So like my cervix is like totally dilating, Dude. Dilating without the glory..... Sounds kinda like "always a bridesmaid, never a bride..."

So, I'm just sitting around, dilating and knitting.... I'm such a multi-tasker!  

Oh and Allyson? The party is on Saturday at our house! Hubby wants to paint on Sunday! Can someone get some pink flamingoes for our front yard? My friend next door and I think that would be appropriate for hubby's birthday!

Ok, so I go tomorrow morning instead! I'm booked for 11am. 1 more sleep.......

The old 'girl' is getting a facelift. Yesterday we spent the day scraping the old paint off the exterior of the house. Ross spent the day building "skirts" for the sides of the front porch. Very pretty. I hear painting begins today! Hooray! This is a huge job and right before my surgery! I can't wait to see the final result!

My secret project is coming along. I have completed 3 and 1/3rd squares of 8. When I'm finished, I plan to make myself one!

Last night I had three punked out-mohawked-teenagers at my house. My mom brought Craig and his two friends down for the NOFX concert at Kool Haus last night. He tells me he'll be on TV on the Toronto1 station. So cute!

 

8 more days til I go  under the knife (and laser). How exciting.

My father had one wish for Father's Day: He wanted to make his three daughters breakfast on Father's Day. Guess what? We were all happy to oblige! The three of us sat and were served by our dad on Father's Day! Every Father's Day should be just like that! He made us scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, fruit salad, juice, tea.... What more could a girl ask for?

You know I'm into these Knitted Babes  and of course the lovely D.D. Diva! I MUST have this book! I definitely want this for Christmas. It would also make a lovely post-surgery, "Celebrate-the-uterus" kind of gift too.  

Also on my list of wants is Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. A kid's sock monkey poncho! Um, how about an Auntie Amanda's sock monkey poncho?

You must know how much Ross and I love Big Sugar. For those that don't, we LOVE Big Sugar, who sadly is no more. A friend of ours, Mojah, was in the band and we loved going to the shows and screaming MO.....JAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! I made a t-shirt with puff paints that reads, "I LOVE MOJAH!" Mojah would blow me kisses from the stage and I felt like a full-fledged groupie. The lead singer, or "Front Man" as he likes to refer to himself, has gone off to create a new group with a slightly different vibe. The band is simply, Grady. Check them out! We're going to see them tonight! YAY!!!

and it's crocheted!

My "job" is so much more than just a job. Patients come in and out of my life. Some go home, some move to nursing homes, some move into adapted apartments and sadly, some pass away. Of those that pass away, sometimes it is "unexpected" for us in our dept. While we do have a palliative unit and expect that these people may only be with us for a short amount of time, other seemingly "well" patients also pass on. It's when it's unexpected that it affects me the most.

The patients share their trials with me and their triumphs. We share many laughs and sometimes tears. Some ask that you hold their hand and just sit with them. They share their fears, their frustrations and their hopes and dreams with me. It is not easy to keep the balance between having this intimate relationship with a person and staying strictly professional. Some of the patients, don't have any family or only have 1 family member and yet don't see them.

Yesterday, I went to work to hear of another passing. This lovely person always had a funny story to share and made me laugh each time we were together. This person had many trials and yet these trials never kept this person down. This person always managed to have a positive outlook and kept "living" despite the obstacles to overcome. This person laughed with me, shared fears, hopes and dreams with me. My life is enriched for having known this strong, yet gentle soul. I will carry the lessons I have learned from our time together with me always. Thank you for sharing yourself with me.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
- Albert Pike

I think I've had about enough of this heat. Today it will be 36 with the humidex and tomorrow it will be 37. While they had said that this heat wave would break Tues/Wed... they LIED! It'll be cooler on the weekend. 22-24ish. ACK It's boiling hot and my nutso cat wants to sit on me, climb on me and generally bug me. She is driving me mad! Neither of the cats will go to the basement where it is slightly cooler. Mind you, it's not much cooler down there now either. For my early anniversary present I want a/c. I have to get off this chair before I throw my cat across the room.

It's so hot I don't feel like eating. It's so hot that when I pour myself a glass of water, it's warm in a few minutes. The thermostat in the living room reads 29.5 and the thermometer in the bedroom reads 32 degrees. I have no idea how I'm going to sleep tonight. Knitting makes me sweat. IT'S TOO HOT! This isn't India for Heaven's sakes! Take back the heat already and bring on the rain! Stop this insanity! The news told me tonight that we won't get any relief until about Tuesday. Thanks a lot!

In other news, my knitting is coming along smashingly! I'm working on "Amanda's secret project". (you have to have watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to catch that one. Ok, um, that website is awesome! Ty's segment was #3 for me, by the way - his "Secret Project"!) I have 8 squares to knit. They are the most intricate pattern I have ever worked. I'll take pictures but I won't post them until the secret recipient has received the secret project! lol

Did I mention it's hot? Like crazy ass hot.

