Category: Whining

Categories
Whining

cabin fever

I had knee surgery two weeks ago, and have been holed up in my living room ever since. For the first week I was in recovery mode–not working, just lying on the couch, icing and resting. This week I’m working from home, resting the leg as much as possible before returning to normal activity. In all this time, I haven’t touched yarn ONCE, and it’s heartbreaking. My tendonitis continues to improve, but my PT hasn’t given me the all clear to pick up needles or hook. So much free time, wasted.

Honestly, it’s not just the yarn. There’s so much I could’ve accomplished during my sentence on the couch–scanning of old photos, shredding the bag of junk mail, learning a new software, redesigning this site, or even reading a book–but what have I spent that time doing? Watching dvds. Watching dvds I’ve already seen multiple times. (Except Dexter season two–that was new to me.)

A ridiculous and embarrassing waste of time.

And to make it worse? I gained ten pounds in the first week. It was my own fault, of course–my sister and brother-in-law were here from the East Coast to take care of me, and whenever I’m with them, something in my mind switches to vacation mode, and in vacation mode, I eat all the things I don’t usually allow myself. Add pizza, lasagna, cupcakes and chinese food to a week of lying on the couch, and yeah, it adds up to ten pounds. They’ve been gone a week now, though, which means I immediately went back on my normal diet, and I’ve already lost five. Not healthy, I know, but I’m going back to WW in two days after three weeks away, and I’d rather it not show me back to square one.

In other news, while the sis and bil were here, they got me a coffee table for my birthday. Yay coffee table! I am very fond of it, and am pleased with how that one little change improved the overall aesthetic of my living room. (Before, I’d been using a cardboard box covered with a blanket as my ‘table’.) Once I’m mobile again, my plan is to swap the positions of my entertainment center and bookshelves, and to paint the north wall (I’ve had a lot of spare time to think about this), but I fear my motivation is rooted in my inability to act at the moment, and that once I’m up again, I’ll lose interest in my home improvement plans. *fingers crossed* that I’m stronger than that.

 

Categories
Shopping Whining

Well, it's happened.

close up photo of a woman stretching her wrist
Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com

I have a bulky black brace on my left wrist/forearm, thanks to a nasty case of tendonitis in my elbow. And yes, this means no knitting or crochet for the time being. This is very unhappy making, not to mention painful. I’ll confess I did pick up a crochet hook, just to see if it was possible to manipulate it around the brace. The attempt, had you seen it, was laughable. Heck, I couldn’t even pick up a little hot dog wrapped in a pastry puff at the Sex and the City event I went to on Sunday–it made a hilarious series of bounces off my brace, my right hand, and my friend Kristen’s hand before rolling across the floor towards the bar. (Smart blanket-wrapped-piggy!)

So what should I talk about instead, during this enforced separation period between me and my hooks and needles?

Well, my latest obsession involves bicycles. I recently rejoined Weight Watchers, and this time I signed up with a group near my home instead of near my office, which is going to force me out of the house on Saturday mornings (a period I usually reserve for quality time with my couch). The meeting is about a mile too far for me to walk without my bum knee collapsing, yet close enough to make me mourn the gas usage. The answer? I must buy a bicycle! I’m not sure why I’m possessed with this sudden desire to ride a bike–many bikes have languished in many garages in my past–but really, I can barely restrain myself from running to Target and buying whatever I can afford.  I haven’t done this yet, because my friends have convinced me to test-ride one of their bikes first (which I hope to do this weekend) before committing to anything. Instead, I’ve been relentlessly combing the internets, researching bikes and frames and gears and customer reviews. Ideally I hope to find something on craigslist, because I can’t afford the $400 beauties I’ve fallen in love with, but so far no dice. I can no longer grab the first $50 comfort bike I find–I now know it needs to be aluminum framed and have at least seven speeds, or I risk becoming discouraged by trying to get a heavy bike up even a modest incline.

Also, I have returned to PT (did I mention this already? I can’t remember, and am too lazy to go check) in an attempt to cure my stupid knee once and for all. This includes making an appointment with a new doctor who will take new xrays and MRIs, and this time I picked someone *in* my insurance network, so I won’t still be paying off visits three years later. (I’m two payments away from being free of the last doctor, woot!) Here’s hoping they’ll find something concrete this time, something that can be fixed with more than a vague, “Physical therapy should fix that right up.” Give me more! I need an actual diagnosis this time, dammit!

Ahem. Anyway…. Work is hellish, but it’s of my own making. I really must get over my jealousy and possessiveness. Of course, I’ve had those traits for about 38 years now, so I don’t see how I’ll be divesting myself of them anytime soon. Yay. At least my review went well.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got. Nice to see the brace isn’t getting in the way of my typing skills, at least. 😀

Categories
Knitting and Crochet Whining

slump

alone animal animal photography blur
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I haven’t been posting in awhile, but mostly it’s because I haven’t been knitting/crocheting much. My friend K’s hat is finished, but wrong–it’s more slouchy than beanie, which means I really will have to frog the whole thing and start over, and I’m so not looking forward to that. I finished the single-crochet scarf (Patons Soy Wool) while I was at the hospital two weeks ago with K, who was admitted after experiencing heart attack symptoms (wasn’t a heart attack, whew!), and I started a hat with the leftover yarn, but only had enough for the crown. I tried starting the hat my sister asked for, with the purple Lion faux-suede, but ugh, that yarn is tough! I got discouraged fast. I did start and finish another hat for a friend that asked for one since she has a hard time shopping for hats (larger than normal head size), but I haven’t got around to mailing it to Iowa yet.

That has been the extent of my yarncraft in the past three weeks. Pathetic, yes? I haven’t even been to the SnB group on Thursdays since Valentine’s day, and won’t be able to go next week as I have plans for that night.

This is why I don’t often take requests–if I get bored or stumped with them, I feel guilty about starting something more interesting until I get cracking on the obligations, so instead I do….nothing. I’m so predictable.

That’s all I’ve got. Depressing, no? Here’s something a little more cheery:

Aspen
It’s a picture I took of the Maroon Bells in Aspen back in 1999 or 2000 (can’t remember the year). I’m going to Colorado next month and hope to go hiking at least once while there, if only to get more cool photos like this one.