finished projects

End of September. Hard to believe the month of September is almost over. This year seems to be flying by faster than usual. In my absence from the blogging scene, I have been working, fighting a cold, abscessed tooth and crocheting! Yes, I have finished a few things:

The above two lapghans were done as a CAL for the group CrochetNChitchat on yahoo. Am sending the blue and black one to my 90 yr old aunt for her b-day. She loves blue and loves when I send her things I make. The pineapple centerpiece is another attempt to fit my kitchen table....not a chance. Only 35.5" across. I'll keep trying. Really love the Elizabeth Hiddleson pattern, though.
The last picture is of my leaf green sweater from Crochet! magazine, May 2009. I didn't like the plain dc stitches, so I did a cross stitch instead. A little airy and light to wear in cooler weather. Now to move on to a sweater coat for me. Too bad I found the Tokyo pattern at Caron.com. May have to make that first:

http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/tokyo/tokyo_1.html

Jeff and Sam are safely in Arizona, training at Palo Verde nuclear facility. They are loving the change of pace and learning something different. Jeff said the funniest thing was trying to find a hazmat suit that fit sam...she's 4'11" and tiny. Best they could do was get a size XL; she looked like and oompaloompah. I would pay to see that!
I am once again, hoping to be able to post more frequently. There's just not enough hours in my day! Take care and have a great afternoon, my friends!

Long awaited UPDATE!!!

I cannot believe it's been soooo long since I last posted. So much has happened; prepping for our long drive to Washington, DC and Boston, the DiBiasio family reunion, oldest son getting ready for an adventure working in Arizona. Work again has gotten in the way of my blogging. Life seems to be settling into a dull roar, so hopefully I can be more frequent in my posts. I will post pics from our vacation; the boys stayed home. Their girlfriends and they cleaned my house, carpets and kitchen. WOW, it was spotless when we came home from our week away! They did a wonderful job. Now, to keep it that way....gonna be tough as my vacuum cleaner blew up on Steven while cleaning. Washing machine lid switch is burnt out, so jamming it into place won't work. Oh yes, and the pool pump died, too. Luckily, we had the original in the shed that had never been used. It is pumping away and my pool is crystal clear!
I will post about Mr. Bob's and my adventure from home; that's where all the pictures are kept! We did an awful lot in a very short period of time....I think I am finally recovered!!! Hope all is well out in Blog land. I have missed you and will be more diligent with my posts from now on....barring any unforseen circumstances!

Graveyard shift and Russian White Nights

I was just reading my friend, Henya's, blog, Chickenstitches. She was talking about the Russian "White Nights" and how she never truly experienced one, but likens being up with her various 6...yes, Six (God bless her...My three drive me nuts) children, at various times of the nite. Henya finds respite in knitting, crocheting, making stitch markers, as one of her "blessings" is up and about. She got me thinking as to how my graveyard shift is similar. I spend a great deal of time waiting for the lab work to come to me. I have begun to bring small projects to work on during the down time. Then it hit me, I can write on my blog. I'm hoping to be able to do this more frequently, as I have been lax. My dream of miraculously getting all caught up on my far behind projects has yet to happen. I cannot get motivated to work on them, just as I cannot motivate my butt to exercise again. I blame it on trying to adjust to graveyard again. Not true; I have been playing with my new computer, trying to get it just right. I have TONS of storage space on it for my patterns. YIPPEEE! Thank you, Sir Pauly for your hard work! Also my new i-Phone and it's neat applications.
Oh yes, and then there's the chauferring service that I render to my two youngest boys. They are teenagers with driver's permits, but I must be present when they drive. Who would have thought that I would be spending a lot of my free hours trekking them across Ocala and it's environs? I do most of my crocheting, mostly on my EH pineapple centerpiece (8 rows to go, folks!), in the car. That also enables me to miss some of their more inexperienced driving faux pas. Nothing too major. No accidents so far (fingers crossed.)
The point of this post it that I feel as though I am on a forever "White Night". The bright flourescent lights of the lab keep it quite white. I just wish I could be more craft productive like my friend. I will get there, I know I will!

