Get well soon

Yesterday, my son, Anthony, had his first football scrimmage against Valley HS and Green Valley HS. He plays on the Freshman team at Las Vegas HS. Anyway, this scrimmage was the first test of how well all the kids play under pressure and gives the coaching staff a better idea of who belongs in the starting positions versus the 2nd and 3rd string. Anthony did really well and had some excellent blocks and tackles. He is a 1st string defensive lineman. There is talk of moving him up to the Junior Varsity (JV) team after just a couple of games, but we'll see. The coaches were trying to give all the kids a chance to play. Pretty hard, seeing that we have over 60 kids on the team. We were up against Green Valley and it was nearing the end of our scrimmage so the coaches put in our 3rd string quarterback. This kid was very small and skinny. I had never seen him before but I could tell that he didn't have a chance. He was too slow on the snap and couldn't run very fast. In fact, I turned to my friend and said that this poor kid is going to get his ass kicked. She told me that during practice, Anthony got a good hit on this kid and made him cry. After that incident, the defense wasn't allowed to touch him during practice. Back to the scrimmage...on his first play in, he tried running the ball and was tackled. On his second play he again tried running the ball. I remember thinking that this kid runs like a girl and shouldn't be running the ball. He's too slow! He was sacked by three players and didn't get up. Oh my God! He isn't moving. Everyone stopped. His father was on the sidelines taping the whole thing but he was on the opposite side of the field and couldn't see past the coaches who were now surrounding his kid. His mother didn't move. After Anthony got hit last season, I know the shock and denial of seeing your kid getting injured. You look on, thinking that he is going to jump up any moment. He just got the wind knocked out of him, right? I sat watching, reliving, hoping. They didn't remove his helmet. Oh no! Is it a neck or back injury? What's going on? I see one of the coaches on the phone, presumably calling for an ambulance. Dad walks slowly onto the field then puts his hand on his head. Mom comes on and looks as if she's crying as the coach grabs her hand. We learn minutes later that he suffered a compound fracture to his femur. You hate to see this happen to any child. Anthony told me that all of the players he knows had a feeling this would happen to him. They couldn't believe he was playing football. I give him credit for trying. I'm so sorry that his first experience ended this way.


Chris and I put this arrangement together this afternoon and we all were going to go to the hospital but found out that he wouldn't be out of surgery until 6 p.m. and I'm sure he would still be asleep long after that. I told Anthony that we'd have to visit tomorrow morning. I hope the flowers last until then.




I started this shawl yesterday because my shoulder was hurting too much while knitting and I wanted to see if crochet would aggravate it. I thought how much the colors reminded me of my sister, Sherry, and that I should send it to her for those cold Ohio nights. Funny thing is that she called me today to tell me that her husband got a job in Coral Springs, Florida and that they're moving in the next few weeks! Perhaps a charity could benefit from it. I'm sure if I thought hard enough, I could think of a friend who could use a "hug".

Another moebius done

This one was a quickie. Just finished it tonight and it is nice and cushy. It was done on size 35 needles with 2 strands of yarn. Perfect for sitting in bed reading or watching TV.

Instant gratification is a good thing!

The progress on my "traditional" moebius was going too slowly for me.  I wanted a moebius shawl NOW!  So I cheated a bit.  With the same yarn my current moebius is being made from, I cast on 35 stitches on size US 19 needles this morning and by midnight I had a completed shawl.  I just kept knitting garter stitch until it was long enough to go around me with a long drape and then I put a half twist in it and sewed the edges together. How cool is that?  Now I want a red one and a black one and maybe a purple one.  It only took 2 skeins of TLC Amore.  It's so snuggly and cushy.  Of course, I'm going to finish the other one I started.  Okay, off to bed.

Moebius progress

It's going slowly. I can't wait to see it off the needles. I want to see how really big it actually is. I went to DIY Network to see the pattern for the one Cat Bordhi made on Knitty Gritty and that scarf was only 80 stitches. Hopefully my gauge is off. Did I just say that? Who hopes their gauge is off? Obviously, an idiot knitter like me.





Guess what Chris is watching? Roll Bounce, again! I almost got suckered into it but quickly left the room.

Roll Bounce, Baby!

OMG!  This is the 4th time I've watched this movie today!  Today! 

I love this movie!  For those of you who haven't seen it yet, it's set in 1978 Chicago during the rollerskating craze.  Damn, but it brings back so many good memories of my youth.  My sister, Gina, and I used to skate every weekend from middle school through high school.  My husband was doing the same thing 3000 miles away.  In fact, he looked exactly like the kid, Naps, in the picture below on the far left.  I couldn't believe it when I saw the movie.  I screamed to my son, Chris, that that's what his Dad looked like when he was young.  I made Bernie sit and watch the movie and even he started laughing when he saw this kid.   Chris now wants to go skating tomorrow.  I'm afraid I'll break something, or fall and can't get up, or some other humiliating shit like that.  We'll see.

