These are not normal days...

and I've been avoiding writing about them for fear my tears would short out my laptop.  For over thirteen years, I've shared my life with that beautiful dog you see above.  He's still here...but the days are growing shorter and shorter for our time together.  Two months ago, he started having problems with arthritis in his hips.  We've tried pain medication, glucosamine injections and supplements, massage, and now laser therapy, with little success.  Mentally, he's still with it.  Physically, he's declining rapidly.  He's had three laser treatments, and he bounces back for about 18 hours the day after a treatment.  I took that picture Thursday afternoon, after the bounceback from his Wednesday treatment.  It was the best day he's had in a while, and he was waiting for Pete to get home.  Today...I'm researching home euthanasia.  No way will he go back to a scary vet's office.  No way.

I've slept on the sofa for over a month now so he wouldn't have to deal with steps.  I've spent most of those nights just dozing, aware of every movement he makes.  A couple nights I even slept on his bed with him (it was more comfortable than our sofa).  I managed to finish Clapotis while propped up on his bed.  And I've cried so long and hard that my eyes wouldn't focus right.  And I've thought if I didn't write about it maybe somehow it would change.  But I know better. 

So...please send us some good thoughts.  If you've got a dog, cat, or other furry creature who has stolen your heart, hug them extra hard and give them a special treat from us.  I'll be back to blogging at some point, but right now, I can't say when.

WIP Wednesday...Surprise!!!

Well, looky there - it's a WIP!!!  Yup, I couldn't resist.  Here are the particulars:

Project:  Comfy Shawl by Miriam L. Felton
Yarn:  Margene's awesome handspun that I won in her giveaway
Needles:  #10
Date Started:  4/20/11
Progress:  20% complete

I couldn't resist.  I've been petting this yarn for a couple months now, just itching to cast on.  About a month ago, I bought a new ballwinder, a real heavy-duty, industrial baby which I keep forgetting to photograph, and once I got this yarn wound I couldn't hold back any longer.

As for all my other WIPs, they're coming along very slowly.  The heart socks seem to give my hand the most difficulty, so I've been avoiding them.  I've worked a little on all of my other projects, just a few rows a day.  None of them have progressed enough to be photo worthy yet

I'm also working on some cowl patterns, inspired by a few amazing shades of Malabrigo Rios.  Again, nothing to show yet.  I'm poring over stitch dictionaries and swatching.

My hand is much better.  I started doing some neck stretches which almost immediately relieved the weird numbness and tingling in my left hand.  I'm still having some pain in the left middle finger, though it is disappearing from time to time.  I'm only knitting for 30 minutes at a time, then doing a series of hand stretches and resting them for a half hour before resuming knitting...for another 30 minutes.  No crazy knitting marathons, but improvement and hope!

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Ways to Save at the Grocery Store

Hmmm...I'm not so sure I can speak well on this topic.  I always think we spend too much on groceries and don't use enough coupons...never mind the fact that we mostly buy whole, real, unprocessed food (except for those dratted snacks we all blogged about the other week), and it's darned hard to find coupons for organic veggies and meats.  I'll give it a shot.

1. Buy store brands whenever possible.  Twenty years ago or so, store brands were scary territory, however, recently I've found many that I actually like better than the big brand names.  Good example...we use a lot of pesto sauce.  Our store brand pesto sauce is a dollar less than the Classico brand...and contains more of the yummy sauce!
2. Use coupons for stuff you actually will use.  And buy the smallest size.
3. Cook meals that last more than one day.  That pot roast I made for Easter?  We had sandwiches last night, and I'm making hash with what's left tonight.  That meal cost at least $30, but when you divide that by six meals...well, you couldn't come close to the cost at a restaurant (or get that yummy olive oil cake for dessert).
4. Cook in bulk and freeze leftovers.  I always have containers of soups, stews, and spaghetti sauces in the freezer during autumn and winter months, so much so that we could easily go for a couple weeks without doing a major grocery shopping.  During warm weather, we don't eat such heavy fare, usually just salads and sandwiches.
5. Use coupons for stuff that's already on sale.  I'm pretty lax with my coupons, but if I see something on sale that I use regularly, and I have a coupon, AND it's not a perishable item, I'll buy it to take advantage of the extra savings, even if I don't need it right away.
6. Sign up for a loyalty card.  Our grocery sends us coupons based on the stuff we buy regularly.  I then do my best to wait till these things are on sale before using my coupon.
7. Don't shop hungry.  Or tired.  Or stressed.  Nuff said.
8. Plan ahead so you don't have to shop convenience stores.  They're way pricier.
9. Check around to see which stores have the best prices on certain items.  In my community, Target consistently has the best prices on paper products and health and beauty items.  And I can get organic chicken cheaper at my butcher than at the big box chain grocery.
10. Check the sales flyers and plan means accordingly.  I dream of doing this.  It hasn't happened yet.  Maybe that's why my bill is so high...

The Weekend Edition - With NO Peeps Added!

