Esther Knits

Foot in Mouth Disease

2006-09-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

DSC01070.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

I haven't updated this in almost a month so I thought I would do a little post about all the goings on since I last posted. I also can't remember if I ever posted pictures about the finished Adamas shawl from way back in July, so here's a pic just in case. School is up and running and boy let me tell ya, it is kicking my butt! I have never read so much dense material in my life! I have been having a hard time concentrating for long periods of time and I also find my mind wandering a lot more than it normally does, but I am making use of some note taking strategies I've found online that have helped me to make sense of all the reading in a more synthesized way.
I am thinking the lack of concentration is something that will get better with time, at least I really really hope so. I have also noticed that my brain-talk filter is g.o.n.e. I have said more seriously stupid things in the last two months than I can remember. Like tonight, talking about taking a quiz online I just rambled and rambled and rambled on about how I hate taking quizzes online because I don't trust myself and blah blah blah, probably came off as totally wacko, what I meant to imply was that I don't like the format of taking assessments at home because I study and study and study some more and wait to take the quiz/test until the last minute and end up knowing that I could have gotten it done and over with earlier because I was just overpreparing. Why can I come up with what I mean to say after the fact, but when I am talking it comes out so disjointed and weird? I am definitely not feeling like myself!
Jered and I went on a bike ride with our friends Kristi and Casey on Sunday. It was really nice to get out on the bikes and ride, the weather was a little warm but not too bad. Saturday we went to a Gin Blossoms concert which was interesting. The band sounds just like they do on the radio, but the band members were all a little less cool than I remembered them being in 9th grade! Overall the concert was good, it felt pretty short, but they had awesome kettle corn at one of the booths that made up for that :)
I took some pictures of the Saffron Cables afghan that I started as well as the new lace project I started a while back and the socks that I am knitting at school, but alas, I can't find the cable to connect the camera to the computer, so no pictures today. Since I never keep my promises about posting pictures I won't promise to post them and we'll see what happens later this week.

Long Weekend

2006-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Had a nice long weekend and got to really relax with Jered for a while. My mom and brother went to Tennessee for the long weekend which was really nice for them (they got to get away from the house, paperwork etc.) and really nice for us (we got to have a little time for us). As odd as it is to say that it was nice to have a break, it seems almost mean to think it, it really has been nice having some down time for just the two of us. I have needed it more than I knew.

We had a very inspired weekend. We decided to rearrange some furniture in the house and make use of one of the rooms that was basically just sitting empty. We decided to move our office stuff into our downstairs "library," but instead of making it a traditional office, we've done it starbucks style and made it very loungy and multi-purpose. We bought a HUGE solid oak table for next to nothing at a local discount furniture store. Then we moved some of our organizational stuff and bookshelves from upstairs into the downstairs room and set up a nice, clean and organized space around this great new table. If we do have the big family that we want one day, we will all be able to fit around this table, it comfortably sits 8-10! Right now we have two chairs set up and little banker lamps on each side. I will take pictures soon. We also bought a printer this weekend, which we have been needing. Jered tried to network it wirelessly but it didn't work because we are on Macs and the print server we bought only networks postscript printers, which ours is not. But that doesn't really matter because we have an awesome printer that copies, scans, faxes and prints pictures (it even does it from negatives!).

I worked a little on the Afghan I started from the latest version of Interweave. It's been fun doing a project with cables because I haven't done one in a long long time.
Tomorrow its back to work and school for both Jered and me. We've got a semi-busy week ahead of us, but it has helped to have a restful and relaxing weekend at home together.

Sorrow

2006-08-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sorrow
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

This picture sums things up.
My mom is spending the night tonight and my brother is over at a family friends' house. We are making sense of things slowly but surely. It's good to have the support of family and friends. It has made all the difference.
Today we were out and about getting things done related to paperwork and "business" stuff until 9:30 pm. It was a long day.
I'm off to bed early, and hoping to get a little more work done tomorrow but also to do some yard work and maybe go on a bike ride.