Oh the joys

Of not being in charge! I am quickly adjusting to my night shift schedule. I really like working graveyard shift. It is sooo nice to have my life back the way I like it. I can cook, craft and get my house in order. I have accumulated so many crafting supplies and it is piling higher in my room. I need to get rid of some things and have started to dispose of things I don't need. I am slowly going thru my closet to make room. That means yes, getting rid of clothes I haven't worn in years. I, my friends, am a pack rat. I know it and I am really trying to declutter.

My ultimate goal is to paint my living room in the Corvette orange I have had sitting in the middle of the floor for over a year. I have to clean and declutter first.. That will take awhile. It's ok.. With my new schedule, I get home at 8:15 am, feed the animals, sleep til 1pm, and then do what I want. To say there is less stress in my life is an understatement! I feel like jello. It's just nice to know that I can easily fall into my old routine. I was afraid the years added since I last did this would take a great toll. Surprisingly, I can still do it! It's nice to know that I can stretch anyone's two day weekend into 3 days. How? Well, I work Sun- Thursday nites (or Monday - Friday as the VA puts it). When I come home Friday morning, I stay up for as long as I can to squeeze every moment I can out of my day. I don't come home too exhausted to do anything but sleep. Thank the good lord, I am able to enjoy my life!

for those days when I will be too tired, or when I need to nap when the sun is still out, I invested $20 in room darkening curtains. (Royal blue to go with the pale blue or green I want to paint my room.....eventually!) They work really well...my only fear is that now I will not want to ever wake up, thinking it's still dark outside!

They work really well! I only closed one, and it is pretty dark in my room!

I mentioned feeding the animals....here is a couple of family of kittens we have acquired:

It's like a kitty commune. All the moms feed all the kittens at various times of the day. Pretty funny, but all are taken care of. Our dog, Marley (little australian shepherd)

LOVES playing with the kittens. She picks them up like little toys and "plays" with them. We yell at her to drop them, and she gets this look like..."What...they like it when I play with them.....really they do!" The moms don't like it too much; they circle Marley and growl. Marley growls back until one of us breaks up the stand off.

Here are a few things I've been working on. First, my Elizabeth Hiddleson Pineapple Centerpiece:

I am really happy with the way this is coming out. I work on it whenever the boys are driving me around. The next is the tablecenter that is too small for my table: It is too small for my table, but I did find the clear table covers at walmart. The cats will leave it alone!

That's all for now. Time for the NASCAR race from NH....I have on my swimsuit and the clouds are swirling in, and it is raining......

Another long time between

.....my posts. Sorry to have been lax, but in the almost month I have not posted, I have been working at my new job, getting my boys ready for the end of the school year, coaxing Steven to finish his online algebra class, chauffering the boys to and from work and girlfriends houses....oh yes, and crocheting a bit.

First off, the new job is absolutely awesome. Who would have thought that not being in charge of something could be so freeing? I loved my job as a supervisor MOST of the time. It was great when things meshed and hummed and ran well. It was even kind of fun solving problems and making things run right again. The long hours and time away from my family led to more stress. It is definitely nice to know that I still have the skills I attained so many years ago in college; I still have and can put them to use! I do my first night (yes, graveyard) shift on this coming Saturday and Sunday. I CANNOT wait! It is so nice to perform my job and leave at the end of my shift. I get home and can make dinner for my family. Yes, and be there to help with school tasks so the boys can graduate on time.....Oh yes, and home on the days Steven needs to go have his Senior pictures taken. I really do love working the night shift! Almost like you don't work at all.

I have been crocheting some too. Working on varigated squares for an afghan for an exchange. Also these couple of things:This is a wreath/candle ring for a contest. If I win, I get all the entries from the contest. If not, I send it away and make another. It was supposed to be a wreath, but the patriotic bear is too heavy; I didn't have time to get another before I submitted the picture. I decided to make it a candle ring.

The above is a soap sack that I tested for Suzetta of Suzie's Yarn Stuff. I really like this pattern. I finished it in less than an hour. How do I know? I began it when there was 55 minutes left during the 24 hours of Le Mans and finished it before the checkered flag waved. It's an easy pattern and I placed a bar of cranberry glycerin soap (smells lovely!). I told Suzie I liked the pattern, but next time I will add another row of lace to the top.

