People First: Empowering People With Disabilities

We live with a disabled person - our daughter. She has a beautiful smile and loving heart. She also has some vision loss and mild cerebral palsy that includes seizures and intellectual disability.

While it has been a painful and often frustrating journey for 22 years, we wouldn't trade it for anything. She has taught us to love unconditionally, how to have patience, and how to make lemonade when life hands you lemons (she does it everyday).

Remember to look for the ability in disABILITY.

Recipe to wash dog who met a skunk

• quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 tsp liquid soap

Credit for dog wash recipe goes to vet after I told them the...ahem...situation. Stupid dogs.

Not again!

Tuesday was a good day until....


The label of clumsy has never been applied to me before. Time to rethink that. I tripped....again...left ankle turned side-ways as I tried to regain my footing, landed on the side-ways ankle and heard the dreaded POP! as I fell. Horrible pain and immediate swelling make me think I've broken the ankle....again. *@#*(!! $*&@&^!! (G-rated version of the words echoed through the house).

Within 2 hours, I was at an orthopedist office to be x-rayed. Results are good news - no new break in the ankle. But the bad news is the fracture from Dec 2008 never completely healed. Or perhaps it broke - again?

Whichever, I'm back in the boot cast for at least 3 weeks at which time I see the doctor again to determine what's next. Lovely.

And if that wasn't enough to make Tuesday miserable....

It was raining when we left the doctor's office. And since it was late, Gary suggested dinner out at a little Mexican food restaurant. As we finished eating, we notice restaurant staff scurrying around with brooms and mops. Water was coming into the restaurant under the doors. Within 15 minutes, the floor was covered with 2 or more inches of water. We looked outside and saw water everywhere.

The street was flooded to the point that firefighters and police were rescuing people stranded in their autos. The parking lot had water up to the doors of my little SUV.

We had to stay put for about an hour waiting for the water to recede. This is the parking lot as we left...



At least dinner was on the house.

Special Weekend

We in the midst of a grand celebration this weekend - Angela's birthday!
It started today with her choice of a restaurant. She choose Joe's Crab Shack (good choice!).

Gary got to do most of the work on the king crab legs.

Tomorrow we bake a cake - triple chocolate with fudge icing (can you feel the calories just in reading the name?)

Sunday is "the day". There will be a little get-together in the afternoon complete with buffalo burgers on the grill and swimming in the pool. Yes, you read that correctly...BUFFALO burgers. She loves them.

Plus we're making homemade ice cream to go with the cake. (I'll be spending a lot of time doing laps next week as well as extra time on the bike.)

Stop by if you're in the area!

Fortunately I got the Pokemon plushies finished in time to give her on Sunday because her *real* present didn't arrive yet. (Why does tracking now come with a date it was scanned in but doesn't bother with where it was scanned at???)

Anyway, Torchic and Jiggypuff are done. Thanks again to Wolfdreamer for her terrific patterns. :)

Doing

Back from vacation for 5 days and I haven’t managed to spend more then 10 minutes on the computer. It’s all this “doing” stuff which has included unpacking and cleaning the motor home, laundry, weeding the flower beds, and doctor appointments. And today daughter and I gave the non-traveling home a good cleaning. Good thing we had a long, restful vacation before all this doing!

Speaking of vacation…the last part was nice and relaxing. We spent time in Custer State Park touring the park and seeing the wildlife,

...found a sign we need for the back yard (we've had to rescue 2 turtles from the dogs), …and a trip to Wall Drugs (home of free ice water) and the badlands of South Dakota.

We also went to Deadwood where my daughter tried her first slot machine.

She won too! Must be “first time gambler” luck. Of course I gave her the ole spill about only taking the amount of money you can give away to the casino. Then when she won, I encouraged her to leave a winner (in other words, cash in). She listened and happily walked away with profit.

The trip home included a side-trip to Little Big Horn in Montana, and Fort Laramie in Wyoming. We are self-professed history buffs.

A very nice vacation indeed.

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“The calla lilies are in bloom again….” (Stage Door, Katharine Hepburn)

It’s my first calla lily ever….I am so proud!

