Why Migraines SUCK!

I woke up at 2 am with one of the worst migraines I have ever had. I contemplated cutting off my head a variety of times but then decided that it would make a huge mess either 1) on our relatively new bathroom floor, 2) on our freshly cleaned carpet or 3) on our new set of sheets (let alone on the hubster). So, that idea wasn't going to work.

I then thought of shooting myself in the head but, because of the same reason as well as the fact that we do not own a gun, that wasn't going to work either.

In the end, I took migraine medicine (for all the good it did me), threw up a variety of times (gross I know but if you have migraines, you'll understand. If not, deal), used my trusty migraine relief set (LOVE IT), and suffered through it. I woke with a milder form of the migraine and took, yet again, more migraine medicine.

I have spent the day in bed with icepacks and trying to keep my mind on the nuclear holocaust that is my head. UGH.

Anyhow, I thought I would post because I have the time and I've been a slacker. I wanted to review a new knit shop that opened nearby, Downtown Knits. Michelle has opened an absolutely gorgeous shop in downtown Apex, NC which my friends and I have seen and love. It is a very open and well organized shop. The selection of yarns is still limited but vast enough to suit any knitters needs. Michelle is working on increasing her inventory and is very good about asking knitters in the shop their opinions on what yarns to carry next and in what colors. One thing that I loved about the shop is that she carries many unique yarns from local yarn vendors. For those of us who love to buy "souvenir yarn" this is EXACTLY what we look for when visiting yarn shops while on vacation.

Michelle is lovely, friendly, quirky and a great hostess. She holds a weekly knit night on Fridays and welcomes knitters to BYOB (yeah). I've yet to attend one but once the craziness that is my summer simmers down, you can bet that I will be making the trek out there. If you are in the area, you should definitely give it a shot. I don't think you will be dissapointed.

What else is going on in Chez Knittingnurse you might ask? Well, we are on the final countdown to the BIG TRIP! Paris is t-9 days away and I can't wait. DH has diligently been working on looking up everything that DS and I have asked for and has written things down for our information while we are there. We aren't an "itinerary" vacation kind of family but DH is very good about researching things in the areas we visit so that when the mood strikes us, we can look over his notes and know where to head. He has found a myriad of shops for me to do some souvenir shopping at and I've looked them over to decide which will be the best to visit while we are there. Do any of you have any fave shops that you have been to in Paris? Any suggestions?

We will also be visiting Bruges, Belgium and Normandy while there. I am planning on bringing home some sand from Normandy's beaches. Although I do not have any direct family that fought at those battles, it is an amazing part of American history and I am expecting to get emotional when I am there.

I also am planning on visiting the memorial at the Velodrome d'Hiver since, ironically, we are arriving on the anniversary of the roundup. I had no idea about this dark page in French history until my bookclub read Sarah's Key a few months ago. I really liked the book despite it's dark topic and I was amazed that the trip we had booked last year had us landing in Paris on the morning of the anniversary of this horrible event. Needless to say, I felt compelled to pay my respects at the modest plaque left to remember this tragedy.

What other things are we planning for the trip? Eating, drinking, walking, Fat Tire Bike Tour of Versailles (highly recommended by a coworker) and just 'being'. We recently found out that our hotel for the first leg of our trip recently started providing wireless internet service to guests so, hopefully, I will be able to make some quick posts during our stay.

Lastly, have I told you all that I am now taking my love of photography a bit more seriously? No? Well, I am. After photographing a friend of mine and her boys last year as a Father's day surprise for her husband, I got an amazing response from friends in the neighborhood and recently did an engagement shoot for a coworker. I am actually going to be shooting her wedding as well! AACK!

Here are a couple of shots from the engagement shoot. Let me know what you all think.......

It's Tour Time~

Anybody else watching the beginning of the Tour???? Anyone?

We have a special vested interest this year as we will be present for the end of the race. AAACCKKK!!! So excited!


I need to go run and get me some "livestrong" attire for the event. What are the chances that Lance will end up in the maillot jaune at the end???

Hey everyone

So, I have been delinquent on my "Wonderful Wednesday" postings. Life here has been busy. When did that happen???? I remember being able to post much more regularly. I think it's all because of the evil of FACEBOOK . I wish I was stronger to resist but, I am not. Then there's Twitter. Another time and soul-sucking site. Who is evil enough to have developed these sites? Sigh. I wish I was stronger but I am weak and you just never know what your friends might be doing now, or in 5 minutes or 10 minutes from that or another 5 minutes after that, or, well, you get the picture.

Then there's the Temari.









So, what soul time sucking activities are you addicted to involved in???

Wonderful Wednesday!

