That Didn't Happen

Whelp, today was my day off.  You know, the one I'd originally scheduled for my colonoscopy that I cancelled.  So, the plan was to keep my vacation day, and go up to the Southaven/Memphis area and shop for a dress for Cody's wedding. 

What actually happened was I sat in front of the TV all day and binge watched an entire season of Dino Hunters.  Then I started season two, but I'm not going to make it all the way through before bedtime.  

Tomorrow is my last day of having the expensive Hulu plan, and out of curiosity, I looked all over to try to find a list of what I would still have once I'm back to the cheap plan, but couldn't find one anywhere.  Not a current one, at least.  Oh well, I guess I'll find out Wednesday.  But that's why I'm trying to get through this show so quickly, just in case I don't have access to it once my plan changes. 

Speaking of not leaving the house, I got a letter in the mail the other day telling me I could get my cholesterol meds through the mail, and it would be even cheaper than Walmart.  What?  I can save money and not leave the house?  Yes, please!  I was surprised at how quickly my new prescription arrived, too.  They must have overnighted it, because it got here the day after my doctor approved the transfer.  Or whatever it was he had to do.

Oh, and I got my mammogram results today on my My Chart thing.  I'm not sure what it all meant, but I'm assuming it's all OK, because they said to come back in a year.  By the way, I lied to you the other day when I said my A1C was 5.1.  According to the My Chart, it's actually 5.8.  I couldn't really hear what the receptionist said when she called me because the phone kept cutting out.  I've drastically cut back on sugar since I started drinking my smoothies, so hopefully when I go back in April for my follow up, it'll be better.  

While I was doing all that Dino Hunter watching, I also did a lot of knitting.  I finished this hat I'd been working on, 

and truth is, I'm not that pleased with how it turned out.  I usually cast on with a size 8, so the brim will be good and stretchy, then switch to a size 6 to knit the ribbing, and changing to a size 7 for the body of the hat.  This time, apparently I forgot to switch and knit the entire thing in size 8, which made the gauge too loose for my liking.  Plus, I was going to do the crown decreases differently, but you guessed it, I forgot until I was halfway through them.  Sigh...I'm not going to re-do it, though, because it's not for me anyway.  Someone out there will like it. 

As soon as I'd finished, I cast on another hat with the same yarn, remembering to switch to the smaller needles this time. 

I also knit, yes, another headband. 

This yarn is Red Heart in the Blacklight colorway.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I kind of like the results.  I'd bought this yarn to knit hats for the Seaman's Church ministry, so I think after I finish the hat I'm working on now, I'm going to knit them a few.  They won't need them until closer to Christmas, so I'll have plenty of time to get my inventory built back up. 

And finally, the cat is doing much better, though she's still not really putting weight on her hurt foot.  The swelling has gone down, and she's starting to put it on the floor, but she's still hopping when she walks.  Today was such a beautiful day, I almost felt bad about not letting her go outside.  She did enjoy the open window, though. 

As did I.  

Tired

I know you're probably tired of seeing these headbands, but ...well...tough, because I finished another one today. 

I've got one more gigantic headband to re-do, but I decided to take a break and finish this neon rainbow stripes hat first. 

Future headbands should go quicker, because I actually took the time to write down what I've been doing, and don't have to look up the pattern and try to remember what changes I made to it every time. 

So, yay, you get to see even more headbands!  I know you're thrilled. 

In other news, I finished this book the other day, but kept forgetting to do a book review. 

Eh, it wasn't all that great.  I thought it was supposed to be about the Mayflower pilgrims, and it was-- at least the first part of it.  A very small part....the majority of the book was taken up with the war which began 50 years after the Plymouth colony was established.  And of course, it had its leftist spin on that...

Not only that, it was very dry reading.  Seriously, it was like reading a textbook.  I'd previously bought another book by this same author, only now I don't want to read it, if it's as dry as this one. 

Next on the docket, I'll be re-reading this old classic. 

And finally, I have a day off work tomorrow, which I'd taken to get the colonoscopy I cancelled.  I think I'm going to head up to the Southaven/Hernando area and try to find a dress for Cody's wedding.  As much as I hate shopping for clothes, I'm not exactly looking forward to that. 

It's Official

Sort of...

