Knitting Time

Ever since I started homeschooling my boys, my knitting time has been severely limited. But I managed to finish several things since Christmas, and I'm happy with that.
First, I made some Fingerless Gloves for Kimmy. She is my friend whose house flooded. She, her husband, her 2 year old son, her cat, and 3 dogs stayed with us for about 3 weeks. She saw some gloves that our friend Andrea had that were similar, so she asked me to make her a pair.

I ran out of yarn in the middle (FYI, it's Bernat Cashmere Blends), so when I got some more I picked up an extra skein just in case. I used it to make her a Halley's Comet Hat to go along with it. The picture below is not Kimmy, but my mom who tried it on so I could post it on Ravelry.

I also made another pair of Fingerless Gloves in a different pattern for my bestest friend Kari. I made these with Bernat Alpaca Blend in a similar pink color. I may have just enough hat to make her a hat too.
On January 1st, I decided to start a new pair of socks, so I decided to make some Firestarters. I finished them pretty quickly, but they would have gone faster if I didn't get a bit of SSS. It's inevitable I guess.

In November, Kari's mom asked me to make some fingerless gloves for her to go along with her clown costume. I've been putting off finishing the 2nd one because they have very short fingers and the fingers are complicated. I finally finished those on Friday night at 1:30 AM. I'm glad to have that monkey off my back. Kari is going to visit her mom on Saturday so I needed to have them done before she left.

Right now, I just started on another hat for another friend, Nicole. I'm designing it myself and it's going to be called "Pucker Up Nicole". Hopefully it will turn out OK. I'm also working on some Pomatomous socks for myself, and random dishcloths whenever I feel bored.

Long Time No Post

I've just been so busy.
In November, Dan and I were baptized and we joined our church, Vernonia Christian Church. As new members sometimes it feels overhwelming. Especially since the flood happened so soon after we joined. We wanted to be involved in the church but might have bit off more than we could chew.
I was asked to start a ministry of serving coffee and cookies/goodies each Sunday. I enjoy it on the whole but it does take up time. I have to go the night before and get the coffee all ready to brew or I'd have to get there really early in the morning. Usually volunteers bring in the goodies in the AM, and I start the coffee/hot water and arrange the goody trays. Then after service (which means I always end up staying quite late), I have to clean up the mess. Usually the table cloths are a mess so I have to take them home to wash. I have to empty and clean the pots, etc. It didn't seem like it would be a lot of work but that's not how it has happened.
Dan has set up the sound system in the new church (our sanctuary was flooded and now we hold church in what used to be the youth and family center, but it's basically a large gymnasium.) I am singing with the "choir" although I really wouldn't call it a choir. It's just a group of people who lead the singing each week. Unfortunately it has caused me some frustration this week but I'm going to work through that. I enjoy singing and don't want to quit because it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Plus, I love my friend Kari who plays the piano and I want to help her out.
It's been a sucky week for me. I've felt really crappy, I've been sick and I can't get over it. I have a headache to end all headaches. I can't sleep when I want to so I'm chronically tired.
My doctor ordered me some new medicine that I hope will make a difference but insurance is going to be poopy about it. I have to get a preauthorization and that's going to take time. I just found out there's a hold up on my medications too and I'm completely out of my muscle relaxants. That might mean a painful weekend unfortunately. And of course, it's a long weekend.
Garrett's state report is coming up due and I just dread it. He wanted to do California, but our little library didn't have much information so we switched to Alaska because there were several good books on Alaska there. I just can't stomach the drive into town to the big library. School has been a challenge lately and the boys aren't completely cooperative. One gets mad if the other finishes earlier than they do but I can't work with both at the same time. They both need personal attention and it makes the school day hard. Today Dan stayed home and did Brendyn's school while I worked with Garrett. That was really nice.

Flooding

We had been forewarned that there would be high winds, and the power ALWAYS goes out when we have strong winds. I woke up at 4:45 when Dan got up to shower for work. I turned on the news to see what was up, and already things weren’t looking good. I really wanted Dan to stay home but he swore he needed to go in to work. He had originally planned to stay until around noon then come home, but when I told him that’s when the peak winds were supposed to hit, he decided to just stay a few hours.

Even before he made it to work, I saw on the news that all the routes, except the one we use all the time, were closed due to flooding or other reasons. I called him and begged him to come right home. He did a few things quickly at work then headed home.