I was laying in bed trying to relax enough (and take enough drugs) to get sleepy. During my random flight of ideas while surfing the 'net it occurred to me (have no clue why - flight of ideas remember?) that Wednesdays usually get a bad rap. "Can't wait until humpday is over" is the general consensus. Let me try to explain:

It seems as though Mondays get the respect of being the first day of the week. Yeah, a lot of us don't like that but I know that there are a good many among us (goody two-shoers if you ask me) that like new, clean beginnings and every Monday is just a prize waiting to open up with all sorts of endless possibilities for the week. (Don't take me wrong, I'm no Brenda Ann Spencer but I'm not Pollyanna either). So, good or bad, Mondays are usually a significant day for most people.

Tuesdays. Ah, Tuesdays. Tuesday is the day after Monday. That means that all the aforementioned people who dread the beginning of the work week, now celebrate b/c Monday is over. The week has now started and the pressure of it being Monday is all gone. You are in the thick of it and all is good. (of course all the goody goods are probably still happy as clams because that's how they are).

Thursdays, now that's another highly anticipated day. It's signifies being just one day away from the end of the week. Joy and rapture. The goody goods are happy because they are approaching the end of another goal - a completed, successful week and the rest of us are chomping at the bit for Friday to come.

Friday. Fridays has it's own MOVIE. A MOVIE PEOPLE! That's how much people admire, respect and stand in awe of Fridays. 'Nuf said.

Do I even need to explain Saturdays and Sundays. Yeah, I thought not. I shall continue.

So, what does that leave? That leaves poor little misunderstoond and much maligned Wednesdays. When was the last time you heard anyone say "Man am I glad that it's Wednesday!" or "Wednesdays are so awesome!". Nope instead it's "I can't WAIT for today (our misconceived Wednesday) to be over." What do we call it most of the time? Poor thing, we don't even use it's proper name. Mostly we refer to it as "hump day". Really? Who want's to be known by a name that is also a slang term for fornication? Er, not me!

So, I've decided that here at Chez Knittingnurse, Wednesdays will now be celebrated. Wonderful Wednesdays they shall be called. And, what happens on wonderful Wednesday at Knittingnurse you might wonder? Well, Wednesdays are going to be my day of reflecting on what's wonderful in my life at that moment (ok, not that exact moment but you know what I mean). So in honor of my very first Wonderful Wednesday I present to you what is currently making me happy.


1. Temari. Love my Temari right now. It's very soothing and precise and just right.

2. My son. Yes, he's 13 and can be a pain at times but, he's generally a good kid, has a great and loving heart and thinks that I am the silliest Mom in the whole wide world (shhh - let's not spoil it for him, kay?)
















3. Knitting. Well, if you've read this blog for any amount of time, or have gone back in the archives you understand. Moving on.












4.This Cereal. Have you guys had this stuff yet? If not, run to the store and get some. NOW. It's seriously delicious and it's relatively good for you (0gms of Fat, 0gms of cholesterol, 220mg Sodium, 26gms total carbohydrates and 3gms of protein. Heck! It's even a kosher/parve food! - Seriously, I wouldn't make that up)




5. Books that are about what I lovingly refer to as Vampire Smut. Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, Kim Hatterson's books, P.C. and Kristen Cast's House of Night Series and such. I can't wait until the beginning of the Trueblood series next month!



Yes, I know that my hubby isn't on there. But he's OOT and not returning until Friday so, if I am talking about what's making me feel wonderful and happy, he isn't because he can't and won't be able to until late Friday night. I'm sure he'll be making the list quite often.


Hey, guess what?!? I'm actually yawning so, TTFN!

Today I've done. . well, nothing really.

So, I must say that I have been a very nonchalant blogger as of late (like a few years behind - sorry). But, I do hope to get back into my writing as I truly did enjoy keeping track of what goes on with my life for future prosterity (namely mine as I can't imagine anyone else wanting to read about me back in 1999) - tonight I'm gonna party like it's. . ., oops, flight of ideas. Let's get back to what I was saying shall we?

I have had this week to chillax (love that word) and do very little and I kind of like that except that I then wake up at 4 am with a list of a gazillion things that I should accomplish when I "wake up" (i.e. finally get out of bed) but by the time I do get up, I have no clue what all those things were. See, my husband is out of town on business and I don't sleep well when's he's not home. For anyone that has been reading this blog for any significant amounts of time (and thank you so much for still being here!) you all know that this is very true. So, it takes me forever to get to sleep and then the little thing will wake me up and I can't get back to sleep. It's a viscious cycle. Anyhow, that leads to my useless brain syndrome during the day and thus, very little getting done.

I did however get out today to mail 4 books out for Paperbackswap then go the one of my happy places to get some groceries. It's TRIPLE COUPON TIME and you all know how I love a good coupon deal (ok, newer readers may not know but I am totally a coupon/sale junky).

