It all becomes much simpler when I can invite a mom or mom-to-be to come play around in my stash and tell me what she likes or doesn’t like. I let her touch the yarn, and if I’ve got a finished project that’s been washed, I let her touch that too – since the finishing on many yarns can mask how soft it will be once it’s washed.

So when my good friend Mere was a couple months out from her due date, and was over for a Girls Night, I dragged out my yarn stash and let her go nuts. With several other girls around to offer opinions, she was able to choose the yarn that felt right, and was a color pattern that she loved. WIN!

I was also able to ask her what size & number of blankets she wanted. She really loved the idea of a small lovey/woobie that could be easily toted by a toddler. And she thought the idea of having three identical ones was brilliant. More win!

I love making woobies. With the carseat size blankets, sometimes it can feel like it will never be done. Especially working those last five or so rounds that take FOREVER. The blanket gets cumbersome to tote around to work on, and it always seems like I”m buying just one more skein… only to realize that I need… just one more!

Woobies on the other hand, are fairly quick to work, easy to stuff in my purse or a small bag to work on on-the-go. And I seem to do a better job at estimating how many skeins I need of a given yarn to get it done. So I was thrilled to be able to do a set of three woobies for Mere and baby Ellie.

The yarn Mere picked was fantastic to work with. it’s Loops & Threads Charisma: Chocolate Cupcake (found at Michaels). It’s a thick, fluffy yarn that works quickly and creates a fun random pattern in the project. The finishing makes it slick to work with, but it washes out wonderfully and the yarn turns out very fuzzy and soft. After washing, it is prone to static, but that’s pretty much its only downside, easily solvable with fabric softener .

I used my standard granny square pattern, and because of the small size of the blankets and the weight of the yarn, I didn’t need any stabilizing rounds of singles or doubles to keep it square. I finished each one with two rows of single crochets.

This is my traditional granny square design with rounds of single and double crochets for stability. I used Baby Bee Baby Camouflage Sweet Delight Baby Ombre Yarn. It’s a super lightweight yarn, which comes out lovely and soft, but takes forever to work! I swore after making the first blanket last year that I’d never use this yarn again. Until Travis’s parents asked so sweetly…

Es un historia bien largo.

Crecía en una familia Cristiana, asistio a la iglesia cada semana. Y realmente mi fe, mi relacion con Dios, me influye en todo parte de mi vida. Cuando tenia 16 años, tenia la oportunidad a viajar a Jamaica para mi primer viaje misionero. Me encantaban toda la experiencia.

Algúno años depués, cuando asistió la Universidad de Missouri tenia la oportunidad a visitar a El Salvador con mi iglesia, The Rock. Fui en 2001 para ayudar algunos pueblitos se afectaban por un terremoto. En este viaje conocí la gente y la cultura de america latina – y me afectan mucho. Regresé a los EEUU con un fuego nuevo para aprender mas de la cultura, la lengua, y como podria usar mis talentos para el beneficio de la gente de America Latina.

Paso el verano de 2001 en Chile, mejorando mi español y sumergiendo en la cultura.

En 2003, visito a Honduras por la primera vez. En un viaje misionero,  visito a La Ceiba. Asistio en la construccion de la Iglesia Gran Comision en esta ciudad, y conocia la belleza del pais y tambien los retos que se enfrenta la gente.

Desde 2003, he visito a Honduras cada año. He conocido a San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Camalote y Choluteca.

En estos viajes, he encontrado mi passion y mi proposito. Cada año traigo un grupo de estudiantes colegios y universitarios. Me encanta introducir a los estudiantes a Honduras, a la gente, la cultura, y todo lo que esta pasando en el pais. Los estudiantes pueden ver la belleza y los retos, y posiblemente realizar como pueden usar sus talentos para ayudar.

Trabajo con La Iglesia Gran Comision en Choluteca. Es una iglesia con passion, y con compassion para elevar su comunidad mas alla de los retos – todo por la Gloria de Dios.

Juntos trabajamos para transformar las vidas de ninos en riesgo – ninos sufriendo de desnutricion, con VIH o viviendo en pobreza. Los ninos son la futura de Honduras, y pueden cambiar el pais y tambien el mundo – si tienen la oportunidad.

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AVISO: Disculpa por el español terrible.

Antes del partido mi amiga Erin y yo hablamos y decidimos que necesitábamos hacer un bienvenido acogida para nuestro favorito Sporting Catracho, que había hecho SKC y Honduras muy orgullosos durante los Olímpicos. Así que me trajo mi bandera de Honduras. Nos la agitó como locas cada vez que tuvimos la oportunidad durante el partido, pero sabíamos que era poco probable que Roger la vería.

Fue después del partido, cuando el equipo ha hecho una vuelta del estadio, y Roger saludó a la Cauldron, que él lo vio. Yo estaba mirando por debajo de la bandera cuando lo vi que Roger tomó nota, y empezó a gesticular para nosotros a bajar de las gradas. Con empujes y la insistencia de los chicos detrás de nosotros, nos encontramos entre la multitud a la barrera.

