Friday, May 18, 2007

Things are looking up.

I did have to - sort of - pull a Bitch From Hell routine this morning, but I did finally get my perscription refills out of the doctor's office. The guy at the desk who helped me (receptionist type, though they aren't called that on Air Force bases), was quite polite and totally uninvolved in the four unanswered phone calls, so I was polite right back to him (if I'm gonna bite someone's face off, it will be the person responsible, damn it). But I was also open about the fact I was enraged. At one point I said calmly "I don't want to be a bitch to you about this, but I've been calling here for a week without so much as a returned phone call. I'm not leaving today until I get these perscriptions. If this doesn't work, it's the CO's office next." (CO meaning commanding officer. CO's hate when their staff is so incompetent that the civilians get pissed off and come to complain.) And he blinked a couple times and said "Right." I have a feeling he went back and hounded the nurses, because things happened pretty quickly.

Military bases are funny places. In many ways it's a giant rule-fest, of course; all that rank, uniforms, sir and ma'am stuff. But in other ways, it's kind of like a giant extended family. Because many of the men are away from their families so much, they tend to spend what time they DO have very involved with their children. Which means on a military base you've got great odds of running into men who have a clue about children's needs and behavior. (The husbeast has come home with all kinds of hilarious parenting tips like what diaper rash ointment is best. I would give a ball of silk yarn to be able to watch these guys sharing baby-butt help over the coffee in the morning.) While I was waiting in line this morning, one window was open and one was closed. A guy in uniform passing by looked at me, smiled, then went over to the empty window and yelled in 'HEY! THERE'S A LADY WITH A KID OUT HERE WHO NEEDS SOME HELP!' then he wished me a nice day and disappeared. Someone materialized in the empty window almost instantly.

Always a surreal experience. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always surreal.

So after a little more crap, I have my perscriptions. I think from now on I'm going to skip the freaking phone calls altogether and just go over. If they don't like it, I'll remind them of this clusterfuck.



Anyway. Real news. I've been working on the Mystery Knit, kind of. My concentration hasn't been the greatest due to the pain control thing. But when I could sit still, I knit on it. Unfortunately, the evil stinkbeast (formerly known as Sekhmet) has discovered that alpaca is soft and warm:


"MMmmmmm. Alpaca."

I'm trying for some project monogamy to get this thing done; if I want to submit it to Knitty, it's got to be done, pattern written, and photos done by June 15. That's not too far away.

And speaking of patterns, for something designed to be loose and casual, what kind of sizing do you think is appropriate? I was thinking of going every ten inches of chest measurement - 34"/86cm, 44"/112cm, 54"/138cm, 64"/162cm - Or do you want the usual every four inches/ten cm sizing method that's commonly used for more fitted knitwear? Let me know, pleeeeaaaase?

The Baby's zone-out was probably due to a growth spurt; there seemed to be some concern in the comments. The husbeast and I both had major growth spurts, instead of steady growth (the nine months I was in eighth grade - age 12ish - I grew seven inches and my legs never quit hurting the whole time). The Baby seems to be doing the same thing; for a few days she'll be lethargic and cranky, then suddenly overnight she's a size larger and she eats everything that's not red hot or nailed down. And she'll often do two or three of them in a row. She outgrew all her 2T (two-year-old) clothes last week, so she might have another spurt or two in her. Sometimes when she's really whiney, I give her Tylenol; I remember how my legs hurt during growth spurts and I wonder if she's got the same thing. I hope to hell she learns to talk soon so she can TELL me her legs hurt. Or whatever.

So, anyway, I went out to Target yesterday and bought her a bunch of new clothes that fit, including some loose dresses. Loose dresses are my favorite way to dress in hot weather.

She was shrieking and laughing when I took the photo, which is why she looks so goofy. I kept running away from her so I'd be far enough away to get a photo, and she'd run after me, thinking it was a game. We chased each other around the living room for quite a while. Baby giggles are a good thing.


