Maxwell Moppy Herrin

Crazy week! My best friend and first doggy love, Max is not feeling well. He has always had allergies and skin rashes and infections and ear infections and you name it, he has had it. I could have bought a car with the money I have spent at the vet trying to keep him healthy and happy. This week, however, was a bit different. He changed drastically and quickly. He seemed to lose about 3 or 4 pounds overnight, and he started vomiting for no apparent reason. My first thought was a parasite. I was so worried when I dropped him off at the Vet on Tuesday morning. I could hear her over and over in my mind saying we had to put him down. That was a scene I could not fathom. After x-rays and blood work, she could not tell me what was wrong. She said that he had lost 4 pounds and had a mass around his liver, but they had no idea what the mass was. She said that it might be gall stones, but she was pretty sure it wasn't, and it could be cancer, she wasn't sure. She seemed to think that there was a possibility that it was a severe infection of some kind. The only way to know for sure if it was cancer was with an ultra sound. I thought about what she said and then I realized that if it wasn't gall stones, then it COULD be cancer. I did not want to know that. If we had the ultrasound and it was cancer, what would change? Nothing. The only difference would be that I would be waiting for him pass on and that was not a path I wanted to go down. So, I decided against the ultrasound. She gave him a shot of a heavy duty antibiotic and a prescription for more antibiotic to take by mouth. He seemed to be feeling better on Wednesday and seemed better each day. I am now praying for him each day and hoping that God will let him stay with me for a few more years. Sometimes, not knowing is the best thing...don't you think?

Catching Up

Since I have been away for a while, I thought I would do a quick update on some things that I have finished and projects that I have started. I do have several projects in the works right now, as always. I seem to have "cast-on-itis" and can't cure it. I like to have several different things to work on at one time. The only problem with that, is sometimes I don't mark my place well, and have to spend extra time deciding where I am in the pattern. I need to break myself from that. My life would be so much easier. Jenny, from my Crochet Club at work, made these beautiful hotpads and I loved them so much I decided to give them a try. Here is my finished product:

I love knitting socks, as a matter of fact, I think I am addicted to socks. Here are a couple of pair that I have finished recently: I call these Clown Socks!

There are socks that I made for my Mom. They are called Dragonfly Socks:

This is a pair of fingerless mitts that I made for myself. They still need blocking, but are so soft and warm!

I have a few other things that are close to being finished. I love to see my projects get completed. Til next time!

Wandering Woolomena

Woolomena finally made it to my house! She looked very rested and refreshed when she arrived. She brought tea and sock yarn along with some great cookie recipes from Jinann.

I took her to work on Tuesday because I wanted to introduce her to my friends, especially the Crochet Club. We had a great day and she enjoyed chatting with everyone. I think she most enjoyed playing the the pigs.

Here she is with my team:

And the Crochet Club:

Today, sadly, I must send her on to her next destination. We have had such a blast since she has been here, I just wish that she could have met Brian and Anna. They would have been fast and famous friends. Bon Voyage Woolie!

December 2011

Things are going very well with my Mom and I hope to be blogging again in December and all of 2012. Life has a way of changing your plans, doesn't it?

We had an early Thanksgiving this weekend and it was so great! We had tons of food and laughter and love. I helped Jason bake his first cake from scratch and it was yummy! Sour Cream Pound Cake. It was a perfect cake and so delicious!



Randy and I are looking forward to a long, quiet weekend and pray that we will have one!

Knit Picks Wish List

knitpicks is sponsoring a Wish List contest! If you send your wishlist to someone and then post it on your blog or Facebook, you have a chance to win $50 of your list!

Pretty dang cool, huh?

A Quick Update

I have been off the blog for a while because my Mom has been sick. She had 2 strokes and then 2 sets of seizures and has been in the hospital, in rehab and living with us. She is doing much better now and has actually gone back to live in her apartment, on a trial basis. She is really happy being in her home and I can see a big difference in her. I am just praying that God will help her continue to improve. The damage to her brain has really taken a toll on her. It seems to have been the hardest part for her to deal with. Each day, though, she is getting more clarity and starting to be her old self.

I hope to be able to blog more often now and do some of the things that I had planned before this happened.

Changes in the Blog

I have been working on some changes for the blog and I am going to be implementing them over the next few days, so stay tuned!

Friday Wrap

Great week! Exhausting though. Still having growing pains from the move and the heat is just awful.
Our trip to Alabama was fun! It was extremely hot on the golf course, but cold, wet towels helped make it bearable. We had fun and it was great spending time with David and Sally.


My Chevron Scarf turned out great! It has been complete for a while, but I have not had a chance to take any pictures.

