After pushing for three hours, Lola was born at one-fifty-something on Sunday morning, weighing 7 pounds, some ounces.  I’m pretty sure Mom never told me her middle name, though I assume she has one!

We’re going to visit after church for a little bit. Speaking of church, I better get moving!

Update: We’ve been to visit Angela, Devon & Lola. (it was a *very* brief visit – don’t worry.  Just long enough for Mom and I to cuddle Lola, take exactly 3 pictures, and get out of there.)  Full name is Lola Sophia, she is 7lbs 13oz, is absolutely adorable, and suprisingly content to be passed from one person to the next; according to Angela all she’s done is sleep so far though, so that could change!  Lola has had a big first day, afterall.  Mom and baby are both doing fine, though both are exhausted.  (And I think Angela looks a little pale, but she says she’s fine.)  They came home from the hospital just after lunch, so the visit was at home.  (And if you’re counting, yes, that means Angela was longer in the hospital having the baby than she was after the baby was born.)

Here’s what I know so far:

• Water broke around 9pm Friday night
• At 3am Sat morning Angela was only 2cm dialated and they sent her home.
• They went back sometime around lunch as far as I know
• Angela recieved an epidural around 4:30, and the plan was: sleep, push, baby.
• At 6:30pm, the last we herd of any news, Angela was still sleeping, and  little annoyed with the nurse for turning her over every 1/2 hour.

And that’s all I know.  No news since then, but it’s been 3 hours, so hopefully there’s something soon.  When I have a baby, remind me not to be in labour for 24 hours.

I’ve been at the Ecco-Spirit Hike at Blue Springs Scout Reserve all day.  Was fun, even with a sprained ankle.  (I fell in a pot hole crossing Surrey St.  Yes, I was watching where I was going.  And yes, I still managed the trip/twist combo which causes the sprain.  And no, it’s not funny – depsite what my other leader today thought.  It’s funny only if it’s not sore the next day.  Can you tell I’m a little p-o’d at him?  Perhaps it’s all the “You’re old” jokes I was recieving from him, in front of youth no less, about my needing the walking stick all day.  Very sore.)

I have to go to bed soon, plus pack for tomorrow, so no time for a full post but…

It’s 9pm on Oct 21st, and Angela’s water has broken, they’ve called the midwife, and are on their way to the hospital!

On a side note, I seriously cut my thumb open yesterday.  In my complex, we hire a group of students to pick up our garbage from in front of our homes and carry it to the curb.  So I put my garbage out on Monday night, think all is well.  I get up, they didn’t take one of my bags.  I sigh, then put it in my backseat to put out at the curb at work.  I go to take it out of the backseat, and realize that the bag is split.  All of a sudden, it makes sense why he didn’t carry it out – the students have a general “F this, it’s not my problem” approach to our garbage issues: incorrectly sorted, broken bags, etc.  So I put Pepper in the backyard, carry my stuff into the house, get a new bag and proceed to putting the bad bag into the good one.  In the process, I slice open my thumb.  It hurt, but I didn’t think it was too bad… at first.  I ran inside, cleaned off my thumb and packed some paper towels around it.  <gross alert!> When the blood had seeped through 3 paper towels all folded together, and we all realized my cut was a good 5cm long, Dad drove me to the ER.  I was admitted straight away, a first for me when I wasn’t having breathing issues, and within an hour, I was on my way home with 3 stitches and a lecture about how to keep my hand clean and dry at camp OR ELSE.  I’d post a picture about it, or go into detail regarding how much fun (or not, as the case may be) getting those stitches were and how I was suprised at how very nauseus I was as that was being done, or worse, the needle to numb it before, but you don’t need to read that.   I am expecting, however, that my cubs are all going to want to know and see this weekend.  Oh well.  Turns out I can talk about it just fine, but actually getting it done…

ANYWAYS, the good news is I can still knit.  Didn’t think I’d be able too, but it turns out I don’t really need my right thumb to knit – all the work is done in my fingers and left thumb.  The really good news is, my minions, erm, cubs, get to do my dishes at camp.  The bad news is that I now have 3 stitches in my thumb and I have to get them removed around next Friday.  The really bad news, of course, is that my dreams of becoming an international hand model are no longer accessible due to the unavoidable scar.  LOL

I’d better get back to pretending to work.  Ok, I really am working, but mostly I’m just cleaning up machines this week, so it’s not like I can do anything while the antivirus is running.  I can’t believe how bad the two I’m working on now were.  Seriously, I’m thinking of running a how-to-take-care-of-your-computer-seminar.  Topics covered:

