Harsh Words, Soft Beehive Hat

Yesterday was a hard day.  I won’t call it a bad day, because in the end we accomplished what was necessary, but it was hard. 
We made some decisions yesterday, as a family, about a direction for our near future.  We set out to put those decisions into action.  In the process, I walked a long [...]

Hiding Bodies

I started a post and stored it away after the first paragraph.  That’s unusual for me.  There are some topics that cannot be approached here.  Recently I had a discussion with a friend who encouraged me to write fiction.  I had mentioned my reluctance to write about one area of my life, and she reminded [...]

Luck and Simple Progress

I am due for another round of rituximab next week and then two weeks later.  I must cancel.  I am not sick.  I mean, there is no indication that a flare is coming soon.  I am cheering very quietly, trying not to disrupt the natural flow of good luck here.  Speaking of luck, it may [...]

Organic Cotton Wrapped Hat – Free Pattern

A few days ago I posted a photo of this hat:    I promised to add the pattern, and it’s a bit late but here goes:
 
Organic Cotton Wrapped Hat  by Essie Bruell
 
The hat is knitted back and forth without joining.  The entire hat should be knitted loosely.  A relatively small needle is used because of [...]

Diamonds, Health and Houses

The word is out.  The Congressional Budget Office has scored the complete health care reform bill and it definitely looks affordable, hundreds of billions less than previous estimates.  Ezra Klein has summarized the results for WashingtonPost.com (Ezra Klein – Primary Documents: The Congressional Budget Office’s Score of the HELP Bill).  Definitely worth reading his brief [...]

Blocking a Shawl and Unblocking Health Care

I start every day with breakfast and pills.  While I am waiting for the pills to do their thing, I get my first look at morning email.   My method of attack is to first scan the whole list and wipe out the junk – solicitations, sale notices, friending notes from Facebook, spam that the filter missed, [...]

Rockstar

Every now and then I find myself in a group of folks who lament the income and respect disparity between celebrities and more essential pros like teachers.  We talk about how nurses are underpaid relative to football players, and the value of a good social worker versus a good television evangelist. 
During these conversations I inevitably [...]

Drive-By Blogging

A quick “Hurray” for the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.  Sandra Day O’Conner was the graduation speaker at my medical school graduation (Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, 1982).  It was exciting even though I wasn’t a huge fan.  Every indication of our country dragging its tired political butt into the next century is to be celebrated.  [...]

Gettin’ On the Grid

My computer works again, I’m a fiend!  I opened it and played two rounds of Scrabble, and there will be lots more of that before the day is done. 
I’m getting ready for future craft market days.  I made two hats, one in a child’s size in lovely Auraucania Yarns Atacama.  It is hand-dyed, supersoft 100% [...]

Monday Morning, da da, da da da-ta

A few morning thoughts:
It’s not raining.  Yayyyy.  That will change later in the day, but I am happy for a respite from the extremely wet weather we’ve endured lately.  I can hear birds singing outside my bedroom, probably the robin and her family.  She has been in residence, frequently bumping my windows, for a couple [...]