Destined2B’s Neighborhood

This is the web site of my teacher from Wellness 201. It has really got some great information. I can be here for hours with some of the interactive quizzes and stuff! Enjoy!!

Happy new year, pals!

Hello all!

MELT COWL

HOOD CAPE

HOOD CAPE

SLEEVE SCARF

SLEEVE SCARF

SLEEVE SCARF

SLEEVE SCARF

MELT SLEEVES (grey tweed and thick)

MELT SLEEVES (grey tweed and thick)

MELT SLEEVES (black and thin)

MELT SLEEVES (black and thin)

SKIN SCARF

SKIN SCARF

CHAIN NECKLACE

CHAIN NECKLACE

What was the worst thing that happened to you in 2009? The best?

2009 was a year of lows for our family. 

The year started well with our pregnant dog Hera delivering five puppies on Jan 27th.  This was her  second pregnancy and for the first time had a little girl.  Her first litter in 2006 was five little boys!  My breeder friend Jane, could not believe that out of ten puppies only the very last one was a girl.  After Hera had deliver her 9th boy, Conrad told her the statistical chances of having ten out of ten pups be all boys.  That apparently changed her mind and surprise, Princess was born.   

Princess was spoiled from the day she arrived and repaid us by being the first to escape all confinement.  At about four weeks, she climbed out of the puppy play pen at 5 AM and made her way across the hall, the kitchen and dining area and into the master bedroom to announce her hunger. . . loudly.  Princess became Prissy Lady when adopted by her new Mom Jean and continues to rule her new house hold.

We had made arrangements to wholesale the puppies to my friend Jane who is a professional breeder with a long standing clientele.  We decided to try to sell some of them locally and were somewhat successful with four of the five pups being sold by the age of 10 weeks.  Younger pups sell better and so Conrad took Brownie back to Michigan and Jane.  I kept Pixel with me and had planned to sell him to a friend only, or maybe keep him.  Conrad wanted to sell him, thinking three dogs was too many.  We only have two laps. 

Some of you may remember, that I sort of accidentally sold Pixel, to some very nice people from New Jersey.  I was depressed for a week until I got a call from Larry saying there was a problem with Pixey.  Larry's brother was a canine genetics professor at a major university and had put Pixel through some very serious tests looking for genetic problems that occur with Shih Tzus.  He found that Pixel had a condition call Juvenile Renal Displaysia.  This condition is usually fatal and gave Pixey a prognosis of a very short life span.  We were all devastated.  I give my  puppy parents a one year guarantee against genetic defects, so there was no question, that we would take Pixey back and love him and keep him comfortable as long as possible. 

Larry flew Pixel back to Raleigh and met us at the airport.  I felt terrible for Lydia, Larry, and most of all my Pixel.  My magical little boy was doomed to a short life.  We consulted with our Vet and found that there was not much that could be done.  Our biggest hope was that he would remain small and not outgrow his existing kidney function. 

Pixey fit back into the family and even Lenny, who had been in a snit since the birth of the puppies, grew to accept his new little brother was here to stay.  Today Pixey is 11 months old and  just a little over 5 pounds.  We have had his kidneys tested twice since, and while some of his readings are at the high end of normal, all are in the normal range.  He shows no signs of the kidney issue other than drinking a lot of water, frequent urination, and is a bright and happy little dog that we love dearly. 

Financial devastation was the phrase for 2009.  In April we had to assume the total cost of our retirement health care when the bankruptcy judge and allowed Delphi to renege on the promise of health care for salary retirees with over 30 years of service.  My husband and I both retired from Delphi.  I had worked for GM for 26 years and my husband 23 years before the Delphi spin off in 1999.  We were promised that all benefits would continue under the new company and health care in retirement and pensions were safe. . . as long as we worked a minimum of 30 years.  I worked 34 and my husband 32 when we were offered early retirement packages due to down sizing and plant closings.  Union workers lost vision and dental coverage while the Delphi salary retirees (who had already been paying about 20% of our health care costs) now had to assume 100%.  This was not in the plan. 

