I haven't posted in a while because I have been having some anxiety issues again. Hopefully, those are under control now. I will NEVER stop taking my meds like that again!
Onto other subjects, I finally finished plying the rest of the maroon fiber (see my flickr page for the yarn porn). I think the fiber wants to be a stole/shawl for my mom, so that I what I am going to try. I am now spinning some more of the white wool so I can play with dyeing it!
Last Thursday night, DH took me to Chez Casuelle in Leesburg for a little yarn fondling (hey, it works with the yarn porn!). I ended up with some Lorna's Laces (see flickr again). Saturday, I met with the girls from OAKS on Saturday and, by some strange twist of fate, I did not go to Knit-N-Needle Nook. I can't say that I made it the whole weekend without going there, though. DH and I went Sunday morning. I ended up buying $140 more!!!! DH can't complain because he was sitting in the shop, chatting with Tom the entire time I was stuffing four bags with more $.50 skeins of yarn!!! I have more than 1100 skeins from there now!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
St Valentine's Day to Present
Wednesdy - DH is the greatest guy in the world! Not only does he put up with me and my whims, he sent me a dozen beautiful roses in a beautiful red vase - to my office! I was really surprised. We had discussed only trading cards for St Valentine's Day because we had exchanged fairly expensive gifts for Christmas (me - spinning wheel, DH - 32 in flat screen LCD tv). The roses really made my day! Thanks DH!
Thursday, I stayed home from work...We had gone to an Italian restaurant for dinner Wednesday night...I had white pizza. I guess there was too much (way way too much) garlic on it and it made me very ill.
Friday, went to work...I had about 60 e-mails from Thursday! GGGRRRRR. This is really getting old and I am really getting burned out quickly. That is all I am going to say on this subject.
Saturday, glorious Saturday! Met with the other ladies from OAKS at Barnes & Noble for a morning of knitting and a little drop spindling. DH stayed with me. He brought the laptop and played POGO. A couple of my friends came by and they tried to study in the cafe, but really couldn't get in the grove, so DH and friends entertained each other. We (me, DH & friends) had lunch with Jody and then we all went our separate ways for the day - Jody to Chez Casuelle in Leesburg, friends to their place and DH & me to Mount Dora!!!! DH dropped me off in front of Knit -N- Needle Nook and went home! As always, the owners of the shop greeted me with a smile. I had some time to kill because DH wouldn't be back to get me for about an hour and half, so I had plenty of time to "graze" around in the dollar room and on the $.50 shelf. After my allotted time was up, I had spent $100.
Several weeks ago, the owners of the shop had opened up their garage (where the remaining 60 to 70% of the stock is) to several ladies. I was not aware of this little outing. I have been reading all of the necessary Yahoo groups and periodically asking the owners when they were going to be doing it again. As I was checking out, the owner told me they would be more than happy to have me come out to their house without the group, so we made arrangements for me to go last night! All I can say is HOLY COW! I was not expecting what I saw, in more ways than one! There were probably 40 huge, black, industrial size garbage bags stuffed FULL of yarn. Luckily, they had already gone through the bags and had sorted based on yarn type (cotton, wool, acrylic, etc). They laid out a moving pad on their garage floor told me to sit down and they would bring the yarn to me. Since they knew I am only interested in the cotton and cotton blends, they brought those bags and dumped them in front of me! I love yarn! I ended up spending about $187 including tax! Not to shabby for about 350 skeins! The story doesn't end here. I was taken on a tour of their beautiful home. Lora has THREE rooms dedicated to her fiber arts...one for sewing (normal bedroom size), one for planning and bigger projects (sun room type room running almost the entire length of the house) and a loft upstairs for knitting classes (huge loft, I think they said it was about 1400 sq ft). Let's start with the small room, she had a beautiful floor standing swift, a jumbo, jumbo ball winder, a ball winder, surger, blind seam machine, a couple of dress forms, etc). In the sun room area (there is a long bar/island in the room), she had several knitting projects she is working on. She also has all of the "catalogs" from the yarn manufacturers she will be retailing for in here (this made me even more excited for the renos to get under way!). In the loft, there was MORE YARN! The yarn up here was the more "up scale" and newer yarn. Some of it was from the shop and some of it she had bought as stock for the remodeled store. YUMMY STUFF! Debbie Bliss, Noro, Dale of Norway, Cherry Tree Hill, etc. She has a little area set up for the knitting instruction she is doing now. There is a little office alcove space too. Here she a computer, and lots of binders with free patterns she had found on-line or during her (literal) worldwide yarn shopping excursions. Lora and Tom are amazing people and I hope I can get to know them better!
