Unwelcome Weekend Guest

7:22 AM

I was one of those unwise people on the road in the wee hours of the morning. I had gone to Karen's yesterday because I knew I was going to be confined here alone with the cats today and I wanted some human company before that happened. Things were going well though until I reached the signs for exit 26 and then the heavens opened up.

It was like going through a car wash. Fortunately, I know the roads very well and there were no other fools out there on 495, and I took it slow. Exit 28 finally emerged from the rain drops and I slowly drove down 111 to the safety of home.

My biggest fear is losing power. Three years ago, an ice storm hit and I was without power for three days. I was also one of the lucky ones though, as many towns here were out power for a week or more. In this day and age, we are totally and completely dependent on electricity for EVERYTHING and it's Hell when it's not working.

Yesterday,  I received a voice mail from the Littleton Police that if power is lost, it will not be restored until the storm is over for the protection of the utility employees. I absolutely agree that everyone should be kept safe. However, loss of power also means loss of water.

I have learned  however from past mis-experience to fill the tub when Mother Nature gets angry. This enables me to use the toilet, a very important thing when you are stuck in the house. We have plenty of drinking water here, but that's a staple in my household anyway. We are set on food that doesn't have to be cooked or refrigerated and we have candles and batteries.

Right now, it is raining lightly. A nice cool breeze is coming through the window. I can see the trees swaying slightly, so there is some wind. All is well at the moment.

I am heading off to shower and wash the breakfast dishes (and fill the tub) and after that....well, I guess I have no excuse not to finally clean my house :)

Mozart's Requiem

Tonight I got an e-mail from Harvard Pro Musica about a church in Chelmsford whose music ministry is singing Mozart's Requiem on September 11th in memory of that very tragic event. They need singers, especially altos and men. After my initial whoop of joy at the propect of singing this again, I felt sad about the reason why. I will never understand the minds of people who hate.

I try to keep this blog on the light side, so I'll move on.

I finished my final exam tonight for the college course I took this summer and now I can go back to doing fun things like writing this blog, singing, crafting and training for the road race. September is going to be a very busy month.

My friend Tom was going to drive up from Pennsylvania this weekend to see me but had to cancel due to Irene. He is going to come up September 24th instead.

September events in the life of the Running Singing Crafter:
September 10th - Craft Fair in Framingham through the Metrowest Humane Society (No-kill shelter for kitties)
September 11th - Singing the church picnic w/choir and Contempory Group/Holy Trinity Parish and Mozart's Requiem later that night in Chelmsford
September 13th - First practice of the new season for Harvard Pro Musica
September 17th - 5K Road Race for the Boys and Girls Club of Maynard
September 18t - HPM Lite singing at Fruitlands (I think)
September 24th - Tom comes to visit

I have finished a couple more scarves and will post pictures of them soon. I also purchased a lot of yarn from JCA Warehouse last weekend and will post pictures of  that as well.

I'm a bit resentful of Irene interfering with my weekend plans. In the middle of winter, I expect to be stuck inside my house when 'Noreasters strike but being forced to stay inside in the summer really annoys me. Winter is too cold to be outside (for me anyway) but summer is when I like to be outdoors.

Oh well. Gives me an opportunity to knit and crochet :) God knows I have plenty of yarn in here :)

I'm Melting....

Not sure what's up with Gold's Gym in West Concord, but working out there this summer has almost been the same as jogging in the street. Last year, I remember it being so nice and crispy cold that I needed a sweatshirt in the initial stages of working out. This summer, I'm down to my jog bra and I hide on one of the treadmills in the back so as not to be seen. Not that I'm inappropriate, but no one wants to see a spare tire around a woman nearing age 50.

Last Monday, I began leaving my condo at 8:00, getting to the gym at 8:15 and running for a half hour before work each morning. My job is 5 minutes away from the gym. Despite the efforts of eating better and working out EVERY day, I am up to 118.8 from the 117 I was 2 weeks ago.

Friday, I knew something wasn't right when my jeans weren't fitting AGAIN, and so I weighed myself yesterday. Sigh. I have never had a problem losing weight until this year. I also just came out of the other side of menopause (as in "I'm done, woohoo!") so maybe that's a factor.

On the "plus" side, my time is getting better and my running stamina is improving. As of yesterday, my time is .92 miles per 15 minutes. Very maddening that it's not quite 1 mile, but I'm working on it.

When I was on the abs machine yesterday, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man upside down on some workout contraption. All he needed was a black cape and he could have been Grandpa on The Munsters. However, I have to give him credit that he could do that.

Have to do my morning chores and then get myself to the gym. I did finish two scarves and added way too much to my stash this weekend and I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Purly Gates - All Hookers Welcome!

The other night as I was driving home from work, my brain was busy with "stream of consciousness". I saw an old vacant building with a "For Lease" sign out in front. Nice place to have a yarn store, I thought. Hmmmm....what would I name a yarn store. My mind sorted through the various yarn stores I patronize, Woolpack, Iron Horse, Knit Purl......  Purly Gates. Yeah, Purly Gates. This would be the name of my yarn store if I ever open one.