Great Family Adventure 2010

We’re on vacation. I forgot to mention that, eh? Yes, we left on our RV vacation the 24^th of May. Between last minute errands, packing the essentials into the motor home, and the excitement over Lost finale (which I loved and hubby scratched his head over) I just forgot to mention it.

The first couple of nights were spent at friend’s farm in Kansas. They are more like family really, and we hadn’t seen them since we moved from California where they live most of the year. Catching up was wonderful and seeing the family farm was nice.

From there we headed north out of Kansas and into Nebraska, making our way to Black Hills in South Dakota where we are at now. Since our arrival, we’ve been up on a mountain top, down into a cave, and witnessed an explosion.

Up on a mountain

About 8 years ago we saw Crazy Horse for the first time. It made a profound impression upon us…the commitment of the Ziolkowski family, as well as the meaning behind the Memorial Foundation.
That prompted us to become regular contributors to help in completion of the vision.

Since we are regular contributors, this year we had the pleasure and honor of going to the top of the Crazy Horse Memorial.

It was an amazing experience to be that close to an amazing sculpture-in-work.

Our guide, Dewey, gave us insight into how the work is done. And what a view from the arm of Crazy Horse!

An unforgettable experience.

Down into a cave

Jewel Cave. While it was interesting to hear about the on-going exploration of the caverns, the area that the public is allowed into just isn’t as beautiful as Carlsbad Caverns (sorry, it’s true).





Most interesting tidbit – 723 steps according to the guide (I didn’t actually count them). Yes, the ultimate stair master.

Witnessed an explosion

Sometime the work on Crazy Horse requires blowing up (off?) part of the mountain to get to the area where the work is to be done. An explosion was on the schedule for Memorial Day – an event! And we were there.

Gotta admit….Gary (hubby) really knows how to show we gals (Angela and I) a good time.

We still have another 1 ½ weeks left before we’ll be home. If I have a chance, and if WiFi is available, I will blog again about the Great Family Adventure 2010.

Wonderfulness

I didn't exactly forget to post a work in progress yesterday...I just didn't have time. Somehow the laundry multiplied itself. So yesterday's WIP would have been pictures of laundry baskets. Surely you don't need pictures of that!

So today I'm blogging about wonderfulness. And if there isn't such a word, there should be!

28 years ago today, I married the most wonderful man I've ever known. He's my Best Friend, my counselor, and lover....all rolled into one. I'm lucky to know him. Even luckier that we have such a strong love and bond.



Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart! (We need to get a newer picture of ourselves together.) XOXOXO

Further wonderfulness can be found in the flower beds. The gladiolas have popped up, and the asiatic lilies are beautiful!




Plus I managed to get a couple of the garden goodies my Mother gave me a into the flower bed.


Since the wind seems to blow constantly, these little guys are always flying. Fun to watch as I weed the flowers beds.

I think I'm starting to like this garden thing. :)

Spring cleaning...

...inside and out. That's what I've been up to. I have been immersed in dirt outside, and cleaning up the dirt inside. Never ending cycle haha

Since we moved less then 2 years ago, very little spring cleaning was needed except for the carpets. With 3 dogs, and family members who forget to wipe feet, the carpets suffer. Which is why having my very own rug doctor is so great.

Love the convenience of having one for when I have an extra hour or two for cleaning carpet in a room.

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We finished the closet remodeling and unpacking of a few more boxes just in time for Spring-time temperatures. So we headed outside to play in the dirt. :)

Out the front door is a walkway that leads to a side patio. Flower bed between the walkway and the house was filled with bushes.


I knew I wanted that tall one out. It grew faster then we could trim it!


So out it came. Actually it was two that had grown into one great big one!


I really like the openness of the area without it. That was incentive enough for taking out the medium size bushes too (there were 3). And I dug out the water grass-type things on the other side of the walkway (excuse the finger that slipped into view as I took the picture)


This was 2 weekends worth of work, with one weekend of snow in between. And even though I've been working out, my muscles ached for days after. Moral - if you want to find muscles that were not getting exercised, try doing some landscape work.

