San Francisco Prezzies and Other Fun

In re-reading my last post, I realized that I didn't say enough about how much fun I had courtesy of Lisa, aka Midwife Knits. Lisa works as a certified midwife and nurse practitioner in Anchorage, in conjunction with a group of medical clinics. She was in SF for a professional midwives conference, and very generously offered to share her hotel room, which made the trip do-able for me. From the moment she popped up at the front desk of the Hyatt until I wheeled my suitcase out the door, it seemed like we talked non-stop. Our life histories are very different - Lisa has had at least 3 very different and exciting careers while I spent 27 years as a tax accountant - but oh, boy, did we CLICK!!! We talked about family, knitting, our younger wild and crazy days, yarn, struggles with knitting patterns, you name it. Lisa is just immediately likeable and so fun and easy to be with. She is just 'a hoot and a half', as the saying goes! I know she's going to be on the east coast in the fall, and meeting Cate; I'm looking forward to hearing all about their hi-jinks.

I have to share with you the gorgeous facecloths that Marie (smariek knits) gave Lisa and me. I was looking at them last night, and they are amazing. Marie's knitting is so evenly-tensioned even in a difficult fiber like heavy cotton. For the mother of a very active and challenging 2-year old, she has found time to make these for gifts, and, if you haven't checked out the wealth of patterns for facecloths, hats and scarves she has designed and posted for free, you should.


I'd forgotten about the oh-so-practical fan I got at Menopause, the Musical. I clearly remember when I was a kid in SE Missouri, in the days when air conditioning was practically unknown, that most of the ladies in church had fans to use during the services. In fact, they may have been provided along with the hymnals! If you haven't heard about the "Musical" part of Menopause, the Musical, they got permission to modify the lyrics to some 2 dozen oldies, and have very cleverly adapted them to the many problems of menopause.

The lyrics at the top of the fan go like this, to the tune of "Heat Wave":

I'm having a hot flash
A tropical hot flash
My personal summer is really a bummer
I'm having a hot flash

Comes on like a car crash
No warning just hot flash
Outside it is nippy, but I'm hot and drippy
I'm having a hot flash

You'll excuse me, please. I need to go stand in front of a fan. After 15 years, I'm still experiencing my own personal summers.