Yesterday at Perry's awesome old studio in Saxonville, I told her of this name that had popped into my head. The only problem with the name is that it sounds exclusive of crocheters and as an ardent crocheter myself, I wanted to make the name "crochet friendly". Perry thought about this for a moment and then said, put "All Hookers Welcome!" under the Purly Gates sign. LOL!

Perry and I went to JCA yesterday and I spent a ridiculous amount of money on yarn. These are my justifications:

1) I don't go on fancy vacations.
2) I don't buy computer equipment.
3) JCA is going out of business and the yarn I bought is worth 3 times more what I paid for it.
4) Many of these lovely yarns are discontinued and I will never see them again.
5) I can afford to spend too much on yarn now but won't be able to when I retire.
6) Unlike women who hoard shoes and never wear them, I am constantly knitting or crocheting. While I probably have SABLE at this point, I do use a lot of the yarn I buy. I bought a ton of Tonic from Woolpack and I am sailing through it in my scarf-making effort. I bought 3 skeins of Manos from Iron Horse and am sailing through that too.
7) I used savings for my purchases and I have never gone into debt buying yarn.

The biggest problem I have with all the yarn is lack of space in my one-bedroom condo. Oh well :)

Later on I will post pictures of my purchases. Right now, the Singing Crafter is headed out the door for her daily run at the gym in preparation for the September 17th road race.

Visit With Mum Greer

My friend Ricky is on a cruise in Europe, lucky guy. Fortunately, nowhere near London. Two of Ricky's three sisters are also on vacation, so their 80 year old mom is home alone. Ricky asked me to go over one of the nights they were  all away and it was absolutely my pleasure. I love Ricky's mom; she's a wonderfully sweet woman and has been kind to me all these years I have known her.

It was a little hard getting out of work on time tonight, but I finally got out at 5:30. I grabbed a pizza and headed on over to Framingham taking the same back roads that also lead to Perry's awesome studio in Saxonville. Mum Greer and I had a very nice visit.

Last night, I had HPM Lite and every Tuesday, I try to think of several excuses why I shouldn't go. In reality, as much as I enjoy it,  I am still so scared to death of my limited singing abilities that I feel reluctant to go. Yesterday, it was "the cat scratched my eyelid", which actually happens to be the truth. Sometime in the wee hours of Tuesday, one of my cats jumped on my head while I was sleeping and launched him or herself off my eyelid. I am not making this up. There is a huge gouge on the crease of my right eye and it looks as if I am wearing purple eye shadow.

Not exactly a glamor shot....

It throbbed like crazy all day yesterday to the point where the throbbing also made me feel nauseous. I drank ginger tea (name any ailment and I'll give you a tea to drink for it) to ease the nausea so that I could finally take some Advil for the throbbing. By the time I left work yesterday, I felt okay and I had no reason not to go. Plus I accidentally owed our conductor for two previous sessions (I made the checks out to the wrong entity) and I promised him Id catch up, so I needed to go at least for that.

It is getting more and more comfortable. I'm down to just one song that still mostly befuddles me, but I found a virtual piano I can practice on. I had practiced on it extensively before I went to rehearsal last night and it was a huge help.

I have not crafted much. My craft fair is exactly one month from today - GULP!

I had to do homework as soon as I came home from Mum Greer's and now I am writing this. But, as Scarlett O'Hara so aptly said, tomorrow is another day :)

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

This is a two-second post, as I literally have no more time left this morning to do fun stuff.

Although, I'm not really sure...all six of my time-bearing devices each have different times :)

Nostepinne

In the above picture, I am holding a Nostepinne. A Nostepinne enables you to wind yarn from a twisted skein. Tonight I wound the Manos Maxim # M8881 yarn I am using for my City Lights scarf. The yarn is gorgeous and the above picture doesn't do it justice.

The ball of yarn is supposed to be shaped like a cake, but mine tend to come out more like footballs. However, I can pull the yarn from the center of the skein for easy knitting or crocheting, so it does do what I need it to do.

Karen and I went to both Michael's and AC Moore yesterday. I bought ribbon yarn in a bag that was on sale and managed to spend less than $20.00. I try not to spend more than $20.00 a week in yarn or crafting supplies. Doesn't always work :)

Most Saturdays, I go to Perry's studio to craft but I talked to her on the phone instead yesterday. Her sister Kristin was there too and they were having falafel for lunch, YUM!

I have homework to do before I go to bed tonight, so unfortunately, I have to cut this post short.

http://www.yarn.com/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-manos-del-uruguay/manos-del-uruguay-maxima/
Link for purchase of the yarn if you are so inclined. The yarn I am using for City Lights is called Beehive. For those of you who live in Massachusetts, this yarn can also be purchased at The Iron Horse in Natick. Be sure to also check out the bakery across the street :)