Thursday, I stayed home from work...We had gone to an Italian restaurant for dinner Wednesday night...I had white pizza. I guess there was too much (way way too much) garlic on it and it made me very ill.
Friday, went to work...I had about 60 e-mails from Thursday! GGGRRRRR. This is really getting old and I am really getting burned out quickly. That is all I am going to say on this subject.
Saturday, glorious Saturday! Met with the other ladies from OAKS at Barnes & Noble for a morning of knitting and a little drop spindling. DH stayed with me. He brought the laptop and played POGO. A couple of my friends came by and they tried to study in the cafe, but really couldn't get in the grove, so DH and friends entertained each other. We (me, DH & friends) had lunch with Jody and then we all went our separate ways for the day - Jody to Chez Casuelle in Leesburg, friends to their place and DH & me to Mount Dora!!!! DH dropped me off in front of Knit -N- Needle Nook and went home! As always, the owners of the shop greeted me with a smile. I had some time to kill because DH wouldn't be back to get me for about an hour and half, so I had plenty of time to "graze" around in the dollar room and on the $.50 shelf. After my allotted time was up, I had spent $100.
Several weeks ago, the owners of the shop had opened up their garage (where the remaining 60 to 70% of the stock is) to several ladies. I was not aware of this little outing. I have been reading all of the necessary Yahoo groups and periodically asking the owners when they were going to be doing it again. As I was checking out, the owner told me they would be more than happy to have me come out to their house without the group, so we made arrangements for me to go last night! All I can say is HOLY COW! I was not expecting what I saw, in more ways than one! There were probably 40 huge, black, industrial size garbage bags stuffed FULL of yarn. Luckily, they had already gone through the bags and had sorted based on yarn type (cotton, wool, acrylic, etc). They laid out a moving pad on their garage floor told me to sit down and they would bring the yarn to me. Since they knew I am only interested in the cotton and cotton blends, they brought those bags and dumped them in front of me! I love yarn! I ended up spending about $187 including tax! Not to shabby for about 350 skeins! The story doesn't end here. I was taken on a tour of their beautiful home. Lora has THREE rooms dedicated to her fiber arts...one for sewing (normal bedroom size), one for planning and bigger projects (sun room type room running almost the entire length of the house) and a loft upstairs for knitting classes (huge loft, I think they said it was about 1400 sq ft). Let's start with the small room, she had a beautiful floor standing swift, a jumbo, jumbo ball winder, a ball winder, surger, blind seam machine, a couple of dress forms, etc). In the sun room area (there is a long bar/island in the room), she had several knitting projects she is working on. She also has all of the "catalogs" from the yarn manufacturers she will be retailing for in here (this made me even more excited for the renos to get under way!). In the loft, there was MORE YARN! The yarn up here was the more "up scale" and newer yarn. Some of it was from the shop and some of it she had bought as stock for the remodeled store. YUMMY STUFF! Debbie Bliss, Noro, Dale of Norway, Cherry Tree Hill, etc. She has a little area set up for the knitting instruction she is doing now. There is a little office alcove space too. Here she a computer, and lots of binders with free patterns she had found on-line or during her (literal) worldwide yarn shopping excursions. Lora and Tom are amazing people and I hope I can get to know them better!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Well, I have an appointment with a doctor my therapist recommended BUT that appointment is not until March 29. I am on the list to be notified if a cancellation happens, but I am not sure aobut having to wait a month and a half. I am starting to listen and smell for things (I know that sounds strange). The sounds the house makes is making me worse. All I want to do is come home and sleep. I cannot find peace in spinning or knitting right now. I think I may have to call the doctor office back and let them know I am living on the edge of a panic attack. I am very sure this has everything to do with my constant tummy problems.
