A Puddle of Waiting Yarn

I'm off work today; those may be the four most beautiful words in the English language.  I was off work yesterday, too, but that day was a busy day involving shopping, having tires put on the car, and a trip to have my eyes examined.  It was a good day (highlighted by a delicious salad from Mellow Mushroom), but a busy one.

At 5:00 this morning I decided that today would be different.  Yes, there's a long list of things I SHOULD be doing today, but the list will hold until tomorrow.  Relocating my printer to a more convenient location and dressing myself have been then only two things I've done today that could remotely be considered "work".  And when I say "dressing myself", that's a debatable phrase.  I'm in sweats and a t-shirt.  Dressed, but not really presentable, y'know?  What's worse is that I don't even care.

I'm in the recliner, having now switched from coffee to Diet Coke.  I've downloaded three library books to my Kindle in case I want to read.  I've downloaded "Angela's Ashes" on audiobook so that I can listen to something while knitting.

As soon as I finish this blog entry I'm going to reach into the untidy puddle of yarn waiting beside my recliner and pull out the sweater jacket I'm knitting.  Rows and rows of lovely mindless garter stitch.  I can knit and knit and lose myself in the glorious Irish brogue of Frank McCourt.

Have you ever used audiobooks?  I began using them initially so that I could "read" while knitting.  Don't misunderstand, I still love to read, and I read a lot.  But sometimes I enjoy having someone read to me.  On occasion you run across a book that is read by a gifted reader.  Some readers are, unfortunately, dreadful.  But some are born with the necessary talents to read aloud.  Frank McCourt is a gifted reader.

Today I am a very happy person.  :-)

A "Normal" Weekend

Who would ever think that I'd be grateful for a Saturday spent chasing dust bunnies? I have to admit it was nice to have a more normal day than I've had for awhile.

I won't say I finished my housework (is it EVER really finished??), but I did put a pretty good dent in it before my energy ran out. :-) I went about my work at a steady pace, taking a brief break from time to time, listening to The Green Mile on my Zune to ward off boredom. Is it weird that I find rereading Stephen King novels relaxing? Speaking of which, I'm rereading The Stand in hardcover as part of an online book club at Crazy Aunt Purl's website. (If you've never read her blog, you might find it fun.)

I love listening to audiobooks while performing tasks that don't require me to think. And let's face it, housework doesn't require much thinking. Had I ever told you that I never buy audiobooks? I check them out from the local library via the internet. For free. I don't even have to leave the apartment to do it! If you've never looked into this, check the website of your local library to see if they participate in the R.E.A.D.S. program. If you happen to live in my little corner of the world, here's a link to the Bristol Public Library's webpage for this wonderful program: http://www.bristol-library.org/resources/ebooks-audiobooks.

I use it only for audiobooks because the ebooks offered are not compatible with my Kindle. My guess is that there's probably a way to convert them to make them compatible, but I already have tons of reading material on my Kindle so I've not looked into that. As for the audiobooks, there's a large selection. If the particular book you want is currently checked out, you can reserve it, and the program will send you an e-mail to let you know when the book is available. You can check them out for up to 14 days, and can check out several at one time. I usually check out only two at a time, just so that I can be sure I'll finish them up before the end of my checkout period.

If you've never listened to audiobooks before, you'll find that some readers are better than others. On occasion I've given up on a book because I didn't care for the reader. That's rare, though. They're usually quite talented and make the book an interesting experience.

Audiobooks will never replace reading for me; I've read as long as I can remember and it's always a relaxing experience for me. And as much as I love my Kindle, I still love holding a hardcover book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the calming effect of turning the pages. That was always my favorite thing about the beginning of the school year as a child: getting our new textbooks, hearing the slight crackle of the glue in the bindings as the fresh pages were turned for the first time.