• How 6 antivirus programs on one machine doesn’t always equal extra protected especially when 2 are viruses, 1 is hijacked, 2 are cancelling each other out and the last hasn’t been updated in 5 years;
• Why you should blow out the dust in your machine and how to avoid dust bunny ziplines (seriously, I needed my inhaler it was so bad – we’ve had computers come from nurseries that have been placed directly onto dirt floors and have stayed there for 3 years that have come back cleaner);
• Purchasing your porn and why not to download it illegally/go onto free sites;
• The popup on your screen that says “You’ve been infected by a virus” is actually a virus, and you were safe before you clicked it;
• How the internet can’t really scan your computer and clean it up in ten minutes and yes, your antivirus does take longer; yes, patience is a virtue, and seriously, how can you think that anything that scans your computer in so little time actually cleaned up your machine?!
• Warning signs that you’ve been infected and when to know you’re too late; and the related:
• If you’re being asked whether you want to open your antivirus, My Computer, solitare, or any other shortcut/exe in Internet Explorer, Firefox, or one of the other 5 browsers you’ve installed, you’re infected.  (Seriously, on both machines they are running: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Google Chrome, Opera, and whatever Comodo Dragon is.  Apparently every person who uses that computer doesn’t like to have their favourites shared (see: porn above) so instead of setting up Vista to use different users, they installed a different browser for each.)
• How not to be pushy/phrasing “Are you done yet?!” in a way such that your computer tech who just got home from the ER will be willing to help you, AKA “It took you hours upon hours to get your computer so thoroughlly hammered that it will only boot in safe mode, it’s going to take just as long to clean it up.”

But I think those purl rounds are going to kill me…

It is a little big around though.  Note to self: Next time use wool not the nice, soft, but non-stretchy bamboo.

As you can see in my new header, I’m working on a pair of fair isle fingerless mitts.  The knitting of the first actually went quite quickly.  It’s the weaving of the ends that’s taking all the time.  Note to self: use felted joins next time.  (Seriously, there are 4 DOZEN ends on just one mitt to weave in.)  I’m going insane taking all this time weaving in ends on the first mitt.  So much so, that I started knitting the second mitt just so I could work on something else for another couple hours instead.  Thought about working on my new theme a little more, but turns out I’m lazy when it comes to that.

On a side fingerless-mitt-related note, I’m beginning to think I’ve gone a little OCD.  I’m currently in the process of knitting 3 pairs, with plans (and yarn!) for 10 or so more, and I just can’t seem to get bored of them.  I thought I would.  Even bought some yarn for a sweater for when I do decide to work on something else.  Turns out that’s not happening yet.  Of course, with 2 people I know that are currently pregnant (4 if you include the men by proxy) I’m sure baby knits will soon be flying off the needles.  (So long as the recipients actually want something knitted.  Many people don’t, and I wouldn’t want to impose it on them when it turns out they’d prefer a stroller or high chair or one of those cool puj tubs.)  I found a pattern the other day for fingerless baby mitts though.  So cute. 

I finished my Woodbadge II Training over the weekend.  First night was sooooo cold that I finally put my winter coat on around 4am just so I could get a couple hours of sleep.  Of course, if they had put us in the bush or at least off the front lawn with no protection from the wind, that could’ve made all the difference.  Thankfully, Sat. night only went down to about 6 degrees instead of the -2 on Fri.  It was fun, learned a lot – though mostly just how to be completely civil to people you never, ever want to see nor work with again.  But I guess we all know at least one person like that.    Though I’ve heard the big Gilwell Reunion is so freakin’ awesome that you won’t even care who you’re with.  Can’t wait!  I still have some homework to hand in this weekend though.

They have a new dog next door.  So now their total is up to 2 dogs.  Combined, they both bark more than Pepper, but as they’re a lot younger it’s not like they have the vocal chords to be as loud as she is when she barks.  Still, it’s not like they can complain anymore about Pepper’s random, very few, barks.  (Seriously, the dog barking for a very short while after you leave the house is very common; and her maybe 2 barks after they call their dogs in next door and Pepper can’t play through the fence with them shouldn’t be an issue either.)  The new puppy is adorable, of course.  Looks like a full shih tzu compared with the shirky (that’s a shih tzu/yorkshire terrier, if you’re wondering) they had first.  Seems to like Pepper, though I’m not about to dump Pepper in their backyard just so the dogs can play (though I’d like to.)

On another note, Michelle and I officially have tickets to see Alice in June!  I’m excited.  We decided to go with the fourth ring this time, so long as we could get a seat at the front.  For the nutcracker we were on the floor, and could see the stage well enough… when the people in front of us moved their heads out of our way.  (It was really funny – the girl (sitting in front of Michelle) kept leaning into her boyfriend (sitting in front of me) who kept inching away!  We could read the signs that he wanted her to back the heck off, and we didn’t even know him!  Though they were blocking the space that would’ve been inbetween them for us to see, and then of course in front of me and eventually off to the other side as he kept leaning over.)  Anyways, so by the end of June, I should be thoroughly exhausted – true, the scouting year (the kids’ part) effectively ends beginning/mid-June, but there is the wedding shower to attend…

Was going to keep going, but Pepper’s passed out for the night and I’m thinking I should as well.

Hope you’re both well. 