Someone asked the Big Man Up Front if the rumor that had been going around the plant that they were going to lay a bunch of people off and cut back to one shift was true, and he said no it's not.   He did say, however, that we were definitely looking at the very real possibility that we will be cutting back to 32 hour work weeks before the year is out.  

Oh, boy...  Last time we did this, it was 9 years before we we were able to work full 40 hour weeks.  

With that in mind, I made the decision to go ahead and cut my Hulu back to the cheapest plan, which means I no longer have any live TV service at all.  Oh, wait, that's not true.  I have the full version of Peacock, and they do offer some live stuff, mostly sports, and I can stream MPB live on the PBS app as well.  And some of those free apps have live TV, just not local networks like CBS and FOX and stuff.  

Dropping my Hulu plan also cuts out Disney + and ESPN +, which I seldom used, but couldn't figure out how to un-bundle them.  But I've still got Prime, and there's always YouTube, so it's not like I'll be hurting for stuff to watch.  I'd mostly watched everything after the fact anyway.  

In knitting news, I finished the headband I'd been working on,  

the one I'd knit from the huge original pattern.  I still had this much of the original headband left over. 

 I think I'll use it to cast on a hat, then just join the skein when I get to the end of this yarn. I also re-knit this one using the modified pattern.  

I used my size 8 needles or this one, and it came out about an inch longer, but there wasn't really enough of a difference to ....um, make a difference.   Still, I think I'll do some with each needle size and call them large and small.  

I need to write down what I'm doing, too, because right now, I'm still kind of winging it.  

Well, well, well, will you look at this.  My Whatever Cacti are blooming. 

By the way, my work place has a YouTube Channel now.  They have two videos up and one subscriber.  And that one subscriber would be me. 

Anyway, here for your viewing pleasure, is their first video. 

Let me tell you, that was some creative editing, because that doesn't look anything like where I work.  

And finally, I'm pretty sure it was these little buggers that inspired that Alfred Hitchcock film. Give a listen:

It wasn't the dead of night, but they were singing, and they did learn to fly...

OK, I'm going to stop now.  

Laters...

Boobies Successfully Smashed

Two down, two to go.  Appointments, that is.  Physical and mammogram are done; eye appointment and colonoscopy still to go.  I'll to the eye appointment in the Fall, but I don't know when I will do the colonoscopy.  I'd originally scheduled it for Monday, but cancelled, because I was feeling overwhelmed by too much coming at me too quickly.  Add the wedding in...recipe for anxiety.  

So, today I got the mammogram out of the way,  after refusing to allow myself to cancel it.  Even though I really wanted to...I really like the lady who does them here.  She's very professional, and makes you feel at ease.  I had worn one of my Against The Current t-shirts, and she complimented me on it.  She said she loves The Chosen, but alas, she's only seen the first episode of season 3.  

"I hate that!"  I said, "because I want to talk about it, but I don't want to spoil it for you!"  All I told her was there is some good stuff coming up in season 3, and that's all I had to say about that. 

Anyway, it all went very well, and they'll mail me the results in a few days. 

In knitting news, I finished the headband with the smaller cast on.

It fit so much better -- no, you are not getting another selfie-- so I cast on another one using one of the gigantic headbands I'd knit before.  

I'm still tweaking the pattern a bit, but I think these will go much better.  

As my old dad would say, Spring is busting out all over.  I'm seeing daffodils and jonquils all up and down the roads.  The trees are putting out new growth, and flowers are starting to bloom everywhere.  And look at this!

These are some daffodils I bought last spring.  I'd intended to plant them, but completely forgot about them and left them in the pot all year.  I was afraid I'd killed them, because I didn't even water them.  A few weeks ago, I took the entire mess out of the pot and planted them out by the back fence.  Much to my amazement, they're growing!  Whee! 

Apropos of nothing, I don't see how people play on their phones all day at work.  Even in the break area, this is all I get.  

 Back before my plantar fasciitis flared up, I'd signed up to do another one of those Yes.Fit virtual races I used to do all the time.  It took a minute, because I had to take a break, but I finally finished it.  My medal arrived yesterday:

And finally, today is the first day of the Siege Of The Alamo.  Alas, the videos I always post during these 13 days have been deleted due to copyright claims.  I guess it doesn't matter, because I doubt you were watching them anyway. 

Heck, I didn't even watch them after that first year.

But we still remember...