But I digress. As usual. *LOL*

Back to my "normal" weekend. On the agenda for today: not a lot. I have just a couple of small tasks to finish up, then I'm going to go spend what I hope will be a restful afternoon with Mom and Dad. I'll take along some knitting (I'm finishing up a few Christmas projects) and Mom will have a pot of her delicious coffee waiting, as always. As I'm finishing this post, I hear a gentle rain beginning to fall outside. A restful, rainy Sunday....sounds like a great afternoon to me! Have a great weekend, everyone!

In the Summertime When the Weather is High

If you've read my blog in the past, you know how much I love to go camping. When the weather is hot and muggy like it's been here in my corner of the world lately, there's nothing quite like pulling a lounge chair out under a big ol' tree and stretching out with a cold glass of tea, knitting in your lap, and a new audiobook on the Zune (Microsoft's version of the iPod).

And that, friends, is how I spent last weekend. It was just wonderful! I arrived at the campground around 8:30 Thursday morning, set up my tent and got everything placed inside. After a refreshing shower I was ready to relax. The weather was much cooler than in town, and my campsite was well shaded with big beautiful trees.

On Friday morning Mom and Dad came to visit me and took me to lunch at a little family-owned restaurant about 5 miles from the campground. They had slow-cooked baby back ribs which looked wonderful, and I had a hamburger steak with onions and green peppers. After a little ride through the countryside (Daddy always has to take "the road less traveled"....*LOL*), we went back to the campsite to visit awhile and enjoy the cooler fresh mountain air.

Later that afternoon as I lounged and knitted, campers began to arrive. The peace and quiet of the campground soon was broken by the shrieks and whoops of LOTS of small children. I quickly realized that the campers across from me and beside me were apparently all camping together. As nearly as I could tell, it appeared that at least four (if not five) of the sites were all sharing their camping experience for the weekend. When I say LOTS of small children, that's what I mean....LOTS. It was a little like trying to count minnows in a pond, but there must have been at least eight small children and five pre-teeners.

And they were loud. Oh, man, were they ever loud. Though I'd been knitting and enjoying birdsong, I soon gave up and plugged my Zune earbuds in to try to drown out the racket. Late that night, as the grownups and kids gathered around the campfire next door, yelling and laughing loudly until very, very late that night I found myself hoping that the weatherman was right in forecasting RAIN for the next day. That way, at least the noisy campers might have to stay inside, muffling the noise. How many tent campers do you know that hope for rain? *LOL*

As it happened, I got the rain I'd hoped for. I sat in the shelter of my tent with the door unzipped, knitting and watching the rain. It was very soothing and made me feel dozey and lazy. For lunch, I treated myself to a trip to a local legend, the Dip Dog Stand. I'd heard about Dip Dogs for years but had never had the opportunity to try one. The two items I'd heard the most about were the Dip Dog and their onion rings. So, that's what I ordered, and it was very good. Next time I think I'll skip the onion rings; they were really good, but I don't eat fried food very often so that was a little too much for me. Instead I'll order two Dip Dogs. What's a Dip Dog, you ask? Imagine a corn dog, but instead of the corn bread-type wrapping there's a delicious flour batter, deep-fried. The dog is served with mustard. When you bite into it, there's a satisfying crunch from the fried batter and the tangy taste of the mustard. It makes my mouth water a little to think about it. Maybe it's good that I don't live near the Dip Dog Stand. :-)

By the time I got back to the campground, the rain had subsided and I was able to sit outside in my lounge and knit and listen to more of my audiobooks. I finished "Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes" (a funny tale about three Southern belles seeking revenge against their cheating husbands) and started "The Lovely Bones". I know that movie took some criticism, but I actually liked it. I'm enjoying the book even more.

Though I usually retire very early while camping (or while not camping, for that matter), I didn't see any reason to go in until after dark, since the kids from the surrounding sites were out in force. As darkness fell and the other campers began to scatter to their respective sites, I went in the tent. On my way in, I ran my hand across the dry nylon and thought, "Oh good, everything's nice and dry, so I should be able to pack up pretty early tomorrow."