So, I went, I conquered ($170 worth of groceries for $80 - tee hee), I put it all away and now I am back to chillaxin' and doin' a whole lot of nothing. hmmmmm, maybe hubby being gone isn't so bad after all??

BTW, a couple of friends of my have decided to jump into the world of blogging. Do me a favor and check them out would you? They are 2 lovely, crazy and funny girls. I love them.

Wonky Tonk Life and Paradise Purls

Go on over a visit them and let them know I sent you! ;-)

Why explain?

So, I've a new addiction craft over the last few weeks. It's Temari and I love it. I like the idea that I am doing something that women began to do over 600 years ago. I like the way it feels to make something from nothing. I like the process of picking a design and colors and then working through blending the two. I like the feeling of the needle in my hand and the way the stitches lay next to eachother slowly building the design. I like the way the temari looks when I've completed it. I like seeing them all together and how beautiful they look as a group as well as individually. I like making something beautiful for the sake of beauty itself. I like looking at the finished project and saying "wow, I made that". I like the way DS looks at them and tells me "Mom, that's really cool!" I like the relaxation that comes with the rhythmic stitching and stillness of the needlework. I like TEMARI!

So, WHY do I feel like I must justify myself in this new craft?


Let me explain:

I've been a jack of all crafts my entire life. You name it, I've done it (at least once). Crochet? Check. Macrame? Check. Latch hook? Check. Cross Stitch? Check. Knitting? Check. Card making and stamping? Check. You get the idea. However, I have NEVER had to explain why I do something until I started to make Temari.

I mean, I have had the usual "why would you knit socks when you can buy them?" question but I've never had to answer "what's the purpose of (insert knitted item)?" before. Even when I was making Macrame'd wall hangings (hey it WAS the 70's y'know!) I never had anyone question the point of the completed project. (Even the Sun/Moon macrame wallhanging in the HORRID shades of gold that my Mother insisted on hanging in the living room - God help me).

But make Temari balls and this is the conversation that follows 99.9% of the time after showing the completed ball to someone else:

Me: "Here's my newest Temari."
Them: "Wow, isn't that pretty. What's a temari?"
Me: "It's an ancient japanese craft where you make and stitch these beautiful balls"
Them: "So. . . . . . .what do you do with it?"

EVERY TIME!

Whenever I've shown someone any of my crafts, I've never ran into the "What do you do with it?" or "What's it for?" question before Temari.

My reply is usually "You look at it and say 'Isn't that pretty'!" which inevitably is followed by "Well yes but what is it FOR?"

How do you explain beauty for the sake of beauty? Creation for the accomplishment of creating. But still, there's a nagging feeling of having to justify my crafting with Temari that I've never felt before. Show someone a cross stitched picture of a bunny in a field with trees and no one blinks an eye. Show someone a piece of pulled thread work in an octagonal shape and not a peep. Show someone an abstract painting ala Jackson Pollock - nada. Sand art in an elongated soda bottle? Zip (yep, I did that too!)

Now, I am not saying that any of this is going to slow me down or have me stop stitching Temari but, I find it interesting that the vast majority of responses to these gorgeous pieces of art is "I don't get it".


What's WITH that?


BTW, here's a beauty for you to ponder and admire (b/c you can).

ENJOY!

As time goes by.

he, he, he, just when you thought it was safe to blog. She's back!

Seriously though, how does time go by so fast when you don't expect it to? I mean, look at the date of my prior post. REALLY???? How the heck did THAT happen? I mean, especially when time goes by soooo sloooooowwlly when you are waiting for something. Like a trip to France.

Yep, knittingnurse et al are going to France this summer. FRANCE people! I'm positively giddy about it. What's even better is that DH has been doing his research (as usual) and we then had the following conversation:

DH: "We can't just wear shorts and tennis shoes, people will target us as tourists and we are more apt to get robbed (pick pocketed mostly)".
ME: "Um, so what are we supposed to wear pray tell?"
DH: "Well, it says people dress properly and care about style. Tennis shoes are for tennis. Shorts are for physical exertion type activities, etc. So, we need to dress nicer."
ME: "Examples please"
DH: "DS and I will have to get nicer khaki type pants and buttoned/collared shirts. You will need to wear some summer dresses and such."
ME: "Does that mean??????"
DH: "Yes, you get to go shopping."
ME: {squeals}
DH: "Glad to help."

I've now gotten about 4 adorable dresses all in no iron type fabrics so that they will hold up well in the suitcase. OH, and we are all going to get some "nice" comfortable shoes for walking. Tee hee! Shoes too people!

France, clothes and shoes!

SQUEAL!