My Moebius Scarf

I'm just so happy that Cat Bordhi was on Knitty Gritty to share her Moebius cast on technique.  My friend, Sidra, tried to show me but as soon as I got home and attempted it on my own, I couldn't remember it.  I googled until I found a pattern that explained one version but it wasn't Cat's version.  That one involved doing a regular e-loop cast on using two needles so that the stitches were very loose.  Then you had to go back and pick up along the bottom of the cast on stitches.  It is twice the work of Cat's technique.
I have 150 stitches (which I think equals 300 stitches in moebius land) crammed on this size 10-40" inch cable.  With this number and my gauge, it will be a large scarf but not quite big enough to fit over my NFL linebacker sized shoulders.  Next time, to get a shawl, I'll need to cast on over 250 stitches. 
I've pretty much told Bernie that I'll be making one of these for my MIL in her favorite color, purple, for Christmas.  I'm always trying to find new garments and accessories suited to my MIL and her ability to wear them comfortably.  She is missing one of her arms so I figured that a Moebius scarf would be ideal so she doesn't have to constantly fidget with it to stay on.  Last Christmas I made her a poncho to not only keep her warm but help disguise the fact that she's missing a limb.  She has a prosthesis but chooses not to wear it.  I don't blame her one bit. 

This is my little girl, Sam

She doesn't look quite this shaggy at the moment.  You see, we had a bit of a storm recently and the grease trap of our grill flooded and overflowed.  Sam got into the grease and we had a big mess.  I called the groomer and begged to get her in.  They couldn't save her hair and she is now completely shaved to within  a 1/2 inch all over.  She doesn't even look like a Schnauzer any more.

Watermelon socks

These are Trekking socks in the #107 colorway.  The colors remind me of watermelon.  These were knit on size 2 needles, toe up with a short row heel for my size 10 feet.  I still have quite a bit of yarn left.

FO

This pair went to my sister, Joslyn.  I tried very hard to finish it while I was in Hawaii but ran out of time.  It was a nice surprise for her when she got it in the mail.  Good thing I didn't tell her it was coming.

Anchor from the Arizona Memorial

Here's one of Anthony from our last trip to Hawaii in December '05.  My son is 6'0" in this picture, so that just shows you how really large these anchors are.

Bernie & Chris chillin' in the pool

Hawaiian Steak - Spam!

Here's my sister, Gina at the Spam-Mobile waiting to try a free sample of Spam burgers.  We were shopping at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet (a MUST if you're ever on Oahu) and saw this vehicle parked at one of the entrances.  Had to check it out!  Did you know that the state of Hawaii is the #1 consumer of Spam in the US?  I think that only applies to the original flavor.  I don't think the hybrids have done too well there, except the Tabasco marinated version, of course, which also has a large following on Guam.

This is my friend, David

Ala Moana Beach Park.  Chris is taking the picture.  Shortly afterwards, we headed for the concession stand right behind us for some Icee drinks.   Diamond Head behind us.

Yep, it's Diamond Head

I didn't take too many pictures on this last trip back home but here's one of them.  We just took a quick trip to Ala Moana Beach Park to let Chris play in the water before we headed out for Mongolian BBQ at Hickam AFB with my sister and her family.

It's been a month and a half since my last confession!

I can't believe it's been so long. I have been busy, but who hasn't? It's summer. My whole routine and schedule has been completely thrown off kilter. For one, this is my first summer home with my children. I was scared to death! I have always worked and they have always been in some form of summer program to keep them busy. Now I'm glad I'm home with them, don't get me wrong, but how can you keep your kids busy and not spend a fortune or lose your mind?

Our trip to Hawaii was nice but very hot. I know it's hot here in Vegas (110 degrees today!) but Hawaii's humidity kicked my ass! It was nice to see my cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in 15 years. My sisters and I got to have a nice lunch together and I was able to spend time with them individually as well.

Bernie and I went to Denver a couple of weekends ago for a football conference meeting. I didn't see very much of the city, though. We stayed at the Denver Marriott Tech Center and we didn't venture out much. I did manage to go to Anderson's Strawberry Tree, which is a yarn shop, not too far from the hotel. Since I had a non-knitting friend with me, I tried not to stay too long. I did manage to buy a couple of skeins of Noro Kureyon and one of Noro Daria, some sock yarn, point protectors and a Noni bag pattern. They only accepted cash (get with the program people and start accepting credit cards!) or I would have bought more than that.

Last week I finally went to a LYS that I haven't been to before. It's called Two Crazy Ladies Yarn Shop and they've been open for a year. Luckily for me, they were having a big sale for their anniversary. Every yarn in the shop was 50% off! I spent about $100. Enough single skeins for small projects for my sister, a skein of Noro Kureyon (I'm collecting this yarn, apparently), and some other yarn for a couple of shawls. Forgive me, but this yarn is upstairs in my stash and I'm downstairs and too lazy to go up and get it. I need to go back to the shop and wind up those skeins into balls. The winder was busy. Remind me to put that on my Christmas wish list...a swift! I've had my ball winder for years and for now, Bernie is content to hold my skeins for me but that's because they're only about 100 yds each. I bought some lace yarn that's 440 yds per skein from Knit Picks (with more on the way) and I don't think he'd sit still for that, especially since I need to attach my winder to our dinner table. Oh, BTW, those Knit Picks Options needles are great! I love the flexible cable! Only bad thing is that when I cast on for a Moebius scarf the needles kept unscrewing from the cable. I think it was the coiled action of the Moebius that was the culprit, don't you?

Gotta run. Aloha!