Wrong. Not fifteen minutes after I'd gone inside, I heard the distant rumble of thunder. The storm came quickly, bringing one of the worst lightning storms I've seen this season. Rain fell like water out of a bucket for awhile, then settled into a steady rainstorm that must have lasted a good while. I can't tell you when it stopped, because nothing lulls me to sleep quicker than the sound of rain on a tent. :-)

Sunday morning the trees were still dripping with the rain from the night before. The humidity level was really high, making it impossible to get the tent dried off enough to pack it up. Luckily, it didn't leak, so everything inside it (including me!) stayed nice and dry. As soon as I realized I wasn't going to be able to get the tent dry by the 2:00 pm checkout time, I packed the car, then rolled the tent and ground tarps up (wet....*ick*) into big trash bags so that I could haul them without having water puddle up in the car.

When I got everything into the car, I checked out and started home. When I got back to a cellphone signal (did I mention that cell phones do not get a signal in the campground? Just another bonus. *L*), I called Mom and Dad to ask if I could borrow a corner of their yard to pitch my tent to leave it up long enough to dry it out.

After I'd set it up and they put my ground tarps over their clothesline to dry, I made my way home, unpacked the rest of the things from the car, took a shower and collapsed into the recliner for the rest of the afternoon. As much as I love my camping weekends, it's always nice to get home again.

After work Monday I went to Mom and Dad's and retrieved my then-dry tent and tarps. As an apartment dweller, I'm especially grateful to them for allowing me to do that. It would be really difficult for me to get everything dried out by stretching it over shower rods and such!

And so ends another camping adventure. I finished knitting a pair of socks, listened to one whole audiobook and most of another one, met some really nice campers, tolerated some really noisy ones, and met lots of wonderful camper doggies. I enjoyed two relaxing thunderstorms, ate my first Dip Dog, and inadvertently fed a few mosquitoes.

All in all, a great weekend.

Finally....FALL!

I love Fall....the late summer haze has disappeared, leaving everything looking sharp and crisp. You can see slight color changes on the edges of the trees. A couple of good frosts, and we'll have our colorful fall foliage to enjoy. We've had a lot of rain this season, and I'm not sure how that will affect the colors. We'll know soon. :-)

I'm completely utterly bored with my leg pain, so I'll just say I still have it and will be glad to have the surgery to get RID of it.

I've been trying to finish up some of my knitting projects so that I can start my Christmas knitting. The sad fact is that I should have started my Christmas knitting some time ago but have been addicted to knitting socks. *LOL* More on that will be posted on my knitting blog.

My sweet little MeggieDog hasn't been feeling well for the past week. I decided to increase her dosage of canine aspirin (still within the recommended dosage listed on the label) and it seems to be helping. In fact, last night she emptied her toy basket all over the living room floor and "killed" several of her favorites. It was wonderful to see her having such a good time again.

I see that this is my first post since the Friday of my vacation week. It's been a real blur of activity since then!

• Vacation Day 8 - Saturday: I honestly can't remember what I did, so it must have been knitting and watching movies and listening to my audiobook. *LOL* Speaking of audiobooks, I'm working my way through Debbie Macomber's wonderful "Blossom Street" series. I've listened to the first two and enjoyed them very much. It's nice to sit in the recliner, knitting with Meggie curled up beside me, listening to a story of women who meet in a knitting class and how their friendship develops.
• Vacation Day 9 - Sunday - The Last Day: I didn't do much at all that morning, but went to Mom and Dad's for lunch (ribs....*drool*). Then Mom and I went to a gathering of some of her first cousins at a nearby park. Mom hadn't seen these cousins in many years. It was fun to realize I had a LOT of relatives in my neighborhood and didn't even know it! They were lovely people, and we had a really nice visit.

And so, on Monday Cinderella turned back into a pumpkin and returned to her concrete cell, otherwise known as The Office. As expected, that first week back was a tough one, but I survived it.