Book Review And Cat Update

Yep, she is still a bit gimpy, but seems less moany, if you know what I mean.  Before I left for work this morning, I put her steps beside my bed.  As soon as she found them, up she went, and that is where she's spent most of the day.  

Kindly ignore the semi-made bed.  

She comes down every so often to eat and get a drink of water, but mostly she sleeps.  That's best for her right now.  She did want to go outside when I got home this afternoon, so I let her out into the back yard.  I didn't let her actually go anywhere, but she enjoyed laying in the leaves and stuff.  

The minute she looked like she was going to wander a bit, I put her back inside.  She didn't like it, but that's the way it goes until she's all healed up.  

Now for the book review. 

As a lethal plague sweeps through the land, Ani Mells is shocked when she is unexpectedly captured by the governor’s wardens and forced to submit to a test for the deadly Scourge. She is even more surprised when the test results come back positive, and she is sent to Attic Island, a former prison turned refuge—and quarantine colony—for the ill. The Scourge’s victims, Ani now among them, can only expect to live out short, painful lives there. However, Ani quickly discovers that she doesn’t know the whole truth about the Scourge or the Colony. She’s been caught in a devious plot, and, with the help of her best friend, Weevil, Ani means to uncover just what is actually going on. But will she and Weevil survive long enough to do so?

 I finished The Scourge, and for what it's worth, it was a typical young adult dystopian novel.  They tend to be as formulaic as a Hallmark movie, and this one was no different.   The whole world -- or in this case, the country of Keldan -- is falling apart and only one whiny, self absorbed, hard headed, and in this case, downright stupid teenage girl can save it.  I mean, it's been going on for a while, this plague, but nobody has managed to catch on to what's behind it, until Ani gets to the Colony.  She manages to figure it out in a mere two days.   And you expect me to believe that out of all the grown men on the island, not one of them figured out that they could move the treadmill into the river and make a water wheel out of it, but Ani comes up with that within seconds?  

Yeah, I'm not buying that. 

Some dystopian novels can be really well written.  Others aren't worth the paper they're written on.  This one was somewhere in between.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great, either.  It was sort of meh.  I'm glad I got it on a daily deal, because I'd have hated paying full price for it.  As it is, it was worth $1.99, but not a penny more. 

I'm still debating on what to read next, but when I decide, I'll be sure to let you know. 

I Lied

I lied to you the other day. I didn’t mean to, but I did.

Remember the other day when I showed you this photo, 

and told you the larger, blue headband was knit on size 9 needles and the smaller one was knit on size 8?  Yeah, that was a lie.  I'd said that because the needles I used for the larger one were in my size 9 bag, so I just assumed I'd put them back into the right bag.  Turns out, I should have double checked, because they weren't.  

I'd bought a new, longer size 8 needle and cast on a new headband with it, thinking it would be the smaller one.  When I finished it -- finally -- 

it was the same size as the larger headbands.  What?  

I dug out my needle gauge and ...yep, the ones I thought were size 9 were actually size 8.  Sigh....

I switched out the tips with some I knew for a fact were size 7s and cast on another headband. 

By that time, I was so fed up, I tossed it aside and cast on a hat. 

A comforting, familiar hat...

I was asked by a friend to model the headbands I'd made, but first, I want you to go over to the Knitty website, and look at the person modeling the Calorimetry headband on the original pattern.  Now, keep in mind that the ones I knit are slightly smaller than the gauge she came up with, but look, they are still gigantic on my head. This is the larger size, which is about 2" shorter than what she said the finished product should be. 

Even the smaller one is huge on my head.  

After even the smaller one came out huge, I poked around a few knitting websites to see what other people had to say, and they were having the same problems as I was. Most agreed that a 92 stitch cast on was best, so I'm going to rip the most recent one that I cast on and start over with that.  If it works out, I'll rip and re-do them all.  Of course, I'll keep you updated. 

BTW, I didn't have the buttons sewn on yet, so I'm having to hold it in place with my hand. 

In other news, what with all the rain we've had lately, I noticed that the pole I have my bird feeder hung on was leaning.  I got to looking, and this is a 7.5' pole, but it was quite a ways over my head.  This afternoon, I went ahead and pulled it up out of the ground.  Sure enough, they only had it 18" deep. 

I'm debating on whether to dig the hole deeper and re-set it, or just find somewhere else to hang my bird feeder.  After seeing how sore I got when digging up my sewer line, I'm thinking the latter. 

