Too Many Red Flags

Man, it's been a while. Yes, I've been busy, but that's not the only reason I've been away from the blog. I've tried a couple of times to write, but it has never come out right, so I hit DELETE instead of PUBLISH.

First things first...

Good news: Dad is doing well after his surgery in March.

Not-so-good news: He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple of weeks ago. We are told that it is completely unrelated to the prostate cancer. He has to have surgery to remove the thyroid, and then a couple of weeks after that he will have to be re-admitted to the hospital to take some very weird meds. Apparently, within 3-5 days of taking these meds, he will glow in the dark. (Not really...at least I hope not.) Next week we will find out more details on the surgery and post-surgical treatment.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. Mom is doing well. She is scheduled for Botox next month.That's right, Botox! I can't stop laughing whenever I think of it. She's not getting it for wrinkles (if she had any, that is). She was recently diagnosed with esophageal achalasia, so they are going to relax the muscle at the bottom of her esophagus with Botox. I keep telling her that once you start with the plastic surgery, it's just a slippery slope. Pretty soon she will be getting a butt lift and a boob job!

The dogs, assorted cats and chickens are all doing great.

OK, I think I'll end this post right here.

Thanks for reading.

Goodbye.

See ya.

Go on now.

You're still here?

You're asking about the little house at Fortescue from my last post?

The house I have been drooling over for two years now?

This cute little house with tons of character?


Why yes, I did indeed put in an offer on this house!

I know the house is small; the bedrooms are barely big enough for a twin bed, let alone a full or queen; the bedrooms and bathroom are up a narrow, winding flight of steps; the outbuildings are practically falling down and are one high tide away from being washed into the marsh. I know all that, and I love the house anyway. The deeper I got into the house, though, the more red flags started popping up.



The house has been vacant for over three years? That just proves that it needs someone to love it. Termite damage? OK. I can live with that. Leaky pipes? No problem. That's what plumbers are for. An owner who is reluctant to sell? That's a little harder to deal with, but that's what real estate agents are for.

And then came the big red flag. Do you see that outbuilding behind the house? Inside the building, there is an old, unused shallow well. You open the door, and there is a hole in the ground, about 2 feet in diameter, full of water. No lid or anything to keep you from falling into it. No big deal. Make a lid for the well, secure it so no one can fall into it, and viola! Well problem solved. At least we thought it was a well. Turns out, it's the septic. Full of water. No lid, because apparently it fills up so often that it has to be pumped out once a month. Estimate to get a new, properly draining septic system? $15,000-$25,000.

Big red flag. Huge. Big enough to cover the whole state of New Jersey. Granted, New Jersey is one of the smaller states, but still...



This house is just not an option for me, and will henceforth will be referred to as "The Money Pit".

But... behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I could go on and on with pithy sayings, but you catch my drift.

I now present.. (drumroll, please)... the Silver Lining:



Longtime readers might recognize this as the house we rented last summer when an old friend came to New Jersey for a visit. This house is also in Fortescue, and while it doesn't have the charm of my house the Money Pit, there is something to be said for three bedrooms, a bath and a half, and actually being able to flush the toilets.

So, am I just teasing, or did I actually take the plunge?

Hand me a towel, because I am soaking wet!

I was afraid to post about this earlier, afraid I would jinx it, but I made an offer, it was accepted (after some back and forth), the contracts have been signed, the attorney review period is over, and an independent house inspector only found two things wrong: it needs GFI outlets in the kitchen, and the front porch is missing lag bolts. Easy stuff.

Now I'm just waiting for the mortgage to come through, but have been assured that it will go through without a problem. Famous last words, right? I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I'm starting to think that I might actually be a homeowner very soon.

How's that for a silver lining?

Working, working, working...