On Tuesday, I went to Madrigal practice to turn in my music. After long consideration I finally decided that after going home from two practices in agony I just wasn't going to be able to do it. The extra three hours away from my recliner (where I can get in a relatively comfortable position) were just too painful. I was very disappointed, of course. I really, REALLY wanted to sing The Messiah. But with my luck, I'd have tortured myself all the way through the rehearsal period just to have my surgery scheduled too close to the performance date for me to be able to stand up to sing. Rats, rats, RATS. Oh well....one more thing to add to my "one of these days" list.

One of my e-mail signatures is "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." I have to remind myself of that from time to time. :-)

Pain Hurts...But Is Temporary, At Least

I've just been running through my head, trying to figure out just how long my stupid tendonitis in my stupid leg has been hurting. (Bitter? ME? Naaaaaaah.)

As nearly as I can tell, it must have been along about the middle of April, which means it's coming up on 2 months now. The good news is that I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and learned that it really IS tendonitis, and nothing more serious. More good news is that I was doing everything right as far as treating it....except I just haven't been patient enough. *rolling eyes* The doctor said that it takes as long for tendonitis to heal as it takes for a broken bone. So, I still have a little waiting to do. At least now I know for sure what's going on. It still hurts, but it's a little easier to stand knowing that there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

I knitted a little while last night on my sweater. I hadn't picked it up in awhile, so it was nice to get back to some "zen knitting". Knit, knit, knit, knit, around and around and around. No counting, no thinking....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I was able to start the second of the "Women's Murder Club" audiobooks. I just love that!

OH....I haven't told you about my new toy! My Zune finally arrived from Amazon last week, and I just adore it. The software they provide for the PC is very user-friendly and my favorite part is that I can sync the Zune to the computer WIRELESSLY. The Zune hasn't been connected by wire to the computer since the initial setup! (I recharge it with a wall charger.) Such fun!

I needed a way to carry it around the apartment while doing housework (or to keep it handy while knitting) so I knitted a little pouch for it with an i-cord long enough to go around my neck. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it so you can see. I think it turned out pretty well for an amateur knitter. *L*

Well, I have a friend coming in a moment so I can help her with a knitting problem during lunch, so I'll hush for the moment.

The Joy of Audiobooks

My newest stress-reliever has turned out to be knitting. I can be wound up like a clock spring when I get home from work, but within minutes of picking up my knitting I can feel the stress drifting away.

The only downside of knitting is that I found it difficult to watch television while knitting unless I happened to be watching something I'd already seen which didn't require much attention. I commented to a friend at work that I really needed to look into a way to purchase or rent audiobooks without investing a fortune. She said, "Have you checked the library?"

Lo and behold, when I went on the website of my local library, they not only have audiobooks, but they have a program by which I can check them out on the internet and download them directly to my computer at home. I don't even have to go to the library!

I've been listening to them on a little Sansa Express that I've had for a good while. But I've been using it so much lately that the navigation button has stopped working properly. I can't complain though....I only paid $20 for it when I bought it, and I've certainly got my money's worth out of it!

Because I'm enjoying the audiobooks so much I finally had justification to invest in a decent player. So, I've ordered a Zune; it's supposed to ship from Amazon tomorrow and I'm really anxious to get it. I just love new toys. :-)

These are the audiobooks I've listened to recently:

1. Patricia Cornwell's "Cause of Death" - one of the Kay Scarpetta series that I'd managed to miss somehow.
2. James Patterson's "1st to Die" - the first of the Women's Murder Club Series.
3. James Patterson's "You've Been Warned" - I listened to this one while waiting for "1st to Die" to become available.
4. Olive Ann Burns' "Cold Sassy Tree" - I love books based in the South; it's like listening to family. :-)
5. Shelby Foote's "The Civil War - Part 1" - I'll have to check this one out several times to get through it because it's so long, but I know it will be worth it.

There are lots of wonderful audiobooks available, so I'm sure I'll work my way through plenty of them while knitting away.