Support

2006-08-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has been there for us through the last week. My dad's funeral was Tuesday. He got full military honors at the cemetary and it was a beautiful ceremony. We had family come into town starting last weekend including Jered's parents and Uncle. Everyone has gone home now, so its the first day that without tons of people around, which feels very weird. We are sorting out paperwork and all of the "business" that goes along with the death of a family member. It is so weird.
I'm actually feeling quite a bit better. I have my moments, but things are starting to get back to a state closer to normal.

I really appreciate all of the support and comfort you all have extended to me and my family. It has helped a lot!

My dad

2006-08-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Graduation, May 2006

My dad passed away yesterday at 4:07 pm. We don't know what happened. It was too quick, he was in the hospital for neck pain, his biopsy came back after he died, it was large cell lymphoma stage IV. He was scheduled to start chemo in a few weeks. We don't know what killed him, his heart just couldn't take it anymore and his blood pressure and heart rate went and his lungs failed him. They think it might have been a pulmonary embolism. I hope it was painless. We left the hospital two hours before he went code blue. We thought he was getting moved out of the ICU, they said he was doing better and that his surgery was healing well. He wanted chicken and canteloupe for dinner. My mom fed him pineapple and liver and onions for lunch. He was in and out of it but the morphine made him pretty sleepy. I didn't get to tell him about our trip. I didn't get to hug him because I was afraid to touch him and hurt him. It hurts so bad.
I love you dad. We don't know what to do without you.

Keep up to date

2006-07-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Wanna hear about how Jered and I tackle 360 miles on our bikes? We will be podcasting through Odeo and Jered's website each day of the ride. Tune in and see how it goes!

http://podcast.jeredb.com
We had to change hosts mid-stream, but this should work! We're in Kansas City waiting to leave for the bike trip early tomorrow morning. We start riding on Monday and finish up next Saturday, August 5th. I'll post pictures of our time at the lake and in Wisconsin when we get back!

To listen to previous posts, click on the "Posts" link in the player below and all of the posts should show up for your listening enjoyment!

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Vacation

2006-07-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

We're leaving for our two week vacation tomorrow morning (eaaaarly, 0:dark thirty). I am ready to get out of town for a little while and just relax, no work, no school no pets to take care of, just leisure and relaxation, well except for the 360 mile bike ride... ;)

We are going to finish packing tonight and take the dog over to my parents' place before we hit the sack tonight. I'm hoping we can get the car loaded tonight so that tomorrow morning is a shower, load the cooler and go kind of thing. We are driving somewhere around 15 hours tomorrow and 5-6 on Sunday.

I will be "unplugged" for the next two weeks, no internet ergo no blogging. I will post pictures and updates when we return after the 6th :) I'm hoping to get a pair of socks knit and finish my second Madli stole.

Here's to well deserved vacations!

Good week

2006-07-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Adamas
I finished Adamas earlier last week, which I am really proud of because its my first triangular shawl. This was a fun knit and has really got me in lace mode. I love the way the light yarn feels during the hot summer months.

My dad had his biopsy yesterday. He is pretty sore from it, but the radiologist made sure that he and the pathologist got enough tissue to get a good sample so that we can get an official diagnosis and start his treatment as soon as possible. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Jered and I are getting ready for our bike trip. We got our package of gear from Performance in the mail this week. We both got a pair of new bike shorts, and rain jackets, and I got a new pair of bike shoes. I'm very excited about getting away for a little while. I think I will come back refreshed. In a way, I feel sort of guilty for going away right now, especially since my dad is just starting his treatment, but they have told us to go ahead and go. I have mixed feelings about it, but I am glad that we have an opportunity to get away for a little while.

I'm on the third repeat of my new Madli stole. The Alpaca Cloud is really nice! It's very slippery, but not too slippery to stay on the needles. I'll try and post some pictures of the progress later this weekend.

