Scarves made/Ralph update

Ralph got his chest tube out last night - talk about a happy camper!  He said most of his pain is gone - now he hurts just when he pulls at the incision site - trying to sit up, etc.  Hopefully, he will get discharged today, too.  I was headed in to see him after dinner last night, when he called me and said he was going to try to nap - don't bother coming in.  So....I took the night off and didn't go up.  

I did drag out all the scarves/cowls that I made at Mercy.  These don't counts ones completed prior to his hospital stay - just the ones I made there.  13!!  That's  lot of hours sitting at the hospital!  Some are prettier than others, personally.  I started using Homespun - the colors are nice and the yarn is nice and soft.  As I said - I know what everyone is getting for Christmas this year!

Halloween pictures, Ralph update

Ralph was moved from ICU late yesterday afternoon - which is good and bad.  Good because he is improving, bad because he had his own personal nurse (almost) and was hooked up to all sorts of electronics that they don't have on the regular ward.  He is still under some pretty heavy paid meds (morphine epidural) so is still dazed and confused.  He is much more alert, but still easily confused.  He called me quite early this morning because he work up and didn't know where he was (he knew he was at Mercy, but didn't know where he was in Mercy.)  He was afraid he was in charge of watching Allison, and didn't know where he was, or where she was.  I promised him that he wouldn't be in charge of watching Alli for quite a while, so no need to worry.  Poor guy!

I did finally get a name for Ralph's procedure written down so I could copy it.  He had a Thoracoscopic Pleurodesis and a Thoracotomy.

I uploaded some pictures of Halloween this morning,  Here is the pose that the judges would have seen Trust me - no one was wearing their high heels (except Jackie) unless the judges were looking!

And we had a visitor while I was there - Mal's husband dropped by for lunch:

I can't remember if I posted pictures of these cowls or not - so, since I was taking pictures, I included them (again, possibly!)

This is a scarf I finished at Mercy:

And these are some that I did at Mercy - I think these were ones that I did the first day he was there.  I've made quite a few infinity scarves since then - easy to do, and go together pretty quickly.  I do think everyone is getting scarves for Christmas!

I did have some help (of course!) taking the pictures.  Her tail is in the picture just above, as well.

Woohoo!  The internet is back up - and up to stay (I think!)  Not only have I been chasing myself trying to be at the hospital, help out at work, and take care of Alli, the internet was down at home.  Paying bills on the i-phone's tiny screen is a pain!  (But it works, thank goodness.)  That explains the lack of posts as well.  Blogger doesn't like my posts from my phone and is pretty temperamental about them.  And, typing much on that little screen (without typos!) is tough, too.  I called in to Charter, and they were actually really helpful (what a shock!  The poor guy really wanted to help me, but.....I don't know which box is which in there, it was Halloween and the kids were already ringing the doorbell, and Alli wanted her dinner, so....I told him thanks for trying, and I would have to try it later.  He sounded so sad that I wasn't gong to crawl under everything to see where the cord was going.....)  He said it was acting really odd - fully on one moment, and then shut down, like someone unplugged it.  And then it would come back on, like someone plugged it back in.  They thought "someone" was moving the system so they could play their games better.  Turns out, we have a switch box that is going out.  Don't ask me what box - I'll have to have AJ show me which one, and take it in to Best Buy with me to get on new one, I think!

Ralph is doing good - still in ICU, but there is no reason to expect that he won't be moved out of there today.  They have slowly unplugged him from most things he was plugged in to, multiple IV's, insulin drip, catheter, etc.  He still has a morphine epidural for the pain, and his suction tube in his chest.  He may still be on an IV antibiotic drip too, but I expect them to keep that up for a while, since he had possible infection in his lung.  I just spoke with his nurse, and she kept up on his pain pills during the night as well, so he seemed to have gotten some sleep (as much as you can in the ICU, at least!)  He sat up in a chair last night for several hours - a good sign.  He is supposed to get up and walk a bit today - probably the last milestone to get released from ICU.

My department won the bank's costume competition!  We had gotten matching pink t-shirts, and Mal had ironed on a "Diva Construction" logo that she drew up, and we got hard hats that we painted pink, and then - then the sparkles begin!  During any slow time, Mal and Jackie were bedazzeling the heck out of them!  I have glitter on my desk that may never go away.  (Good thing they are pulling up all the carpet for the remodel, too)  We brought in all sorts of construction 'stuff' - ladders, paint cans, sanders, various equipment, etc. and scattered it all over the department, and strung caution tape around pretty liberally, too.  It was fun - Alli and I stopped by Wednesday to help.  Alli's contribution was to not get into anything, and to spin over in the corner so she didn't trip over the equipment we we putting out, and she did good!!  I stopped by after Ralph's surgery on Thursday to see how everything went together.  They looked so cute!  We were also planning on wearing short denim shorts, and high heels to go along with the Diva theme, and they did it up good!

