susandennis

Yesterday I read on Twitter that the bridge between here and the gym was totally backed up with emergency road repair at the time I would have been trying to get home had I gone swimming as usual. Then this morning, one of my swim buddies told me that they front desk person did not show up to open the gym until 8:15. An angry mob had collected by that time. Ugh. Been there and it's ugly.

So... my decision not to swim yesterday? Brilliant!

Today I was worried about swimming with my hand wounds. I doubled down on the binding - And, can I just say thank you to the genius who invented the self adhering stretchy tape??? It's so effective and easy and nice to my skin. Thank you - and then put my neoprene glove over it all.

First test, will it hurt. It felt weird for the first lap but it didn't hurt and then I pretty much forgot about it. When I got home, I peeled off the bandages and, honestly, I think all that time in the water helped it!!

It doesn't even look disgusting any more. That's some fast healing right there.



It's now back covered in antiseptic gel and bandaged back up. It still doesn't hurt. I must not have any hand nerves left at all. Fine by me.

I spent last night watching 2 episodes of Season 3 of Line of Duty. That show is just amazing. I literally gasp out loud. I still have one episode left and then six in Season 4 and Season 5 is being made right now. TV goodness for sure.

Today's project is more of the geometric pattern working. I organized my notes from the coat and then worked them out for a top (not cardigan). I have 2 yards of a fun fleece to use for pattern validation. On paper, I should have plenty of fabric to do the job. But 2 yards for a long sleeve tunic length top? I need to do to believe.

I'm on it. Watch this space.

Yesterday, I missed a text from Frank. I missed it because all my notifications sound the same - emails sound link texts sound like twitter likes. I heard the noise and just ignored it.

NO MORE! I just spent an hour creating specific sounds and identifying them. Now, when a text or an email from my brother comes in, I'll hear "It's Bill". When a random email comes in, I'll hear "It's an email!" And when Amazon sends anything, I'll hear "Amazon!" - I made one for Frank, one for Fed Ex, one for USPS, one for UPS.

So far, no one's sent anything so I can only hope they all work. But, if they don't it's a tweak to fix. I'm delighted with the idea and the effort.

I got bandages and a rubber glove so I can do the dishes. I thought about dropping by Trader Joe's but decided...nah. I came home and rebandaged my hand but also remembered to take a picture of it in case it gets infected so I can show the hospice nurse what it looked like before it started to kill me. Drama queen? Me????

Now I'm back home, doing laundry.

I just went in to swap washer to dryer only to discover that I'd also washed a packet of facial tissues. That had now disintegrated. All over my clothes, my red coat, the carpet.

• I went to get my 4,000 year old hand held vac only to discover it no longer works. My other vacume doesn't do tight spaces.


• Handheld going to Goodwill.


• The old hand held was mounted to the wall in the closet. I wanted to unmount the charger to put with the handheld - 2 screws.


• Got my trusty drill/screw driver. Bit too short.


• Got out the brand new box o' 597 different bits and things for the screwdriver that I had never used. The last time my brother was here, he struggled fixing things because I didn't have the right drill bits and stuff so I got this variety pack to solve that problem. Only it was a bitch to get into.


• Got into it finally, got the bit extender, got the fucking screws out. Put it all in the Goodwill bag.


• Used the lint roller I got yesterday at the Dollar Store (to pick up thread bits at the sewing machine) to clean up the clothes and then vacummed the other stuff as best I could.


• Ordered a new hand held.

And now it's lunchtime. ThankgodforPopeyesFriedChicken.

On any other Sunday right now I'd be nearly half way through my swim. It feels very odd to be sitting here having coffee instead. I slept until 7 am which is pretty unprecedented.

But, hey, mixing it up seems like a good idea. I do wonder what the regulars at the gym think about my not being there. Or do they even notice? Maybe not on a Sunday. Also Sunday is when the best front desk person is on duty. Sorry to miss her.

I think my ear is really and truly on the mend. I've been religious about these drops and now the only symptom I have left is blockage - just after I put those drops in! I think I'm going to keep using them for a couple of more days at least - maybe until I run out. I want this thing fixed.

My hand is an ugly mess but already healing a little. The most minor of the four gouges is already showing improvement. The rest are a bloody mess. There will be scars for sure. My chances of ever being a hand model are now 100% toast. On the up side, it does not hurt much at all. My plan is to keep it gelled up with antibiotic stuff and keep it covered.

So today's big excitement is a trip to Walgreens for bandaging. Woot!!

