Aflac Adventures at Trader Joe's

As some of you may recall, I received a Carl Edwards jacket for Christmas:

I wore it today to Trader Joe's when I went to pick up some groceries.  Now, to understand this story, you have to know that the checkouts (at least the one I was at - the express lanes are different) are shaped like squared-off Us, and two cashiers stand back-to-back.

My cashier Andy and I were chatting, and the next cashier turned, saw me, and quacked like the Aflac duck.  Now, if you don't know the Aflack quack, you probably either don't watch a lot of TV or you fast-forward through all commercials.  And you certainly don't watch NASCAR commercials.  So, for your convenience, here's an Aflac commercial, starring Carl Edwards himself (gotta pimp the Missouri boy):

So, back to the story.  Cashier quacked, and laughed.  Andy went, "Huh?"

Cashier quacked again.  I said, laughing, "It's okay; I get it."  Andy said, "I don't.  What?  Do I need insurance?"  Cashier quacked again.  I said, "Do you really not get it?  Andy said, "I really don't."  I made a Vanna White gesture over my chest with my left hand, and Andy sheepishly grinned.  "Oh.  Well, you know, you have so much OTHER stuff going on there," and he pointed to the sponsors above the Aflac logo.  "Uh-huh," I said, "See you next time!"

Birthday Events

Some of my friends met me at one of my favourite restaurants tonight, AKI, for all-you-can-eat sushi.  One of the friends I invited couldn't come because she had to go to her sister's birthday party, and another friend was visiting her grandparents for the weekend.  One of my friends popped in for a bit after an appointment, and it was good to see her, if only for a few minutes.

We had a great time stuffing ourselves silly and playing detective.  A large party near us had a reservation under the name "Alex", and we spent some time and employed some tactics trying to figure out which of the party was named "Alex".  Over the course of the evening, we developed elaborate backstories - they were all named Alex and this was their meeting; ALEX was actually an acronym (Assembly for Lively and Educated Xenophobes); none of them were named Alex.  Eventually, one of the guys said "This is for you, Alex," and I literally grabbed someone's arm in excitement as the real Alex was about to be revealed.  You'd have thought I was about to win big money on a game show or something.  I can't remember laughing that hard in AGES.

After supper, the idea was for some of us to come back to my place for dessert, general hanging out, board games, etc.  But instead the supper crew all went home and people from the West Philly Knitting group ended up coming over.  For dessert, we had Pumpkin Pie Pudding that I had cooked earlier today.  It was nice and warm in the Crock Pot, and it seemed to be well received.  We watched some episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" as they hadn't ever seen it but wanted to, and (of course) got some knitting done.

It was a great birthday, spent with a good variety of friends, in spite of it also being the first birthday with Kirsten, Kristi, and Sarah all being in various parts of the country now.

Tired

I'm tired today.  I got a full night's sleep, but soon after I woke up, I wanted to sleep.

Just after I started to drift off into napland, my property manager showed up to look at my bedroom radiator, and then I couldn't get back to sleep after he left.

I did some light housekeeping, took a shower, and then was so tired that I started to fall asleep again.  So I headed to bed for a short nap, as I had plans at 7:00 p.m. with two women from the West Philly knitting group.  That was around 5:20 p.m., and I set my alarm for 6:30 p.m.  My mom called and woke me up at 6:04 p.m.

Aye yi yi.

Now that I'm home and it's 11:30 p.m., guess what?  Yep, wide awake, not tired at all.  Ain't that the way?

The Adventures of Mom's Middle Finger

My mom had minor surgery on her middle finger today.  This is the second surgery she's had to have on a digit, and she'll probably have to keep having them as she ages.  It's because of her Sjogren's Syndrome.  I don't claim to fully understand all of the details, but it has to do with her fingers getting really stiff, locking up, and causing her a lot of pain.  She can get this treated with cortisone shots, but that's only a temporary measure.  The doctor goes in and cuts some tendons so she can bend her fingers but still have controlled use of them.

The last time this happened, it was her thumb, and she didn't realise that as she waited and continued with the cortisone shots, the pain would increase to the point where she would suddenly yelp at random times.  So this time, she only tried two cortisone shots before opting for the surgery.

As you can probably imagine, there were many jokes leading up to today since it was her middle finger being operated on (and locking up!).  Especially since, for Christmas, I had given her bowling team prints of a picture of Mom "accidentally" flipping the bird to her favourite driver - behind his back!  We were at on pit road, and she caught him as he was walking to his car to qualify.  He grabbed her hat and started walking, so she was behind him.  I took a pic just then and the way Mom is holding her hand is... suspect, to say the least.  What's really funny is there's a guy in the background who happens to have a really frowny face as if to say "I see you, lady, and I disapprove!"  So there have been many jokes about "Well, if you didn't use that finger so much..."

Her bowling buddies has asked me to send the picture in to the driver and tell him to watch his back.  "This is your fan.  Just imagine what people who DON'T like you are like!"  They've also asked me to make this picture next year's Christmas card.  Mom has asked me not to publish the picture, because "you might stop me from getting a job someday!"  Uh, okay, Mom.