Grilling

2006-07-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

DSC01044.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Jered and I have been grilling up a storm since we bought our tabletop grill over the 4th of July weekend. So far we've done steaks, squash, potatoes, mushrooms, corn, tuna steaks, and salmon (not all on the same night!!). It's been really nice to have a cooking option that doesn't heat up the house as much as turning on the stove or oven.

We're also working on our back yard, my tomatoes are really taking off! I have about 15-20 little green tomatoes. I started the seeds way back in early March, so its so rewarding to see the plants grow. Right now our backyard is full of basil, chives, tomato plants and weeds. We have more weeds than anything else! We're working on it though. Since my parents need our help with their lawn this summer, our own gardening and yard work has taken a back seat.

This week is fairly normal. It's my last full week of teaching and I've got 7 clients scheduled. Wednesday I'm getting my hair cut, probably pretty short, so I will post pictures later in the week. Thursday is my dad's biopsy (finally!), unfortunately I can't make it to the appointment with him because I've got a presentation that morning but Jered and my mom are planning on going with him.

Two weeks until we leave for Kansas and Bike Across Wisconsin. I got on the bike on my own on Friday and went for an easy 20 mile ride. Saturday, Jered and I rode the parkway for about 20 miles. We've also been running and walking quite a bit to help us get into better shape. I'm still a little nervous about the ride. Jered's family has done a lot of cycling and I just started in college. I've been trying really hard to get out on the bike at least a few times a week. I hope I'm ready!!!

I'm really excited about our trip out to Kansas and Wisconsin. We are spending about a week at Jered's family's lake house in Missouri. They recently bought a jet ski, so we're both really looking forward to getting out on the lake! We haven't been on a "real" vacation in a while. It will be so nice to get away from work/house/pets/stress for a couple of weeks. We also haven't been back to Kansas since graduation over 2 years ago!!! It is hard to believe we haven't been out there even once. I am really looking forward to seeing Jered's family too. We always have a really good time, and we get to see their new house, which we haven't seen completed yet!

More pictures and knitting updates later this week. I cast on for another Madli stole yesterday (in Alpaca Cloud Mist) when we drove up to Richmond to go to the Apple Store to troubleshoot Jered's computer problems. While we were up there we tried to visit my sister who now lives in Richmond. She was working and couldn't get time off to see us, but we are hoping to visit her sometime soon so that we can see her new place.

Could it be?

2006-07-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's Done!
I actually finished it, blocked it and gave it away (to my mom). This one will be borrowed from time to time!

Riding the Storm

2006-06-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Things are going a little better for us. My dad had a relatively useless appointment on Monday where we basically were told to come back July 5th for his biopsy to confirm that its cancer. The oncologist won't even meet with us until he has the biopsy.
I'm frustrated and ready for him to get his treatment started. We're all still nervous and worried and shaken up, but the day to day is a little easier.
Oscar had a seizure last night, it was weird because it almost seemed like he was conscious during it which made us both uncomfortable because we really don't want him to be in any sort of pain when he has them. We have had a lot of bad thunderstorms so it might be related to that, but luckily he hasn't had any more since then. Let's hope it stays that way!

I baked chocolate chip cookies tonight. They turned out perfectly. Maybe I'll buy some vanilla ice cream tomorrow and make ice cream sandwiches with them. Yum!

I am almost done with Adamas. Just the edging left!
Pictures will be posted when I'm done.

Stressful Week

2006-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

This has been a really rough week for me and my family. We found out on Wednesday that my dad's cancer is back and that he will have to undergo some pretty extensive treatment including chemo in a few weeks. It was a hard thing to hear because we thought that his melanoma was in remission. I'm trying to keep as positive as possible, he has great doctors and full medical coverage because of his military service. The situation is about as good as it can be for this kind of news, our family is all here in town and the rest of the summer is pretty low key for me so I will be able to go to his treatments and help out when he and my mom need me and Jered. I don't think anyone is ever prepared to hear news like this and the past two days have been really rough, but I'm starting to feel a little better and am starting to look at the practical side of how to help my dad in the best way I can.

