Things, They Have Changed

So, my other blog went from Royal Grace Knits to Knit Knack Patty Shack. That's because I'm in the process of opening an Etsy shop by the same name. Still going to muse about my life in general here, but intend to muse about my crafting stuff there. A little separation is good for the soul.

I Broke It, Then I fixed It

Somehow I managed to cause my desktop computer to totally and completely break down over a year ago (circa August 2010). The hard drives were good, the CPU was good, the RAM was good, but the IDE controllers on the motherboard itself fried. Don't know how, don't know why, they just did. So for the last while we've (the hubs and I) have been solely relying on our laptop and mobile devices and gaming systems. And while using these items was ratehr satisfactory, I never had the real sense of belonging in a place without my desktop running.

Usually, the saying is that home is where the heart is. Here, it's where the desktop is setup. The desktop is a permanent fixture. It always has the most space, the most function, and is generally usable by all who come into the house. It's the central hub, so to speak. It's where I play a late night game of gin with my grandma on Pogo.com. It's where the hubs scans his art in through the printer and then plays with it in Adobe Fireworks. It's where my kids play games on FunBrain.com and argue about how to continue their game of tic-tac-toe. All these things happen in one central place.

And while we sound like a family driven by electronics, that's only half of the truth. We enjoy nights of Uno, and Chutes and Ladders, and Candy Land. Our Boxer, Oscar, keeps the children rather busy by insisting that they play tug of war with him. The hubs draws and hangs shelves and yells at the dog for tripping him during the game of tug of war. And I, well I sit back and take it all in.

I smile because I know that when I was their age, this didn't happen. My family was never this dynamic in their relationships with one another. And, with a sobering thought, I am reminded that they will not be young forever and that I must mold them and shape them to be kids first and adults next. Times change, as do families, and each new generation brings it's quirks with it. Our just happens to be a desktop that was broken and now is whole again. And in it's wholeness, we are finally home -- until we actually buy a house of our own.

What Happened to My Happy Place?!?

Normally, I am an easy-to-get-along-with kind of girl who is rather amiable with everyone I run in to (with the exeption pf a few that just creep me out), but this past weekend has proven to be one of my worst weekends ever!

I can't neccessarily go into details, but I can tell you that I spend a lot of time alone during the day. And that's becuase I have a husband and two boys (both under the age of 9) who are very active and talkative! So the moments I get to myself in my house are very valuable to me.

I don't mind the occasional day where I do nothng but play video games. I'm a knitter, so this relaxes the muscles in my hands by not clenching them in the same position for extended periods of time. I don't mind listening to music or to the tv while I knit. This gives my mind smething to do while my hands are busy. I don't mind having house guess who stay for a few days. It's a bit of adult interaction. But when all of these things are happening all at once, I'm like someone who has missed several doses of Zoloft! And getting this way makes me cranky and then I start yelling and then nobody is happy. And this makes me very unhappy because I DID NOT KNIT for 2 straight days!

Needless to say, I need those 8.5 hours to myself at my house BY MYSELF because they help me to retain my sanity. I do my social interaction elsewhere, though occassionally people come to visit.

Something must change. I'm not sure what or how, but something must change. SOON!

Working Out the Kinks

I am making a second cover just to make sure I have the kinks worked out and that the pattern is both readable and executable.


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Cover Your Tissue, Please!

Crocheted my way through a Puffs Plus Lotion tissue cover. I couldn't find any that I liked so I had to improvise my own. I'll be posting the pattern after I get the technical bits of pattern writing straightened out.

Here's a pic to hold you over while you wait for it:

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch 4G MC model

Catch Up, Sorta

I realize that I have not posted in awhile --indeed sad because I have the app on both my iPod 4 and my Sony Xperia X10-- and to this effect I am disapponted in myself. My main reasoning for not doing so was that psoriasis had overtaken my life for the past year or longer --about Feb. 2010-- whereas before it had only been small, managebale flareups, this had turned into full scale take over. My hands are the only parts of me that still show signs of wear and tear --small spot on my cheek next to the corner of my mouth, occassionally-- and that still affects and effects my greatly, but I am surviving.

They are healing --painfully slow-- as the weather outside warms and the air in the house moistens. I have taken to using only antibacterial soap when I wash my hands --even carry a samll bottle of it in my purse-- and oatmeal bodywash, bar soap --minus the actaul soap ingredients because it's all natural--, and lotion, and apricot scrub --both on my hands and my face. I take an antihistimine about 3 times a day to help ward off the itching, though sometimes the itching has been known to sneak upo on me and cause me to go into uncontrollable --and extremely painful-- scratching fits.

For the most part, I have been able to keep up with my knitting and crocheting and even venture to a few new projects --like turning a pair of jeans into a long skirt, not completed yet--but there have been days --and at one time an entire week-- that I was not able to even use my hands at all. Sounds doable, but when someone else has to button and zip your jeans or tie your shoes or put your hair up for you, you realize just how debilitating it really is.

Which brings me to the point of my post: deciding whether or not to be defeated by the horrible disease. Let's just say I chose not to be taken down by it. I no longer think in terms of whether or not my hands can handle something, I think on wheether or no I will choose to do that something. And with that being said, I am writing in this blog again to prove that choice.

I will no longer be held down by this thing or anything else (for that matter) ever again. My life will be normal, I will be normal --or as close to normal as I can get. And I encourage you to do the same.

In fact, I challenge you to do the same. I challenge you to look whatever is holding you down or back straight in the eyes and tell it or him or her that you will no longer be held captive by its or his or her bonds! Set yourself free, andif it helps, tell them Patty sent you.

I got my calendar back!

I'm an idiot. All I had to do was set my region format to united states. Duh, me!


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