Lots going on

There have been a ton of things going on...the oldest daughter moved out shortly after my last post (and shortly after her 18th birthday). She did it against my advice, but she's of age, so I can't stop her, so I guess I'll just have to accept it and move on. I had to give up working at the open heart unit because it was taking too much time away from the youngest daughter...now that she's the only child I have living at home, I want to spend as much time with her as possible. She's lost a lot of weight, and I'm more than a little worried about her. My wonderful hubby is enjoying the warm weather, and both of us love the fact that we can ride the motorcycle again...we love the time alone together. In true "biker" style, I've gotten some new body art...
I shocked the crap out of a lot of people by getting a tattoo...but I really like it. I looked for a long time to find just the one I wanted...the heart represents my valentine birthday and all of the people, both here and gone, that I love. The flowers represent the fact that I love the outdoors, and the fact that I love to "stop and smell the roses" in my busy life. Well, I need to get busy knitting on my mom's Mother's Day gift....sorry mom...no hints here! :)

Time...

....a funny thing. If it doesn't naturally get away from you fast enough (as evidenced by the fact that I haven't blogged since the middle of August and it's now Mid-March), the government makes you lose an extra hour on top of it all (I still hate daylight savings time!). DD#1 is getting ready to turn 18, DD#2 is getting ready to turn 14, and I am now officially on the brink of 40. My best friend (also known as my wonderful, loving husband) is just as awesome as ever! I love that I can still say that after nearly 19 years!!!Well, let's see...a lot has happened since I blogged last. I gave up my job as the ED Manager in November (I'd hated it for months, but wanted to give it a fair chance). I had initially turned down the interview in the Cardiovascular Unit (CVU) at a nearby hospital, but once I went back to being a staff nurse in the ED (ER), I contacted the CVU again, and I'm now working there one day a week or so. I love it! I've been sick since Friday with the flu (I insanely thought that I was going to escape that bullet this year), missed work in the ER all weekend, and am off today. I'm going to be working on my hemodynamic monitoring knowledge. I've never gotten to experience arterial lines and "fancy" hemodynamic monitoring in the ER, since my ER is smaller. I say "fancy" hemodynamic monitoring, because in an ER where you don't place central lines and arterial lines, your hemodynamic monitoring consists of using parameters such as the patient's heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, capillary refill, level of consciousness, etc. instead of all of the fancy numbers like the central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, etc. I'm just learning more and more...and loving every minute of it! I've helped take care of a fresh open heart patient just coming back to the room from the OR, and helped take care of patients getting ready to go to have their open heart. It's totally awesome! I feel like a nurse again! I like the ER because of the variety of things I see/experience, but I really love the CVU. I see myself having to make a choice one of these days (when my body says I can't work as much)...but until then, I'm going to do both for a while! :)

I finally got mad enough at the debt we have amassed, that I put us on a strict budget. We now have a plan for getting out of debt and should still have time to put back some money for retirement afterward. I'm really looking forward to being completely out of debt in 7-10 years. I know a lot of things can happen between now and then, but at least we have a plan now instead of continuing to flounder in a sea of debt and still racking up more debt in the process.

As for knitting, I have completed several projects since I last blogged. I've joined Ravelry, and am trying to put my projects up on there. I just finished an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket (although I still have to put buttons on it), I made a hat to go with it..... (Knitpicks Swish worsted weight in Delft Heather)

I've made the hubby two pairs of socks (Knitpicks Fellici in Coastal),

I finished a Hoosier dishcloth and hanging towel (pattern here), made a couple of two-color patterned hats out of EZ's Knitting Workshop book, and made a sweater to match one of them, which I gave to DD#1 for Christmas. DD#2 was the recipient of the 2nd hat, but I haven't had time to make the matching sweater yet. Given the state of DD#1's room, I'm not even going to try to find them. DD#2 is so obsessive/compulsive that she'll know if I move a single thing in her room trying to find the hat, so I think I'll wait on taking a picture of that until she gets home and can get it for me. I'm currently working on a pair of socks (Apple Laine in colorway Blue Bayou, purchased from Wool-Tyme in Canada). I actually purchased this wool about 2 years ago and am just now getting to knitting it from the stash. I also have another colorway...Best Friends...it's a blue based colorway, whereas this is more of a brown-based.

(supposedly for me, but I'll probably end up giving them away for an upcoming holiday if I don't get another pair made before then). I don't know whether my handmade socks are actually worn by my mom, or if they're just sitting in her drawer...but I like giving them to her anyway. :)

The sheep venture is out of the question...at least for now. I will settle for buying fleece. :) My wonderful hubby got me a gift certificate for my favorite LYS for Christmas, and I used it to buy two lovely Shetland fleeces. I've handwashed the dark brown, and am handcarding it. It's slow going, but I love doing it. I've gotten 3 skeins of yarn done now,

and I'm eager to get the rest of it done, so that I can knit myself a new jacket...I think I'm going to make the Bog Jacket out of EZ's Knitting Around. I bought the DVD from Schoolhouse to go with the book, and I love them! I have some white Shetland roving from a fleece that I bought at Sheepstreet a couple of years ago. I think I'll use that in combination with the dark brown that I'm working on now for the jacket. If I have enough left over, and I think I should, I'll make a hat and mittens to go along with it. :) I doubt if I get any wool carded today. I hate carding it in the house, because it has quite a bit of vegetable matter (VM) in it, and it makes a mess. It's much better if I can card it outside. We actually had a day in the 60's a week ago...the gorgeous hubby took me on a motorcycle ride, and then I came home, sat on the deck, drank a beer, and carded wool. Now that's my idea of relaxing! This weekend, however, we got 10-12 inches of snow! It's supposed to be in the mid-50's by the middle of the week, though, so maybe I'll get to card some wool later in the week.

The second fleece I bought with the gift certificate for Sheepstreet is an oatmeal color. I may end up sending it off to be processed, depending on how much vegetable matter it has in it when I look at it again. I like carding it myself, but I also get frustrated with the high VM because I can't get it out as much as I'd like. Sheepstreet has changed to a new hay for feeding the sheep since these fleeces were sheared, so the VM content should be less. They will be shearing again in April, and I want to try to buy another fleece or two.

I also took a handpainting yarn class at Sheepstreet, as well as a spinning class. I just love the folks at Sheepstreet...Nancy, Tim, and Pat...You're the best! Here is my first ever handpainted yarn - a sock yarn that I call "American Pride" :)

Finally, I dove into my first cables...trying them out on a scarf and hat of my own design. I like them, but I definitely need to make the outer pattern on the scarf in something that doesn't curl...perhaps a garter stitched edge with the cables more in the middle. But hey... a learning project! :)
Well, since I want to spin later (my reward for studying hemodynamic monitoring), I need to get to studying.