2005-04-30

 

Doing my part. I work for a digital asset management company. We make some cool stuff.

posted by bethanye 11:00:00 AM   

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2005-04-28

 

Molly, tell me you read this. Seriously. It's like that unnamed ex-coworker from Colorado who told me that I had "no fundamental understanding of how networking actually operates."

posted by bethanye 2:19:00 PM   

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2005-04-26

 

Well, the boy is gone and it's Soup Kitchen at Danielle's tonight. I'm definitely going to Soup Kitchen and then to knitting afterwards, but I think I'm going to need a nap to get me through. Hopefully I won't snooze right through. OTOH, I'll see if some green tea doesn't perk me up first.

posted by bethanye 2:38:00 PM   

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2005-04-25

 

It's true love. I mean, I guess we knew that already, but if we didn't, then this morning's exchange should prove it:

You want me to lie down?
Yes.
Over there?
Yes.
In the mud?
In, as you say, the mud.

Not quite what you expected? Well, what can I say. We're nerdly. We're so nerdly, we joke that we don't just have a pair bond -- we have a covalent bond. That's how nerdly we are. And my nerdly boy is disappearing for a week of nerdliness far away, and I will miss him awful.

posted by bethanye 3:04:00 PM   

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2005-04-20

 

It's one thing to know you suck at DDR. It's another to have a video of a kid who totally doesn't suck. Check it out.Boing Boing: High-speed Dance Dance Revolution kid juggling three pins

posted by bethanye 7:27:00 AM    More Info

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2005-04-19

 

Hooray, it's Tuesday! That means knitting tonight. Hmm... I wonder how much money I'll need, now that there are consistent drink prices at the Mel-O-Dee...

posted by bethanye 3:27:00 PM   

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2005-04-18

 

Oh, and one more insignificant thing before I go to bed. I have finished the World's Most Boring Socks. They're not so boring to look at, but they were very boring to work on. I have a few shots of them on the camera, but the batteries gave out before I could download 'em. Maybe tomorrow. Let's see... that's four pairs of socks so far this year. Not bad!

posted by bethanye 10:03:00 PM   

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This morning, Doreen finally passed away. I got the call around 1AM (3AM in Houston). It's hard to think that she's gone... but at the same time I am comforted that she will not be in any more pain. Her pain tolerance was simply astounding. But, there it is. And I'll miss her awful.

posted by bethanye 10:02:00 PM   

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2005-04-17

 

Oh, and I only have three or four inches left on the World's Most Boring Socks. I'm not sure why these have seemed so damn boring. They just bore me for some reason. But I have to get 'em done so the boy can take them when he goes off to Clarion West this summer. Yep, I'm sending him off to camp for six weeks. It's very VERY cool that he got in his first try. It will be a great experience for him, if a rough six weeks for me with no boy. <sniff!>

posted by bethanye 5:37:00 PM   

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Dammit, I almost forgot this pic I took when I was in Houston. The quality is crap because all I had was my cameraphone when visiting the Target, but here:
On the off chance that Karrie missed this, there's a whole line of "learn to knit" kits at Target under the brand "Knit This.". I laughed out loud, and then had to explain the whole thing to Doreen. I think it missed something in the translation. I mean... I thought it was amusing, even if no one else does.

posted by bethanye 5:32:00 PM   

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2005-04-15

 

She's still hanging in there. She's an amazing fighter, my aunt.

posted by bethanye 2:53:00 PM   

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2005-04-14

 

No surprise there. I guess my emotions are even closer to the surface than usual, since WWdN just made me tear up. To Wil's credit, though, it's a beautiful little piece.

posted by bethanye 10:33:00 AM   

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So I didn't sleep for 24 hours straight. More like 10. And I'm still working with the church on the services, though she hasn't passed yet. I told her husband, "I can still help make things happen even if I'm not there with y'all." Did I mention how glad I am that I stayed? Seriously. I don't know that I would have regretted it if I had left, but I'm also glad I stayed. Very glad.

posted by bethanye 10:25:00 AM   

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2005-04-13

 