The judges for the competition are usually people from upper management, so I encouraged the girls to bribe them with candy when they came by to judge, and left a pink pumpkin with candy on my desk.  They did me one better (or maybe upped me three or four times!)  Sometime around 8:30 (a.m.!), they decided what their construction site needed was a beer (or two).  I mean, what construction site doesn't have some?  I would have loved to have seen Jackie walking through the store in her pink shirt, short shorts, high heels, and carrying a 12 pack of beer at 8:45 a.m.!  They also had advance notice that the judges were coming, so they all "went on break", grabbed a beer, and kicked back at their desk with their feet up, high heels and lots of skin showing.  It must have worked!  (I think it was the beer!!!)  They really did do a good job decorating. There was glitter, sparkle, and pink everywhere!  This is the second year in a row that we won (last year we were "The people of Wal-Mart", complete with the YouTube video running in the background.) so they have already started planning next years' Halloween.  I think "gold lame' fabric" was mentioned.  Lord help us all!

Ralph was (finally) able to get his chest tube in yesterday. The original plan was for him to have it done early in the morning, and he got it in arond 2:00. That made him a bit cranky, to say the least. His surgery is schedule for 10:15 today so we'll see

Since Ralph's having surgery on Halloween, it stepped up my time table a bit for getting things ready at work for Halloween.  My department is dressing up and decorating with the theme of "Diva Construction" (appropriate since we are living in a construction zone at work!!).  I won't be dressing up, since I'll be at the hospital, but I will be going by for photos!!!  I still have to go pull out construction prop stuff from the shop and garage to take in today - it was on my list to do, but....didn't happen last night!  (I messed with my boss yesterday - a newly married gentleman - when I made the statement that since Ralph was either sick or in the hospital, he wouldn't notice that I painted all his tools pink.  The look on his face - sacrilege!!!!)  I did get a batch of sugar cookies baked last night for Alli's class today, and I finished crocheting the last cup cover (I ran out of yarn with half of one to go!) and put the buttons and faces on them, and then put them together with the treat bags for work.  I think they turned out cute!!!

Ralph is checking in at the hospital today around 8:30.  There, they will put a drain in his lung, and he will stay there overnight.  He went in yesterday for his pre-op appointment, and everything was messed up, as usual.  They didn't have him scheduled for the drain at all, but wanted to do a CAT scan instead.  Not what he was looking for.  Right now, his surgery is scheduled for 10:30 Thursday morning, and is scheduled to last at least 2 hours.  I know how things can change at a hospital, so....we shall see!  I'm taking a couple of crochet projects along, as well as a book, and the trusty Kindle!

Ralph is scheduled for surgery on Thursday!  The good news - it looks like they will do a procedure, and it should 'fix' his lung.  Most likely, they will be able to remove the fluid and make a couple of small incisions to scope out his lung, and put in a "slurry" of talc powder that will adhere the lining together, and adhere the lung to his ribs, so it doesn't collapse again.  It is possible that his lung has formed a membrane where the fluid has been building, in which case......they will have to do a larger incision and remove the membrane before they can glue his lung together (the membrane wouldn't let the lung expand fully - so it would have to go!)  He goes in today for pre-op, and then they want him there early Wednesday morning to put in a drain for the fluid.  He will stay overnight, and has the surgery on Thursday.  It's gong to be a long day on Wednesday - just hanging around, being a drip!  I need to load up the Kindle with some books for him - that might help pass the time.

Ralph (finally) met again with the lung specialist on Tuesday.  His appointment had been pushed back two weeks from the original date, so it's been 6 weeks since the last appointment and 6 weeks since they last drained the fluid from his lungs.  The fluid had built back up again (Poor guy can hardly breath!) in the mean time, so....now he is scheduled to meet with a Thoracic Surgeon, Dr. Brusett, on Monday.   The lung specialist, Dr. Singh, wants laparoscopic exploratory surgery done to see if they can find out the problem.  I thought Dr Singh was also supposed to be scheduling another drainage of Ralph's lung, but we haven't heard from the hospital on that yet, so maybe not??  (Maybe Dr. Brusett didn't want that done yet??  Who knows!)  Maybe we'll know more on Monday, but....I figure not.  We probably will meet on Monday, and then they will schedule surgery (hopefully that same week) and then we will wait a few days, and then....an answer???

