How I spent my summer vacation...

Okay, it wasn't really summer vacation.  I'm still in school, but I just spent the last week with some of the most amazing children/young adults I've ever met.  I went to PA Vent Camp at Camp Victory, a camp for children who are dependent either full or part time on some type of technology for respiratory support.  I can't say enough about it, not only the kids but the adults and teens who volunteered their time to make the camp possible.

Over the course of five days, the kids did quite a lot.  They had a talent show, a costume contest, went swimming, climbed a rock wall (yes, even the ones who used wheel chairs), played soccer, had a food fight, went fishing, participated in field day and even got dressed up for a dance.

Sorry there are no close up pictures, but truthfully, I'm not sure about privacy issues so I'll keep those photos off the blog for now.

The kids cabins.  We had hospital beds for those who needed them and the bathrooms are totally wheel chair accessible.

A view of the lake.  They had a pontoon boat that could take the kids out in their wheel chairs.  They must stock this lake on a regular basis.  Every time a line was tossed in, the kids caught a fish.

One of the campers on the climbing wall.  What you can't see is the gal on the slanted side who is acting as a counter weight.

I had a lot of fun.  Camp is the same week every year, and I find myself wondering if I can build that week off into any contract I happen to create for a new job.

Love from the UPS man...

I think I'm falling in love with my UPS man.  I've missed him for the past two days, but as I was walking home today I noticed a UPS truck.  Hoping that the same truck delivers in the morning as in the afternoon, I asked if he had my package.  He did!!!  Seems that he makes a pick up every day on my street around 4pm, so if I miss him in the morning, I can find him then!  That makes life so much easier, since I can sometimes skip out of clinical a bit early but no way can I wait for him to get here at 10am.

Oh... you want to know what he brought me?

Yes folks, it is a LOVELY handmade bag for Oliver!  Now Oliver can travel in style and I can carry him on my back instead of knocking him into my knees.

This lovely bag comes compliments of Ellie from Integrity Sewing.  She does custom made bags from measurements she has on file, or in my case, I sent her Oliver's measurements.  This bag is wonderfully put together and fits Oliver to a 'T'.  There are pockets on the front for extra fluff or other assorted items and there is plenty of room inside to stick in my extra bobbins.

I was so jealous about the carry bags for the Ashfords and Louet wheels, but now I have my very own bag for about the same amount of money and I don't have to try to shove Oliver into something he doesn't fit.

Thank You Ellie!

I'm in love...

School hasn't left much time for exploring, but I've found a few new things in the past few weeks that have just made my day.

1.  The Furminator

If you haven't tried this pet brush already you really have to!  Yes, it's expensive.  I got mine for about $22 on Amazon.  That was probably the best $22 I've ever spent on my girls.  I have two cats who shed like you would not believe. One who LOVES to be brushed and one who would bite at the brush every time I tried.  Now, they both enjoy being groomed, my biter even sits in my lap and meows till I brush her.  The amount of undercoat that this thing removes is amazing.  It has me thinking about a drum carder so I can mix in the kitty fur with some merino.  Only issue, their fur has a really short (like less than an inch) staple length, so it's gonna make REALLY fuzzy yarn.

2.  Bookmooch.com

All those paperbacks that are just sitting around can now be shared with others!  Yes, my family passes books along, but eventually we're left with a large number of paperbacks (I recently went through four books in a two day period).  Great way to clean out the bookshelf, now I just need to decide what to use my points on.

Okay, I found two new things that make my day.  How about you?  My next challenge is to find containers for the stash and to thin it by at least ten percent by the time I move.  Guess we'll see how that goes.