The Body Is Cool

It's amazing to me how complex and well thought-out the human body is. The very fact that our bodies are governed by a brain that does not yet have the capabilities to completely figure out itself is testament to this extraordinary complexity. I was pondering this topic as I was shoveling driveways today and my arms and back were becoming increasingly stiff with exhaustion. If I just think of my own muscles, I understand that in recent months my left arm has become quite a bit stronger than my right because I typically have Silas hitched up on my hip with my left arm while using my right hand for more complex tasks. These, however, do not seem to be the same muscles that are primarily used when shoveling, because now I'm sore in all kinds of other places in my arms. This is also a different soreness than I am feeling in my right arm from my jog the other day (yes! I went on a jog around the park with Silas in the jogging stroller). Somehow I managed to jog for the first time in five weeks and get sore nowhere except my right arm, which was controlling the stroller. And this is also not the same soreness that happens after I've been knitting for two hours and realize that my hands are about to kill me. Wow, this post really sounds like a gripe-fest about how old and decrepit I am becoming, although that's certainly how I feel right now after my shoveling adventure. Really this post is just to express my amazement about how a crazy-smart Creator and millions of years of time passing have evolved us humans into finely-tuned works of art. Pretty sweet.

Leslie: Part 2

On Friday I attended my second private knitting lesson, and boy oh boy, did Leslie ever school me over again! That girl knows her #$%*! We spent the first hour doing what I desperately needed help with, which is fixing mistakes over and over again. We grabbed a ball of super chunky yarn and some size 15 needles so that it would be easy to see what I was doing, and she purposefully made what seemed like hundreds of mistakes and taught me how to fix them, and then made those same mistakes and gave it to me to fix. Of course, in the process of knitting with her I also made my own natural mistakes, which she was there to say, "Ooooh, what did you just do? How do we fix that? Nope, not like that...yes, there you go!" The result is that later that evening as I was knitting at home and realized I'd made a mistake three rounds back in my newest project, I had no problems tinking (tinking is the process of unknitting--note that *tink* is *knit* spelled backwards, tricky tricky) 135 stitches to get back to the problem AND fix it. Yeah baby. That's what I'm talking about.

So last night I finished my latest project, the Winter Brights hat:

This was a fun and easy project that Leslie told me would only take a couple of evenings to make, and though I doubted her, she was correct. Leslie decided after our mistake-fixing session on Friday that I was ready to begin working with circular needles and "knit in the round" as they call it, so we began work on this hat, and I must say I'm pleased with the result. Working in the round is different, but in my opinion, far preferable than knitting with two unconnected needles. Instead, the needles you work with are connected with a cable, so the project works itself around in a circle as you go. The Winter Brights Hat begins with a ribbed edge for three inches and then transitions into a seed stitch, which I had never done before but was pretty neat. So there it is folks: project number three is in the books! Knitting has been a fulfilling and fun new activity for me; not only do I honestly love the process of it, but then you get an end result that's cute and occasionally brag-worthy. =)

Have a great day readers! And congratulations to the Green Bay Packers!

Yesterday

In spite of my previous post about the city's inability to handle snow, yesterday was pure bliss for me. I am fantastically in love with snowfall, and yesterday we got it all day long! I remember that even when I lived in Minnesota, I would be the one person in my class who would choose the colder window seat just so that I could spend half the class period looking out at the snow as it fell while listening to my professor. I never get sick of watching snow fall! So imagine my delight when I arrive at my eye doctor appointment at 7:30 yesterday morning and snow suddenly starts falling all around me in large flakes. Even better, it was the kind of snow that is beautiful as it falls but doesn't wreak too much havoc because it is falling.  When the appointment was done, I grabbed some breakfast for BJ and me and headed home to the boys. We had one more doctor's visit to handle for the day (a check-up for Silas at the pediatrician), and then it was on to my knitting lesson (which is basically pure bliss on top of pure bliss. Tomorrow I'll post about my newest project!). Then came pictures in the snow, and then BJ's parents came over for dinner and games, which was very fun. And all the while, the snow was falling beautifully. Nothing crazy-good happened, no winning the lottery, no major events, just a nice, cozy, wonderful day of normal activities taking place while watching snow fall onto the creek and woods from our dining room window.

Thank you, God, for days like yesterday. Those kinds of days, like so many others, just remind me of why I'm so lucky to be alive.

