Oh Happy Day!!!

Here's something I finished just before I got sick. It expresses how I feel right now- everything seem beautiful, the light is luminous, the air is sweet, the kids are being wonderful, really- even squabbling is music to my ears.
Here's one that could be done, sometime soon. At issue is it's size. It is a really big wall hanging, but too small to be a functional quilt. I have to sort out how I feel about quilts that just hang on walls- It is sort of like those dolls people collect for their daughters that the daughters are not allowed to touch. A bigger quilt would allow someone to snuggle under it, but would make it unlikely that anyone ever saw the whole design at once. I will think it over.

Well, I could have died, but I didn't, and thats why it's a good story

Just home from a thoroughly unpleasant series of events. I had a severe allergic reaction, though not technically anaphylaxis, as my blood pressure did not bottom out. The worst thing is, I don't know what I reacted to. The best thing is I was working in the hospital, and all of the care, ever the really unpleasant parts,like a nasal access laryngoscopy ( ouch- too sick for sedation) were done quickly and lifesavingly. I have been in the swarm around the bed before, setting up for intubation, but never the one the scope was planned for. And after I escaped intubation that time, I was kept in the monitored area for a few hours, to make sure it wasn't a biphasic reaction. It was. I got scared said my nurse's name ( I will never forget Cynthia- my goal in life is now to be that nurse to a patient) she looked at me, started paging people, and when my airway closed up, the bed swarm was assembled. The epinephrine worked, again, but I earned my self a stay in the monitored care unit, right next to the ICU, with the ICU charge nurse stopping by periodically to make me talk, so she could hear if I was getting squeakier. I currently sound like Betty Boop or maybe Minnie Mouse. I have two weeks off work, an allergist very interested to seeing me in the morning, and a profound love for my fellow nurses and the physicians who did their thing so well. I'm proud of the Kaiser hospital I work at, and I'm happy to be alive.If they hadn't reacted as well, if they hadn't kept me for so long, I'd have died.. I'm so very grateful . SO, what's everyone knittig?

Dust Bison

We have painters. They are moving room by room through the house, spreading bright white, mocha, sunshine yellow and spring green. And chaos. Lots and lots of chaos. I have had to move things that haven't been moved in ten years. I have found hair from dead dogs. I have made a few million trips to the Goodwill, and if my husband were less observant, I would make a few million more.

I have had to reveal the yarn stash. Even my son was awed by the quantity of yarn. When you can make an eleven year old notice that you have a lot of yarn, you really have a lot of yarn. His comment: "and I thought I was obsessed with LEGO".

I have an almost done sweater, and a bunch of sort of done quilts. I am trying to work small- why I don't know, but mostly because it is a challenge, and because I am hoping that the lower level of commitment will be refreshing. Sort of more like doodles than oil paintings. Can't find the camera or the camera cable,so it may be a while before we have blog photos. Meanwhile, there is the breakfast my husband made this morning, and makes every Sunday morning.

My Life, My Chemicals

Humira works, people. It is wonderful. It is marvelous. I have my life back. You know the old story about how if you heat a live frog gradually in water, it won't jump out and save it's own life, but if you drop it suddenly in hot water, it will? Well, I was a cooked frog. And now I have jumped out. I have not taken Tylenol more than once a day for three whole days. It has been years since I have gone an entire day without Tylenol. Years.

I have gardened. I have washed a floor. I have knit. I have crocheted. I have sat on the floor and stood back up. I have woken up and been NOT STIFF. Usually, my joints are so stiff that if I move to fast, I fall, because I can't get my feet under me. I just...stood up. I am in love with this drug, with the person who invented it, with the people who offered themselves up as the experimental group, with the whole shebang. Thank you, people. Thank you, drug company, thank you drug.

Organized? Me?

Well, next Monday painters are descending on the house, so of course I have been sewing to get ready. And knitting. What? most people don't start projects when they are expecting workman? Must be an interesting way to live. Bet they know where the spare key their husband made for the back door is, too. The first picture is over the cutting table, the second is over the machine. These are magnetic knife racks from IKEA, and dang, the tin man better not stand too close because they are STRONG! It's nice to see the stuff all off the table. The little containers come from IKEA, too, and are meant for spices.

Right now the cutting table is just a table, with bins under it. I am pondering making a table out of cabinets or something, so that the storage is hidden. Right now it's a little bit out in the open, and to the uninitiated can look a lottle chaotic. But to a crafter, of course, it looks like utter chaos that could lead to a project, and we all know that that is a good thing!

I got my copy of the new book by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston just before we sat down to the Seder last night, and have only looked through it briefly. It looks nice, though. MOre on that when I get a few moments to look closer.

I'll Take Placebo

I am somewhat better. I am waking up not as stiff, I have less pain. I have not taken Tylenol in two days- usually I am able to mark the clock until my next dose. I am shocked, though, at how weak I am. I have some muscle wasting- I have lost a lot of strength. I went to the gym, Fit Lite, so it is really not a scary place. Very low key. I rode the bike at no resistance, and did four of the fourteen machines at- guess what-no resistance. I have to take this as a chance to get stronger and stabilize my joints with muscle. I also did some gardening and could actually move. I am cautiously optimistic- I am hoping for the best. I am very grateful.