Missing Mecca

Mecca for most of the West Coast knitters I know is Stitches West, which is happening this weekend, and most of my favorite people will be there, just a couple of hours south of me.

I, however, consciously chose to skip it this weekend. Trust me my bank account is thanking me. But I'm not skipping it for that reason.

You see, I have more than one hobby. Or rather I have friends that do stuff other than knit and try to get me involved in their hobbies. And I have more than one hobby. ;-)

My neighbor down the street, who is turning into a best friend, is a Creative Memories Consultant. She has tried repeatedly to get me to start scrap booking. I have actually made a small one for the doggies. But that's it. She has a crop night and I get invited even though we both know I won't show up with pictures. Instead I show up with yarn.

She's know if I ever decide to start scrap booking (I think kids will be needed for that happen, my life is too incredibly boring), she'll be my go to supply person. And I'm teaching her how to knit.

So back in September, her regulars started talking about setting up a scrap booking weekend out in Bodega. 8 women, one house, a ton of photos and paper and glue and pens. I got invited along and they understand I'll be knitting this weekend.

That means that I'm heading out there after work tonight. Which means I needed to get everything ready to go this morning and get to a PT appt by 7 am.

So I grab the suitcase this morning and roll it down the hall. That sets the dogs off. They KNOW that sound and they want to know where the hell Mom is going and NOW. Barking behind closed doors ensued. I'm grabbing clothes and yarn and swifts and winders and books and school work (I have homework due next week) and food.

When I was ready to start loading the car, I let the dogs out so they could do their business while I loaded the car. I put one load in and left the back of the car open and went back for the rest.

On the way back to the car I'm calling for the dogs. Oscar comes right away, but Cliff and Scrat are ignoring me. So I'm still calling them when I get to the car. Then I see this.

Cliff and Scrat apparently decided they were going anywhere that suitcase was going. It was fun getting them out of the car and getting them into the office with the hubster.

Let's just say I was late for my PT appointment. Unfortunately Mark is used to that and he was running behind today anyway.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to this weekend even if I'm leaving the hubby and all the furbabies at home.

I'm hoping to finish the baby sweater I'm making for a friend as part of Ravelympics. I need to medal in at least one thing. The shawl I entered too will be with me as well as a couple of wips and some of these for when I need a break.

That is a minor minion that I gave to a friend as a cat toy. I'm making more for friends. They are cute and I have to do something with all that fiber fill left over from my Stay-Puft Marshmallow man Halloween customer.

PS I found the CUTEST buttons for the sweater at lunch time.

PPS A shout out to my mom. Happy Birthday! When are you guys coming to stay for a while?

The End of an Era

Yesterday was a day of goodbye at my house.

No, not to a pet, or a family member or a friend, but to an object I'd had for 10 and a half years.

My beloved Explorer, the one that almost got killed in the accident in October, found a new home.

See 'the Tank' was a him, because he was mine from day one. I picked him out, I bought him. I told hubby number one, he was coming home with us regardless of his opinion of him. He was for me and my dogs and the kids I'd hoped to have.

The Tank has protected me well over the years. There have been a few accidents. You drive the same car for 10 years and that is hard to avoid. But he always came through. Till the last one. It almost did him in. It didn't kill him, but it did enough damage that I had to salvage him.

We did an owner retain. Parked him and waited. You see The Tank was the one thing, besides my Cliffy Mutt, that I got out of my divorce. The one thing that was truly mine. I fought to keep him and I won. I wasn't ready to let him go. I guess I'm still not, not really.

But he was taking up space. And we weren't going to be able to pay the money to fix him and I couldn't bear to part him out. So we listed him and found someone that could fix him. Someone that could repair the damage that ding bat that thought waving at her friend was more important then watching the road did to him and me.

I'm still healing from the accident. PT, back is still jacked up, but I'm getting better.

And The Tank will too. More importantly when he's back to his old self, he'll have a family with a couple of kids to drive around and protect. I hope they take as good care of him as I tried to.

I know he's just a car, but he was mine and I adored him. He and I went on many an adventure over the years.

Albuquerque and back. We made the trip back in 21 hours straight through. Many times to Tucson. A round trip to Tucson and Albuquerque and home through a blizzard. The beach many times with the mutt crew.

He NEVER left me at the side of the road. The last accident doesn't count since it wasn't our fault it happened (yes that is no longer in doubt). He has many more years in him. I hope to see him on the road again some day.

The Sweetest Things

Just look at that picture. Is that not one of the sweetest things you've ever seen.

That is, of course, our little monster, Scrat. Granted he doesn't look like much of a monster in that picture. But looks can be deceiving.

Scrat is

• the Rock Eater
• the Cat Chaser
• the Ankle Biter
• the Riot Barker
• the Walkabout Hound
• the Carpet Wrecker
• the Aggressive 'this is mine' Snapper
• the Crate Escapist
  

He gave us a huge scare before Christmas.

One thing that has always been constant with Scrat, is that he is a bundle of energy. He is always ready to do something fun, or just hang out with you. His speeds are 0 and 60.

But somewhere in early December he lost speed 60 and we had a really hard time getting him past speed 0. Lethargic, seemed like he had a cold, would eat and drink, but wasn't excited about it, or anything, like he used to be. Its like he was just aging in front of us. Please note that he's not even 4 years old.

We got through the holidays and on our camping trip, we saw little pieces of the old Scrat shining through, chasing snow balls and tennis balls in the snow, but it didn't last long and he was back to sleeping all the time and crying out in pain if you even looked like you were going to try to move him.

Enough was enough and we hit the vet for a full blood work up and a complete check up. He'd lost 1 pound 3 oz since last May. That almost gave me heart attack because I was sure he was gaining weight. The doc put him on an anti inflammatory to help with the pain and she took blood.

The next day we found out he has low thyroid at not quite 4. must be the dachsund we think is in him. I had a hard time reconciling with the weight loss with low thryoid, but I let it go while we got meds for him and got him started on them.

It is ABSOLUTELY amazing what one little pill, half twice a day, has done for the little guy.

He plays ball again, and he learned to give it back. He comes when called (by Slugbo). He has stopped chasing the cats (thank goodness all the way around). He's happy and excited and bouncy at dinner time. I tell him to find 'Dad' and he runs full bore across the yard to the office and bounces his front feet till I open the door for him so he can run to Slugbo.

He goes for a follow up in two weeks to find out if he will have to stay on the meds forever. We are reconciled to it and totally okay with it. I finally asked about the weight loss and our vet thinks the pain caused it. I feel so bad we waited to see if 'he would snap out of it' before we took him in.

So now we can also say that Scrat is:

• a joy
• a shining light
• a snuggle bunny (that first pic was taken on my lap when I was home sick)
  

Scrat is everything

Most importantly, he is loved.

Slug and I are glad you're doing better Little Dude. Sorry we took so long to help you get fixed.