2009 - Bring it on!

As I am an infrequent blogger, it shouldn't surprise anyone that my first post of the new year is 6 days into it. I won't make excuses.

2008 went out with a huge black cloud hovering over us. As ya'll (that's my Texan showing) know I broke my ankle the week before Christmas...which was the week before my MIL had eye surgery (3 days before Christmas).

As DH had promised we would be in Dallas to "help", we thought we would make it a family Christmas and enjoy time with my Mother too. But I still had to get the motor home ready for the trip - broken ankle or not. Thanks to DH and DD, I managed and off we went with high hopes that the ankle wouldn't ruin the trip for us. Stupid, eh? You would think that I would have acknowledged that this little mishap was "fate's" way of telling me to just stay home. But as we hadn't been able to spend a holiday with our elderly Mothers in many years, it seemed the right thing to do.

So I took pain pills and smiled in a medicated haze...
1. through MIL surgery
2. through the transmission problems of my car (repaired Christmas Eve)
3. through the freezing temperatures while the motor home furnace (thank goodness for sleeping bags)
4. through the ignition coil of the car going out...

All that from Dec 20 to Dec 27. Too much in a week even though the time spent with family was wonderful. We kissed the Mom's and came home before anything else happened.

After finally finding an ignition coil for my Cruiser, DH managed to put the new one in on Jan 2nd. It seemed to be fine...finally. Famous last words. It broke down again yesterday while DH was driving it to work. He has given up and left it at the mechanics all the while muttering "l.e.m.o.n."

Obviously the dark cloud hasn't left yet. Stay tuned.

Ringin' in the new year

We're home after a wonderful Christmas with our mothers. The first time in many, many years we've been able to spend the holiday with them.

Our plans for New Year's Eve? A quiet evening at home with DD playing the new Wii game "Santa" brought. ;)

Happy 2009 to everyone!

Happy Holidays plus Winter 2008 LKC is live

We are visiting family for Christmas. I hope your Christmas is a joyous one!

My 2008 Christmas ornament (love him!)

Oh! And Winter 2008 Loom Knitter's Circle is live. Enjoy!

P.S. Thank you for all of the notes wishing me a speedy recovery.

Fractured Fibular

That pop I heard when I stumbled (not very gracefully) last night was the crack of a bone. The extreme swelling, pain, and bruising was a good hint that I needed to see the doctor today. So I did. The left side of ankle is broken (fractured fibular). At least the "cast" is this boot thing that I can remove for showers.



And I can still knit.

New loom knit patterns and free tutorial

Twist'n Hat and Scarf patterns are finally finished. It took awhile to put together the tutorials so that I was happy with it. I think you'll find it was worth the wait.

Hopefully I'm not confusing anyone by offering not only the hat and scarf pattern separately, but for loom knitter's who want both I'm offering the Twist'n Combo at a discount.

And since I needed to do a tutorial on decreases (needed for the hat), I put it up as a free download.

Find it all by clicking here.

Holiday lights spectacular last weekend

We drove through the holiday lights spectacular this past weekend (at night of course). Wow. It really is spectacular! It's at Joe B. Barnes Regional Park in Midwest City, OK (the soccer fields). If you are local, go. If you're not - enjoy the pictures I took with the cell phone. These are just some of the light displays that are there.

Santa in his sleigh over the world.

Two bears having a snowball fight (the light in the middle is the snowball moving).

Santa and his reindeer

A few displays here. The Christmas tree in the background is huge!
The display on the right is a chimney with Santa's feet dangling.

My favorite. The carousel ponies "move" up and down. Wonderful light illusion.

A bear standing on the shoulders of another bear (who is standing on Christmas presents) putting the star on the Christmas tree. The bears tilt inward toward the tree

Santa's candy cane factory. It was close to the road and so very bright!

Santa at his computer. Reading Christmas letters I suppose. ;)

The Nativity. Beautiful.

