The things I put up with for Traveling Scarves

Before I tell this story, I first want everyone to know that I am not making fun of anyone.

As most of you know I'm one of the Administrators for the Traveling Scarves group on Ravelry, so every couple of weeks or so I'm at the post office mailing off my next package. On Tuesday, 2/17/09, (the post office was closed for President's Day) so when I walked into the building I quickly saw the line off 20 people or so. I took my place in line to wait and said hello to the gentleman standing in front of me. The line moved just a smidgen and the door opened as another customer entered, I turned to smile and saw a older woman approximately 60ish with a man who was probably in his mid 20's carrying a blankie and was extremely mentally retarded. I smiled and said "Hi" and the man began parroting me. He said "hi" to everyone in the post office. The woman said "Hold Grandma's hand." which he repeated many many times in his grandma's voice. She said that he was a victim of child abuse when he was two years old and that's where his mind stayed. I didn't have a problem at all until he walked up to me and said "Hi, Good Lookin and squeezed my boob. (it was just one squeeze but multiple squeezes) I gently removed his hand and looked to Grandma for some guidance or help in what to do in that situation. She said, "BJ leave that woman alone." then he repeated that several times. At this point I was afraid to make I contact because I didn't want to encourage the fondling episode ago. He then let out a loud cry and then in a high pitched voice said "he's baulin'." Then he did it again and in the same voice said "he's pitchin' a fit." It was like listening to a parrot mimick the family he lives with. The line started moving again and he got loose from Grandma and grabbed my boob again. By this point I'm really feeling scared and uncomfortable. The line moved again and suddenly my head jerks back like whiplash and grandma said "BJ don't pull her hair." I completely understand how a two year old behaves because my grandson pulls hair, has hit, etc. But he's only 25 lbs and 30" tall and a little bit easier to control. BJ then began flipping his blankie at me and then I heard the postal clerk call next. All I could think was thank God there was some distance between me and the 6' 200lb BJ.

All I can say is Grandma is one angel and what happened to BJ's abuser? Did they get a short sentence or a slap on the wrist? Poor BJ is stuck as a 2 year old for the rest of his life and Grandma will never have a peaceful life. I can't imagine what strength you would need to be a fulltime caregiver for an adult 2 year old.

So I just want all my TSG friends to realize that I'm willing to be molested in the post office line while trying to get my scarves mailed out.

Couch to 5K

I've been meaning to update my blog for several days now and just can't ever seem to find the time to just sit and type.



A week or so ago I was watching TV, it was late, I was in my bedroom lying on my bed. A show ccame on about the one ton man, he was lying face down on his bed because that was the only way he could breath. The firemen had to take out a wall to get him out of the house and to the hospital. I was thinking to myself, how in the world can someone let themselves get to that point and then I caught my reflection in the TV screen. There I was lying on my stomach, just like the one ton man. So I got up and did a few jumping jacks to remind myself that I could still move and be active.



The next day I was on Ravelry, talking to one of my friends and she told me about Couch to 5K. It's a plan to get yourself off the couch and doing a 5K race in 2 months. If you've read my blog, I'm sure I've mentioned how much I absolutely hate exercise and don't understand how people can say they are addicted to running or weight lifting. But, I remembered how proud I was of my sister when she started running years ago. I was proud and jealous at the same time, I so wanted to be a runner, but I always made excuses about my knees (yes, my knees do hurt and crack and make it really hard to jog) but I know if I were to lose some of the weight, they might not hurt as bad.



So I recruited my sister to join me in the couch to 5K. I've got a goal! My goal is to walk/jog/run the Tulsa Full Moon Run on May 9th. I might not be able to run or jog the entire 5K by then but I'll finish it. We started our "training" last week and we walked the trail at the lake it's a little over a mile. It's a hilly little trail and it's really hard for me to walk and talk at the same time without being so out of breath. The shin splints finally went away. We drove 2 cars and parked them at opposite ends of the lake and walked to one car and drove back to the other car. We will continue this routine this week and then next week, we will walk from one end to the other and back again to the car. After we are able to do that for a few days I think I'll be ready to start adding some jogging into the mix.



Remember a paragraph or two back when I said I hated exercise. Well, last night I didn't get to go to the lake with my sister for our walk and I really missed it. Chelsea's neurologist appointment was last night. She's been on the Topamax for 1 month and no freaky side effects which is really good. The dr asked how she was doing and said "Okay, I'll see you in 6 months." and that was it.



On the knitting front: The girls and I started up our Thursday night knitting night again. After Survivor ended last season we tried to switch to Tuesday nights, but that just wasn't working for us. I think we only met 2 times since Thanksgiving. Since the new season of Survivor started last Thursday, we met up again. Michelle ordered pizza, Rita invited her cousin Pam to join us. She's a brand new knitter, never held needles in her life. She did really good, we started her on a dishcloth. I'm working on my TASK squares and still have a few to finish. I was having so much trouble with them and the gauge. Who would have thought that knitting a 12" square would be so hard. But, I found a great way to finish them up. The log cabin pattern is really working out great and it's easy to stay on gauge. I've promised myself that I will get them all finished and mailed out before I start a new project. My new project that I'm wanting to get going on is the Barn-Raising Quilt which is a bunch a squares. I'm not real excited about knitting squares again, but at least they have a pattern and they are with sock yarn which is so much fun for me to knit with.

Here's a couple of pictures of the Barn-Raising Quilt that others have made. Aren't they pretty?

I love this blanket, I think it will be a late wedding present for my daughter Chelsea. Yep, she getting married in less than 4 weeks and we are no where near ready for the big day. I've planned to take off on the 12th and 13th just to finish up the last little details.

The Groundhog saw his shadow!

Yesterday was groundhog day and that damned groundhog saw his shadow and ran back in his hole. 6 more weeks of bad weather.

I just hope we are finished with the ice. Last week, Jan 26th on Monday afternoon the ice started. Freezing rain was coming down so fast that I had 1/2" to 1" of ice on my windshield within an hour. We closed up the office and slid home. It started out as a really scarey evening, my house is totally electric and like a goofball I never called the firewood people to have them bring out any wood. So, at approximately 8pm our electricity goes off. Since it was pitchblack in the house except for the couple of candles I found to light, we all decided we might as well go to bed.


I sat up and read by the light of my cell phone for an hour or so until it got so cold I couldn't keep my arms outside of the covers. At 3:30am the electricity came back on, because the TV was blaring and the lights came on. I shot out of bed like someone had invaded the house. I ran though really quick and shut off all the lights and turned off tv's and went back to sleep. The next morning, the schools were all shut down and the roads were like ice skating rinks. So I made an executive decision for our office to work from home. We were fortunate enough that the electricity stayed on for the next couple of days and the ice finally melted away.


We are on the countdown to the wedding...6 weeks from this coming Saturday is Chelsea and Brennan's wedding day. This Friday I'm taking a vacation day to take Chelsea to order the cake, pick out flowers, figure out the music, etc. The invitations were mailed on Saturday so it's a done deal. The date is picked and the dress is bought.


I finally finished the sweater for Angie's baby. I can't believe that Thursday is her last day and that her little boy will be here on Tuesday. Here's a picture of the sweater: