Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sundays...not supposed to be this eventful!

Summer sundays are not typically this eventful for me! Day started with me waking up from having what I would call a disturbing or unsettling dream. It was kind of a reverse history dream...my mom was alive and it was ME that was going in for surgery. It was probably triggered by reading a bit about congenital heart defects and whatnot. Either way...the dreams in which my mom are healthy are hard. The strangest thing was that I never actually got the surgery. Somehow, our little public library was connected to the hospital, and my minister was there, wishing me luck...but then I ended up in our church's sunday school hall to go to the bake sale. I was perusing the jams/jellies sections when I was woken up.

My dad was guest preaching/filling in at one of the struggling presbyterian churches in our city this morning...a church without air conditioning...when the temperature this afternoon went up to 34 degrees. Needless to say, during that hour, my heart got put under some stress, and I don't know how much longer I could have tolerated the heat. It was on the second floor of the church too, and there was almost no breeze this morning, so having the windows open and the fans on really didn't do anything. In total, including my dad, myself, and the church organist...there were a total of 18 people there. Hence why I say that the church is struggling. Anyways...it was hot. Period. My dad did all right though-writing sermons is not exactly his strong suit, and he tends to get a bit excited when presenting and typically stumbles a bit over words during scripture readings. What sort of bothered me was that the pew bibles were not the same version/edition as the pulpit bible. I sometimes like to follow along, but had to stop because my brain hurt from trying to combine them!

After the service, I took him out to Moxies, because I had a 'buy one brunch, get one free', so we enjoyed that. I figured that the rest of the day would be pretty uneventful, but around 4:30, I noticed that the very hot sunny day had started turning less-than-sunny. We had quite the thunderstorm, although it was relatively short lived and THANKFULLY cooled things down pretty quickly. However, about halfway through watching Masterpiece Mystery together (because we're cool like that...), the phone rang, and it was my sister. I guess her end of the city had things a bit more severely than we did, because one of the trees in her backyard was uprooted and crashed down on her garage, and a powerline was also knocked down by it. Though she strangely still has power. Let's just say that hearing things like that is pretty shocking, especially as less than a month ago, she was again 'spared' when the guys installing her air conditioner told her that her furnace had a six inch crack in it and that she was pretty lucky that she hadn't been exposed to toxic levels of carbon monoxide poisoning (as she did not have a CO alarm at the time).

It's been less than a year since she bought the house, but she has certainly had her share of the "Joy of owning a home" experiences in that time.

Experiences like today remind you of how much you love someone...and how easily things can go wrong.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Surgery...takes a while to heal from...

Going into getting my wisdom teeth removed, I figured that I would feel some pain (hoped that it would be fine with just advil, which it was), would probably swell (yes, I did, to a ridiculous level where my normally thin cheeks were so big and heavy that when I got up to walk around I would literally gently hold them up), and would have a bit of bruising (yes, but not that bad...mostly just a yellow patch on my left cheek).

What I didn't anticipate was how run-down it would make me feel, and for how long. It's now been almost a week, yet, I am still unable to rise at my normal time, despite going to bed with plenty of time to sleep. Let's just say I'm not too keen on sleeping for 10 hours every night. Right now, my bed is covered in things like my knitting basket, slippers, photo albums, yoga mat, running shoes, cell phone charger, purse, backpack...all those things that normally stay on my floor, but are up there because this morning I told myself that I WAS GOING TO VACUUM MY ROOM. My sudden inspiration that I should vacuum my closet too and not just the 'highlights' only worsened the situation. As I was moving things, my legs started to get that energy-drain feeling. Unfortunately, it is now a feeling that I know all too well.

So, I sit on my bedroom floor with my bed covered in everything, and not enough energy to run the vacuum or even to just move everything. Sigh.

I guess healing takes a while, and takes longer when your body has another struggle to overcome (my heart)...but I would like to be back to normal! No one told me that it was going to be so long of a healing period, all I was told was to "take it easy for a day or so". Perhaps if I'd known that recovery would take longer for me, I wouldn't be so frustrated with myself. Meanwhile, my brain ponders the possibility of sleeping on my bedroom floor tonight...

Friday, July 20, 2012

Chipmunk Mode

I have entered into chipmunk mode, AKA, I had my wisdom teeth out at around 12:30 today. All things told, it really wasn't that bad, that worst part of today was the starting of the IV. No matter how much I insisted that it WOULD NOT work on my right arm, they still insisted on trying, because my veins appear more prominent there. They thought that they had it in, and started injecting the sedation medicines, but all that did was cause me to be in intense pain, while not drifting off to sleep. Finally, they switched it to my left arm, and in about 2 seconds, I was out, and the next thing I knew I was waking up. I don't think that I was that spacey, but I don't remember much of the car ride to the pharmacy, although I DO remember running into my piano teacher there, and then rambling on about the conference, the student she had referred to me, and Mrs. Treble Clef and Mr. Bass Clef...

Glad that she has known me for almost 20 years now...

So far, it has not been very painful, I am getting by pretty well on just advil. Mostly, it actually seems to be my cheeks that are hurting from the swelling, and I know that that is only going to increase over the next day or so, but the advil is also an anti-inflammatory and should help with that. In all honesty, doing my stress test, although shorter, was harder on me.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Exhausted, but happy

I am utterly exhausted now, even though it is only 8pm. Although, my body does think that it is 9pm because from saturday until the plane left at 2:30 this afternoon, I was a timezone further east. A wonderful conference, with many great memories and lots of education to help me in my teaching, but now I am tired!

Friday I go in to get my wisdom teeth out. Obviously not looking forward to that, and there is still that bad gut-feeling that going under general anaesthesia was the wrong choice for me to make...I guess only time will tell.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Term Insurance

Long story about what has been going on lately, but I've applied for term insurance. Applied, and I have no clue if I will be accepted. My medical history kind of makes me nervous that I won't. Being born with my heart condition, I certainly couldn't help that-if that's what disqualifies me, then there is nothing that I can do about it. But no one told me at 15 that getting diagnosed with depression could someday make it so that I couldn't get insurance. Note that term insurance is different than life insurance. Term insurance, you are covered for a certain period of time, with lower premiums and less hidden print. It is through Primerica, so the phrase "Buy term and save the difference" is what we go by. Part of the reason I am applying now is that things are NOT going to get better on the heart front, only more likely to make me denied coverage. On the mental exclusion front, well, time will help that...

It's not that I personally need insurance at this point in my life...but let's fast forward to ten years down the road. Maybe I'm married and have a child. I am then at a point where I DO likely need insurance, but it's only going to be more challenging to get then, as my heart is likely to continue gradually worsening to the point where medications and/or surgery are necessary to fix or replace my valve. I wish I had done this back in October, then I would only have had one big exclusion mark against me, not two possible ones.

Having to tell the company over the phone about my eating disorder past was hard. Is it at a very manageable point at this time in my life? Yes. Did I feel like I was being judged when I talked about still involving myself actively in doing a group and seeing a dietician from time to time to make sure that I am still on the right track? YES.

It could be some time before I hear about this, and even if I am denied, it is not the be-all-and-end-all...if I am denied coverage, at least I know and can prepare in other ways, such as investing more. If I am accepted, then I am covered for 35 years...