Even her anaesthesiologist got in on the act today.  Just before he put her under, she asked how her finger would be bandaged.  He told her she'd have her choice of pink, green, or blue Ace bandages, and they'd wrap it sticking out for her.  She told him she wanted the pink.  But when she came to, she was disappointed to see that only her palm, part of her thumb and just a tiny wrap over her middle finger had been wrapped.  She looked for the anaesthesiologist, but he wasn't in the recovery room.

Tonight, I called her to see how she's doing, and she said her finger is swelling up and she can't move it.  She doesn't remember this happening with her thumb, so she's going to call her doctor tomorrow if it doesn't improve overnight.  Although I hope she's okay, the fact that her finger is getting fat and stiff kind of makes me giggle.

Missouri vs Philadelphia: Winter Weather

People kind of roll their eyes at me when I head out in the winter weather in only Mizzou hoodie and maybe some fingerless mitts and roll out my usual line "Oh please, I'm from Missouri."  But it's true.  Coming from Missouri, I'm used to much harsher winters than we get here in Philadelphia.

I was reminded of this last night when the West Philly knitting group broke up for the night, and Elizabeth put on her scarf, mittens, cuffs, and winter coat, and I threw on my... Mizzou hoodie and fingerless mitts.  She exclaimed, "Is that ALL you have?!?!" "Yep.  I'm from Missouri."

When we got to the corner where we usually part ways (we walk about halfway home, because she lives near me), we talked for about ten minutes until she finally said, "Okay, I'm sorry, but I'm FREEZING!"  I said, "Oh, okay.  I'm sorry.  You have to tell me these things because this kind of weather honestly doesn't faze me at all."

I was reminded again of the difference tonight when an acquaintance posted to Twitter that her school already cancelled classes for tomorrow.  Snow had only started to fall an hour prior to her post!  The forecast is for 4-6", but who knows what we might actually get!  I called Mom to tell her that schools here were already cancelling, and we laughed.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, there are seven inches of snow on the ground, the forecast for tomorrow is a wind chill of -15º to -20ºF (yes, that's 15-20ºF BELOW zero), and they have NOT called off school yet.  Also, here's what the handbook from my former grammar school says about the recess policy (I was looking at the handbook earlier this week trying to find out if the school still has open classrooms like they did when I went there, or if they have walls now; I don't generally make it a habit to go around checking out school handbooks):

• +6º F and above     May have full outdoor recess
• +5º F to -14º F       May have shortened outdoor recess
• -15º F and below   Must have indoor recess

*These guidelines are based on the wind chill index

So, see - truly, I come by my winter heartiness naturally!

Jewelry Advice

When I was in Missouri, my grandma (Mom's mom) told me she wanted to give me something, but if I didn't want it, I should just tell her and she wouldn't be hurt.  When she left the room, I looked to Mom for advice.  Mom told me it was her ring, and if I didn't want it, just give it to her after we left.  Okay, cool; no pressure, then.

Grandma brought it in and showed it to me and I'm sorry to say that I didn't remember the ring at all.  But it was a really pretty ring.  There was a main stone in the centre and then some smaller stones surrounding the centre stone.  The main stone is from Ganno's ring; Ganno was Grandma's mom (when Mom was little, she couldn't say "Grandma," and Ganno has been Ganno ever since).  The smaller stones were from Grandma's wedding ring.

I tried it on, and it was just a touch too big for any of my fingers.  But it was a lovely ring.  Not QUITE my style, but I still wanted it because it's clearly a family heirloom.  I want children (or at least A child, although I turn 36 this Friday, there's no partner in sight, the clock is a-tickin', etc.), but the ring may well stop at me.  Ah well.  We'll see what happens.  ANYWAY...

Grandma said that next time I'm in town, we'll go together to get it cleaned and resized.  The only thing is that it's silver.  Both of the rings that I currently wear (one on each hand) are gold.  Here's where you come in.  Do you think it'd look weird to wear one gold ring and one silver ring on the same hand?  Should I wear both gold rings on one hand and keep the silver ring on its own hand?  Because of the size of the ring, it probably will be  "special occasion" ring, if that makes a difference in your advice.

Thanks!

Caera Cowl

My stashbusting has started!  Technically, it started at the end of 2010, but hey.  Before I left for Missouri for the holidays, I had one Deirdre, one of my cat-sitters, look at the different projects that I was taking home as gifts for my family and we discussed something that she might like as a gift in exchange for taking care of Felix.  I wanted to make her something since I can't really afford to pay her (having been unemployed for nearly a full year now) and since she would driving over from South Philly every other day.

She was adamant that I not buy new yarn for her project, so we went through my stash until we found something that she liked.  She liked the idea of a cowl, although she left the exact pattern up to me and told me that if I decided to do a hat or scarf instead, that would be fine, too.  (Way to commit, Deirdre!)

When I got to Kansas City, I narrowed it down to a few cowl patterns and I let Mom have the final say.  The winner was the Caera Cowl.  I used some Classic Elite Wings yarn that Mish had sent me once upon a time.  Oh so soft!  I'm glad I have plenty left over, as this cowl took just over one skein.

The cowl itself was a quick knit once I got the hang of it.  This is the second attempt, as my first attempt was just... wrong.  I misinterpreted the pattern, and those of you who are on Ravelry can see my project page notes for more details

Deirdre was going to come over today, and I was hoping to give it to her and get a picture of her modelling it, but she had a house emergency.  But maybe soon you'll see a modelled picture.