When he got back to the junction of the freeway and the highway to Vernonia, he could already see the beginnings of flooding. There’s a large area of flatland right there, and it was already completely underwater. The road had several spots of standing water that was beginning to get deep.

I was so relieved when he made it home around 9. We had the news on, and the boys and I were happily doing school when the phone rang. It was Paul from our church, asking if we could go down and help people take all the stuff out of the downstairs of our church, where they hold Sunday school. We drove down there. One the route there, we had to drive by the “creek” in town, which by then was a raging river. A family had recently built a house near the banks, on a large basement foundation with a garage. By then, the water was half way up the garage door. The creek had jumped the banks in other places too, and was about 1 block into the street. It was 2 blocks from the church at this time. We started bringing stuff up as fast as possible. There were about a dozen people there. The water was coming up from the toilets and starting to flood the floor. It smelled like raw sewage and we did as much as we could and left.

As we were leaving I was talking to my friend who lived about 3 blocks from the church. She said we could come over and hang out at her house, but I don’t think she had any idea of the danger. There is another creek about 3 blocks on the other side of her house too. I gave her my number and directions to my house just in case. When I got home I started calling my friends to make sure they were OK, especially my friend who lives right by the lake and has a newborn. They had made it to another friends house to stay.

Kimmy, my friend, calls and says she’s getting worried, she can see the water. She needs to get out immediately. She was moving stuff upstairs, then was going to come over, but was scared she wouldn’t make it through the standing water on the road. Dan went down there in our truck and led her through the mess because she wanted to make sure she got her car out. They got out JUST in time. The puddle she had to drive through was so high the water was up to the wheel wells.

We hung out at home, watching TV while the rain poured down. The wind was not nearly what the predicted in our area, but the water just wouldn’t stop. Just as the rain seemed to stop, the power and phones went completely out.

We have a generator, so we fired that up and watched the news. It was just incredible. Streets all over Portland were closed because of standing water. Kimmy and I decided to take a walk to see what was going on in town. We walked down to my neighbor’s house where there is a trail that takes you down to a street closer to where the water is. We could see the water raging and when we got to the main road the water was at least 3 blocks long. A lifted jeep went through it and was all the way up to it’s headlights.

Kimmy had left her big dogs upstairs at her house, and when she saw the water she was going to walk through it. I talked her into going back to my house, where Dan could blow up our inflatable boat and take her down that way. It took about ½ hour to get the boat ready, and they took off about 4:30 just as it was getting dark.

They ended up boating about 8 blocks to her house. She pushed open her gate and they floated right up to her front door. There was about 2 feet of standing water inside at the time. They got the dogs, then boated around her house to where their boat was stored. Her cat was hiding there so they grabbed her and came home.

Her husband Raymond had gone into work that day, and we had called him to tell him not even to try to come home. He of course didn’t listen to us, and tried to get home. The only communication we had at that time was cell phones, and he didn’t have one. We waited and waited for a call and it never came. Kimmy was calling everyone she knew to try to find him with no luck.

We finally went to bed around 10 or so. At 4 AM Hennessy woke up because it was dark and she was scared. We all sat up. When the boys got up Dan started the generator again so we could watch the news. At about 6:00 a white truck drove up to our house and we knew Raymond had made it home safe.

He had waited at each place of standing water all night until it receded enough for his truck to make it through. He made it close to town at about 1 am and left his truck because there was 1 area he couldn’t cross. The Corps of Engineers picked him up in their huge truck and took him to the mini mart, about 3 blocks from his house. He then ended up wading through chest deep water to their house where he stayed until morning.

We went down to their house that morning to survey the damage. All her new furniture (not totally paid for) was ruined, the carpets, bottom kitchen cabinets, everything. She’s a dog groomer and her shop was flooded too.

Cleanup efforts are now underway all over town. The water that covered town was sewage so it’s really gross and smelly. Our days are spent pulling up carpets, sucking water from underneath foundations, and ripping out sopping wet insulation. There is a lot to do to make their house livable again, and they don’t have flood insurance. We wait for the President to step in to get FEMA involved. I hope for their sakes they get what they need.

They are staying with us at the present and will continue to do so until their house is habitable. We’re all learning to live in a house with 8 people (they have a 2 year old), 4 dogs, and 5 cats. It’s interesting to say the least.