On a lighter note, I did visit the Knit-N-Needle Nook again on Saturday. And, yes, I bought more yarn - about 100 skeins...The good news out of this is that the owners are going to be opening their garage (where the rest of that yarny goodness is hidden) to several of us so we can buy all we want in one shot. I am looking forward to this. Lora told me she had come accross some interesting cotton skeins...and, as you can probably guess, I am all about the cotton. Maybe we can help them start the renos on the store early, so the "new"store can open sooner!
I woke Steve and myself up this morning because I yelled out...I was having an interesting dream...All I remember is that it was an interesting dream and I was riding in the car with some girlfriends...I am going to try to get a little more sleep before I have to go to my version of the the torture chamber....
On a lighter note, I did visit the Knit-N-Needle Nook again on Saturday. And, yes, I bought more yarn - about 100 skeins...The good news out of this is that the owners are going to be opening their garage (where the rest of that yarny goodness is hidden) to several of us so we can buy all we want in one shot. I am looking forward to this. Lora told me she had come accross some interesting cotton skeins...and, as you can probably guess, I am all about the cotton. Maybe we can help them start the renos on the store early, so the "new"store can open sooner!
I woke Steve and myself up this morning because I yelled out...I was having an interesting dream...All I remember is that it was an interesting dream and I was riding in the car with some girlfriends...I am going to try to get a little more sleep before I have to go to my version of the the torture chamber....
Thursday, February 8, 2007
I think I need new medication. A generic equivalent to the one I was taking came out, so, of course, my health plan made the change on my meds....I can tell a huge difference. I am checking a lot more (5, 6, 7 and sometimes even 8 times) and every noise is making me jump. I am also getting panicky about other stuff too...I haven't felt like this in a long time. I am starting to dwell again too. Oh, yeah, AND I won't/can't let my husband turn the heat on in the house. Luckily, this is Florida, so it is not that big of a deal!
With all of that going on, and the fact that we stayed in a hotel last Thursday night because of the possibility of severe storms, I made an appointment with my therapist. My therapist is a great lady and I really enjoy our sessions - sounds strange, huh? I always feel like I have learned something or that I should be really proud of a step I have taken when I leave. Yesterday was no different. She made me feel really good about making friends outside of my "normal" circle of work and DH's work/friends. My therapist referred me to a physician to get a new med. I will have to call him tomorrow to set up an appointment.
Back to work....
With all of that going on, and the fact that we stayed in a hotel last Thursday night because of the possibility of severe storms, I made an appointment with my therapist. My therapist is a great lady and I really enjoy our sessions - sounds strange, huh? I always feel like I have learned something or that I should be really proud of a step I have taken when I leave. Yesterday was no different. She made me feel really good about making friends outside of my "normal" circle of work and DH's work/friends. My therapist referred me to a physician to get a new med. I will have to call him tomorrow to set up an appointment.
Back to work....
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Is it Fate or a False Alarm?
One of the Account Executives from my company's Philly office happened to call in to our office today. We were chatting about the Philly area, so I asked if they had a big sales office up there. He said yes. He added that he found out, this weekend, they are looking for an Account Advisor for that office....Guess what???? I am an Account Advisor here. What a natural transition. The only problem is DH's company does not have anything along his lines of work open in that area. That really stinks. I will explain why.
