Snapshot for August 11

Weather in SW Michigan ...
After several months of super hot weather, SW Michigan is in the low 60s this morning.

This little phoebe is all fluffed up trying to adjust to the temperature change and I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

Really? ...
Yesterday I tried to change internists to move to a practice that's more convenient for me and is affiliated with the hospital I prefer. The entire practice was booked for physicals through August of 2013. They told me to make up my mind and call soon if I wanted an appointment for September of 2013.

Something from the kitchen ...
For an afternoon treat I've been cutting up a nectarine and stirring it into a cup of Dannon blueberry Greek yogurt. Delicious. And it helps me avoid eating something less healthy.

I am creating...
A friend from church is assembling newborn baby packets for the Thedes in Haiti. One of the requested items is a hat, so I got some baby yarn and knit a sample to see if it's acceptable.

The hat is knit in a 2x2 ribbing pattern which easily expands to fit a baby head and has enough elasticity that it doesn't fall off. When not on a baby head, the hat looks a little narrow, but it's really OK and very practical.

I am procrastinating ...
Cutting down the willows growing along the edge of the pond. I'm not sure I'm physically able to handle the job and I don't want to pay someone to do it.

It may be a job left for the next owner of this property.

I am reading...
I'm listening to Danielle Steel's Legacy on CD from the library. It's a predictable tale of a modern woman finding an Indian chief's daughter in her ancestry. Perfect knitting background for a moderately challenging pattern like the Vitamin D I'm knitting. Not fast paced enough to relieve the monotony of a simple, 2x2 rib mindless baby hat.

I am hearing...
Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina), an album recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet.

In 2008, it won a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album," and it gets my vote for one of the best CDs of all time. Every cut in it speaks to my soul. And the trumpet playing is double awesome. That coming from someone, me, who rarely uses a single awesome.

Outdoors ...
The Rose of Sharon bushes are blooming. They have a long tap root so they happily thrived and multiplied in the drought while other bushes turned brown and withered away.

Something new for me ...
After six months of a Frontier landline that only worked 70% of the time, I'm replacing my landline with Verizon Home Connect which hooks my landline phone into a 4G connection. It has all the same capabilities as a working landline, free long distance in the US and various islands, and I get to keep my same landline phone number.

(Note for the people who call me: My phone number hasn't ported to Verizon yet, so you still may not be able to get through to me. Call my cell phone.)

Home Connect is better than the landline, it costs less than the landline, and all I have to do when I move is unplug it from the electrical outlet and plug it in at my new home.

I asked if I could keep my Mattawan number after I move to Kalamazoo. They told me I could get a new Kalamazoo number for $15, but most people are just keeping their same numbers when they move and even area codes aren't linked to a geographic area anymore.

Giving thanks for ...
The love of God and the comfort of my faith.

And ...
Sunny likes to guard the kitchen from her favorite chair.