Oh, I also had time to purchase a new i-Phone. 16G. I really like it, but have to admit, I spend way more time on it than I want to.....but I do have my blog saved on it. Better than a laptop!

FINALLY!

A new post! No pics this time, just a recanting of my life over the past couple of weeks. Who would have thought that decompressing from a high (although it really didn't feel that way until recently) pressure job to a regular, day to day life would be such a welcome relief! WOW, I haven't done much of anything lately except cry during an orientation that showed films of the Department of Veteran's affairs. No, I wasn't the only one in tears, but I have come to realize just what the words "compassion" and "hug" mean to me. We were told to show compassion to the patients of the hospital. After 25 years of medical work in the private sector, I have not heard THAT word in years. Empathy, yes; compassion, never. HUG? OMG, I have had it drummed into me that people could press sexual harrassment charges; even patients. We were not to touch a patient unless we needed to for our jobs. sometimes, you know when folks just need a hug..... Yes, I do believe that those who defend our country deserve that from me...and so much more.........
Someone in my orientation class asked if I had someone overseas...no, just a dad that served in WWII as a bombadier in the air force, a brother that served in Viet Nam...he wouldn't come near me as a 4-5 yr old little kid because of what happened to those of the same age over there. I never understood until I grew up and heard the stories. Yes, I do appreciate those that were thrown into a war they didn't ask for. I also have a very dear friend who is now on active duty in the Air Force in Georgia. He's been in that state since 2001 or 2002, after 9/11. I remember he and I IM'ing on AOL, worried about what was going to happen to him after he was called to active duty from his 'safe' reserve duty. Luckily, he was able to stay in the states with his family in Warner Robins, an MP marching the flight line (of which I was given a personalized tour). I also have a friend from high school who I have found out spent time in the Army and is living in Huntsville Alabama. To each of you, and to the millions like you, I say a heartfelt "thank you" for keeping America the great country it is. Without the sacrifices you have made, no matter how big or how small, we would not be the country all others aspire to be. I am very proud to be a federal government employee; I'm only sorry I didn't realize what it meant a long time ago.......

Moving on.....

Yes, Tuesday was my last day at Shands. A little sad, but I am excited about my new venture at the Malcolm Randall Veterans Administration Hospital in Gainesville. Right across the street from Shands proper. The best part of it all: I WILL NOT BE IN CHARGE OF IT ALL! Hoping to get back on track with my crafts, picking up the needlepoint, cross-stitch and felting I have neglected far too long. Keeping in touch with family and friends more often. I even began the chore of cleaning my house by folding the 5-6 baskets of laundry that have been accumulating (Methinks multiplying) on my pool table. Next is to tackle my closet and get rid of those pesky clothes and actually be able to walk in my so named closet. If you don't hear from me for awhile, I have probably been buried in an avalanche of clothes, yarn, hangers...etc.

The folks I work with had a great spread of food for me...Thanks Lynn! You did a great job of organizing it all. It was greatly appreciated, right down to the Nascar cake. I will be cleaning black frosting off for the next two weeks!

I have managed to make Tablecenter #2.....mexicana with strands of red, orange, goldenrod and bright yellow:

The colors from my cell phone do not do justice to the beauty of this. I will post a better shot from my camera. The damned thing is still too small for my table. This one measures 32" across. Bigger than the copper mist one (which I sent to my sister in law for her b-day. She had hinted at a Christmas gift, but her b-day was a week away.) I need a 54" across. Soo, I guess it's time to move on to another pattern. Will try my Elizabeth Hiddleson Pineapple Centerpiece:

It's coming along quite nicely, but I do believe it is going to be smaller than my table. Again I say...DAMN! I will find one that will fit my table one day. I guess it's just a way for me to keep trying different patterns.

We are off to Orlando and visiting with Bob's family (yes, the in-laws....I really like mine). First a stop at Downtown Disney and the Earl of Sandwich, then to Sam Ash (michaels may be in the pic for me....even if I'm trying to use all my stuff before I buy more), Wine World (ok, it's really called Total Wine, but we like Wine World), then on to Mom and Dad's to visit with Bob's cousin Lauren, her hubby Mitch and their adorable little girl Isabelle. Will post pics in the next couple of days. CYA~!