Also there may be sewing. When I ordered the fleece that came yesterday, I had a couple of patterns in mind for nice, cozy tops/tunics. BUT, now I'm thinking I might do a variation of the geometric red coat only as a pullover instead of a cardigan and, of course, shorter with maybe a turtleneck instead of a hood... hmmmmm

But, first, there will be breakfast.

So, I was in the elevator coming back upstairs. My neighbor was there with his not ever trained French Bull Dog. I had the smell of french fries on my fingers. He (the dog) was jumping all over me. And finally his never trimmed claws dragged across my hand...

Under this bandage there are four gouges. None are deep but two are nice wide little divots. It was just before the door opened on our floor when it happened so I was able to prevent the neighbor from seeing it and get inside here to grab some toilet paper before I made a mess.

I got antiseptic cream all over it and the bandage and the bleeding finally stopped. But, ugh! This is not going to heal quickly, I'm afraid.



The dog needs training and his nails clipped but he was just excited and shit happens. Had I not leaned down to let him sniff my hand, he would not have clawed it. Even bandaged up, I can move then hand just fine. Knit, sew, do whatever so it could be worse. But. Ouch!

I was coming back from meeting ljtourist. I thought he had left for Christmas but he had not! He was having a late lunch at the newly moved deli so we got in a nice visit. The sewing shop had my needles and my zipper. Oh and FedEx said that they were going to deliver the fleece I ordered on Monday, but they delivered it today!!

I got my hand ripped to shreds and still had an excellent day. Now, that's very cool.

I got to the pool this morning and briefly considered skipping the swim anyway. I just wasn't feeling it and my ear was clogged up already. It didn't need an hour of water added.

But, I already was there and had my suit on so I got in and kicked off and had one of the best swims I've had in a long time. And it wasn't just my imagination. I just went to the Garmin stats and, sure enough, I swam faster than usual both on pace and total time. So weird. But cool. I do think I'm going to skip tomorrow, though.

Then on to my new little cafe. It's so far away and seems even farther but the minute I walk in the door, it feels 100% totally worth the inconvenience. The food is interesting and different and good. And the ambiance is just perfect for Saturday morning breakfast. Plus last week, I saw on instagram that they have a window case of amazing pastries. Today I went up to get a good look and yep. They do. I came with a massive slice of almond bundt cake.

Then to the Dollar Store. Just a quickie this time to fill in for some items I forgot last week. Then on to Popeye's - lunch and dinner are in the house. Then a 3 item stop and QFC (grocer) and a slide through McDonald's drive thru for a peppermint mocha to get me home.

Just perfection.

Next up is changing the sheets on the bed. I would have changed them before I left for the pool but Zoey was sleeping in and I couldn't bring myself to make her get up. But, she's up now so I think I'll do that and then run a load through the laundry.

Then I think I'll trot up the street to the sewing store to see if they have any stretch machine needles. If they don't, I'll order some online but I'd rather buy from my neighbor.

The sewing room needs a tidy. And I have TV that needs watching and a sweater that is mid-knit. All is good here.

Done! And I am so delighted.



This is the bit that I conquered in the pool this morning. I wanted that flannel to show on the pocket but the back side of that flannel is butt ugly. It's not like a shirt where you never see the innards.



So, I camouflaged it!!



Here's the base info I used from a German (I think) website.





The hardest part (outside of not being able to read some of the numbers) was translating CM to inches and then doing all the math. But, I kept copious notes. So I am good to go on The Real Coat.

I just read that the new cured meat place (the one that moved from too far to just the right amount of close) has a grab and go bin. I think I'm going to put on the new coat and go grab and then go go. hahahaha

It is a Christmas present from the Mariners!! A very high quality, fancy ass, travel bag/huge brief/laptop case. With a very subtle Mariners logo on it. It's really classy and nice.









I'm guessing the other two USPS tracking numbers are, in fact, label creation errors. I've seen that before.

I went to Costco. On a good day, at my Costco (Store #1, the original), assholes park mid aisle to wait for someone to load up and, return their cart and eventually leave. They'll block everyone else in the process. Usually this happens closest to the door. Today it was happening even way out at the far end where I usually park. There were zero empty spaces. I cannot imagine what a made house it must be inside. And imagine was as close as I wanted to get so I peeled out and went to Grocery Outlet.

They didn't have what I wanted but had lots of other stuff and parking and it was a way nicer experience. So there.