...and more working. Mom and dad are both doing good, the babes are all excellent (health-wise, not behavior-wise, of course), but between working at the Museum and Glitter World, I'm feeling like a zombie. I keep telling myself that this won't be forever, and I just have to keep my eyes on the goal. What is my goal? Get out of debt! Pay off all credit cards and my car, and become totally debt free. I can't imagine how that feels, but if all goes according to plan, by June of 2013, I should be able to tell you. Seems so far away, but I am determined to do it. Absolutely determined.

No deviation from the plan.

None.

At all.

Unless...

Wouldn't it be fantastic...

If it were a possibility...

That this could be mine?



So, on one hand I could be totally debt free in approximately 26 months.

On the other hand, I could go deeper into debt for approximately 26 years.

Sounds like a no-brainer, right?

:sigh:

Updates in the near future.

For now, you guessed it, I am off to work.

:-/

Quickie post before I go off to work at Glitter World... Our store has been targeted as a [queue deep, echo-ey voice] Store of the Future. As a result, the dress code has changed. This is after I already bought three pair of khakis and half a dozen black shirts, of course. I'm not sure what the whole Store of the Future thing means, really, but I do know that I am no longer a lowly cashier at the bottom of the pecking order who occasionally teaches knitting or crocheting. Nooooooooo. I am now a Yarn Expert!



True, I am a Yarn Expert who is really just a lowly cashier at the bottom of the pecking order who occasionally teaches knitting or crocheting, but now I get to wear a cool T-Shirt!

Good News. Not Great, but Good.

I've been delaying posting because I was soooo hoping to have great news regarding dad's cancer. All I have is good news, but good is better than terrible, or even mediocre news. Below is the email that Mom sent out to their church's prayer chain. I just cut and pasted it for the blog because Mom said it so much better than I could.

Good Evening Everyone,

Today was the first post-op visit following Don’s surgery for prostate cancer. He was relieved of his “buddy bag” as he called it and is now allowed to drive. That is the immediate good news. Many biopsies were taken at surgery. They confirmed that his is an aggressive cancer and indeed all biopsies came back clear/negative but one. When the pathologist was bisecting the prostate he found that one capsule of the cancer had penetrated though the lining of the prostate therefore his Stage 2 cancer was upgraded to Stage 3. He will be followed with every 3 month PSA tests and if the numbers start to climb he will then be evaluated for probably radiation therapy. Whatever happens whenever is all in God’s hands and we would appreciate your continuing to pray for him. Thanks so much for your faithfulness.

In Him Because He loves us all,

Joan

Pot Pie, Anyone???

Thanks again, everyone, for keeping dad in your thoughts and prayers. He came home from the hospital Thursday night, and is already driving mom crazy, ummm, up and around. You can't keep a good man down! The next milestone is Monday the 28th when we go back to Fox Chase for the full biopsy report and removal of the catheter. Ouch.

In other medical news, the babes all had their annual checkup at the evil Vee-Eee-Tee, (a.k.a. the WonderVet) yesterday. As I was getting my little car ready for the onslaught of three big brits, look who decided to help.


Yes, that is one of the neighbor's chickens. In my car. A chicken in my car.


I opened all of the doors and ran from side to side, trying to shoo that bird out of my car. At one point I might have been heard to threaten her with the stew-pot if she left any chicken poo in my car. Eventually, I did get her out of my car without having to act on that threat, and was able to get the babes into the car. By myself. I took all three hooligans, by myself, in my little Prius. What was I thinking? I have no idea. Here are a couple of shots of the babes in the back seat of my car





They were a little squished, but not for long. Emma jumped right into the front seat and planted herself in front of the air vents. She loves the feel of the air conditioning blowing right in her face, so I turned it on full blast. Big mistake. It felt like a meat locker in my car, but every time I turned the fan down, Emma would whine. :sigh:

Luckily, I had an early appointment and it wasn't too crowded in the waiting room. As soon as I got the babes into the office, they took off in three directions with me in the center holding the leashes. I felt like the hub of a wagon wheel. After much tangling and untangling of leashes, I managed to get them signed in and seated.

