Summer Food

I haven't been doing much inspired cooking lately. Too much going on, too little time and energy. However, I came across a recipe for Seared Shrimp with Cucumber Salad, courtesy of Martha's Everyday Food, which looked so delish, I had to give it a try over the weekend. I decided to make B and I a nice, summery lunch yesterday. Yu-um!

The salad was cool and crunchy and the seared shrimp added a depth of flavor and just enough warmth. (The recipe calls for jalapenos, which I left out, but to compensate I did add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for some kick). This was a great summer meal- really fast, but really flavorful. And during the summer, isn't it all about easy meals, that don't involve standing for too long over a hot stove?

I am also inspired by Mark Bittman's recent column in the New York Times, Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes of Less. This is exactly the kind of thing I need during this summer of all work and no play. I can't wait to try some of these fabulous ideas!

What kinds of food have you been cooking up this summer? What are some of your favorite summer recipes?

Mom's Day

My mom, Linda, was born 61 years ago today. She passed away 4 years ago, but I still like to celebrate her birthday.

I'm sure wherever she is (not far), she is crinkling her face like she would often do (and like I may or may not do), cringing that I'm posting these old pictures of her, but they're a couple of my favorites and they make me happy. So there. And besides, how cute was she?

I love this photo. She looks so young and pretty. (Plus that cushion behind her makes me smile.)

And here she is, all cute in her low ponytail, glasses, and stripey top. For some reason, I just love this one.

Happy Birthday, Mommy! To celebrate, I might have to eat some fried mochi with sugar, or drink some hot cocoa with crackers. :)

Blur

What a month! Like Dis, I have also been feeling out of sorts this month, not to mention completely overwhelmed and exhausted, both physically and emotionally. So, I apologize in advance if this post is all over the place, but so is my head.

Work has been and continues to be *kind of* a nightmare. Working 12 hour days and on my usual days off and on Saturdays does not make for the funnest of summers. (Dis and Nasus' K have been working even more than me. They are doing an awesome job!) And, knowing that this pace will continue for another 4 weeks...well, I'm going to try to not think about it...too much. I'm trying to stay positive (in all aspects) after all!

Speaking of, we have some good news on the B front! He went in for a PET scan last week, and the results were NEGATIVE!! YAY!! The word "relief" really doesn't cut it. I wanted to cry from joy right then. However, there is one more procedure to be done before I can truly exhale all the way. He will still need to undergo a lymph node biopsy (which is still in the process of being scheduled). My positive thinking mind says it will be fine, but of course you still want to have scientific proof. I wish they would hurry up and do this already, so we'll know for sure! In the meantime, I continue to surround myself with good thoughts and all things positive.

What to do to keep sane during such stressful times? Why knit, for one thing! I've been working on my yet-to-be-named Deciduous, and it's been such a life saver. A fun pattern + Calmer...I mean, really...how could this not bring me some joy?

Also? In times of stress- bake. The smell of cookies fresh out of the oven cannot help but bring some comfort when you need it. It's been too damn hot recently to even consider turning on the oven, but when it cooled down some late yesterday afternoon, I seized the opportunity to bake a quick batch of oatmeal cookies. The best oatmeal cookie recipe I know of is the one right on the inside lid of the Quaker Oats canister. You can't beat it for a basic oatmeal cookie recipe. I usually add something fun, but I kept it simple this time. I wish I could share some with you!

And of course, thinking of my friends always makes me smile. You have been so incredibly supportive. I want you to know how much I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I cannot really say thank you enough...but that won't stop me from trying! Thanks again for all your support and positive energy. It's been helping a great deal. More than you know. When I've started to feel down or uneasy, I look back to your comments and emails, which immediately lifts my spirits. Friends and family mean everything to me. *BIG HUG*

Have a good week, everyone! Thanks for hanging in there with me and my sporadic posting (and commenting) as of late. It's been crazy lately, but I'm fighting my way out of the blur and getting back on track... :)

July wrap-up

I hope everyone is doing well. I feel really disorganized and out of touch right now. I'm averaging about 1.5 hours at home each night, I think I saw B for less than an hour between last Sunday night and Friday at about 9pm, and I haven't been to a knit night since the end of June. I don't have much time to keep up with what people are doing, so I feel really out of touch. I was looking forward to being done with this push at the office at the end of July, but guess what? They extended our deadline until August 17th! Which unfortunately means four more weeks of this. I may have actually teared up a little when I found out. So, I thought I would steal this couple of minutes from my Sunday to at least show people what I have been up to...

First up, I had made a goal of knitting my Manos blanket in conjunction with Project Spectrum. And while I have actually made more progress than I had anticipated, I did fall short this color period (red, black, metallics). I had hoped (and would have) to make it to my truly red square, but I reorganized the squares I had left to knit and unfortunately, that means that I would have had to finish the blanket to get to that square, so that will just have to come later. I did knit one other square in red color family (although it does look rather purple here) earlier, but thought I would show it off now:

"Waves" in Bing Cherry (M)

I happened to notice that the two projects I cast-on for in July follow in the Project Spectrum theme. First up is my Seraphim that I am knitting in Koigu KPPPM 716. While the base color of the yarn is cream with various colored speckles, the yarn has a noticeable pink/red hue as a whole. I attempted to take a more recent status photo, but my camera batteries were dead.