I thought my cold was finally gone.  Or at least I only had to blow my nose every couple hours and the cough was even less frequent.  I was wrong.  Two days ago I started hearing my pulse wooshing (that’s the technical term) through my right ear.  Annoying?  Yes.  So loud it woke me up?  Yes.  Odd for someone whose sinuses are still blocked?  No.  So I didn’t worry about it at first.  Then last night the pain hit.  I figured, “ear infection, call the doc in the morning.”  So I did.  Had the appointment this afternoon (he’s very accommodating) he took a look in both my ears, and after finding no ear infection and hearing that I’ve had a cold for weeks now, he decided to take a closer look at my sinuses.  (I’ll save you the details.)  Bottom line is, I have a small polyp at the very back of my nasal cavity that he believes is causing pressure on my ear (causing the pain) and a vein that goes near my ear (causing the wooshing.)  Apparently nothing to freak out about for the moment – as my cold goes away (for realz this time!) and my sinuses clear out it should as well.  So I’m to use a nasal spray (horrible, nasty feeling) as often as I feel I need to throughout the day without getting addicted, and he sent me home with looks like a tea pot that uses gravity to flush everything out and “If [you] can snort it back after the initial blow, then it’ll really help.”  (By the way, this is possibly an even more horrible, nasty, completely disgusting…. feeling.  *shudders*  It’s so bad, I had to tell you!)  Anyways, in addition to horrible part of the prescription, there is an upside.  How far up?  (get your mind out of the gutter, it’s not that good.)  Turns out popping my ears will also help – but I’m having issues.  So… I’m to chew lots and lots of gum, over-sleep continually so not only am I getting the rest needed to remove the cold but I’m yawning constantly, and, the best part, take a flight to the Bahamas with stop overs in Paris, Constantinople, Bali, Sydney, Munich (especially if there’s free beer), and if the mood takes me, Maui, Las Vegas, and London (so long as I don’t eat the food!)  LOL  I tried to convince the boss, he said I could go if a) I could work the whole time and b) I can do it all on the $500 in my Savings right now.  So guess I’ll be driving up and down the escarpment a few times instead.

In other news, the dog is worn out.  She was running at full speed allllllllll day.  We got home around 6, halfway through the dinner I picked up on the way home, she decided begging time was long past and sleeping time was in.  I tried to get her up a couple hours ago to go O-U-T, but couldn’t get her up.  Picked her up, she snuggled in and went back to sleep.  I wasn’t about to carry her to the grass.  Surely after all this sleep I can get her up to go before bed.

I’m knitting a pair of wonderland socks.  They’re illusion knit, very cool… but mine are a little big.  Not to mention taking forever.  It wouldn’t be too bad if it wasn’t for that purl round.  So took a break and decided to work on another WIP.  My Hand Springs Fingerless Mitts to be exact.  Finally made it to the thumb gusset… and couldn’t find my stitch markers.  With the way this gusset is knit, while theorhetically I could figure it out, the bottom line is I’m working with a mohair and its a lace weight and there’s a lot of increases… so it’s just easier to use markers.  Why do I always lose my stitch markers?  Not wanting to use another pair of foam letters (leftover from Sunday School lesson last year… why is it that no matter how many times I clean them up, I always seem to find them lying around the house?!) because it is at such a tight gauge, I decided to make my own.

They’re not perfect, I know, but they work!  With any luck, I’ll finish the mitt I’m working on and will have the motivation to either finish the second or finish the sock.

Anyways, it’s late, I’m exhausted, and I’m supposed to oversleep anyways.

The tap outside burst.

Oh crap.

At 2:30pm.

Oh crap.

They didn’t have my contact info. (seriously, this one is NOT my fault.)  So called a locksmith… When I replaced my locks, I was all, “Do it right, or don’t do it at all,” so I put the really good deadbolt on.  He couldn’t pick the lock.  So they drilled it out, got in, managed to shut off the water and replaced my locks.  Then called me at 9:45pm.

So we rush over here, find ice absolutely everywhere outside, (I’ve seriously salted my sidewalk since then.  I would’ve salted the bricks if I could’ve.)  and check out the basement.  Well, we’ve had worse.  In fact, it’s not that bad at all.  There is a bit of water seeping in through the concrete right now, that’s actually pretty normal.  There is one spot where it’s leaking very slowly in a steady stream, but we cleared the path to the drain, threw out the wrapping paper & the christmas tree box that was there and now wet, and threw the landry in the washer before it got all mildew-y.  I called Jeff & said there’s no way I’m coming tomorrow.  So everything should now be taken care of, right?  The bill for the locksmith apparently went to the condo corp (though I am assuming they’re going to be giving me a call), and my insurance/the condo corp’s insurance/the insurance for the guy next door if he has any water damage should cover everything, right?  Because it was an accident, and it’s not like I did anything wrong here.  My Dad has since checked my outside taps and their shut offs inside and everything’s been shut off completely.  Thankfully, nothing burst inside or I’d be bailing right now instead of blogging.

Anyways, I think I’ll take a bath, thank God my house was clean, and remind myself that everything’s fine and when it’s warmer we’ll just have to replace my tap & potentially the pipe leading to it when it’s warmer.

…ok, still a little freaked out.  I was a little shocked, but ok, until my mom asked whether the guy next door was going to sue.  Now I’m panicing.  My dad says it’s a non-issue, insurance should cover everything, but still, he can be intimidating especially since I live alone, it’s my first home, and I just really don’t know how to handle all this.