Then the vet's three-legged cat wandered out from behind the counter. Now, my babes hate cats, but a three legged cat? They figured that was easy prey. There was much whining and woo-wooing on the dogs' part while the cat calmly sat just out of reach, yawning, while I was pulling on the leashes with all of my strength, saying "we love kitties...kitties are our friends."

At that point the vet techs saved my arms from being pulled out of their sockets by calling us back into the exam room. God Bless the Vet Techs!!! I tried to get a photo of the babes, but this was the best I could do. Notice the leashes wrapped around my legs...



It was all worth it, though, as the WonderVet pronounced all three babes to be beautiful, healthy, happy and frightfully undisciplined. Who could ask for anything more? :-)

Dad Update

I can't thank everyone enough for your support yesterday. I felt the support as I was waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, and knitting some more. It was a long day, as you can tell from this picture of mom and my sister Donna.



Dad's surgery went well. There were some complications, and it took about an hour longer than expected, but that just made us extra thankful that we chose Dr. Viterbo at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I don't want this to sound like a commercial for Fox Chase, but everyone there was wonderful. Not only did dad get the best of care, but they treated all of us who were waiting, waiting, waiting with kindness and patience. No question was a stupid question, and if you were wandering around in a stupor with a blank look on your face, someone always stopped and said "You look lost...can I help you?" (Don't ask me how many times I was lost and wandering around with an (allegedly) blank look on my face.)

I've got to go now. I'm getting ready to pick up mom, go to breakfast, and then drive to Fox Chase. Anyone familiar with Philly driving knows this is no small task. This country girl will be crossing a bridge, driving on I-95, and braving the road construction and crazy drivers on Cottman Ave. Ugh.

Catching Up

I can tell this is going to be a jumbled post, just because my brain is only functioning on half power. Last week mom had Mohs surgery for squamous cell cancer on her head, and tomorrow dad has his surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center. (If anyone has a spare moment tomorrow, I would sure appreciate some prayers/thoughts/good vibes sent in the direction of BritKnitterville.) I took off from both jobs for the rest of this week so I can be available to take mom back and forth to the hospital. It's just as well I am not working, because of my aforementioned brain function deficit.

Today at work I was mounting labels, so I carefully marked the cutting lines, sandwiched the layers, and as I was putting it into the heat press I then noticed a misspelling in the label. Arrgh! I went back to the computer, made the correction, printed out a new sheet, carefully marked the cutting lines...again, sandwiched the layers...again, and then put the labels into the press. I went back 10 minutes later, and that stupid press still wasn't hot. It's an ancient beast, and it does take a long time to heat up, but this was ridiculous. Then I saw the problem. I didn't plug it in. Stupid. I've been doing stuff like that for weeks now. Hopefully after dad comes home from the hospital and is on the road to recovery my brain will recover, too.

Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for your suggestions for the wedding afghan. I have just about given up hope of combining a Celtic and dog theme, so am pretty sure I will be going with either this one or this one. (My apologies to those of you not on Ravelry-- you probably can't see those links.) I'm just waiting for both patterns to arrive and then I will decide. Or not. Maybe something else will strike my fancy in the meantime.

Just because no post is complete without photos, here are a couple of shots of the sea glass I found at Fortescue over the weekend.






Pretty, huh?

Desperate Cry for Help...

OK, knitting peeps... I need help. Big time help. I need a pattern and have been searching Ravelry off and on for a few weeks, and nothing pops out at me.

I want to knit an afghan and need a pattern. Not just any pattern... just the right pattern.

For a couple getting married. Not just any couple... my favorite couple.

That's right, two of my favorite people in all the world are getting married. The WonderVet and the WonderNanny are becoming one, which make me think that everything is right with the world! Seriously, could there be a more perfect union?