Anyway, with the removal process completed, I started planting this past weekend. Flowers! I love green and all, but more bolder colors are found with blooming plants. I started with my beloved roses - red, pink, deep yellow and pale yellow to begin with. Daughter chose two lily-type plants that love sunshine. And I planted spring bulbs (fingers crossed on those).


I'm not sure how much more I'll do in the flower bed for now. We couldn't get that 2nd stump out with digging. Had to resort to chemical death for it. So I think I'll be content with that flower bed for now, and work on the container planting I want to do for that side patio.

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In between the cleaning and planting, and all the day-to-day stuff, I've started a bead crochet project. Funny thing - starting a bead project has made me want to knit again. So I am. More later.

Let me count the ways...

...that I fail to socialize online.

First there is Twitter. I signed up a few months ago and have tweeted (I think that's the phrase) exactly 24 times. Not a good tweeter am I?

Next there is Facebook. Signed up to visit with cousins. Found some loom knit friends and high school pals. So I do post there a couple of times a week. But mainly I play games - very relaxing and no brain required.

I guess I'm an old fashion email type of gal. Wanna visit? Email me. :)
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While there has been some knitting...


...I think I need to bring out the beads. My subconscious has been prodding me in that direction with some dreams of beading (at least it's not nightmares). So I'm planning a couple of beading projects.

There has been some creativity in the form of house projects. Last month it was closets.

This one....

is now a coat closet....


And this one....



is now a video/CD closet.

I can unpack these boxes now.

With the spring-like weather we're having, I am now planning on spending time working on the flower beds. Details and pictures later.

Most supportive family

I have the most supportive husband and daughter. They've been loving and concerned during the past 4 weeks of me being sick (IBS flare up). Thankfully I think I'm on the upswing of awful episode.

But hey...it wasn't a total horrible experience! I realized last week that I can now fit into a size smaller blue jean! Not a diet I recommend but a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud. :P

I haven't spent much time knitting over the last month. If I've had energy for anything, it was mainly family related. But I have managed to knit on my Shipwreck shawl and work some on the next edition of LKC.

Lovely

1. Ice storm moved in on Thursday.

2. Snowed all day Friday.

3. I'm sick today.

Lovely.

The ice storm cometh

January is ending on an icy note. After living in Southern California for so many years, I'm having a difficult time getting use to having "weather"...

I had a grocery store list to shop for yesterday. Normal shopping...no big deal, right? Wrong. My first clue should have been when I had a difficult time finding a parking space. But it didn't hit me what was going on until I couldn't find a grocery cart. Everyone was getting ready for today's ice storm. Must be serious.

Well they must have lived here longer then I have....so they probably know what they are doing! OK, I stocked up on bottled water as we are on a well....if electricity goes out, so does water for us. And firewood is stacked by the fireplace to keep it dry...for it to keep us warm. Plus we have plenty of batteries for flashlights. I should be ready. ;)

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Family members have had numerous doctor appointments this month. Plus daughter is starting vision therapy. That means I've spent most of my days driving from one appointment to the next for most of January. Subsequently there hasn't been much time for knitting, and even less to update the blog about knitting. And this is primarily a knitting blog, right? Hopefully next time.

Round Tuit's

The month of January is always busy...every year. I use to wonder why that was. Then I realized it's because I put things off starting in late November until after the new year. I am happily immersed in holiday happenings and do not want to be bothered with mundane issues like doctor appointments, phone calls, insurance, etc. Then in January - I get "round tuit"



and become a functioning adult again. It is nice to be able to mark off the "to-do" list instead of add to it.

One of my "round tuit's" was to decide on a pattern for this yarn

that I mentioned in October. After looking through a few patterns that this yarn would work for, I decided on Slinky Ribs Pullover. And I have enough in my stash to do it in my size without cheating on my yarn diet! Funny thing - I knitted the sample for Knit Picks (seen in the link) and it's the same yarn and color that I have stashed. Seems like destiny to me.