Truly amazing that these are done with frames, lights, and electronics. No real reindeer, bears, or santas were harmed in the making of the displays. hehe

Hiding in plain sight

A recent discussion on a Yahoo group about patterns from More Knitting Wheel Fashions made me realize that I'm not as active in groups as maybe I should be. For that I apologize. I'm not intentionally hiding. I just get so immersed in *real life* that I forget to read message boards.

I did try to stay on digest with these groups in the beginning. But there are two groups that generate so much daily email, I couldn't keep up. After a few days of not being able to read the digests, I decided it was pointless to keep trying. So I went to "read online only"; and then I forgot to visit the group. sigh

Anyway, that's my excuse. Good excuse or not, it's honest.

I do manage to check direct email (typically) daily. If you want or need to contact me, email me direct at kathy @ kathynorrisdesigns . com (just remove the spaces). I will respond. Really!!

The weekend

Doc really knows what he's talking about when it comes to Boniva. The 2nd dose didn't cause the horrendous side effects from last month. Just a little muscle aches. Go figure.

So instead of the terrible weekend I was expecting, we had a great family weekend complete with decorating the Christmas tree.

And playing with the dogs.


Elvis has really grown! He's starting to look like a Dachshund.


We also managed to drive through the local park where there is a display of Christmas lights. More about that later complete with pictures.

And knitting....I have knitting!! Yay! Great weekend!!

Ugh...monthly Boniva time

Doctor called in November after my first bone scan. Bad news. I have osteopenia. Good news, there is medication to reverse the bone loss and prevent osteoporosis. He had me try Bonvia. Well, Sally Field "takes it" so it must be OK, right? The everyday-women that took it and said side effects were terrible must be wrong, right? Yeah, right.

I took the first pill on November 5th. I carefully followed the dosage instructions...take it with 8 oz of water on an empty stomach; do not lay down or lean back nor eat or drink anything else for 1 hour. The first day went fine. No major issues at all! I just knew it would be breeze to take it once a month. Wrong!

I underestimated this pill. The next 4 days were miserable!! Stomach problems that nice people do not blog about. Muscle pain that woke me up in the middle of the night but did ease up with 3 tylenol - yet never really went away so I moved around like my Mother who is 85 yo. Joint stiffness, a general feeling of being sick. And I swore I wouldn't do it again.

Sigh. But doctor reminds me that the instructions say the first dosage is the worse and it should get better with the next. I hope so because I'm giving it a 2nd chance.

Tomorrow is the next dosage. There goes my weekend. CYA afterwards.

It's a total waste of time but...

...it's just as entertaining as popping bubble wrap online. Perfect for when your brain needs something to do other then think. hehe

Here, click on the link and have fun! Holiday Snowglobe Be sure to watch the house on the left of the screen for the old man.

Being thankful

With our move to Oklahoma, we now live closer to family (they live in Texas). This Thanksgiving, we have family visiting so I won't be online much (is that a surprise?)

I want to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am for the friends I've made on the internet (even though you don't post often to the blog...I forgive you haha).

I hope everyone has as much to be thankful for this season as we do - health, love, and friendship.

On a lighter note....

Elvis learns "NO!"

"No. Not the slipper!"

"NO! Not the house shoe!!"

"NO!! NO!! Not the sweater either!! Here's a chewie!"
(Which he says no to.)

Reminds us of the comic For Better or For Worse . They have a new puppy too.

One Classy Mom

Good friend and talented knit designer, Denise Layman, has "Wii" request. Vote for her at the Classy Mommy Site . Just click on the link, look for Denise Layman (Sorka), and vote for her. It only takes a moment of your time and will make her family a "Wii" bit happier this Christmas!

Trust me. She really is a Classy Mommy!

And if you haven't guest it yet, she will win a Wii console.

Breaking into the "old boy" club

As a former Air Force Sergeant, I know how difficult this was.

Dunwoody becomes first female four-star general

Whoop!!

New design

Not Grandma's Cable Hat is up at my re-vamped website.


I do have a variation of this for loom knit...just need to proof the pattern. And you thought all I did for the past 6 months was sell a house, move from California to Oklahoma, and buy a house. (tsk, tsk)

B-cause I'm B-ing lazy

After being sick for a few days, I feel the need to be lazy. So today's post is a meme brought to you by the letter "B".

