Bullet Dodged, Opportunity Grabbed

Oy, it was a busy day, but quite good in the end, I tell you. We dodged a huge bullet this morning, one that I'd had my head buried firmly in the sand over for quite some time - well, maybe that's too strong of a metaphor, but I'd been choosing very carefully to not worry over it.

Sophie has a heart murmur, which the doctors have noticed just about every time we've had her in the office for at least the last year or so. But they've always noted it, told me it sounded like the kind of murmur that lots of small children have, and that in no way indicates an actual problem. And because we have had enough issues on our collective plates to worry about - some I've shared with y'all and more that I haven't - I chose to relax, shrug my shoulders, and blindly trust the doctors for once.

Then, a couple months ago at her two-year checkup, the doctor listened again and listened a little more intently and said something about how she really still thought this was one of the normal murmurs not worth worrying about but that she couldn't absolutely rule out a problem, so let's just make an appointment with the cardiologist, okay? And she strongly urged me not to worry because even if it were a real issue, it would be something for us to just watch and be aware of, not something that could drop my precious child dead tomorrow. So we made the appointment, and because my plate was still full to overflowing with worry, I set this issue aside and ignored it till the date on the calendar arrived.

And today was the appointment. Joe's parents came and watched Julie so that Sophie and I could go see the cardiologist. They did a bunch of tests, the nice doctor listened very carefully to Sophie's heart, they did one more test. There was lots of waiting and kind of a lot of people in Sophie's face, but my girl performed like a little angel - she smiled and sat docile and held still while they covered her in electrode stickers (twice). She let the nurse take her away and immobilize her upright for a chest x-ray and came back smiling, having giggled through the experience. She lay still watching an Elmo video for at least half an hour while the ultrasound tech worked gel around her chest. It was painless, and best of all, because we had all the tests that there apparently are in the matter, we were able to get a completely clear bill of health for her. We never have to go back, and we never have to worry about it even in the backs of our minds when we take her to the pediatrician and they hear the murmur. Whew!

Part the second -

Last night I was poking around on the Ravelry boards and read that one of our semi-local yarn stores is getting ready for a going-out-of-business sale. The Yarn Garden is in Anoka, about half an hour from where I live, and when I read on their web site that they had ONline cotton sock yarn 40% off and Lavold Silky Wool at 60% off, my buttons were pushed and I knew that I had to get over there at the earliest possible moment.

So this afternoon I dragged the girls along over there. Thirty minutes in the car, then we trekked up into the building and found the store, to find a note on the door saying that they'd be back at a time that was ten minutes from the time we'd arrived. I'd noticed a sign for a cafe in the basement, so we trekked down there and found a little cookie-snack for the girls and by the time they'd eaten it and we got back up to the store they'd re-opened.

Now, I really would have liked to look around a little bit, to scope out the yarns and maybe even take a few pictures to share here on the blog. But my two girls had some pent-up energy and despite my admonitions before and after entering the store to stay close to me and keep their hands to themselves, it was a little bit like trying to shop while herding cats. So I found the yarns I'd come looking for and picked some out quickly in between rounding up my children.

It turns out, they have not started the store-wide sale yet - that starts April 1 - but what was left of the Silky Wool really was 60% off and I bought all ten of the remaining purple skeins at $2.80 a skein (woot!) And even at that ridiculously low price for yarn that I've been lusting after lo these many months, it felt pretty crazy to be buying another sweater's worth of yarn. By the way, when I left the store it looked like they had only two or three skeins of the yarn left, in hot pink.



And I also bought four skeins of sock yarn - again with the cup overflowing, but it couldn't be helped. The sales lady claimed that the ONline wasn't on sale this week, that it had been on sale last week and would be again next week, but I pulled out my Sidekick and showed her the notice on their webpage listing the sale, and she agreed to give me the sale price.

Man, it felt like a race for the goods, and I won! In a way, I'm kind of glad that the girls were there distracting me, and that we arrived before the start of the store-wide sale. I did glimpse some very nice merino handpaint (but was too distracted to remember the brand name), lots of Fleece Artist stuff, and a nice selection of other sock yarns. My stash is fat enough already.

And finally - about the stupid Easter joke and yesterday's apology. I want to make something perfectly clear to everyone. That apology was heartfelt. I meant it. I'm really sorry for the hurt feelings. Thanks, but I don't need anyone to defend me on this one. Yes, this is my blog and I can say whatever I want to here. But you know what? It just so happens that Tammy, the one who stood up and complained about the joke, is a loyal reader and commenter. She and I have corresponded offline. She is a sweetheart, and I respect her for standing up and speaking her mind in a fairly calm way. I really am sorry for having hurt her feelings, and I would prefer that my readers not hurt her feelings either. I'm not going to delete the comments that have come through so far on the subject, but I think it's time to drop it. Any more that come through with a tone that is anything less than conciliatory and kind *will* be deleted. Because it is my blog.

But, yeah, I am a true heathen. The basic definition of the word heathen is someone who is not Christian, Jewish or Muslim, and does not acknowledge their God. That's me. I'm an agnostic. If I were to attend a church, it would be the Unitarian Universalist church that I used to go to before I got lazy and decided I'd rather spend my Sunday mornings sleeping in, drinking coffee and reading the pPublish Postaper in my pajamas. Some day we will go back to that church when the girls are ready for Sunday School, because they deserve to have a thinking community in which to ground themselves and help them to understand religion in order to decide what they believe for themselves.