Right now, I am about 50 repeats into the basic stockinette portion of the shawl and on my second ball of Koigu. I will be checking my row gauge and adjusting the length depending on how it is knitting up. When I initially checked my row gauge, I was coming in tight, but since I tend to loosen up as I go, I have a feeling I may be ok now. Either way, the most important thing for me is that I don't end up with a short shawl.

I also cast-on for Fifi in Garnet Calmer as part of the latest Sexy Knitters Club KAL. I decided to name my Fifi "January" since Garnet is January's (and my) birth stone. This is just a picture of my swatch, but I thought I'd include it since my camera batteries are preventing me from taking a proper progress photo.

I've been working on January during those few evening hours, but it has been a great knit so far. I am knitting it in a slightly tighter gauge like Nonnahs did with Josephine. I really liked the results she obtained by doing that and mine is coming out pretty good so far, I think. I just have no idea what size I will actually be making until I am to the point I can try it on for the first time.

Finally, this month's UFO resurrection challenge will not be a FO but rather a RIP. I decided that after careful consideration, I will not be finishing my Simple Knitted Bodice. I'm not sure why the love has died, but it has. I had only knit about 14 rows, so it won't be a huge loss and know I can return that yarn to my stash for something else...of which I've had lost of ideas for lately.

So, that's all for me for a while. Not only will work remain busy, but my free time is now also going to be preoccupied by a certain Mr. Potter. See you soon!

Badia is done!

This has been a very busy time for both Nonnahs and me at the office. I don't think I've ever worked so many long days in a row and while the overtime will finally allow me to get my teeth fixed, it is taking it's toll. It is also seriously cutting into my knitting time at the office, although I am still sneaking in some on my lunch break. I am exhausted when I do finally make it home at night, but I am taking solace in my limited knitting time in the evenings. As such, I was able to do the finishing work (bands and seaming) during most of my evenings last week, so I am actually able to present an FO!

This is Badia knit in approximately, 2 and 2/3 balls of Lion Band Cotton-Ease in the new Violet colorway on size 7 needles. The pattern was fairly simple and the cable and lace panel was fun. I did however end up removing the cable and lace from the back because I just wasn't feeling it being back there. I opted instead for plain stockinette. Because of differences in my gauge to the pattern requirements, I was able to knit the smallest size to net me approximately my size (34).

I also changed up the arm hole shaping to curve in more than the pattern called for. It is slightly narrower than the original, but not by much. This also lead to an interesting side affect: one of my sides is different from the other. I don't know what I did, but they aren't the same on the front at all. I figured it wasn't any big deal because you can hardly see it and I don't feel most people (non-knitters at least) would ever notice it, so I didn't bother to fix it. This was a cheap and quick summer top anyway, so I decided not to stress about the little issues.

This brings me to the other little issue. I had finished the front before leaving for vacation and knit the back on vacation, which can only mean one thing: the back is larger than the front! Because I knit the back in plain stockinette, I removed enough stitches to account for leaving out the cable. So, I figure my gauge issue must be a factor of being so relaxed that week!

It does fit nice and wears easy. It isn't constricting and can easily be worn over a t-shirt or tank top. However this knit does fall into the category of knitwear that can't be worn on their own because of all the holes down the front. So, this will always be a layering top for me, which is just fine since I'm usually cold anyway. All in all and fun and quick knit!

Birthday Peanuts

My precious nieces, Kyra and Ally, better known in these parts as The Peanuts, are celebrating their first birthday today!

Has it really been a year?

Happy Birthday, 'Nuts! :)

Beyond

I want to take a moment to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all the words of encouragement, good thoughts, positive energy, and virtual hugs you've been throwing my way. I am truly overwhelmed, and the amount of gratitude I feel is impossible to describe. I cannot fully express to you how very much you all touched me with your kind and generous comments and how you were able to lift my spirits when I was feeling quite low. I want you to know how much your support is helping me through this. Your sentiments continue to resonate with me and I carry them with me everyday. And for that I am so very thankful.

I have somewhat of an update to share. We are not out of the woods yet by any stretch, but we were given some information while meeting with the oncologist yesterday that I find to be encouraging. I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say he is optimistic, and I am very encouraged. B still needs to undergo a couple of tests to determine whether anything has spread, but I feel much better just having more information to go off of (a lack thereof is nearly the worst thing), and more importantly, that the information is encouraging. I'm continuing to generate all the positive energy and thoughts I can until he has these other procedures and we know for sure, but for now at least, I am able to breathe a little easier and my tummy is a little less knotted.

Thanks again for sending all your positive thoughts and energy our way. I have no doubt that it's helping tremendously...so keep it up for a little while longer, please... :) I'll continue to keep you posted...and I may even post about my knitting again soon!