As if that weren't enough, last night at 5 pm Oscar started having seizures again. I thought it was just an isolated thing but then he had another at 10, one at midnight, one at 2 am and one at 4 am. He lost control of his bowels and couldn't seem to shake the seizures. We decided to give him his morning dose of pheno 3 hours early. Luckily he hasn't had a seizure since (knock on wood!). He had a scheduled bloodwork appointment today at 11 anyway so we talked to the vet and considered putting him to sleep. I even made the appointment for tomorrow. The other option is to up his medication to a really high level and see how it goes in the next 2 months. The vet bills have been extremely expensive so it almost seemed like we really didn't have a choice and euthansia was the only way to go. I talked it over with my parents, with Jered and with a few friends, made the appointment to have him put to sleep and thirty minutes later was in the car taking him to the York river for his favorite walk. I talked some more with my mom and then more with Jered and we realized that he is so happy when he isn't having seizures and he seems to be so comfortable and healthy other than the seizures. I called the vet and cancelled our appointment tomorrow. We are upping his dose and riding it out. We are hoping his cluster of seizures was related to the high emotional stress at home the past few days or something else that was a one time glitch. We are upping his dose and hoping for the best. We are not ready to give up on him!!!

So needless to say it was an emotional morning and an emotional couple of days. I am starting to feel much better, thanks to the support I've gotten from Jered and my family and friends. While the news this week hasn't been the best, it could be much worse, and we are a strong family with plenty of support and will pull through all of this. I am lucky to have such great people around me. My friend Liz is coming down to stay with us tomorrow for the weekend just to help us get our minds on something fun. We will probably head to Busch Gardens and relax.
I might even get some stress knitting done today!
Be thankful for the people and pets around you that are so easy to take for granted!

Adamas who?

2006-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Esther and I have been bad about blogging for a long time now. Now that its summer and my work load is somewhat lightened I am going to make a concerted effort to blog more regularly. I have been knitting about as much as I've been blogging... not a lot at all. I graduated in the middle of May and since then have taken on some new clients (I'm up to 10!), started teaching a human sexuality class at a local community college and started taking the two summer classes I signed up for to complete my degree requirements and maintain my status as a counselor resident at our clinic. We have to take a supervision course to keep seeing families at the Clinic, so that is one of the two classes I am in right now, and the other is a couples counseling and sex therapy class. Classes end the week of the 18th, so we're almost done, and the class I'm teaching goes until late July.

I started knitting again a couple days ago. I have been picking things up here and there but not really doing much more than a few rows of this project and a couple of that. I have resolved to take it one project at a time, starting with Adamas. I am on the last repeat of the main pattern and then will be working on the border and will finally be done! I will try to post pictures later today.

On the pet front, our little zoo is getting along quite nicely now. Oscar has had a few more seizures since we have put him on the phenobarbital, but for the most part it seems like his epilepsy is under control. He has also discovered tennis balls. Oh holy hell he loves those things! Tennis balls are one of the few reasons he will bark. He's quite an entertaining little fellow and has recently taken to sleeping in the bed with us. We love it.

I've been doing some gardening this summer too, and started basil and tomatoes from seedlings waaaay back in the beginning of March. Well the basil has really taken off and the tomatoes are ready to be attached to the trellis we are building this afternoon. We're hoping the cool weather will hold out so that we can get a little stuff done in the yard. I'll post pictures of that too!

Check out our graduation pics and other random stuff at flickr. More pictures later!