At work, we're having a drumming circle for the patients.And we're making the drums! How fun! Of course I love that I get to do crafts at work for this . We're using embroidery hoops, podge, dowels, ice cream tubs (not sure where to get these yet - oh, maybe the guy around the corner from me!), beads, felt, fabric, bells, paints and more. Fun! I'll have to see if I can get some pictures of some finished projects!

I've also signed up to be on a Dragon Boat racing team! We're entering the 'Hospital Cup'. Mount Sinai has a team. William Osler has a team. So does St. Joe's and Hospital for Sick Kids. I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time. I'm very very excited! YAY! Now we need to come up with a name for our team!

It's so hot I can't stand to be in my own skin. My poor cats are melted blobs of fur.... fur puddles! Or...fuddles! We're all smelly and would give anything for a used, cheap, crappy window air conditioner. Wouldn't we, Denver? She's too hot to nod her head.

A lady from my pool is an author and illustrator of children's books. She gave me a signed copy of one of her books of poems called "Nothing Beats a Pizza!" Inside the front cover reads, "To Amanda, see page 8" along with her lovely autograph. On page 8 is a poem entitled "Too Many Amandas" !! And on the other page is another poem called "One Amanda". The latter is a great poem with a sing-song rhythm to it.

"One Amanda,

two Amanda,

three Amanda,

four."

Now when I'm walking down the hall I have this chant going on in my head! lol

On the knitting front, I received my summer edition of Interweave Knits! YAY! It has some of the most beautiful items in it. The Bed and Bath Duo are pj's and a robe! Awesome. I will definitely make myself those. There are some baby items I plan to knit for my lovely coworker, a sketchbook cover to die for... go get this issue. If for nothing else, buy it for the pj's ladies!!! I'm sure you'll feel inspired.

I have a new bicycling buddy! The woman next door and I have come bicycling buddies! Last night we rode down to the Martin Goodman Trail. We rode in total for an hour and a bit. We did a lot of up-hill riding and you know, I'm not sore today. This heat is killing me, though. Can't sleep! UGH

Did I mention the new Spun Mag is up for summer? Very cool. The lovely Haley Waxberg from Knitomatic is a contributor this time around! Very cool! We'll make these for Jamma! lol Just kidding. These are just begging to be knit. I've decided I'm going to get some Sari Silk yarn and make this. And Knitty has a pattern for a bag too. I heart that bag!

Oooh. Fall Interweave Knits preview!! And another magazine to covet. Life is good. Except that I need coffee in a bad way and it's all the way downstairs and I have to make it myself. Why can't Second Cup have a little truck that they drive up and down the streets (like the ice cream dude) that plays music that wakes you.... then you come outside in your pajamas and get freshly-brewed-just-for-you-coffee and breakfast pastries. I heart this idea. When you're a princess in a castle by yourself, someone should definitely bring you coffee and there should be lovely music and fluffing of pillows and stuff.  

Well, dammit. I guess I'll go get my own. Why can't cats make coffee? Or vacuum?

Slow and Steady

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment. They expect you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then usually decide against it.

In case  you were wondering, broil = flames. I bought some lovely lamb  chops, scalloped taters and asparagus for dinner. I was so excited. I read the instructions on the lamb. (big mistake!) I put the oven on Broil. Fire detector went off - house filled with smoke that burned the eyes and nose - I dealt with the detector and went to see what all the smoke was about. (the smoke had just started at this point and was building momentum as I crossed the kitchen to the stove. I peered through the glass and saw..... FLAMES! I did grab the fire extinguisher, but never needed it. I turned the oven off, opened all the doors, took the cats outside for some air and sat on the back step with a beer while the smoke cleared. Those were some really freakin' awesome lamb chops! Yummy. They actually turned out perfectly! I finally got to eat MEAT! RAWR!

I made fire. I had tasty lamb. Fun! Sorry about the title - I was watching the Simpson's and Bart went to a rap concert! lol Step off! ha ha ha Funny, the house smells like a restaurant (the kind with a grill).

The Smart Yarns patterns will only be available until September 2005 and then that's it! The company has gone of the "Acrylic" business.  So, print, print, print I tell you!

DPN case and the lovely Bike Buckets Cool!

Circular Needle Case Tutorial

Knitting Needle Roll

Crochet Hook Case

Crochet Hooks Cover

This Nursery Caddy would double as a fantastic sewing/crochet/knitting gadget caddy.

Steel Crochet Hook Case 

Aluminum Crochet Hook Case (I've made 3 of these!)

Afghan hooks, Cro-hooks or Knitting Needle Case (I've made 2 of these!)

They revived the Knit Wit??  Um, why? I didn't like it the first time around! Yech!