Even though all of my family is here in Florida, I want to move to the Northeast. I have never really felt at home in Florida, but every time I visit the Northeast, I feel like I belong. Yes, I am very torn, because I don't want to leave my mom, dad, sister, niece, stepdad, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends. I keep thinking that here my wings are clipped, but if I could get up there, I would be able to fly! I think I love it up there because of the history. Here there really is no history.....there - Philly, Boston, New York, the little coastal towns in New England, the lighthouse, etc...I want to experience four seasons - winter, spring, summer, autumn - not two seasons - warm and hurricane.
I guess DH and I will talk more about it tonight because we would have some large problems - selling our house, finding somewhere to live, a job for him, etc.
Even though all of my family is here in Florida, I want to move to the Northeast. I have never really felt at home in Florida, but every time I visit the Northeast, I feel like I belong. Yes, I am very torn, because I don't want to leave my mom, dad, sister, niece, stepdad, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends. I keep thinking that here my wings are clipped, but if I could get up there, I would be able to fly! I think I love it up there because of the history. Here there really is no history.....there - Philly, Boston, New York, the little coastal towns in New England, the lighthouse, etc...I want to experience four seasons - winter, spring, summer, autumn - not two seasons - warm and hurricane.
I guess DH and I will talk more about it tonight because we would have some large problems - selling our house, finding somewhere to live, a job for him, etc.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Getting More and More Familiar with Mount Dora
Guess where I ended up again today? Yep, that's right Mount Dora, but not the reason you are probably thinking. We went for the Mount Dora Art Festival today. it is truly amazing the variety of talents people have...painting, photography, glass blowing, ceramics, making jewelry, turning wood, etc. I found this really great original watercolor of chickens, and since my mom collections chickens, I bought it for her. The lady that painted it was super nice. She lives on a farm in KY and she draws her inspiration from her farm and her Amish neighbors. She was showing us some of her doodles that she had done...They were all of her pet goat - Tudor. I have a link to her site in my "sites" section.
We walked around for about an hour and half. Unfortunately (for DH), as we were walking down Fifth Avenue to leave, I happened to notice the door to my favorite yarn shop was open. Promising DH I would stay at the fifty cents shelf, I ventured in. I was met by a hardy "good morning, Kelley" from one of the owners. Darn it! I had tried to disguise myself today with a baseball cap....but it didn't do any good! 45 skeins of yarn later (all fifty cents each), I left. Man, they really need to hurry and finish with this yarn sale....I am going to end up spending all of my savings! I really don't think it is the yarn so much as the hunt for the yarn. Just going through all of that yarn, it so gratifying...it's like looking for a diamond in the mud!
Today's diamonds:
Classic Elite - Newport Light - 7 skeins
Sjuntorp - Elite - 7 skeins
Plymouth Yarn Co - Cleo' Egyptian Cotton - 22 skeins
Austermann - Summertime - 9 skeins
Yesterday, I failed to mention that I had come to a realization about myself....I have become a yarn snob. I knew I was heading down that path, but it was confirmed yesterday. I was asking her if she would like some of my acrylics for her charity knitting and one of the ladies smiled and said "you have become a yarn snob". She told me that one becomes a yarn snob once you start trying to get rid of the acrylics to make room for the generally softer and higher quality cottons and linens and wools. As long as those cottons and linens and wools only cost fifty cents or a dollar, yarn snob-dom here I come!!! :-)
Jody, if you get this far, check out my Flickr site. I have a picture of the yarn I am bringing for your group's charity knitting stash....
We walked around for about an hour and half. Unfortunately (for DH), as we were walking down Fifth Avenue to leave, I happened to notice the door to my favorite yarn shop was open. Promising DH I would stay at the fifty cents shelf, I ventured in. I was met by a hardy "good morning, Kelley" from one of the owners. Darn it! I had tried to disguise myself today with a baseball cap....but it didn't do any good! 45 skeins of yarn later (all fifty cents each), I left. Man, they really need to hurry and finish with this yarn sale....I am going to end up spending all of my savings! I really don't think it is the yarn so much as the hunt for the yarn. Just going through all of that yarn, it so gratifying...it's like looking for a diamond in the mud!