Update

2006-05-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I graduated, and I'm back in class again.
I'm taking one real class this summer and teaching one as well. I'm also seeing 11 families! It's going to be a busy summer, but the change is refreshing.
The dog is doing really well. He hasn't had a seizure in at least a month, and we just got word from the vet that his blood work was normal.
As for knitting, I got a gift certificate to Elann from Jered's parents, I got a double pointed needle case and four balls of Peruvian Baby Silk to make the heartstrings mobious scarf. I cast on yesterday in class, I've been able to knit quite a bit today during class too.
I've also been finishing up Adamas. It has been slow going because I haven't been knitting much, but I expect to have it done really soon.
Hopefully I'll have some time to post pictures of graduation and new knitting projects this weekend.

Awwww

2006-04-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

DSC_0037.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Bad pic of my mom, great pic of the dog. It always seems to work that way!
This week is the last full week of school for me before finals. Everything is due this week which means that everything is done. It feels so good to have most of the work behind me. This past Saturday was the NCE certification exam. I think I did well enough to pass (I hope!). It's nice to have that behind me too. Things are winding down, thank goodness. Jered's sister is coming to visit us in 2 weeks, and my grandma is coming from Germany on May 12th. Graduation is the 14th, summer classes start the 15th.
It's going to be a busy busy summer, but it will also be a nice change. My supervisor said something really neat today which I think rings true: A change can be as good as a rest.

This reminds me of someone not me

2006-04-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Find your own pose!

This is the sleeping position I came up with when I took this quiz, which I don't think describes me much at all, but it does remind me of a certain someone I am pretty close to!

My expensive habit

2006-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Oscar
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

This dog has been ridiculously expensive! Thank goodness he's well behaved and good natured, it makes me feel like I am getting my money's worth ;)
No really, though. This whole epilepsy thing means that he has to have bloodwork done every 6 months to a year, and he is scheduled for his initial bloodwork in a month. I am sick of giving the vet my money! I love little Oscar, but this is really getting to be a bit much. We have had Oscar just over two weeks and he has been to the vet 5 times. You can only imagine what that amounts to!

Other than getting nickle and dimed to death, life with a new dog has been pretty good. We bought baby gates this weekend to section off the downstairs so that he can hang out with us when we are home. The cats are slooooowly getting used to him. Floyd still runs away, but Jinx isn't really all that scared anymore.

What are you supposed to do with a dog on a rainy day? Do you take them for long walks even though its raining? Any tips from dog owners? I've never had one before, so I'm still learning. I've been having him go back to the back yard and come back in and get toweled off.

I finished another paper this morning which brings me just a little bit closer to finishing this semester. I'm looking forward to finishing the semester out and getting the summer stuff going. It's going to be a pretty big transition period since I will be moving my families around to fit my new summer schedule. Jered's sister is coming out to visit us sometime at the end of May or beginning of June, my grandma is coming to visit from Germany for graduation, and my friend Liz is also coming down for graduation. I will also be teaching a human sexuality class at a local community college starting May 22nd. It should be an interesting summer! Hopefully it will be a little bit of a break.

He may be epileptic...

2006-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Jered's dog Oscar
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

But he's the best darn dog I've ever had!
Last night Oscar had a pretty big seizure, but now that he is on phenobarbital the seizure wasn't short and quick like it has been, instead it was long and drawn out and it took him a longer time to fully recover. The vet said that the drug will take up to two weeks to get into a steady state in his bloodstream. Hopefully by then we will see less seizures and more of Oscar's great big personality.
I've got four families back to back tonight, so I'm glad that I'm feeling better and a little less stressed than I have been the past week!
I can't wait to get home tonight and crash. I am exhausted, but in a good way :)

Oscar the (possibly) epileptic dog

2006-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Arrrrgh
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