Alex sent me a text last night, saying he would be home late-ish.  Since it was already after 6:00, I thought "cool - he won't be in for dinner, so I can just do leftovers", since I had a hair appointment after work, and hadn't even made it home yet myself.  Alex came in after 9:00 last night, and said something along the lines of "Know why we were out so late?"  Of course, I had no idea, and he said "We were getting tattoos!"  Me: "Who is 'we', and what did you get?"  Alex:  "Want to see?"  He walked over and pulled up his shirt and said ............ "Nothing!"

He had gone in with his friends Jeff and Sean for Jeff to get a tattoo.He said it turned out better than he thought it would, and he had thought it would be good - the artist had really done a good job.  He thinks he may want to get one, but first he would have to decide on something he would want for the rest of his life - nothing "lame".  All I asked is that he think about it for a while - I didn't want an impulsive "Tinkerbell" tattoo or something.   He promised that if he did, it would be a 'good one'.  Sigh.

Instructions for Black Cat bookmarks

Black Cat Bookmark

Abbreviations:

Sl St: Slip stitch

Sc: Single crochet

Hdc: Half double crochet

Dc: Double crochet

Tc: Treble crochet

Head:

Row 1:  Start with a Magic Circle, 6 sc in circle, join (6 sc)  (Go here for instructions to do the Magic Circle)

Row 2:  2 hdc in each sc, join (12 hdc)

Row 3: 2 hdc in each hdc, join (24 hdc)

Body:

Row 1: Ch 2, hdc in next 2 hdc, turn (2 hdc) (Right side)

Row 2: Ch 2, 2 hdc in each hdc, turn (4 hdc)

Row 3: Ch 2, 2 hdc in next hdc, 1 hdc in next 2 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, turn (6 hdc)

Row 4: ch 2, 2 hdc in next 2 hdc, 1 hdc in next 2 hdc, 2 hdc in next 2 hdc, turn (10 hdc)

Row 5: ch 2, 2 hdc in next hdc, 1 hdc in next 9 hdc, turn (11 hdc)

Row 6: ch 2, hdc in next 10 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, turn (12 hdc)

Row 7: ch 2, 2 hdc in next hdc, 1 hdc in next 11 hdc, turn (13 hdc)

Row 8: ch 2, hdc in next 12 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, turn (14 hdc)

Row 9: ch 2, hdc in each hdc across, turn (14 hdc)

Row 10: ch 1, skip first hdc, hdc in next 12 hdc, sl st in last hdc, turn. (12 hdc)

Ch 1, sc around the cat, stopping at the ears, feet and tail area.

For the tail:

Ch 21, hdc in 2^nd st from hook, dc in the remaining chains, join to body with sl st. Continue sc around the body.

For the ears:

Ch 3, tc in same stitch as last sc, tc in next sc, ch 3, sc in same st as last tc.

For the feet:

Ch 2, 3 dc cluster in next st, ch 2, sl st in next st, ch 2, 3dc cluster in next st, ch 2, sc in next st.

I usually crochet about 75 chains for the 'tail' of the bookmark and add a tassel to it.

A couple of finished projects!!!  This project was an experiment.  I crocheted a scarf, using a simple V-stitch with a nice soft yarn.  Then, I got some of the ruffle yarn - with just a touch of sparkle in it, and attached it to the scarf with a slip stitch.  My first try, I used a single crochet, and ended up about 4 inches short on yarn, so I ripped it out and started over.  I like the ruffles better with the slip stitch too - it was very ruffly with the other stitch.

I also found a book on e-bay for Mom of crocheted Christmas Ball covers.  I tried one of them out.....I think I am going to try it in smaller thread - this is done in size 10, and it looks bulky to me.  (Especially compared to Mom's that are done in size 30!)  I can't even get smaller thread in the stores here - Mom needed more 30, and I had to order it for her.  I guess I need to order some for me now!

This is a cowl made with a very soft, bulky yarn.  It worked up very quickly, and the pattern has a nice texture to it to make it interesting.  The color changes are very nice this way too.  Hmmmmm....I think I know what Christmas presents may be this year!!