Bath

The bath is finished and it is just awesome! Here is a before picture of the garden tub:

The old shower:



The old potty:

Friday Wrap

Today is the big day! We are moving our offices from Duluth to Alpharetta! It is total madness at my office! Looking forward to the new office. It is so much nicer and we have so much more room!

The bath will be finished today and I am so excited! Two weeks in the guest bath has been an adventure, to say the least. The entire house is covered in sheetrock dust, but it is all worth it! I guess Randy and I will be doing our spring cleaning now. Can't wait to post the pictures of a remarkable transformation.

Kids are coming tonight! It is going to be a great weekend. Kate, Liz and I are taking in Water for Elephants at the movies. We read the book and now we are going to see the movie. Poppy will be the official babysitter. Tomorrow we are having a family BBQ and just chillin' out. It will be nice to have everyone here.

Making great progress on my sweater and socks, but will take a break this weekend while the kids are here. While doing a project for a swap, I realized that I so need to get the studio organized and start using it more. That is on my agenda for the summer. Getting it super organized and useful!

Friday Wrap

It has been a great week! Work is going well and we are 2 weeks away from moving to our new building. The crochet club is doing well and I am getting closer to finishing my Twilight socks...finally. The remodel on our master bath starts next week and I am so excited! I will post before and after pics.

My gardens are coming along fabulously! My peonies are blooming and all the cuttings that I planted are growing and looking spiffy! Even the angel trumpet trees have perked up and are nice and green.

Next week, Jenny is going to teach all of us to make jewelry. I can't wait. I have always wanted to make it, but never took a class. I am ready with all my beads and stuff!

Jason and Parker both got promoted at work in the last 2 weeks. Parker was made Creative Director and Jason was promoted to Produce Manager. I am so proud of them! Good job guys!

I am looking forward to a nice weekend with gardening, junkin' and Darlington!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

Friday Wrap (On Sunday Morning)

It was a good week, but soooo busy. I have so many projects going on and they are all so fun! I am still working on the test flowers with Sharon, knitting the Twilight socks, and I am about to start on ATC's. I am so excited to do these ATC's. I tried them a few years back and they were fun! This time we are doing it in my PlayShop group and we have a tutorial that we are using. I finished a couple of projects for the Lose the U, something I didn't do in March. We are also starting a button swap in the PlayShop and I have been looking through all my buttons picking out ones that I like.

Randy and I worked in the yard all day yesterday. Two of my Rav friends sent me irises and daylilies and I got those in the border, along with 2 foxgloves and 6 more Blackeyed Susans. My border is really taking shape. Here are some pics:

These are my Columbine's. They have the most beautiful flowers.

Oakleaf Hydrangea

These are old fashioned roses and they smell so good!

This is Spirea and Feverfew. The spirea is blooming and the feverfew will be soon.

This is a look at the border from the street. This pic does not do it justice.


I love gardening!

Crochet Flowers

I have a picture of the crochet test from last night, but I am using white yarn and the pic is not that good. The test turned out great and I showed Sharon today what to do with it.
I am a little puzzled by a pattern that she has for crochet flowers so I am going to test that tonight. The pattern makes no sense, but I am going to try and do exactly the way it says and see what happens. I still think that my way is better, but we will see.

Crochet Testing

I am making great progress with my Twilight socks, but don't think I will finish them by the end of the month as I had hoped. I have another crochet test to do tonight for one of the girls at work. She is a new crocheter and I have been helping her past the hurdles. She tried to do a dishcloth, but got stuck, so I am going to make it to where she is on it, so we can go from there. She is a quick study and picks things up really fast. The dishcloths can be found here. They look easy, so I am going to try one tonight. I will post a pic!

Friday Wrap

Today is Good Friday and I am amazed at how many of my herbs and flowers are blooming! That is not how it is supposed to be! I think that seasons are all out of whack! You are not supposed to plant anything until Good Friday, according the Farmers Almanac and my Grandmother. I have always followed her routine and it has never failed me. So, what is going on? For starters, I don't remember Good Friday ever being this late in the spring, and that makes it later to plant. I am still going to follow the plan I have always followed and hope for the best. My peonies, roses and other spring flowers are doing fine, but some my herbs are blooming and that shouldn't happen until late in the summer. I am keeping them trimmed and trying to get them back on track. My clematis is lovely again this year. Clematis is an amazing flower and is always beautiful.
We all went out yesterday and mowed the lawn, trimmed the shrubs and cleaned the yard. Brian and Anna were such good helpers and we had a great time. .

It is supposed to rain today and I am hoping that it does to water in some of our new plantings. One of my friends on Rav sent me some iris bulbs and another friend sent me a box full of daylilies. I am so excited! I planted the irises, but still have to get the daylilies in the ground. I think they are going to be beautiful in my border.