A few days ago, Janet did a letter meme. To play, you leave a comment on the blog and ask for a letter. Then you post 10 things you love that start with that letter on your blog. I posted to Janet's blog, asked, and received the letter B.

1. I love to browse bookstores. Used bookstores are my favorite. Such treasure!

2. Which means that books must be my second B love! I consider reading as food for the soul.

3. Beading is another passion of mine. Especially beadweaving.

4. Bamboo yarn! Who knew it would be so soft!? Oh, and bamboo knitting needles. I've had most of mine for about 25 years.

5. Chocolate brownies. The more nuts the better!

6. Buttered popcorn. A big bucket for the family to share at the movies. (I'm getting hungry)

7. Bubble baths. A long soak with a good book after a busy day.

8. Bowling has become a love since we go as a family every Tuesday night. It's a special friends league that has become a joy for us all.

9. Backgammon. Gary taught me to play when we were first dating. He may have married me for my luck with dice.

10. Brussel sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables. Yes, I know I'm strange.

If you want to play, post here asking for a letter. I'll send one to you.

"New"

Over the past 3 weeks, a great deal of "new" has showed up in our lives. A new light fixture in the dining room...



There was a chandelier light there. But I prefer simple.

And a new dining room table/chairs...



The one we had in California needed to be replaced so it didn't make the move. I love the trestle style legs on this one.

We didn't have a den in the house in California so I needed furniture for this room. The sofa showed up...



...but the bookshelves won't be ready to mount to the walls for awhile yet. They are being custom built to cover two side walls and make a turn to the wall where the sofa will be. I've always wanted a room with wall-to-wall bookshelves, and am looking forward to lazy times on this sofa reading.

And most importantly...we have a new member of the family! Meet Elvis...



...a 6 week old Dachshund that my husband fell in love with. He was named by my daughter since he will be her dog. Elvis is adorable and so sweet.



I also have 4 new knit patterns. That will be my next post.

OTN: 2nd scarf for Special Olympics and sample knit for Knit Picks.

Have you exercised your right to vote?

Perhaps the reason I'm so adamant about this right is because I lived 2 1/2 years in a country without democracy (a dictatorship) where it's citizens were afraid to speak out against the leaders. I was in the Air Force at the time. And I realized just what a privilege it is to be able to vote for leaders, as well as to verbally criticize government without fear.

So if you haven't voted yet, tomorrow is the day. Remember this is a privilege of living in a democracy and something to be proud of. You have a say....so say it with a vote!

And if you're wondering....I will vote for McCain. I believe we need experience in the White House...not a good orator.

A chocolate'ty update

Absent from blog-dom yet again. I just haven't had enough uninterrupted time to spend on the computer to upload pictures for blog. Too busy with house and settling into community stuff. No wonder really...it's only been 2 months since we closed on the property (yet seems so much longer). So just to let you know I am still trying to blog, here's a quizz-thing...

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sweet, mellow, and easily satisfied. You don't like anything too intense and dramatic. Deep down, you're a kid at heart... and you're nostalgic for the past. You are a whimsical person prone to daydreaming. Artistic and creative, you're always in the middle of a project. While you are an inspiration to others, you can come off as flaky. You love to be the center of attention. You enjoy entertaining your friends. You feel lost when no one is interested in you... You're too interesting to be ignored.

The Chocolate Oracle

I am still able to knit a little in the evening while family watches a little TV (love Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs - really missing LOST). OTN: A sample project for Knit Picks and a simple rib stitch scarf for Special Olympics). On the loom - nada, nothing as I just finished another pattern for upcoming issue of LKC...but I'm planning a project! ;-)

Knitting for Special Olympics

The Special Olympics need scarves for their participants. The goal is 5,000 scarves by January for the 2009 Special Olympics. This link gives further information including the pattern for both knitted and crocheted scarves.

As a parent of a young adult with developmental disabilities, I know this is a worthwhile cause. Can you help?