Roger tomó la bandera, se comprometió a devolver (realmente no me importa – puedo encontrar otra!) Y le entregó su camiseta para mí (¿De veras?). Erin tenía la compostura para pedirle una foto, y algunos personas en la primera fila con gusto tomó fotos con nuestras cámaras, así que Roger pudiera seguir adelante. Yo estaba compuesta por el momento, pero las lágrimas fueron una amenaza. Es difícil expresar la verdadera razón por que me ha tocado el corazón …

Creo que he tenido un aprecio especial por Roger desde la primera vez que vi a los Wizards, cuando vi un grupo de partidarios con las camisetas de Honduras con el nombre “Espinoza”.

Tener un jugador de Seleccion de Honduras en KC es especial para mí un vinculo con mi país “adoptivo”. Y yo lo aprecio como jugador. Su tenacidad, su absoluta falta de inhibición (pero nunca la falta de control) es una alegría ver en el campo. Claro, que a veces cruza la línea y se mete en problemas (“Tarjeta Roja Roger”), pero no es por malicia o juego sucio. Es sólo para servir a su equipo, lo mejor que puede.

Y esto los juegos Olímpicos, por fin llegué a verlo hacer eso, no sólo para SKC, sino por su país también. Pudieran verlo dejando todo lo que tenia en el campo. Y en el último partido contra Brasil, todo el mundo por fin vio lo que le hace especial. Algunos fans de SKC estaban muy mezquino sobre su ausencia para los Juegos Olímpicos. Como si fuera un gran inconveniencia. Para mí, me hizo orgulloso de ver a un jugador de mi club es una piedra angular de su equipo nacional. Para un país que también me encanta.

Yo estaba triste cuando la camina Olímpica de Honduras llegó a su fin, pero mi tristeza fue atenuado por la emoción de saber que Roger pudiera hacerlo de nuevo para la final del US Open Cup.

Así que yo realmente quería comunicar al menos un poco de cómo me sentía al Sr. Espinoza. Traté de pensar en ideas inteligentes para una pancarta. Pero al final, traje la bandera de Honduras. Cuando llevé esa bandera, lo que yo estaba tratando de decir era: “Estoy orgulloso de ti, Roger, estoy orgulloso de Honduras. Honduras está orgulloso de ti. Recuerda la experiencia de representar a su país en los Juegos Olímpicos. “

No sé cuál de esos mensajes Roger escuchó, pero obviamente oyó algo. Porque cuando vi su mirada en esa bandera, me di cuenta de que significaba algo para él. Misión cumplida.

Interactuar con él brevemente fue impresionante. Recibir una camiseta para recordar fue también impresionante. Pero compartir esa bandera … que se queda conmigo para mucho tiempo.

MAS: ¿Por qué la gringa se interesa en Honduras?

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It was after the game, when the team did a victory lap of the stadium, and Roger stopped to salute the Cauldron, that he spotted it. I was peeking under the edge when I saw him take notice, and he started gesturing for us to come down from the stands. With pushing and prodding from the guys behind us, we stumbled through the crowd to the barrier. Roger took the flag, promising to bring it back (did I really care? I can get another!) and handed his jersey to me (WHAT?!). Erin had the composure to ask for a picture, and Cauldronites on the front row gladly took pics with our cameras simultaneously, so Roger could move on. I held it together, but tears were threatening. It’s hard to really express why that touched me…

I think I’ve had a special appreciation for Roger since my first Wizards game, when I saw a tailgate of Honduras jerseys with his name on them. Having a Honduras Seleccion player in KC is just a special tie for me to my adopted country. And I appreciate him as a player. His tenacity, his absolute lack of inhibition (but not lack of control) is a joy to watch on the field. Sure, he sometimes crosses the line & gets in trouble (Red Card Roger), but it’s not out of malice or underhandedness. He’s just out to serve his team, as best he can.

And this Olympic games, I finally got to see him do that not only for SKC, but for his home country as well. You can just SEE him pouring out everything he has on the field. And in that last game against Brazil, the whole world finally saw what makes him special. Some SKC fans were being really petty about him being away for the Olympics. Like it was such a huge inconvenience. To me, it just made me swell with pride to see a player from my club being such a cornerstone for his country. A country that I also love.

I was sad when Honduras’s Olympic journey came to an end, but my sadness was tempered by excitement in knowing that Roger might make it back for the US Open Cup Final. So I truly wanted to convey at least a bit of how I felt to Mr. Espinoza himself. I tried to come up with clever poster ideas. But in the end, I took the Honduran flag. When I held that flag up, what I was trying to say was “I’m proud of you, Roger, I’m proud of Honduras. Honduras is proud of you. Remember what it was like to represent your country in the Olympics.”