We are having an Easter egg hunt on Sunday and I am looking forward to the kids being here. Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Weekend

I am so excited! I am going to pick up my babies tomorrow for Easter weekend. And, the kids are coming on Sunday for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. I am taking Thursday off and Friday is a holiday for us, so I am going to have 4 whole days with my babies! woo-hoo!

On Sunday, I am going to teach Liz how to make my Death by Chocolate Cake. I know that she will love it and be able to make it for her friends and family after Sunday.

Friday Wrap

Ok, I have decided that I will not stop blogging, I enjoy it too much. This was an interesting week, to say the least. I finished my Comfy Scarf, made some great progress on the Twilight socks and started a potato chip scarf as a test for the crochet club. We are planning to start a group on Ravelry for the crochet club and I am trying to get everyone signed up on Rav.

I am changing over from throwing to picking and it is a slow process. I am doing better each day, but I am still so slow. I have always wanted to knit Continental and I am not sure why I learned English, but I am switching in the hope that my knitting will look nicer and it will be more uniform. Wish me luck!

The kids are coming for Easter weekend and I am planning to have a big Easter egg hunt. I think it will be fun and the kids will enjoy seeing the grownups look for the eggs.

My tomato tree arrived. I actually ordered 2 of them, as well as 3 cucumber trees. They look really healthy and I planted them in pots on the deck to get them started. I am anxious to see if I really get all those tomatoes that the ad talked about. Supposedly, a couple in Loganville did. But, we all know that ads are not always truthful. We will see how it turns out.

I received a nice card from Jennifer at the Foundation Fighting Blindness this week regarding the walk. She included pictures of our team that were taken by the photographers. That was a great day and I am looking forward to next year.

No more Blogging

I am thinking that I will give up blogging. No one reads the blogs, and I have other things that I could be doing.....

Friday Wrap

Today is my boss's birthday and I made my homemade chocolate cake for her. It doesn't look great, but I know it will taste good!

Going to pick up Brian and Anna for the weekend tonight and I am excited. The weather is going to be nice this weekend and I am hoping that we can go on a picnic on tomorrow. Randy has been working in the yard and I am hoping to get out and do a little gardening this weekend, as well.

I love spring!

April Plan

The Chevron scarf is coming along very well. It is going faster than I thought it would. I am determined to finish this scarf, Anna's Sweet Pea blanket and my Twilight socks this month.

I am planning to start a new quilting project this month and finally finish the studio. I have stuff everywhere up there, but it is looking better each week.

I have made a project list which I am going to incorporate in my sketch book and start working on getting the materials together for each one. Prep is half the work of any project, it seems. Takes lots of time and effort to get everything ready just to start the project. I want to get a good hand stitching project started so that when I have the sinus surgery, I will have something to do if I feel up to it.

I am going to have Brian and Anna on Easter weekend, a first for me I think. I am excited about making Easter baskets for them. I am hoping that some of the kids will be able to come for dinner on Easter Sunday. It is really hard for all of us to get together at one time because we are so spread out. I miss the kids and having dinners.

Time passes so quickly! It seems like only yesterday, my boys were little and running around the house......

Friday Wrap

This was a busy, but quiet week after all the excitement from VisionWalk. As of today, we have raised $4500 and donations are still coming in. Not bad for our first time out.

The Crochet Club is going well. We don't get to meet as much as we need to since we are doing it on our lunch break, but some of the girls have finished their scarves and are ready to move to a new project. I think that we might start meeting after work for dinner or coffee and that will give us more time to work together. I think that we are going to do One Skein Scarf as our next project.

I made it this week in 2 evenings and it is really fun and easy. The finished product looks so cute and there is a hat to match, which I am currently working on. The club is not ready for hats yet, but when they are, this one will be a good one to start with.

Now that spring is here, I am anxious to do some work in my gardens. My perennial border is really taking shape and looking good. My favorite pot that I kept on the sidewalk out front cracked and fell apart this winter and I am going today to look for another one. Crazy as it may sound, I really loved that pot. It was really old and covered with moss and it looked so good in my front yard. I think I am going to buy another clay pot and make moss on it so that it will look old faster.

I also ordered a tomato tree. Don't know how well it will grow, but I am going to give it a shot.

VisionWalk 2011

The walk was a big success! It was wet and cold, but it did not rain the whole day, thank you Lord! I prayed that it wouldn't rain and it didn't. We had a great turn out and we had so much fun! The kids loved it! There were tons of dogs there so naturally, Anna was happy! I believe she may grow up to be a vet, she loves dogs so much.

Brian was our leader and he did such a great job! We all completed the 5K like the champs that we are.


