My Martian Husband

I have gall bladder issues.  My doctor told me that surgery is an option.  But he also told me if I do have the surgery,  there is a 33% chance that my condition will improve, a 33% chance it will remain the same and a 33% chance that it could get worse.

Not liking those odds, I asked if there was another alternative.  He told me to stay away from fatty and fried foods.   Which I do....most of the time.

I've been feeling pretty good lately.  And when I feel good, I seem to sort of forget about that "staying away from certain foods" thing.

On Thursday, I picked at some of my Ross' fries.   No problem.  So on Friday I figured, hey, I can order my own fries to with that ruben panini.

And last night as I was walking the floor, feeling miserable, I was making promises to who ever was listening....."Never again, never, ever, again"

So as I  was lying in bed with my heating pad, moaning "ugh I don't feel good;" and getting up every few minutes to run to the bathroom, Ross was lying next to me snoring and sound asleep.

My puppy, Rico, was worried about me.  I could tell because every time I would get up to use the bathroom, he would be waiting outside the door for me.

Rico after our rough night

I finally fell asleep at around 4:00 a.m.  I was pretty grouchy when I woke up, mostly from lack of sleep.

My grouchy lack of sleep mood led to Ross and I having the most frustrating "Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus" conversation.

me:  "You could at least ask me how I am feeling this morning?'
him:  "Huh?"
me:   "You know I was pretty sick last night and you were sound asleep"
him:   "Well, if I was sound asleep, how was I supposed to know you were sick? "
me:    "Didn't I tell you my stomach was upset? Didn't you see me in bed with my heating pad and my ear phones in?   Didn't you hear me getting up to run to the bathroom every few minutes?"  (translation:  "Don't you care about me?")
him repeating:  "I was asleep, how was I supposed to know?"

Believe me this is just a snippet of the conversation.  It branched out and went around and around with him looking pretty confused most of the time.

Finally after about 20 minutes of this, I could see the light bulb pop up over his head.

He came over to me, put his arms around me.

him:  "I'm sorry you were not feeling well. How do you feel now?  Can I fix you breakfast?   I care about you, you know. "

me smiling:  "I know you do."

The flowers Ross brought home for me today

My Bowling Knitting League

I belong to the Tuesday Morning Ladies League. At age 55, when I first joined the group I was among the few youngins.  That was 8 years ago.   At that time the ages of the ladies ranged from forty-something to 80-something; with the average age being about sixty-something. 

We bowl at 9:30 on Tuesday mornings and our season goes from September to May.  We have four woman teams and bowl three games.  So we spend about 3 hours a week together.

When I first joined the group most of the ladies had already been bowling together for 15 years.  So, not only was I a youngin, but I was also a new comer and not a very good bowler to boot. 

   

It took a few years for even my own team members to warm up to me.   

About two years ago, the secretary of our league, Barbara, came up to me and asked if I had knitted the vest I was wearing.  "No," I said.  "Oh," she said, I am a knitter and that looks like a hand knitted vest."  I told her that I was newly knitting again.  She told me that she has been knitting since she was a child.  And low and behold, we had a bond.  

A group of the women always sit together and knit while they wait for their turn to bowl.  One day I got up the courage to go over and ask what they were working on.  And low and behold another bond with four more women.

That's when I decided I would take my knitting to bowling.

 A little while ago, the lanes we were bowling on were next to the lanes from another league.  The other league is a mixed male/female league.  I was, of course, knitting.  A guy from the other league said to me..."Hey, my wife knits".  "Come on, I want you to meet her."  "Honey," he called. "Come meet Lynda, she knits too."   

Now it seem that I am the go-to knitting person.  It's quite funny.  Even the non-knitters come up to me to see what my latest project is.   I think they would be disappointed if they didn't see me walk in with my old Vera Bradley knitting bag. 

There have been many changes in the last 8 years. The bowling averages of many of the original bowlers have dropped dramatically.  A lot of them have had to get lighter bowling balls.

Louise, age 81, and a member of my team, had to have open-heart surgery in October.  She refused to quit the league and hopes to come back in September.  Although Mae is 93, she still maintains one of the highest averages.  And even though her team members have to call Della every Tuesday to remind her to come to bowling, she too is still one of the best bowlers. 

Barbara suffered a mild stroke shortly after she had asked me about my vest.   She has made a remarkable recovery.  Her bowling style has changed, but,  she manages to maintain a decent average. She told me that seeing me with my knitting projects made her want to knit again.  Last week she showed me a picture of the beautiful cable stitch blanket that she made for her granddaughter.  It took her about a year to complete, and it is gorgeous.  

Now she is working on a lacy scarf.  Last week she told me that she was so frustrated because she made a mistake and had to rip the whole thing out.   I told her that I learned something very useful from my Ravelry friends.  I showed her the scarf I was working on with lifelines in it.  She was thrilled.

But, I think I was more thrilled to be able to show someone who has been knitting for 50 years a new trick. 

Yesterday, I bowled the worst three games I have bowled in a long time.  It may have had something to do with my preoccupation with trying to learn a new crochet pattern from one of my other "bowling" buddies the Reversible Shell Afghan.

The last 18 months have been pretty difficult for me.  I was pretty depressed last May and decided that I really wasn't interested in coming back in September to bowl.  But Erica, the president of our league, gently, well okay not so gently, convinced me that getting out of the house to bowl/knit would be the best medicine.   And "Besides," she said the league would miss you."  Yep, that's right I'm no longer a youngin or a new comer. 

My team, A Mirage of Treasure is currently in second place.  Not too bad for a bunch of old bowling knitters, huh?

Some of the member of my Bowling Knitting League 

When is Done Done?

I have two projects in progress.  I am at the  “Am I ever going to finish this?” point and 

 the “I never want to see Country Rose, Light Sage or Cornmeal" ever again stage.

                                     

 The first is my first attempt at something lacy LGG's Undulated Lacy Rib Scarf

I started it about a month ago.   I just finished my second skein and thought, okay 45" is long enough, isn't it?  I simply think that I have been knitting it long enough already.   But then my better judgement got the better of me. So I logically and sensibly have decided that I should use that third skein I have and wind up with a finished scarf that I can wrap around twice and actually wear.

My second project is   LGG's Textured Triangle Stack Afghan

This was supposed to be my soon to be 7 year old grand daughter's college dorm room afghan.  But since I don't know how tall she will grow, I have decided that very soon now, very soon, it will be the perfect size for a throw for my sofa.  I'll work on her dorm room afghan after she grows to her full potential. :).

I am itching to start something new.  Something I can actually finish in a few days, maybe a dish cloth or one sock.  I must say, though, I am disciplined enough that I will not start anything new until the scarf and afghan are done.

Now done is subjective.  After all, these are my projects and I get to say what done is, right?

I am proud to say that I have a FO to brag about today.  The second book in the Igbee series was completed and published last night.  I ordered 3 copies this morning.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will arrive in time for my Bella's birthday.

If you are interested check it out Igbee and Sumbee's Great Adventures