What a week!

What a week it's been!  Actually, it's been closer to two weeks.  And while I hate to complain.....  Oh who am I kidding?  I've been throwing myself a huge, giant pity party, complete with balloons, streamers and even a DJ!  In other words, I've been a mess.

So, almost two weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with this massive, weird head/face pain.  I quickly realized that if I lay on my back with my face pointing straight at the ceiling, everything was fine.  But if I tilted my head to either side...  OUCH!  I stuffed the pillows around my head so I couldn't move & went back to sleep.  When I woke up in the morning, everything was fine.  But later that afternoon/evening, I thought I might be getting a toothache.  The toothache got worse over the next few days and so did the headache.  But the headache was sort of an earache so I figured it was really part of the toothache.  We don't have dental insurance so I was going to wait until payday to go to the dentist.  But the toothache and the headache continued to get worse, the inside of my mouth began to swell, the two ibuprofen every four hours became every two hours, then became three every two hours, the Orajel stopped working and I actually bruised my face in a couple of places from pushing back against the pressure.  It was time to admit defeat and go to the doctor.

Turns out, I had both a sinus and an "oral" infection that was in my gums and cheek.  The doctor gave me a sack full of drugs and I'm beginning to feel much better.  Thank goodness!

Scarf knit with Knit Picks Stroll Gradient

Throughout my giant pity party, I continued to go to work so I haven't had a 'sick day' to spend knitting, but I have managed to make a little progress on my Hasselhoff scarf.  I'm at the point where I could finish it if I had a full day to spend knitting.  In other words, I hope to have it finished by the end of June.

And since it's Wednesday, I need to talk about what I'm reading.  (Join me over on Kat's blog for this week's book discussion.)  I've sort of given up on Pressure Drop (there were too many different story lines going on at the same time & I just couldn't keep up) and have begun Only the Truth by Adam Croft.  It's a hard book to put down.  Almost from the moment the crime takes place, the murder's identity is obvious to the reader which makes me think it's probably not so obvious at all.  I can't wait to find out what really happened.

Meanwhile, it's time to go take another pill.

Erasable!

Oh! My! Gosh!  I am SO excited!

Pilot Frixion

My new favorite toy was hiding in Wednesday's post.  My new Pilot FriXion Erasable pen.  Oh! My! Gosh!  It actually erases!

First,

smooth ink flow

 then,

erases cleanly

The ink is actually erased!  Not smudged, not rubbed into the paper until the paper disappears, but actually erased!  Pilot's Frixion line even has markers and .... get ready for it.... highlighters!  Erasable highlighters!  YES!  My world is complete.

And the excitement doesn't end there.  For the ex-homeschooling science experiment loving geek in me, the pens are a science experiment waiting to happen.  According to the packaging, if the pen is stored in temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the ink will turn clear.  In order to return it to its proper color, you must put it in a freezer & let the pen reach 14 degrees.  I can not wait to play with that fun fact!

Meanwhile, in between purposely making mistakes in my writing just so I can erase it, I've been working on my Hasselhoff shawl.

Hasselhoff scarf

Not sure you can tell from that photo, but I've begun the third shade of blue & red.  I'm SO pleased with the way the two gradients are working together.  Almost as please as I am about my new erasable pens.

I'm absolutely giddy about my pens.  Sarah even got excited over them and stole the black one as soon as I showed it to her.  And now I anxiously await another Amazon package containing the markers, highlighters and another black pen.  Once it's existence is known, a girl just can't live without a black erasable pen!

Hasselhoff

Remember this striped scarf/shawl?  I've made lots of progress.

Hasselhoff

First, I've knit far enough that I can now see the first gradient change in the yarn.  That change was a long time coming!

Second, it will be a shawl, not a scarf.  A very, very long, triangular shawl with the wide part at one end and the point at the other.

And third, it has a name.  Hasselhoff.  The orange yarn is called Lifeguard and the entire time I've been knitting with it, I've been picturing David Hasselhoff running along the beach.