Thursday, June 09, 2011

Rainbows

Even on a bright sunny day with blue skies, life will throw you a few rain clouds.

That is what seems to happen to me most often. It’s really hard to say it’s a good day or a bad day – it seems to be a mixture of both, and then I don’t know what to feel!

It seems that for the last several weeks, it has been extremely busy for some reason. There seems to be more and more things that need my attention, and I have less and less time to do it all. Am I really getting involved in too many activities? Is time really getting shorter? Am I only getting older and can’t keep up any longer?

Last Saturday was the 20th anniversary of the local knitting guild. There was a bit of a celebration with some displays of the past (we soon forget what we have accomplished in our own recent past) and some mini-workshops on a variety of knitting techniques, and a big dinner in the evening. I just didn’t want to get up on Saturday, and it took a very long time to get myself ready and to get to the hall where it was all held.

The guild had arranged for some door prizes to be given away – always nice. I wasn’t there for the 2 o’clock drawing, so didn’t get anything then. I hadn’t yet arrived for the 3 o’clock drawing, and didn’t get a prize then as well.

At the 4 o’clock drawing, my name wasn’t in the basket either, since I hadn’t quite made it to the venue by then. It is a long ride on public transit to get there, plus a long walk, and I was a bit late. I kept thinking to myself that I will NEVER go to another event that is so far from home! By the time I got there, the mini-workshops had nearly all completed, and the prize drawing was done, so I missed all of that. But since I had already purchased a ticket to the dinner, I felt I had to go; otherwise, I’m sure I would have just stayed in bed for most of the day.

It was great to get a chance to talk to some people that I don’t see very often. Almost everyone was knitting on something, so of course, everyone was in a great mood! The dinner was excellent. Everything was very fresh and tasty and well-prepared. They used a well-known caterer and everyone was very pleased. After the dinner, there were a few speeches from long-time members about their memories of some outstanding events, and we also remembered many members that are no longer among us. They did the final drawings for prizes since there were a few things left. I really would have liked the book by Franklin Habit “It Itches”, but it went to someone else. And as I sat there, hoping they would call my name eventually for anything, it seemed doubtful they would find my one piece of paper with MY name on it.

Then suddenly, when I wasn’t paying attention, they did call out my name! I had given up hope by then. And I got a book by Lucy Neatby called “Cool Knitters Finish in Style”. This is all about finishing techniques for your knitting. I never learned how to do seams, so all of my knitting was either flat or in the round. Several years ago, I took a class from Lucy on finishing methods, and learned so much! She is a great teacher. This book is based on those classes, with more details, and I will treasure and use it a lot.

I got home early enough to be able to run over to a friend’s house who was having some people over that I wanted to meet. So I was able to be there for a couple hours. When I finally got home and checked on some internet things, and this and that, I was still wound up that I didn’t get to sleep until about 6:30 am! It was a very long day.

I was so pleased with how the day ended finally, that I didn’t mind all the inconveniences of getting there. So even though there may have been a few storm clouds, there also are some rainbows, and that is alright too.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Morning Sickness

This happens every year at about this time. It's not the thing you might be thinking of. And no, it's not that I hate to get up every morning and go to work -- which is beside the point.

Every year, in the spring (usually a little earlier than this), I suffer through this morning sickness for a couple of weeks. I still don't know what causes it. I am fine at home, I get dressed, but as soon as I get outside, it strikes me about half a block from home. I get really nauseous, kind'a upset stomach. It might last nearly the whole day. I am fine by the time I get home in the evening, and the next morning, it starts all over again. Odd thing is, if I stay home all weekend, nothing happens. It's only when I step outside. There must be something in the air.

Man, I can understand why pregnancies are not fun!

This has been going on for quite a number of years, and now I just come to expect it. It happened quite late this year... and is going on now. It's not as severe as it has other years, but still bothersome. There really is nothing to do but wait it out. And this spring is really dragging itself out!

Oh, how I hate mornings!!