Hospice care must cause good karma. I have the exit row all to myself - on the plane, heading home now (around 8:45 PM CST Wednesday night - I'll re-date this post appropriately). I'm having a beer in Doreen's honor. It was really... I don't know how to say. I mean, I'm sincerely grateful for the opportunity to be there with her during her last days. I helped to feed her, bathe her, tend to her. And seeing her so sweet and vulnerable and doted on by so many people who love her.... It was probably one of the most touching and fulfilling times of my life. I wouldn't give it up for anything. I'm very glad I stayed. Very.
I had dinner with Doreen's sister last night. It was good to have some time to check in with her. She's... well, she's coping. She's coping in the very best ways she can, which is all anyone can ask of her. She's not in the room -- she wants to always remember Doreen strong and vibrant.
On a completely unrelated note - the woman in front of me is having her ear chatted off by the woman from across the aisle who has invaded her row. The across-the-aisle invader is reading a book called "Coping with your Borderline Personality Disorder." Yes, I suppose it's possible that she is a counselor or psychiatric nurse or something... but it's more fun to suppose that the book is hers for self-help reasons. I understand you needed reading material, ma'am, but maybe something that doesn't have "COPING WITH YOUR BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER" in 128 point type on the cover would make your fellow passengers feel more at ease, hmm?
Well, long post so far. I guess that trapping me on the plane with more of the World's Most Boring Socks - the Stevie Socks - isn't really inspiring me to knit. I intended to do a lot of things while I was gone, including some product design projects, but none of that worked out save knitting. I finished the black and white variegated cotton/elastic socks and am probably half-way through the second Stevie sock. I want to make 10 pairs this year, and so I'm catching up. How many have I made so far? <counting...> Three? Striped, black-and-white, and Jamie's? So now I have to finish the Stevie socks by end-of-month to make it an even pair-per-month. I like hyphens and slashes today, apparently. Hmm... Oh, yes, and the gift Audrey is still waiting for me to be worked on as well. Those size 8 needles will feel HUGE after a solid week of socks.
Wow, after a week of being basically unattended, I bet my Bloglines is out of control. Something to look forward to.
I don't know if I'm going to work on Friday. I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. I think I'll sleep for two days straight. Did I mention I helped write the obituary and am organizing the programs for the service? I'm not going to attend the service, since I'm going to be so far away, but I sure will help with it however I can from afar. There will be a bit of photo retouching and I've already built the template.
One hour into the 4 hour flight. How long will the plane blog be? Only time will tell...
Two hours in now. The BPD woman seems to be doing okay with her victim. I guess. I have the iPod cranking. Still can't sleep - I tried - and I'm not yet to the heel on that damn sock. That's my goal. To make the heel by touchdown. Can she do it? Stay tuned... OTOH... Does Karen have any good games on this thing? Maybe I'll play some Shanghai... MoMo used to LOVE that game!
Three and a half hours in on our 4:15 flight. I just got the heel into that sock. Damn, my boy has some big ol' feet! I'm putting in afterthought heels because I swear he has spurs on his heels -- he wears out the heels of his store-bought socks pretty quick, so I want to be able to replace these easily. Now I just have an interminable amount of ribbing to add in. Flight is getting choppy now. I'll write another post tomorrow when I get this one added in.

posted by bethanye 10:45:00 PM   

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2005-04-12

 

Today is my husband's birthday. I am far away. I just want to hold him. I feel so tired... and I'm not even pulling much of the load. I really think I'm ready to go home tonight. Is that too soon? To leave tonight? She's still hanging in there, but she has such a group of friends around her caring for her... Am I a bad person for thinking about going home so soon? I just talked to my sister, and I don't think I'm staying for services. MoMo's going, though, so that will be good.

posted by bethanye 9:46:00 AM   

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2005-04-11

 

Today? Tomorrow? It's hard to wait, but she's not in any pain now. She's on the good pain medication. Now we wait and see.

posted by bethanye 8:52:00 AM   

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2005-04-10

 