Eve has a boo boo leg.  I don't know what she did to it, but it's swollen and she's not putting any weight on it.  I didn't see any sign of injury, or anything like she'd been bitten by something, so I don't know what's going on with her. I set her steps beside this chair to make it easier for her to get up into it, but this is as far as she got. 

Fortunately, she does have a bed on the floor, so she doesn't have to  jump if she doesn't want to. I'll keep an eye on her, and if it doesn't get better in a few days, I'll take her to the vet. 

And finally, for those of you longing for spring, it's here.  

Oh, I'm sure we'll still have a cold spell or two, but spring is definitely on the way. 

 

Hold On To Your Butts

 It's about to get rough out there, and for once, I'm not talking about the weather. So, what am I talking about?  Well, I'll tell you. 

When the economy enters a recession, one of the first places you feel it is in the housing market, to which my job is closely tied.  During the last recession, we were already cut back to 32 hour work weeks before most people even noticed things had slowed down.  It would be nine full years before we were able to work a full year without having to cut back to 4 day work weeks for at least part of the year.   That is where I got into the habit of saving my vacation days for the Fall slowdown -- in case it slows too far down.  But what does that have to do with us, here and now?  

We had a layoff at work yesterday. 

A layoff.  In the Spring.  When we're normally ramping up for our busy season, this year, we're laying off.  We've been through some rough times before, but in 28 years, I've never seen them lay off in the spring.  One of my coworkers has already said she's going to have to cut off her DirecTV so she can afford her rent.  I'm not quite to that point yet, but if it comes to it, Hulu is going first, followed by Prime.  I can even cut my internet completely off if I have to, and just use the data from my phone.  I've been considering doing that anyway, because it seems kind of redundant to have both. 

Stock up on the beans and rice, is all I've got to say.  Get your hunting and fishing licenses and plant a vegetable garden. 

Speaking of planting...

You know what they say the definition of insanity is -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  I must be insane, because yes, I bought more bluebonnet seeds. 

I don't know why.  I can't seem to get them to grow for anything.  I've planted them in the fall, in the spring, I've boiled the seeds, I've scuffed them with a file, I've even frozen them, and still...I'll get a few every once in a while, but as for establishing a stand, I've never had any luck. 

However, on the advice of a friend, I decided to try freezing them in ice cubes.  Again.  I've done this before with no luck, but apparently, I'm insane.  

I got out my spare trays --  maybe them being stars will put some good mojo onto my seeds-- and froze two to three seeds in each one.  

He said to leave them in the freezer two to three weeks, then toss them out where I want to establish my stand.  I'm thinking that maybe my problem is that the ground is too soggy where I've been trying to plant them, so I'm going to put these in a couple of different spots.  One tray's worth, I'm going to  put on the East side of the house, and the rest, I'm going to put in the back corner of my back yard near where I had that big tree cut down.  We'll see, and I'll be sure to keep you updated. 

I'm actually thinking about putting in some tomato plants this year as well.  I'd love to grow a whole vegetable garden, but I just don't have that much garden mojo.  I might be able to keep up with a couple of tomatoes, though.   And I love me a good ol' 'mater sammich. 

Now, for a bit of good news.  I finally finished this hat!

It is now safely tucked away in the drawer, waiting to be sent to the Seaman's Church Ministry.  I haven't cast on another hat yet, because I'm going to work on more headbands first.  Speaking of, just quick note on the Red Heart Fall...I'd bought some years ago when it first came out, and I'm telling you, this latest skein is so much softer than it used to be.  

And finally, it was 28 this morning when I got up, so I splurged and lit a fire.  The firewood guy was supposed to come today or tomorrow, but he may be delayed by how much rain we've had this week  which is understandable.    

Still, I'll feel much better when I've got a full load of firewood in my back pocket -- so to speak.  

UPDATE:  I just heard from the firewood guy, and I was right.  The rain and mud has slowed him down, but he is still working on my wood.  

Random Thoughts Of St. Valentine's Day

 1.  Look!  I got a Valentine!

It's from my friend Belinda, who didn't get around to sending Christmas cards, so sent these instead.  Thank you!  It made my day!

