Short hair, jelly shoes, time machine....1980's?

I am having fun slowly scanning pics from the old family albums into my computer.  My goal is to get the least crappy photos (my parents weren't into photography and apparently had no concept of flash usage or the difference between floor, ceiling and person) scanned into my laptop so I can create a digital photo album for my brother, sister and me.

Dad gave me a huge box of albums and loose photos (most not labeled) for me to keep and copy for us kids.  Well, it's a tedious task trying to sort through the good, bad and ugly photos.  Oh, not because any pic of me would be ugly (bahahaha, evil laugh), it's because the quality of most of them are awful.  I can barely make out who is in some pics.

I actually remember some of the cameras my parents used to not by name but what they looked like.  Remember the old flash bulbs you needed to replace?  Oh, and the disk camera.  I remember when they came out with that gem yet the pictures are still grainy and dark.  Somehow I need to scan those and make them look...well scan them so we can identify ourselves.

I found this gem from 1986.  It was the night I joined Job's Daughters, a Masonic Youth Organization.  This photo is one of the few you will ever see me with short hair.  EEK! I believe I am wearing jelly shoes too....oh, I am so glad the 80's are over!  The glasses!  Ewwwwww!  Those big ol' plastic frames....double Ewwwwww!  That red purse.  Oh, I totally loved that stupid purse.  I wonder what on earth I put in it?  I would have been in the sixth grade...oh, for a time machine.

WARNING:  You may see more photos of the WonderWhyGal and the Wonder Dad...along with my siblings (I haven't decided if my brother and sister get the Wonder name...naw, they don't because I bring all the AWESOME to the family --bahahaha, yes you can insert the evil laugh here too because it's all said with love) through the years. 


Well, today' stroll through Memory Lane is over.  Brother Bear just hit Sister Bear in the face and I'm sure she didn't instigate it at all....oh no!  because she's just like her mother and I would have never started somthing with my siblings.

Oh, where on earth is that time machine?

Update on the Wonder Dad

Hooray!  As soon as a single room becomes available in the Step-Down Unit he will be moved there for further observation but the Docs don't feel he needs the ICU monitoring anymore.

So....fingers crossed, his heart will act normally and the rest of the phenomia will leave his lungs and we can get him home in a few days.

Poor guy, we still haven't finished unpacking from his big move from Homer to Marshall.

Thanks again for all the support and I promised to keep you updated.

I decided to share this pic circa 1974 (yeah, you can do the math)  It's a young Wonder Dad with an even younger WonderWhyGal!  I really do love that man!

Fiber Fun Day ZPDK Style

The Zombie Prom Date Knitters had another Fun and Exciting Fiber Day!

(this bobbin is full of some delicious Romney/Cormo wool I bought at Fiber Fest)



We had a new hostess:  MamaClouds aka Heidi

She opened up her home to our loud creative group to knit, spin and be merry.

Her house is totally cool!  It's an old church converted into a home complete with the stained glass windows, tall ceilings, church pews for dining room chairs (really, so beautiful!)

We met some members of our group that haven't shown up to our fun functions before so not only did we have a blast being fibery, we also had awesome fellowship!  (Get it!  Fellowship in an old church...tehehehe, I crack myself up!)

We also had a stash swap/sale and many of us walked away with new yarn/roving or with less yarn/roving or some cash (cash is always good!)

So without further ado...I will introduce you to some of the Zombie Prom Date Knitters!  Really, we are a group of awesome and if you are on Ravelry, you now know who we are!

Karol aka KWAK (one of the newest members of our group)

Aleta aka AllyB and Kim aka Chicken Lady

Terri aka sssmith (also very new to the group and totally fun.  She let me spin on her Lendrum!....I so want one!)

Beth aka loongirl

Dawn aka KentuckyIrish (she did knit...with occasional IPhone breaks)

Shannon aka SpinSanity (she doesn't need an introduction, does she?  I hope not since I talk about how awesome she is ALL the time!)  There she is on her drop spindle and teaching me to Navajo Ply.  Yeah, we won't go into that whole ordeal.  Needless to say, I'm not doing it...yet!

 You know Holly aka KnitWithSnot (seen successfully Navajo Plying...yeah, she's awesome! and also going incognito in snazzy fun glasses)

  Crystal aka FiberArt  (knitting up college awesome)
  Em aka spinningin360  (bringing the college awesome to the group..)
yes, we miss you Elizabeth.  You'll be home from Michigan Tech and we will have fun, I promise!)

Now we are not just a one generation knitting group of awesome...we have some amazing children bringing fiber arts to the elementary schools...oops!  and middle schools too!  Look at these kids rock!

Sister Bear (who really needs her own ravelry name) is my child who is spinning on a drop spindle and now learning to knit thanks to knitwithsnot.

StickyKnits who is SpinSanity's and is spinning and knitting up the awesome!

 

Piper, who belongs to MamaClouds, was needlefelting adorable sheep for the guests.

Brother Bear, mine, isn't really interested in fiber arts but is willing to make a mess and melt my heart!

kytublue is our resident jr weaver who also is learning to spin.  He belongs to SpinSanity.

Then there's yours truly!  I didn't get any pics of myself but that's ok since I would have probably forgot to suck in the tummy.  I belong to the Wonder Why Alpaca Farm and I am so blessed to be surrounded by awesome!  Really, how many knitting groups do what we do?  I can't imagine that many or else EVERYONE would be fiber artists.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

At the Wonder Farm, not only do we raise alpaca, we also raise chickens.  The chickens are completely my husband's thing.  I love eggs but I could care less about raising them...and it doesn't help that the rooster attacked me last year.  Apparently he thinks my polka-dot muck boots are food.

