Performing Arts

Amber and her best friend Lucia have been asked to take part in a Performing Arts performance at school next week by their Drama teacher. There are only a couple of others from their class taking part. Amber is proving to be very good at drama - I have had two 'praise' letters home in the last few weeks from the drama department, and two home from science!

Amber thinks she is turning into a geek!

Ongoing saga of Amber's room

She has finally started to clear it up, and I thought I would collect any washing up. I found

TEN glasses
FOUR plates
TWO mugs
ONE drinking bottle thingy

Later on I am going to actually put some washing away in the airing cupboard - I can get to that now too!

Now that we can actually get across the floor, we can start tidying properly and get rid of some junk.

Silly pics!

Ryan wearing half a football on his head to keep his hair dry! Ang Ryan and Megan making silly faces at me!

I think .....

... ...... someone has been taking notes!

I am really cross .....

.... with the pharmacist in my local Sainsburys. I took a prescription in last wednesday for my new insulin cartridges which I tried to collect today. At first they couldn't find it in the fridge (insulin has to be kept cold) and then they tried to give me the pre-filled syringes that I can't see properly instead of the cartridges for an insulin pen. I ended up having a full blown argument with the pharmacist who swore blind that Optiset and Opticlik were the same thing. They even hunted for the copy of the prescription I had taken in, and couldn't find it - until I pointed out that it must be attached to a prescrption, so they looked again and found it on a shelf. And, guess what, THEY HAD MADE A MISTAKE and ordered the wrong ones!

If I hadn#t been on the ball, or had sent OH/dad to collect it for me. I wouldn't have got any insulin at all!

As for the pharmacist - he couldn't see the difference between the word 'cartridge' and the phrase 'pre-filled syringe'!

Oooops!

I've just noticed all the typos in my last post! That comes of trying to type with a stuck finger I suppose!

Got on really well with the mittens I am making for the Head of Lower School on Sunday but yesterday was a really poor day for knitting. I woke up with a low blood sugar, then went to help set up the knitting group's window display in East Grinstead library. Rushed round town with Phil, got home and decided to make a start on Amber's mittens as I want to make them incognito, then had lunch. During lunch Auntie Ann turned up to look through the Garnstudio patterns online (I've definitely created a monster!), then the window cleaner turned up. I did a few more rows of Amber's mitts, then decided to walk up to meet the kids (mistake), watched the end of Countdown and Deal or No Deal, then started on their dinner - low blood sugar again. Finished first mitt for Miss Barr. Cleared washing up, logged on and had ANOTHER low blood sugar! Managed to get ribbing done on second mitt for Miss Barr but by 9.30 I'd had it so went to bed.

Blood sugar must have been low because I had loads of sweet stuff uesterday and this morning my blodd sugar reading was still in the normal range.

Oh, how I hate this disease!

Life in geheral ...

.... seems to be getting to me at the moment!

I have made one christmas cake and have another to do.

I am half way through my christmas knits - cast on for mitts last night only to find they were going to fit the local giant.

Have wrapped just under half of the presents.

Found the christmas cards and offered to add to dad to the ones we would duplicate. I'll probably write his too.

Discovered I have add an awful lot of bank charges recently - grrrr!

Amber STILL won't tidy her room.

Now I sem to have got a cold!

My knitting to do list is getting longer!

Seeing as I had no knitting to do for christmas a few weeks ago, now I have quite a long list! I have deiced to make my uncle a scarf as I usually buy him socks and I thought it would make a nice change!

I am not enjoying the scarf I am making my friend so it seems to be taking absolutely ages! I want to get the jaority of the gift knitting done before by hospital appointment on 10th, just in case!

Can't get on!

Don't you hate it when you get to a point in your knitting plans and ntothing seems to be happening as you want it to?

Well, I wanted to start the mittens for Amber's Head of Lower School on monday and hadn't got the right size needle, so ordered one. I decided to start the bag for my friend Angela and decided I din't like the way the Freedom Spirit looked doubled, so frogged it and made a start on the Lydia Scarf from Knitonthenet, after hand writing the pattern out as we have no ink at the moment. Didn't like the way that was looking with the Freedom Spirit (the shade began to look like a school scarf!), so frogged that and am now knitting the Cantterbury Memories scarf from Ravelry, which is designed for the yarn.

