures today to capture such a monumental moment, but really I was so scared to death about the whole experience that the thought didn't even cross my mind.

Today was my first fill!

I've been dreading this day since I made the decision to have band surgery and now I know that no one is lying, getting a band fill truly doesn't hurt.

I had been following a thread via the smartbandsters group on yahoo, hoping that I could overcome my fears. A couple of people suggested lidocaine ointment. I called my surgeon's office last Friday and yesterday the called in a prescription for my-new-best-friend.

I put my-new-best-friend on in the car as Ben was driving over to the surgeon's office. It takes 30-45 minutes to work. We got to the office and I started to get extremely nervous. I watched the clock like a hawk, hoping they were going to get me in before my-new-best-friend stopped making magic. At 30 minutes, I asked the guy at the front desk if they were running behind and I should apply some more. He suggested I do that. So I did it.

Then, they called me back and explained that the NP that is supposed to do my fill (who I love) has a couple more surgeries and wouldn't be able to do my fill today. I could see a different Doc or come back on Thursday. I said that I would let him feel my port and if he thought he could hit it easily, I would consider letting him do it.

Ben and I went into the office and Ben got to step on the scale (he's been dying to do this) that tells you a ton of information, like what percentage is body fat, water weight, etc. Ben, of course, is 17% fat. So crazy. So, Doc came in and explained that he had done hundreds of fills. He felt for my port and said it was easy to find. It really hurt, quite a bit actually, when he continued to push down on it. I freaked out and one of the staff came in. She was also afraid of needles and knew just what to say to get me to calm down. I calmed down and we did it.

They have you lay down. They put a needle in your stomach. They put a couple of ccs in, take a bit out (to make sure they've hit your port). Have you sit up and drink some water - to make sure you are not too restricted. Pull it out and walla.

I've started with 2 ccs. They don't want to put too much in you right away, they want you to get used to the restriction.

I've lost a total of 16 pounds in about 5 weeks. This is nice steady weight loss. I've even gained some muscle mass.

I met with the nutritionist who said I was doing great and that I should continue to keep up the good work.

What? It's my birthday?

So after you have WLS there isn't a lot of celebrating on your birthday. You don't have cake (maybe next year), you don't drink alcohol (why waste the calories) and you don't go out to dinner... celebrating with food is just kind of pointless. I eat approx. 550-650 calories daily and don't need 100 of those calories to be taken up by just any old thing.

My friends kept asking what I wanted to do and I couldn't come up with anything. Ben ended up having to work late. So where else does one go? The happiest place on earth, you say? Of course! The yarn store! Yay! Not just any yarn store, but my home away from home - TYF.

Wow! Am I spoiled? Sammy bought me a set of interchangeable addi clicks for my birthday.



Yes, seriously. I have never received such a special gift from a friend. It was a complete and utter surprise. Something I don't think I ever would have done for myself. They are lovely.

Also, I had all kinds of old friends (some I hadn't seen in 20+ years) wish me well on Facebook. It's cheesy, but it was so nice to hear from people I don't always hear from. I think there were probably 100 people on FB wishing me a happy birthday. Crazy.

So, I woke up saying "it doesn't feel like my birthday". I'm going to bed dreaming of the "click, click, click" noise that my new Addis make and missing so many people that I love dearly, wishing I could fly to NY, MN, IL, Greece, Israel, Portland, etc. to see all of my loves.

Yay!

Adventures in Dyeing

Sam came over today. It was the first time that I had company (besides Mom & DH) and I was happy. First, we walked after I oogled over her new hair style. She is so fierce!

We decided to take a trip up to a new yarn/fiber store that's close to my house. I don't intend to call this place home, but I wanted to check it out. Mostly, my interest was piqued by the different fibers available. I had ventured there once before, but it was closed. There is no sign outside, but there is a banner in the door.

I bought some cashmere. I haven't spun with cashmere and Sam & I have been wanting to do some dyeing. We grabbed our 8 oz. and headed to Target for some Kool Aid. They had 3 kinds, we opted for cherry and grape. Looked up some instructions online, thank you free web resources, and got home to go to work.

Love for the kool aid.

Fiber in the pot and on the stove for its dye bath

Stirrin' up the fiber... yummy grape

Dryin' the fiber...

After the grape goodness, we made some red loveliness.

It's all outside now drying on the drying rack, woohoo! Can't wait to spin it up!

On the mend.

Today is post-surgery Day 6. I feel pretty good. Here's a quick recap of the last few days, some have been better than others.

Day of (Thursday): We arrived at the hospital and I was still reeling from the magnesium citrate. That is some nasty stuff. I assumed that things would be moving so quickly that I wouldn't have time to get anxious. Someone had suggested that I see if I can't take something to calm me down once I arrive. I checked in and asked a nurse if something was available to calm my nerves. Nothing. Ben disappeared to go get some food and I was entertained by a philosopher. Seriously, he was a professional, genius philosopher that kept me busy thinking about hyperbolic geometry and how it relates to knitting. At some point, I want to read this book - Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes. Ben came back, my Mom showed up and then we waited. Waited and waited. Finally, around 3pmish I went back to pre-op and had a hard time with the IV. I did it, though, and it ended up being ok. One thing I was not expecting was the shot of heparin in my stomach; that hurt more than the IV. The rest was sort of a blur. Lots of nurses giving me lots of attention. My surgeon and her NP showing up to make me laugh and the anesthesiologist who was mild and kind.