Today's diamonds:
Classic Elite - Newport Light - 7 skeins
Sjuntorp - Elite - 7 skeins
Plymouth Yarn Co - Cleo' Egyptian Cotton - 22 skeins
Austermann - Summertime - 9 skeins
Yesterday, I failed to mention that I had come to a realization about myself....I have become a yarn snob. I knew I was heading down that path, but it was confirmed yesterday. I was asking her if she would like some of my acrylics for her charity knitting and one of the ladies smiled and said "you have become a yarn snob". She told me that one becomes a yarn snob once you start trying to get rid of the acrylics to make room for the generally softer and higher quality cottons and linens and wools. As long as those cottons and linens and wools only cost fifty cents or a dollar, yarn snob-dom here I come!!! :-)
Jody, if you get this far, check out my Flickr site. I have a picture of the yarn I am bringing for your group's charity knitting stash....
Saturday, February 3, 2007
A New Day - But Grey Skies Still
I woke up again this morning to thunder, but it was nothing like yesterday. DH and I got up and got ready - me for the OAKS meeting and him for his appointment in Cassadega. What a day at the OAKS meeting...Jackie brought some of her new yarns, which we all fondled and oh & ah'd over. I ended up with two skeins of a blue variegated worsted wool...It is beautiful. As always, we chatted and enjoyed the companionship.
I knew DH would not be back by 12 because his appointment wasn't until 11 and it was 45 minutes long, so as everyone was packing up to leave I was settling in for a little more knitting/book hunting. Jody asked me if I wanted to get lunch while I waited for DH. Of course, I said yes, so we walked to Panera. Jody and I had a great talk. It was really nice to get to know her a little better. My suspicion that she is very intelligent and very interesting to talk to was confirmed. DH joined us after a little while and we continued to chat.
On the way home, I convinced DH, once again, that a trip to Knit -N- Needle Nook in Mount Dora was an essential part of my day. So, even though it was the weekend of the Mount Dora Art Festival, we made the trip. He dropped me off, found a parking space (a good ways away) and took a nap. As I have already ranted and raved about the yarn and the buys in the shop, I will spare the details. The only part of the story you are probably interested in is what I got and how much I paid for it....I ended up with about 109 more skeins of yarn for about $100. However, I found out that I had missed out on a great opportunity. The shop owners had made arrangements to have several ladies to their house so they could go through some of the yarn that has yet to make it to the store. GGGRRRRR! I can't believe I missed that. The good news is they said they would do that again very soon - much to my pleasure and DH's dismay. All in all, another good day!
Here is a list of the goodies from today's adventure:
Katia - Papiro - 20 skeins
Crystal Palace -Georgia Cotton - 7 skeins
Mandarin - Petit - 10 skeins
Katia - Capri - 15 skeins
Novita - Linnea - 6 skeins
Crystal Palace - Baby Georgia - 6 skeins
Gedifra - Bermuda - 9 skeins
Bernat - Carina - 9 skeins
Schewe - Campus - 8 skeins
Aarlan - Cotolana - 9 skeins
Linie 10 - 7 skeins
Linie 80 - 3 skeins
I knew DH would not be back by 12 because his appointment wasn't until 11 and it was 45 minutes long, so as everyone was packing up to leave I was settling in for a little more knitting/book hunting. Jody asked me if I wanted to get lunch while I waited for DH. Of course, I said yes, so we walked to Panera. Jody and I had a great talk. It was really nice to get to know her a little better. My suspicion that she is very intelligent and very interesting to talk to was confirmed. DH joined us after a little while and we continued to chat.