A couple of months later GM was in trouble and the Automotive Task Force was formed.  A deal was brokered that dumped all of the Delphi pensions on the PBGC where based on age, our pensions could now be cut up to 70% in some cases.  They also brokered a deal where GM made up for the pension short fall for UAW retirees ONLY! They also sold many of the Delphi assets for pennys on the dollar back to GM without fully funding the salary retirement plan.   This was and remains an unequal and unpresented decision in a bankruptcy case. 

The DSRA (Delphi Salary Retirement Association) was formed.  Legal action is still pending to reverse or mitigate these decisions.   The DSRA found a new group to admisistrate our health care trust and found more affordable health care in a nation wide plan.  VEBA accounts were established and the health care costs were reduced.  By offering the health care plan to the union retirees within Delphi the group size was increased from 15,000 salary retirees to over a hundered thousand, sigificantly reducing the cost of coverage to all.  It's still expensive, but only about half of what we faced in April.  With my history of breast cancer, we had no choice but to go with whatever group coverage was made available. 

The future is not certain and we still are hopeful that DSRA legal action may be sucessful.  Unfair decisions that effected different groups of retirees, differently, may still be overturned or mitigated to some extent.  We remain hopeful that 2010 is a much better year than 2009.  We planned carefully for our retirement and saved much of our income.  Many people did not.  They face much more dim prospects than we but, if the legal decisions stand, we could all face the prospects of poverty. . . in what are suposed to be our Golden Years.   We are all very bitter about the treatment we have recieved after devoting 30+ years to Delphi and GM.  I'm really glad 2009 is almost over. 

No, we won't be buying a new GM car in 2010!

You can read more about the DSRA situation in the Washington Times:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/24/nonunion-auto-retirees-cry-foul-over-deal/

So Mike received a basket of baked goods from his mother on Christmas Eve.  She bought them at a bake sale. Each item (cookies, muffins etc) was individually wrapped in plastic wrap.  Mike decided to take the basket to work yesterday, so on Sunday he put the basket on a little ottoman we have in the front hall.  A few hours later we came by and guess what we found?

Blueberry Muffin

I don't know why Mike was surprised.  Given half the chance Buddy will eat just about anything, including plastic wrap.  Remember The Case of the Half-Eaten Lemon Loaf?  He ate the top off this muffin.  It was on the floor by the front door. Nothing else was touched, however.  What I'd like to know is, how did he get just one muffin out of the basket without knocking anything else to the floor?  And what did he do, bat it around for awhile first?  I need a hidden camera so I can catch this guy in action.  At any rate, it didn't make him sick.  I hope he enjoyed it ...

                          The last class that I took was Wellness 201, and I do believe I did rather well! I'll know for sure  when grades are posted. 

I think I may have mentioned that we were moving this month. Well, we are sort of moved. I am here in our new apartment with Bug (our cat) and my laptop. And the printer. And a box of fiber ready to spin. And my wheel. And a few other things that made it down here with me on Sunday. BUT, almost all of our other stuff? Still 3 hours away waiting to get down here. I'm hoping it will all arrive today and then I'll feel a little more "settled". For now, I still feel like I'm just visiting or staying in a hotel. At least I've got the laptop, the TV, and Bug! :)

Here she is, as a matter of fact, as Queen of the Boxes - these are boxes we brought down a few weeks ago - mostly non-essentials - stuff like our collectible toys/figures, books, and a few miscellaneous things that are non-necessities.

For perspective, here is the full-length shot of the closet -
That is the closet in what will probably be "my" room - I'll have my fiber in there, and probably a desk/computer, etc. My bookcases will also be in there. As the queen of clutter we are trying something NEW with this apartment and that is trying to keep the living room area look really clean and OPEN. NO clutter! My wheel will still be in there, because I'll still be spinning in that room since it has GREAT lighting. But, all the other fiber WILL be confined to this one room. Maybe I'll take more pictures later . . .