Vacation re-cap: Idyllwild

Before I go on to tell you about our trip, I first want to say thank you. We set up this blog a little more than two years ago as a way to keep up on our knitting projects when Nonnahs moved to LA. I am sure that I can speak for the three of us when I say that we NEVER dreamed it would bring us close to so many friends, both now in-person friends and on-line friends. And it is the times when we need a little *hug*, whether in person or through nice comments, that you remember how big this community really is. I am especially thankful for you all because you were here for Nonnahs when I couldn't be. I was dutifully checking my cell phone all week for messages to see if she had found out anything from the doctors and it kept saying no messages, so I figured all must be well. It wasn't until we got back into San Diego that I realized that my phone hadn't really been on the network and therefore I hadn't been notified about my new messages. I feel horrible about not being able to be there for my friend all week, but it made me feel so good to see all of your wonderful your comments to Nonnahs and B, for just being there and offering your support. You guys are the best!

So what is a good segue to talk about my vacation?...seems kinda stupid now, really. But, here it goes - we did have a good time and I did get a lot of things done while doing absolutely nothing. We stayed from last Sunday though mid-day today up in Idyllwild, CA. We rented a cabin thought this great site that puts you in touch with privately-owned rentals all over the world. It was a great experience. The place was exactly the way it was described. The transaction was smooth and best yet, it was home away from home for the last week. Even Jenny thought so!

Here's a peak at the living area:


We watched a lot of TV. I think I may have watched more TV in the last week than I have all year. But, we had a great time doing it and that's what this vacation is all about. Besides, it was really fun to see Tom Selleck in shorty shorts. Ha!

Jenny took up station by the back screen door to watch for squirrels:

"What? I'm not going to chase them...just let me outside and I'll show you." Right.

I finally got to cast-on for my Koigu Seraphim:

I may have turned this stack of fabric into the start of the Amy Butler Patchwork Throw from In Stitches. (A pair of her lounge pants may have also materialized.)

I finally made it to the last of the Narnia books. (I am reading them for the first time.) Um, wow. These would be really interesting to dissect in a book club-type discussion.


Many walks were taken in which this dog came home this dirty:

Jenny's never had so many baths in one week in her life. Scratch that. There was that first week we were crate training her when she was a puppy. She 'may' have had as many back then, but it would be close. We also realized this trip that while Jenny is playful and spunky and rarely acts her age, we truly share our lives with a senior dog. We had to be especially careful in the crazy heat from last week. It really took it out of her and she wasn't able to walk for very long without getting overheated. So, although we didn't hike nearly as much as we wanted, we still all had a good time.

And saw some amazing scenery:

We also enjoyed the town of Idyllwild. We went out to dinner one night as well as had iced teas (and knitted) at Cafe Aroma one afternoon. We also walked the town, browsed the shops and even saw a movie last night. (Totally cute btw.)

So now that this respite is over, it is back to the grind for both of us. B starts Chem Lab tomorrow and I go back to the office, which I may soon need to refer to as THE OFFICE because I think I may have to live there for the rest of the month. Ugh!

But it is good to be back and I hope to one day get caught up on my blog reading...but for tonight, a little wine and some cheese and maybe a little non-italian-whole-foods sanctioned prosciutto.

I can't think of an appropriate title- will a *heavy sigh* do?

As I sit here to write this, I don't even know what it is that I want to say. All I do know is that I feel the need to post about this. I don't even know why that is, really, except that you are my friends and this is such a big thing in my life that I can't NOT talk about it. Besides, it may even help to talk about it. So, I guess I’ll just spit it out. Here goes...

B was recently diagnosed as having a malignant melanoma. He had a mole, it was removed, it was malignant. We're waiting for the next appointments, when they can do more tests that will give us more information. What we know right now is not good, but until we know the extent of it all, I'm trying not to freak out (uncontrollably). That is not to say that I don't have my moments. After all, I couldn’t very well be me without at least some freakout moments. However, I am a big believer in the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction, so I am now trying to focus all my energy on positive thoughts and visualization. It's not always easy, because I'm scared as sh*t, but that's all I've got right now. Plus, although he internalizes a lot, I know that B is kind of freaked out, so one of us has to be the calm one. This is all new territory, because our roles are normally reversed, but I can take the lead this time. I'm really hoping that all this stress and worry is for all for naught, and we have the best possible outcome. I already lost my mom to cancer 4 years ago- I really CANNOT entertain the thought, for even a moment, that I could...never mind! Good thoughts and only good thoughts here at ALL! If you wouldn't mind, could I ask you to think the same and send some positive energy this way for B? I know how strong we can be when we join together, and I would be grateful to harness even the tiniest bit of that kickass knitblogger spirit and energy right now!

Meanwhile, I'm keeping my mind focused on good, healthy thoughts, and keeping my hands focused on knitting. I soon plan to revive Carmelita, the saddest Icarus in all the land, but for now I've been working on Deciduous...and loving it. It's so helpful to have something to keep busy with. Besides work, that is, which totally sucks right now (again). We've all been working extra hours and under much stress.

Okay, I should just stop here for now, else I'm apt to babble on forever, saying absolutely nothing. I feel a little awkward sharing all this, but like I said, it seemed like the thing to do, so thanks for listening.