I woke up in a post-op waiting area and it was the longest hour of my life before I could be transferred to my room to see my family and have some water. I was pretty out of it, but aware. When they rolled me up to my room, I remember waiving to the nurse's station like I was on a parade float. I was in pretty good spirits. A male nurse came in and helped me get settled. He was great, unfortunately, he left an hour after I arrived. That night was not much fun and I mostly attribute that to the nurse whose care I was left in. I was uncomfortable and unhappy. My Mom stayed with me until about 3 in the morning and I was glad she was there because Nurse Ratchet was just too much.

Day 1, Post-Op(Friday): Nurse Nasty left about 7:30am and I was relieved when I got a new nurse. I didn't take the final shot of heparin, which I remained paranoid about for a couple of days. I thought Nurse Nasty had put a vex on me and that I was going to get a blood clot because I refused to take the final shot. My new nurse ordered me some clear liquids and made sure I had everything I needed, the aides were also awesome. RV came to visit and brought me some lovely flowers and a fitness magazine. We went for one of my many walks; I walked a lot... as much as possible. It was very hard to get up and down, but the walking wasn't too bad. My MIL & SIL showed up while RV was visiting. He headed out and I visited with them for a bit. The surgeon and the NP also showed up (at separate times) to check on me. The NP thought my incisions looked good and she thought I was so funny after anesthesia. She said that right before I fell asleep I said "this is going to be a 5-star experience". I was discharged about 12pm.

DH stopped at Chompie's... seriously... on the way home. I prepared for more days of herbal tea, chicken broth and jello. The car ride home was uncomfortable. When I got home, I was pretty cranky. I slept a lot and it was very hard to get in and out of bed. I mostly sat on the love seat at home.

Day 2, Post Op (Saturday): I don't remember much about this day. I had soreness in my calves and was worried (no convinced now) that Nurse Bitch was also a witch who had special magical blood clot powers. I was mostly uncomfortable and took a lot of lortab, pain medication. I was supposed to shower, but Ben convinced me to wait until the next day since I was so sore. I walked a lot, despite being sore. I didn't sleep in my bed, stayed on the love seat.

Day 3, Post Op (Sunday): By 5am, my ankles were pretty swollen and I called my mom to come and give me her opinion as to whether or not I had blood clots. Mom got their a couple of hours later and she said that so much sitting up was probably not the best. She suggested putting my legs up and, sure enough, she was right. So my attempt to avoid the blood clots, actually caused me more discomfort. She convinced me that I was ok and suggested that I shower. Ben helped me shower and it didn't go to badly. I finally started feeling more normal by the end of Sunday. I still couldn't really sleep in bed for very long, too hard to get up and down. Still walking.

Day 4, Post Op (Monday): By now, I was hungry and done with the clear liquids. I considered, carefully, what I was going to eat for my first meal. I reviewed the info provided and came up with some ideas. DH took me to the grocery store after my breakfast of herbal tea.

I was so excited about my first meal, but also very aware that it could lead to throwing up. Here is what I had: sliced turkey from the deli with laughing cow lite cheese spread, canned french green beans (for the softness) and watermelon. I put it all on a small plate and used some baby utensils that DH had bought the night before. Set a timer (for 20 minutes) and couldn't believe that I only ate half of what was on my plate. I was careful to eat small bites and chew a lot. I was full, but not "full"... more like very satisfied. No throwing up - woohoo! Dinner included more turkey/laughing cow rollups, mashed cauliflower (South Beach Mashed Potatoes) and watermelon. It was going very well and I felt much better.

Day 5, Post Op (Tuesday): Yesterday, I craved a lot of foods that I wouldn't normally even eat - like fried chicken. I think I've eaten fried chicken a total of 8 times in my life... maybe. Instead, I walked a lot and ate the following. Breakfast: eggbeaters, cottage cheese, morning star sausage and watermelon; Lunch: refried beans, enchilada sauce, reduced fat cheese, green beans and watermelon; Dinner: turkey meatballs (with parmesean instead of bread crumbs), mashed cauliflower and watermelon. I know it sounds like a lot of food, but I'm not eating more than a 1/2-1 cup of food. Very, very small portions. I'm also making sure I drink 64 oz. of water daily and sometimes I feel like it is too much too fast. I'm burping a lot when I eat and from what I hear that's normal for some people. I'm not embarrassed of it, but for some people it is really embarrassing.

I also went to the Dr.'s office today. My incisions look good; the NP told me I had great skin and that some of my incisions look like cosmetic surgery incisions, I guess that's a compliment. I've already lost 6 pounds since last week. Pretty remarkable, since post surgery (filled with liquid and air) I was 12 pounds heavier a few days prior.

