ShopVac

Well, mother nature in all of her glory has blessed our region with rain, rain, rain and more rain. Our basement is the recipient of a rather large portion of these gifts. Since Sunday, we have pumped out over 200 gallons of water, ripped out carpets, moved furniture and moped. It is still coming in. I am so sore. Not really from moving things, but from the shopvac activity. That has been my job. I finally figured out that the noise level could be reduced with ear plugs (how many years of education do I have?) and that if I stand at the bottom of the drainage area and vaccuum, I am likely to be more effective. I also came to understand one important problem with the shopvac. It was not designed by anyone that would ever use it. The thing is cumbersome, it falls apart everytime you have to move more than two feet, and is too short for all but the very small of us. Here is my solution: it should be redesigned to be ridden not pushed or pulled. The riding shopvac. What do you think? Can I retire early?

P.

Fun Places to Go

I was going through some rather recent photographs on my "thumb drive" and found this one. Husband and I went to the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis, IN this past July. It was hot, hot, hot. I am in the picture with the Loopy Ewe (you can find more information about him and vacations that he has participated in at http://www.loopyewe.com/). We had people seated quite snuggly against us and as I said, it was hot, hot, hot. Husband is a big F1 racing fan, so that is why we were there. Louis Hamilton won the race. It was very exciting even if we were dripping. On one of the breaks, I took my fold up chair down below the bleachers and finished up a lace shawl for my sister. I believe that I must have been the only attendee knitting lace (if not knitting period) that day. Racing is one of those things that I had no idea about until I met Husband. I enjoy watching him enjoying the race and recently realized that I am actually learning something about it.

Here are socks that I received at the end of May from a knit exchange pal that I hooked up with through yahoo. They are a perfect fit and I find that I wear them as often as I can. She did the socks in a toe-up fashion. The leg is in a k2, p1 rib. Very, very comfortable. The yarn is Sockotta (or something similar to that spelling). I found the yarn at Wisconsin Craft Market. Very reasonably priced. Since receiving these, I have made a second pair (slightly different color) with the same sort of pattern. I am looking forward to finding another sock exchange to be part of. Do you know of any? I have participated in 2 now and think that they are great fun.

I heard from Husband's sister today. His mother broke her rib and the discussions have begun about alternative living arrangements. Not a lot of choices, but hoepfully, this will add to the quality of her life.

P.

Transition

Husband and I were in MN this weekend visiting with his mother and other family members. We went because we received an email from his sister saying that his mother was down to 78 lbs. and was falling with regularity. Other family members were there. Lots of laughter and good eating was had by all, but underlying the weekend was the reality that in the very near future, a difficult coversation would be required. His mother can no longer stay on her own and does not want to live with a child. The county that she lives in does not have a middle ground, i.e., services available to help an elder stay in their home. What does a family do? Her ability to reason has been compromised due to malnutrition and the aging process. His sister is handling this with the aid of his mother's doctor. I have no doubt that at the end of the day, a good solution will be found, but the next several months will be difficult.


P.