He's gonna be okay. We picked him up from the vet yesterday at 5 and they said that there is a 95% chance that he is epileptic. We hadn't observed him having any seizures until after his surgery on Wednesday, so I still think the two are somehow related. Maybe he had an allergic reaction to the meds? Who knows. It could also be a corn allergy. All I know is that Oscar is acting fairly normal again. Knock on wood- he has not had a seizure since we brought him back from the vet yesterday. They gave him some phenobaribitol to control the seizures, which we are picking up today.
Oscar is the sweetest dog, and when he's not seizing things are just about as good as they could be with a new dog in the house.
On the knitting front (for once!), I am officially re-committing to Madli today and am going to try to get her done by graduation at the beginning of May. I have my counselor certification exam coming up at the end of April so I'm pretty busy studying for that and getting group projects done, so I think May is a realistic goal. I honestly have not knitted since the beginning of March! It's hard to believe, but life has been pretty darn crazy.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, I'll post more about Oscar as we learn more. And of course, there will be more pictures :)

Sadness...

2006-04-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, Oscar was neutered on Wednesday and everything was going fine until Thursday afternoon. He had a seizure at the vet's office yesterday and they told us to watch him as he might be reacting after all the anesthetic. He had another seizure last night at 6:15, and another one at 11:05 that was terrible. He convulsed and lost complete control and didn't come out of it for minutes. It was the most terrible thing I've ever seen happen to an animal.
This morning he had another small seizure at 7:30. So I decided to take him back to the vet. They are running tests on him all day today to try and figure out what is going on. Apparently his glucose levels are fine, so we are now just waiting on the bloodwork to come back.
I started crying at the vet's office. I couldn't help myself. I never cry! Seriously, only when I am really really upset, but here I was crying because I'm stressed over the bills and how quickly they are adding up (first a neuter and a teeth clean and a full physical, now bloodwork and bajillions of other tests). He started as a $50 dog, and now has already cost us upwards of $600. Needless to day, we don't have that kind of money. I hate to bring money into a discussion about my feelings but it has been extremely stressful knowing that he might be really sick and we might not be able to care for him.
The SPCA didn't tell us anything about the fact that he might be epileptic! The vet is saying that there is a 95% chance that he is. I just want to get everything figured out so that we can get him well and start to enjoy having a dog.
Today has been extremely stressful. I didn't sleep much last night because I wanted to be sure to hear him if he had a seizure, and then today has been very very emotional. I'm feeling sad because the poor little guy is just helpless when he has these seizures and there's nothing we can do but wait for him to come out of it and clean up after him afterwards (they can be very messy), guilty for indulging my impulsive side and adopting Oscar, and ashamed that I'm even worried about money...
It has been a rough day.
I think I will be doing some therapeutic knitting this weekend. I haven't picked up Madli's Shawl in over two months, and I think now is a great time to focus on something that really will grab my attention and put my mind on something other than worrying.
I also was able to get through the first 5 pages of a 10 page paper. I guess worry has fueled me to get things done. Might as well do something with the nervous energy. We pick Oscar up tonight at 5. I'll try to post an update later. Keep him in your thoughts.

Oscar Part Two

2006-04-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Poor Cow...
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

The first night of having Oscar at home went off without a hitch.
We are keeping him in our upstairs bathroom for a few weeks to get the cats accustomed to the scent of him and to get him used to the smell of the house/cats/us. We have a little fenced in back yard that we let him out in for a few hours today and we've been on lots of walks. The cats were pretty upset when they saw him in the back yard, lots of hissing and growling! It is going to be a while before we're going to bring him in the house and introduce him to the cats face-to-face.
I've read a lot about Cairn Terrirs and most of what I've read says that they are hunting dogs, which worries me a little because I don't want our cats to die! I think the slower we go with the introduction the better things will work out in the long run.
Oscar pees, a lot. All over everything. When we walk him he pees on every bush, every patch of grass, everything! We're having a hard time with him in his "den" too since he misses the newspaper sometimes. He's an adult dog (as far as we know) and he's not housebroken which is anxiety producing. Tomorrow is his vet appointment for his "snip" and rabies shots etc. I'm hoping after his alteration he'll cool it a little with the peeing on things. Maybe we just need more toys? :)

No Joke...

