Flower Power and the truth about colonoscopies......

Well if that title doesn't draw you in I am not sure what will!  Thank you for all your well wishes for my procedure last week.  Can I say that I was much, much more nervous than I needed to be?  It all went well and now I don't have to get another one for ten years, yay!  I was not worried about the prep, we have all had the flu and food poisoning which is much, much worse than the prep was.  I was nervous about not eating for so long due to my hypoglycemia.  I did not eat for 41 hours, which is a very long time for me.  I had juice, tea and even chicken stock, which got me through it but boy did I suffer with a headache all last weekend and into the week.  That was the worse part, just feeling so weak.  But again, it is over and done with and I don't have to go back.  In ten years they should have a really easy test that is more reliable than the Cologuard that is out right now.  If you are putting this procedure off don't.  It is a pain but it is worth it if they catch something very early.  My doctor told me 40% of women have polyps that need to be removed.  Most aren't cancerous, but you don't want them to become cancerous.  My husbands best friend died of colon cancer three years ago.  He was 61 and had never had a colonoscopy before he experienced abdominal pain and problems with digestion at the age of 60.  He would be alive today if he had had the test in his 50's.  He was a vibrant, loving man and now his wonderful family has to face life without him because he did not want to have the test.  They still struggle with his loss every single day.

Okay, end of lecture, let's move onto the week.  I have had two unexpected finishes this week and I am pretty happy about both of them. 

First off this very simple crochet cowl is hot off the hook.  This has been my car project since January.  When I have a few minutes between patients I pick it up and add a few rows.  Each row adds up even if you only get in one or two a day.  This is made with hand painted mulberry silk yarn from Sweaterkits.  I bought this yarn ages and ages ago when one of my favorite little yarn stores closed.  It is so, so soft, just gorgeous to touch.  I used almost every inch of the 300 yards in the skein and a size H hook.  The pattern is a simple 7 stitch treble crochet shell.  I made two scarves from this pattern last year.  Easy and beautiful.  Made for a dear friend, I hope she will like it.

Four Flower Power Dishcloths were made up last night and today for another friend.  Ms.Opal helps out at one of my medical foster homes.  She is a hoot and I just love her.  She was telling me how much she loves crochet or knitted dishcloths the other day.  So on my day off yesterday I popped by Joann's to get two balls of Sugar and Cream yarn to make these up.  She told me she has red decorative accents in her kitchen and so I chose the red as the primary color for the flower, plus it won't look like it is dirty as easily as yellow would.  This is a super easy pattern, I have made many of them before.  I did add a row to the pattern, some sort of sc, hdc and dc combo to make the dish cloth a bit wider.  I can't tell you specifically what I did.  Next time I make these I won't do hdc in the middle section (yellow), I'll make it all dc so it will be wider right from the start.  I used all of the red ball of yarn, 200 yards and a bit of the yellow, so maybe 250 yards for this project.  I hope to surprise her with these on Monday.  

With the little bit of red yarn I had left I made this coaster, nothing should get wasted, right?

Work was a bit brutal this week with my headache from h*ll and of course all the driving and behaviors I have to deal with on a regular basis.  There was also a report due and oh yes we are getting new cabinets and counters in our master bath, that was fun to clean up after a 13 work day.  The cabinets are in but the counters won't be in for a few weeks.  We are brushing our teeth in another bathroom, no sinks or faucets in mine.  Soon it will all be done and I can check it off my list of things that need to be done to this house.

This photo was taken this morning.  It is all sorts of wonky but it just makes me laugh.  My father used to wear his white t-shirt, khaki shorts and white socks all the time, I mean everywhere he went.  So while getting Little Buddy dressed today he did not want to remove his t-shirt that he slept in, and well he looks very much like my father did, stain on shirt and all.  When he went out to the store he did change and put on a real shirt, still I feel he was channeling his inner Papa.  By the way I still am missing my dad, seems like there is so much I'd like to talk to him about and I can't.

Speaking of Little Buddy, he has been very much a pistol lately not saying nice things to his baby sitter or his speech therapist.  We have had to have several talks and he has written two apology notes in the past week.  I think he is hearing things at school and frankly does not know how to use or not use them correctly, so he tries them out on people he loves.  He does not have little friends in the neighborhood to try stuff out on, so it falls to his family, baby sitter and therapists.   When I woke him up for school on Wednesday he was very, very sleepy.  I carried him into the bathroom and put him down on the potty and told him to be a nice boy at school and to get busy with his work and only say nice things.  He then said to me, with his eyes almost closed with sleep, "Don't worry Mom, I won't say pissed."  Now that is a good idea don't you think?

Have a great weekend my friends.  I have baby blankets to get back to making.  Wish me luck.