I'm in serious sugar shock.

Well, yesterday was an interesting day, to say the least. I was up early, doing my sock update, and had Bill stay upstairs with the kids while I finished up. They come down about 10 minutes later, and Bill is rubbing his neck. Turns out, he somehow managed to pinch a nerve and was nearly incapacitated. After he couldn't manage to take his shirt off to get in the shower, we decided he needed to go to the emergency room. We packed the kids up, dropped them off at the grandparents', and headed to the hospital.

One good thing about going to the emergency room on Easter morning is it's a ghost town. We were in and out in under two hours. Our previous visits, which were with a sick kid in the middle of the night, were at least five hours long. Anyway, they confirmed that Bill has a pinched nerve in his neck and gave him Vicodin and Valium to try to get it to loosen up and stop hurting. Unfortunately, the drugs haven't been working too well (other than at making him nauseous and groggy).

We go back over to his parents' house and find out that my brother-in-law's wife was up all night with a severe sore throat. Everyone kind of goes back and forth on whether she should come join us for the festivites, but I finally put my foot down and say that we just can't take the chance that she's contagious. I love Katie to death, but if Owen gets a sore throat that keeps him up all night, his method of dealing with the pain will be to scream all night.

So our Easter consists of Sydney eating nothing but chocolate all day and turning into a hyperactive little sugar monster (you know the cartoons where they show spirals in place of eyes? That was her.) Bill sits in the recliner all day, moaning in pain and pretty much unable to move or get comfortable. Chris (my brother-in-law) shuttles food back and forth between his sick wife and the rest of the family. The weather alternates between sunny blue skies and torrential hail. We managed to hide eggs and have a little egg hunt in a patch of sunny weather, but in the rush to the hospital, I forgot to throw the camera in the bag. I did happen to have the video camera in the diaper bag for some unknown reason, so I did get it on video. On the way home, the drugs make Bill so nauseous that he has to ride with a bucket on his lap. Fortunately he didn't actually have to use it... What a day!

I did get some cute pictures on Saturday morning, when we had our egg dying session. It was quite the process.





We also turned Owen into a bumblebee...



And Sydney into some kind of weird lemur (or a bat - we can't tell which).



I think this picture speaks for itself (and explains why I'm always exhausted):



Owen got turned upside-down...



...and took a little nap when it was all over with.



I must say, today is turning out to be a bit better than yesterday was, at least for me (Bill is still suffering and took the day off to try to recuperate - it's bad timing since he's supposed to be running in the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon this Sunday and we planned an entire trip to LA around that event...). I had my little excursion out to Blue Moon Fiber Arts world headquarters this morning. Can I just say one word? Wow!

I had no idea what to expect, but I certainly didn't think that Blue Moon was as much of a cottage industry as it is. Literally, it runs out of Tina Newton's house. Part of the house, which I think used to be an attached garage, is converted into the yarn dying area. There is literally yarn everywhere. It was crazy. And so pretty. Then you go through a baby gate and you're in her kitchen.

We sat down in her living room with Kaci, who is her business partner, and started talking about yarn. And we talked, and talked, and talked. Tina's youngest daughter, who is 9 (I think) and a total sweetheart, took Sydney to her room and kept her pretty well entertained the whole time we were there. Owen was roaming around, trying to pull knitting needles out of baskets (which were numerous). I'd brought a few of my other designs with, including the one I just sent off to Knitty, and they went absolutely nuts for it. So if it doesn't show up in Knitty (and, I think, even if it does), they're going to sell a Blue Moon version of it. I also brought along the sock that I knit out of the Mama-E yarn. They hadn't been so crazy about it in the pictures I sent them, but they loved it in person. It's funny how much better you can get a sense for something when you're able to hold it and stretch it, etc. Which is why I hope magazines don't start insisting on electronic submissions only. E-submissions are easier all the way around, but I think it's harder to make your stuff look how it really looks in person.

After we'd talked awhile, Tina started pulling out yarn for me to play with. As in, take home and swatch with. Check it out:



Yes, folks, they gave me 17 hanks of yarn plus an entire undyed cone. My head is still spinning. There is one unpictured because it was fresh out of the dye pot and I had to hang it up to finish drying. It's a lovely silk/mohair/nylon blend. There's also a boucle, three hanks of Socks That Rock, an undyed hank of Sock Candy (their cotton sock yarn), three hanks of wool for felting, their new bamboo yarn (which is SO nice) and a bunch of others. They're all spread out on my dining room table and I swoon every time I walk by. Tina also said that they're quite willing to give yarn as a second form of payment with the designs. I am quite giddy at the thought!

They're going to be offering more of their yarns on their website, but they're such a small company that they have to be careful what they promote and when. Otherwise, there's a run on the bank and they can't keep up with the demand! A good problem to have, for sure, until you have unhappy customers because they can't get their yarn. Anyway, they are a great bunch of women and such an amazing small business. I am just delighted to have a chance to work with them. Can you tell I'm a bit in love?

Time to stop gushing and get back to my knitting. The Mag Knits project is finally done, and despite all my reservations, I think it turned out fabulous. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at several points during the knitting of it, but I love the finished product. Stay tuned in June when you all will get to see it.

Also, my friend Chris (aka the indiscreet nursing mama who got harassed in Fred Meyer) has started a blog, The Reluctant Lactivist, where she's posting updates on the situation as they happen. Go check it out and give her your support. Flood Fred Meyer/Kroger Inc with letters telling them they should support nursing moms in their stores instead of humiliating them. We women can change the world if we take the time to do it!!!

Owen's awake - time to run!