I haven't felt this stressed for some time, but I do now. And it is not a nice kind of stress in the least.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bernat Baby Blanket Corner to Corner Blanket

Sometimes, it's nice to have a blanket made from REALLY thick yarn because it works up so fast! This one didn't take very long at all to make. It's a corner to corner blanket in a seed stitch pattern-so you increase or decrease every other row. The seed stitch means that it's Knit 1, Purl 1 all the way across, giving it a bit more texture. Because Wal-Mart didn't have enough of any single colour, I figured that combining two would work out okay, and it did. So, here it is in Baby Blue and Funny Prints. I decided that I would just knit until I was out of yarn/almost out of yarn on the "10th row of pattern" so it's a bit larger than the pattern specified. Oh well. I have no problems with that, and I'm sure some small child will not either! I never understand the patterns that have baby blankets only, say, 28 x 27 inches. If you have a well-knit or crocheted baby blanket, you will want it to last well into their childhood. Mine was definitely an adequate blanket until I hit around double digits in age. Okay, so I was a strange child in that I was stunted in growth (or so it seemed), but either way, mine lasted a LONG time in it's original blanket on bed/couch type of function. It is STILL on my pillow every night, and I have definitely been known to put it around my shoulders while studying or working on late night essays. My good friend B. told me that until just a few months ago, her blankie was on her pillow every night...until she found a guy and felt that she didn't need it anymore. And she is 26!

Anyways...


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Bernat Baby Sport Round Blanket

I finished the edging for this one last night. It probably only took about 2 weeks of crocheting, and it was not the only one that I was working on. Although I did get kind of obsessive with it the past few days! Like yesterday, I was determined to finish the edging!!! It really introduced me to several techniques that I had not done before including crocheting in the round, a 'shell' type stitch, treble crochet (in the edging) and picot edging. I am pretty happy with the results, and very pleased with the colour that I found at Zellers, called "Pretty Girl". I'm hoping that it will show up online as well at some point, but I have yet to see it on the Bernat website.



I like that it is 'more' than a full circle-adds a little bit more to snuggle up with. I still have several projects on the go (what else is new?!) and will have to buy some more yarn to create a special blanket for a friend who is going to have a baby! Fellow flute player-it's her third child, but that doesn't make it any less exciting-for any of us! I'm thinking that I'll find a nice mint-green and make a feather and fan blanket...as I typically do for my friends, due to it's significance. Project Linus I will experiment for, but for my friends-the Feather and Fan blanket.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Summer= More blankets for Project Linus

As those who read this blog last year know, I spent a lot of time last year beginning in February and continuing through August knitting, crocheting, and creating fleece blankets for Bernat's Project Linus Knit-Along and Crochet-Along. In total during those months, I created 15 blankets for the drive, of which I posted pictures online. Well, it's summer, which means time to knit and crochet again! I finally took the pictures of the blankets I have completed so far this year and so, in all their cuddliness, here they are:



This one is a Stripes and Textures blanket in Bernat Baby Cakes, a cuddly blend of cotton and acrylic which has unfortunately been discontinued. Somehow, it always seems like the more practical or fun yarns and the best colours are always the ones that get discontinued...

I started this one last summer, and finished knitting the sides yesterday. Some parts were not that difficult (like the simple blue and yellow stripes) but the pink pattern drove me slightly crazy! And picking up the stitches along the sides was not the most fun thing in the world. Still, the bright results and the many different stitches were fun to combine, and I like the end picture. 





Because this is ME, it's naturally a crochet Wavy Ripple blanket using Bernat Baby Coordinates. Again, one that I started last summer and found in my knitting/crocheting basket when I went looking a few weeks ago. I used leftovers from other projects, and lined up the colours to create a rainbow effect. If only my tension had been the same last year and this year. I guess it's part of only having done a handful of crochet projects so far.


Yet another Wavy Ripple blanket in Bernat Baby Coordinates. This was from a book called Baby Gifts, and I added some extra stripes, including the Soft Mauve and the Soft Turquoise. I also decided to do a single crochet in the Soft Blue along the edges. 


A knitted Fan and Feather blanket, which is the same pattern that my own knitted baby blanket-which rests at the top of my pillow each night-is in. It's done in the Pastel Shades variegated colour of Bernat Super Value yarn. 

At last count, I had five more blankets on the go. I figure a couple of them will be finished before the week is over. And now I am very tired!