Rules for the Road

One thing  that I have learned about myself from the past 5 years of living alone is that left to myself, I become lazy, slovenly and unkept. Sorry if that truth is too much to bear, but it the truth. I have spent entire weeklong vacations in my pajamas and without bathing. Armed with this self revelation I know that going forward I'm going to have to exert some self discipline and control. So I have decided that on this journey into retirement there has to be a code of conduct for the road.

1. I may not stay up all night piddling away the mid-night oil playing games on Facebook. Bed time is no later than mid-night.

2. My face must be washed and my teeth must be brushed before I go to bed.

3. I may not sleep the day away (See rule 1). I must be up and ready to go no later than 10:00 am every day regardless of having anywhere to go.

4. I must shower and brush my teeth every morning. Hair must be washed no less than twice a week.

5. I must change out of my bed clothes and into clean day clothes every day.

6. I must wear my compression sleeve.

7. I must make my bed every morning.

8. Breakfast must be made and eaten no later than noon every day. .

9. Dishes must be washed and put away at every meal.

10. I must accomplish at least one indoor chore every single day.

I know that these seem very basic. But as I said, I have a tendency to not expect much of myself when I don't have a reason to be presentable. It's shameful enough when it's for a short duration such as a holiday, but not at all an acceptable way to conduct myself on a daily basis.

Actually my rules are fairly lenient. I'd expect more out of a five year old.

So, I'm off to play.

Ta ta for now...

Getting Packed

I packed up my cube today. Mostly because Ali was being a pain and I wanted an excuse to ignore her. I had done a bunch of cleaning earlier, so it wasn't too bad. I was able to get almost everything in 2 paper boxes. They will fit into storage easily. I had anticipated that I would have a lot more than that. I think I will find the same to be true when I pack to leave for Seattle. I have three large boxes to pack and ship as well as 2 large suitcases to be checked, a carry on bag, a back pack and 2 cpap machines to take with me. I look around at what I have left to pack and panic. But I really don't have all that much more to pack. I think the three large boxes to ship will be more than adequate if this mornings session is anything to judge by.

Getting in the Mood

Basic Top Down Raglan by Lisa Knits

Can be purchased on Ravelry

Back in the dark ages when I first picked up knitting again my daughter asked me to make a sweater for her. I bought a bunch of Lions Brand Fisherman's Wool in the Natural colorwave and blindly started a bottom up sweater. I wasn't much for following a pattern back then. Needless to say, because of my lack of skill and the difficulties that I was experiencing I soon tired of it and went on to something simpler. The sweater and the wool were placed in a bag that found it's way into a forgotten corner.

Saturday I found the sweater and the wool in a bag in storage while I was looking for other things. I got kind of excited because I think the wool is nice and decided to finish it. After taking a critical look at my work I decided the only real salvage was to rip it all out and start over again. I had already found a basic pattern that will work well for this and I'm kind of excited to get re-started on it. The pattern that I'm going to use is a very basic pattern that I purchased from Lisa Knits (No, I am not the Lisa who sells this pattern. And I'm a bit unhappy because I was hoping to use that name on my work, but she has it first.) The pattern is so basic that I would hesitate to call it my own and sell it anywhere, but she has done the math and resized the pattern to fit everything from a young child to an obese adult. I guess that in itself is worth the $5 asking price. The pattern is written to be done in stockinette stitch, but Mollie wants hers in basket weave. To accomplish this I went up on size from the one that I would have chosen and added 2 stitches under the arm. That will give me the consistent 8 stitch repeat that I need to accomplish it.

So now, I'm even more excited about retiring and having time to knit. I have a great pattern and some nice yarn to make something that is long overdue.

TWO WEEKS!

Just eye candy...

It hardly seems possible. In 2 weeks I will walk out of the doors of 55 Glenlake for the last time...ever. One more month and I will be getting on a plane to visit Mollie in Chicago. Then I will go to Seattle. I panic and think I have so much to do. But the reality of it is that it is not so much to do. Most of it is done already. I have a little more to pack up and ship off. 

This is getting to be very real...