Mostly Good Stuff

I read something upsetting on line last night, and I want to tell you about it. Annie Modesitt's husband Gerry has multiple myeloma. I can only imagine for Annie and Gerry how frightening of a time this is. The good part of this is that we out here in blogland can do a little something to help them out through this. Annie is offering up a gorgeous pattern called Red Carpet Convertible for a small donation. I think that's pretty cool. Donations received will go to help out with expenses associated with Gerry's medical care--getting back and forth to the doctors, that kind of thing. You can find out more on Annie's blog. I don't know Annie and Gerry personally, but as a wife and mom and a fellow knitter, I feel a sort of kinship with her. I know that if I were in her shoes, it would be nice to know that people out there care. If you're not into the pattern and donation bit, I imagine that some good thoughts and prayers would be most appreciated, too. Annie didn't ask me to post this. I just felt that I had to get the word out.

Yes, I did tempt the knitting gods by failing to swatch, and boy were they pissed! I re-started Tomato yesterday with a size smaller needle, and it looks like the gauge is going to be just fine now. This whole starting over wasn't a bad thing, as it has given me the opportunity to slip the edge stitches on the upper body section. I like the cleaner looking edge and think it will be easier to pick up the neck ribbing stitches now. So, all was not lost!

In good family news, daughter has been offered a job. She's been working as a CIT (that's counselor in training) at her school's summer camp for the past two years. Next year, she's old enough (age 15) to be hired as a counselor. The camp director told daughter yesterday that she wants to hire her next year. It's amazing to think of my child as gainfully employed. She's great with kids, and the younger ones especially seem to love her.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but daughter is going to be a cheerleader next year for her high school soccer and basketball teams. She's excited. This is her first attempt at cheerleading, and so far so good. The girls are practicing this summer, and daughter is learning a lot. I've met a lot of the girls on the squad, and they seem really nice. Daughter has tried sports in middle school (volleyball and soccer) but those just are not her things. We want her to be active in extracurriculars, but they have to be things she enjoys doing.