Finally I am happy with it!

Now I can't check to see if my needle has been despatched yet - I can't access my emails for some reason!

Been to the doctors

Well I've got an appointment already for the consultant! My GP managed to book one while I was at the surgery over the internet for 10th December - I could've had the week before but I know Oh is off that day as we are going to Tunbridge Wells in the morning. Trouble is it's possible I might have a carpal tunnel problem with the same hand too, as I am in so much pain.

Hopefully, we also managed to get the cartridges sorted out for my insulin too.

AND, my GP is very pleased with my blood results - the new insluin seems to be doing the trick.

He also thinks I might have hit the menopause as I only had light spotting last time. Apparently 47 is quite old to start too! There was a worry that the diabetes/menopause combination would wreak havoc with the diabetic control but it seems to be having the opposite effect, thank goodness!

What a twit!

I had to order a new blood sugar montiroing diary this morning from Novo Nordisk. When the girl answered the phone I asked for a new Knitting diary! I think my brain has finally turned to yarn!

Don't you hate it .......

...... when you run out of yarn 2 inches before the end of a project? I am making a pressie for Jacqui (aka jam-mam) to send her for christmas and now I've had to leave it until my yarn arrives!

I've cast on, and frogged, a pair of mittens for one of Amber's teachers, didn't like the yarn as it was a bit too pale of the needles and I was trying to be clever and magic loop the pattern in Yarn Forward.

I really ought to rest my left - I am currently in constant pain but knitting does take my mind off it a bit. I am going to see my GP tomorrow and hopefully will get referred to Harry the Hand at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, so I need to get on with the christmas bits that I seem to have found myself doing although I don't think I will see him before Christmas let alone get a date for the op. Last year I had about three weeks to wait to see the consultant and only two weeks to wait for the op, so ......

I'm not having a brilliant time at the moment ....

.... and it's all to do with my beloved daughter (as if you couldn't guess).

Monday morning, she had a 'headache' (again), so I phoned school to report her absent, and the receptionist picked up on that fact that I was a bit disbelieving so i asked to speak to the head of Lower School, who wasn't available. Shortly afterwards the phone rang and it was the head who asked to speak to Amber. The upshot was I had to arrange for a friend to take Amber to school (4 miles away) as the first available bus wasn't for nearly an hour. Amber didn't know if she would come straight home or not so I shot up to the post office to get some money at 9.00 only to find that their system was down and they weren't able to process any transactions. Luckily Amber had been talked into staying at school and the teacher told me she would keep her there, even if Amber complained of feeling ill, for the day and send her home on the school bus.

Amber came home with a mission - to get herself up in the mornings, get ready for school, leave for the bus at 7.50 am and report to the head of Lower School who would then make the decision as to whether she would stay in school should Amber be feeling unwell - this would mean Amber would already be there and more than likely kept there.

Yesterday morning dawmed and, guess what, Amber was in the filthiest mood ever. By the time she went to school I was a nervouse wreck and felt utterly worthless (she talks to me as if I were something on the bottom of her shoe). I spoke to dad who wanted to know what I expected him to do about it and then I ended up sobbing after I put the phone down, as the response I would've got from my mum who would have been supportive. Oh, how I miss her.

I knew it!

Auntie Ann against a knitted bag when I told her the cost of the yarn! I estimated between £30 and £35 for the yarn alone, as she has stipulated a colour choice. If she would go for a more vibrant shade/colour I may be able to reduce the cost. Trouble is she wants a bag she can take shopping!

I am really proud of myself!

Today, I managed to teach myself the Magic Loop method of knitting in the round! It is so easy to do and I thoroughly recommend it! I bought the Fibre Trends booklet from Woolly Workshop and think it's the best £6.50 I've ever spent!

Last night!

As you all know last night was Halloween, and my two had great fun. Ryan was dressed in a hoodie with dark glasses on and wielded a garden edger - when anyone rang the doorbell he flew out of the back door, waited for Amber to open the front door, and the 'victims' to shout 'trick or treat' before jumping out on them!

I think there were a few scared kids!

My knitting to do list ......

..... has been expanded thanks to Amber! She now wants to give fingerless mitts to another friend and her form teacher for christmas - it's a jolly good job they don't take long to make!

It does mean, however, that my knitting record will probably exceed last year's total of 58!