And I came home to the fancy assed bag from the Mariners AND a wonderful and beautiful pop up Christmas card from an online friend in Hungary.

Now I'm on the way back to the coat. Zipper is fixed and pockets are in. So far, so good.

I almost didn't go to the pool this morning. It was way too cold out and giving my ear a swim break would have been smart. But I was in forward motion and not awake enough to turn back once I got to the garage of this building so onward. And it was a nice swim. There were not a lot of people in the gym and only two of us in the pool. Must be a lot of people had the same thought I did but were awake enough to go back to sleep!

I'm not skipping tomorrow because I want to go back to that great new breakfast place. Maybe I'll skip Sunday. Hear that, ear?

During today's swim, I was thinking coat making and realized that my plan included a really bad idea for the pocket. And then I conjured up what I think will be a fun fix for it.

So that's this morning's project. But, then I think there will be a trip to Costco. Maybe.

USPS lists 3 packages coming my way. All three have the same origination (a packaging company about a mile from here). All three report that the label was created last Friday. Two show no more progress but the third one is out for delivery today! Mystery... intrigue.

Time to get to work.

My test coat is working out amazingly well. But, I am really glad I did a test. I made the sleeves way bigger but they were still not big enough for a sweater. So I made them bigger. I thought I was going to have to add girth but turns out, no. And I took copious notes.

The test coast is made from some heavy red french terry that I bought at Goodwill. Once I got it right I decided rather than chunk it because it was a test, I'd finish it off and have yet another nice coat! I went looking in my fabric stash for a bit of contrast for the pockets and found the rest of that plaid flannel sheet. Perfect!! That really is the sheet that keeps on giving. I even found the perfect zipper in my zipper stash.

And then I went on to install said zipper and did a perfect job. I was, in fact, admiring my work when I saw that I had installed the fucker exactly backwards. The zipper pull is on the inside!!! GRRRRR. Where is that seam ripper? I got it all ripped out and I'll put it back in correctly tomorrow and finish up.

The good fabric for the rain coat will be next week. So really no huge hurry. A nice sewing day.

I have coffee coming from Amazon today except I think it's probably not coming today. They are using Amazon's own delivery service which is usually fairly efficient but once in a while they really stub their toe. Today is one of those days. Initially, it said the order would be here by 2:45. Then it was 4:45. Then it was 7:30 and now it's 9:30. My guess is that by 9:30, there will be UNABLE TO DELIVER note with instructions for me to check the address.

It's fine. I have coffee enough to get me to tomorrow.

I did get to 13 Coins and bought two gift cards and gave them to myself - hehehe. I don't really understand the whole elf on the shelf thing but that's where I put the gift cards for now, so I'm calling them elf cards.

My ear was killing me earlier today but two ibuprofen knocked that hurt right out. I don't remember ever having something that was so fixable by ibuprofen. Fine by me. I'll take it!

I just made the mistake of checking on my investments. I need to not do that.

I think I'll fast forward through Ellen while I knit.

I'm still a little freaked by how firmly I believed yesterday was Tuesday. My brother reports that he relies on his pill organizers to determine the day of the week. I thought that was genius. I ordered 12 (I have no patience for doing this every week - once a quarter, ok but every week, nfw). Oddly Amazon's were really expensive. $7/8 even more for those things. NFW. Walmart, on the other hand, had the same ones at way more reasonable prices. So, sorry, Amazon. You lose this time.

I'm getting a little weary of the Death of Bush. Kindly, sweet, nice guy who basically said that AIDS was the fault of gay men who couldn't control their own behavior. Now, when Jimmy Carter dies... if he ever does... it will be interesting to see what kind of a bruhaha they make then.

I need tissues - the big boxes and the ones that pop up as you pull one out - oh and the w/ lotion kind. I need bacon - Costco pre-cooked kind. I need 2 long - 36-ish inches - separating zippers - one grey or green and one red. And I need stretch sewing machine needles.

I'd love it if I could make one trip and get it all. Sadly, it will probably mean 3 stops and an online order.

Oh and I need to stop in at 13 Coins and buy one or maybe two gift cards. For each $100 gift card, they give you a $20 voucher. So I can get $240 worth of meals for $200. I did this last year and it worked out really nicely. I'll probably spend $200 there when my nephew, his wife and my brother come in March. Nephew and wife are actually staying at the hotel that houses the restaurant.

ZERO of that list must be done today. I think I'm going to start this morning with cutting out the test coat.