On the way home, I convinced DH, once again, that a trip to Knit -N- Needle Nook in Mount Dora was an essential part of my day. So, even though it was the weekend of the Mount Dora Art Festival, we made the trip. He dropped me off, found a parking space (a good ways away) and took a nap. As I have already ranted and raved about the yarn and the buys in the shop, I will spare the details. The only part of the story you are probably interested in is what I got and how much I paid for it....I ended up with about 109 more skeins of yarn for about $100. However, I found out that I had missed out on a great opportunity. The shop owners had made arrangements to have several ladies to their house so they could go through some of the yarn that has yet to make it to the store. GGGRRRRR! I can't believe I missed that. The good news is they said they would do that again very soon - much to my pleasure and DH's dismay. All in all, another good day!
Here is a list of the goodies from today's adventure:
Katia - Papiro - 20 skeins
Crystal Palace -Georgia Cotton - 7 skeins
Mandarin - Petit - 10 skeins
Katia - Capri - 15 skeins
Novita - Linnea - 6 skeins
Crystal Palace - Baby Georgia - 6 skeins
Gedifra - Bermuda - 9 skeins
Bernat - Carina - 9 skeins
Schewe - Campus - 8 skeins
Aarlan - Cotolana - 9 skeins
Linie 10 - 7 skeins
Linie 80 - 3 skeins
Friday, February 2, 2007
BAD MORNING HERE
During the early morning hours, some severe weather started moving into our area. Unfortunately, some areas north of where I live sustained some very significant damage - a church is completely gone in Lady Lake, destroyed homes, trees uprooted. Since about 1 AM, I have seen about 6 tornado warnings...I am TERRIFIED of storms. Actually, I am so scared of storms, I leave my house for a hotel if the storms are supposed to come in during the night. I know that sounds silly, but, to me, it is not.
I have never been through a tornado, but I have seen a funnel cloud as I was leaving the mobile home I used to live in. Also, a tornado, spawned by Hurricane Ivan several years ago, hit my mom's house. The tornado had gone right over their house. They did have some serious damage - trees uprooted, tree twisted and broken in half, limbs down, a limb through the wall of a bedroom, a limb through the passenger side windows of her SUV....Luckily, she and my stepfather were okay, except for being shaken up. My DH & I drove up the next Saturday. I have never seen sights like I saw that day - huge pine trees snapped in half as far as you could see, pine saplings bent over the road like a canopy, clear land where there was a thickly wooded area. I clearly remember asking DH, "where are all of the trees?". I could hardly breathe by the time I got to my mom's house. My mom and stepfather had to live in a hotel for several weeks, but, eventually, they were able to go home. The strange thing through all of this was that they NEVER lost phone service!
I have had my fear of storms since long before this happened. However, every time I hear talk of severe weather, those are the images that go through my mind. I have a coping method that works, somewhat....I have a Sony Walkman that I turn on and turn up so loud I cannot hear the thunder. I go into my guest room, get in the bed, cover my head and try to sleep...This is if the storms are during the day.
Well, I am going to try to get some sleep now....I will post more later....
I have never been through a tornado, but I have seen a funnel cloud as I was leaving the mobile home I used to live in. Also, a tornado, spawned by Hurricane Ivan several years ago, hit my mom's house. The tornado had gone right over their house. They did have some serious damage - trees uprooted, tree twisted and broken in half, limbs down, a limb through the wall of a bedroom, a limb through the passenger side windows of her SUV....Luckily, she and my stepfather were okay, except for being shaken up. My DH & I drove up the next Saturday. I have never seen sights like I saw that day - huge pine trees snapped in half as far as you could see, pine saplings bent over the road like a canopy, clear land where there was a thickly wooded area. I clearly remember asking DH, "where are all of the trees?". I could hardly breathe by the time I got to my mom's house. My mom and stepfather had to live in a hotel for several weeks, but, eventually, they were able to go home. The strange thing through all of this was that they NEVER lost phone service!
I have had my fear of storms since long before this happened. However, every time I hear talk of severe weather, those are the images that go through my mind. I have a coping method that works, somewhat....I have a Sony Walkman that I turn on and turn up so loud I cannot hear the thunder. I go into my guest room, get in the bed, cover my head and try to sleep...This is if the storms are during the day.
Well, I am going to try to get some sleep now....I will post more later....
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