2.  Guess what it's doing again...go on guess!  Here's a hint: 

3.  Well, they took away our overtime, but I suspect it won't be for long.  When we get behind again, they'll start hooting and hollering that they don't have any headers and we'll be coming in at 4:00 again.  Of course, their precious second shift is still working 10 hours, because you know we have to let them do whatever they want.  

4.  I got a bit of a scare this afternoon, when I got a call from my water company telling me I hadn't paid my bill.  I know I had, and found the receipt still laying on my kitchen cabinet.  Where I'd left it....a week ago....OK, moving right along...I tried calling, but apparently everyone else was trying to all, too, because I kept getting a busy signal.  Off to their Facebook page I went, where I saw the announcement.  It was a glitch in the automated system.  Instead of calling just those who were past due, it was calling everyone in the system. Whew!  I've lived here 28 years, and that's the first time that's ever happened. 

5.  Just FYI

6.  Speaking of St. Valentine's day, it was originally observed as a Christian holiday remembering St. Valentine, who was martyred on this day in 269 A.D., for refusing to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. He is also the patron saint of love, marriage, affianced couples, and plague. That being said, Happy Valentine’s Day to all those afflicted by the plague.

7. I got called out on FB the other day. Or at least, someone made a pretty pathetic attempt to call me out. Observe:

I had to laugh.  Seriously?  Evil?  Sister, this is trash talk.  It's an essential part of sports culture, and moreover, this is actually baby talk compared to some of the stuff out there.  If this poor fragile person is that triggered by my saying Cry, Eagles, Cry, she'd never even survive seeing some of the real trash talk out there. The bright spot is, I mean, other than it being absolutely hysterical, she blocked me.  No big loss.  All she did was lay in bed all day posting selfies.  Of herself laying in bed.  All day.  About 20 selfies per day.  Of herself laying in bed.  I'm actually glad I don't have to see that any more.  

8.  Where have all my readers gone?  I mean, I've never been that popular, but still..

9.  I don't know if I'm even going to fool with a flower bed this year.  I might just leave it and see if any of my wildflowers from last year seeded.  All of my little bluebonnets I had planted got whacked by the hard freeze we had just before Christmas.  Maybe others will come up.  I don't know.  I hope so, but it's not looking good.  

10.  Group Leader Shark brought us lunch today.  The plant is feeding us tomorrow for having the highest efficiency since 2106 for the month of January.   Free food two days in a row.  Thank you!  

11.  I think I'll go knit a while now.  Laters. 

Headbands and Hats

I did it.  

Since I've got a new load of firewood being delivered this Saturday --  I hope-- I went ahead and built me a fire in my little wood stove yesterday morning.  Oooh, it made my house so nice and toasty warm!  I'd missed that coziness.  

I hope this guy comes through and doesn't blow me off like so many others around here have done.  I think this one might actually show up, since he made notes and stuff.  If so, I might have a reliable source.  He seems like a good sort, even if he did tell me about every single person he'd ever delivered firewood to in his whole entire life. 

Ok, maybe not, but it sure seemed like it at the time. 

While I was enjoying all that toasty warmth and waiting for the Super Bowl to start, I picked this hat back up.

I'm about 1/2" away from starting the crown decreases.  I'm not sure why I had such a block about knitting this hat, but it's taken forever to finish this one.  Probably because I keep casting on these headbands.  

Speaking of, I wanted to show you the difference changing needle sizes -- even just one size up or down.  

 The one on top, I knit with a size 8, and the one on bottom was knit with a size 9.  You can clearly see how much bigger the one on bottom is.   I think I'm going to make a few of each size and let my coworkers choose which size they want.  But even the bigger size is smaller than the pattern calls for.  

Pattern writers must have gigantic heads.  

Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so this morning -- as a lighthearted jest -- Group Leader Shark posted this up on the board.  Which isn't actually a board.  It's a stanchion, but it's what we stick notices and stuff to.  With magnets and all. 

Anyway, Group Leader Shark posted this for tomorrow. 

Well, darn!  I was planning on wearing red, but I guess I'm going to have to find a purple or gray shirt instead.  I for sure ain't wearing blue, I can tell you that much!  

Sometime later, another coworker added a tenth code. 

I was ugly.  I had to repent.  For what?  

Because I leaned over to my friend and said, "I guess her heart is broken because that married man she's been fooling around with for years still hasn't left his wife for her.  Which he won't, because they never do."  Even if he did, why would you want someone you already know would be willing to cheat on you?  You know what they say, if he'll do it with you, he'll do it to you. 

