Twenty years

Twenty years ago today I was in labor ... it went on for quite some time (32 hours); our planned home birth ended with an unplanned emergency Caesarian (because of my deformed hips and pelvis). But our gorgeous first child Rodger was finally born, and we were both fine, despite the bruise on his forehead from being stuck, and my row of stitches (metal clamps actually, yuck).

Wasn't he a sweetie at 2? Blonde with brown eyes ... he even won a Beautiful Baby competition!

Over the years we've got to know each other quite well. I home schooled him until the end of Year 10. We've gone through the Lego phase, the dinosaur phase, the catalog-itis phases, the lizards phase, the archery phase (he can still shoot an incredible score without having practiced at all, little toad!) ...

He's a lot bigger and hairier now, but he's still a sweet, smart, and funny guy. He's into indy / prog rock music, plays guitar, bass and drums (!!) - all self-taught - and loves huge mugs of milky tea, puppies, Red Eye, Kingsley's Chicken, pizza, anime, rock concerts in Sydney, Mac computers, and playing EVE Online with his dad. He's a good cook, especially when it comes to cakes! I'll always be thankful that he introduced me to Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, and Ratatat!

Tomorrow he turns 20 (now I really feel old!). He's not much one for big parties, so we're having a nice family meal, Mexican 'cos that's his favourite, with Summer Pudding for dessert (a treat I've never made before!).

And the best present of all - a few days ago Rodg was offered a place (in the first round of offers, too!) in the Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design at the Canberra Institute of Technology! Yay!!

This is the same degree that I did, 22 years ago, at the same campus! I was in the first intake of students who ever did the course, and they didn't really know what they were doing. It's a vastly better course now. I'm really tickled pink that he's following in my footsteps - he has natural ability, and I'm sure he'll do fantastically well. He starts in early Feb 09!

Happy Birthday my boy. I'm so proud of you, and love you to bits.

Nothing door-to-door

Those awful marketing phone calls are bad enough (and I've been known to ask telemarketers if they can just 'hold on a sec' and leave the phone lying there off the hook ... for an hour - and yes, we're now on the Do Not Call Register), but I really really really hate being accosted in my own home. Whether it's people trying to sell me a new roof, cable TV, or spiritual salvation (which I have my own strong views on, thank you very much), I can't stand it.

I've had a homemade sign at our front door for years now, reading :

(In fact, my sign isn't so polite, I don't have 'thank you' on it.) It works a treat - sales people (of all types) walk up, turn around, and walk away. Good for me (less stress), good for them (they're not wasting their time or being shouted at).

Due to popular demand, I've designed some 'Nothing door-to-door' stickers and put them on my CafePress shop, so you can have one too.

38 puzzles and 13 days to go; we have a Christmas tree with no decorations on it, and not much else, LOL ... Merry Christmas everyone!

Sunshine & Lollipops

Have cast on a cute little cotton summer hat for myself (Anchor Magicline, insanely bright colours). The Sunshine and Lollipops pattern by Canberra's talented machen/machen (beautifully designed pattern PDF too, great typography and lay out!)

Must say this Sony Cybershot handles reds better than my 2-year-old Olympus ... and low light shots sans flash (ISO 3200!).

Still, you know, working. Am pretty exhausted / fed up / cross / sick / PMS-ey today. Grrrrrr.

56 puzzles on the wall, if one of those puzzles should fall, there'll be 55 ...

Still alive .... 56 puzzles (roughly 150-180 hours of work) and 19 working days to go - I got a 1 week extension for the main book, to 5 January, thank goodness! Can you believe it, it's up on Amazon already! LOL.

FIL is still in hospital, now in 'rehab' phase. He has a (probable) broken rib and some bladder/prostate problems (not cancer, but a recurring problem). He's pretty vile, complaining and generally carrying on. We don't see him every day - only so much stress a body can take!
Yesterday was surprising, in a good way - I actually WON something - our local shopping centre (Erindale) has a Christmas Prize Draw thingy happening - if you spend more than $20 at a shop, you get an entry form to put in the huge barrel, and they draw out a prize each day. Well - I won a Sony Cybershot digital camera! How cool is that?! I think it's the first prize I've ever won, apart from a pack of baby toys when my son was a toddler, so 19 years ago ...

OK, back to it. Have not got time (or the mental wherewithal) to read or comment on blogs, or do much apart from working and household chores, so please excuse my absence from - well - just about everything! 0_o

PS My finger has healed up nicely, thank you for all your kind wishes. I even got my Scissors Licence back!

Clearly need my 'Scissors Licence' revoked

This is a bit gross, so don't look if you're at all squeamish....



Seriously.



I won't tell anyone if you don't read any further, it's OK.






OK, if you're sure?


This is what happens when you use your sharp knitting tool kit scissors to trim a toenail, and you're not watching carefully, and are generally overtired :




This is after 2 days, as well. You wouldn't believe how much it bled (or maybe you would). F**king painful, too.

Q3 deadline is tonight, am nearly finished the last puzzle for this batch. Work on Q4 starts first thing tomorrow. Am unspeakably exhausted. FIL is still in hospital, complaining non-stop and pissing everyone off. Christmas preparations = zero.

ETA : it's the middle finger on my left hand. Typing is a bit difficult, but I can still knit!

Son Socks

A little knitting is happening, amidst the unrelenting work ... these are socks for my son (who turns - gasp - 20 this month!). Not birthday pressies, just long-overdue.

He chose this 6 ply Opal sometime last year (or was it the year before?!). Just a standard sock pattern; he has slender ankles and feet, so I figure that knitting a women's size, using 2.5mm needles with the 6ply yarn will work well. Knits up fast too!

We're having some fun and games with my FIL - he's nearly 86, has severe Asperger's and worsening dementia ... very difficult man. Anyway, he had a bad fall on the weekend, and yesterday was suddenly in cringing agony. I ended up calling an ambulance, as it wasn't clear if he was having a heart attack (severe pain in his chest on the left side).

In the end he's probably just badly torn some muscles - he needed morphine - and they've kept him in overnight to keep an eye on him. He's just in a bed in a corner of the Casualty Ward, so nothing flash, or restful. I've got to go see him shortly. Hubby did the main event yesterday. Sigh.

Hopefully he's getting an Aged Care Assessment done, though, which we've been wanting for years (he still lives alone) ... this will enable him to get the assistance he needs to stay at home, or get him into a nursing home if that's where he should be. He refuses to discuss such things, or have anyone 'in the house' to talk about this (hence the lack of an ACAT assessment before now). So this is a good thing. Sigh again.

ETA : Just heard they're going to admit him to a ward, for further assessment, or something. Basically, he's not able to look after himself as he is at the moment.