This weekend, I:

• Made this for Friday dinner.  It was seriously, breathtakingly delicious!
• Woke up Friday morning with a cold which is just about gone now.
• Helped feed a work crew.  The Harmony Project is helping build a house with Habitat for Humanity this season, and I was part of the lunch prep crew for Friday.  I supplied a veggie tray and chips.  
• Picked up books at the library, curled up in my jammies and read most of the rest of Friday.
• Did four loads of laundry.
• Slept in both Saturday and Sunday.  Obviously, my body needed it.
• Went to lunch with Pete at our favorite pizza place, Tommy's on Lane Avenue.  I had a small 'za, Pete had a sub.
• Bought groceries for Easter dinner.
• Watched "Get Low" on DVD Saturday night.  I'd been wanting to see this movie for a long time and did kind of enjoy it, however, the gratuitous vomiting in the first two minutes really ruined the rest of the film for me.  Wondered if I'm the only person who feels like Robert Duvall is so much larger than life that HE is really the character in all his movies, or he overshadows every character he portrays.  Love him...
• Today was Easter...and I slept in again and missed church.  
• Baked this.  It was a little drier than I like a cake to be, but the flavor was amazing!  I was going out on a limb to bake a cake containing olive oil and rosemary (you should have seen the look on Pete's face when I told him about it!), but it was so delicious he had THIRDS!
• Made this for dinner...except I did a pot roast with potatoes and carrots instead of the smashentaters.  The roast had a good flavor, but was a little tough and didn't fall apart like my roasts usually do.  It was a totally overwhelming zoo at the butcher yesterday, and I forgot what cut of meat I usually use for my roast in the chaos.  Note to self:  don't use this one (bottom round roast) again.
• Kicked back on the sofa after dinner for an evening of reading  my huge stack of clipped magazine articles.  Fell asleep.  Got up.  Went to bed.  

What did you do this weekend?

WIP Wednesday...Move along, nothing to see here, folks...

As in...I didn't do any knitting in the past week.  Decided to see what would happen to my hand if I gave it a break.  I've noticed a little improvement.  I also changed pillows which helped my achy neck, which helped my achy arm...which in true house-that-Jack-built style, also helped my achy hand.  I'm going to do a little exploratory knitting this afternoon and see what happens.  Hopefully, I'll have something to show next Wednesday.  Woo hoo!

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Favorite Snacks

This is an evil, evil topic.  I know I will raid either cabinets or the nearest convenience store as soon as I hit "Publish".  I love snacks.  I'm not a healthy snacker.  Sweets are okay in small quantities, but I'm a confirmed "salty-crunchy-nutty-chippy" person.  I'm happy with one cookie...happier with one LARGE bag of potato chips.  If I eat a sweet snack, I have to immediately eat a salty one to balance everything out.  With that in mind, here are (in no particular order), my top ten snacks.

1. Potato chips.  I'm a chip snob.  There are two small potato chip companies here in Ohio that I love - Conn's and Ballreich's.  They are the only two I really like.  If I have a sore throat and am craving something superdupersalty, I'll go with Lay's.
2. Trader Joe's Sesame Wheat Pretzel Nuggets.  Snack o' the gods.  I wish they made these in 5-gallon containers.  I'd buy them.  They'd last about...a day.
3. Fritos.  Yes...I love Fritos.
4. Nuts.  Pretty much any kind of nut.  Salted.  Roasted.  Raw.  No honey dripped or pralined, though.  I'm a nut purist.
5. Popcorn.  Black Jewel is my favorite, though there is a small popcorn vendor at North Market that has some other good varieties.  If I'm a nut snob, I'm a popcorn slut.  I'll eat any kind of popcorn - except that nasty buttered (real or fake) stuff.  Just salt, please.  If I'm not going to be around anyone, garlic salt, please.
6. M&Ms...Peanut.  I like to get some protein with my sugar.
7. Hershey bars with almonds.  Or Hershey Kisses with almonds.  See #6.
8. Sesame blue chips with or without salsa.
9. Rold Gold Pretzel Rods.  There's a bag in the kitchen calling my name right now.
10. Fruit.  Yes, believe it or not, fruit.  Apples.  Clementines.  Tangerines.  Berries of just about any kind.  Grapes. 

And believe it or not, even though pretty much all of these snacks are lurking in my kitchen somewhere, as I finish this post, all I can think of is the lovely Jonahgold apples sitting in a bowl on my counter...must eat...

The Weekend Edition

What did I do this weekend? 

1. Semi-spring cleaned the house.  Washed windows.  Scrubbed woodwork.  Picked up layers of junk that had deposited themselves here and there over the winter months.
2. Went to Rare Films from the Baseball Hall of Fame at the Wexner Center.  This is an annual tradition for Pete and me and, this year, we brought our friends, Jack and Leslie, with us.
3. Fell in love with a new (to me) beer, Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat.
4. Read the first twelve chapters of Last Empress: Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia.
5. Went to lunch with Pete at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Happily indulged in shredded beef enchiladas.
6. Picked up a bunch of new books from the library.
7. Took Wilbur for the longest walk he's been on for at least a month.  The Adequan injections are working well for him, and he is more mobile.  He was a very happy boy, which means I was a very happy dogmom!
8. Worked on my family history research, poking around in some distant Kentucky cousinry.
9. Opened all the windows.  Let in the warm spring breezes.
10. Made my standby recipe:  One-Pot Chicken , adding a package of sliced mushrooms just for fun.
11. Spent a wonderful, relaxing Sunday evening with Raechel, Jason, and this guy:

Austin at 11 weeks old

 And that was the highlight of the weekend...