And finally, I finished reading The Phantom Tollbooth.  It wasn't as good as I remembered it being as a child.  I mean, it was good, but usually I devour kids books.  This one took me a long time to read, for all it was a relatively short novel.   

Next up, The Scourge. 

At first glance, I thought this was inspired by COVID, but no.  It was published in 2016.  Apparently, it's a stand alone novel, which is rare these days.  

I'll let you know how it goes. 

Worthy

You know how it is when you have an idea wandering around in your head, just on the edge of your consciousness, but you can't quite grasp it?  Ideas you know you know, but they're just out of reach, and you can't quite put them into words?  

There I was, laying there in bed in a fit of insomnia, not really thinking about anything in particular, when suddenly I shouted, "I get it!"  

I get why Jesus didn't heal Little James!  

For those of you scratching your head and saying, "Huh?" right about now, it's a reference to the TV show The Chosen.  If you haven't seen it, not only do I highly recommend it, but this is your spoiler warning.  There will not be another. 

OK, where was I?  

Now, I know there are some of you out there who are way holier than I am, and will no doubt look down your nose at me and sneeringly ask, "Are you just now figuring this out?".  The short answer to that is, no.  I'm not "just now" figuring this out.  In fact, I wrote a whole blog post about this topic 12 years ago.  If you are so inclined, you can read it here:

Let Your Light So Shine

If you don't want to read the whole thing, here is the money quote.

What a platform God had given to his son to make an impact for Christ.  Yes, he was still hurt by the loss, but his son had gotten to proclaim his faith in front of hundreds of thousands --perhaps millions-- of viewers on national TV.  He has been asked, "Well, wouldn't it have been an even bigger platform if he'd won?"  No, it wouldn't have been.  Everybody loves God when they win.  Everybody gives God the glory when they win.  It's expected.  But to love God when you lose, to give him glory in the face of crushing disappointment--that will truly make an impact.  

Brad McCoy is right. It's easy to give God glory when you win. It's a whole lot harder to say "I'm standing on the Rock" when you've just lost the biggest game of your career. It's a whole lot harder to say, "I don't question the will of God" when not only have you lost the biggest game of your career, but you didn't even get to play. It's a lot harder to say "I know God has a plan for my life" when your own plans were just completely and irrevocably shattered in an instant.

So, no.  I figured this out a while back, but the thing is, it's always felt....well...incomplete to me.  Like something was missing.  Like there should be more to it.   I didn't quite know what, but I knew there was more to the story than this.  

Then, laying there in bed, in a fit of insomnia, it all slid into place. 

I was thinking about Jesus' conversation with Little James, which occurred during episode 2 of season three.  You know, when Little James approaches Jesus and asks why he hasn't received healing, and Jesus says,  ...well, I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it.  But I do recommend you go watch it if you haven't. 

Suddenly, my mind shifted to the scene in season 2 episode three, where all the people are lined up outside the tent clamoring for Jesus to heal them, and he does.  They run away all excited, and I'll guarantee you that, just like the nine lepers on the road, 90% of them never think about Jesus again.  He gave them what they wanted, and they never once thought about him again. Ever. 

It was all give me give me give me, and that's all they wanted.  What can God do for me?  Even today, people treat God like he's some kind of cosmic vending machine.  Drop an occasional reference to The Good Lord or The Man Upstairs and he's supposed to ...cha-ching...give you every little thing your heart desires.   And when they don't want something from him, they never think about him.  Never live for him.  Don't follow him.  

This is also why it irks me so when people say, "just give it to Jesus" or "Just turn it over to the Lord."  It implies that by just giving it to Jesus, he'll wave his magic want and suddenly your life is all peaches and roses.  But it doesn't work that way.  Sometimes he doesn't heal us.  Sometimes he doesn't miraculously solve all our financial problems, or work problems, or relationship woes.  

This begs the question, what if he doesn't give you everything you want?  Is he still God?  Is he only worthy of worship for what he gives us or does for us?  

And that, my friends, is why he didn't heal Little James.  That is why he didn't remove the thorn from the Apostle Paul's side. That is why he doesn't always heal people even today.  Because he is worthy. 

Even if he doesn't cure your cancer, he is still worthy.