In Memory of Annie

My baby didn't make it through the night. She was just too sick to fight anymore. This is one of only 2 or 3 pictures I can find of her. If I would have known I would only have her for a year, I'd have taken more. She was the best cat ever.
I can't post for a while. I'm just too sad.

Kitty update

She's at the kitty hospital and doing well. I took her there yesterday. She had a high white blood cell count which means she has some type of bacterial infection. They started her on IV fluids and antibiotics and just let her rest overnight. They are going to force feed her this morning (because she isn't choosing to eat) and make sure she doesn't vomit. Then if she starts eating this afternoon, they'll let her be. If she doesn't, they are going to put a tube down into her stomach to feed her for the next week or so until she gains some weight, gets her strength back, and starts eating on her own. I'll be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon, and they'll teach me to feed her with the tube if necessary. I'm so relieved. I honestly wasn't sure she'd survive the 45 minute trip to the pet hospital yesterday.
I'm knitting up the hat design I created. It's turning out nice. Now to find some good yarn to try it out in. I'm just testing it with crappy cheap stuff.

Sick cat

This week has sucked. All 4 of our fish died, including the one we've had several months and who has survived 2 trips on the carpet. I think the 3 new ones DH brought home from Pet Smart were sick or something. So yesterday we got a new one, a big white fish with an orange head. Today we got another one that looks the same but is smaller. The big one is Tiger, and the small one is Maria. Interesting huh?
We've had a sick cat for a week or so, but didn't know which one it was. We suspected one, but it turns out it wasn't her. This afternoon I went into our bedroom and found 2 more pee spots on the carpet (that is why we knew one was sick) and Annie looked so skinny and lethargic. In fact, I wasn't sure how long she'd make it, so I called the vet right away and took her in. That's a challenge with 3 kids in tow. She was tested for FIV and FIP, and Thank God it was negative. They gave her some fluids, and did a $100 panel of blood work to try and figure out what is wrong. They said her liver is breaking down, either because she has a liver disease, or maybe it's just because she's dehydrated and hasn't been eating. I got some cans of cat food to basically force feed her too. Well the food is absolutely disgusting. It took DH and I 20 minutes to get a little down her (forcefully). She kept that down OK until I tried giving her some fluids too later. Then she puked all over DH, and the smell was so bad I puked too. Poor guy, cat puke all over him and a wife with her head in the toilet. Fortunately he has a stronger stomach than I.
He said that the cat was in drinking water shortly after that so maybe she's feeling a little better. I just can't have another animal die this week. The fish thing was very dramatic for B since the fish was a birthday present.
Knitting wise, I've basically just knit on my hats this week. I designed a fair isle hat (on paper) that I need to start trying to knit up. I tried it using some yarn I had, but didn't like it so I ripped it out to try again with a different yarn. I also started a scarf for my SP but don't like it either. I need to make her something fast since it's basically the end of SP season. I haven't been the best SP I could be and I feel bad. Usually I'm much better than this.

A week has passed.....

And I've only knit hats. I finished 3 for my friend's 2 kids and her husband, and then I knit myself a Jackyll & Hyde (from Knitty) for Halloween. The kids love it and I love that I feel like Clark Kent with my Superman suit beneath my suit. I wore it today and showed it to Cee-Cee's teacher and K. who loved it. The kids had a great time wearing it too.
School is going well and the kids' grades are great. Homeschooling has just been a blessing to us. Today K and I took the kids to the park and met another homeschooling family, people we hadn't met before. We told them about our upcoming co-op and hopefully they will join. She belongs to another one in Hillsboro but was interested in ours too. Her boys were in K and 2nd, and all 4 boys really enjoyed playing with each other.
I'm knitting K an Anemoi hat right now, then when I'm done I'm going to start knitting hats to sell at the bazaar. We're thinking of getting a table in some bazaars in Hillsboro too, since we likely won't make too much money here in the sticks.
Our church had a concert on Sunday by a wonderful Southern Gospel group called Blackwood Legacy. They have a young gentleman (just 21) in their group that is a piano virtuoso. He played and it totally amazed me. I bought some of their CD's, and they plan to use the proceeds to record an album of him playing piano.
Prison Break is back on again. I always miss it when it's not on, because I don't get to see Wentworth Miller. God he's cute.