There were all kinds of teams and we met some really wonderful people. It is such a great cause and we hope to make next year even better!

Friday Wrap

It was a busy week! Work is just crazy and with all the goings on of the VisionWalk, Randy and I are both exhausted! The walk is tomorrow and we are all set! We have 74 confirmed walkers and we have raised over $3000. I am so proud! It is raining buckets today and the rain is supposed to last through tomorrow, but I am praying that it will not rain at the walk. Everyone has worked so hard and I just know that we will have a great day!

Knitting and all my other projects have taken a back seat to the walk these past few weeks, but I have been getting a row or two done now and then on the Chevron Scarf. I am hoping that starting Monday I will be back in the old routine. I miss Rav and I miss my friends there.

The crochet club is going well. We are meeting once a week, and all the girls are doing great and learning fast. We are doing these beautful cardboard Easter baskets in April and one of the girls is leading. They are so pretty, I can't wait to learn how to do it.

Looking forward to seeing my babes later today. It is going to be a great weekend for our family....tons of pics next week!

Chevron Scarf

I have wanted to make Chevron Scarf for a long time. I saw it when I first joined Ravelry in 2008 and added it to my queue. I finally started it last week and I love it! There is something about it that caught my eye and each time that I have started a new project, I have looked at it. It is from Joelle Hoverson's book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
The pattern looks intricate, but it is really very simple and easily memorized. It is made with sock yarn and you could use leftover yarn. I am using 2 different sock yarns and I am considering adding in some other leftovers that I have.


It is the perfect scarf. Wear it with any color, lightweight yet warm.

VisionWalk T-Shirts

Here is a pic of our tshirts:

This logo was designed by Richard Starkey.

Friday Wrap

It was a great week! We are one week away from the VisionWalk and I am so excited! I think that we have about 50 confirmed walkers and I am so proud!



The crochet class went very well at work. Several of the girls are making great progress on their scarf and the work looks great. We will meet again on Tuesday to check everyone's progress.

I have been working on getting my studio/office a little better organized. I am planning to start doing some sewing and I need to clear out some space. I think my knitting break may be over for now. I have several projects that I need to get finished and I am way behind. I am planning to make a ton of Christmas gifts this year and if the rest of the year goes by as fast as this first quarter has, it will be here and I will still be talking about it. I guess I had better get a plan together!

Branching Out

Since I have decided to take a break from knitting, I have been thinking about what projects I would like to do. I am definitely getting back to my quilting that I have missed so much in the past few months. I do want to branch out a little and possiby do some mixed media, but my first love is, and always has been, hand work. Embroidery, hand piecing, hand quilting, etc. I am planning to start a quilt that is a BOM on Little Miss Shabby's blog. It is called Birdie Stitches, and though I am getting a late start, I will only have January, February and March to do and I will be caught up.

I love this BOM. It is bright and cheerful and involves all the hand work that I can possibly do, especially if I hand piece the blocks. I will post my fabrics when I get them all together!

Friday Wrap

It has been an interesting week. Still working diligently on the VisionWalk, which is now 2 weeks away. Our first crochet class is Tuesday, and I have to finish getting everything ready for that. I found a great pattern on Ravelry for a lacey crocheted scarf that I think I am going to make for someone for Christmas.

Here is a link Lacey Crochet Scarf.

I also really like this one One Skein Scarf. I think this will be a good one for the crochet class a little later on.

Daylight Savings Time is this weekend and I am so glad. I wish that we could leave it on DST, and not change back in the winter. I am looking forward to getting home from work and having a few hours to work in my gardens each afternoon.

The Craft Club

We have started a craft club at work. I think that it will be the most fun! I am teaching crochet, and we have jewelry making, ornaments, cards, and many other crafty things. I work with a great bunch of people. I am really looking forward to this club because it will help me get to know all the girls better. I love working at Technology!

The Kitchen

We finished the kitchen on Sunday afternoon and it is awesome! I love the blue even more than I thought I would.
BEFORE

AFTER

Friday Wrap

VisionWalk is just a few weeks away, and I have been spending most of my time recruitng walkers, donations and getting the design together for our t-shirts. I have not been doing any knitting, but have crocheted a few squares for Anna's Sweet Pea coverlet. I am having a time with my hands lately. My arthritis has really been bad, so perhaps I need the break. I have lots of projects at home that I need to do as well. Randy and I are painting the kitchen today.

I am looking forward to next weekend because I am getting the kids. Those are always the best weekends, though when Monday rolls around, I am one tired Tessie. It is a good tired though. The kind that makes you smile.

Anna's birthday party was a big success! She loved her doll!

Here she is opening it:

And here are some other pics of her birthday:


Have a busy week ahead!