The fun part about having chickens is that I always have farm fresh eggs.  You would think that would inspire me to cook....you would think.

Well, I am awful in the kitchen. Most of my creations require a box and a few additional ingredients.  Really!  Cooking a cake from scratch requires me and Betty Crocker along with an egg, oil and water.  I can totally rock that!

So, I was going to a Fiber Friends Day with my knitting group, the AWESOME Zombie Prom Date Knitters, and we are all to bring a passing dishes so I thought I would bring Wonder Deviled Eggs from the Wonder Chickens.  Yup...that's what I thought I would do.

Apparently I forgot that part about being an awful cook!

This is how I peel a hard boiled egg

This is what 26 peeled hard boiled eggs look like after I've peeled them

 This is how I get creative and decided that I'm going to make fancy egg salad sandwiches

Yes, I wanted to look a bit creative!

I have cookie cutters galore, I make fancy toast because I also can't make cut out cookies

So, Julia Childs I'm not!

But when life gives you lemons, you make

Wonder Egg Salad Sandwiches!

For Pete's Sake, his name is Rex!

Here is an update on my dad!  Since not everyone has Facebook or Twitter (I don't understand why not...just joking) I wanted to find a forum that would update everyone and since I know you all read my blog...here it goes as written in an email I just sent family members:

(This is a pic of Dad with one of the ladybugs)

Whew!

Ok, I just got off the phone with Dr. Stagner (one of the lead docs on the transplant team at Henry Ford) and the Cardiologist that has been working with dad and this is what they had to say.  Please understand that I'm writing these terms phonetically so....here we go.

For Dad's heart he was having an abnormality called artro flutter which is in the right upper chamber but they now have him in sinus rhythm which is good.  Cardiologists want to do a procedure called oblation where they zap an area in the heart where the precipitating rapid rhythm is happened.  This procedure has an over 95% change of the abnormality not happening again.  By them performing this procedure, they won't have to control his heart issues with drugs because they are walking a fine line between what they can do for the heart without upsetting the lungs. 

Now, after this procedure he will be on blood thinners for a month to help has his heart heals so they are already starting him on heparin.

They plan to do the procedure Monday morning.  They said I don't need to be there.  It's a basic procedure much like the bronch.  They consider this an outpatient procedure where the person gets released next day so it's minor (in their eyes) and they don't feel that his lungs will have an adverse affect on the procedure.

The cardiologist said that dad is doing much better with his pneumonia and that by Sunday he will make the determination if his pneumonia is ceased enough for the procedure.

Both docs said Dad's spirits are up as far as they can be with everything going on.  Dr. Stagner agreed with me that it is all taking a toll on dad and she sees his frustration for going in and out of ICU so at least the Transplant team is working with dad.  Hopefully what the Cardiologist plans will take care of the heart issues.

Any questions, let me know....I will try to answer what I can.

He will remain in CICU at least through the procedure because of both the lung and heart monitoring.

Oh yeah,...did I forget to mention that Dad is back in the hospital again?

Please, if I'm forgetting anyone, let me know...better yet, pass the word on.

Thanks!

(Dad with the ladysbugs and the bears) 

So, why did I need to remind you that my dad's name is Rex?  Well, really it wasn't for you....that was directed at the Big Man up there who hasn't been listening to our prayers (or maybe he has...who knows).  Anyways, I think he thinks my dad's name is Job.  It's not!  So, Dear God, please quit testing the poor man.  Quit making an example out of him.  Please just let him live and be happy.  We get it!  Really, I get it and I'm sure my dad get's it!  Donate Life!   Gift of Life!  Be Positive!  Don't Smoke.  Do unto others, blah, blah, blah....really, God, we get it!

Wordless Wednesday - Donate Life

www.giftoflifemichigan.org

Do as I say not as I do!

I thought I should update you on the progress of my Vogue Knitting Eyelet Cap.  It's been a couple of weeks and I'm knitting away at it.  I find that I can only do a bit at a time because following the pattern and talking is like patting your head and rubbing your belly and I can't do either.  Since I also can't seem to keep my mouth shut, it limits the time I can knit on this beautiful hat.

I am making progress though.  I have the actual eyelet pattern done.  I had to repeat the pattern and modify it a bit because the gauge was too small.  We thought it might be when I started it and sure enough it was (or else I have an extremely large head) but it's coming along so now I'm at the part where I need to start the ribbing.

Hooray!  That means all I have to do for the next eight inches (or more due to gauge) is K2P2 (knit two purl two)  Of course there is one catch...I have to pay attention!  EEK!

How on earth do I do that?  Remember the mouth open too much part.  Well, I started it out sure enough ran into two problems.  First I have a knot in my ball.  I had Hubby help me wind it and I think we did something wrong because the nice smooth center pull isn't pulling and now I have a big ol' knotty mess to fix...not a fun task on handspun so I've taken a break from knitting to fix my yarn so I won't run into this mess again.  The second issue is that I need to remember that I'm knitting on the round so I have to remember where I ended on a knit I need to begin on a purl...yeah, I guess that notepad I carry would be useful about now.

Anyways, that's the update.  So what do I say (follow instructions and when it says to check your gauge, check your gauge) don't do as I do ( create a truly unique knitted item that only I would wear).  Of course, that's not so bad either. 

If you like my yarn, check out the WONDERWHYGAL Etsy site for the gorgeous roving I spun from or request a special order for the yarn.

Finally...yes, there is always a finally!  Check out Fiber Arts Friday with the Alpaca Farm Girl for more fiber artists and fiber fun!