In fibery news - I was hoping to have new yarns spun the past couple of days but I've been feeling sort of in limbo without all of my stuff. I DO have fiber to work on, and hope to get to some of that today, but I DO have some new yarns from BEFORE the holidays - ones I don't think I ever posted here, so here they are! :)
From top to bottom -
The last batches of Plum Divine for 2009! One skein has already sold, but the other skein is still available here in my etsy shop!

Kitty Singles - Candy Colored Clown - Hand Spun Merino Wool Yarn - 134 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Spring Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 224 yards
Novel-Ply - New Year's Twilight - Hand Spun Super Bulky Yarn - 70 yards and a small 20 yard skein
Thread-Ply - Spumoni Sparkle - Hand Spun Thread-Ply Yarn, thicknthin with a few coils and beehives, too - great sparkle! - 60 yards and 30 yards

Here are a couple of others, too -

Kitty Singles - Rose Mocha - Hand Spun Single Ply Rambouillet Wool Yarn - 155 yards

Kitty Mixers - Adirondack Autumn - Hand Spun Two-Ply Merino Wool Yarn - 150 yards

Kitty Singles - November Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Falkland Wool Yarn - 168 yards

Wow, I am even more behind than I thought in posting current yarns! Here is another mosaic with even MORE recent hand spun yarns! All of these yarns can be found in my etsy shop HERE!
Beautiful Bamboo - Sand and Sea - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Beautiful Bamboo - Chocolate Berry Shine - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Sabrina - Hand Spun Single Ply BFL Wool Yarn
Kitty Singles - Sweet - Hand Spun Single Ply BFL Wool Yarn
Squish-tastic - Twilight Dreams - Hand Spun Bulky Thick/Thin 2ply Yarn
Navajo 3-ply - Twilight Dreams - Hand Spun 3ply Yarn - merino wool and silk
Kitty Singles - Holiday Memories - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Orchid CinderWood - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn

Okay, I think that is all! I better get offline now and try and get something spun. I've got some Rambouillet wool ready to spin into a single ply, a few more batches of bamboo (I'm almost completely out of bamboo, though! I need to order more!), and some merino and merino/silk ready for some Squish-tastics! and Navajo 3plys. Alright, definitely better get to work!

In case you all wondered, I actually DO knit and crochet, not just review magazines on those subjects.  As evidence of such, I submit to you all the projects* I've finished over the last few months.

Pattern:  Checkerboard Cowl by me
Yarn:  Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi in Purple Club 701

Pattern:  July is for Quinn by Lorena Haldeman
Yarn:  Rowan Kid Classic in 822 Glacier


(a)


(b)

Pattern:  Zephyr Fingerless Mitts (and Mitten option) by Tracey Grzegorczyk
Yarn:  Rowan Plaid in (a) Moonlight Wave, and (b) Lavender Mist


Pattern:  San Luis Mitts by me
Yarn:  Rowan Plaid in Moonlight Wave

Pattern:  Aran Gauntlets by Dina Mor
Yarn:  Patons Shetland Chunky in 03526 Leaf Green

Pattern:  Keri Fingerless Mitts by Denise Tanksley
Yarn:  Rowan Plaid in Lavender Mist

Pattern:  Entwined by Tera Johnson
Yarn:  Patons Shetland Chunky in 03520 Russet

Pattern:  Bobble Star Afghan by Ann Regis
Yarn:  Bernat Berella 4 in 01010 Soft Heather

Every single one of these pieces was given away.  Merry Christmas to you, and you, and you over there!  And may someone knit for you in the coming New Year.

*All the projects of which I've taken photos, that is.  There's one more, a triangular scarf, that has not been modeled and photographed.  Soon, though.

Things are fine.
In Texas right now. Galveston Island to be exact, at the moment actually. Spending some time with my father.
Can't really find a decent internet connection anywhere.
And I hate the fact that Houston doesn't want you to walk anywhere.

The only thing I can think about right now is the fact that I was peer pressured (by Ben J.) into eating dog food. Trying it, tasting it. Not feasting on it.

It didn't really taste like anything. Just bad and bland.
Dogs should have more flavorful food, I think.

Here's a shot from the photo shoot we had for my winter 2009 look book:

IMG_4046