The pillows on my couch were old and yucky...but I never remembered to pick up new ones.  When I was with Mom, we walked through that area of Wal-Mart (I hardly ever get to that area of the store) and saw a nice, large pillow that just might work.  I picked one up, and the colors worked just great, so I picked up another one this weekend.  My hope was that Alli would use them, since she usually naps on the couch and the arm of the couch is so high, she makes me uncomfortable to watch her sleep with a big crook in her neck (and she put the old pillows over her head, not under them - silly girl!)  I came in yesterday, and I think they are a hit.

Then, I went in the computer room where I had tossed the old pillows, and this is what I found.....

The last of the pictures from the coast (I promise!)  We went out to Gasquet and drove around.  I was able to get a photo of the trees reflected in the Smith River!!  (I was so excited - I didn't plan it, it was just a good spot to stop and take a picture!)

We stopped and walked for a while in the redwood grove close to the highway too.  We stayed on the road (easier footing for Alli) and drove back  1/4 mile from the road - minimal vehicle traffic and almost no one else there.  We did find a couple of young ladies that had evidently camped out there overnight.  They were cleaning up their campsite, and their 6 month old puppy was dragging his leash around.  He was sniffing around, and then saw us........oh happy days!   Company!!!!  He was probably a lab cross I think they said lab/husky cross), so won't be grown up for a couple of years, and he was just so excited and wanted to play!!  He was running all around us and jumping up on us, and grabbing Alli's jacket sleeve (it was hanging down).  Of course, he also didn't want to listen to his owners either.  We managed to get him to calm down enough to get close to us, and then grabbed his leash for them.  

After the walk, we went to the beach!  We spent a couple of hours walking on the beach - Mom was collecting shells, but didn't find many, and we were there close to low tide.  We were hoping to find small sand dollars again.  One year we found tons of them on the beach.  This year, Mom found a couple of partial sand dollar shells, and one tiny whole one.  When she went to pick the tiny shell up though, it just crumbled....evidently it had been crushed by something, but we didn't see any prints in the sand around it.  Bummer!  Still, Alli had a good time.  I didn't let her get in the water as much as she wanted to - just playing in the waves as they went out.  She loves to play in the waves - I just wasn't up to getting her out (and while it was warm for Crescent City, but....it was still too cold to play in the water!!)

Note - this should have been posted 10/4 - somehow I forgot to finish it!!


I just spent a surprisingly fun evening stuffing bags for Think Pink.  In a couple of weeks, they will give away 60,000 bags with breast cancer awareness items in them - including a pink carnation and a 2014 calendar.  I helped fill some of those tonight.  I didn't keep track of how many, but a rough guess for my 'team' (an ever changing number of people working at the table) I would say 400 bags.  I only knew one other person there - or at least that's all I thought I knew, so it was fun talking with different people.  Turns out there was a former co-worker there (currently working for another bank) and a friend of the family from Ralph's side, who works at North Valley Bank.  It must have been bank night.  There was someone from US Bank at my table, as well as a lady that had retired from B of A.  It was a fun 2 hours - they ran out of some of the items, so I was done at 7:30, and was home in time to put Alli to bed (twice - she went once at 8:10, and was up again at 8:45.  Hopefully she's down for the night now.)

Even after all these years of visiting Crescent City (and Mom living there) we went to a new place this last trip.  We were driving out to the trees, and I was driving along the coast as much as I could (I love the coast!) through town, and had the option of going out to Point St. George's, so....we took it.  I've heard about the lighthouse, but it is miles off shore, so I didn't know what to expect.  What I found was beautiful!  

The view from the parking lot was enchanting - a peak at the ocean between rolling hills, and a ship!  (It was perfectly centered when I saw it - but the time I got the camera out, etc. it is a bit off center).

There is a (relatively) nice, smooth path between the hills - and Alli was ready to go.  She took off ahead of us, and kept checking back to make sure we were following.  The view:

We stayed up above the beach - it was still close to high tide, and there is a nice band of rocks to walk over to get to the beach - not something I wanted to try with Alli at the time.

I had to put in this series of photos - I wanted to get a 'posed' shot of Mom and Alli.  This is how well it didn't work.  Think it is a bit obvious that Mom is trying to hold Alli still??

We spent some time watching the birds in the waves as well.  There's a little black bird in the center-right of the photo.

And some shots of Alli having fun.  She was having so much fun messing with me!  She was spinning and walking in circles the whole time.  Since we were actually on a small bluff with a nice drop to the beach below us, she made me just a bit nervous, and she could tell.