We Need Plows...Or Smarts

City governments in Oklahoma sure don't know how to handle this whole 'snow' thing. You'd think as much snow and ice as we've gotten in the last several winters, they would start figuring out a way for this kind of weather to not cripple our functioning! Now, I know that I'm spoiled because I spent four winters in Minneapolis, and they really know how to handle the snowfall. Plows are out immediately, salt is dispensed along the roadways, and voila, it's all good. Feasibly, I understand that Oklahoma cannot invest the financial resources into snow removal that Minnesota can, because we get a foot of snow a year and Minnesota gets at least five.  In the four winters I was there, one can deduce that I probably witnessed about 20 feet of snowfall, and with all of this we only had TWO snow days in the entire time I lived there.  Now, I'm not dissing Oklahomans in general, don't misunderstand me. We know how to handle the weather patterns that predominantly affect us around here, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes.  I just think that it's amazing that the cities around here can't make snow removal better for people to some degree. For those of you who don't live in this immediate area, what basically happened is that the Oklahoma City metro got about 8 to 12 inches of snow (depending on what part of the metro you're in) with some crazy high-speed winds and a little bit of ice on Monday night and all day Tuesday. Understandably, all schools and most businesses were closed on Tuesday and even Wednesday. But Thursday and Friday roll around and the road conditions are still HORRIBLE for the most part, except for the interstates, which are fine. School isn't back in session still, and my boba tea cafe has not reopened. Grr! City streets are coming along, but still are pretty bad in lots of places. And neighborhood streets, well...don't even get me started. Basically, the city doesn't plan to plow ANY of the neighborhood streets, and Moore is not alone in this! So we have approximately 8 to 12 inches of snow out in our cul-de-sac right now, and we will until this all melts, which doesn't appear to be anytime soon. And to top things off, I have seen no plows recently, and the trucks that we have seen are going around dispensing not salt, but sand. Sand. Please! No wonder schools aren't back in session. Can we figure this out please?

Can't Get Enough of 'The Moosepath League'

Today I'm writing a post about a series of books that is quite near and dear to my heart. I don't recommend books lightly, that's for sure. There are so many books out there that one could waste her time reading, so I always make a point to research for gems before I invest my limited time (I am not unique here...we all have limited time!). One way that BJ and I have had assistance with finding 'book gems' is via Nancy Pearl, whom I have written about on a previous post.  A librarian with connections to Tulsa, Pearl has read thousands of books and has compiled the best ones, in organized lists with summaries, into Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Lust To Go, all three of which I own.

But on to the point of this: Pearl recommended a relatively little-known series of five books by Maine-native Van Reid.  The series is entitled The Moosepath League, and consists of the stories of Cordelia Underwood, Mollie Peer, Daniel Plainway, Mrs. Roberto, and Fiddler's Green. Honest to God, never have I fallen in love with books like I have fallen in love with these stories. I own all five of them, two of which have been autographed by Van Reid himself! Reid's stories are connected through the characters and chronicle four upstanding and likable gentlemen, the members of the Moosepath League, as well as a number of beloved characters that they encounter (many of whom make appearances throughout two or more of the novels) as they happen upon trouble. Unbeknownst to the gentlemen, they thwart the schemes of naughty characters all throughout the books, often with hilarious endings.  The books take place in 1890's Portland, Maine, and the reader is introduced to a different time and place in which the railroads and maritime industry were kings, and people were interested in verbal story-telling rather as opposed to receiving stories through the television or radio as we often do in present-day. One of my favorite aspects of these books are the stories that take place within the stories, such as when a fellow passenger on a train, for instance, tells of the time that such-and-such happened to him. The stories in some way remind me of Seinfeld episodes, because each little piece ravels itself into a masterpiece that culminates in a way that the reader (or viewer, in the case of Seinfeld episodes) witnesses all pieces coming together in harmonious fashion.  The books are family-friendly, clean, hilarious, witty, and leave you wanting more. My personal favorites are Daniel Plainway and Mollie Peer. Sadly, I believe that the books may be out-of-print, but they can still be purchased on Amazon, or as I have found, at library book sales for absolute steals. Each time I find these hardbacks at the Friends of the Oklahoma City Public Library sale for a dollar apiece, I snatch them up and give them away to people, simply because I can't bear to think of what will happen to the books if I don't buy them.

Okay, I'll get off my Van Reid soapbox now. But let it be known that to librarian Nancy Pearl: I'll always be grateful to your recommendation of the Moosepath League. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

New Look

Friends, I am going for a different look on this blog. Don't despair, however; my fantastic writing skills remain the same. Tomorrow's post will be about my all-time favorite series of books...tease!

Knitting Queen (in my dreams)

Hi everyone! Happy snow day to those of you who live in Oklahoma! It's been an awesome day of horizontal snow and lazing around inside the house. Neighbors are coming over for dinner, so we won't feel too cooped up, and I just talked to my boss and she told me she is closing the office tomorrow too. =)

Before the snow vanishes off the ground, which seems to happen quickly in Oklahoma, I wanted to finish up my second knitting project, which was a scarf for Silas. I've posted a pic of it below, but don't have the picturesque snow in the background given the 50 mph northern winds. Babies don't seem to appreciate that kind of thing. For the scarf I chose a vibrant green solid-colored yarn because I wanted the basket-weave texture that I selected to pop out. Mission accomplished, I believe. I added the fringe this morning and must say that I'm impressed with the final product. My second knitting lesson with Leslie is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Also, to finish off the previous post about visiting Bam's house, BJ and I ended our mini-vacation by promptly leaving our suitcase on the bedroom floor without unpacking it since Sunday. Leaving suitcases around in our house for days on end is a frequent occasion in our house, but I suppose it won't be for long since we have a new "helper" to assist us with the unpacking process:

Enjoy this winter day, friends!