I don’t know which of those messages Roger heard, but he obviously heard something. Because when I saw his eyes land on that flag, I could tell it meant something to him. Mission accomplished.

Getting to interact with him just briefly was awesome. Getting a jersey to remember it by was also awesome. But sharing that flag… that will stick with me for a long time.

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Light sensitivity is always a challenge. For years, I couldn’t stand wearing sunglasses, even though everyone told me it would help. But back when sunglasses were small wireframed things, they just didn’t block out enough light to be worth the vision distortions that they seemed to cause. Since big plastic sunglasses have become the trend, I have latched on with gusto (and multiple pairs!). The plastic frames sit more comfortably on my face, the lenses are close enough to my eyes that I don’t get any reflections that disorient me, and the coverage keeps all the dreadful sunlight out. But on the sunniest days, I have to go a step further.

I’m not usually a hat person. Like many migraneurs, I’m very sensitive to touch, so a hat is usually more bothersome than it’s worth. But I’ve found a few that rest gently on my head, over whatever hairstyle I’m rocking, and shade my face effectively. So when I’m spending a day outdoors, or riding in a car on a super sunny day, on goes the hat, no matter what my hubby has to say about it’s silliness.

At work, I actually asked the maintenence guy not to replace a burned out florescent bulb above my desk. Having one bulb out tones down the harshness of the lighting, and makes it a much more comfortable environment for work. At home, we use gentle lighting, soft-white bulbs instead of bright-white. And of course, we have room-darkening curtains in the bedroom so I can retreat to a dark cave when migraine strikes. I do wish we had darker window dressing in our living room, so I could draw curtains and hang out on the couch during an attack.

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger’s Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com

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The most obvious one, the one I deal with most frequently, and the one that frustrates me the most is the idea that a migraine attack is a “headache.” The reasons this one bothers me so much:

• It’s not JUST a headache. Sure there’s head pain involved, but the other symptoms are often more incapacitating than the pain itself – nausea, sensitivity (sound, light, touch, smell), dizziness, confusion, exhaustion, vomiting…
• It bears little resemblance to the thing that most people call a “headache.” Not to say that other types of headache don’t suck. But the experience is totally different.
• Sometimes, my head doesn’t hurt at all during an attack. It can be all nausea, wooziness and confusion.
• General “headache” treatments and home remedies are not going to help me. So saying “yeah, I get headaches too, Excedrine usually does the trick for me” does not really make us kindred spirits.
• Just because I can sometimes grit my teeth and get through a day at work with a migraine, doesn’t mean I can do it every time. Not all “headaches” (or migraines) are created equally. Some are a minor inconvenience, some put me down for the count.

I try not to use “headache” to describe any but my most mild attacks. If I have to stay home from work, I’ll say I had a migraine attack – not a headache. Having a product out there called “Excedrine Migraine” does not help our case at all. I think this is going to be a tough myth to bust.

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger’s Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com

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At first I was just going to skip this day’s blog challenge. A theme song for migraines? Cheesy. Pointless. But then I remembered a post I wrote before about a challenging migraine day. It included a song. Which I’ll go ahead an call my migraine anthem.

However, I don’t recommend listening to it during a migraine. Nor do I recommend all the drinking described in the song – likely to bring on a migraine, or at least a doozy of a hangover.

But the chorus, which I’m sure you all know, is pretty inspiring for those days when you feel like your health is pummeling you into submission. Don’t give in. If you get knocked down, get up again!

From my previous post…

This is what I’m preaching to my body today, reminding it that I’m not going to be defeated…

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)

Or as the Contemporary English Version (CEV) says:

We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.

Which only makes me think of…

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger’s Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com

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Four Food Groups Egg Salad Sandwich

• 1 Hard-boiled Egg
• 3 TBSP Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
• A Squirt of Honey Mustard
• 1 Stalk of Asparagus
• 1 tsp Sweet Pickle Relish
• 2 Slices Oat Bran Bread

I put the egg and asparagus in my slap-chopper and chopped the heck out of them. Then mushed the cottage cheese & honey mustard with a fork to break up the bigger curds. Mixed it all together and spread it on bread. Tasted pretty darn good.

I have a stash of ready-to-go gel icepacks in the freezer. I have an awesome crochet cover that I use as a soft comfy barrier between the chilly plastic and my skin.

I usually retreat to my bedroom, where the room darkening curtains are a relief. The hum of the ceiling fan provides enough white noise to drown out any painful noises.

Because getting comfortable enough to sleep is always a challenge, I have an arsenal of pillows of various sizes to adjust my position. And I’ll admit it, even at 31 years old, I have a stuffed animal that I cling to in those worst moments – and my husband doesn’t even tease.

If I can get hubby to gently massage my scalp or rub my back, it usually feels good for awhile, then I’m ready to try to sleep it off.

I also have a stash of nausea-friendly foods to help pick me up when it’s over. Vanilla wafers can be a lifesaver!

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger’s Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com

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