A turn for the worse. On Tuesday, Doreen seemed pretty good. Fragile, but not as fragile as I had expected. On Wednesday and Thursday we went shopping for a few hours each day. My biggest accomplishment of this trip is backing their Expedition out of the garage and down the driveway without incident. On Friday, she wanted to go get pedicures after lunch... and she took her standard after-lunch nap and never got back up. We thought she might be in a coma, but she did eventually wake up after many many hours asleep. Her doting husband called Hospice, and nurses have been here ever since. She's sleeping comfortably most of the time, and this morning her father made pancakes for breakfast. She tore into them. I think it might be one of her favorites. Yesterday (Saturday), she didn't want anything. Nothing to eat. Nothing to drink. Then we made her a margarita and she downed that fast enough to get brain freeze. She's been eating fairly well since then.
MoMo and Molly are here. They came in Friday night, which is a very good thing since I might have completely lost if if they hadn't... and that's before she really went downhill. It's just difficult to maintain being upbeat for so long, especially for me since I'm not a very upbeat person. But I did it. I did okay, I think. At any rate, they're leaving today and heading back to Dallas.
Now the Hospice nurses say it could be a day or a week or two weeks until she passes, and though she's intermittently awake, I am feeling very out-of-place. I'm not afraid to be here when she dies, exactly. I just feel like an interloper, invading this family when they are so vulnerable and have gone through so much. No one here is making me feel like that. Everyone is being very welcoming and kind. I'm torn. Do I leave and give them their space? Or do I stay in case she wants me? I guess I'll decide tonight.

posted by bethanye 8:32:00 AM   

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2005-04-06

 

One more note about Houston. Sharing a bathroom with two high-school boys means everything that enters that bathroom now smells like Polo. Yes, it seems Polo is still the scent that says "high school". And it has a weird transportive quality to it. AND it's all over my t-shirt now since I set it on the counter while I took a shower. I smell like the hallway near the boys locker room. It's weird.

posted by bethanye 9:52:00 AM   

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Ack, POLO!!

It evokes in some Pavlovian urge to crawl in to the back seat. I'll try to restrain myself. ;)

# posted by MollyB : 4/07/2005 8:47 AM

 

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Things in Houston are going along pretty well. She's physically frail, but not as physically frail as I expected. I have network access -- big plus. I'm having a hard time finding time to work -- not such a big plus. But not a huge minus, either. <grin>

posted by bethanye 9:43:00 AM   

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2005-04-04

 

Then again, maybe not. I'm not taking Audrey to TX. Too much temptation in holding it up, unfinished, on the body of the as-yet-unknowing recipient. No point in spoiling it totally. In her stead, I'm taking the one Stevie sock, the my black/white variegated sock, yarn to make their partners, and a skein of pretty blue-green Lana Grossa variegated sock yarn. It will be all socky. Oh, and some dishcloth yarn. In case the tiny needles start to hurt my hands.

posted by bethanye 8:18:00 PM   

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Things to take with me to Houston. Must remember:

• Clothes
• Toiletries
• Makeup - which I WILL forget if I don't list it here.
• Audrey Pattern
• Lots of yarn to work on Audrey Pattern
• Sock yarn. Socks are always good.
• New game I bought for Jake - Lego Star Wars
• My GBA so I can play it first
• Some of those magazines I haven't read. Plenty to choose from.
• Powerbook
• A box of Twinings EB
• Cell phone charger
• Sneakers
• iPod Shuffle

That's all I can think of for the moment. I'm sure I'll come up with more as the day goes on. Is it cheating to use your blog as a to-do list?

posted by bethanye 10:46:00 AM   

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it's late and i'm tired, but I thought you might be amused by my "re-interpretation" of the LEGO Star Wars PR:

original:
"...you become a true Jedi Knight as you battle against the dark side of the Force through all the fun, action and adventure of Episodes I to III."

Molly-fied:
"... you become a true Jedi Knight as you battle against the dork side of the Farce through all the fun, action and adventure of Episodes I to III."

# posted by MollyB : 4/04/2005 10:04 PM

 

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2005-04-01

 

In knitting news, I finished the front (or back, since they are identical) of Audrey. I'll be taking her to Houston.

posted by bethanye 9:42:00 AM   

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Home sick again today. I am also conflicted about the release of Sheila. On one hand, I'm glad she's free to swim and eat and hunt. OTOH, I'll miss her. Didja see that she gained around 100 lbs during the 6ish months she was in captivity? And that she grew from 5 feet to 6 feet four inches? Amazing growth! Certainly faster than anyone could have expected. The Aquarium website says that's a big part of why they had to release her now. If she got much bigger, they couldn't move her.

posted by bethanye 9:40:00 AM   

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