2006-04-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mmmm Toy
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

I can't frickin' believe it! We got a dog!!! We picked up this little guy (we've named him Oscar) at the SPCA. He's an adult Cairn/Westie mix terrier and he is the sweetest little guy!
I've never had a dog before so this is a big deal. Right now he is out in the garage because our two cats probably wouldn't take too kindly to him hanging out in the house right away. Any tips for bringing him in? He is very mild mannered and calm, so I'm hoping it won't be a problem!
Going to go out and play a little :)

How's my diet going?

2006-03-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

A lot of snails
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Yeah...I've been baking quite a bit for someone who is trying to shed a few pounds, but luckily we've been able to share our baked goods with family and random stoppers by. These were made over spring break from a recipe I got in the Nigella Lawson Domestic Goddess book. I tweaked it a little because I didn't have turbinado sugar and I was a little short on butter, but they turned out great. Jered is a big fan. I love baking with yeast. Making things that rise and rise again is always a good time. And the house smelled soooo good!
But I've put a stop to the baking for a while, I need to get back on track and focus myself. I want to be in better shape by this summer and that means not so much baking (at least not for us to consume here at home).

My allergies are starting to act up in a weird way. I've been tired and my eyes have been dry all day. I've also not been sleeping too great. It might be time to start popping Allegra again. I hate to start so soon, since usually they don't start kicking in until late April/early May. I guess we do what we have to do.

The sweater is coming along nicely, I've got about an inch or two done and plan to work on it in class tomorrow night.
I might even finish my socks this week.

New Hair

2006-03-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Knitting Doo
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Yesterday morning I woke up and rather impulsively decided that I wanted to cut my hair. It had grown to be about midway down my back and it was very dry and many different colors from being bleached by the sun and dry at the ends. I made an appointment and an hour later this is what I got! I love the new length. In this picture it is super straight which is different for me because I usually don't have enough time to straighten all my hair (I have a lot). This picture is also proof that I still knit. I cast on for the simple hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, yesterday in some brown merino wool that I had in my stash. I am on row two, so there is obviously not enough progress for me to show with another picture.

This morning Jered and I went on a 24 mile bike ride and it was amazing. The weather here was in the high 70's and my bike is finally "just right." My seat was a little too high earlier, and I had a smaller less comfortable saddle the last time we rode, and now, well, I don't! We rode out to the battlefields and explored a new route that we had on a map from the bike shop. We've got to really get some time on the bikes so that we are ready for Bike Across Wisconsin in July!

This afternoon, I worked on the Ethics competition with the rest of the W&M team. We worked really hard for 4 hours and cranked the bulk of the paper out. We are just fine tuning and editing now. It feels good to have it done!

Yesterday Jered and I also did some pretty heavy-duty gardening. We mulched the front beds and laid edging stones. It was a very productive weekend!

Spring Break

2006-03-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm on spring break doing a lot of catching up on school and internship stuff. I had two meetings with two different school counselors this morning. It was odd being back in an elementary school! I had forgotton what its like to see miniature chairs and desks all over the place. I still have clients this week, three tonight and two on Thursday. Tomorrow I'm working on an ethics paper with the ethics team at school which means I will probably be there all day. I really hope we're able to get through most of the paper. I don't want to be working on this all month even though its due until March 26th. I also have to take a Human Growth and Development test this week at some point. Part of me wants to take it right now and just get it over with but I haven't studied yet. At all. I'm hoping by Thursday I'll be done with all the work stuff so that I can enjoy a few days being really "off."

On the knitting front, I've been working on a pair of socks, which are both almost ready to be worn. I'm still working on Adamas, very sloooowly. I could have it done by the end of the week, but I'm making school the top priority this week. I've been thinking of casting on for either Rogue or the simple sweater in the last minute knitted gifts book. We shall see!