New Normal

We picked up and moved house this past weekend.


It was a surprise move, but we got people together and made it happen in just a few hours.


My mother-in-law is home on hospice and after discussion we decided it would be best for my husband's dad for us to be there with him full time. So we're out at their place for the forseeable future.


The good thing was that we only had to move the boys' beds and a dresser furniture-wise, but I did have to re-pack the school room I spent early July setting up for the new school year and re-established a school table here in the "new" house. Otherwise it was mostly clothes and a few beloved toys, and of course all my yarn...


Yes, I'll admit. The yarn was packed before my clothes. And I didn't bring all of it. If I really need something that got left behind I can pick it up any time because I'll still be working out of our house during work hours (where my studio is) but I did bring far more yarn than I can knit in the next 3-6 months.


I'm not sure if that was overkill or smart planning. I'm leaning toward smart- because, you know, there could be a yarn apocalypse at any moment.


I'd generally offer a picture of the new digs here, but my camera is still in a box, and to be honest there just hasn't been a lot of picture taking between all the packing and unpacking.


The general points are:


1. The boys now have 5 acres to run around on and they think they are in heaven...


2. Because now they have a cat and are making grand plans for a dog now that we have a yard (we'll see about that...)


3. I started to knit the sweetest little baby socks.


4. I have to drive to work for the first time since 2007. I know. What a hardship, right? I'm just really used to my commute being the 20 seconds it takes me to walk from one room to the other. Mostly I'm worried about my poor brain remembering to bring everything I need to bring.


5. We're glad to be here where we are so needed.


Now we're trying to get into a new routine here and a little bit back to normal.

Finishing

First things first: thank you so very much for the kind comments and emails. Monday was a very difficult day, as late that afternoon after several tests they determined that my mother-in-law's cancer has progressed to the point where it can no longer be treated. She will be released to full time hospice care just as soon as they can coordinate it- hopefully before the weekend. Her care at the hospital has truly been phenomenal and we are so thankful for their help as we move to the next stage. It is likely that she only has a few weeks left (they are giving us 2 months at the very outside).


Monday and Tuesday we spent 12+ hours with her at the hospital talking with doctors and hospice, and in between all that we waited. She sleeps a lot right now because every conversation take all of her energy.


Waiting apparently leads to a lot of finishing for me.


I bound off the Omelet shawl last night (no word on when it might be blocked) and I also finally got buttons sewn on  my Little Red Cardi. I'm within a couple of rows of finishing my Back-to-School U-Neck Vest as well. I'll share pictures as I have a chance to snap some.


My husband had to go back to work this morning, so the boys and I are also taking the morning to catch up on life a little bit and then I'll head back to the hospital this afternoon and the boys will go hang out with their cousin for awhile.


Thank you again, and I'll be back in this space soon.

Unraveled

I had plans for this month.


This one month vacation from work was meant for spending a lot of time together in the kitchen, swimming every afternoon, reading for as long as we wanted to (because there was nowhere we had to get to on time), and maybe learning a little something new for math.


And I had plans to paint more, to sew and knit without feeling like my creative time was crushed into little pockets of stolen time, to get through closets and collections that have been ignored for the last year in order to simplify by just having less stuff...


But then last week happened and we hit a wall of too many days sitting in a hospital room, trying to walk the halls quietly, little boys being shuffled off to friends and family one too many times.


And even just getting to the every day things seemed like a miracle all week long. Laundry done, cleared kitchen counters, empty trash cans... amazing.


And I found myself overwhelmed all week long by what is happening in that hospital, by what is happening in my home as we show up here pretty much just for a quick meal, a shower and some sleep, by what is happening in my head as I hear that insidious alarm screeching: "This is not in the plans for this week, and now you have so much to catch up on..."


My husband gave me and the boys that gift of "normal time" on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. (And I did the same for him and the boys on Sunday.) We caught up on the barest necessities of housework (namely clean underwear for all) and then took off to the pool. And even though my brain was pounding with an ever growing list of things that should have been done, I gathered my boys and we talked and cuddled in bed in the middle of the afternoon reading together and watching favorite shows and playing board games and just being silly together. And while we talked and cuddled and built lego towers I did something that just needed to be done:

It was a perfectly fine sweater, no mistakes, no reason that it sat within 2 rows of being finished for over a year except for the fact that I'd knit it before I knew much about fitting a garment to my actual self (not my imagined self) and it was two sizes too big.


I can't explain it really except that I had the overwhelming sense that ripping out that sweater while drinking hot chocolate and reading The Six Wives of Henry VIII would restore some balance to me.


I know. It makes no sense, but it was indeed true.


My husband came home after a long day at the hospital to boys tucked quietly in bed and me on the couch ripping a nearly complete sweater down to two skeins of yarn. He took it all in and said,

"Should I ask what happened here?"

And I told him, "All you need to know is that I feel much better now."

And it is definitely being re-knit.

On Hold

I think we've been home for about 5 seconds in the last 3 days. My mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital again on Monday, but all we knew that day was that it meant she would get the fluids she desperately needed and they would try to better figure out her pain issues.


We did not know that we would spend most of the last 48 hours in her hospital room or in the surgical waiting room. All is as well as it can be for now, but now we wait and see how the procedures from yesterday help in the next 72 hours. Thank goodness for the wonderful kindness of family and friends willing to hang with our kids and show them a great time.


We spent this morning at the hospital decorating the room to make it a little more home-like: hanging drawings from the boys, putting out a few important photos, and adding fresh flowers. She's going to be there for awhile, so we wanted to surround her with reminders of the people that love her and things that make her happy.


The boys and I are having a "normal" afternoon today. A little time to recover the house and the laundry, time to play and run, and a regular home cooked dinner. Maybe we will hope for a quiet weekend too?

Yarn Along

Yarning Along with Ginny (as usual)...

That blob of yellow that looks like nothing much? It's the Omelet- just a few tiny rows shy of completing the lace and then the massive bind off. I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to it, except that it means I can block it and wear it!


I'm aiming to finish in the next few days so that I can block it over the weekend. Then the lace will open and actually look like something instead of a blob of holey knit fabric.


I'm also knitting along on the Back-To School Vest and have just a bit to finish on the back before I work the neck edging and armholes before calling that one complete too. And the gray Poet's Pullover is in need of just one more 1/4 skein to finish that sleeve. I aim to get to the yarn shop tomorrow so that I might finish that sleeve while we spend time waiting at the hospital this week. I did originally buy enough yarn for the pullover before I started it, but I think some of that wool became socks for my husband while I wasn't thinking clearly about it being "assigned to a project" yarn. PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who does that sort of thing!


For our reads this week I'm on to Throne of Fire and I'm still reading Charlotte's Web with my boys. We are enjoying it very much and Ezra is especially in love with the goose's speeches.


I did a count of my reads for this year and I'm already at 16 novels. My goal is usually 20, so I think I'll be good to reach it this year. I've been heavily reading YA the last few months but I want to get back to some good historical fiction. I am lacking for titles though!  Thoughts?