Today (Day 6):

I slept pretty well in bed and had an easier time getting in and out. Last night was the first time I was able to get in and out on my own. I'm about to get up and start walking. Then, it's shower time and breakfast. I'm knitting more, but haven't really been as interested in it. Not sure why.

LOL! A commercial for xenedrine just came on and it made me think back to when I've tried that and other drugs in the past. No more Xenedrine ever... ;)

Gearing Up

In just a few minutes, I'm going to start getting my things together in preparation for the hospital.

Magnesium citrate is the devil. I took it around 3pm (yesterday) and I'm still feeling the effects this morning. I don't think it's supposed to last this long. The bottle had said just six hours. As one can imagine, I didn't sleep very well last night.

I've been trying to rehearse the mantra "attitude is everything". I go from being terrified to confident. I know that in a week, I won't remember the majority of the experience.

I'm going to try to do a little yoga before I leave, I hope it will calm me down.

The First Mile

I feel like I've completed the first mile in my journey. I have taken education classes. Gone through with the lab work; a feat, due to my fear of needles. Spoken with other individuals online. Attended a support group. Conducted my research.

I think the first mile was the roughest. I think, mostly, it's the fear of the unknown. Some of my fears were squashed yesterday. I met some people who were willing to physically show me their experiences. That was really helpful because I can compare what I will look like in a week and in several months.

I also discovered, yesterday, that I am insulin resistant. What? Seriously? I guess it makes sense. Inevitably, my glucose level will go down from the surgery and just in time - a bit higher and I would have ended up with diabetes.

Today, I have to eat relatively light. Tomorrow, it's only a light breakfast for me and then clear broth. Thursday, is the day.

Ah, Fall Harvest

It's officially fall here in Arizona. The leaves don't change colors. The smell of burning leaves does not fill the air. You do not need a jacket yet. What does happen, however, is that the temperature drops to below 100. You can still run around in shorts and sandals, but it's much more comfortable. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to venture down to Apple Annie's Orchard. A lot of Phoenicians have never been there. Primarily because it is about 3 hours away form Phoenix in Wilcox, which is past Tucson. A few years ago, Ben and I ventured down there and he continually asked me if we were there yet. Fortunately, Sam was interested in taking a little road trip and Sterling joined us too.

We left town around 11amish and we were in the car for over 3 hours. We did get a little loopy at one point singing at the top of our lungs to the Violent Femmes, that is Sam and I sang out of the top of our lungs and Sterling was armed with a loudly blaring ipod to drown out our singing.
Pictures of us in the car:



On our way to Wilcox, we continued to see these billboards for "The Thing?" There must have been about 20 of them are so. Our curiosity got the better of us later and we stopped at "The Thing?" on our way back. We made up several stories in our head what "The Thing?" could be.



Finally, we arrived! There was much rejoicing! First things first, we needed to grab some lunch. It was almost 2:30, afterall. We enjoyed our lunches of applewood smoked burgers and relaxed at some picnic tables shaded by asian pear trees. Unfortunately, there were no more asian pears. The season had come and gone without us enjoying a single one from Annie's. We picked apples. Sterling was quite good at picking apples, he has that height that's helpful. I think he quite enjoyed it, wanting to pick more apples than any of us could eat.


We had our fill of apples after consuming some apple crumb pie (that was delicious!) and headed over to the produce and pumpkin area that "Annie" owns. So many sunflowers! When we pulled up, we immediately noticed the sunflowers. They were so beautiful!


We boarded a hayride and drove out to the pumpkin patch to pick our own pumpkins.
Sam & Sterling on the hayride:



We went out to the pumpkin patch and marveled at how many pumpkins there were. So many! Erick, Sam's DH, requested that we find the odd-shaped ones for him. We couldn't find many, they were all nearly perfect. They were huge! There were also several green ones, which was cool. They vines are prickly and we weren't prepared for the "workout" that ensued. Sterling picked his perfect pumpkin, Sam picked one for Erick and I grabbed one. Then, we headed over to the produce market. We opted to not pick our own and just grab what was already picked. I got some peppers, sweet corn, acorn squash and green beans for Ben.

We had a full day of picking and were ready to head home. Not before we stopped at "The Thing?". I had conjured up more ideas, since we saw signs saying "don't park within 100 feet of this area". Sam went up to the counter and told the man, "Three for The Thing?, please." It was so funny.



We went up to the door and followed the golden footsteps. Here is some of what we saw:




As you can tell, we saw lots of "things". This guy that put the 3 buildings together had a "thing" for antiques. Lots of interesting things. Now that our curiosity was satisfied, it was time to get back on the road.

About an hour later, we saw the most beautiful sunset. It started out yellowish, then moved on to hues of orange and pink. We contemplated yarn that would incorporate the beauty of the colors that we played witness to.





We had a good time, but I don't know that we will make that drive again. Maybe if we do something in Tucson the day before and spend the night. We were all exhausted when we got home.