Now for the pattern... WonderVet is very Irish, so an Aran-celtic-cable-y pattern would be fabulous. Both are clearly animal lovers, (even going so far as raising a sheep in the house...remember this post from a couple of years ago?) so some kind of paw print or other animal-related-thingy incorporated into the design would be a plus. They have lots of dogs, so washable and durable are very important.

Is that too much to ask?

Any suggestions?

Oh, and because no blog post is complete without a photo, here is a seldom-seen shot of all three dogs in one photo! That's Emma peering over the back of the sofa doing her impersonation of a vulture, with Cooper and Tara on the big doggy bed below. Enjoy!

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.....

First of all, thank you, everyone, for all of your support. Dad read the comments, and they are really appreciated!

The residents of Britknitterville woke up to more snow this morning. Ugh. Enough already!!! Yeah, it's pretty, but I refuse to take any more picture of the nasty white stuff. The good part about it is that work is closed until noon today. Yay! So, in between laundry and paperwork and scratching bellies, I am finally getting in another blog post.

Do you remember my little house at Fortescue? Well, not really MY house, but I consider it mine.



Hopefully some day, but more on that another time... Anyway, the little town of Fortescue has been in the news lately. This article on the feral cat colonies at Fortescue was in yesterday's paper. How can some of those people be so unfeeling? These cats are not hurting anyone. In fact, they are keeping down the rodent population on the island. Sheesh!

Here are some photos of the cats. We go down and feed them at least once a week. Aren't they beautiful?



The blue tubs are cat shelters. They are a tub within a tub, stuffed with insulation in between, and the "porthole" allows access for the cats while keeping the inner tub (stuffed with straw and blankets) nice and cozy.


Here is a recent photo of dad working on one of the tubs for the cats! Who knew he was a cat lover?


Tara says those cat shelters may be cozy, but she'll stick with her big doggy bed.

I'm back with a PSA...

Confession time: It's been a while since I have blogged, and I (shamefully) haven't read anyone else's blog in months. It really feels weird to be here, but for now I am back, checking in, letting everyone know that I am still alive. The hooligan Brittanys are in fine form, too. No health problems, just the usual orneriness that is inherent in the breed, but that just tells me that they are perfectly fine, healthy and still very puppy-like, even at their ages.

Just for fun, here is a little video I took of the babes this morning. They each had a special ketchup heart on top of their breakfast for Valentine's Day, and they loved it!



So, why have I been away for a couple of months? I have lots of excuses, all of them quite lame...

• the dreaded holidays
• working two jobs
• getting classes started at Glitter World
• making samples for the classes (4 knitting lessons and 4 crochet lessons, 2 samples per lesson for a grand total of 16 projects)
• knitting a kajillion samples for my Craft Yarn Council teacher certification
• stuff that I haven't been able to think about, let alone write about without my head exploding, which would make quite a mess with all those pieces of brain matter splattering the walls

Yep, it all boils down to that last one, so now for the real reason I've been MIA.

My Dad.

Dad has cancer.

I couldn't say that for weeks. Couldn't think it. Could barely get out of bed when the results came back from his biopsy. It is prostate cancer, which is one of the best kinds of cancer to get, if there is any such thing, but dad has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

This past week we went to Fox Chase Cancer Center, and we all feel as though he will be getting the best of care there. (Nothing but the best for my sweet dad!) I won't go into details here, but the doctors at Fox Chase exuded confidence, and dad's surgery is scheduled for March 15.

Now for my PSA: Ladies, made sure your guys get their PSA checked. Right now I know more than I ever thought I would about, ummm, boy-parts... and, again, I won't go into detail here, but please make sure your husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends... heck, even the pizza delivery guy... make sure they all get tested regularly.

OK, enough for now. I was going to get started reading some of your blogs tonight, but my head is feeling like it is getting ready to explode, so some knitting therapy is in order. I WAS going to sit in my knitting chair, but look who has beat me to it...


Mr. Cooper McLooper. He's a silly boy, but I love him!

Note to self: Ask WonderVet about getting Cooper's PSA checked.