Sunday, July 22, 2012

Itchy Twitchy

Another thing that I love to do besides knitting and crocheting is reading.  A few years ago, I discovered www.paperbackswap.com.  Essentially, you list books that you are willing to part with.  When another member orders one of your books, you send it to them.  All you have to do is pay for the postage to mail it out, which is usually between $1.50 and $3.00.  For every book you send out, you get one credit.  You can then use this credit to order a book from any other member.  It has been a great source for me to find some out of print books, or books I just wasn't sure would be worth spending money on.  Once you receive the book, you can do whatever you'd like with it.  Keep it, swap it again, give it to a friend...anything.  The book is yours.
Quite a while ago, I put the book Knit 2 Together by Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark on my wish list.  Yesterday, it came.  I have not been knitting much lately, simply because it's summer time.  It's been very hot.  I'm busy doing outside stuff. Mainly taking Ladybug to the town beach.  I'm always afraid to bring my knitting to the lake because sand manages to get in everything.  Unfortunately, knitting has been set aside.
Soooo, long story short, I'm aching to knit.  I spent yesterday afternoon practically drooling over some of the beautiful designs in this book.  And in the midst of one of the hottest weeks this summer, I am attracted to the adorable hooded sweater made with a wool/microfiber blend.  I simply can't make this right now.  Even though the temperature has dropped some, it's still too hot to knit a sweater made from lamb fur.  But my fingers are tingling to cast this sweater on for Ladybug to wear this fall.  What to do, what to do...

Friday, July 20, 2012

Milestones

I had started another blog at the beginning of 2012.  I have since deleted it.  I figured I could just mark the milestones here on this blog.  It was going to be about all of the milestones that are happening in my life this year.  The first one was back in May when Bud turned 16.  But, we know waht happened less than a week before, so I didn't post anything about my "little" boy having a milestone birthday.  (And if you don't know what happened, you can read about it here.)   And then we found out that my mom is going to have open heart surgery this summer for a birth defect that she was just recently diagnosed with.  So some seriously unhappy stuff has been happening this year.

Today, however is another milestone for me.  One I wouldn't change for anything.  Today, the Man and I celebrate 10 years of marriage.  We have been together for 18, but didn't decide to make the lifelong commitment to one another until 10 years ago.  Because we had been together for 8 years and already had a child together, we kept it simple.  We got married on my parents deck, wearing jeans and t-shirts.  The Man and I don't like to dress up very much, so instead of sttressing out about tux rentals and wedding gown shopping, we decided to do what we wanted.  Bud was our ring bearer (or Ring Bear, as he said at the time), and my twin neices were the flower girls.  It is one of my favorite days of my entire life.

Tonight, we are going to a wedding of a former co-worker who is very dear to me.  I can't imagine a better way to celebrate our commitment to one another than being part of another couples promise of a lifetime.  At the beginning of 2012, I had no idea that this is how I would be spending this milestone.  I wouldn't want to do it any differently.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Frail

Growing up, I always felt my dad was the strongest man in the world.  Of course, that's a natural thing for a little girl to think.  But part of it was that he was tall and hefty.  I was a very petite little girl and looking up at his 6'2" frame, to me, meant he must be strong.  And, in reality he was strong.  Very strong.  He had his own carpentry business, so therefore he was hauling shingles up ladders, lumber around job sites and moving heavy power tools.  Looking back, I think the best way to describe him back then is robust.  And muscular.  And...well,...strong.  A child often sees their dad as the most amazing person in the world.  For me, my dad was indestructable.  Superman-like.  Even when he was injured, he wasn't hurt.

In June of 1996, my father was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma.  At the time, they gave him six years to live.  That was if he went through all kinds of treatments.  If he decided to do nothing, six months to a year.  He had his first two grandchildren, and there was no way he was going to miss out on watching them grow up.  Thus started the treatments.  Chemo.  Radiation.  A bone marrow transplant in 2002.  There was no question in any of our minds.  He was going to beat this thing.

And here it is, 2012, and Pop has out-lived all predictions.  Some of the treatments he has had were experimental and are now obsolete.  Some worked, some didn't.  But he was able to see my nephew and Bud reach the age of 16 my twin neices the age of 14, and Ladybug the age of 7.  He is now back on chemo, again.

Saturday night, our church group went to a minor league baseball game.  Looking at Pop, sittting a few seats down from me, I was taken off guard.  His arms and legs looked so thin. So weak.  He looked so...frail.  I literally had to swallow back the tears.  At almost forty years old, I finally noticed the toll that cancer had taken on his body.  He isn't Superman, no matter what my inner five-year-old might think.

Cancer sucks.