Monday, January 12, 2009

Ahhh, the holidays are over

Those of you that know me, know that I don't like the holidays. This year was better than most but I am still glad they are over. Now I just have to get past January 13 and all will be good.

What is January 13? It is the 1 year anniversary of my Pulmonary Embolism. This has been quite a year. Facing my own mortality was a bit rough for a while, but I am mostly ok with that. The whole experience has really taught me how to not sweat the small stuff..and it truly is all small stuff. I also am much healthier than before the PE. I lost 56 lbs and have kept it off. I have been maintaining since about October. I just got a new exercise video and am hoping to do some major toning up, especially my legs. And once the weather warms up (in about 3 months!) I will be walking again.

Besides my physical health, I feel my mental and emotional health has improved vastly as well. Facing my own mortality forced me to be honest with myself and admit that i settled for a lot of things over the past decade. In September I left my husband and am now living in the apartment of my dreams. I have always wanted to live in a city neighborhood, but never did because my husband wanted to have his 1.5 acres in the country. I have a great 1 bedroom apartment in a fatastic neighborhood and I couldn't be happier. Cheryl calls it the "Carrie Loft" in honor of Carrie in Sex in the City.

I have been knitting a lot since moving in here. I don't have a TV so have lots of time to knit. I finished Ribby #2 just before Christmas and have started the Printed Silk Cardigan from the Spring '08 Interweave Knits mag. I am using some Elann Lara that I bought for a different project that I ended up frogging. I have finished the back and just started the fronts. I am doing both fronts at the same time in hopes of having them match lol. Not pics right now but I will try to get a progress shot soon. After this cardigan, I am going to make a plain stockinette stitch black skirt in Lamb's Pride.

Oh and speaking of Cheryl..i am teaching her to knit. I got her started with the cast on. She is a crocheter so continental knitting is easier for her. I found a video on youtube that is helping her out as well. We'll see how frustrated she gets! :-)

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas eve

It's barely Christmas eve, so just a quick update on the knitting. I have finished Ribby Sweater #2. I think it took me about 3 weeks to complete. This is the fastest sweater I have ever knit. I don't have a pic yet but will post one soon. This one fits great! almost like it was made for me haha.

Not much planned for Christmas..off to my brother's for Christmas dinner but that is about it. Have 2 weeks off from school (yay!) and hope to spend some quality time with some friends. Will be nice to just kick back and relax.

Not sure what is next up in knitting. I have been thinking of making tubey for quite sometime. i think i will finally have someone help measure me...it has a weird cross back measurement that you really need someone to help you get. Then i think i will make a solid one..from stash. It's my goal right now to knit from stash. Not only to use it up but to save some money ;-)

Health is still good....although I have a cold that just won't go away. I think I am going on week 3 with the darn thing. I have actually been able to have my blood drawn every 2 weeks for the past month instead of every week. Looks like maybe my INR has finally settled into a decent range. That only took a freaking year! I have had my blood drawn every week since last January..enough already. Some one was whining about having to have blood drawn last week. I said Look, no one is allowed to whine to me about having blood drawn until they have been poked every week for the last 50 weeks!. His answer...Point taken. lol :-)

That's all for now...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the people that are special in my life (and you know who you are!)

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Thankful for friends

You would think by the title, that this would be a post about Thanksgiving, the holiday. It's not. It is a post about giving thanks for the people in your life that just happened to occur 3 days before Thanksgiving Day.

I needed some help tonight and one short phone call is all it took to get it. The person that came to my rescue did not have to help me, but he did because he is a true friend. He dropped what he was doing and rearranged his schedule so he could help me, no questions asked, no hesitation, and no conditions. It was a matter of "you need help, I can help you, I am on my way"

Those of you that know me should be sitting there saying "wow, Kim asked for help?" Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not like to ask for help. I am fiercely independent and strive to take care of myself without imposing on anyone. I am the first one to offer help to anyone that needs it but the last person to ask for help for myself. I have no idea why I am like that. I guess I have a need to prove (if only to myself) that "I can do it"

Could I have solved my problem by myself tonight? Probably. I would have been even colder and wetter than I was but I could have handled the issue. But a friend offered help and I decided to accept the offer. I have mixed feelings about it, but am oh so grateful that help was available.

So the point of this rambling post is to say how thankful I am for a true friend that was there when I needed him. You're the best, BT! ;-) (i just hope I am not teased endlessly about this little mishap!)

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