One last thing -- product endorsement. I've been letting The Baby color with Crayola Markers, and even though they're billed as 'washable', I didn't automatically believe it. But this stuff is awesome for cleanup on skin. The Baby colors herself all up with these things, and I just get some baby wipes (the pre-moistened things they sell for diaper changes which we use to clean up everything). The marker comes right off with the baby wipes, no real scrubbing or anything. Rub a couple times and it's gone. Love 'em.

13 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

I remember having those growth spurts. It was misery on the elbows and knees!! But the baby is growing up cute so I suppose it's worth it. (she might disagree with that assessment...)

I like your measurements for the looser fitting sweater. Fitted knits are wonderful and I love a close fitting garment for certain outfits. But if something is designed to be loose, then it should probably have it's own standard of measurement rather than just sizing up a fitted knit. Does this make sense? I'm on pain meds too right now...

amy said...

Love wet wipes. Use 'em for everything.

Beautiful Baby, sweet little dress.

Liz said...

Glad you got the prescriptions, even with all the hassle.

Sizing sounds great; as long as you give finished measurements people can decide how much extra fabric they want... I'm quite excited by the idea of anything going up to a 64" size...

Amy Lane said...

Yeah-I remember the leg pains...and the doc going, "she'll live with 'em"--Tylenol seems much more compassionate. I'm cracking up over these military guys talking babies... "Boudroux Butt Paste, man...I'm telling you, it's the way to go..." (For the record, my husband gets to talk babies to nobody...engineers talk WOW, they talk computers, or they talk Television. The pretend families are for weenie humans. It's the law.) Way to go on the meds, darlin'--have some pain free days!

Bells said...

i did think when I saw the zoned out photo, wow, she's getting tall!!

Hey guess what? Last night hubby was sitting on the couch with his (not insignficant) belly sticking out from his t-shirt and I laughed, pulled it down and said, 'remember what Julie said in her post. It's not as cute as if you were 2.' At least he smiled and didn't wallop me.

Amy Lane said...

Oh yeah...I LOVE sweaters w/ease and as a fairly hefty size, I'm great w/the idea of 10 inch increments... I would imagine as soon as I post this there will be a slough of people who like the 4" increments instead, but hey, I'm just doing my part:-)

Anonymous said...

actually, the washable markers are so kid-friendly that i used them for "makeup" on a couple of halloweens back in the day.

nothing major, mind you, just a nose turned pink and a few black whiskers drawn on a kitten-girl's cheeks, or a tattoo on a little guy imitating his sailor daddy.

ellen in indy

Anonymous said...

That's cool that guy yelled at them to help you like that. From the pics, it looks like the baby has caught on to walking pretty well.

Catie said...

baby giggles are great

i never got pain during growth spurts but did eat a lot (double big mac meal...)

and i laughed out loud about the baby bum rash ointment

Unknown said...

I had those hellatious growth spurts too, good luck to baby!

Stinker (our Sekhmet)has her shedding funk going on. I've been pretty good at keeping her off the knitting, but my comforter has become a hairy, stanky thing almost overnight...

Anonymous said...

I think 10" increments are good also; if it's supposed to be loose, specific in-between sizes shouldn't matter.
It is great that you (and knitty) are pushing a wide variety of sizes in knitwear! If only commercial stores were so wise...

Nina said...

Wow, I'm glad you finally have your meds. Yep, I'd skip all the niceties next time. Or start four weeks before you run out. I have friends who tell similar horror stories of the military medical experience.

I have to go through all our markers and separate the non-washable from the washables--9 y.o. vs. 4 y.o. boys, eek. I can tell you it really washes out of clothing well!

As for pattern sizes-- if it's loose and casual, looser sizing makes sense to me. Are there standard "L & C" sizes yet?

Unknown said...

I personally would love to see sizing more in 8" increments. It means a little bit more work for you, of course, but a little bit more choices. If someone has exactly a 34" chest, for instance, the 34" size would be totally inappropriate, and the 44" size, even a loose fitting garment, would be way too huge. (my mom is a 34", so I'm just thinking about her here. She definitely doesn't like really baggy things, as they make her look significantly bigger than she is).

I'm really behind on my feeds -- or I would have commented earlier about all your grief over getting your prescriptions. It sucks. I guess I don't have any words of wisdom here, but I feel your pain!