Even if he doesn't solve all your financial problems, he is still worthy. 

Even if he doesn't resolve your birth defects, he is still worthy.

Even if he doesn't make you rich, or give you your dream job, or give you the perfect Norman Rockwell family...

We follow him, not for what he does for us, but simply for who he is. 

And who he is, is 

worthy.  

Knitting Like Mad

 Guess what it did today.  Go on, guess!  I'll bet you can't...

If you said rain, give yourself a cookie, because yes it did rain yet again.  It was a good day to sit inside and finish another headband. 

Even though it came out smaller than the pattern said it's supposed to be, it still looks huge.  I think I might have to adjust the pattern a bit.  In the meantime, I bought size 8 needle yesterday and cast on one with that. This yarn is Red Heart Autumn.

I've always liked this colorway.  One of these days, I'm going to make something for myself with it. 

While I'm thinking about it, I also bought an new food dish for the cat.  

I'd bought her an automatic feeder when I first got her, but it never worked right.  The opening between the container and the bowl was too small and the food wouldn't drop down into the bowl.  I wish I'd kept the old one I had, but I hadn't planned on getting another cat after we lost the Squeaker.  Anyway, I figured if I was going to have to keep filling the bowl up anyway, might as well get just a regular dish.  I thought this one was cute.  A bit expensive, but cute nonetheless.  

I'm sure you will all be pleased to know I found someone to buy firewood from.  I'd contacted one of the local tree service people and asked if they had any wood for sale.  I could have sworn I'd seen them post on FB about having firewood for sale, but it must have been someone else, because they told me they didn't, but gave me the number of a guy who does. 

I called him and let me tell you, that man likes to talk!  As we say here in the South, he talked my ear off.  Heh, several times in the conversation, he said, "To make a long story short", and I'd think, "yeah, it's too late for that..."  

So, to make a long story short...sorry, I couldn't resist...he's going to get me some ready and bring it late next week.    I should be all set for a while.  I might even splurge and light a fire in the morning. 

Doldrums

Hey there!  I'm back.  Did you miss me?  

I've been stuck in the doldrums a bit here lately.  I don't know why.  I've had stuff to talk about, but no desire to actually....talk about it.  All I was going to do was gripe about work anyway.  Like how our new production manager doesn't understand why I'd need a safety barrier between my brazing neighbor's 1600° flame and my head.  

Seriously.  Do you see how close her striker is to my table?  

Not only that, do you see the white spot on the aforementioned safety barrier?  Here, let me show you close up.  This one:

Do you know what that is?  I do.  

It's where her flame burns the safety barrier -- the one my production manager doesn't think I need.  But as I started to type it all out, I realized I didn't really want to talk about all that.   I didn't really want to talk about anything.  Or do anything.  Or even knit...

All I've wanted to do lately is to sit and watch TV.  And drink smoothies.  

I'm telling you, I'm kicking myself for not having bought a Magic Bullet sooner.  I'd looked at them years ago, but decided against getting one because I already had a blender.  What a doofus I was!  I've had it two weeks now, and I'm using the heck out of it.  No recipes...I just toss stuff in there and blend it up.  One of my favorites to date has been half a banana, a hand full of salad greens, and almond milk.  In fact, I'm drinking it right now.   It's delicious.  

One thing I like about it is that it's so convenient.  It's small enough to leave on my counter all the time, and the blending container is also the drinking container means there's less to clean up.  Best of all, it's helping to reduce my sugar cravings.  So yay for that.  

I haven't even had the desire to practice my piano.  Oh, I've been playing through my songs, but I haven't been doing my Hanons or my sight reading exercises.   But here's something funny.  If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I'm working through two piano courses, Alfred's and Michael Aaron's.  In my Alfred's book, I've been working on learning this song:

It's a fun song to play, and I might even record it for you this weekend.  Just be aware it won't be note perfect, since I am still learning it.  About a week into learning it, I suddenly went "HEY!"  Why did I go "HEY!" you ask?  Well, I'll tell you. 

It's because in this song is this line:

"And if you care to hear the Swanee River played in ragtime."  And?  By sheer happenstance, the song I'm learning in my Aaron's course is.....drumroll please...

The Swanee River! 

I kid you not, I did not do this on purpose.  It just fell that way.  

Really.  It did.  But it's still pretty cool, don't you think?