Friday, May 23, 2014

Hard to believe Memorial Day is here...

Every time I wanted to post in these past few weeks, my blog was suffering a denial of service attack, which resulted in my service provider having to shut down my Wordpress login. But yay, today I could get in so here I am.

Spring here in Boston has been cold and rainy. I've even cranked up the heat a couple times; I normally shut off the heat on April 30 and suffer through the occasional chilly day, but this spring has tested my internal thermostat.

We're heading to Connecticut this holiday weekend. My son is attending summer camp for a week in early July, so we're going to the open house on Saturday, then spending the rest of the time with my family. Forecast? Rain. Although on Monday it looks like it may be sunny and high 70s.

I'm almost done with my Mind the Gap socks ... I'll probably finish them tonight and photograph them over the weekend. Any time I've been caught knitting in public, someone always comments on how colorful they are. One benefit about living in New England is that people tend to mind their own business and comment only when they have something nice to say. Only once did someone speak disparagingly to me about "some older lady" knitting in public (at a school graduation). He didn't realize that I was the one who had been knitting, and when he figured it out, he looked chagrined ... probably more about insinuating I was an "older lady" than anything else. ;-)

Last night while I was whirling my way down the foot of my Mind the Gap sock, I watched a BBC documentary running on PBS about Queen Victoria and her children. I studied the Victorian era in college (history/literature/politics), but the extent of my knowledge of Queen Victoria's private life is that she was devastated by the loss of her husband, she spent almost all her reign mourning for him, and that her children were married off to various branches of the family in Europe. I did NOT know what an overbearing and needy mother she was until I watched the show and some of her letters were read aloud. She even mocked the looks of some of her children and in one letter wished that the Prince of Wales would die before she did because he was such a disappointment as a future king. (He ended up being quite a good king, despite his playboy reputation as a youth.)

It made me contrast Victoria with the present queen, Elizabeth. They reigned under different circumstances (the British Empire no longer exists, Elizabeth has had the support of her husband), but I wonder if in 100 years, Elizabeth will outshine Victoria in history? I think so. Unlike Victoria, she has accepted if not embraced change and kept the monarchy relevant for the majority of her subjects.

OK, enough rambling. Off to knit. Knock wood, I'll be able to get back to you with a picture of my finished socks. :) Have a nice long weekend if you're stateside!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Welcome May

Let's hope that April showers really do bring May flowers because April turned out to be one of those months where when it rains, it pours. It started when my husband came home suspiciously early one evening, like around 5 p.m. Which would normally be wonderful as he usually works until 8 or 9 most nights, but this night it was because his contract suddenly ended at the company he'd been working for since 2011. It wasn't entirely a surprise--things had been tumultuous for awhile--but it happened before we expected it. Upward and onward, though ... the good news is that he's a software engineer with high-demand skills/talents, so when he sends out resumes, he actually gets interviews. Right now he's on 2nd and 3rd interviews for a couple positions he's really excited about so fingers are crossed.

I also lost my step-grandmother after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease, learned that another family member is fighting cancer, and was left reeling after an AD diagnosis in my immediate family.

Combining all this with a cold and rainy spring here in the northeast, I just haven't had the spirit to blog, never mind sew or knit, although I did cast on a straightforward cardigan in heathery purple that makes me happy every time I pick it up.



(The purple yarn is in the background; in the foreground is a completed knit hat.)

But April wasn't *all* horror and gloom. I managed to stick to the 5:2 diet plan (five days of eating normally/two days fasting) and I lost a total of eight pounds. I would have lost a few more, I think, had I been able to get out on my bike for serious exercise. On the other hand, eight pounds is nothing to sneeze at, especially since I took off seven pounds in March for a total of 15 pounds and I wasn't a saint around Easter, although no Cadbury eggs passed these lips. I put on so much weight when I was on blood thinners for three months. I eat a mostly plant-based diet and when you're on medications like Coumadin, you can't eat stuff like lettuce, kale, and broccoli, which I normally eat in abundance. Now that I'm back to my green diet, I feel and look much healthier. I still have a ways to go before I get down to my fighting weight, but I'm encouraged that the weight I put on has slipped off fairly easily.

What's nice is that my family is starting to notice. Last night O was sitting behind me. He sighed and said, "Mom, I'm tired of looking at your butt crack. Can you pull your pants up?" Jeans that a couple months ago were difficult to zip up now have to be tugged up to my hips to keep me decent. I've made a bunch of knit skirts to get me through the warmer months; I don't want to sew jeans until I'm back to my fighting weight, so until then, I guess I'd better invest in some belts. ;)

How is your spring going?